Good morning, and welcome the The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major welfare changes coming, more funding for soldiers with PTSD, and Eric Murray won’t have a beer after all. A major overhaul of the welfare system is coming, in line with Labour and Green election campaign promises, reports Newshub. PM Jacinda Ardern indicated that could include the scrapping … Read more
The term ‘evidence’ has a fascinating linguistic and social history – and it’s a good reminder that even today the truth of scientific evidence depends on it being presented in a convincing way, writes James A T Lancaster As recent climate change scepticism shows, the fortunes of scientific evidence can be swayed by something as fleeting … Read more
The arguments for a national day to commemorate the New Zealand Wars are strong, but each iwi also has its own case for holding it on a separate date, writes RNZ’s Shannon Haunui-Thompson. Many believe that for a true process of education, reconciliation and healing, the larger national day has to prevail. Te Pūtake o … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, we dive into the still Thailand lake of Survivor NZ season two. Alex brings all the exciting gossip from the premiere event at TVNZ, and we get to … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Kimbra, the Hamilton-raised, New York-based art-pop star, about her new album, Primal Heart. Since leaving New Zealand ten years ago (and topping the singles charts of twenty-something countries with Gotye seven years), she’s moved to LA and then to New York where she set up a home studio to write what … Read more
For years, the larger centres in Aotearoa have had a headlock on the competitive gaming scene. But with the Waikato Arena Rampage, that’s all about to change. Horiana Henderson reports. In the ‘80s cool cats toted big square box ghettoblasters around. Nowadays, top dogs of the New Zealand fighting game community carry a big square … Read more
Dwayne The Rock Johnson welcomed his third daughter into the world today. Having read his Instagram post about the birth, Dwayne The Rock Johnson’s number one fan Emily Writes is now recovering in hospital after an ovary explosion. From her death bed, and with the assistance of her group-chat sisters Becka, Tamsyn, Gem and Vanessa, she … Read more
Elizabeth Knox – whose novel The Vintner’s Luck has been named by Spinoff readers as the best New Zealand book of the past 50 years – reaches into her sunhat and plucks out the name of a lucky winner in our amazing book prize. The Spinoff Review of Books recently published the entire list of … Read more
Breakfast carnage continues on Newshub as Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner tear chunks out of Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner Last week New Zealand had barely begun recovering from the sight of broadcaster Duncan Garner’s blistering attack on broadcaster Duncan Garner over free speech when broadcaster Mark Richardson stole his fellow broadcaster’s thunder with a … Read more
The Spinoff’s royals correspondent Alex Braae has been camped outside a London hospital for the past three weeks, waiting eagerly for the name of the new royal baby. In the meantime, these are his predictions. Another royal baby has been born, another barrier has been placed in the way of Prince Harry one day becoming … Read more
It is easier to create perfect fictions of heroes than acknowledge their failings, vulnerability and the suffering they caused. But maybe if we stop just seeing the dark stuff as personal, we can really start to deal with it, writes Isa Ritchie. On the April 25 every year, Australians and New Zealanders gather to remember … Read more
New Zealanders get charged some of the highest fees for debit and credit card use in the world and most of us don’t even realise it. Paul Brislen attempts to explain interchange – fees paid between banks for the acceptance of card based transactions. Ah, shopping. The hunt, the choosing, the purchasing. The endorphin rush. … Read more
Long-lost siblings? A high-stakes and seemingly pointless quest? A fake death? Sounds like a good time. Sam Brooks celebrates the forgotten Kiwi drama Seekers. Before Filthy Rich was even a glimmer in Gavin Strawhan’s eye, Seekers brought the unpredictable and improbable drama to New Zealand primetime television. Straight off the bat, Seekers is an extremely weird high-concept premise for … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Food grant stats show poverty in NZ is getting worse, woman’s benefit wrongly cut off by WINZ over dates, and the budget responsibility rules are set to be bent. The number of New Zealanders using food grants continues to rise, reports Newshub. Almost 150,000 New Zealanders accessed … Read more
