As we drag ourselves through the final stretch of January, Don Rowe asks one sleep expert how can we get some desperately needed shut-eye. This post was first published in January 2018 Last night I dreamed I was back in high school, lacing up my boots to run out for the first XV in a … 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 he talks to Nick Shewring, co-founder of BizDojo, a company leasing … Read more
Mark E Smith, the singer and poet who led The Fall for over 40 years, has died. In this excerpt from his 2016 book In Love With These Times, Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd recalls the band’s tour of New Zealand and the controversy surrounding the live album Fall In A Hole that was recorded … Read more
Inside a Facebook group where anti-vaxx propaganda is promoted as information for ‘informed consent’. This story first appeared on The Wireless. It is republished by The Spinoff Parents with permission. Not long after my son was born dry patches of irritated skin began to appear on his face. I lathered the little guy up with … Read more
The Spinoff has learned who is set to replace Hosking on the TVNZ Show, and it turns out he’s a bit like Mike. Seven Sharp launches into 2018 at the start of February with an all-new line-up, after the tearful farewell of Toni Street and Mike Hosking last year. Hilary Barry was swiftly announced as … Read more
In response to The Spinoff’s coverage of the baby with the broken bones, Oranga Tamariki’s Paul Nixon explains the careful process behind taking a child into state custody. The impact of a tamaiti being removed from their family is traumatic and how we manage this is very important. Many New Zealanders share our deep concern … Read more
Concerned about the results of an official information request showing an estimated $40,000 being spent dealing with one NZ organisation’s official information demands, the Spinoff seeks comment from public spending grassroots watchdog the Taxpayers’ Union. Not all heroes wear capes, but if there is any justice in this benighted world Jordan Williams has one in … Read more
Street lights in Kansas City have wifi sensors which link with a live map, allowing residents to see traffic and free parking spaces. Clever huh? Mark Thomas says smart cities – those which embrace technology in planning – can reap big environmental and financial rewards. The word “smart” does not appear in Auckland mayor Phil … Read more
It’s the biggest movie of all time – why on earth wouldn’t you go see it with a live orchestra playing the music? Titanic superfan Sam Brooks went last night and ascended to a higher plane of existence. Titanic is one of the last true phenomenons of pop culture. Nothing has saturated the populace of … Read more
Paul Moon, author of the controversial new book Killing Te Reo Maori, argues that making te reo Māori a compulsory school subject is the worst thing we could do to preserve the language. To paraphrase Nietzsche, “te reo Māori is dead, and we have killed it.” Well, not quite, but it is possibly only a … Read more
I pānui a Hēmi Kelly, pūkenga reo Māori nō AUT i te pukapuka hou e whakatutū nei i te puehu nā te tohunga hītōria Pākehā, nā Paul Moon kia kore ai koe e mate ki te pānui. Ko te ingoa o te pukapuka ko Killing Te Reo Maori. Kite tonu atu au e tamō ana … Read more
Te reo Māori teacher and fellow AUT lecturer Hēmi Kelly read the controversial new monograph by Pākehā historian Paul Moon, Killing Te Reo Maori: An Indigenous Language Facing Extinction, so that you don’t have to. Click here to read this review in te reo Māori I immediately notice the macron is missing over the ‘a’ … Read more
If it signs the latest version of this controversial deal, Jacinda Ardern’s government can hardly expect people to take the promise of a progressive new model for New Zealand’s international trading relations seriously, argues leading TPPA critic Jane Kelsey. Read Stephen Jacobi’s positive take on the deal here The on-again, off-again Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) … Read more
The revamped deal is now on track for sign-off in early March, and it deserves support by progressives and conservatives alike, argues Stephen Jacobi of the NZ International Business Forum. Read Jane Kelsey’s critique of the proposed deal here Good things come in small bundles. And occasionally in large ones, even with a mouthful of a … Read more
Vincent O’Sullivan assesses the 1957 Chrysler of New Zealand writing, Allen Curnow, the subject of a 700-page biography by the late Terry Sturm. “A big one.” It’s a phrase you’ll come across several times in reading Allen Curnow. It could be a fish caught off Kare Kare, a talent another writer didn’t have, an implied assessment … Read more
