Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Sean Aickin whose Wellington photo store Splendid is hoping to revive film photography in today’s digital world. ONE: How did Splendid start and what was the inspiration behind it? I initially tried to purchase … Read more
For three weeks in October, the Waitangi Tribunal started its long task of hearing claims that are part of Wai 2575 – the Kaupapa Inquiry into health services and outcomes for Māori. Gabrielle Baker reports. This is not intended to be newsy analysis, nor is it an insightful history essay. I’m simply not qualified to … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on the pod, we are still fizzing after our incredible first Real Pod meet-up, A Very Corny Christmas at Nando’s St Lukes. Which notorious cornies showed up? Did anyone step ‘in it’? And … Read more
With a bit of low-effort forward planning, you can make ice cream at home in mere minutes. As the temperatures rise and the days stretch out further into the evenings, a dessert like this really hits the spot. Quick and easy to make, it’s a great one to have in the repertoire. Thinly slice any … 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 Hadleigh Bognuda, CEO of EzyVet. The move … Read more
All Heart NZ proves the proverb that one man’s waste is another’s treasure. Nominated for an NZI Sustainable Business Network Award, it’s one of the social enterprises listed on a new platform encouraging corporates to help the world while making money. A hundred metres of unwanted car yard fencing that was destined for the scrap … Read more
Alex Casey visits the chaotic House of Drag mansion, and meets the dragstars changing the face of local reality TV. At the end of the winding driveway of the House of Drag mansion, we are met with two drag queens luxuriating in nude underwear, eating cheeseburgers and dangling their feet in the enormous fountain. It … Read more
LOOK AT ITS FACE AND EARS WHAT ABOUT ITS NOSE. THIS LIL SHEP IS A Swiss Valais Blacknose BUT YOU CAN CALL IT FLOOFY SAMWHICH POODLE BOI. Wairarapa farmer Christine Reed told Radio NZ that along with several business partners formed Valais Blacknose NZ and imported the breed as embryos from the UK about a year and … Read more
Book of the Week: Jane Westaway reviews Colin Hogg’s portrait of poet Sam Hunt. Personal disclosure first. Sam Hunt and I crossed paths back in the 1970s and early 80s, in his Bottle Creek/Battle Hill/Death’s Corner days. His Minstrel-the-dog and first-son days. And at what he would probably dislike being dubbed his peak-celebrity days. He was … Read more
Six years after first arriving on our screens, Jono and Ben air their final episode tonight. In tribute, Dylan Reeve looks back on the best part of the show: Guy Williams’ NZ Today segment. For a certain group of overseas internet users, New Zealand’s most prominent journalist isn’t who you’d expect. It’s not John Campbell, … Read more
With the nature of work changing, companies are reforming how offices are set up and how their staff work, in an effort to get better outcomes for everyone. Alex Braae checked out two of New Zealand’s biggest companies to find out more. Looking back on predictions of the future is always an interesting experience, especially … Read more
A new survey of 1,025 New Zealand women found that 82% had experienced either sexual violence or harassment. Compelling evidence – but will men ever believe it, asks Emily Writes. Content warning: This column describes instances of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. I read in resigned horror about Bauer Media’s survey of sexual violence against … Read more
Could there finally be a solution to the destructive drama of Brexit? In today’s Cheat Sheet, Alex Braae explains why even the latest plan to come out of Downing Street could be shot down. What’s all this then? Brexit was once famously described by football hooligan character actor Danny Dyer as a “mad riddle”. “Nobody’s … Read more
Cycleways are under fire this week following an incredibly misleading Herald story. Hayden Donnell goes in search of some transport projects to actually get angry about. A peloton of bullshit rode forth from NZME headquarters this week. Its journey began with a story by the Herald’s supercity reporter Bernard Orsman on Monday, which claimed several … Read more
Government fixation on gentrifying state housing neighbourhoods to provide sites for KiwiBuild developments seriously undermines the opportunity to meet the most pressing needs, writes Alan Johnson, the Child Poverty Action Group’s housing spokesperson. The recent media preoccupation with KiwiBuild as a middle class welfare programme risks overlooking a far more critical housing story. It is … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM Ardern at a series of international summits this week, Pike River plan revealed, and NZ to host the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup. PM Jacinda Ardern will be walking a series of fine lines at international summits over the rest of the week. She’s currently in … Read more
