Yael Shochat, chef-owner of Auckland restaurant Ima Cuisine, shares the recipe for her hot cross buns – regularly voted among the best in the city. HOT CROSS BUNS Makes 12 You may use equal weights of pre-ground spices, but you’ll get a much better flavour if you can grind the whole spices yourself. You can … Read more
News that the family of a Christchurch mosque shooting victim is struggling financially has reignited controversy about how the millions raised in the wake of the tragedy are being spent. But, as professional fundraiser Jemma Balmer argues, are we asking the wrong questions? Grief and solidarity swept New Zealand in the days following the mosque … Read more
One of New Zealand’s most successful tennis players has fallen through the cracks of sporting history. Madeleine Chapman tells the story of Ruia Morrison, Wimbledon quarter finalist. Ruia Morrison is standing on her back porch, whacking her neighbour’s overgrown hedge with a tennis racquet. She’s employing a forehand overhead volley technique and it’s working. Satisfied, … Read more
Ten years ago, Mint Chicks shredded the high-gloss sound that saw their sophomore LP go overground. The band tells Sam Wicks how they ripped up the rulebook on Screens. Surprising everyone, the band formerly known as The Mint Chicks won over a mainstream audience with Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!, scoring commercial radio play and five … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Gun clubs, gun laws change after Christchurch attack, protests promised against new oil drilling, and widespread construction employment law breaches revealed. In less than a month since the Christchurch mosque shooting, sweeping changes have come to both gun laws, and the gun community generally. The new law … Read more
Auckland-based tech company StrutFit allows shoppers to virtually ‘try on’ shoes. So how does it work? And what does that mean for retailers? For eight months, I had my eye on a pair of black, patent leather boots – big, chunky, great for stomping around in. The other week, I finally plucked up the courage to … Read more
Six days after the terror attack in Christchurch, the University of Otago launched its participation in the Give Nothing to Racism campaign. At the launch, Tuari Potiki (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha) the director of the Office of Māori Development spoke of the history of racism he, his whānau and marae have faced. Here is … Read more
Film is a powerful influence in our lives that shapes how we see the world, and how we see ourselves. So it’s pretty important that we see people that look like us up on the big screen. New Zealand has an incredible film history – dark, funny, innovative, evocative of our past and peculiar worldview. … Read more
Ryan Murphy? A procedural show? Connie Britton’s hair? Emily Writes is hooked on 9-1-1, now showing on Lightbox. If you’ve ever watched a crime or rescue procedural and thought ‘I really wish people in this episode would be maimed or die in a more original way,’ well, have I got a show for you! Ryan … Read more
‘Old Town Road’ has gained fame not just for its country-hook goodness, but also for the controversy raging around it. Sam Brooks explores what the song’s success says about country music’s purity problem. “Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more I’m gonna take … Read more
Documentary The Heart Dances is about the process of a European choreographer recreating The Piano as a ballet, but its real story lies in the exploration of what can happen when Māori culture meets European art. The exploration of Māori culture within European art can be contentious. New Zealand artist Gordon Walters was criticised for … Read more
Neighbours of New Zealand’s biggest shooting range say they’re victims of targeted harassment, including Nazi symbols scrawled on a resident’s property. Police, they say, have not taken their concerns seriously. The Auckland Shooting Club, in response, says it’s being ‘victimised’. Don Rowe reports. Update 11/4 8am – Auckland Shooting Club president Chris Gee has resigned. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Seasonal peak hits fruit picking industry, massive data hole revealed in census response rate, and PM shuts down suggestions she’s backing Crusaders change. It appears pay rates for some seasonal fruit pickers have gone up, reports Stuff. You might recall perennial stories about workers not wanting to take … Read more
When we arrived to live in New Zealand we were shocked to discover how tolerant many people were of flagrant expression of neo-Nazism, writes Anke Richter When we migrated to New Zealand 16 years ago as a family, many things were different to our old life. Bus drivers were friendly. “North facing” meant sunny and … Read more
