The council has been remaking the West Lynn shopping village on Richmond Rd in Grey Lynn, putting in bike lanes, calming the traffic and, they say, enhancing the shopper experience. What, asks Simon Wilson, could possibly go wrong? You can’t laugh. It seems pointless to cry. But Auckland Transport (AT) has just spent a couple … Read more
The New Zealand PM has dismissed reports that the American president confused her with the Canadian prime minister’s spouse. Such is the torrent of malapropism, muddle and casual offence that flows from the mouth of the US president, it would hardly be a surprise if Donald Trump’s response to seeing Jacinda Ardern at a leaders’ … Read more
This weekend Minecraft had its very own global live streamed convention, Minecon Earth, in which new developments and updates for the game were announced. Jessica Alouette talked to corporate VP Matt Booty about the big picture. Minecraft’s next evolution is called “The Update Aquatic” and will be focusing on the wildly popular game’s ocean environments to add coral, … Read more
‘You’ve seen what’s on his screen – imagine what’s on his mind’ warned the voiceover in a 1999 PSA about online paedophiles. The ad’s star Joseph Nunweek remembers its filming, and reflects on how our perception of internet safety has changed in the years since. Fame is fleeting, but it changes you. My television acting … Read more
Priced out of the housing market? Don’t lose heart. In the third part of a series on alternatives to property investment for ‘Generation Rent’, Jenée Tibshraeny looks at managed funds. They’ll cost you more in fees than their index-tracking equivalents, but are the returns worth it? How can you be confident about investing in financial … Read more
Propel has released their new high-performance Star Wars-themed drone. Sam Brooks went to the lavish launch event, somehow flew the drone, and reports back. Until last Thursday I had never been to Sydney, and I had never flown a drone. I have done both of those things now and feel like a fuller human because … Read more
Around the world, there are many abuse victims who have been saddened, angered or re-victimised from inquiry processes. These are the lessons for New Zealand, writes criminologist Elizabeth Stanley. This week Aaron Smale has been sharing personal stories of state abuse of indigenous people in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, and asking what we can … Read more
Earlier this month, RNZ Morning Report co-host Susie Ferguson announced she was taking medical leave due to her years-long battle with endometriosis. Rose Hoare explains how despite one in 10 women suffering from the painful condition, many women end up going through life unaware and undiagnosed. Susie Ferguson has endometriosis and she’s having a hysterectomy … Read more
Ten years of Assassin’s Creed games is a long time to run around stabbing things. In this hybrid review/chin stroking musing session, José Barbosa wonders if it’s time for the Brotherhood to fall on its own sword. There’s a moment in any ongoing creative endeavour when one reaches the precipice of one’s efforts; this is … Read more
Yesterday, Henry Oliver risked it all by predicting the winners of last night’s New Zealand Music Awards. Today he updates that post with the actual results and slightly jaded commentary. Okay, last night actually went pretty well. By which I mean that, yes, it was a good show, I was sitting at a good table with nice people, … Read more
Tara Ward does a deep dive into one of New Zealand’s weirdest national obsessions. There’s something about the Big Red Chair on The Graham Norton Show that pulls New Zealanders towards it. It’s like a giant magnet of truth, sucking the shame and dignity out of our fellow citizens. Resistance is futile. Week after week, … Read more
The best-selling books at the two best bookstores in the Southern Hemisphere. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Drawn Out: A Seriously Funny Memoir by Tom Scott (Allen & Unwin, $45) Much is anecdotage, a life well-told, by the great cartoonist who reminds readers that he has also excelled as a playwright, film-maker, and TV script writer. 2 … Read more
New verse by New Plymouth writer Elizabeth Smither. The man who wanted to stroke my hair The St Kilda tram. Bright summer air. Breeze through the window gap, stirring all manner of motes, tendrils of hair lifting their traces on my neck. Fine hairs of a different sort, underneath. Antennae not needed for … Read more
While Australia eventually did the right thing, it took months of public attacks on the LGBTQI+ community to get there. Kiwi export Courtney Mayhew reflects on having her sexuality turned into a public political football. Every year, 7th November is special day. It is the day of my birthday and the birthday of our Lorde. … Read more
