Fresh from the tap, sealed and delivered to your door – and you can drink some, reseal it and finish later. Welcome to the latest innovation in craft beer consumption. In 2006, the New Zealand Herald confidently predicted the demise of the flagon. Once a staple of the Kiwi beer drinker, the fill-your-own vessels were going … Read more
Burger King’s ad for its Vietnamese-inspired burger shows customers trying to eat with a pair of giant novelty chopsticks, to which Asian-New Zealanders ask ‘why’? It’s a crime against food Food crimes come in many forms: putting pineapple on pizza, pouring milk before cereal, and cutting bagels into slices like a loaf of bread. But … Read more
After years of watching its income dwindle as it transitioned into the digital age the New Zealand music industry has turned a significant corner. Recorded Music New Zealand CEO Damian Vaughan is cock-a-hoop that the wallets of the artists and labels he represents are looking a lot fatter. The doom and gloom that had hung … Read more
For Auckland is a new Spinoff podcast of civic conversations with people working to create and sustain a better Auckland for all. In episode two host Timothy Giles spoke to Pauline Winters about migration. Auckland is preparing for a population of two million residents. Migration continues to play a huge role in shaping the city. … Read more
This week, Alex Penk found himself agreeing with David Seymour when he said that there’s been “a constant misinformation campaign” about the End of Life Choice Bill. It’s just that the chief culprit was Seymour himself, he argues. MPs and the public should be very sceptical about what they’re hearing from David Seymour, who is … Read more
Killing Eve, last year’s critical sleeper hit turned actual hit, returns to our screens today. Sam Brooks is ready to dive back in. The most telling moment in Killing Eve’s second season premiere doesn’t focus on either deadly assassin Villanelle or the less deadly Eve, but mysterious intelligence officer Carolyn. Eve comes across Carolyn on a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Flashpoint looms for disastrous census, a deep dive on emissions from tourism, and minister promises hard look at unsafe landfills. The debacle around the 2018 census is set for a major flashpoint this week, with parliament demanding data Stats NZ doesn’t yet want to provide. Radio NZ reports … Read more
A new movement that quantitatively measures charitable causes is sweeping the world of philanthropy. But does Effective Altruism necessarily have better answers to the problems the world is facing? And can it bring people with it? Danyl Mclauchlan writes. In June of 2018 I went to a protest outside the US Embassy in Wellington. It … Read more
A new campaign launches today making the case for a capital gains tax. Tax Justice Aotearoa’s Louise Delany and Paul Barber explain what they’re up to In the din of the current tax debate, there are voices that have largely gone unheard: hundreds of thousands of ordinary New Zealanders who believe the time is right … Read more
The pain of endometriosis can be utterly debilitating. Susie Ferguson asks why so many women and girls are expected simply to put up with it. It started when I was 14 years old. The first mention of dysmenorrhea in the ream of paper that is my medical records – that was the first time I went … Read more
Newly released child poverty statistics show that 254,000 Kiwi kids are living in poverty. For the young people affected, it’s much more than just a number, writes Lorraine Taylor of Variety. Every day, applications that cross my desk speak to the challenges our families, and our tamariki, face. Some of our most vulnerable children are … Read more
Ashleigh Young reviews More of Us, a collection of poetry written by migrants and refugees. We greet with deep pleasure and confidence, eyes greeting all over the body, shaking the hand with a hug. That’s the first stanza of ‘Greeting’ by Samson Sahele, the first poem in More of Us, a collection of poems written … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Madeleine Chapman: I told New Zealand what chips to eat and New Zealand told me to fuck off “I flew to Wellington on Thursday night and met up with the same colleague who, to my genuine surprise, was still passionate about the Burger Rings issue. … Read more
When hope seems all but lost, Juliet Speedy finds solace in the kitchen. When my stepfather was suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer, he lost his appetite. I made him casseroles, lasagnes, stews. He attempted small mouthfuls but couldn’t eat much. Then, one day I made him a lemon posset. He loved the sweet easy texture … Read more
