Hussein Moses talks to Tomorrow People, a sunny reggae band from Wellington who took the top spot on the charts while taking shots at a local music critic. Last week, Wellington band Tomorrow People knocked Ed Sheeran out of the top spot on the NZ top 40 albums chart with a record that takes a … Read more
An overly faithful reproduction of the tacky aesthetics of modern mixed martial arts holds back what is easily the best UFC game yet, writes Don Rowe. Few sports change as much year-on-year as mixed martial arts, and thus the release schedule of the bi-annual EA UFC video game reflects the current state of the sport … Read more
The demise of the Chlöe Swarbrick-championed grow-your-own cannabis bill ended a rollercoaster couple of weeks for proponents of law reform. Rebecca Reider looks at what’s been achieved, and how far legalisation efforts still have to go. For me, and for many of my fellow medicinal cannabis patients, the last several weeks have offered an odd … Read more
With Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum among its founders, CricHQ capitalised on global interest in both cricket and cloud-based internet startups. It attracted a star-studded lineup of investors and seemed hugely successful, at one point boasting that it could bring in as much as US $10 billion. Then, in October, it went into receivership. Rebecca … Read more
An education system must work for all. Let’s deal with the issues rather than wholesale abandon the Kura Hourua concept, argues Carrie Stoddart-Smith. There is a saying that policy is a contact sport. Never has that been truer than when it comes to education. In particular, when it comes to feelings about Kura Hourua (charter … Read more
For decades romance was full of complications for Lexie Matheson. But one Valentine’s Day she learned that to love herself required accepting who she was. It’s hard to separate the idea of Valentine’s Day from martyrdom in one form or another because martyrdom is locked into the history of the day and the people after which … Read more
After almost a decade of combat sports experience, New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya made a highly anticipated and violent entrance to the UFC on Sunday afternoon. Don Rowe reports. When Australian wrestler Rob Wilkinson crumpled to the floor at Sunday’s UFC event in Perth, his nose plastered across his face and bleeding profusely from cuts around … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Hanelle Harris, creator of Baby Mama’s Club, about changing the face of New Zealand television. New Zealand has never seen women like the ones in Baby Mama’s Club before, and it’s about bloody time. The TVNZ web series, created by Hanelle Harris, follows four Māori and Pasifika women in Auckland whose lives … Read more
Spoiler alert: it’s by not having any kids in Early Childhood Education centres. Jai Breitnauer looks at whether 20 hours free in New Zealand is really free. My youngest son went back to school today and, like many other parents, I breathed just a little sigh of relief. Not relief that my kids won’t be … Read more
From Lorde’s whisper-pop to Jack Antonoff’s anti-irony, Elle Hunt dissects how pop music is changing now, after nearly 20 years in a Max Martin sugar rush. Melodrama didn’t win album of the year at the Grammys last month. But it had always been a long shot. The Grammys tend to recognise legacy or commercial success, … Read more
The high priest of New Zealand non-fiction, Martin Edmond, reveals the curious genesis of his latest book. One day in the summer of 2013 I received a letter from James McNeish. He said he had a proposition to put to me – but that I would have to go to Wellington to find out what … Read more
A life in plastic doesn’t have to be all bad. Just ask Kiwi company Globelet, whose recycled plastic cups have brought the reusable revolution to some of New Zealand’s biggest summer events. ‘Tis the season of live music and sports — Splore, Womad, T20 cricket to name a few — but once the bands clear … Read more
Neale Jones and Jenna Raeburn are partisan lobbyists, doing their clients’ bidding at opposing ends of the political divide. But, as Asher Emanuel explains, they have a surprising amount in common. Three framed Labour Party posters hang in Neale Jones’ new office at the parliament-end of Lambton Quay. Two are items of affectionate nostalgia: anti-nuclear … Read more
Wherever there’s money to be made, the scammers and Ponzi schemes are never far behind. Mark Hattersley gives his three tips on staying vigilant while investing in cryptocurrency. Useless Ethereum Token (UET) launched in mid-2017 with the description “the world’s first 100% honest Ethereum ICO. No value, no security and no product. Just me spending your money … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Jacinda Ardern: ‘I want to be able to tell my child I have earned the right to stand here “And if we value that about ourselves as a nation 364 days of the year, why would we not value it here at Waitangi. I will … Read more
