Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Hemma Vara: Five great sustainable, ethical clothing labels – all made in NZ “WORLD founder and ethical fashion champion Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet claimed it’s almost impossible to manufacture clothes in New Zealand, so we set out to find some labels that are not only creating … Read more
Ever wondered why some random always leaves the same emoji on your photos? Lucy Revill introduces the ghastly robots of the ‘gram. How long have you spent on Instagram this weekend? It’s a bit of a time suck, right? Well I have good news: rather than manually liking other people’s images or leaving comments, you … Read more
Ash Peters is passing on her love of mountain biking to hundreds of families around the Wellington region. She spoke to Thalia Kehoe Rowden about what draws her to the hills, and how her charity is reaching all sorts of families who haven’t been on the trails before. The WORD youth mountain biking holiday programmes … Read more
Hosted by Jake Millar and the multi-millionaire Mowbray siblings, New Zealand’s new, young entrepreneurial elite gathered at the famed Dotcom/Toy Mansion for a night of tuxedos, evening gowns, and abundant champagne. Jihee Junn reluctantly went along. The first thing you see are the lights in the sky – two white beams dancing in the pitch … Read more
Samuel Flynn Scott explores the buzzy flavours of the natural wineries of downtown Wellington. I’m in the Garage Project Taproom with my long term comrade in music Lukasz Buda. We’re entertaining Marlon Williams and his lovely band The Yarra Benders. We find ourselves here because it’s close to the gig, and we’re trying to impress … Read more
Thinking about consumption is sometimes easier said than done, so we’re here to help: check out The Spinoff’s guide to buying ethical clothing for men. Last weekend we posted about a number of stylish and purpose-driven New Zealand womenswear brands, but some of our readers were feeling left out, so we brought forward the next instalment: … Read more
The 80s were a time for wellness videos from all kinds of celebrities. But the best one? Dame Angela Lansbury’s. Sam Brooks found the tape, and dug through it for the gems. Look, Angela Lansbury is a damn treasure. She’s got five Tonys (those are the Oscars for theatre), she’s been nominated for three Oscars, … Read more
What on earth would possess someone to publish a cacophony of fabrications so unhinged that they make Infowars look tame? January 19 2018 was a day that changed what normal meant in New Zealand’s political history. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her pregnancy, and changed perceptions across the world about what it meant to be … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. “In Dungeons and Dragons are dogs, dogs? Or are they like, esteemed members of the community?” Deep in the tunnels beneath Mount Waterdeep our heroes race against time to complete the infamous … Read more
New verse by Eastbourne writer Maggie Rainey-Smith. Jogging she is young white and affiliated to a famous writing school an MA no less I’m assuming she must run at the very least so I can’t take offence when she tells me to jog on because I already know I’m invisible typing my life … Read more
E3 is a whirlwind of press conferences, trailers and gamer reactions, and so much happens that it’s almost impossible to keep up with it all. Sam Brooks has your essential E3 cheat sheet. If you’re deep in a certain part of the internet, your social media feed right now is probably a maelstrom of E3 … Read more
Former Auckland Grammar headmaster John Morris recently warned that ‘genuine education’ is in danger of being replaced by reforms amounting to ‘social engineering’. School principal Marama Stewart responds. As demonstrated by the intense competition to live in certain Auckland neighbourhoods, New Zealand continues to place great value on a traditional education. Auckland Grammar is still … Read more
The week’s best-sellers at the Unity Books stores in Willis St, Wellington, and High St, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 New Animals by Pip Adam (Victoria University Press, $30) As winner of the Acorn Prize for fiction, at the recent 2018 Ockham New Zealand national book awards, Adam pocketed $50,000; last week, she did a grand better, … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes hates almost all children’s TV – and the stuff she likes, her kids hate. But the most horrible shows of all are the ones with unbearable theme songs. These are the worst of the worst. When I had my first baby we didn’t have a television because we didn’t want … Read more
