Averting catastrophic climate change will require system-level change, not the light touch, ‘gradual transition’ approach our government is taking. “You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to.” These were the words of Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old who inspired the global school strikes … Read more
There are serious flaws in the theory that the ‘jobpocalypse’ is nigh, and technology is not about to replace New Zealand workers anytime soon, according to a new book. ‘Machines as ministers to man’, screams the US newspaper headline. Apart from the slightly old-fashioned language, the banner could be describing the conventional modern wisdom that … Read more
Adnan Syed’s story didn’t end after the blockbuster Serial podcast. Jean Sergent reviews Amy Berg’s The Case Against Adnan Syed, now streaming on TVNZ OnDemand. If you’re not one of the millions of listeners who made Serial a podcasting sensation, let me introduce you to the facts. Sometime on the afternoon of January 13th 1999, teenager Hae … Read more
She’s more than a New Zealand icon – she’s a New Zealand star. Sam Brooks talks to Danielle Cormack about her role as Lulu in Fresh Eggs Danielle Cormack is, straight up, one of our most successful actresses, by whatever yardstick you choose to use to measure it. Gloss, Shortland Street, Topless Women Talk About Their … Read more
Playwright and The Spinoff’s culture editor Sam Brooks interviews Val Emmich, author of Dear Evan Hansen, about the life-changing process of adapting a smash Broadway musical into a book. Musicals and young adult novels have a few things in common, earnestness and accessibility being two of them, but the most prominent thing they share is … Read more
Satellites is a series of public events and encounters showcasing the most exciting contemporary Asian artists in Auckland. Sam Brooks interviewed the founder of Satellites, Rosabel Tan, and one of the artists, Ahi Karunaharan, about this year’s programme. A K-Pop dance explosion at Botany Town Centre. An all-female tiger dance at Sandringham Reserve. A give-one-take-one … Read more
Where do mattresses go to die? The dump, of course. But Michael Andrew has other ideas. In the furniture world, there’s no sadder life than that of the mattress. I’ve slept on mine almost every night for 10 years. I’ve eaten on it, read on it, watched TV on it, dreamt on it, cried myself … Read more
Gwyn Easterbrook-Smith reviews Bonding, the story of a grad student dominatrix and her gay best friend whom she employs as her assistant. As an academic who researches the media representation of sex work, and who paid my way through post-grad by doing sex work, including pro-domme (professional dominatrix) work, it could have been designed in … Read more
A recent Spinoff column argued that Auckland’s dog laws are overly restrictive, and only set to get worse under proposed new bylaws. Nonsense, writes James Pasely. Dogs and their activities should not be the hill we die on. Aucklanders have more important things to worry about – issues like traffic, housing, mental health all loom … Read more
How a singer’s revelation about their identity gave Openside their purpose – and New Zealand’s most intense pop fans. Images by Ravi Chand. He looks mid-fifties, skinny jeans, grey hair cropped close. Not exactly out of place but not in his element either. “Have you seen my daughter? She’s about this tall,” he asks no one … Read more
Curd nerd Calum Hodgson wants you to come to a small North Island town to stand in defence of the small-scale farmhouse cheese tradition. The Great Eketahuna Cheese Festival is a cheese community keen to connect with others in an act of #CheeseSolidarity. This is a small cheese fest in a small part of provincial New … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week, we talk to Melodics founder Sam Gribben, who’s created software to help people learn how to play musical instruments. Having spent a decade at audio software company Serato, ex-CEO Sam Gribben … Read more
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her fish-hunting boyfriend Clarke Gayford are getting married, it was revealed today. What will it all involve? Almost certainly these things. Most likely theme for hen night: Working Group. Most likely theme for stag do: Catch and Release Most likely wedding venue: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hobbiton. … Read more
The only published and available best-selling 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 Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan (Penguin Random House, $37) “What is the conversation like between the two humans when one … Read more
New poetry from Wellington-born writer Ursula Robinson-Shaw. Everything is nice they have announced the last day mel waters the garden the dirt is hard for summer everybody is hard for summer to drink lavish cocktails to meet-cute on the table of the harsh dissolving seasons to take girls back to our houses in … Read more
One of the government’s most important working groups has just reported back on what changes should be made to the welfare system. So what have they said? And what will the government do about it? At a glance: Sanctions on solo mothers who refuse to name the father of their child will be abolished Benefit … 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. Connections can be the difference between a venture taking off or stalling. … Read more
Don’t let those brazen feijoas steal the limelight – guavas are also ubiquitous at this time of year, and their flavour is just as curiously delicious. Yes, I know, the feijoas are haemorrhaging again. I like feijoas but they have a habit of throwing themselves at you. One of my neighbours said ‘If you are … Read more
This afternoon the recommendations from a wide-ranging study of our welfare system will be released. Hannah McGowan, who has lived on a benefit for most of the past 20 years, writes about the indignities and stresses of her life – and the issues she hopes today’s report will address. The first time I went on … Read more
Because being paralysed by hopelessness and fear doesn’t help anyone, here are some ways you can actually make a change on climate, starting right now. On The Spinoff recently, Catherine Woulfe wrote about experiencing feelings of helplessness brought on by terrifying predictions of climate breakdown in books like David Wallace-Wells’ The Uninhabitable Earth. While all … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Figures of foreign buyers shows a big decrease, principals unimpressed by government teacher recruitment fund, and CRL funding issues debated at Council. The statistics on foreign house buyers since the ban came into effect have shown a dramatic decline in sales to those overseas. It has pretty … Read more
The oceans are rising and the ground’s getting shaky – time to move the capital to Hamilton. As hellworld boils and our cities descend into the sea, writhing throngs of climate refugees will soon be forced to head for higher ground, scrambling over one another like a scene from the Old Testament. The effect will … Read more
In ditching the CGT, Jacinda Ardern has implicitly accepted that the primary structure of savings and investment in New Zealand will remain bound up in the family home. Accepting this reality may have been necessary to keep Kiwibuild on life support as house prices begin to fall. Avoiding solutions to the political question of wealth … Read more
The decisions made by NZ’s media organisations over how to cover the trial of the alleged Christchurch mosque shooter have come in for international criticism. But do they really understand what they’re talking about? It’s a strange thing when every major media organisation in a country decides to sing from the same song sheet. When … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. With Duncan in Thailand, Alex and Jane (and occasionally Tina) shoulder the burden of recapping the past week in reality TV and extremely real news. There’s a bloody big cat on the loose in the South Island, … Read more
The Auckland Art Fair runs from May 2nd – 5th at The Cloud on the waterfront. Three critics – Megan Dunn, Mark Amery, Ioana Gordon-Smith – cast an eye over what’s on offer. On the opening night of the Auckland Art Fair one artist said, “It gets worse the further in you go.” Another told … Read more
Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Pierce Brosnan – they’re all coming to Lightbox in May, y’all! The Son (S2, Weekly from May 1) I mean, it’s JAMES BOND AS A COWBOY. What more do you people WANT from your POPULAR CULTURE? A handsome (and I’m not just talking about Pierce) epic set in Texas at … Read more
Based on the podcast of the same name, Alex Casey, Michele A’Court and Leonie Hayden set out to jelly wrestle with every issue under the sun. This month, they’re waxing lyrical about body hair. For the second episode of our feminist series On the Rag, Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michéle A’Court sharpen their secateurs … Read more
Moments presents Discwoman is a series of shows, panel discussions and workshops aimed at encouraging more women and gender minorities to get involved with electronic music. Emma Hall-Philips, the founder of local collective Moments, tells Katie Meadows what it’s all about. Since its inception in 2014, New York-based collective Discwoman has become so much more … Read more