There are over 350 minutes of Married at First Sight Australia a week on Three. Should you spend almost all your spare time watching them? Married at First Sight Australia returned this week, a few months after our first season ended in the abyss. Of our six couples, only one survived the show, which became … Read more
We’re back for the fifth installment of Congratulations, She’s a Boy, following Wellington writer Felix Desmarais’ female-to-male transition. This month: the secret lives of guys. Bro bro bro. Mate mate mate. Buddy. Champ. Pal. Cobber. Okay, maybe not ‘cobber’ in this century (though I think the word is due for a revival). I ‘pass’ now. … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today we figure out what the New Zealand Music Industry Manifesto means for local music. The what? The New Zealand Music Industry Manifesto. It’s basically just a detailed vision board, an agreement between a bunch of our local music representatives … Read more
The Buller District is known for its isolation, rugged weather and the minerals taken from the land since gold was discovered there in 1860. Now, after a long economic decline, green shoots of growth are appearing, driven by a technology hub with a husband and wife team at the top. There is an innovation hub … Read more
Every year indigenous peoples in Australia and New Zealand go under the spotlight on Invasion Day and Waitangi Day – and every year the media finds problematic ways to report them. This won’t change while our media is still controlled by the coloniser, writes Miriama Aoake. January is a dry marathon. Days fold into themselves and time … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Tommy Genesis, Stephen Malkmus, Rhye, Transistor, Kehlani and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – ‘Middle America’ An instant Malkmus classic Only Malkmus things: rhyming ‘nerve’ with ‘nerve’; following that with a line that goes “open the door and piss if you … Read more
The week’s best-selling books at the Unity stores in Auckland and Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff (Little Brown, $38) The Wolff who cried, “Oh boy!” 2 The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young (Faber, $23) “The author has deep faith in cows having individual personalities … Read more
New verse by Dunedin writer Michael Hall. After… The organs begin shutting down is there a panic in the body’s house – a few resigned to stay like, in war, before the rat-a-tat advancement merely miles away of the grey enemy a hasty packing someone saying leave the piano, leave it another sits, … Read more
As science, technology, engineering and maths become more integrated into our world, a corresponding emphasis is being placed on teaching our kids about these topics. Part of this has been a huge rise in educational toys over the past decade. Baz Macdonald investigates. For most of us, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) were not … Read more
A pair of tourists have sparked outrage after admitting to eating at the Sisters of Compassion soup kitchen in Wellington to save money. Madeleine Chapman presents a few more money saving tips for tourists. On Thursday Stuff reported that a couple of tourists (a tourist couple), Enoch and Anna, have been travelling New Zealand living … Read more
Alex Casey and Sam Brooks round up the new content coming to Lightbox this month, including UnREAL tackling… The Bachelorette?! The Good Doctor (available now) Look, it’s the number one network series in the States, Canada and Australia right now, so if you aren’t watching The Good Doctor then I’m sorry but everyone is secretly … Read more
What lies beyond the new Labour government’s ‘first 100 days’ for health policy and outcomes for Māori? In part five of our series on the future of Māori health, former Ministry of Health advisor and policy analyst Gabrielle Baker looks at what we should expect from Māori health providers and how to get them where … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, should we all work a four-day working week? Yes. Hang on a minute! Yesterday a New Zealand company, Perpetual Guardian, announced it was trialling a four-day work week for its 200 employees, keeping wages – and number of … Read more
Tickled co-creator Dylan Reeve goes back down the rabbithole, revisiting a childhood breakfast food betrayal in an attempt to settle the Weet-Bix score once and for all. One recent morning, while watching my kids enjoy their Weet-Bix* one of the many advertising jingles of my childhood popped into my head. “Kiwi kids… are Weet-Bix kids…” … Read more