Alex Casey braves blue alcohol at 10.30am and social media paparazzi to learn female entrepreneurial lessons at the petal cupcake-festooned Girls in Business gathering. The day opened with an emergency announcement: the free fake tan in the goodie bags was leaking. “Make sure you keep them upright ladies,” event organiser Iyia Liu advised the 450-strong crowd. … Read more
The Single Object is a series exploring our material culture, examining the meaning and influence of the objects that surround us in everyday life. In the fifth part of the series James Dann explores Christchurch’s ties to the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, and embarks on his own journey of discovery in pursuit of a … Read more
Bunnings Warehouse will now recommend that sausage sizzle onions be placed on the bread before the sausage. Madeleine Chapman went on a journey of discovery to find the correct way to assemble a snag. Anyone who’s ever played in a sports team or been part of a community group has served a sausage to a … Read more
Alice is tickled pink with a summery sour beer, while Henry says hola to a super-approachable Spanish white from Gizzy. SAWMILL BREWERY RASPBERRY SOUR 4.5%, 500ml, $10.99 from Fine Wine Delivery Co Earlier this year, Scottish craft beer giant BrewDog repackaged its hugely successful Punk IPA as Pink IPA, satirically dubbing it a “beer for … Read more
Tonight the NZ prime minister dines with the US vice president – a man who holds numerous views on the world that are, well, pretty much the opposite of everything she stands for. Don Rowe previews the worst working dinner imaginable. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in Singapore today for the East Asia summit. United … Read more
Steve Braunias heads out to New Lynn to ponder two new books on His Holiness of the Church of Enduring Beatlemania, John Lennon. There is a new, beautifully produced and monumentally pompous book about John Lennon, Imagine John Yoko, and the best and most impressive place to inspect this holy relic in Auckland, in New … Read more
Rebecca Macfie, author of Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and Why 29 Men Died, explains why today’s announcement by Andrew Little that the mine drift will be re-entered is such a historic moment. After eight years, the Pike River Mine drift will be re-entered, explored and treated as the crime scene that it is. … Read more
At the beginning of November, The Spinoff published an article looking at the story of the Māori prisoners taken from Taranaki and imprisoned in Dunedin. The piece reported new research by Toitū Otago Settlers Museum curator Seán Brosnahan that challenged the accepted kōrero, brought home to whānau by survivors, that the prisoners were kept in … Read more
Inarguably the best sports drama of all time, Friday Night Lights, dropped in its entirety on Lightbox last week. Sam Brooks on why you should watch it – and the other cult classics you might not know are on the service. Friday Night Lights (S1-5) I’m surprised this show didn’t incorporate some sort of partnership with … Read more
‘Cycleway figures in doubt’ says the print headline on an article by Herald journalist Bernard Orsman, and Mike Hosking has prematurely leapt in to agree. But what’s really in doubt may be some basic reading comprehension, says Jolisa Gracewood of Bike Auckland, who argues that critics compared apples with oranges – and ended up with … Read more
The opposition’s problem is not Simon Bridges’ performance, it’s not the party losing faith and it’s not even a fallen MP raising merry hell, writes RNZ’s Guyon Espiner The salacious saga of Jami-Lee Ross has severely tested Simon Bridges over recent weeks. The Ross story is the political equivalent of a page-turning novel, but the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Karel Sroubek’s mother speaks out, Fonterra abandons quantity target in favour of quality, and striking court workers warned they’re risking injustices happening. The mother of convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek has spoken out about her sons case, in a remarkable and dramatic interview. Mila (first name only … Read more
For many years NZ First’s Shane Jones was one of Labour’s most reliably pro-business MPs. Yet today he presents as an anti-corporate crusader. Branko Marcetic assesses his record and asks whether supporters should trust his dramatic conversion. The metamorphosis of a butterfly is one of nature’s great miracles. A caterpillar, growing too big for its … Read more