In the final part of our series exploring adventures around Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, our writers take a trip through Auckland’s backyard, and further beyond. Scroll to the end of the story for a chance to win a weekend exploring in the new Hyundai Kona. I once fake proposed to my then girlfriend. It was … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ about the news of the moment – all the info you need to hold your own in a two-minute watercooler chat. Today, Don Rowe outlines the latest from NZ’s marijuana farming scene. What’s going on? The New Zealand Herald is reporting that a “bumper growing … Read more
To celebrate The Office US arriving to Lightbox, Alex Casey lists some of her favourite moments from the show. Contains many, many spoilers. I have spent a deeply worrying part of my life watching The Office in some iteration or another. As a teen, I became obsessed with the British original, eventually penning an incredibly … Read more
The Real Pod assembles for the first time in 2018 to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive are back for another year with a new and improved Real Pod, featuring more new segments than you can shake a … Read more
Welcome to Take Me Out, a semi-regular series wherein Kate Robertson, music critic and dating blogger, finally combines her expertise by going on a date with a musician and then sharing it with you. In this instalment, Kate goes trampolining with BAYNK, an unsigned New Zealand electronic artist who gets a million plays a month … Read more
Stats NZ’s decision to exclude sex, gender and sexuality from its upcoming census has come in for criticism from the queer community. But it turns out businesses in New Zealand – most recently Southern Cross Health Society – are already well ahead of the curve. Despite announcing back in 2015 that ‘gender diverse’ would join … Read more
Alex Casey watches the debut of a new look Breakfast on TVNZ1, and assesses the buffet of early morning news options. Breakfast was off to a pretty weird start before it even began. In a promo video posted to their Facebook page last week, Jack Tame, Daniel Faitaua and Matty McLean can be seen goofing around … Read more
Jacinda Ardern’s plan to be both PM and a mum has prompted shrieks of outrage from some. What better example of the prejudice that many mums face when they go back to work, writes journalist and mother of two Sarah Stewart. To illustrate this story we have used photos of the author-mums who write for … Read more
Rangatira ki te rangatira: Ardern’s approach to Waitangi commemorations offers the chance to break from the bad old days under PMs of both parties, writes Annabelle Lee Every Waitangi it’s the same. The lack of gratitude shown by Māori at being among the poorest, sickest, most unemployed and incarcerated people in Aotearoa is an ongoing source … Read more
Berlin-based Tongan-New Zealand musician Noah Slee talks to Martyn Pepperell ahead of his appearance at Laneway Festival next week. “It’s great when people pick up on certain lines in my songs,” says Noah Slee. The singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and electronic music producer is telling me how the relationship between his audience and his music has intensified … Read more
Sam Brooks argues why Catholic Rebellion thriller Gunpowder is far more interesting than other dour dramas from the same period. I love a good political thriller. Stressed out people waiting for printers to print valuable documents, or wandering around with briefcases that cost more than your rent for the month – they’re my catnip. But it’s … Read more
Han Kang won the international Booker Prize for her depressing novel The Vegetarian. Her follow-up, The White Book, is even bleaker, writes Wyoming Paul. A 22-year-old woman has given birth to a premature baby girl, alone in her house in a remote area, with no way to call either her husband or a doctor. During the birth she … Read more
On Sunday, Stuff revealed that Ngāi Tahu and Waikato-Tainui received Treaty payment top-ups totaling $370 million thanks to a ‘relativity clause’ in their original settlement. Language used in the report implied the payments were furtive and excessive. Here’s why they’re not. Relativity clauses are in the news again, with the “revelation” by Stuff.co.nz that both … Read more
The inner-west Auckland suburb has plenty to keep a stay-at-home dad and his baby occupied, writes Phil Pinner, who has been there and done that. Since Friday’s announcement that Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford are expecting a child in June, the father-to-be has inundated with unsolicited counsel. Gayford, who will be a stay-at-home dad for … Read more