Apex Legends is the big new challenger for Fortnite’s crown, and it appeared almost entirely out of thin air. Oskar Howell plays the new battle royale game everyone is talking about. Fortnite has spent two long years dominating the gaming scene, and no other game has really managed to come close. Its zany, cartoon style … Read more
Introducing Scratched, an original web series that finds and celebrates the lost sporting legends of Aotearoa. There are many sportspeople whose names are uttered regularly by New Zealanders, and whose stories have been told over and over again. But what about the athletes whose lives and careers have faded from the national memory? New … Read more
In the same week that a woman was told her bikini was “inappropriate” to wear at an Auckland pool, Alex Casey provides some much-needed reminders for women wearing clothes everywhere. Women, you probably already know this but… you’re wrong. Your clothes are wrong, your togs are wrong, whatever you are wearing on your head is … Read more
Activist, actor and advocate Anzac Wallace has passed away yesterday at the age of 74. Anzac Wallace (Ngāpuhi) is lying in state at Ngā Whare Waatea marae in Māngere, the urban marae he helped build in the 1980s. Ngā Whare Waatea chairman, Minister Willie Jackson paid tribute to Matua Zac Wallace last night, describing him … Read more
Later this year, Jennifer Gunter’s new book The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina, Separating the Myth from the Medicine is published. In this post from 2017, Gunter – who speaks in Auckland tonight – explains the thinking behind it If you have never seen a bottle of lube on the nightstand in the … Read more
In the third part of a series in which The Spinoff gets to know who, what, where and how our food gets to our plate, Alice Neville learns about what goes into making mozzarella, ricotta, gorgonzola and more. The bright lights and smooth floors of the supermarket are a world away from the soil and sun, … Read more
“The obliteration of self. The prioritising of others. The yearning for escape”: Holly Walker on a motherhood memoir that rings in the bones. Before the current bumper crop of radically honest books about motherhood, there was Marie Darrieussecq. Eighteen years ago in Paris, she sat at her desk, notebook open, her baby resting face down … Read more
The 36th America’s Cup may still be two years away but Emirates Team New Zealand’s campaign is already near top gear and Kiwi industry is winning. Imagine having to raise northwards of $100 million within four years just to run your business, and not being entirely sure how you’re going to do it. It’s not … Read more
New Sky CEO Martin Stewart has had a huge first month in the job, burning down the house of his famed predecessor John Fellet, writes Trevor McKewen. Less than a month into his new job as the CEO of one of New Zealand’s most disliked brands (and that really is a feat when you’re in … Read more
Silly reality show? Sure. A case study for evidence-based relationship science? Okay! Holly Dixon analyses the relationships of Married at First Sight Australia. Married at First Sight is a microcosm of what we all experience in interpersonal relationships, albeit at a concentration many of us will not have experienced. The intensity of the MAFS experiment ensures … Read more
Longer hours have some parents up in arms, but Emily Writes argues that kindergartens are only doing what they have to in order to survive. My son’s kindergarten is one of my favourite places in the world. My first baby began his learning journey there and it feels like our home away from home. I … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Another teacher strike looms after offer rejected, Crusaders sources say PM’s office is pressuring for name change, and warnings sounded over prescription drug. Negotiations between the NZEI and the government have hit another roadblock, with primary teachers overwhelmingly rejecting the offered deal. In a release, they said the … Read more
Whether it’s anti-science sentiment or outright bigotry, Hamilton councillors keep making the news for all the wrong reasons. But that’s only part of the story, writes veteran Hamilton councillor Dave Macpherson. Is Hamilton City run by a bunch of rednecks and nutters? If you only judged The Tron and its city council by the off … Read more
Briscoes boss Rod Duke continues to fight to have a helipad protruding over a picturesque Auckland beach, just so he can get to his golf games quickly. Despite its geographical status as an isthmus, central Auckland is not flush with good swimming beaches. Would-be bathers are at the mercy of time, tide and parking availability. … Read more
Ten days after the terrorist shooting in two Christchurch mosques took 50 lives, Jacinda Ardern speaks to Toby Manhire in her Beehive office. ‘I’ll show you something,” says Jacinda Ardern. We are sitting on sofas in her office on the ninth floor of the Beehive. It is just 10 days since a terrorist attack in Christchurch … Read more