If the University of Otago is really committed to free speech, yesterday’s events suggest they’ve a funny way of showing it, writes Andrew Geddis, a law professor at the university. In late 2015, I sat in a public lecture on climate change where Otago University’s vice chancellor sternly reprimanded the audience for heckling a “climate … Read more
Neil Young, our man in London, reports on Hera Lindsay Bird’s appearance last week at the coolest bookstore belonging to the coolest literary magazine in the English-speaking world. A bowl of cold spaghetti hoops was on the kitchen table. Meghan Markle was on the TV with the sound off. In three days’ time I was … Read more
A theatre show written by parents and for parents is welcoming mums to see the show with their babies. It might be a first in New Zealand. Producer Rachel Millar outlines why they’ve made the decision to be accessible. After children and babies in cafes and children on planes, babies in the theatre is the … Read more
Teenage New Zealanders without a home in Australia are left in limbo, ineligible for a living allowance. Governments on both sides of the Tasman need to make the plight of these blameless people a priority, writes Joseph Nunweek. Late last week, the Melbourne community legal centre I work for (WEstjustice) joined 40 other Australian NGOs … Read more
It’s no secret that horror writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft had bigoted attitudes to race and class. Duy Le examines how these aspects of Lovecraft’s writing are critiqued in FromSoftware’s Bloodborne. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many of HP Lovecraft’s works are subtly underpinned by his bigotry; his letters made his views all but transparent. … Read more
Big changes are coming to how companies that operate in Europe collect data. Dave Parry says failure to adopt practices that safeguard privacy could risk New Zealand’s reputation. Over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed that Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and all your other favourite internet sites have had a pop up mentioning … Read more
The visibility of hologram technology was given a major boost in New Zealand when the prime minister used it to make a Techweek speech. So how might the technology be used in the future? If holograms are the future, what exactly are they the future of? Anyone who saw Jacinda Ardern striding out onto the … Read more
Most students at the University of Auckland have no idea that their education provider has millions invested in fossil fuels. Fossil Free UoA would be happy to tell them about it – if the university only gave them the chance, writes member Ben Martelli. Early in the morning a couple of Thursdays ago I and … Read more
Yesterday the University of Otago seized thousands of copies of its own students’ association’s magazine. The editor of Critic Te Arohi, Joel MacManus, talks through the genesis of the menstruation issue – and yesterday’s extraordinary events. Two months ago, the Otago Women’s+ Club approached me about the idea to do a menstruation themed issue of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: EU gives go ahead for trade talks with NZ, marijuana referendum could be held next year, and Auckland’s mayor is under scrutiny over report secrecy. The European Union has given the go–ahead for free trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand. The story was broken by SBS yesterday across … Read more
It’s encouraging that members of this government finally seem to get it: prisons just don’t work. But what are they willing to do as an alternative, asks Tania Sawicki Mead of JustSpeak It arrived not with bang but a whisper. Plans for a billion dollar mega-prison at Waikeria, a development which would create the largest … Read more
Homelessness in New Zealand is a very serious problem, and it’s too important to be muddied by misinformation, writes Toby Manhire. One of the world’s gold-standard news agencies yesterday shone a light on a big New Zealand problem, homelessness. The headline: “Left behind – why boomtown New Zealand has a homelessness crisis”. And the introduction, … Read more
Last year, Oddly Even won TVNZ’s inaugural New Blood web series competition. This year and $100K later, the series launches. Sam Brooks talks to Oddly Even’s three lead actresses about the experience so far. Oddly Even is a cute web series. There’s an SPP-lite feel about the endeavour, with enough new-generation flavour to keep it from feeling … Read more
The Handmaid’s Tale portrays surrogacy as an act of violent exploitation. Surrogacy researcher Hannah Gibson considers how the show affects our understanding of surrogacy in New Zealand and asks: are women here being exploited? Recently, I sat down with popcorn to watch the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Lightbox. Based on the 1985 … Read more
