In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. In the third episode of our summer series, maize farmer Paul Dinkelman shows off his new crop. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos
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 machine learning expert Dr Alyona Medelyan. Y … Read more
On her second son’s birthday, Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes has some advice for the expectant mother she once was: Hold fast, hold tight, hold on. When I was pregnant with my second baby I had a really idealised view of labour. My first labour had been relatively straight forward and in my mind I’d … Read more
Sam Brooks uncovers Watching Ellie, a Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom that got buried somewhere in her illustrious career between Seinfeld and Veep. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is an international treasure. She has three billion Emmys (fact-checked, and yes that is the correct number), she’s starred on several long-running shows and she’s managed to establish three iconic comic characters … Read more
With public outcry over sexual violence at music festivals increasing, Bianca Fileborn and Phillip Wadds have launched a research project to show how prevalent sexual violence at festivals is beyond the high-profile, anecdotal cases that have been picked up by the media. This year’s summer music festival season has again been marred by several incidents … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, an anonymous staffer reviews the official merchandise of the former First Son. On a sunny Saturday afternoon in December last year I sat outside my flat, sweating into my phone, too ashamed to put my name on an order … Read more
The inquiry into water contamination in Hawke’s Bay delivered ambitious and wide-ranging recommendations. With a stack of inquiries promised by the new government, scale is a serious issue, writes public law expert Sally McKechnie. The inquiry into Havelock North’s drinking water contamination in August 2016 has culminated in a damning report on the state of … Read more
Kids around the world are flexing their entrepreneurial muscles by making, selling and marketing the latest craze in tactile fun: slime. Jihee Junn talks to one Auckland-based 11-year-old who’s decided to cash in. Update, 22 August 2018: Katharina Weischede has launched a Givealittle campaign to fight kids entertainment giant Nickelodeon, which is opposing her ‘Slime … Read more
Christine Ammunson is a Samoan New Zealander who was brought up on The Black and White Minstrel Show, Golliwogs and Little Black Sambo books. You’re allowed to let the past go without disrespecting those you love, she writes. As a kid in the 1970s I used to watch the BBC variety hour The Black and White Minstrel … Read more
Video games get a bad rep, mostly from people who don’t even play them. Uther Dean suggests some games to bridge the gap between video games and the people who just CANNOT with them. Everyone plays video games these days. From Candy Crush on up, people are wittling away their one special life torturing pixels. … Read more
You might have seen headlines claiming paracetamol in pregnancy could reduce your daughter’s future fertility. We asked no-bullshit Spinoff Parents scientist Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw to tell us what it all really means. Oh no the lady rats are taking too many drugs in pregnancy. Somebody control their behaviour for the love of the Great Rat Goddess, … Read more
Another big name All Black has been tempted to the Northern Hemisphere. Scotty Stevenson reports. The English Premiership has swooped on another front line All Black with Lima Sopoaga set to announce he has signed with Wasps for the northern 2018/2019 season. The deal will see the Highlanders and All Blacks first five depart New … Read more
A surprisingly strong batch of MDMA has arrived on our fair shores. We know people are going to take it, so Wendy Allison, founder of pill testing organisation KnowYourStuffNZ, says we need to make harm reduction easier. Historically, when people have taken “ecstasy” in New Zealand it has not usually been MDMA. It is by … Read more
Bauer has announced the closure of Paperboy, its acclaimed ‘freemium’ Auckland magazine. Former Metro editor Simon Wilson laments the passing of a brave experiment and wonders why its publisher let it fold. What sad news, that Bauer Media has pulled the plug on Paperboy, and especially sad that it comes little more than a year … Read more
Does the return of Limp Bizkit to our shores in 2018 mean the nu-metal revival is happening? All signs point to… maybe. For a brief moment in music history, Limp Bizkit’s star shone bright. They were the angry princes of a new genre that fused rap and rock. Some called it rap-rock, while others preferred … Read more
