Jack Stack describes his battle with depression and why he decided to write a book with the least-marketable name possible. When depression first hit, I was unprepared. I had never experienced anything remotely close to the isolation, joylessness, lack of motivation, and the sense of worthlessness that it brought. Over two long years it slowly … Read more
One of 2016’s best games has had its best feature, Elusive Targets, turned back on. Jessica Alouette explains what makes Hitman special, and why you shouldn’t miss out on it. The former headmaster sits on a roof, learning to use his new recording device to help him write a book. People in the streets below … Read more
Back by lukewarm demand On The ‘Reg is The Spinoff’s regular gaming session streamed live every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook and Twitch. This highlights package sees José Barbosa and Joseph Harper try to honour our new PM by building a statue of her in Minecraft. This post, like all our gaming content, comes to your peepers only … Read more
It’s estimated about 2 billion people are ‘unbanked’ and not using traditional banking services, but Mark Thomas finds startups are creating a new financial services industry – often outside the watchful eye of regulators. How much longer will the traditional banks exist? An estimated 25,000 people from over 100 countries came to the Singapore FinTech … Read more
On Wednesday the Spinoff Review of Books published a negative review of historian Anne Salmond’s latest work, Tears of Rangi, which claimed Salmond reduced her Māori subjects to ‘cardboard caricatures’. Here’s her response. This is a very interesting review. As Ranginui Walker used to urge, scholarship is like a marae, and one must be ready … Read more
As Christchurch approaches the seventh anniversary of the big quake, the challenge confronting the incoming minister is daunting, argues James Dann. At 2pm on Wednesday, in one of the dusty gravel carparks that plague the centre of Christchurch, Megan Woods, MP for Wigram, and the Greater Christchurch regeneration minister in the new Labour-led government, made … Read more
The forthcoming inquiry into state care abuse must remember that women were victims, too, writes Paora Moyle, herself a former ward of the state. Last week on The Spinoff, Aaron Smale shared personal stories of state abuse of indigenous people in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, and asked what we can learn as New Zealand … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Henry Oliver talks to Soccerpractise’s Geneva Alexander-Marsters and Thom Burton. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to Soccerpractise’s Geneva Alexander-Marsters and Thom Burton about their debut self-titled album, singing in te reo Māori in an indie context, … Read more
New verse by Canadian New Zealand writer Michael Gould. They called it love I saw the man I thought I loved three times in two days, but after that we didn’t have much to say we kissed, though our eyes didn’t meet and smiled, but a sense of denial was already spelling defeat. Was … Read more
The best-selling books at the two best book stores north of the South Pole. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Nikau Café Cookbook by Kelda Hains & Paul Schrader (Nikau Café, $60) Food. 2 Journal of Urgent Writing volume 2 edited by Simon Wilson (Massey University Press, $40) A collection of essays commissioned and put together by The … Read more
One in five New Zealanders live in energy poverty, forced to choose between adequately heating their homes and other life essentials. Emily Writes looks back at her own experience raising a family in a drafty, cold, damp Kiwi home. One in five Kiwis live in energy poverty. That’s not good enough, so our friends at … Read more
With 2017 coming to a close, one brave fisherman has thrown his hat in the Worst Opinions ring with a rant against te reo and those who dare speak it. Madeleine Chapman responds. You might be thinking that the Spinoff publishing responses to bad columns is getting old. But so are these columnists and that … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Ross Sutherland, a British poet whose VHS performance piece Standby for Tape Back-Up, a multimedia meditation on memory, meaning and grief, is on in Auckland and Wellington this week. A little over ten years ago, with a healthy dose of mid-00s meta-irony, a group of friends and I get stoned and … Read more
Search Party is back on Lightbox for its second season – with new episodes arriving every Monday. Sam Brooks is here to tell you why you need to catch up on this show right now. Mild spoilers ahead! If you don’t want to take my word for it, and why would you, you should read … Read more
