An exclusive glimpse into the steel trap psyche of the former health minister and political colossus as he makes for the exit. Thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, SpinoffAnalytica Labs has accessed the internal monologue direct from Jonathan Coleman’s brain. After sending the neuro-data to a Super Computer AI in Christchurch via email, we … Read more
The week’s best-selling books at the Unity stores on Willis St, Wellington, and High St, Auckland. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Pursuing Peace in Godzone: Christianity and the Peace Tradition in New Zealand edited by Geoffrey Troughton and Philip Fountain (Victoria University Press, $40) Essays edited by two lecturers in religious studies at Victoria University. Chapters include “Remembering Jesus … Read more
At-home dad Adam Mamo is sick of advertising around parenting brands. Why, he asks, does everything have to be so gendered? Being a new parent is stressful, and becoming a fresh target for incessant parent-focused advertising only makes it more so. The very worst ads try to cultivate fears about your child’s health and development, … Read more
Tami Neilson’s new album Sassafrass! is all for the women. She talks to Bridie Chetwin-Kelly about its themes and life on the road as a musician and a mother. The last two years have been about patience for Tami Neilson. With her new album all wrapped up by November last year, she’s been playing the waiting … Read more
News that Pharmac is to fund the HIV drug Truvada for an estimated 4000 at-risk New Zealanders has been widely welcomed by the LGBTQi community. But with the plan set to cost the taxpayer millions in subsidies, there’s got to be a better way, argues Act’s Stephen Berry. As a gay man, HIV Aids has … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Former health minister Jonathan Coleman quits politics, a hospital is riddled with rot and mould, and letting fees could be banned. National’s Northcote MP and Health spokesman Jonathan Coleman is leaving politics. He’s off to be the CEO of Acurity Health Group, an owner and operator of private … Read more
Auckland bar/venue/restaurant The Golden Dawn is closing for good on Saturday. Four days before its final party, Henry Oliver talked to entertainment manager Matthew Crawley and general manager Nick Harrison about the birth, death and music of the weirdest bar on Ponsonby Road. For the last seven and a half years, The Golden Dawn has … 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 heave our way to the end of Married at First Sight Australia wearing nothing but our Earth suits and eating nothing but chilled Tim Tams. What is Paleo … Read more
When should you start you children’s KiwiSaver? Simplicity’s Amanda Morrall says it depends on how much you can contribute. When someone offers you $1,000 for free, you’d be an idiot to say no. Kiwis aren’t dumb and this sweet incentive was key to KiwiSaver’s early success. The additional $1,000 a year in matching funds from the … 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 Alex Clark of Press Patron and Duncan Greive … Read more
Elizabeth Alley celebrates the latest novel by the masterly New Zealand writer Vincent O’Sullivan. Is there anyone else like Vincent O’Sullivan? His new novel traces several generations of a New Zealand family, from 1947 to 2004 with the brief, revealing return to 1938 at the book’s end; it opens as the novel’s over-arching character, Stephen, leaves … Read more
Another one bites the dust, with Northcote MP Jonathan Coleman deciding to retire from politics. He follows Bill English and Steven Joyce out the door, as the party’s cleanout continues. So, who’s next? The trickle is fast becoming a flood. In the space of about six weeks, the National Party has lost three of their … Read more
A freakishly potent opioid has been discovered at a music festival in New Zealand. What is it, and what does its presence in this country mean? What’s all this then? Fentanyl, a drug responsible for thousands upon thousands of overdose deaths in the US and Europe, has been discovered at a festival in New Zealand. … Read more
Auckland’s long battle with Wellington for the cultural capital crown will be lost once and for all if the council insists on leaving arts and culture out of its 10-year plan, argues the Basement Theatre’s Elise Sterback. In an effort to erase all memory of his predecessor, Auckland mayor Phil Goff is swapping out the … Read more
Kate Robertson talks to multi-Grammy Award-winning Americana singer-songwriter Jason Isbell about politics and gender in country music. “If Taylor Swift’s ideas on politics are stupid I don’t wanna hear them,” Americana artist Jason Isbell says when I ask if music and politics can be separate from each other in 2018. It’s not the answer I … Read more
