Standing in front of a wall of wine bottles trying to find something that you’ll like can feel futile. One online wine retailer is using artificial intelligence to help find what you’re looking for. It can take a lifetime to truly become an expert on wine. There are subtleties and hints in each bottle that … Read more
At the heart of the issue surrounding Oranga Tamariki and their disproportionate uplifting of Māori children from their families is the desire for solutions to be found within iwi, hapū and whānau. Recognising that the Māori family structure looks different from the Western one would be a great place to start. In English we have … Read more
It was another wacky week in our favourite dystopia with some walking, some dancing and a whole lot of shouting. Tara Ward recaps the latest episode of The Handmaid’s Tale. Let’s not beat around the dystopian bush, because this was an unusual episode. It was made up of a weird mish-mash of events, like June … Read more
A new prose poem by Palmerston North poet Tim Upperton. The riderless horses One evening that summer a riderless horse galloped along our road, empty stirrups slapping. We ran up the driveway screaming to our mother. Quick, inside! she said. She shut and locked the door, closed the windows. The horse tried the door handle, … Read more
When the Māori All Blacks play Fiji this month, MP Peeni Henare will be in the commentary booth calling the match in te reo. Don Rowe reports on an initiative to normalise te reo through the medium of sport. Around 500 years ago, in 2011, Māori TV broadcasted all 48 games of that year’s Rugby … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Controversial West Coast dairy co-op sale goes through, time running out for sealing Tūhoe road, and tensions rising around AAAP action days. Yesterday was a hugely significant day for New Zealand’s dairy industry, partly for what happened, and partly for what it could signify about … Read more
Scientists have been pleading the world to take action on climate change, yet a sizable chunk of the population still denies or downplays its reality. Gareth Shute runs down the most popular arguments for ignoring climate change and finds them wanting. There’s been consensus in the scientific community about climate change for at least a … Read more
Whatever the shortcomings of corporate co-housing projects, that should not detract from the value of the community living projects people like me are pursuing, writes Elise Badger Together with my family, my sister and brother-in-law, I am currently immersed in the planning stages of a community living project. So I was intrigued to read an … 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 Ben Nathan, CEO and founder of Container … Read more
Adding to the negative impact that Instagram is already having on mental health and body image, a set of unrealistic standards for school lunchboxes is unearthed by Juliet Speedy. If I was asked to offer my most valuable piece of culinary advice to parents, it would be this: don’t Google “lunchbox ideas”. In fact, if … Read more
On this episode of The Offspin, legendary all-rounder Dion Nash joins the show after a Black Caps performance that felt like a throwback to New Zealand cricket’s dark days of teal. Once upon a time, the stereotype of New Zealand cricket was of freezing in the big games, fragile batting and despair, while still finding … Read more
Emily Writes bravely ventures into the treacherous cavities of online news so you don’t have to. It’s been a week in Princess Diana news despite the fact that she died in 1997. Kevin Costner has said Lady Di once considered starring in a sequel to The Bodyguard. Unsurprisingly, that shit-stirrer Fergie was behind it. If … Read more
Lucy Zee looks back on the late-nineties, early-aughts infomercial craze that was… Nad’s. In my prepubescent tweens, I started to notice body hair on myself. My arms, my legs, my armpits, my upper lip. I wasn’t so much upset but more curious than anything. Why did we grow hair in these places? When does it … Read more
In this new edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas weigh reshuffles in senior ranks of both the big parties, as well as Oranga Tamariki and David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill. Plus: a desperate plea to listeners. Podding against the clock, aka Annabelle’s stopwatch, the Gone By Lunchtime … Read more
Before Rachael King was an author and a puller-together of literary festivals, she was a bass player in a heap of bands. At the start, she was a schoolgirl rocking in the Battling Strings, opening for the Chills and other 1980s Flying Nun bands, including Straitjacket Fits. Reading Shayne Carter’s memoir Dead People I Have … Read more
The Resource Management Act is getting another facelift this year, but will it be in time to give Auckland’s kauri a fighting chance? Watercare recently lodged a resource management application in order to begin construction of a replacement water treatment plant in the heart of Titirangi, adding to the powderkeg of tension between locals and … Read more
New Zealand’s minister of justice responds to the decision by the internet giant to take no action after its breach of name suppression in the Grace Millane case Google’s attitude to fair trial rights in New Zealand should concern us all. It’s time to call out their recklessness. To recap what happened, last year at … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Complicated picture from economic confidence surveys, justice minister hammers Google over name suppression, and drinking water falling below standards. Business confidence, which has been low throughout this government’s term, has plunged to fresh depths. In fact, as Stuff reports, the headline figure is the lowest it has been … Read more
In a ferocious opinion piece for the Spinoff, the minister of justice says he would be ‘failing in my duty’ if he were to allow the internet giant to ‘ride roughshod’ over New Zealand law. The New Zealand minister of justice has promised that there will be consequences for Google after the US-based company informed … Read more
It will always be hard to keep Muslim and migrant perspectives in the foreground as long as material support is wanting, write Mohan Dutta and Murdoch Stephens After the mosque attacks in Christchurch, there was a strong call from media to centre Muslim responses. For a few short weeks, the voices from the attacked communities … Read more
Parliamentary scrutiny of quality of long-term governance in New Zealand is limited, ad hoc and unsystematic. So what are the solutions, asks Jonathan Boston Safeguarding the interests of current and future citizens is one of parliament’s crucial roles. This requires holding governments to account for the quality of their governance, especially their long-term governance. Forward-looking … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey and Jihee Junn give their thoughts on Dragfest 2019. With the growing mainstream success of RuPaul’s Drag Race has also come a deluge of drag superstars visiting New Zealand to perform in front of glittered-up and sold … Read more
Anna Knox spoke to the curator of a new exhibition of Guy Ngan’s work at the gallery in the heart of his home. Artist Guy Ngan and the art establishment never seemed to care much for each other. But a new exhibition raises questions about that mutual disregard. Ngan lived in Stokes Valley, Upper Hutt, … Read more
Next month some of the most high-powered people from the most important companies in the world are coming to Auckland to speak to local business leaders. Charles Anderson spoke to the organisers of the Future of the Future conference about why and how they pulled it off. On August 15 the future is coming to … Read more
In a surprise twist that left contestants stunned, Stu and Amy returned to The Block NZ this week. But are they here to stay, and if not, who should replace them? Tara Ward has some ideas. The ground shifted, panelling fell off the walls, and mustard throws everywhere self-combusted in shock when 2018 champions Stu and … Read more
This month Microsoft’s ebook store closes for good, and with it goes every book ever purchased through a Microsoft account. Don Rowe reports. Ebooks have forever changed the way we read and write, drastically reducing the barriers to entry for authors and publishers, bringing down the cost of books and providing huge variety and accessibility … Read more
Incrementalism will only take us so far, writes criminologist Jan Jordan, who argues the ‘system of injustice’ for sexual violence victims requires a transformational approach. Back in the mid-1990s a New Zealand judge, the Hon Justice E. W. Thomas, wrote an article slamming the lack of justice accorded rape victims by the very system in … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, The Spinoff office hoons two bags of Perky Nana Lumps. Last week the internet exploded with the news that a yet another Kiwiana fusion product was to crawl its way out of the ocean and onto our shores in … Read more
Launching today, and co-edited by Megan Dunn and Mark Amery, The Spinoff Art will bring you the big and little stories about contemporary art in New Zealand. Like this one about a small pointy-headed heist. On a trip to Auckland last week, I heard about an art heist. It was small but perfectly formed: the … Read more