Sam Brooks rewatched Friends in its entirety. Ten seasons, 236 episodes, and as many cutesy episode titles. But what if those titles were just a bit more honest? For a certain generation, Friends is an inescapable mainstay. I don’t think the show has ever left our screens since it started airing in 1994. Almost every night when … Read more
The Art of Banksy at the Aotea Centre in Auckland is replete with contradictions, writes Don Rowe. “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” – Banksy, exhibition entrance “Walls painted in Resene Alabaster and Resene All Black.” – Resene, exhibition entrance The Art of Banksy at the Aotea Centre in Auckland is so … Read more
A bold new book sees women rewriting historical judgments and dismantling how our legal framework is seen in indigenous and feminist terms. We hear much about the growing economic inequality in our society but rarely do we hear about how accepted frameworks, such as the rule of law and the associated legal system, contribute to … Read more
RIP Buster Stiggs. The legend who played in New Zealand’s first punk band, Suburban Reptiles, and later with his old schoolmate Phil Judd in The Swingers, died this month aged 63. In 2016 we excerpted a memoir in progress that he wrote for Phantom Billstickers magazine Café Reader. We reprint it below. Hastings Boys isn’t … Read more
Kate Robertson talks to musical polymath Troy Kingi about his second album’s journey through space. Troy Kingi is two albums deep into a very ambitious mission. The musician and actor plans to release ten albums across ten genres in ten years. He kicked things off in 2016 with the 23-track Guitar Party at Uncles Bach, … Read more
Celebrated children’s author Joy Cowley this week repeated the tired and debunked myth that eight year old boys have ‘as much testosterone as an adult’. Jacquelyn Collins explains why such claims harm both parents and children, and why they need to stop. Update, Jan 11: Read a response from Steve Biddulph at the foot of this … Read more
Since their debut in late 2016, the Critic Booze Reviews – thoughtful reviews of the cheapest alcohol available to New Zealand man, woman or beast – have become a social media sensation. Now we’re delighted to bring them to The Spinoff. This episode: Lion Red. This article was originally published in Critic Te Arohi, the Otago … Read more
Alex Casey watches Loudermilk, a bitterly funny dramedy about staying off the sauce. What’s the story? “Life is about fucking things up and then unfucking the things that you fucked up. That’s what makes you less of a fuck-up” Created by Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber) and Bobby Mort (The Colbert … Read more
Dairy co-operative Fonterra’s decision in 2016 to delay paying some suppliers for three months prompted a wave of anger. But as David Cormack found out, this practice permeates many industries – and is a serious stress point for small business. It’s a line that gets trotted out by politicians a lot. The line is that “small … Read more
What lies beyond the new Labour government’s ‘first 100 days’ for health policy and outcomes for Māori? In a new series, former Ministry of Health advisor and policy analyst Gabrielle Baker asks Māori health professionals for their recommendations for a more equitable health system. It could just be me, but these first months of a … Read more
2018 is set to be another big year in gaming. Sam Brooks sets down his most anticipated games of the year, including one game he hopes to a higher power actually comes out this year. It’s the start of a new year, and time to put aside the games we spent too many hours on … Read more
We’ll be here from 12 pm to cover the highs and lows of the 2018 Golden Globe awards, for all of those who are stuck in the office pretending to work. This television content is brought to you by Lightbox, home of Golden Globe-nominated shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale, Outlander, Mr Robot and Better … Read more
Because dating isn’t already horrible enough, an app named Attractive World recently launched in New Zealand aiming to make it worse. Current members decide whether prospective members are hot enough to be allowed in. Lucy Zee went undercover to see if it was as shitty as it looked. First published on August 22, 2017. Last … Read more
The groping of a topless woman at a music festival last year highlights just how retrograde our attitudes to public nudity remain. But, writes Kristin Hall, there is a better way – just look at any European beach. It was a lazy day on a white hot strip of Italian beach and I was caught … Read more