From a platform that helps you lend support to the Māori economy to a system that allows you to donate your transactions fees to charitable causes, this year’s cohort for the second ever Kiwibank FinTech Accelerator promises big things for the future of the country’s financial system. Sharesies was built on a simple idea: to make investing … Read more
Where better to grill the government’s transport ministers on their plans for improving Aucklanders’ commute than at MOTAT, the inner-suburb museum dedicated to the history and potential future of transport. I didn’t spend my primary school years in Auckland, so I missed out on the annual class trip to the Museum of Transport and Technology … Read more
Today New Zealand’s first day/night test match starts at Eden Park – part of a scheme to cure test cricket of its apparent terminal illness. Simon Day argues test cricket will never die. I’ve watched test cricket lie lifeless on its deathbed, just a few hundred people gathered at a rugby field to mark its … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fonterra looks to future as boss resigns, confusion at the top of the coalition government, and charities board denies Greenpeace again. There is comprehensive coverage of the resignation of Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings on the NBR. Mr Spierings stepped down on the same day Fonterra announced its interim financial results. … Read more
The NZ First minister is calling on Air NZ to reinstate regional routes that have been closed for commercial reasons – thereby demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding of the national airline’s legal duties, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. Yesterday morning, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones went on RNZ’s Morning Report to double down on his … Read more
This weekend, The Golden Dawn will close its doors forever. Last month, The Kings Arms did the same. In the middle of this turning point for Auckland music venues, The Grow Room – a multi-faceted DIY creative space – struggles to find a home. Joel Thomas talks to its core members about the uncertain future … Read more
We continue our occasional series which investigates whether any literary activity exists in the provinces. David Hill reports from his “entombment” in Taranaki. A lot of authors born in Taranaki have left the province on a permanent basis, to become successful or dead. The successful ones are Anthony McCarten and Stuart Hoar from New Plymouth; Dinah Hawken, Gaelyn … Read more
Ahead of her performance at WOMAD last weekend, Anoushka Shankar talked to Rosie Morrison about travel tips, the sitar and feminism. Taking a moment out of the heat and colour and fun of WOMAD last weekend, I made my way up to a quiet shady spot to talk to Indian musician, Anoushka Shankar. She is … Read more
New Zealand’s Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero asks for attitudes toward disability to change and encourages the celebration of the lives and achievements of people with Down syndrome. My time in the role as Disability Rights Commissioner has confirmed what I already knew: that attitudes towards disability in New Zealand need to change. And what better … Read more
Former US president Barack Obama is in New Zealand for three days. You might not get to see him but as Madeleine Chapman shows, you can still travel like him. It’s easy to like Barack Obama. It’s even easier to like him when his successor has the charisma of a lit turd. Soon after his … Read more
Facebook’s shares have taken a nosedive after something to do with data used by Cambridge Analytica. Confused? Here’s what it means, and what could come next. This piece was originally published on Radio NZ. Cambridge Analytica is a London-based consulting firm. It is under pressure over allegations it uses illegally obtained data and social media manipulation to … Read more
The Champion of the Regions versus the Corporate Taniwha. The CEO versus the Minister. Susie Ferguson versus a Straight Answer. Who will come out on top? Early this month, national flight carrier Air New Zealand announced it would be suspending its service between Auckland and Paraparaumu. Mayor K Gurunathan, given less than 24 hours notice, … Read more
It’s got big hair, rollerskating, and Reebok hi-tops, but what exactly is The Goldbergs? Tara Ward is here to give you the low-down on this 80s-set sitcom, which drops all four of its seasons on Lightbox today. What’s the story? The Goldbergs is a family comedy that will speak to anyone who lived through the ‘80s, knows … Read more
Pressure is mounting on the government to halt oil and gas exploration. If New Zealand can successfully wean itself off fossil fuels, we can only accelerate action in other countries, argues James Renwick The pressure is really going on at a political level in New Zealand these days. The Green Party is pushing to introduce … Read more