Did you know that all kinds of weird and wonderful shit floats about in the night sky, and you can make beer with it? If you’re into wine, you’ll probably be familiar with the idea of terroir — the way a Central Otago pinot noir tastes different to a Martinborough one, for example. It’s all … Read more
The ‘psychics make up stuff’ TV show is back on New Zealand screens, and it’s just as terrible as ever. In the latest in his series on New Zealand’s most questionable pop culture, James Mustapic looks back on Sensing Murder‘s early years, and what has and hasn’t changed since. The Spinoff TV, 10.45pm Fridays on … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. In our monthly Business Chat special, Simon Pound speaks with Maria Slade of Callaghan Innovation and Duncan Greive, managing editor of The Spinoff, about the business stories making the news that month. This month Simon, Maria and Duncan chat … Read more
Malcolm Turnbull has just survived a Liberal party-room vote, but the country’s politics are as riven by backbiting as ever. Frank Bongiorno explains how all of this became the norm Back in 2012, a major study on the selection and removal of party leaders in Anglo parliamentary democracies was published. The book contained a section with … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes on how we seek advice and who we should be following and learning from. On a fairly regular basis I am asked for advice. I don’t know why because my writing shows very clearly that I am a mess. Stories? I have a few…Life advice? Not so much. But I … Read more
Hungry? Give these top-notch toasties from the Fed and Baker Gramercy a whirl. In The Spinoff’s humble opinion, the toastie is the absolute pinnacle of New Zealand cuisine, so we’re right on board with the Great New Zealand Toastie Tour. In a collaboration between McClure’s Pickles and Coffee Supreme, 20 cafes and food outlets across … Read more
The former CEO of the Pike River mine says he doesn’t feel guilty over the explosion that killed 29 of his workers. Hayden Donnell lists a few things that should twig his conscience. Peter Whittall, who was boss of the Pike River mine when it blew up and killed 29 men, doesn’t feel guilty. The … Read more
A just-released cache of Nielsen data shows the impact a series of Facebook algorithm changes has had on New Zealand’s online media (spoiler: it’s not great). “How’s your traffic been?” a friend who works at one of the big media companies asked me recently, and even in asking we both knew the answer. It was … Read more
A new book looking at native plants of the South Island discusses their traditional Māori uses. The stories describe how Māori and Europeans grew and processed the plants, and uncovers some surprising uses. According to Rob Tipa, author of Treasures of Tāne: Plants of Ngāi Tahu, scientists are in many cases just now discovering the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Distribution of extra police officers announced, MPs put on a pay freeze, and the price of milk is in the spotlight at Stuff. The distribution of new police officers has been announced, at a delicate time for justice and crime prevention politics. During the election campaign, Labour … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today: “Limos aren’t even all that.”
