The Real Pod assembles to dissect the eighth week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, we’ve got two weeks of MAFS madness to recap. Billy and Susie went to hell and back again, and then Billy had to come back one more time to get … 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 Jenny Morel, founder of Morel & Co, No 8 … Read more
Reform needs to address firearm issues beyond those directly related to the Christchurch terrorist’s approach, and loopholes must be closed, writes William L. Much needed change is coming. Firearms laws are tightening and far right extremists will be monitored as the danger they have been all along. The specifics of new legislation are not yet … 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 one host Timothy Giles spoke to Tayyaba Khan about the effect of the tragedy in Christchurch on the Muslim community, grief, identity, and what happens next. In a period of shock … Read more
Four members of the Spinoff staff and one completely unbiased stranger run down their favourite shows on Lightbox. What do Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden, Alex Braae, Toby Morris and one person who is definitely not Hayden Donnell watch in their time off? Check it out here. This content was created in paid partnership with Lightbox. Learn … Read more
Cocktails and video games – just like peanut butter and jelly, right? Sam Brooks interviews Jack Stone-Slater, the man behind the locally-made webseries Experience Bar which combines the dual pleasures of gaming and cocktails. Gaming and cocktails are two things that probably shouldn’t go together. Other than both needing a semblance of precision and timing, there’s not … Read more
To make our roads safer, Auckland Transport wants to introduce a new bylaw to set new speed limits, which would see the city centre become a 30km/h zone. Jolisa Gracewood explains why she’s in favour of the proposed changes. Nobody ever expects to be involved in a car crash. But accidents happen, and for most of … Read more
With the increased security threat after the Christchurch attacks, Wellington’s CubaDupa street festival has had to move off the street and into venues around the city. The Spinoff spoke to the festival’s artistic director about why this was necessary for safety, and why the changes are not about letting fear win. The presence of armed … Read more
Connan Mockasin’s new side project Jassbusters is currently touring around the country. Taylor MacGregor talks to the musician about what excites him now, and what fans can expect from his show at Auckland’s Crystal Palace tomorrow night. In 2016, bright eyed and naive to the glitz and glitches of the showbiz world, I approached Liam … Read more
Cashmere High School attracted national attention as the school a number of terrorist victims attended, and the driving force behind last week’s emotional schools vigil in the centre of Christchurch. But Cashmere doesn’t just have a connection to the modern Muslim community – its ties go back much further, writes James Dann. All young people … Read more
Allowing overseas money to pour in and fill the gap left by a dearth of New Zealand investors is robbing us of employment opportunities and valuable tax revenue, Bill O’Boyle writes. Anyone who’s spent time around the Kiwi startup scene knows that one of the biggest challenges facing our fledgling businesses is the dreaded ‘funding … Read more
A synthetic white victimhood is generated by a swarm of social media users that centre on a core belief and consistent narratives, writes Bharath Ganesh, an expert on extremism at the Oxford Internet Institute The Christchurch terrorist’s manifesto began with a refrain: “It’s the birthrates.” His concern was the death of the white “European” people. This is … Read more
Foxton author Anne Hunt backgrounds the legal challenges she faced when she published her book about a woman who accused her therapist of rape. Content warning: suicidal ideation and rape My 2003 book Broken Silence was published too long ago to capture a readership mesmerised by the complexities of the #MeToo movement. It documented the … Read more
The latest game by FromSoftware is out, and it’s as difficult as you’d expect. Is the juice worth the squeeze? Way back 30 years ago in 2015 I wrote a piece on The Spinoff about Bloodborne, a Lovecraftian horror game created by Japanese developers FromSoftware. Bloodborne, modelled after FromSoftware’s award-winning Dark Souls trilogy, is fiendishly … Read more
Remarks by a Federated Farmers leader are a boon to beneficiary-bashers, and they’re utter rubbish, writes tax expert Lisa Marriott On Monday, newsletter comments by Federated Farmers Marlborough President Phillip Neal expressing his distaste for proposed tax reforms were quoted and reiterated on Stuff. Neal didn’t restrict himself to the proposed tax reforms. Instead he … Read more
