If you happen to be a comedian who isn’t male, the road home isn’t so simple. Ahead of a special one-off fundraising gig on December 9, comedian Amanda Kennedy writes about the dangers of simply getting home – and what’s being done to solve it. Content warning: Article discusses the impact of physical and sexual … Read more
New Zealand Alternative – a new, open organisation – seeks to challenge the orthodoxy, starting with a call to establish an independent Conflict Prevention Unit. Co-founder Thomas Nash explains Marking 100 years since the guns fell silent at the end of World War One, Foreign Minister Winston Peters represented New Zealand at the Paris Peace Forum … Read more
One hundred years to the day from the end of WWI, Sir Peter Jackson has released They Shall Not Grow Old, a groundbreaking restoration of footage from The Great War. “The first world war is still being fought,” says Sir Peter Jackson, 100 years to the day since the closing shots on the Western Front. “It could … Read more
The first in a series for The Spinoff, Mike Kilpatrick shares how his weight loss journey began with a single tweet. Only an idiot would use some off-handed Twitter comments as a signal to transform their life. Only an idiot would decide to try and become a wrestler at nearly 43-years-old while being massively overweight … Read more
Charli XCX played twice in Auckland on Friday night – at Mt Smart Stadium and a performance space/yoga studio on K Road. Dejan Jotanovic was there. I don’t have many regrets in life but being “too hungover” for a Charli XCX show I had tickets for back in 2015 is absolutely up there. At the time Charli … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Alex Casey: The Chemist Warehouse is pure hell and I love it “A woman with blue eyeliner and thick framed glasses was desperately trying to get the best price per gram on vitamin C for someone on the phone, not unlike like a proxy bidder … Read more
When we remember the Armistice, remember what happened here too. The ‘two-worlds’ analogy retains its stubborn hold. Two worlds mapped onto Niu Tireni, sharing space, differently placed. You say Raowmati, I say Raumati; You say Oohtackie, I say Ōtaki. Or as poet Robert Sullivan put it: You say Treaty and I say Tiriti, … Read more
Georgia has beautiful scenery, a fascinating wine scene and the world’s nicest taxi drivers. What’s not to like? If you, like me, are a fan of stunning mountains, delicious wine, dangerous high-speed taxi journeys and cheese bread, allow me to suggest a trip to Georgia. Your friends and family will likely make a Ray Charles … Read more
Today people all over the world will come together to think about World War I and those who fought in it. How could we remember better? And what can we do with remembering? An essay by Andrew Johnston 1. The driver picked me up from the station at Bailleul, a sleepy town with one of those … Read more
New Zealander Robin Campbell was a volunteer on the Democratic campaign for a seat in the New York State Senate. He recounts his experience – from brutal debates to door-knocking with Ben Stiller – and points to the key to overcoming Trump and his politics of hate and division I’ve never had to deal with neo-Nazis … Read more
Lydia Burgham reflects on over a decade of being a Taylor Swift fan, and reviews her Reputation Tour show at Mt Smart Stadium. I just turned 21. And the one constant throughout my young adult life has been my adoration for a certain blonde haired pop star who sings about her feelings. Taylor Swift’s Fearless … Read more
Alex Casey dives into the second season of the least relatable show on television. What have you been up to over the past couple of weeks? Have you been fighting the council to protect the lives of stray cats, judging Miss Rotorua, selling wine barrels barrels across the country, luxuriating at Huka Lodge and necking … Read more
The Olympic women’s marathon was first held in 1984, largely thanks to one woman and her historic run 16 years earlier. On February 7 1984, two men walked untethered in space for the first time. Six months later on Earth, women were allowed to run the marathon at the Olympic Games for the first time. … Read more
Our new series produced by the New Zealand Red Cross profiles people from refugee backgrounds who now call New Zealand home. Our third Kiwi Legend: Mitchell Pham, who escaped alone from Vietnam as a 12-year-old, and went on to create a hugely successful NZ software company. Mitchel Pham has fond memories of his early childhood … Read more
In the garden city, you don’t grab a kebab, you smash a souvlaki. James Dann sets off on his own Greek odyssey to find out why. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a drunk man in possession of a few coins must be in want of a kebab. Ripping into one at two in … Read more
