Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Queenstown airport expansion halted, secondary school teachers reject pay offer, and National MP taking a break for health reasons. An airport expansion in Queenstown has been cancelled, after strong opposition from the community. Simply put, they didn’t want the noise, and they didn’t want the numbers that … Read more
In the second of a series on PhD students delving into fascinating subjects, Madeleine Holden talks to Tara Pond, who is studying sexuality and gender. ‘I think 90% of the world thinks that queer people are all sexually fluid, that they are all whores, and that they have no morals, commitment or integrity, which is … Read more
The decision to remove the antivax signage in south Auckland is welcome, but it all points to a substantially bigger problem: trust in official advice, writes Dr Nikki Turner, director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre at the University of Auckland There has been an outpouring of frustration around the country, generated by the installation of … Read more
Alex Casey walks back down the aisle for a second season of Married at First Sight NZ. Dust off your matchmaker iPads, rouse the digital birds and get that Sodastream making effervescent farts: Married at First Sight NZ is back for another romantic rollercoaster of a season. Look, I tried to predict what season two … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture, with thanks to our friends at The Women’s Bookshop. September was a huge month for women both in New Zealand and elsewhere, as we celebrated 125 years of suffrage and watched our Prime Minister hold her baby … Read more
The annual free concert featuring the top local pop stars of the day is one of New Zealand’s most enduring Christmas traditions. James Mustapic looks back at its most memorable moments. Watch all of James Mustapic’s Repressed Memories here.
Why is so much writing too afraid to ever dare be offensive? A new literary journal produced in the Orkney Islands attempts to introduce some bad manners – with assistance from New Zealand authors. In February of this year, Craig Marriner published an essay with all the stoor of Hunter S Thompson at full throttle. … Read more
After almost 20 years with a drinking problem, newly sober Baal Caulfield* knows a thing or two about the lies you tell yourself as a ‘functional’ alcoholic. Sweet sweet liquor, nectar of the gods. Bringer of joy the world over. Whether it’s a glass of your favourite Pinot with your wife over dinner or drinking … Read more
It’s school holiday time again, and to help us survive the next two weeks of quality time with the fruits of our loins, we must turn to everything that is right and fair about the world: the television. It’s the friend we’ve always needed, in good times and in bad, in sunshine and in rain. … Read more
Life is Strange 2 repeats the sins of its predecessor – for good and for bad. Sam Brooks reviews. Video games are, as an artform, not known for their subtlety. If you’re not a gamer, your video game references are likely Mario, Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, maybe Final Fantasy. These are the technicolour dreamcoats of games, known less for their … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Emily Writes tries a new super-sized version of a classic flavoured milk. I was hungry and had already finished my two-minute noodles so I figured it was time to go to my happy place, Capital Mart. What can I … Read more
John Rykenberg ran a studio of Auckland photographers from the late ’50s through until the late 1970s. Last year, 900 boxes from his studio were donated to Auckland Libraries. One of the researchers investigating this massive collection of images was Gareth Shute, who shares some of his favourites. My interest in the Rykenberg collection came … Read more
Ignorance of the facts of genetic modification poses an economic risk to New Zealand, writes a professor of plant biology. There is a new agricultural-based green revolution beginning around the world, and it’s a technique you’ve probably heard of before: gene editing. New types of rice, wheat, tomato, maize, soybean and other crops created through the … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey laments the loss of a Kiwi classic. Before we get to the ruinous truth: there’s no denying that Roses are New Zealand’s ultimate choco gift. Favourites are fine, but rustling your way through the long vertical box … Read more
A year on from the last election, and barely a breath before the next, we’re rebooting our politics coverage. Toby Manhire explains. A wave of recent-past nostalgia has washed over New Zealand in recent weeks. The anniversary of the elevation of Jacinda Ardern to the leadership of the Labour Party amid a helter-skelter campaign. The … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Teachers to vote on week of rolling strikes, Customs gets power to fine people who don’t give up device passwords, and NZ values call gets bemused response. Primary teacher union members will vote on whether to go on a week of rolling strikes, reports the NZ Herald. Negotiations … Read more
