Whanaungatanga, whakapapa and whānau – the solutions that have always been with us, but largely ignored. Laura O’Connell-Rapira reflects on yesterday’s historic Oranga Tamariki hui Prior to the arrival of European settlers, Māori society was governed by a system of principles, laws and customs known as tikanga Māori. The word ‘tikanga’ is derived from the … Read more
Edmonds, Hubbards, Pams – our shelves are full of people immortalised in baked goods and cereals. Josie Adams sets out to discover who they really were, and if they even existed at all. “Who is Pam?” is one of the most burning questions of our time. She makes jam, baked beans, dishwashing liquid; Pam can … Read more
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Huski co-founder Simon Huesser about developing vacuum insulated ‘coolers’ that keep beer and wine cold for hours on end. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Huski. Huski is all about creating better drinking experiences … Read more
Why Simon Day hopes baking a bacon and egg pie will guide the Black Caps to glory tonight. For a sport dominated by statistics, logic and precision, cricket is strangely superstitious. Every Tweet has a consequence, every movement away from the television affects the game thousands of kilometres away. Certain scores have magical properties. Nelson … Read more
Charles Adler has made a career out of believing in the power and generosity of people to solve big problems. The co-founder of Kickstarter is coming to the Future of the Future conference next month and explains why he doesn’t think we have to worry about what is around the corner. Charles Adler is an … Read more
Tonight the Black Caps will be led on to Lord’s for the World Cup Final by Kane Williamson, the most underestimated captain in world cricket, writes Toby Manhire. Were he not so confoundingly, unshakably, even irritatingly amiable, we’d call him something like Ice Cold Kane. Instead, the official epithet-hander-outers of New Zealand cricket, the Alternative … Read more
Amy Weng reviews Kim Hak’s exhibition that tells the stories of Cambodian refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge through the objects they carried – a show that will please many and offend none. Alive is an exhibition with the noblest intentions. In 29 still lives, Phnom Penh-based photographer Kim Hak brings to life the accounts … Read more
Tara Ward talks to three creative Kiwis who’ve been spurred on by their favourite TV show to some gloriously niche things. Some people reckon television is a bad influence, but to them I say, turn on The Chase and chill out. I’ll put up with having square eyes and a rotten brain, as long as … Read more
It’s final time. The Offspin team are joined by actor, Lotto host and passionate cricket fan Sonia Gray – do we dare to believe in a Black Caps World Cup victory? It’s still hard to fathom, but we’re in the final again. And it’s against the English, who overcame the sandpaper canaries. Ahead of that … Read more
Matthew McAuley sits down with New Zealand’s latest next-big-thing to talk about following up the monster hit ‘Soaked’, her approach to collaboration, and exactly how you go about building a ‘Beneevision’. Although her catalog is still barely more than a handful of tracks deep, Auckland-raised proto-popstar Benee seems determined not to waste time. Seeking to … Read more
Will we ever really adopt electric vehicles? Should we believe oil companies that say they want to help? Clean energy expert Michael Liebreich gives his two cents. Not that long ago, the concept of “clean energy” seemed like a wildly radical idea. Few people cared or even knew about the dangers of climate change and … Read more
Closed adoption saw thousands of Māori babies handed over to Pākehā families with no way of accessing their ancestral roots. RNZ’s Te Aniwa Hurihanganui looks at the outdated Adoption Act and its impact on Māori who grew up desperate to reconnect. Nicola Lancaster remembers holding Annabel’s tiny premature body in her arms moments after she … Read more
Anna Fifield, Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post, talks to Toby Manhire about her new book The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un, about working in China, and about reporting from Christchurch after March 15 There are few stories on the world news pages as enthralling, and as … Read more
Twelve years since she last watched a Netball World Cup, Alice Webb-Liddall revisits her childhood passion to preview the 2019 competition before the Silver Ferns’ first game tonight. New Zealand has been in a bit of a slump when it comes to netball. What used to be a staple school sport is being closed in … Read more
Alex Casey, a bona fide Simba-head, went to premiere of the new Lion King movie last night. She wasn’t mad at it. For months, I was furious about this fucking remake. I hate to sound like a millennial snowflake, but The Lion King is extremely important to me and ONLY me and NOT YOU. Like … Read more
Emily Writes once more ventures into the treacherous depths of online news, so you don’t have to. In absolutely astonishing news the New Zealand woman who married a random dude the day she met him has divorced him. Who would have ever foreseen this? New Zealander Sarah Elliott married Paul Edwards on Christmas Day. Which … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 A Careful Revolution by David Hall (Bridget Williams Books, $15) Climate change, proper mitigation of. 2 Conversations with Friends by … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to HoneyLab co-founder Dr Shaun Holt, creator of … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Breaking news: Bigfoot is back baby and the Real News bulletin is bursting with many more hot scoops. Who killed Jacinda Ardern’s cat and why is he choosing to speak out now? Why are there so many … Read more
A poem by Wellington writer Laura Vincent. ACTIVITIES You know when you’re not strong enough to articulate your feelings because all of your strength is being used for one thing and that one thing is ACTIVITIES endless ACTIVITIES when that person invites you to paper-mâché a to-scale volcano or to ride a bicycle … Read more
Lucy Zee recounts the worst job she ever had: working as a sales assistant in video game retail. Every so often, a conversation topic will come up: “What is the worst job you’ve ever had?”. I couldn’t name one, I could name six. When I worked clearing tables in a Chinese restaurant? Or when I … Read more
The Hurricanes’ and All Blacks’ talismanic No 10 is heading north to Auckland in the biggest Super Rugby shift for a long time. Hurricanes true believer and NZ’s leading rugby fraternity authority Jamie Wall does his best to hold it together to analyse the move. They say the first stage of grief is denial. That’s … Read more
Welcome back to hell for a special episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, where we finally discover what makes Aunt Lydia tick. Spoiler: it’s karaoke. Tara Ward recaps season 3, episode 8. On the basis of this episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, I reckon karaoke is to blame for everything in Gilead. This week we were … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Deep wounds shown by Captain Cook vandalism, expert fact checks claims around electric cars, and police deployed to fight non-existent crime wave. A Gisborne Captain Cook statue has been vandalised, and the message painted on it shows the depth of tensions that will surround the 250th … Read more
Over a year after the office was vacated, a new race relations commissioner has been appointed. What do we know about the new guy, Meng Foon? A little over a year ago Susan Devoy stood down as race relations commissioner, declaring herself devastated but vindicated over scandals within the Human Rights Commission. Since then the … Read more
A new ‘bath salt’ mimicking MDMA has been found circulating at the University of Otago re-orientation week. Drug testing by the New Zealand Drug Foundation has revealed a batch of the previously unidentified substance eutylone is currently circulating at the University of Otago’s re-orientation week. Eutylone, first detected by KnowYourStuffNZ in December 2018 (known then … Read more
ART-TASTIC is a big heavy beauty of an activity book, written by Sarah Pepperle and produced by the Christchurch Art Gallery. We think it’s marvellous and so do the judges of the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Keen to try it out? Here are four ART-TASTIC spreads guaranteed to keep … Read more
Nowadays, sex toys aren’t all dildos and vibrators. Emily Writes tries out the cutting edge in sex toy technology. I know exactly when I first read about the Satisfyer Pro 2. Still shaking, my friend had taken to Instagram to spread the gospel, writing that she’d had the best orgasm of her life with it. … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey finds the Disneyland of Laughter. I’ve long felt a spiritual pull towards The Bugger Cafe, although I’ve never really known exactly where it was. All I knew was the deep envy I felt seeing friends, colleagues and … Read more