Everybody agrees that job hunting sucks. But has it become worse? The hoops employers are making their would-be employees go through are becoming kind of incredible. Here unemployed, under-employed and employed share their jobseeker horror stories. Anonymously, obviously – because they need a job. I was called in for an interview with a media monitoring … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today, Paula Bennett recalls a momentous night at the New Zealand Music Awards with Lorde and so-called prime minister Jacinda Ardern. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos
About $100 million has been pledged to a new Iwi/Māori Direct Investment Fund. The NZ Super Fund’s Tama Potaka explains the ‘mahi tahi’ behind the initiative, which has received indicative commitments from over 35 iwi and Māori groups. With more than $15 billion of assets and investments currently under management by Māori collectives, and the … Read more
Today is World Prematurity Day, and this month is Neonatal November. To mark the day Lee-Anne Duncan talks to Wellington Hospital’s Dr Max Berry about the importance of neonatal research. What’s the reason musician Stevie Wonder is blind? He was given too much oxygen when he was born six weeks early. Research has shown how … Read more
It all started with a competition by Ponsonby Central asking for artists to submit their ideas on what to paint on its Brown Street wall. But when criticism over pay started to roll in, the Auckland restaurant complex deleted negative comments on its social media, escalating the whole affair into a full-blown standoff. Illustrator Sloane … Read more
Indigenous peoples throughout English-speaking countries have had their children taken away by the state for generations. Most countries have faced up to this legacy but New Zealand has been in denial about its own Stolen Generation – a group now known as Ngā Mōrehu (The Survivors). The new Labour government has agreed to set up … Read more
Rachel Klaver (nee Goodchild) was one of the pioneers of New Zealand lifestyle blogging, gaining a dedicated following for her witty and insightful writing on topics from internet dating to diets. That meant she got free stuff – a lot of it. But was it all really worth it? These days it feels like everyone … 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 Lewis Road founder Peter Cullinane. A few short years ago … Read more
A deep dive into the data on Australia’s public vote on same-sex marriage reveal some surprising details, write Australian public policy researchers Danielle Wood and Carmela Chivers. Australians have overwhelmingly voted “yes” for same-sex marriage. This means politicians will have to give up relying on the myth that a cultural backlash against the progressive agenda … Read more
Mum of two Wendy Black pays tribute to the beauty of a kid’s TV show featuring a pink hatted cat sheriff, a cactus friend, a blue horse, and a woodpecker. Never has there been a more appropriate time to use the Sad Cat Face Emoji. I just found out that my favourite kid’s TV programme … Read more
Marion McLeod reviews a memoir by author Claire Tomalin, who is candid about her affair with Martin Amis but maintains a classic English reserve. Sixties London. Claire Tomalin is the wife of Nick Tomalin, a brilliant, handsome young journalist and war correspondent. Claire is too modest to say so in her autobiography, but the photos show … Read more
The Spinoff vs Spotify. Narrative vs Data. Heart vs Head. Who can predict more winners of tonight’s New Zealand Music Awards – The Spinoff’s Henry Oliver or Spotify’s team of (probably) Stanford-educated computer-geniuses? A year ago, I proclaimed myself New Zealand music’s Nate Silver and made (not) data-driven predictions about the outcomes of the 2016 … Read more
Need new TV in your life? Hollywood mediums? Stargate voyagers? Floppy-haired Ryan Gosling? Then allow us to present the new offerings to Lightbox in November. Blindspot (S1-2 available now, new eps of S3 arrive every Sunday) It started with a tattoo enthusiast in a duffel bag in Times Sqaure, but the mystery thriller has become … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today, Kenneth has a message for Auckland – stealing road cones is not OK. OK? Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos
Chef Gordon Ramsay meets a ‘Kiwi megacelebrity’ in what deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time great Holmes interviews. When we think back on the television broadcasting career of Sir Paul Holmes, there are two notorious interviews that most often come to mind. The first was during the very first episode of Holmes in 1989, … Read more