Finding a rental in Wellington isn’t only a battle for students and young professionals. Here, single mothers tell their accommodation search stories, and public policy researcher Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw explains why housing insecurity is so damaging for families. Jane It is tough when you are a sole parent. I didn’t renew the lease on my small … Read more
Our piece on the struggle to get paid resonated widely with small business owners. Here are their stories, and some tips, covering the endless fight to get invoices paid. A customer who had hired goods from me failed to return them, and ultimately I had to go and collect them. Not all of the goods were returned, … Read more
Antenatal classes can be a wonderful resource for new parents. They’re mostly run by volunteers and they generally cover what you need to know – but sometimes what’s covered is less useful than the chance to meet other new parents. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes asked parents to tell her what they wish they’d heard … 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 Maru Nihoniho, founder of game studio Metia Interactive. … Read more
Little Red Lie is the misanthropic, dark-as-tar game from indie developer Will O’Neill. Gaming editor Sam Brooks played it – and was disturbed by what he found. Video games can get away with a lot that other media can’t. The interactivity and engagement with the content is unparalleled, and it creates an emotional investment that … Read more
Joshua Hitchcock looks ahead to 2018 and hopes that the thriving Māori economy doesn’t overshadow other important areas of development. Two years ago I packed my bags, said goodbye to Mum, and boarded the plane to Heathrow. Following in the footsteps of millions of New Zealanders before me, I set out on the traditional OE … Read more
Sylvia Giles watches the mid-2000s soap The L Word and discovers a plethora of feminist conversations that are only starting to happen now in the mainstream. All my lesbian friends told me I should watch The L Word many, many times, and over a decade ago. First aired in 2004, the show chronicled the sapphic … Read more
Allanah Faherty remembers Kiwi Kidsongs, a series of government-funded kids’ albums that were sung in primary schools all over the country for 20 years. As a kid, there was little honour greater than being in charge of the song lyrics at a school assembly. Whether it was holding up the giant sheet of paper in … Read more
The second instalment of Peter Wells’ diary of life with cancer, republished from his private Facebook with permission. Read part one here. December 12, 1:56am The humility of my condition. It’s only when I approach the cancer clinic I see all the other wanderers and strays either coming away or walking in the same direction. … Read more
Stats NZ will again not include any non-binary gender options or any questions about sexual orientation in this year’s census. That’s a government-endorsed insult to the LGBTI+ community, writes comedian Eli Matthewson. Whenever the census comes around again I always think about one thing: The Christchurch Wizard. The legend I’ve heard is that every census … Read more
Following our report on the increasingly chaotic rental market in Wellington, one young government employee explains why she’s being forced to leave town. As told to Don Rowe. I have been living in Wellington since 2010 and I have been left homeless four times during my seven years here. Despite being a professional civil servant … Read more
The current conversation about the preservation of te reo has been focused on the role and responsibility of Māori speakers, as exemplified by Bill English’s claim that it’s not government’s place to save ‘someone else’s’ language. But what about Pākehā learners of te reo? Eliza Jane looks back on her experience at Auckland’s Newton Central … Read more
In the third part of a four piece series exploring places around Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Beck Eleven finds hidden treasures and clear water, and Simon Day falls in love with Banks Peninsula. Read part one, on the great Auckland summer road trip, here. Read part two, on the where to go on a good … Read more
The indestructible, environmentally friendly, unlimited use menstrual cup has been celebrated as the answer to ‘period poverty’. But they’re not for everyone, writes Andrea Nielsen-Vold. Menstrual cups are little reusable vessels that collect menstrual blood and can be used over and over again. They have been deemed a solution to the problem of managing your … Read more
In the wake of negative te reo Māori stories this week, a hashtag has appeared that centres the conversation back on the positive. It’s said that in politics, once you’re in opposition conciliatory gestures are no longer required and the aim is to stay in the spotlight however you can. National Party leader Bill English … Read more
