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 UNITY 1 The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck by Mark Manson (MacMillan, $35) Manson, writing on Twitter recently: “Don’t … Read more
As New Zealand increasingly backs queer rights, are our Christian churches evolving or standing firm that homosexuality is sinful? Max Towle investigates for RNZ. This piece originally appeared on RNZ. When he was young, every week Ryan Curran would step forward and silently beg and plead at the altar. “God please take this disease from … Read more
How is Facebook not just eroding our privacy, but changing our lives – and not just our lives? Most of us know tech platforms such as Facebook and Google track, store and make money from our data. But there are constantly new revelations about just how much of our privacy has been chipped away. The … Read more
This morning, Nintendo announced the eighth generation of Pokémon: Sword and Shield, and along with it came three starters. Sam Brooks ranks these starters – and all of the rest of them. Another generation of Pokémon, another one hundred new creatures to remember the names of and eventually forget. Like, who remembers the sentient ice-cream? … Read more
Our sword-queen returns, a reliable popstar deepens her foundations and Aldous Harding mesmerizes us with the power of dance. These are the songs of the month – five international, three local – as picked by The Spinoff’s culture editor Sam Brooks. International Handmade Heaven by Marina Marina, now sans the Diamonds, has been one of … Read more
For decades she stood up for urban Māori and provided services to a community that was often overlooked. Close friends and family celebrate the life of Dame Temuranga “June” Batley-Jackson. A lot is made of understanding the Treaty of Waitangi as a living document. The Waitangi Tribunal explains the concept by outlining how Te Tiriti … Read more
There’s a lot to love about the acclaimed comedy-drama Better Things, which returns to Lightbox for a third season this Friday. Tara Ward takes at look what the show gets right about parenting. Better Things heroine Sam Fox reckons that if she was to ever name her home, it’d be called ‘Tiny Assholes With Vaginas’. … Read more
Is switching to compostable packaging a solution for New Zealand’s plastic problem? Don’t get too excited too soon, warn experts. Public understanding of waste management in New Zealand has often been defined by magical thinking. If you throw a coke bottle in a recycling bin, then it will be recycled, and it’s not your problem … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Military crisis erupts between India and Pakistan, top marine biologist disowns Te Papa connection, and DHBs still desperate for nurses. A hugely important story is unfolding right now in a critical part of the world. India and Pakistan, two nuclear armed powers and fierce geopolitical rivals, have … Read more
After news of Cameron Slater’s departure from Whale Oil, Liam Hehir reflects on the fading influence of New Zealand’s politics blogs. Cameron Slater, founder of Whale Oil, is stepping away from his creation and has filed for bankruptcy. This follows an earlier announcement that the blogger had suffered a stroke, and that recovery was not … Read more
Literally decades worth of untaxed capital gains have created a political nightmare for the government. Is there any way they can navigate a capital gains tax through it, asks Danyl Mclauchlan? Part of the problem is that this government is trying to unshit the bed. We’ve had a deeply unfair tax system with its grossly … Read more
The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read more comics here.
