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 speaks to Greta Kenyon about starting a magazine and how Together Journal … Read more
Milk is practically white gold, right? Turns out not so much, with Fonterra announcing a huge loss for the year. Business editor Maria Slade explains why our biggest dairy company has lost so much money. Has our largest company really made its first ever loss? Yes. Fonterra Co-operative Group has announced a $196 million loss … Read more
Just when you thought The Block NZ had thrown everything at us, Mark Richardson uttered the immortal words: “Welcome to Sheep World”. Tara Ward recaps another bewildering week on The Block NZ. It wasn’t Country Calendar, it wasn’t The Dog Show, it wasn’t even NZ Farmer of the Flipping Year. It was week ten of The Block … Read more
Not for the first time, NZ First has scuppered government plans – and the party’s leader keeps proving he has all the leverage, writes Danyl Mclauchlan Well, it happened again. Back in June the justice minister, Andrew Little, announced plans to repeal the Three Strikes legislation, only to have Winston Peters publically humiliate him by … Read more
The Stephen King super-series hits Lightbox in its entirety tonight, and thankfully, it’s come with A Plan and An Answer to all its mysteries. Uther Dean reviews. In the small town of Castle Rock, shit is going down. The head warden of the local prison kills himself. The new warden discovers a haunted, silent man … Read more
This is the te reo journey of one very colonised Māori, writes journalist Meriana Johnsen. In one of our te reo classes, we had to choose a whakataukī that resonated with us. I chose: Ko taku reo, taku ohooho, ko taku reo, taku mapihi mauria. My language is my awakening, my language is the window … Read more
London-based Elle Hunt, along with just about every New Zealander living and working overseas, is routinely asked if and when she might return home. It helps to have a spiel ready, she advises, in her first Elleswhere column I am seven minutes in to my daily half-hour browse of Instagram Stories when I come across one … Read more
It’s being called the most pure MMP government in history. Does that just mean Winston Peters’ party gets to pull swifties on Jacinda Ardern whenever they feel like it? Coalition governments, by their very nature, require compromises and negotiations. But over 2018, it has seemed like NZ First have been doing a lot more negotiation, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: 1080 activism hits Parliamentary forecourt, concerns about NZ First’s influence over the government aired, and a long day looms at Fonterra. All of a sudden, 1080 activism has become far more visible and prominent, using both legal challenges and direct action. Yesterday, protesters scattered fake pallets and … Read more
The NZ First leader defends his party’s approach to coalition negotiations, explains why they went with Labour and, of course, upbraids the media. This is the second in a series of extracts from the new VUP collection Stardust and Substance, which is published today. Read Jacinda Ardern’s review of ‘the most extraordinary year of my … Read more
Week four arrives full throttle with our most intense the Bachelor Australia episodes yet, giving the producers almost more airtime than the Honey Badger himself. In a twist about as surprising as Don Brash writing an opinion piece on te reo Māori being useless, three “intruders” find themselves arriving at the Bachelor mansion. We’re … Read more
This week, Poland comes to Warkworth, Portugal to Hawke’s Bay, and Henry Oliver drinks it up. 8 WIRED BALTYK-TASMAN 9%, 330ml, $7.99 from Fine Wine Delivery Co Ahhhhhhh, isn’t it heartwarming when the disparate nations of the world can come together and make something beautiful? It seems to be happening a lot less recently. Every … Read more
Yes, exactly like the headline says, we’re giving away a massive 22 books via this weekend’s awesome Going West literary festival!!! The 2018 Going West literary festival takes place this weekend in Titirangi, that pleasant, rat-infested woodland suburb in Auckland. There will be a great deal of talk about literature and ideas and society, and … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Devin Abrams, who makes music as Pacific Heights, about his dreamy new album and making a huge pop hit with Drax Project. Devin Abrams knew he had to finish his new album as Pacific Heights, A Lost Light, quickly. With a baby on the way, he knew his life was about … Read more
The case to make the singer a citizen of Aotearoa is now irrefutable. Please jump on board and get this passport party started. The American singer-songwriter with a passion for good tunes, good values and upside down exclamation marks has just completed a triumphant tour of New Zealand, playing to sell-out crowds in Dunedin and across … Read more
