Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Destiny Church rejected for prison rehab programme, Kāpiti Council sends sea level message to homeowners, and funding boost to solve Census snafu. Corrections minister Kelvin Davis has ruled out working with Destiny Church’s Man Up programme in prisons, reports Newsroom. Destiny says the programme can help turn lives … Read more
Emily Writes heads over to Harry and Meghan’s whare to discuss the impending (or maybe it’s happening right now) birth of the next royal child. *potentially For years now, Princess Meghan of Buckin’am Windsor has been flaunting her baby bump and causing havoc in the UK White House by being visibly pregnant. We have read all of … Read more
Despite the bitter disappointment of those who backed capital gains tax for a win, it’s not the only horse in the wealth tax race. Max Rashbrooke studies the form guide. If the capital gains tax were a horse, Jacinda Ardern’s announcement earlier this month was the final nobbling of an equine that, despite praise from … Read more
Publicly telling the world a bunch of private visitors intend to cause prisoner revolts is a very good way of giving prison authorities “reasonable grounds” to deny you entry, writes Andrew Geddis For someone who says he simply wants his Destiny Church’s “Man Up/Tu Tanganta” programme (sorry, “lifestyle”) to help “restore men to their true … Read more
Only three weeks in and it feels like a thousand! Sam Brooks power-ranks the third week of celebrity sweep-the-floor-with-a-lady competition, Dancing with the Stars NZ. The theme of this week is guilty pleasure! Why is any music considered a guilty pleasure? Give me genuine, disturbing guilty pleasures please. I want to see someone do an interpretative … Read more
Michael Hill Jeweller is currently urging the public to buy for “all your Mums” this Mother’s Day, including your real mum and your ‘work mum’. Madeleine Chapman wonders how many other mums are out there. Did you ever accidentally call your teacher ‘mum’ in front of the class? Did you shart? Did you not speak … Read more
There are more characters in Avengers: Endgame than there are minutes in an hour, but how much is your favourite actually in it? Tom Augustine has the answers. Avengers: Endgame spoilers follow. If you clicked on this article expecting no spoilers, turn back now. Click out of the tab and go see the movie. I love … Read more
Alex Casey woke up at 5.59am this morning to watch John Campbell’s Breakfast debut. Here are some of the highlights. Less than two weeks since the announcement that John Campbell was moving to TVNZ’s Breakfast to take Jack Tame’s place, there he was on the telly. It was 6am in the shiny pink studio and … Read more
When a political career is about to go up in flames, there’s almost always a moment when the politician just becomes utterly ridiculous. Has Simon Bridges just had that moment? In almost anyone’s books, blathering on about slushies on Morning Report would be considered a low point. For Simon Bridges, it might just be the … Read more
Marion McLeod reviews Late in the Day, a “smooth and sinuous and subtle” new novel by Tessa Hadley We begin with a death, a very good place to start. Where better to assemble and introduce family and friends? What more useful springboard for exploring their relationships? Tessa Hadley does all this superbly, with economy, elegance … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Energy poverty in the spotlight with winter approaching, Nelson activist sews up statement on consumerism, and NZ Herald releases paywall plans. The country’s best current affairs TV show has put the spotlight on energy poverty, which is both a symptom and a cause of serious hardship. Energy … Read more
A school teacher’s day starts well before the first child walks in the gate, and ends well after the last leaves. For Traci Liddall, the principal of an intermediate school, the day begins before the sun rises and work doesn’t stop for weekends or holidays. 5.30am: The alarm goes. I lean over and turn it … Read more
If we want to have nice things again, our best bet is to unite across age, race, gender or other lines under shared economic interests, rather than divide ourselves generationally, writes Branko Marcetic. Duncan Greive and I have a disagreement. Well, actually, we mostly agree. I, too, am disappointed by the prime minister’s abandonment of … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey revels in the wonders of a borrowed fabric shaver. I’ve sold so many old jumpers on Trademe in my life that I think my alias could be Slight Lee Pilled. “Slight pilling around the cuff,” I used … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews Aldous Harding’s mysterious, enthralling third album, Designer. One of my favourite things of late has been to show unsuspecting people the music video for Aldous Harding’s ‘The Barrel’. As a song, it’s an excellent little thing, the perfect aural venn diagram of Tori Amos and Katie Melua – all the shameless opacity of … Read more