Less than a week out from release, Sam Brooks dips back into the breast physics controversy that has enveloped Dead or Alive 6. If there’s one thing on the internet that I can strongly endorse you don’t investigate, it is the debate around breast physics in video games. It’s a fast way to stop believing that there is … Read more
Goosebumps had nothing on this one. Tom Augustine looks back at the Kiwi kid’s horror series that scarred a generation: Freaky. When I was a kid, there wasn’t much I was banned from watching – my mum, bless her, was of the ‘better you do it in the house’ variety – but one such ban came after … Read more
New Zealand is underprepared for Indonesia’s rapid economic growth, and our nearest Asian neighbour is a potential close friend, writes Jordan King Ask a New Zealander to discuss Indonesia and you may get a response about Bali, Bintangs, or perhaps West Papua or The Act of Killing. Or you might get no response at all. … Read more
Management decisions at Te Papa are putting at risk the very things that make a national museum worth having, Dr Nic Rawlence and Dr Trevor ‘Mr Moa’ Worthy argue. Te Papa sees itself as a proud and reputable national museum. Within its walls is a unique resource that is used by scientists worldwide to answer the … Read more
It’s our job to be fair, went the old ad campaign from the IRD. It’s my job to be kind, goes the on brand message from the Prime Minister. So we’re heading for a kinder and fairer tax system then? Guyon Espiner, writing for RNZ, is skeptical. But when it comes to making changes to … Read more
Welcome back to Papercuts, our monthly books podcast hosted by Louisa Kasza, Jenna Todd and Kiran Dass. Papercuts is here for your February book news and recommendations. We chat about the Ockhams longlist, Jacquie Sturm, dear Peter Wells and Ashleigh Young. Plus the usual book reviews and a bonkers Who the Fuck Is? that could almost … Read more
A study using salary data, employment prospects, skill shortages and training positions suggests aspiring engineers, builders, teachers, midwives and panel beaters are off to a great start. First published in February 2019. One of the most difficult choices in a young person’s life is deciding what they want to study. They have to think about … Read more
Two scholars respond to our recent series on James K Baxter, and his wife, Jacquie Sturm. Jeffrey Paparoa Holman, senior adjunct fellow in the School of Humanities at the University of Canterbury, writes: Jacquie Sturm: Te Whakatōhea, Taranaki (1927-2009). Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka Māori Tuhinga Pakimaero. He Reta ki te Maunga – a … Read more
As New Zealand’s media scramble for solutions to a borked business model, tertiary journalism courses are shrinking, too. Just how bleak is it? Communications student Sam Brett asks around Until relatively recently journalism was a career which you tended to learn by doing, not studying. On the job training was how most people entered the news … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: High court rules on sorry saga of construction company Mainzeal, John Tamihere rejected by Labour, and Dunedin losing historic Presbyterian churches. When construction giant Mainzeal went bust, it left a massive trail of debt in its wake. The company, which at the time was the third largest … Read more
After tax, the next cab off the working-group rank is welfare. The Universal Basic Income has been the hottest new idea of recent years, but Max Rashbrooke reckons that just doesn’t add up, and there’s another, stronger option The New Zealand Initiative and Sue Bradford make strange bedfellows: normally there is not much that unites … Read more
‘Dependent contractors’ say they are forced to fight numerous battles against corporates like the Australasian company owing to New Zealand’s lack of regulation, reports Maria Slade There are those who can’t face the day before they’ve had their Vogel’s toast. Maybe you want your Molenberg. Or perhaps your kids refuse to eat bread with “bits” … Read more
Christchurch’s massive hand sculpture Quasi is moving to Wellington. Refusing to be palmed off, Emily Writes set out to learn his story. I heard him before I saw him. He was awkwardly trying to get into the Mojo (you know the one on Courtenay next to the one on Dixon that’s next to the one … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Brough Johnson, co-founder of Narrative Muse, about a NZ-made platform that puts the spotlight on women and non-binary creators. If you don’t think representation in popular culture matters, you should really familiarise yourself with The Scully Effect. The study, conducted across 2000 women in America, revealed that nearly two thirds of … Read more
Poetik is a fresh talent in the Auckland hip hop scene, but he takes a very retro approach to his music, creating G-funk bangers and selling CDs direct to fans as if the internet hadn’t been invented. Gareth Shute caught up with him to talk about his old-is-new approach and why it’s all part of … Read more
Steve Braunias farewells Peter Wells. But really I hardly knew him. “He was a noble man,” said Suzanne Blumhardt, his eldest surviving cousin, at the funeral for author Peter Northe Wells, 1950-2019, at St Matthew-in-the-City in downtown Auckland yesterday morning; one of his closest friends, novelist Stephanie Johnson, said: “He was a born writer and … Read more
