Just six months after going live with much fanfare, streaming service Quibi is shutting down. Emily Writes provides a eulogy to the platform nobody liked. It’s almost shameful to admit it given the chorus of people bagging Quibi, but I tell you – I loved that thing. The criticism of Quibi started with the very … Read more
The writer of the acclaimed new Rose Matafeo comedy tells Sam Brooks how her own experiences as an expectant mother inspired the script. When writer-actress Sophie Henderson first started trying to become pregnant with her husband, director and actor Curtis Vowell, she didn’t expect it to happen so fast. She probably also didn’t expect that … Read more
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic prompted New Zealand and much of the world to undertake something few of us had ever contemplated: a near-total lockdown of society. In this Lockdown legacies series, James Dann explores the impacts of those extraordinary measures, intended and otherwise. Today, part one: the lockdown halt. This project was made possible … Read more
Until recently, it seemed the Verb literary festival was destined to go the same way as so many live events this Covid-cursed year. Now the festival is all go – and its director can finally breathe out, she tells Michelle Langstone. Claire Mabey did a tarot reading every day during New Zealand’s first Covid-19 lockdown. … Read more
The story of how a leisurely bike ride around Hawke’s Bay turned into a one-man rampage against perceived corporate privilege. In the early hours of October 10, in a motel in Napier South, Ian Swney, 62, was struggling to sleep. A semi-retired kindergarten teacher, he’d travelled to Napier from his home in Morrinsville to join … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for October 23. All the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz The day in sum Nine new cases of Covid-19 were announced: eight in managed isolation and one linked to the “marine employee cluster”. The Malt pub in Greenhithe closed its doors for … Read more
American actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt has revealed he’s living and working in New Zealand. What brought him here, and what can he expect from his visit? Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in Netflix’s new movie The Trial of the Chicago 7, but he could also be appearing in a suburb near you. Last week the Emmy Award-winning actor … Read more
A poem by Ockham Award-winning novelist Becky Manawatu. Crumbs between stones Tēnā koe XXXX I am writing to ask you some questions regarding a family harm incident which police responded to on Friday night. What time did the woman make the initial call? What time did police arrive at the scene? Was anyone arrested? If … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Aroha: Māori Wisdom for a Contented Life Lived in Harmony with our Planet by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin, $30) There was a … Read more
It’s normal to feature two different perspectives discussing a major US political set piece. Yet this morning RNZ’s flagship Morning Report hosted two unabashed Trump acolytes ahead of the final debate. At 2pm New Zealand time, the final debate between president Donald Trump and his challenger, Joe Biden, takes place in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s Trump’s … Read more
On the Rag has been hard at work trying to come up with a foolproof method for overcoming imposter syndrome. This is what it’s come up with. In this month’s episode of of On the Rag, we decided to confront imposter syndrome, aka the horrible demon lurking in many of our brains that doesn’t always … Read more
From winning two world cups with the Black Ferns to heading up TVNZ’s sports and events department, Melodie Robinson’s career has been one full of remarkable firsts. She joins host Duncan Greive to talk about it on this week’s episode of The Fold. When the Ministry of Education decided to start a children’s educational channel … Read more
To celebrate Recycling Week, Vanessa Young explains the essential role of nano-recycling in making the most of the tiny-scale but potentially harmful waste from batteries, circuit boards and more For most of us recycling means jars, bottles, tins (and the sprint to get the bin out as the truck comes up the street). If we … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What we know – and what we don’t – about the Covid-19 community cases; an America’s Cup spat threatens how Aucklanders can watch; and late election donations are revealed. It’s now been five days since we learnt that Covid-19 was back in the community, and the missing … Read more
Sacha Baron-Cohen’s most successful character returns to a pandemic-stricken middle America. The formula is the same, but its impact has radically changed, says Duncan Greive. In Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, more commonly known as Borat 2, the conceit is the same, … Read more
At the forefront of the race for a coronavirus vaccine are researchers at Oxford University, who are working ‘with great care and due haste’. Six months ago, several hundred volunteers began participation in a clinical trial of the vaccine. Among them was UK-based NZ journalist Richard Adams. I can’t talk now, I told the caller, because … Read more
Where to next for the National Party? Ben Thomas reviews the post-election wreckage. The National Party is undertaking a review of its campaign. Presumably this will not be to determine the cause of its historic defeat. The cause is well known. The cause screams out from the pages of The New York Times, The Economist, … Read more
The crises of climate, biodiversity and Covid are urgent enough that politicians in both parties need to overcome their reservations and make it happen, writes former Green MP and Forest & Board CEO Kevin Hague. Forest & Bird is strictly politically independent. It’s not our role to say what is best for political parties. It … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Hengjie Wang and Alliv Samson, co-founders of Kami. If you have any school-aged kids in your life, you’ll … Read more
Men find it hard to seek help when they experience perinatal distress. Simon Day shares his story of postnatal anxiety and talks to parenting advocates about what fathers need to do when they’re feeling down. In late December 2019, our twin boys arrived two weeks earlier than expected. They were happy and healthy, but at … Read more
IoT is everywhere – we’ve just got to know where to look. Ben Fahy got a lesson on how to find it. Spark’s Tony Agar has a lot of explaining to do, which comes with the territory when you specialise in the Internet of Things. “I’ve had to explain to my kids what I do … Read more
BusinessDesk‘s Rebecca Stevenson looks into the controversial restructuring programme at New Zealand’s largest retailer, which has slashed hundreds of jobs and shuttered stores nationwide. I still recall as an employee of the former Fairfax Media business seeing a report in The Australian in 2013 which filled me, a junior reporter with an interest in business, … Read more
They may be poles apart ideologically, but for TOP and the New Conservatives, the election campaign featured some remarkably similar successes and failures for both. On an ideological level, it doesn’t make sense to put The Opportunities Party (TOP) and the New Conservatives in the same category. But their electoral vote share around 1.5% isn’t … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for October 22. All the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.30pm: The day in sum There were two new cases of Covid-19 at the border. Meanwhile, two members of crew on the Sofrana Surville tested positive while at anchor off the coast … Read more
A governor general, a microbiologist, a New Zealander of the Year, an Oscar-nominated producer and a comedian walk into a bar. The punchline? They all struggle with imposter syndrome despite being extremely cool and successful women. “I’m the governor general, I have to accept that I’ve done some things right – it can’t have been … Read more
Super-low interest rates are a blessing to those already on the housing ladder. For those still renting and without a deposit, it is yet another nail in the long-sealed coffin of potential home ownership. Last week, when Heartland Bank became the first lender in New Zealand history to offer a home loan interest rate below … Read more
The comedian stars opposite Matthew Lewis, the artist formerly known as Neville Longbottom, in a charming new New Zealand comedy about a pregnant woman completely losing her shit. Recently I watched all of series one of Duchess, the Netflix vehicle of comedian Katherine Ryan, based on her life as an unconventional single mother. I’m a … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions over how Greens should approach Labour relationship, Auckland pub patrons told to self-isolate, and highly leveraged investors send house prices higher. How lucky is the Green party, to have so many people giving advice and suggestions right now? As talks continue around the formation of … Read more
The woman who won Auckland Central for the Alliance in 1993 had some words of wisdom for the Green Party’s Chlöe Swarbrick on Sunday’s post-election episode of Gone By Lunchtime. “I always thought you could do it,” former cabinet minister Sandra Lee told Chlöe Swarbrick the morning after a dramatic election night had the Green … Read more