The new government needs to roll back a policy that stops Africans claiming refugee status – and undermines the human rights at the foundation of our refugee policy, argues Murdoch Stephens. Politics make strange bedfellows and the campaign to double New Zealand’s refugee quota has been bunking down with some truly odd folk as of … Read more
Kiran, Jenna and Louisa bunker down on level 5 of the Aotea Centre to record on-the-ground reactions from three days at the Auckland Writers Festival. In this episode, we talk about the Ockhams, the Festival Gala, Jenny Zhang, Ella Yelich O’Connor & Durga Chew-Bowse, Karl Ove Knausgård and more. Featuring special guests Toby Manhire and … Read more
An intensive self-defence and empowerment workshop puts young women in stressful roleplays of power dynamics and attempted assault. Don Rowe visits the Stand Up programme at Rodney College. “You fucking bitch, I’ll kill you!” Dragging the girl backwards, the armoured man ranted and raved, screaming obscenities as she squirmed and struggled. First she freed her arm. … Read more
Councillor outrage over a secret stadium report shows how much the mayor needs to learn about consensus building, writes RNZ’s Auckland correspondent Todd Niall. What’s the difference between being the Minister of Auckland, and the Mayor of Auckland? It’s something Auckland Mayor Phil Goff may need to ponder half way through his first term, after … Read more
Auckland – glassy, dusty, unfinished, trying its best – is captured in a new art book by Wellington photographer Mary Macpherson. Big, vibrant, empty, fucked-up, under-construction Auckland. The city looms and loiters in a beautiful new art book – and exhibition, at The Pah Homestead – by Mary Macpherson, a Wellington photographer. “With its fly-overs, by-passes, and often shambolic orchestration of … Read more
The bullying and suicide rates among queer youth are dramatically higher than than for non-queer youth. Joel Bateman and Henry Yuen on how NZ schools can provide targeted support for LGBTQ+ students. The years of growing up and stepping through adolescence are a turbulent time for young people wrestling with issues of identity and self-esteem. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM steps in to cattle disease response, spotlight put on possible worker abuse in strip clubs, and a big win for local game company Grinding Gears. The bill for combatting cattle disease mycoplasma bovis is expected to grow, according to the Prime Minister. One News reports that the … Read more
New Zealand’s blue-chip business newspaper is these days chiefly an online operation, and its owner has plans to boost the subscriber base to 100,000. Against a backdrop of social media grenades and staff disquiet, Spinoff business editor Rebecca Stevenson talks to the NBR’s outspoken head honcho Todd Scott. Todd Scott is a truculent tweeter, taking … Read more
Amazingly, Dancing with the Stars NZ continues despite Naz’s untimely and controversial departure from the show. And as surely as the sun rises and sets, the power rankings come in. ELIMINATED: Zac Franich (and Kristie) – Paso Doble We bid adieu to the third Bachelor! The one thing I will give Zac Franich is that he seems … Read more
Is hype around the All Blacks out of all proportion in this country? Alex Braae went along to the first squad naming of the year to see just how big a deal it all is, and talk to a player with a unique perspective on it all. About two dozen journalists attend a typical prime … Read more
Madeleine Chapman asks, “Has there ever been a good question asked by an audience member at a literary festival?” Her experience at the Auckland Writers Festival suggests the answer is no, uh-uh, never. The first question I heard at the Auckland Writers Festival was a woman asking Washington Post journalist Amy Goldstein why, in her … Read more
Every parent has probably felt the disapproving eyes of others at some point when out with their offspring. Linda Jane Keegan challenges that feeling that kids just aren’t welcome anywhere. “It’s not working,” she said. And I thought, no, it’s not working. This workshop, organised to find out how to engage people like me, hasn’t … Read more
After touring the world and releasing an album with Kurt Vile last year, Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett is back with her second solo release, trading wry and acerbic for something a little more earnest. Courtney Barnett wants you to tell her how you really feel – so much so that she’s dedicated her entire website … Read more
Hopeful Christian’s death might flatten the spirit at Gloriavale but it has spiked their potential for mockery – and celebrity. Can something so discomforting also be humorous, asks Anke Richter Only a PR God could have made this happen: the patriarch of Gloriavale died last Tuesday – the same day that the new episodes of … Read more
JackpotCity gets around NZ laws to advertise on television in a scheme that grooms gamblers, including the young and vulnerable. Authorities need to show the moral muscle to tackle it, writes Paula Snowden. Read Don Rowe’s investigation for the Spinoff here JackpotCity has navigated its way around our laws and its getting away with it. … Read more