RNZ’s Jana Whitta talks to Sydney post-punk band Mere Women about their new album and women’s experiences over generations. Sydney based post-punk outfit Mere Women make loud music that takes you on a journey through big open spaces. Their third album Big Skies was released on Poison City last year, receiving critical acclaim from the Herald Sun … Read more
Earlier this week Coronation Street finally cast off 2016 and time-leapt into the present day with a two hour special catching up viewers on everything that happened in the intervening 18 months. Then The Spinoff TV’s Angella Dravid decided to go one better. The Spinoff TV screens Fridays at 9.45pm from June 22nd on THREE. … Read more
Chicken without the bird, milk without the cow: meet the five Kiwi startups catapulting vegan alternatives into the mouths of mainstream consumers. Eggs Benedict, mac ‘n’ cheese, and spaghetti bolognese. I’m not just listing random foods – they’re a selection of meals over the past year that I’ve tried in a 100% vegan state. And … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Green Party members furious at ministerial decision, China’s rubbish ban starts to bite, and what was really in that letter signed by Auckland councillors? Green Party members are outraged at a ministerial decision to allow a Chinese water bottling and exporting company to expand, reports Stuff. The … Read more
As the government is forced into retreat over its planned repeal of the three strikes law, it’s worth remembering just why it needs to go. The government’s plan to repeal the three strikes law may be dead (for now), but as long as it stays on the books, the reasons for the initial impetus to … Read more
Alex Casey goes for a stroll on the foot-shaped sands of Heartbreak Island, week one. Look, if you had told me in high school that all the beautiful, popular people would someday end up swimming around in a kiddie pool full of milk on a man-made island shaped like a human foot, I would have … Read more
The Spinoff answers the question other media are too scared to ask – is the First Baby actually a demon? The Spinoff TV screens Fridays at 9.45pm from June 22nd on THREE. Thanks to NZ on Air.
In today’s Cheat Sheet, what exactly turns a prison into a mega-prison? And how do the just-announced plans for Waikeria Prison fit in? What’s all this then? Plans have finally been released for what’s going to happen at Waikeria Prison, the lockup near Ōtorohanga in the middle of the North Island. Under the previous government’s … Read more
Cheat sheet: According to numerous reports, close to half of the Auckland Council have signed a letter expressing ‘no confidence’ in Phil Goff. But have they really? So nine councillors have signed a letter expressing ‘no confidence’ in Phil Goff? No they haven’t. Less than nine? No. Nine signed the letter. And wasn’t that a … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, Auckland Council wants you to help buy trains. What’s the deal, and can they be trusted with your money? What’s all this then? Auckland Council has announced they will be making an offer of five year ‘green bonds’ … Read more
Christchurch writer Amy Head on the setting for her new novel – Rotoroa, an island near Waiheke, where the Salvation Army ran a rehab centre for alcoholics. When I first learned about Rotoroa, an island east of Waiheke where the Salvation Army ran a rehabilitation facility between 1911 and 2005 (known early on as an … Read more
Henry Oliver explores the corridors and changes happening at Auckland Museum, and what they say about Tāmaki Makaurau. Cities change. It’s part of their essential nature. A product of their population, cities are constantly transforming as they attract new people and lose others. While the hills and the water and sky remain, essentially, unchanged, everything … Read more
Phil Twyford called meth use a “health issue” this morning, and said his Housing NZ would not make people homeless. Good words and true. So why is his government still locking addicts up? A few hours ago, Morning Report’s Guyon Espiner conducted an interview with housing minister Phil Twyford which was both mundane and extraordinary, … Read more
After years of disappointing wage growth, and income growth more broadly, are the stars aligned for a lift? We all know it. It’s the feeling of busting your gut day-in day-out to finally get to payday, only to feel when you wrest open that little payslip, defeated and a little deflated: I worked all those … Read more
Is it Normal is the Spinoff Parents advice column. Today Alex Ker from InsideOUT gives advice to a mum of a gender curious little one. Welcome to the fourth instalment of The Spinoff Parents advice column Is it Normal? curated by Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes. If you don’t know what this column is all about … Read more