Following a campaign on The Spinoff about dragged out payments to small business, a members’ bill has been lodged to name and shame corporate late-payers. We did it! Just this week Labour MP Deborah Russell announced she was putting a members’ bill in the biscuit tin of democracy. The bill had the snappy title of … Read more
Lukas has reached a quarter-million streams with his track ‘Comfort Clouds’, while LMC has produced beats for US acts, most notably one of the tracks off Rich The Kid’s new album, which just went gold in the US. Now they’ve come together to create the perfect downbeat tune for the season, matched by an equally … Read more
Welcome back to Gilead, where last week’s memories of June and Serena eating croissants and listening to Lionel Ritchie records together are but crumbs in the dystopian toaster of our lives. Tara Ward recaps episode 9. This week we begin our journey into the hellfires of patriarchy with June counting her blessings (mostly: a chair) … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to David Bowes, CEO of insights agency Zavy, which helps businesses understand in simple, visual terms what all this social media fuss is about. ONE: How did Zavy start and what was the inspiration behind it? … 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, Paula Bennett has a modest proposal for the country. The Spinoff TV screens Fridays at 9.45pm from June 22nd on THREE. Thanks to NZ on Air. Click here for all our Kiwis … Read more
Tēnā koutou katoa, haere mai ki Te Bulletin, ko Simon Day tōku ingoa. I’m stepping in for Alex Braae this morning and in today’s edition: Winston Peters jumps Fonterra, Spark gives 1900 people five days to decide on their future, and Mycoplasma Bovis spreads in the North Island. Prime minister proxy in waiting Winston Peters, … Read more
A scrap with Facebook over a copycat Stuff page reveals how fine the line is between combating fake news and straight up censorship. Fans of the meme page NZ Stuffed would have probably noticed over this week that the content had vanished from their Facebook feeds. Why? It had been shut down by Facebook, at … Read more
Isn’t it interesting how New Zealanders suddenly remember they’re football fans just as the World Cup begins? Starring Ra Pomare. The Spinoff TV screens Fridays at 9.45pm from June 22nd on THREE. Thanks to NZ on Air.
Boycrush’s new album Desperate Late Night Energy is out tomorrow. Ahead of its release, The Spinoff presents an exclusive premiere of the video for ‘100%’, featuring Yumi Zouma. Director Hayden Eastmond-Mein: Alistair (Boycrush) and I stumbled across a strange corner of (stock photo and video website) Shutterstock that had a whole series of bizarre clips … 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 Simon talks to Tim Lightbourne about how he built a wine company … Read more
Mould is one of the biggest health risks associated with New Zealand’s substandard housing stock. But since landlords seem averse to doing anything about the problem, Madeleine Chapman came up with an easy workaround. This story was published in June 2018. Earlier this week, nine students reached a confidential settlement agreement with their landlord following … Read more
George Henderson gets to grips with the subject of New Zealand’s white, lucrative, high-fat, glutenous gold: milk. There is probably no food that tests our individual tolerance as much as milk. Personally, I can’t stand the stuff, yet I love some of its products. If you’re gluten intolerant or allergic to wheat, you just avoid that … Read more
Having axed nearly all the people he follows on Twitter, rich-lister Sam Morgan is proudly down to fewer than ten. They’re all men. In the interests of broadening his horizons, here are some real life female humans he might like to add. Hey Sam, We don’t know you, but everyone in New Zealand sort of … Read more
Whether your kids watch a little or a lot of television, it’s good to know where to find the best stuff. So is new kids platform HEIHEI worth a watch? Thalia Kehoe Rowden and her six-year-old son have decided to find out. Together, they’re watching all 39 shows, filling out an intimidating spreadsheet of notes, … 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, Act leader David Seymour updates us on his Dancing With the Stars training. The Spinoff TV screens Fridays at 9.45pm from June 22nd on THREE. Thanks to NZ on Air. Click here … Read more