All week this week we present new verse, to celebrate National Poetry Day on Friday. Today’s poet: Paula Harris of Palmerston North. if I were a queen, I would start wars out of sexual frustration I wouldn’t be a virgin queen – obviously – but I would be known to become incredibly tetchy … Read more
National knows it’s short of mates as it looks ahead to 2020, but the real appeal for the biggest party of the Opportunities Party’s revival is that it could hurt the Greens, writes Toby Manhire It is tempting to remember the Opportunities Party’s contribution to the New Zealand general election of 2017 as a car … Read more
The chair of Vector’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Teina Teariki Mana, ponders the state of gender equity in an industry that still lags behind. The energy industry is predominantly male and if you look at the statistics, Vector is no exception – just 3 in 10 of our employees are female. For generations, working in … Read more
Dietary Requirements is our new monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms and Fine Wine Delivery Company. On Dietary Requirements this month, Rebecca Smidt and Dariush Lolaiy from Auckland restaurant Cazador join Alice and Simon in the studio to talk about (and eat) sausages, offal, Beervana, their … Read more
Inspired by the screening of Leto at this year’s International Film Festival, Auckland-based Moscovite Anastasia Doniants presents a guide to the first wave of rock from the USSR. It’s been almost a year since Russia’s acclaimed theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov was confined to a house arrest – banned from talking to media, accessing … Read more
Intrepid gaming explorer Adam Goodall is dragged back into the world of battle vehicles with World of Warplanes. “You see, we’re carving up!” Tim and I are flying over rural Ukraine, near an Old Fortress on the Eastern Front. It’s autumn – the trees are all a deep orange – and we’re caught in a thirty-person dogfight … Read more
Could the Dunning-Kruger effect – when individuals’ ignorance about a particular subject makes them believe they’re more expert than they are – be the reason for intractably anti-vax views? Three scientists tested the hypothesis. One of the most contentious areas of health policy over the past two decades has been the safety of vaccination. Vaccines … Read more
Australian prime ministers are like a well functioning train system. If you miss one, there’s always another one just around the corner. In today’s cheat sheet, could the lucky country be about to see a another PM booted? Hang on, what is a spill? A spill (pronounced speeeeel) is when a parliamentary caucus all gets … Read more
DiscoveryCamp is inspiring young Māori and Pasifika students to persist with science. Simon Day talks to three graduates about the opportunities the programme has provided. From studying chemistry in the classroom, suddenly Cha’nel Kaa-Luke (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Porou) was in a real lab, learning about quantum computing, the science of social media, and how to … Read more
Don Rowe reviews Spin-Off, a knitting quarterly with easily as many polemics and features as The Spinoff – only with more staff. Reports of print’s demise are overstated – and I’ve got proof. It’s contained in the 104 pages of the Spin-Off quarterly, easily the best publication of its name and a giant Fuck You to the … Read more
Foam clog pioneer Crocs has announced that it is shutting down its factories. So what does that mean for New Zealand’s first and only Crocs store in Auckland? Jihee Junn paid a (much belated) visit to find out. The Crocs store in Newmarket has just a single review on Yelp: “Could there possibly be a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens have their weekend in the spotlight, sharp rise in international visitor spending, and drums beating for Fonterra breakup. The Green Party have had their annual weekend in the spotlight, and have pushed out some new policy wins. They’re areas where the party has promised to make … Read more
Andrew Little’s drive to rethink the system goes up a gear today in a summit designed to help draw up a programme for reform. Ahead of the two-day event, in Porirua, north of Wellington, the justice minister speaks to Asher Emanuel Andrew Little got a letter recently from a woman whose son is in prison. … Read more
A requirement that NZ First MPs cough up almost a third of a million dollars if if they are expelled or resign from caucus but stay in parliament is draconian and chilling, argues National MP Nick Smith The revelation that Winston Peters has binding contracts over his MPs requiring them to personally pay $300,000 in … Read more
Over two years in Nauru, I met many of the 119 children who have been left languishing by Australia and Nauru on the island. At the Pacific Island Forum, Jacinda Ardern has an opportunity to take a stand, and to change these kids’ lives, writes James Harris of World Vision From 2012 to 2014 I … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Catherine Woulfe: C-sections can cause infertility. Mine did “These last two years have been grim, numbing, month after month of nothing, nothing, nothing, bookended by very early miscarriages. Various GPs were optimistic but by last summer, I was not: I referred myself to Fertility … Read more
Family Guy has been on our airwaves for a slightly interrupted nineteen years, and it’s been critically reviled for almost as long. Sam Brooks has seen all of it and thinks it’s time he stood up for the perennial punching bag. There have been three hundred and nine episodes of Family Guy and I have seen every … Read more
Skeletons in the Cupboard, a documentary that includes the claim seven foot tall, red-headed Celts built complex astrological stone monuments before Māori arrived in Aotearoa, has been removed from TVNZ OnDemand, but not before it received thousands of views. Jeremy Rose from RNZ’s Mediawatch reports TVNZ has removed a documentary that claims Celts settled New Zealand thousands … Read more