This week’s sharemarket tumble has been an opportunity to get some of the financial industry’s favourite dramatic words – ‘bloodbath’, ‘plunge’, ‘tumble’, ‘plummet’ – back into the headlines: But what does this mean for investors? Co-founder of Sharesies Leighton Roberts explains. For anyone following share markets or browsing the headlines, you may have heard that there’s … Read more
Website Barstool Sports has been called misogynist, racist and a cyber bully. It’s also the latest sponsor of the NZ Breakers basketball team. Madeleine Chapman has a browse through their content to see if they’re a good fit. The New Zealand Breakers have a “no dickheads” policy. It was instituted by previous owners Paul and … Read more
New verse by Devonport writer Kevin Ireland. Lamb stew with bonus Gently fry tomatoes and green peppers. Toss them in a casserole. Use olive oil, not butter. Flavour them with home-cured bacon, and throw in plenty of shallots – they’re better halved or whole. Don’t forget turmeric, herbs, black pepper, and, of … Read more
Books, books and more books. No captions because our esteemed Braunias, Steve Braunias is away this week, but still, here are the best-selling books from the Unity stores on Willis Street, Wellington and High Street, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Heart of Jesus Valentino: A Mother’s Story by Emma Gilkison (Awa Press, $40) 2 Transcription by Kate Atkinson … Read more
An Israeli court has ordered Jewish New Zealander Justine Sachs and Palestinian New Zealander Nadia Abu-Shanab to pay thousands after Lorde cancelled a Tel Aviv concert. Having being flooded with offers of financial support, the women explain here why they’re keen to raise funds – not for a foreign court, but for the ordinary people … Read more
Alice is in a glass case of emotion (in a good way) about Behemoth’s latest IPA, and Henry is chuffed with a cheap and very cheerful pinot gris. BEHEMOTH BREWING COMPANY KIND OF A BIG DEAL SAN DIEGO IPA 6.9%, 330ml, $5.99 from Fine Wine Delivery Co San Diego: famous for its zoo, Comic-Con, some … Read more
Not only is Astro Bot: Rescue Mission a platformer on par with anything you’d expect from Nintendo’s moustachioed plumber, it’s also the first ‘killer app’ for PlayStation VR. Lee Henaghan grabs his helmet for the latest game of the year contender. Just as actors’ careers inevitably end up being defined by a particularly memorable role … Read more
Today, British singer-songwriter Jess Glynne released her second album, Always In Between. If you don’t think you’ve heard of her, you probably have. Let us re-introduce you. One part ’90s house queen, one part Florence and/or the Machine and one part Natasha Bedingfield in her prime – Jess Glynne started off as a marketing manager … Read more
Social scientist Lucy Carter says people’s resilience and generosity during the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes spurred her to look at how Māori and indigenous communities respond to disaster. When I tell people I’m a disaster researcher, I tend to get a range of reactions. Some take the opportunity to share with me their personal … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey goes to the opening of Instagram’s most hotly anticipated mini golf bar. I don’t really know why I’m even bothering to write a review of Holey Moley when a fellow mini golf enthusiast summed up the entire … Read more
RNZ is set to announce the Bird of the Year for 2018 on Monday morning. In honour of this event, and our finest dirtbag birds, Sam Brooks revives The Spinoff’s alternative contest: New Zealand’s Dirtbag Bird of the Year. Reacquaint yourself with last year’s Dirtbag Bird of the Year finalists and the popular vote winner. … Read more
Comics artist and writer Dylan Horrocks pays tribute to the revered New Zealand cartoonist Barry Linton, who died last week. A note from Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris: Last week New Zealand lost a true legend. A relatively under the radar one, but a legend none the less. Barry Linton, often called the godfather of comics … Read more
A Jerusalem court has ruled that two New Zealand women should cough up almost $19,000 in damages after calling for Lorde to boycott Israel. The chances of that being enforceable, however, are extremely slim, explains Otago law professor Andrew Geddis An Israeli court has ordered that two New Zealanders, Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab should … Read more
For 15 years Unitec has been working with the New Zealand Police to help diversify its intake of students. Jihee Junn looks at how Unitec’s ‘pre-police’ course is changing the demographics and culture of the police service. On a dreary, rainy Monday evening in Mount Albert, Sergeant John Brown is delivering a speech in front … Read more
