The JRPG has been in decline for the past decade, but the Tales series continues to attract a dedicated audience. Sam Brooks investigates how it has survived so long. The first Tales game I ever played was a good ten years after its debut. It was 2005, the year where we pre-emptively gave Reese Witherspoon an Oscar for playing … Read more
They might have rebranded, they want us to know they’ve changed. And yet the party now known as New Conservative say they have the same values as when they were just the Conservatives. Is there any chance they’ll be taken seriously? The most important thing to get across about the New Conservative Party is that … Read more
For close to three decades, Eftpos has been New Zealand’s preferred payment method. But how long will it last? Justin Gregory for RNZ looks back on the growth of electronic banking and what comes next. A few years back, a Kiwi actor flew out to Shanghai to film a TV ad. The shoot would only … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Toby Manhire tries the freshly launched burger at vegan fast food outfit Lord of the Fries Meat. On the one hand it involves the institutionalised slaughter of animals, carries a range of grave health risks and presents a menace … Read more
The week’s best-selling books at the Unity stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Warlight: A Novel by Michael Ondaatje (Jonathan Cape, $35) “It’s as if WG Sebald wrote a Bond novel”: ludicrous statement, The Guardian. 2 Less by Andrew Sean Greer (Little, Brown and Company, $35) “Arthur Less and Andrew Sean Greer are handsome … Read more
New verse by Oturehua writer Brian Turner. Small Town Blues To hell with the songs of birds, the buzzing of bees and the breeze breathing in the trees, there’s always someone who thinks the whole village appreciates their taste in music. Brian Turner, 2018 The Spinoff Review of Books is proudly … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, Joseph Parker is heading back to the UK to rejoin the hunt for the heavyweight title. What’s all this then? Joseph Parker has signed to fight British heavyweight Dillian Whyte in London on July 28. Parker’s fighting a … Read more
‘I could fucking nail you up against the wall,’ says NZ novelist at Northcote appearance in support of candidate Shanan Halbert Novelist and outspoken commentator Alan Duff has unleashed a tirade at a Spinoff camera operator following an event on Wednesday evening at which he was the feature guest in support of Labour’s candidate in … Read more
This morning, news reports confirmed that the speedway will be leaving Western Springs. In today’s cheat sheet, we explain where it’s going and what’s going to take its place. Hey, so I hear the speedway is getting kicked out of Western Springs… Well, kinda. According to my former-colleague and still-neighbour Simon Wilson, the operator of … Read more
A birth, a betrayal, a flogging. Things continue to get darker on episode 8 of The Handmaid’s Tale, available on Lightbox. Tara Ward recaps. “Gilead eats you from the inside out,” June said during this week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, titled ‘Women’s Work’. It’s true, Gilead is the bleeding ulcer on the stomach lining of … Read more
Ellen Falconer talks to Lily Allen about celebrity, paparazzi, embarrassment and her new album, No Shame. Recently, having been prompted to share a story of the best time she was kicked out of an event, Lily Allen tweeted that at an awards night she once accidentally took ketamine thinking it was cocaine. Paparazzi evidence shows … Read more
Each year, to his neighbours’ dismay, right-wing columnist and convicted fraudster Damien Grant celebrates his son’s birthday with a deafening commercial-level fireworks display. Grant’s critics need to shut up and let him live his libertarian ideals in peace, says Emily Writes. So I was listening to RNZ’s The Panel (only because Mihi Forbes was on … Read more
Online shopping is great, but sometimes you just can’t beat a good old trip to your favourite local. Why Knot Outlet Shop, Auckland – Duncan Greive There’s an unbelievable amount to love about Why Knot Outlet Shop, an East Tāmaki institution buried near the end of a long string of light industrial buildings alongside Springs … Read more