We’re overjoyed to today launch our new webseries about drawing and stuff, Two Sketches. Here’s what it’s all about – plus, watch the first episode below. Popular illustrator and The Spinoff’s resident cartoonist-in-chief Toby Morris loves drawing and loves chatting to other pencil pushers, so why not combine the two? In this new webseries we … Read more
March 15 was a horrific reminder that white supremacist ideologies put all minorities in danger, writes Ali Nissenbaum. 1997: We’re window shopping at Christchurch’s Mid-City Markets. Between the incense holders and Kurt Cobain T-shirts we come across a stand selling Nazi jewellery. My friend Yasmin, who’s much braver than I am, confronts the saleswoman: “That’s … Read more
This year’s Te Matatini winners, Ngā Tūmanako, were first brought together as kura kaupapa students at West Auckland’s Hoani Waititi Marae. Foundation members look back at the group’s evolution over the years. In the early 2000s, talks among a few West Auckland school friends signalled a new kapa haka group was on the horizon. Bonded … Read more
Last week APRA AMCOS NZ hosted SongHubs Auckland, an initiative which saw 18 Kiwi and Aussie songwriters connect with four international guests, for a week long song writing camp in Roundhead Studios. This is the fifth installment of this collaborative event, where curator Greg Haver shepherd writers and producers into groups of four to write … Read more
Despite being in its infancy, Thorvald had won multiple awards and could barely keep up with demand for its sheep’s milk cheese and yoghurt. But Tasman’s devastating drought has effectively put the company out of business. For many, particularly those geographically and socially removed from rural life, it was hard to come to grips with … Read more
We must do everything we can to stop people dying on our roads, writes Shane Ellison CE at Auckland Transport. And that starts by reducing speed. A few people have asked me, since we opened our consultation on the draft Speed Limit Bylaw, if 64 people dying on our roads in 2017 is enough to … Read more
Dr David Galler offers seven lessons from past reviews of the NZ health system that should inform the thinking currently under way Reviews of New Zealand’s health services have almost invariably proven controversial, arousing particular opposition from groups with vested interests. And once complete, they seem to have achieved little more than a reshuffling of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Climate change report recommends major changes to land use and policy, Westland hit by heavy flooding, and St John in trouble with paramedics over donations call. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has released a major new report into New Zealand’s approach to greenhouse gas emissions. There’s … Read more
With questions for media swirling about what their platforms get used for, New Zealand’s biggest news site has closed a huge swathe of their notorious comments section. Stuff editor in chief Patrick Crewdson spoke to The Spinoff about why they made the choice. They say don’t read the comments, but what they really mean is don’t … Read more
One of the most powerful tools of the 21st century is being allowed to operate with impunity and it’s hurting humankind, according to a silicon valley-based New Zealand AI expert. Artificial intelligence expert Sean Gourley is in the business of creating machines that can read and write. The Kiwi is the founder and CEO of … Read more
Blessed be the fruit loaf, The Great British Bake Off is back. Tara Ward relives the best moments from episode one of the new season of the world’s kindest TV show. We could all do with a warm and fluffy escape right now. Last week I ate my way through more packets of Toffee Pops … Read more
As it stands only ten games are currently banned from sale in New Zealand but should we be looking at how we censor games with more scrutiny? Oskar Howell writes. Content warning: Depictions of violence are alluded to in the piece. One of the first games I seriously played was Grand Theft Auto III. It was one of … Read more
Everyone heads to the internet to dispel loneliness and boredom. Sharon Lam headed there in search of lonely Asian women, and found them everywhere she looked. Recently I’ve found myself feeling a little less lonely, despite moving to a city where I have one friend, as compared to Wellington, where I had like three. Yes, … Read more
Samuel Te Kani attended Sunday’s Love Aotearoa Hate Racism march in central Auckland, and found a confusing mix of love, solidarity, conspiracy theory and violent rhetoric. I’ve never been especially drawn to activism, not in any conventional sense. In an era when criticality recognises the innate politics of everything, what is the function of ‘classical’ … Read more