Kiwi author Garth Cartwright is on the shortlist for the UK’s prestigious Penderyn Prize – the Booker of music books – and the winner is announced any minute now*. His subject? A history of the British record shop. I’m often asked, “What inspires you to write books?” I wish I could answer, “Money.” I’d like … Read more
Obscure Tony awards performances, Twin Peaks and choreography videos – Laura Vincent’s YouTube Party of Five runs the full weird YouTube gamut. From ANTM to ASMR, YouTube has been crucial to my wellbeing, something I tell you with neither hesitation nor exaggeration for comic effect. In 2007 my flatmates and I would bond over slow-buffering … Read more
Alex Casey chats to Leilani Tominiko, aka Candy Lee, about raising trans awareness from the wrestling ring. If Candy Lee offers you a Gobstopper, don’t take it. It doesn’t mean what you think it means. One of her signature wrestling moves, it involves one heavy black boot, one swift kick to the side of the head, … Read more
How time flies – Final Fantasy 6 was released 25 years ago this month. Sam Brooks remembers its brilliant antagonist, an evil clown who actually succeeded in destroying the world. The internet was once a simpler place. Rather than people digging into their trenches on video game difficulty or whatever issue is threatening to burn … Read more
Esther Zhuang on bananas, sunflowers, and a childhood in New Zealand as an outlier in two cultures. My Granddad loved bananas. Whether they were pale yellow just blossomed from green, or a golden yellow with black and brown freckles didn’t matter. He said it was because he had a full set of false teeth, and … Read more
Most bacteria are completely harmless. But a porous piece of jade, as once promoted by Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness empire Goop, could be harmful and deliver a potentially nasty infection, writes Siouxsie Wiles, ahead of an Auckland appearance by gynaecologist Dr Jen Gunter Being a microbiologist, people often ask me if I’m a germaphobe. I’m not. … Read more
Following a terrorist attack targeting NZ’s Muslim community, Scott Morrison has been keen to hug his NZ counterpart, and talked of a ‘bright stream of light to come from the darkness’. Until he overhauls Australia’s immigration and deportation policy, it’s nothing but platitude, writes Janet McAllister Ostensibly, the Aussies were there to support the Kiwis, … Read more
The current discourse around Muslim women is narrow-minded and short-sighted, writes Nidha Khan. There are Kiwi-Muslims still grieving. There are Kiwi-Muslims still numb, upset, scared, angry, and emotionally exhausted. And, in such a time, it is deeply upsetting and unsettling for commentators like Heather du Plessis-Allan to re-ignite narrow-minded conversations about how wearing the hijab … Read more
If you were one of the few people who used it, you might have noticed Google+ has just closed down. As RMIT researcher Stan Karanasios argues, it’s part of a wave of user-generated feedback closures, which is having a huge effect on online communities. This piece was originally published on The Conversation. This week saw the … Read more
As powerful as the national outpouring of solidarity has been following the Christchurch attacks, it’s not enough on its own. Tony Blackett of Amnesty International NZ offers some ways you can take further action against racism. If the last couple weeks have shown us anything, it’s that now, more than ever, we need the human … 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 Grant Straker, co-founder and CEO of Straker Translations. … Read more
The North Shore MP’s aggressive opposition to the End of Life Choice Bill is proving such a turn off that it can only bolster the pro-euthanasia side, writes Graham Adams. David Lange – famed stand-up comic and New Zealand’s funniest prime minister – once quipped that National leader Jim Bolger had “gone around the country … Read more
The Crusaders rugby franchise are looking into changing their name. Madeleine Chapman and Toby Morris have some ideas. Sports teams have changed their names before. The Charlotte Hornets NBA team were the Charlotte Bobcats for over a decade. When they got their name back from the New Orleans Hornets, New Orleans became the Pelicans. If … Read more
Today is ‘Gumboot Friday’, a fundraiser for the charity I Am Hope, in which New Zealanders are encouraged to walk in the shoes of a child who needs mental health support. All funds raised provide free counselling to children in need. We asked a mother to share what it’s like to parent a child with … 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 Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and its Human Fallout by Ginger Gorman (Hardie Grant Books, $33) The clue … Read more