From blow-up water balloons to prefabricated buildings: Homegrown toy giant Zuru is flexing its manufacturing muscles in the direction of the housing shortage. Toy giant Zuru has launched a massive international push into the prefabricated building industry, a venture it says will “make everything else we do look small’. Zuru is the half-a-billion-dollar toy manufacturing … Read more
It is useful for NZ First to race-bait by grandstanding about immigration but never useful to ever do anything about the issue, reckons Danyl Mclauchlan New Zealand First used to have this guy called Peter Brown as their deputy leader. Brown was (a) fiercely anti-immigration and (b) a migrant, having been born in the UK. It … Read more
The latest international takes on the New Zealand prime minister, in the New Yorker and on the ABC, underscore the scale of her achievement at the UN in New York last week, writes Toby Manhire. On Sunday morning RNZ’s Mediawatch programme struck a sceptical pose and stared down the New Zealand coverage of the prime … Read more
Welcome to the very first episode of Project Runway New Zealand, in which the designers had to make a cocktail dress inspired by a soft drink so inspiring nearly everyone used white. Henry Oliver ranks the results. Watching the first episode of a competition-based reality show always feels a little sadistic. Who is going home … Read more
Keeping kids entertained during the holidays just became a lot easier, thanks to the new and improved Freeview On Demand. Tara Ward explores some of their best shows for children. With the spring rain an almost certainty, Freeview is the answer to every frazzled parents school holiday nightmares. The new on-demand platform combines all the … Read more
Former journalist Emma Gilkison writes about a routine scan at Starship, where a paediatric cardiologist said to her, “There are two issues with your baby’s heart.” Content note: this book extract may be distressing for some readers. Regina Spektor’s song ‘Fidelity’ filled the cabin as our plane took off for Auckland. I loved this song. … Read more
At its 25th birthday convention on the weekend, The NZ First Party passed a remit calling for a test for new arrivals, requiring that they understood NZ values. The Respecting New Zealand Values Bill would require refugees and migrants to sit a test showing they understood what it means to be a Kiwi. One delegate, … Read more
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s new monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms and Fine Wine Delivery Co. This month on Dietary Requirements, we welcome Sophie back to the studio with a big ol’ American celebration. We chow down on fried chicken (recipe here) … Read more
The chair of Universities New Zealand appears to think that training programmes alone will solve the gender imbalance in the academic workforce. But we need to stop trying to fix the women and focus on fixing the system, write Sandra Grey, Cat Pausé and Sarah Proctor-Thomson, representing the Tertiary Education Union. One of the key … Read more
Nearly a quarter of players at the last Rugby World Cup were of Pacific Island descent. But, 23 years since the game turned professional, players born in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga still have to leave home to make a living from the sport. For Insight, RNZ Pacific’s Sports Editor Vinnie Wylie asks whether a Pacific Super Rugby … Read more
New Zealand hops are hot property in the beer world, but some overseas breweries’ tone-deaf homages to Aotearoa are causing offence. Worldwide, the beer industry is coming under increasing pressure to be more inclusive. In many parts of the world, breweries are dominated by white males, and the industry has a history of sexism — … Read more
The low energy day of Whiro is best spent fasting, meditating and cleansing the body. Want to know more? Check out the maramataka for October. Kia ora tātou, welcome to Whiringa-ā-nuku! Hopefully the last few columns have got you thinking and talking about the maramataka. With this latest instalment, we will continue to add mātauranga as … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Big budget film subsidies here to stay, NZ First want pledge of allegiance for migrants, and police to investigate themselves. The government has changed its mind on halting ballooning film industry subsidies, after consultation with big budget projects and legal advice. The NZ Herald reports that minister David Parker … Read more