The Education Review Office has released a new report on sexuality education in New Zealand schools. It’s important that parents read beyond the more sensational media headlines, writes Family Planning national health promotion advisor Amanda Hargreaves. The first review of sexuality education in New Zealand schools since 2007 is out. For experts in this field, … Read more
Financial adviser Mike Warrington is warning his clients that investment properties are no longer the great little earners they once were. What does this mean for renters? Rental property investment is progressively being defined by our regulators as a commercial activity and as a result, will be impacted more heavily by future costs. In due … Read more
Among the slew of indie games dropping on the Nintendo Switch, Into the Breach rises to the top. Adam Goodall reviews. When you fire up Into The Breach, a pint-sized turn-based strategy game developed by Subset Games, the team behind FTL: Faster Than Light, you might be surprised at how cute it is. The good guys are … Read more
In this first of a series of extracts from the new VUP collection Stardust and Substance, which is published tomorrow, the now prime minister recounts her unexpected elevation to the leadership and the remarkable events that followed. There is no doubt that 2017 will remain the most extraordinary year of my life. But a statement … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Teachers not impressed by new pay offer, attempt to use the Harmful Digital Communications Act to fight bad press, and swamp house family evicted. A new pay offer has been made to primary teachers, and will be considered by union members in an online ballot. Radio NZ reports … Read more
Combining the social dynamics of Survivor, the hidden cameras of Big Brother and a cast of Kiwi five-year-olds, Alex Casey finds the perfect reality show. While it’s unbelievable that it’s been 125 years since women got the vote in New Zealand, it’s absolutely mad that it’s also taken this long for The Secret Life format to … Read more
Ātea editor Leonie Hayden and Newsroom’s Emma Espiner sat down to talk race-baiting in mainstream media and why they’re not doing the heavy lifting anymore. If there’s a scenario I’m familiar with, it’s being asked to be the voice of te ao Māori/rangatahi Māori/Māori media on panels for mainstream radio, TV and live events. It’s … Read more
Charlotte Grimshaw reports on the latest weird and turbulent week in Donald Trump’s presidency: “The most powerful country in the world is at the mercy of someone so unfit for office that he shouldn’t be running a gas station.” It was the end of summer on the east coast of America, and it was only getting … Read more
Nichole Brown shares her love of te reo Māori and her hope that together, we can turn Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori into a lifelong celebration for our tamariki. This week marks another Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week – and as much as we would love a nation united in … Read more
Unhappy with Newsroom’s coverage of him in recent weeks, scientist and philanthropist Sir Ray Avery has filed a complaint with NetSafe alleging that its stories contain false allegations that have caused him emotional harm. Andrew Geddis explains why Netsafe’s decision will be a landmark one. Since launching last year, Newsroom has shown a willingness to stay on a … Read more
The groundbreaking sci-fi TV series The X-Files turns twenty-five today. Sam Rutledge writes a love letter to the show and the things that make it special even now. I have something to confess. When I was in my teens, I was one of two moderators for a Livejournal community dedicated entirely to watching episodes of The … Read more
Auckland Council has nitpicked its way into rejecting two high-density apartment developments on public transport routes near the CBD. Hayden Donnell asks whether council’s consents department really believes in the vision of the Unitary Plan. The Unitary Plan was supposed to fix things. When it passed in 2016, huge swathes of Auckland were rezoned for … Read more
Jaws has a lot to answer for. Rather than being terrified of sharks, we should embrace shark tourism to make people realise that they need to be protected, writes Michelle Barnes and Sarah Ruth Sutcliffe. Shark ecotourism can change people’s attitudes about sharks and make them more likely to support conservation projects – even after … Read more
By rejuvenating the world’s oldest alcoholic drink, the founder of Lone Bee Mead hopes to breathe new life into our regions. The animal kingdom brims with everyday examples of enterprise, dare and bravery by creatures both great and small. In the world of the humble honey bee, the hero of the narrative is the scout … Read more