Paula Simpson dissects why the most privileged group in our society also appears to be the angriest. In the wake of the Christchurch shootings, social media is awash with articles. And in the comments under each article there are incredibly angry people. And they seem to mostly be white men. Before the hate starts: no, … Read more
Ukraine has elected as its president a comedian with no political experience and not many policies. So what would our comedians do if elected to be the President of New Zealand? Here are their manifestos. Guy Williams Two words: Flag referendum. The last one was a shambles and we need another one! I genuinely think New … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews Anthems, a six-part documentary on New Zealand’s iconic hits, which starts tonight on Prime. New Zealanders are possessive as hell over our culture. Pavlova, Russell Crowe, Lord of the Rings, colonial racism – if it’s ours, we really own it. Where it really sinks into the marrow though, is our music. For better or … Read more
Students and police who were present at the three most famous Dunedin riots of the last 30 years share what they remember about how it all went down. This piece was originally published in Critic Te Arohi, the University of Otago student magazine. 1990: Saturday 22 April – Easter Tourney “Easter Tourney” saw students from … Read more
Coverage of the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka has insufficiently considered the complex historical context within which the attacks took place, writes Nishhza Thiruselvam Last summer when I was on holiday in India, I booked a last minute flight from Tamil Nadu to Colombo to visit my ancestral hometown for the first time. I went … Read more
It’s breaking box office records and has been met with universal acclaim, but one character in Avengers: Endgame that weaponises hate for laughs. Please note the following story contains a minor spoiler. Like most, I was excited to see Avengers: Endgame. I bought my tickets months ago and took great satisfaction knowing I’d get to … Read more
Aldous Harding speaks to Kirsten Johnstone about her new album Designer, first published on RNZ. The first thing that strikes me about Aldous Harding’s third record Designer is its playfulness. There’s an ease, and a hint of a tease in her voice as it swoops and croons. The lyrics are cryptic, like fragments of misheard … Read more
With Auckland’s local body elections coming up in October, now is the time for Aucklanders to turn their attention to the city’s overly-restrictive dog laws, writes Julian Light. Auckland has the goal to be the most liveable city on earth. Just not if you’ve got four paws. Pooches are treated as pariahs in our biggest … Read more
Poet Steven Toussaint on the explosive, triumphant wizardry that is happening here and now. This much is obvious: something electrifying is taking place in New Zealand poetry. I became a permanent resident of this country four years ago, and at that time I privately considered verse here to have grown a little stale. While stand-out … Read more
The prime minister and the leader of the opposition are supposed to be enemies, but Madeleine Chapman just wants Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges to be friends again. There’s a moment in every romantic comedy when one protagonist realises that the other protagonist likes them, despite all their actions and words up until that point … 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 Dr Sarvnaz Taherian who’s helped develop technology that allows physically disabled individuals to communicate via blinking. For most individuals, using a phone or laptop couldn’t be easier. But for … 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) McEwan is rightfully getting a lot of flak for suggesting his … Read more
This is a big deal for NZ journalism, writes Toby Manhire. What will be paywalled and what won’t? And have they got the price right? New Zealand media push notifications cannot often be accused of downplaying news, but the Herald’s announcement this afternoon of “one of the biggest New Zealand media moves of 2019” was … Read more
The much anticipated new Taylor Swift song dropped today, along with a confectionary-tinged music video. Here’s a few hastily put together thoughts from The Spinoff staff. “Is this the Frozen sequel?” – Spinoff editor Toby Manhire. “This is the song that Veruca Salt would make if she escaped the Wonka Factory, went to high school, … Read more