Seven-and-a-half years since the quake, food is playing a critical role in how Christchurch rebuilds, according to the people behind a festival that celebrates the city’s regeneration. When you think about the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, food probably isn’t what springs to mind. But it was an important thread that ran through the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Police discuss logistics of legal weed, amount beneficiaries owe to MSD revealed, and a thorough rundown on why houses are unaffordable. With a reeferendum coming by 2020 at the latest, the police are starting to give serious thought to how they will go about their jobs … Read more
If your eyes glaze over at the very mention of the word, purple-haired ‘community strategist’ Savannah Peterson is here to change your mind about blockchain, writes Maria Slade. If Savannah Peterson were Mark Zuckerberg, she’d be transforming Facebook into a social network based on blockchain as we speak. Peterson is no ‘crypto-naut’. With her purple … Read more
The government announced a $10m strategy yesterday to boost women and girls in sport. Madeleine Chapman wonders if the nice sentiment will turn into action. When I was seven, and eight, and nine years old, I did athletics at my local club. Every Wednesday there would be club meets at the park literally behind my … Read more
The 2019 Man Booker prize is announced next week. Scarlett Cayford reviews two of the shortlisted novels, Milkman by Anna Burns and Everything Under by Daisy Johnson. The first pages of Milkman by Anna Burns feel like the beginning of a dystopian novel. We’re familiar with the conventions: a feeling of being observed, an urgent … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. With Duncan holidaying in Fiji, we’re joined once again by noted celebrity influencer JT Muirhead to dissect the week in reality television and real news. And what a week it’s been, with the badger botching … Read more
An indigenous free-trade agreement is one of the key ideas up for discussion at the World Indigenous Business Forum in Rotorua this week. Indigenous business leaders from around the world are looking at the ways they can create trade opportunities for their people. Hundreds of indigenous people from 25 countries are attending this week’s forum. … 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 Sandy Mamoli, author of Creating Great Teams. … Read more
Sam Brooks has played over one hundred hours of Dragon Quest – and found it to be an act of self-care, not grinding torture. This is his story. When it comes to J-RPGs, there are two titans: Final Fantasy, which I have slipped into enough articles on this site that I might as well be a … Read more
In the spirit of Mental Health Awareness Week, writer Carolyn Gillum has put together five poetic ‘cures’: poetry as a prescription for anxiety and stress, for feeling less alone, for insight into yourself and the world, for hope and for friendship. Poetry. Twenty-five years out of high school and the word still conjures the clink … Read more
In her third Elleswhere column about life as an expat New Zealander in London, Elle Hunt begs folks back home to spare a thought for a Whittaker’s fanatic stuck with no supply. I am stomping across the office when I hear someone call “EEL.” I carry on stomping across the office. Then I realise it’s … 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. Lakiloko Keakea is the first Tuvaluan artist to have a solo exhibition, now showing at Objectspace, Madeleine Chapman explores the beauty and purpose of Tuvalu art. Like a lot of artists, Lakiloko … Read more
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week so your Facebook feed is awash with encouragement to “reach out”. It’s important people know they can reach out if they need help – but what happens next, asks Emily Writes. Like many, many, many other people, I have quite bad anxiety. It has been described by various clever doctor … Read more
The political process is not working, the public doesn’t care and may never do so. So where does that leave us, asks Danyl Mclauchlan There’s this science fiction novel by Paolo Bacigalupi called The Water Knife, and of all the possible climate change futures its is the most bleakly realistic. It’s set in the American … Read more
A Māori owner of a United Kingdom-based kapa haka company says it is vital to protect the integrity of the haka – but a Dutch man who also offers kapa haka experiences says it is there to be shared by everyone, reports John Boynton. Karl Burrows runs Haka-Works, a UK-based company which offered haka workshops … Read more