If anyone in Pittsburgh lacked motivation to get involved in the midterm elections, Trump’s ham-fisted response to the synagogue shooting provided it, writes Heather McCracken, a New Zealander living in Pennsylvania. Squirrel Hill is just a few streets away from my home in Pittsburgh. It’s my local shopping area. It has a main street that seems … Read more
It may lack the sex appeal of a brand new city-centre build, but Mt Smart is Auckland’s rock star venue in waiting, writes Mark Thomas. An “orphan” is how the office of the auditor general described Auckland’s Mt Smart stadium in its critical review of a failed David Beckham-starred event in late 2008. A decade … Read more
If the rhetoric on cycling and walking means anything, why are they the only modes now set to lose their specialist focus and public champion at Auckland Transport, asks Jolisa Gracewood from Bike Auckland “This project represents the future of Auckland’s streets and the future of travel in Auckland,” said Auckland Transport’s Walking, Cycling, and … Read more
In this excerpt from the new book Mountains to Sea: Solving New Zealand’s Freshwater Crisis, Tina Ngata talks about the whakapapa of life-giving freshwater. Ko wai tēnei When I speak to wai I speak to myself – and that is not only to acknowledge the inherent understanding that many Māori carry, which is ‘Ko wai … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Banks under review escape serious sanctions despite spotlight, allegation of police brutality at Defence Expo, and Speaker slammed for rugby junket. The banks have been under the spotlight after the release of a report from the Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank. 11 banks were looked at … Read more
Corn dogs, crayfish and multiple gin tastings convert a cynical ex-Wellingtonian to the joys of Tāmaki Makaurau’s annual food festival. Arriving at The Cloud (or, as I like to call it, the Great Corporate Sandworm of Arrakis) for Taste of Auckland, my cynical-meter immediately goes into the red zone. Bizarrely, all ticket holders need to … Read more
TradeMe has just released its list of the Top 10 most-searched toys for 2018. Emily Writes tries to figure out what the hell they are. It’s true I’ve been looking on TradeMe for every iteration of “Cubby house” available to me with a “pick up Wellington” criteria. None are in my price range. And the … Read more
Tara Ward recaps the rollicking premiere of Outlander season four, available exclusively on Lightbox. Contains major spoilers. The season premiere of Outlander was, as Queen Oprah would say, a full circle moment. Mostly because Claire Fraser kept wanging on about all the circular things she could think of – her wedding rings, the hangman’s noose, those soft … Read more
In the sixth episode of Project Runway New Zealand, the designers had to make a high-fashion look inspired by wallpaper designs. Henry Oliver ranks the results. Like a headmaster starting the assembly after some school-wide bad exam results, let me say up front how disappointed I am with the designers work this week. Tut tut. Last … Read more
Days out from critical midterm elections, RNZ’s Tim Watkin attends a Donald Trump rally, where it isn’t about facts and figures, it’s all about tribes and theatre. Outside President Donald Trump’s last rally in the key state of Florida before this week’s midterm elections, an African-American man walks up and down the queue putting on … Read more
Short answer? No. Long answer? Well, maybe. Cricket tragic Alex Braae assesses whether the White Ferns could go all the way in the West Indies. Ah, cricket. Even in that most ugly form of the game – T20 – there’s nothing like a Cricket World Cup to stir up passion and patriotism. And even though … Read more
The Monday Extract: Peter Malcouronne’s superb new book on Great Barrier Island features an extraordinary interview with Jade Webster – labourer, surfer, survivor. This book extract contains discussion of abuse that may be distressing to some readers. Usually you’ll find her on the digger. Inside the cab, left joystick working the swing, right the bucket … Read more
A new product from the upmarket US audio company promises to lull you to sleep. Toby Manhire takes them to bed. Fruit flies need it, homo sapiens need it, we all need it, even if scientists may not know all the reasons why we do. And the moments we know most of all that we … Read more
They said he couldn’t do it, but what else are you going to do in seven days? Sam Brooks watched 42 episodes of Outlander in a single week to catch up before the fourth season premiere tonight on Lightbox. One week ago today I sat around The Spinoff’s story-pitching firepit, and said I thought it would … Read more
Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond debunks some of the myths and misinformation around abortion law reform in New Zealand and the changes proposed by the Law Commission. It’s important to have accurate information to decide how you feel about changing the law on abortion. The problem is, that isn’t always possible online. At Family … Read more
A new week has dawned, and to start it off, another conversation secretly recorded by Jami-Lee Ross has been leaked to Newshub. So what does it say, and what does it mean? The leader of the opposition goes on all the major TV and radio shows on a Monday morning, and generally the interviews follow … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour revels in rare display of party unity at annual conference, we’re buying massive numbers of the wrong cars, and Phil Goff’s mayoralty in focus. For nine of the last ten years, the Labour Party conference has been notorious for factional fights and a general sense of gloom. This year, … Read more
Alex Casey dissects a destructive obsession with discount pharmacy Chemist Warehouse. Within the four walls of the Chemist Warehouse, a malevolent force commandeers my mind, body and soul. I walk in a confident, independent woman in charge of a small shopping list (SPF moisturiser, dry shampoo, mascara) and I leave a gormless, penniless drone, lobotomised … Read more
New Zealand has a severe lack of political polls and, without polling, political coverage relies on the opinions of a few Wellington-based journalists. Michael Appleton explains why that’s a bad thing. New Zealand is suffering a severe political polling drought. In the first ten months of 2018, just seven opinion polls were publicly released: five … Read more
New Zealanders’ obsession with buying new double cab utes will make achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 almost impossible without a major change in Government policy. And it’s needed almost immediately, writes Bernard Hickey. This content originally ran on RNZ. For more, listen to the podcast version of this story. According to industry sales figures, the … Read more
The big announcement was funding for 600 new staff in schools to assist students with learning needs as the prime minister addressed an adoring crowd at the Dunedin Town Hall Never has the description “leader’s address” been truer. Before the party faithful at the Dunedin Town Hall this afternoon, Jacinda Ardern offered what might be … Read more
Were a group of Māori men from Parihaka in Taranaki really held in a Dunedin cave in the late 1800s? New research by museum curator Seán Brosnahan seems to have finally revealed the truth. Shore Street, on the Dunedin harbour, marks the turning point of two different worlds. On one side, the busy machinations of … Read more
November was the peak month of the 1918 pandemic that killed 9,000 New Zealanders. A century, will we be able to deal with another outbreak? Philippa Tolley reports for RNZ’s Insight The memories captured from the days and weeks the pandemic took hold in 1918 are tragic. Decades later, in a 1967 interview, a Wellington shop … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Hayden Donnell: If you think Lime scooters are a safety menace, wait till you hear about cars “It’s encouraging to see people getting so worked up and uncompromising about road safety, because they’re right: New Zealand is facing a transport emergency. There are death traps … Read more
A weekend breakfast treat, perfect for using up leftover roast pumpkin. Lucky for us, last year’s summer garden offered forth an abundance of crown pumpkins, self-seeded down the back underneath the dappled shade of the pear trees. They’ve done us well and just as I notice we are down to our last few, I see … Read more
Janice Mary has been off Facebook for a month, but it wasn’t an easy road to get there. She writes about her social media addiction. Ten years is how long I was on Facebook. Ten years of habitual, mindless, scrolling day in, day out. I revealed 943 status updates and 628 photos exposing to the … Read more
Earlier this year David Farrier captured video footage of a man engaging in a musical performance in front of two dogs who were in the act of making love. So Farrier went in search of the New Zealand hero who played the ukulele to two horned up doggos. In early May, I was showing a … Read more
In the case of Karel Sroubek, the immigration minister can insist on his blamelessness but seems denied the means of proving it. That may be frustrating or convenient for him – depending on how cynical you are, writes Liam Hehir There is this Alfred Hitchcock movie, I Confess, about a priest named Michael Logan who hears, in … Read more
The death of famed sports pundit Dr Z adds extra motivation for six of the USA Eagles as they prepare to take on the Māori All Blacks on Sunday. One by one they have gone, and today the last of them took his final breath. Paul Zimmerman, known to anyone who ever took a passing … Read more