Microbiologist (and finalist for 2018’s New Zealander of the year) Siouxsie Wiles celebrates the announcement that Juliet Gerrard will be the next prime minister’s chief science advisor. Yesterday the prime minister announced who would be replacing Sir Peter Gluckman as her chief science advisor. For those of you not from the world of science or the … Read more
Nintendo had their E3 press conference today – and obviously the most important part was who’s being added to the new Super Smash Bros. game. Sam Brooks takes a look at the new characters. If you grew up as a nineties kid – or even more egregiously, an aughties kid – then you’ll recognise Super Smash … Read more
While the meth testing scheme has been proven to be a rort, the dangers of lead contamination in homes is still very real. Environmental scientist Tim Muller explains. In case you missed it, the prime minister’s chief science advisor (PMCSA) recently released a damning report into the meth testing and remediation industry. The gist is … Read more
The Spinoff presents the video premiere of Ria Hall’s ‘Te Ahi Kai Pō’, directed by Shae Sterling, inspired by the Battle of Te Ranga in June of 1864. Ria Hall says: I’ve used this battle as a metaphor for the composition, contemplating on how to find solace and peace after the onslaught and dispossession. This song is applicable … Read more
In just one day the number two in the government has deployed three of the weapons that have sustained him in politics over four decades, writes Guyon Espiner for RNZ. They are three of the life-long loves for Winston Peters: legal action, exercising the balance of power and the execution of perfect timing. On the … Read more
With dozens of domestic animals, a seriously French take on Sex and the City and maybe the most popular NZ show ever, June on Lightbox has your winter sorted. Sam Brooks, Alex Casey and Emily Writes run down what’s coming to Lightbox this month. NEW TO LIGHTBOX TV Madam Secretary (S1-2, arrives June 19) Do you love political drama … Read more
It appears the two biggest pizza nerds in the world are both from Wellington. Samuel Flynn Scott spoke to the capital’s pizza guru, Tommy Millions, about the perfect slice, learning his craft, and his alternative social media style. Tommy Millions started life as a little woodfired pizza trailer that would pop up at farmers’ markets … Read more
Seven weeks into Dancing with the Stars, The leader of the ACT Party has collected more votes to keep him on the show than he did in Epsom last September, The Spinoff has learned. The hard-twerking member of parliament for Epsom, David Seymour, has comfortably now received more votes for his efforts on Three’s Dancing with the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government will unveil plans for Waikeria Prison, Nicky Hager vindicated after unlawful police raid, and Auckland councillors getting restless about Goff. The government’s new plans for Waikeria Prison are set to finally be revealed today,reports Radio NZ. There has been endless back and forth on this since … Read more
Some ministers are already displaying the election-losing arrogance that it took National’s Cabinet three terms to achieve. The PM’s parental leave is a risk – but also an opportunity, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. For nigh on three decades there’s been a soothing, tide-like regularity to New Zealand politics. Every nine years we elect a new government with … Read more
As the deadline fast approaches for entries to the 2018 Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency In Association With The Spinoff Award, Wairarapa essayist and 2017 winner John Summers presents his diary of the prize – a five-night stay in Grey Lynn’s Surrey Hotel. I arrive overdressed. I got up at 5:30am, and wore my overcoat … Read more
The ‘Nectarine Nero’ meets Kim Jong-un in Singapore today to pursue the shared goals of peace in Korea and a lovely Nobel prize. Don Rowe breaks down the 30 seconds or so the pair spent with the press ahead of their talks today. Well how about that, the Apprentice guy is in Singapore negotiating for an … Read more
A talk show… about theatre? You mean Shakespeare and shit? Sam Brooks watches the first episode of Louise Wallace’s Opening Night. Theatre is a hard sell. Even for people who enjoy theatre – hell, even for people who make theatre – it’s hard to get people to actually go to a play. If it’s not … Read more
The new trailer for the much-anticipated latest entry in the Final Fantasy/Disney crossover series Kingdom Hearts premiered at E3 today. Sam Brooks tries to make sense of it. If you’re not familiar with Kingdom Hearts, good god, why are you starting now? You’re sixteen years too late. Trying to understand this series at this point is like trying to … Read more