Rebecca Wood is a force of nature in a striking new Rebel Sport commercial. But ‘how many lives you live is up to you’? Nah, not for female rugby players. There’s a lot to like about Rebel Sport’s latest foray into the world of selling stuff. A powerful Black Fern is seen charging through a … Read more
Veteran Herald sports reporter Wynne Gray has written a new book about what happens to rugby players when they hang up their boots. In this excerpt, Mark “Bull” Allen – the All Blacks prop who led the Hurricanes in the Super 12 in 1996, and played 110 games for Taranaki – tells his story. The end came … Read more
Last week, Auckland-based producer and musician October released her debut album, Ultra Red. She tells Henry Oliver about how, two months before the album’s intended release, she took the recordings back and remade it by herself. “I had my pre-album release freak out – no big deal, I just reproduced the entire album, as you do,” … Read more
With The Handmaid’s Tale season two arriving exclusively to Lightbox on Thursday, Alex Casey assembles a handy list of ways you can bide your time. I wish I could tell you everything about The Handmaid’s Tale season two, I really do. I wish I could tell you why I was silently wincing at my office … Read more
Despite National’s attempts to paint it as a coalition of uneasy bedfellows, the Labour, Greens and NZ First alliance has held up rather well so far, writes Jason Walls for interest.co.nz. “I give ‘em a year and a half.” “That’s generous, I give this government six months!” The night Winston Peters sided with Labour to … Read more
The latest addition to the vast and sprawling Harry Potter canon is out, and it’s a mobile game. Alice Webb-Liddall heads to Hogwarts in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Apart from a very out of character (hungover) day last weekend when I played Little Big Planet non-stop for 10 hours, I’m not much of a gamer. I get … Read more
On Friday, fans of The Killers turned out for a packed show at Spark Arena – the band’s first in New Zealand since 2009. Jihee Junn sat down with drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr before the show. When Hot Fuss came out in 2004, I was instantly in love. I loved the sparkly synth rock, the … Read more
‘Super-gonorrhoea’ has been reported in Australia, and experts say we’re next. How bad could it get, asks Don Rowe. What’s all this then? A historically resistant strain of gonorrhoea has made its way from South East Asia to the UK and Australia, and experts are warning we are next. Antibiotic resistant superbugs? They’re like climate … Read more
Patsy Holt’s granddaughter may be tiny like a mouse but she has the courage of a lion – and she’s the reason the 73-year-old grandmother is running her first ever marathon. As part of our series celebrating the amazing things young New Zealanders do every day, brought to you by our friends at Flick, Angela … Read more
Will humans ever have a colony on Mars? If we do, some cutting edge technology of today could help us get there. If humans ever want to achieve the outlandish, science fiction sounding goal of a colony on Mars, our species will get there in part thanks to virtual reality. That’s one of the goals … Read more
Claims in Deborah Hill Cone column cast doubt on the prime minister and her squeeze, who stands accused of being cringey and having a name ending with the letter ‘e’. Danyl Mclauchlan digs deeper. Early this morning the New Zealand Herald published a hard-hitting piece on Clarke Gayford, a fishing show reality TV star and … Read more
Information is power, right? A new money personality quiz built by our partners at Kiwibank could help you tackle your money issues. The Spinoff took it for a spin – here are our results. Do you ever consider your relationship with money? Or that the way you feel about yourself carries through into what sort … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Australian banking scandal described as a wake up call for NZ, Commonwealth wide free trade deal being talked up, and nurses union voting on strike opens. Scandalous banking misconduct in Australia is being described as a wake up call for New Zealand, reports Radio NZ. A … Read more
We all agree on the ambition – the question is how. 2Degrees Mobile founder Tex Edwards says the market has failed and lays out the case for more government intervention. What is the problem with housing in New Zealand? Most young people, and families who intend to buy one during their lives see them as … Read more
It’s the OG, the king, the grandaddy, and it’s back – New Zealand-style. Luke Harries recaps the first episode of season two of Survivor NZ. The first of anything is never that good. It’s like when you make pancakes and the first one is really burnt because the pan was way too hot. You eat it … Read more