In his previous column Joshua Hitchcock looked at the alarmingly low employment rate for Māori. Here he searches for some solutions. Research in the United States on the effect of institutional racism in hiring practices show that a black man without a criminal record is less likely to secure a job offer as a white … Read more
Unlicensed course materials and substandard teaching at a private tertiary institution connected to New Zealand’s education royalty have left students indebted and fuming. Don Rowe investigates. Take a look up any side street in any main city in New Zealand and you’ll find one: the ‘International College of This’, the ‘New Zealand National Academy of … Read more
Team New Zealand manager Grant Dalton didn’t turn up to today’s council meeting to decide where the America’s Cup syndicates should be based. As Simon Wilson reports, he already knew he wasn’t going to get his way. The writing was on the wall at the start of the meeting. Team New Zealand, insistent at every … Read more
Brought to you by Inflatable World, Breeder’s Digest is your monthly coffee group in a podcast. Hosted by mum of three Jane Yee and virgin mum Nicola Winslade, Breeder’s Digest is a casual chat with your mates about all the rubbish bits of parenting and all the really good bits as well. Have your say using … Read more
Optimo, the Glaswegian DJ duo of JD Twitch and JG Wilkes, are a byword for open-minded, anything-goes club nights, their sets incorporating anything from mutant disco to krautrock, techno to samba, industrial to ‘Dueling Banjos’ and John Carpenter themes. Stevie Kaye talks to the duo ahead of their return to New Zealand this weekend. Founded … Read more
After a rocking season last year, Briefs Factory returns with their new show Briefs: Close Encounters. Sam Brooks responds to the two very different sides to the show, and how the company marries them. There are two shows I want to talk about here. There’s the show that you pay for: the high-quality, beat-perfect and burlesque-circus-dance hybrid … 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, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week Simon talks to Jake Millar, CEO of entrepreneurship-focused video company Unfiltered. … Read more
A public referendum on legalising cannabis for personal use may be held by the 2020 election as part of a possible agreement between the Green and Labour parties. One mother shares her own story to explain why she’s desperately hoping legalisation won’t happen. It’s a highly unpopular opinion for a 30-something year-old parent to have. … Read more
Alex Casey talks to PSUSY creator Jaya Beach-Robertson about pushing the webseries boundaries and dealing with thrush. PSUSY is a lot things, but it is not here to be cute. The psychedelic, hilarious webseries created by Jaya Beach Robertson and directed by Annie Duckworth delves deep into the gnarly realities of sex, dating and gender … Read more
Dave Comer was a film location scout who is credited with finding many of the spectacular locations for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. His widow Peta Carey introduces her new book of his photographs. It’s an odd affair, a book launch. Particularly your first book launch. My very kind publisher had warned me, “It’s … Read more
Dom Corry meets Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam, two brave podcast hosts who make a living talking about Bravo, and asks them why they can’t get enough of Gilda, Angela, Julia and the gang. If you enjoy Bravo reality shows, you really should be listening to the ridiculously entertaining Watch What Crappens podcast. [Editor’s note: … Read more
The broadcaster has bowed to a wave of public anger by quitting the sports pilot – though Sky sources suggest he would have been ousted regardless. Yesterday convicted domestic abuser Tony Veitch announced he’d be returning to our screens in a new “hard-hitting” sports show on Sky TV. The announcement was met with outrage, disbelief, … Read more
Auckland Council meets today to debate where to site the America’s Cup syndicates. Simon Wilson has five questions he’s hoping someone will answer. There’s no perfect answer to the question of where to site the syndicates that will compete for the America’s Cup in 2021. There’s not even a good answer. Still, we want one … Read more
With Christmas party season almost upon us, an anonymous waiter at an acclaimed Auckland restaurant explains how to avoid pissing off your serving staff, and shares some tips for getting the most out of any dining experience. Going to a restaurant is one of the great joys of life: you don’t have to cook, there’s … Read more