Parents living in South Auckland were shocked, but probably not surprised, to learn this week that Auckland Council have been underfunding their playgrounds. Angela Cuming looks at some of the reasons why – and what is being done about it. So Hamilton City Council has finally done the right thing and voted to build new … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour accused of hypocrisy over fundraisers, voting about to close in by-election, and Speedway is leaving Western Springs in Auckland. The Labour Party has been accused of hypocrisy after Grant Robertson spoke at an exclusive $600 a head fundraising event, reports Stuff. Robertson, the finance minister, was … Read more
Claire Mabey gave birth to a 34-week-old golden-haired boy in Wellington last week. She also found the time to review a heartbreaking novel about the death of a baby. The writing of this review of Kate Duignan’s novel The New Ships got hijacked half-way by early onset pre-term labour and the arrival of my first born. A … 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 Angie Judge about how she’s changing a thousands of … Read more
New Zealand was poised for drug reform in 2007, but reform never came. Why do we still adhere to drug prohibition, which will be remembered as one of the most arbitrary, barbaric and brutal systems of oppression in human history? ‘Drug’ Prohibition is an archaic system of control conceived in the 1950s that’s had a devastating … Read more
What happens to the unused Pokemon who never make it to a game? They get leaked 20 years later and ruthlessly insulted. Last week, an uploaded ROM (essentially an illegal copy of a game) of Pokemon Gold and Silver was uploaded to the internet, and has since been meticulously unpacked by fans at The Cutting Room Floor. The … Read more
When you have a kid, words like ‘hangover’ and ‘holiday’ take on a whole new meaning. Mum Anna Gowan rewrites the dictionary for parents Fact: Kids give new meaning to life. “Yeah yeah,” I used to say upon hearing this. “I’ve seen the nappy ads and the cheesy photo shoots of doting parents in baby … Read more
From day one, Clark’s government was confronted by a revolt from the NZ business world that came to be known as the ‘winter of discontent’. There is a similar chill in the air now, writes Branko Marcetic No matter what Jacinda Ardern does, she can’t quite seem to win over the business world. Since last … Read more
Alex Casey witnessed a whole new dystopia on the set of Mortal Engines. Here she shares her key findings on matters including the giant sets, the catering, and Peter Jackson’s feet Hugo Weaving is holding the soundstage door open for me. This is not a drill, this is not a test run, this is, quite simply, … Read more
Jonathan Bree travels back in time to Soviet Russia for this exclusive interview. Anastasia Doniants, part of the ‘Inside the Iron Curtain’ creative team, writes: Why should we expect our artists to have something to say, to become experts on subjects they don’t really care about? They’ve done their work, why not preserve the mystique … Read more
Māori are in the process of choosing which electoral roll to vote from. Simon Day spoke to Dr Paerau Warbrick about what that decision means. I grew up firmly in te ao Pākehā. I also grew up very aware of my Tainui whakapapa, and the story of grandfather’s family – his father a legendary Māori … Read more
The Spinoff spent a week scaring the shit out of each other. So we made our own horror movie. Giving someone a great fright is an art. It takes preparation, patience, and innovation. It can be as simple as finding someone vulnerable, headphones on, deeply invested in their work and creeping into their blind spot; … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Like it or not, a plastic bag ban is coming, loan sharks are flouting laws, and Bob Jones is going to court. A ban on single-use plastic bags is almost certain to be announced this year. Earlier in the week environment minister Eugenie Sage hinted to Newshub that legislation … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, the latest on New Zealand’s efforts to fight plastic pollution. What’s all this then? It’s a wrap on plastic, with everyone from Countdown to Coca-Cola joining a pledge to (eventually) eliminate things like straws and bags from their … Read more
The calls happen every year now for Matariki to be turned into a public holiday. Soon they will be too loud to ignore. It always happens around late May, early June. It gets cold, the days are short, the steam from cooking pots on the stove fogs up the windows. The good folk of New … Read more
Serena Benson was the grand winner of the 2017 Surrey Hotel writers residency award in association with the Spinoff. Here she writes about the project she worked on at the Surrey – a chronicle of her drug addiction nightmare. After seven years in recovery, I’ve mustered up the courage to chronicle my journey into addiction … Read more