Ahead of her stadium gig in Auckland, New Zealand, the pop star took a pay-per-minute electric scooter for a ride along Mission Bay, according to Ben Prince-Saxon. We talked to Ben to find out more about this epochal moment. EVEN MORE CRUCIAL UPDATE, ONE WEEK LATER: Confirming prank suspicions, it was revealed on the final episode … Read more
Delaney Davidson, whose album release tour starts today, talks to Henry Oliver about storytelling, collaborating and his new album Shining Day. Delaney Davidson sees himself as a travelling salesman. He has slicked back hair and a couple of days’ stubble. Suit, tie, hat when he’s performing. Clean shirt tucked into clean jeans when he’s not. … Read more
New verse by Kirikiriroa writer essa may ranapiri. what the poem isn’t allowed to do the poem isn’t allowed to say abolish the police abolish the police abolish the police return their uniforms to the dirt and their sirens to the odyssey tie a leash to a grenade and send it off teach it how … Read more
Only 46 shopping days till Xmas! Get in early and peruse the week’s bestselling books at the Unity stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Milkman by Anna Burns (Faber & Faber, $33) “The Man Booker-winning Milkman richly deserves its prize”: New Zealand Listener. 2 Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami (Harvill Secker, $45) … Read more
As Marcus Lush reveals ‘outrage about the NZME Christmas Party’, we launch our crowd-sourced investigation into the contemporary reality of the festive work do. Last night Newstalk ZB’s evenings host Marcus Lush blew the lid on a major New Zealand media scandal for the festive season. The issuing of invitations to radio and publishing giant … Read more
You’ve heard of them. All your cool friends and your coolest aunt watches them – but what the heck are these blonde dramas with subtitles? Sam Brooks is here to school you on the ubiquitous Scandi-drama. Lock the doors, lower the blinds, fire up the smoke machine and put on your heels, because I know … 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 Veronica Harwood-Stevenson from Humble Bee. A few … Read more
Labour is getting crapped on from the left and right after loosening its restrictions on people making capital gains off KiwiBuild houses. Hayden Donnell argues with the only expert he respects on the new rules. On Wednesday, important political news was emitted from the Newshub. Phil Twyford had changed the rules for people looking to … Read more
Almost every Kiwi who moves to London tries to soften the blow to family and friends by claiming they’ll regularly return. But, writes Elle Hunt in her regular Elleswhere column about life as an expat New Zealander, such hopes are rarely borne out. Just before I left New Zealand again, my mother told the rest … Read more
We know the story: the evening air was balmy and you’d had a beer or two. A rush of blood to the head made you invite far too many people round for a barbie next weekend. Fear not – hostess with the mostest Leisha Jones is here to help. When it comes to hosting, I’m … Read more
The Wombats are one of the most long-lasting bands from the mid-2000s British guitar rock revival. With them on their way to New Zealand, we looked into their story, and what it takes to outlive The Kaiser Chiefs. There’s a line in one of The Wombats’ first hits, ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’, that goes … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has so far said Iain Lees-Galloway’s job is not under threat but pressure is growing for her to sack the immigration minister over the controversial decision to allow Karel Sroubek in New Zealand. Former long-serving minister Peter Dunne explains what will determine Lees-Galloway’s fate. The one constant about the Karel Sroubek case is that … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Farmer shareholders give Fonterra a serve, Czech drug dealer breaks his silence, and Auckland Councillor attendance rates are in focus. Fonterra management has been given a serve by their shareholders, in the form of a brutal financial report. Covered on the NZ Herald, the Shareholders Council report says … Read more
The prime minister must swiftly condemn China on its mass detention of minority groups if her UN speech talking up the virtues of kindness and justice is to hold credibility, writes Newshub’s Rebecca Watson Latest estimates say China has put as many as one million ethnic Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minority groups from the … Read more