In the final event ahead of Sunday morning’s historic heavyweight title fight, Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua weighed in in front of 4000 drunken fans. Don Rowe reports from Cardiff. The propensity of the Welsh to drink may seem an exaggeration, but as the festivities kicked off at the weigh ins in Cardiff this afternoon, … Read more
No capital gains tax no problem? Not exactly – Tax Heroes has uncovered our biggest property players pay a much lower tax rate, Maria Slade reports. Whether New Zealand should introduce a capital gains tax is set to be almost as hot a topic in Labour’s first term as the prime minister’s pregnancy. While debate … Read more
Alex Casey introduces Raised by Wolves, a coming-of-age sitcom created by UK feminist firebrand Caitlin Moran. What’s the story? Raised by Wolves is a semi-biographical retelling of the childhoods of Caitlin and Caroline Moran, set on an estate in the working class city of Wolverhampton. Join Germaine (who I’m assuming is inspired by Caitlin via … Read more
For the greater good of television, three industry heavyweights put their differences aside for the launch of research and advocacy group ThinkTV in New Zealand. Jihee Junn tags along to see what the fuss is all about. It’s not every day you have the heads of New Zealand’s three biggest TV providers on stage at … Read more
Can your local council stop you getting heart disease and cancer? Our research into the way people get around New Zealand cities suggests it can, writes public health expert Caroline Shaw Local and regional councils are important. They arrange for the rubbish to get taken away, deal with water on our behalf, make decisions about … Read more
National MP Judith Collins has known Joseph Parker since his birth. As this good man from a good Kiwi-Samoan family prepares to fight for four world championship belts, let’s get in his corner, she writes. This article was published in May 2018. We like our heroes modest. We like them unassuming, courageous and just like … Read more
Within five years, science will likely have answered a controversial question: can the drug commonly called ecstasy treat psychiatric disorders? Gillinder Bedi from the University of Melbourne writes After some studies showing a positive effect, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is entering final clinical trials as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If these trials show positive … Read more
The best-selling books this Easter at the two Unity stores in High St, Auckland and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Pursuing Peace in Godzone: Christianity and the Peace Tradition in New Zealand by Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain (Victoria University Press, $36) Essays edited by two lecturers in religious studies at Victoria University. Chapters include “Remembering Jesus … Read more
The University of Waikato’s dean of Māori and Indigenous Studies takes a moment to tautoko his colleague Professor Pou Temara in the wake of a petition to strip Sir Bob Jones of his knighthood. Last week a colleague, University of Waikato’s Professor of Tikanga and Reo, Pou Temara, hand delivered a 68,000 strong petition to parliament demanding … Read more
By all means delete the app if you like, but to really strike back against a company that has appears to be indifferent to our privacy laws, we should look to a more powerful tool at our disposal, the law itself, writes Marianne Elliott In news that should take absolutely nobody by surprise, the Office of … Read more
Tax Heroes: We always hear about who is not paying tax, but who pays the most hasn’t been measured – until now. Maria Slade talks to the two Auckland professors behind the numbers of Tax Heroes. In the days of former prime minister Rob Muldoon you couldn’t get a first class flight out of the … Read more
Coffee with an acquaintance can still be an attempt to influence. Cabinet members simply should not be approaching public servants the way the broadcasting minister did Carol Hirschfeld, writes the PSA’s Glenn Barclay The circumstances around Carol Hirschfeld’s meeting with broadcasting minister Clare Curran – and what both sides sought to gain from it – are … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, the national carrier’s online video mocking the humiliated Australians The Newshub headline called it a “ruthless offer”. Stuff called it as a “cheeky offer”. Friendly local website the Spinoff thinks it was “a bit of a dick-move offer”. That offer, … Read more
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know will never fully leave your ageing body, remember the true reasons for the season. Death, suffering, betrayal, … Read more
Stephanie Johnson luxuriates in the new Julian Barnes novel – a story of adultery which “wrestles with the deepest conflicts of human existence.” Julian Barnes may be seen as a leading exponent of the Hampstead novel. This is, in England, a pejorative term, even though great writers such as Margaret Drabble and Margaret Forster have … 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, the team try to put together the pieces after an explosive end to Married at First Sight Australia. Why is Sean suddenly dipped in gold? What were Tracey’s sexy … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture, with thanks to our friends at The Women’s Bookshop. This month on On the Rag, we’ll be stirring the cauldron and murmuring about witch hunts, lighting a candle for the plight of the old white man and … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Vodafone Xone. 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 Jade Temepara about growing a family business from … Read more
Lorraine Taylor, CEO of Variety – the Children’s Charity, believes the Child Poverty Reduction Bill is an important tool to addressing New Zealand’s child poverty situation. She is imploring Kiwis to get behind the Bill by signing their name to an open letter to MPs before April 4. 1984 – a year forever etched in … Read more
Alex Casey watches the final week of Married at First Sight Australia, and comes away with some important lessons for the new season of the New Zealand franchise. It’s been a difficult relationship with Married at First Sight Australia. Late nights have meant I haven’t always been there and, when I made the effort, sometimes the … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to E^ST, a young Australian pop artist whose two recent singles are turning heads around the world. Last week, up and coming Australian pop singer-songwriter E^ST (pronounced ‘East’) released her new single ‘Blowjob’, a confrontational look at the loneliness and emptiness that can result in the mismatched expectations of hook-ups. “I really … Read more
It is only a matter of time until the former US president bestows upon a humble nation some upbeat social media content. Here we measure that matter of time. Incontrovertibly, Barack Obama’s recent visit to New Zealand, during which he travelled the length and breadth of two golf courses, was a massive boon to this … Read more
Last night, the Dancing with the Stars NZ Facebook page dropped the first bizarre, post-apocalyptic and surprisingly dance-free promo for the new season. Sam Brooks watched it very closely. 00:01 – White paper blows across a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Is it a metaphor for broadcast TV? The state of affairs when the first people you announce … Read more
There are changes afoot at Te Papa. And the question on every parent’s lips is: What will happen to the Giant Squid every child is obsessed with? Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes went on a squid hunt. I have been to Te Papa with my two kids around eight hundred trillion times and we have … Read more
This weekend, undefeated heavyweight champion Joseph Parker seeks to unify his belts against British superstar Anthony Joshua. Three days out from the fight, the pressure is mounting on both combatants. Don Rowe reports from London in the second of a diary series leading up to the fight. If David Higgins and Team Parker are betting … Read more
The executive director of the NZ AIDS Foundation responds to claims that Pharmac funding of a brand-name HIV drug is a waste of taxpayer money. Last week Stephen Berry wrote an op-ed column for The Spinoff entitled “Pharmac’s anti-HIV drug subsidy is an own goal for LGBT”, regarding the recent funding of the HIV prevention … Read more
In this edition of Gone By Lunchtime Plus, a phalanx of heavy hitters from the The Hui and Ben and Toby order soy mocha-lattés and size up a challenging month for Jacinda Ardern and her government. Bookended by revelations of sexual assault at a Young Labour summer camp and calls for broadcasting minister Clare Curran’s resignation … Read more
The Spinoff Cheat Sheet: a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, what is the Tax Working Group anyway – and what is it up to? The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read more. Before all … Read more
Sam Brooks picks out what you should watch this long Easter weekend when you’re too full of chocolate and can reach no further than your trusty remote. Easter is upon us! The four day weekend, or the weekend when you inexplicably can’t buy alcohol on Friday or Sunday in this country, full of chocolate, full … Read more