Turkish developer 2645turqoise has released a game that purports to be a vast survivalist adventure across New Zealand. Adam Goodall finds out how well Ka Mate captures true blue bear-free Aotearoa. “An adventurous TV presenter goes to New Zealand. The adventurer who encounters with unexpected events will have to struggle for life against wildlife.” That’s … Read more
Every week we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Timothy Allan of Ubco, makers of an electrically-powered, eco-friendly alternative to off and on road bikes. ONE: How did Ubco start and what was your inspiration behind it? Ubco was founded by myself (CEO and … Read more
Today TradeMe announced that it would ban the sale of pugs, French bulldogs, and British bulldogs from its website. Veterinarian and New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) companion animal spokesperson Rochelle Ferguson looks at the state of cat and dog breeding welfare in New Zealand and what can be done to improve it. The recent TradeMe … Read more
Now that you’ve settled back into work and failed to keep up any of your resolutions, it’s time to turn back to trusty old television. Alex Casey and Sam Brooks introduce some new shows on Lightbox that might take your fancy. Available now: Brooklyn Nine-Nine S4 There’s a conversation to be had about whether a … Read more
Madeleine Holden talks to Kelela ahead of her Auckland show this week. Kelela’s musical chops are not up for question. She has been quietly producing some of the most interesting R&B on the world stage since her Cut 4 Me mixtape dropped in 2013, and 2017 was a banner year for the Washington DC native, … Read more
As students flock back to Wellington in the lead-up to the academic year, landlords are cashing in with innovations which encourage bidding wars amongst applicants. The nightmare that is renting in this country continues to bring new horrors, with reports from Wellington that landlords are explicitly operating tender processes on their rentals in a bid … Read more
Just how worried should NZ homo sapiens be about talk around a surge in shark numbers in our shore, and the unexpected visitors to Oriental Bay. Alice Webb-Liddall talks to Riley Elliott. It’s a scorcher of a summer, and as reliable as sun burn and ice creams come the shark headlines. The Jaws effect, even … Read more
Today it was announced that Stage Challenge, the secondary schools interpretative dance competition, is no more for this world. Sam Brooks crowdsourced people’s memories of Stage Challenge, and scoured YouTube for the best of the rest. As someone who went to a rugby-focused Catholic all-boys school, Stage Challenge was something that I’d always heard about … Read more
A day in the life of the Cultural Cuts barbershop in Newtown, Wellington. All photos by Kent Blechynden. Syrian brothers Raed and Mohummed work at the Cultural Cuts barbershop in Wellington. They came to New Zealand from Syria as refugees three years ago with other members of their family; three of their sisters are still … Read more
Guy Somerset compares the new novel by Jennifer Egan to Winona Ryder’s performance in Stranger Things. It’s not a compliment. Historical fiction is a friend to no novelist. As if the challenges and perils of writing a novel weren’t mountainous enough already: character, plot, place; voice, perspective, psychology; pace, shape, language; closely observed worlds — … Read more
News came today that Stage Challenge, the national dance competition for schools, is to close after 25 years. Kristin Hall pays tribute to the touchingly earnest extra-curricular. We are but two weeks into 2018 and already we have a definite sign that this cruel world is going to continue its speedy downward trajectory until there … Read more
As America marks one of their greatest orators on Martin Luther King Day, Christine Ammunson looks back on her trip to Georgetown University for the World Speechwriters Conference in October. As I hopped into an Uber, I reflected on an extraordinary week at the World Speechwriters Conference hearing from writers and strategists who’d served US presidents … Read more
Last night marked the return of several key shows to the coveted 7 pm time slot, so we deployed our television moles to watch and report back. Toby Manhire watched Extreme Cake Makers on TVNZ1 With Seven Sharp on an epic, host-switching hiatus, filling the 7pm slot on TVNZ1 is the similarly hard-hitting Extreme Cake … Read more
Play It Strange CEO Mike Chunn reflects on the first year of songwriting as an NCEA subject and shares two of his favourite songs to come out of the initiative with stories by their writers. Last year, at last, songwriting became a Level 3 NCEA subject. And here at Play It Strange, our secondary school … Read more