Whakapapa is about relationships, not just relations, and can help us understand our all-round wellbeing, explains columnist Te Miri Rangi. Whakapapa describes a person’s genealogy, lineage or descent. It helps identify the relationships we share with others in to an organised system. Intimate knowledge of whakapapa was integral in traditional Māori society for not only … Read more
Te Papa curators talk about the artworks in the national collection that make them swoon. Curators! What do they do all day? No one knows. Certainly much of it is spent in soul-destroying forensic analysis of catalogue numbers; many turn to drink. But sometimes, in quiet, precious moments, they get to do what they got into the curating racket … Read more
In August, Ngāi Tūhoe invited experts and community leaders to come together in Rūātoki to declare war on drug dependence. Don Rowe was in attendance. You know you’re on a marae by the laughter. Contagious, unreserved laughter, brought up from the belly. Laughter irrespective of circumstance. Laughter in the face of historic tragedy. In the … Read more
Jihee Junn visits Microsoft’s sprawling headquarters in Seattle to find out how the tech giant is clawing its way back to relevance. In Cupertino, California, Apple is on the verge of completing its mothership – a glistening monolith of immaculate Norman Foster design. Its seamless curves and wall-to-wall glass ruthlessly dominate the city’s landscape: a description … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. The Spinoff: MAXCLUSIVE! Max Key* destroys Eminem career in diss track The National Party lost a lot this year. An election, a fiscal hole, a Winston Peters, and now a healthy sum of $600,000 to Eight Mile Style for using a sound-alike of Eminem’s … Read more
Social enterprises are everywhere right now. But what are they? And how do we make sure they are not just businesses exploiting a trendy term? Lawyer Steven Moe outlines how social enterprise can become a legitimate force for good. When the poet Robert Frost published his most famous poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ in 1916, … Read more
With house prices at an all-time high, an increasing number of young people are thinking about pooling their resources and buying a property together. But is it really a good idea? In the first part of a series on investment alternatives for ‘Generation Rent’, Jenee Tibshraeny looks at the financial implications of buying with friends. … Read more
Since their debut around a year ago, the Critic Booze Reviews – thoughtful reviews of the cheapest alcohol available to New Zealand man, woman or beast – have become a social media sensation. We’re delighted to bring them to The Spinoff, starting with Export Gold, ‘the Bill English of beers’. This article was originally published … Read more
A personal memoir of mental health, by Paula Harris. Content warning: this essay discusses severe mental health issues, including suicidal ideation. On Tuesdays I go to the pharmacy. That’s the day when I pick up that week’s worth of antidepressants. Someone somewhere thought it’d be fine to manufacture an antidepressant that people can overdose on. … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Sufjan Stevens, N.E.R.D, Kelly Clarkson, The Beths and more… SONG OF THE WEEK The Beths – ‘Great No One’ A thing about making things As you would expect from Auckland pop-rockers the Beths, their new (well, new-ish) track ‘Great No One’ is chock-full of wonderful, introspective … Read more
Black Sheep is a RNZ series about the shady, controversial and sometimes downright villainous characters of New Zealand history, presented by William Ray. Here he introduces Thomas Hall, the Timaru man whose murder trial was an 1880s sensation. “You have achieved in the annals of crime the position of being the vilest criminal ever tried … Read more
The High Court has dismissed law student Sarah Thomson’s audacious bid for a judicial review of the last government’s emission-reduction goals. But the ruling delivers some remarkable victories, Thomson writes. Read Sarah Thomson’s explanation of why she took the government to court here I received the judgment at the same time as the rest of … Read more
There’s a new version of the Xbox out and its makers reckon it’s the most powerful home console out there, complete with 4K output and very high FPS. José Barbosa gives the One X a hoon. Regardless of the context and circumstances, when you get your hands on a new console it’s a good buzz. … Read more
When you’re exhausted and everything that could go wrong, does go wrong, you need a parenting hack to get you through. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes has a tip to change your mindset and help turn your little devils into little angels. For much of my second child’s life I have wondered what’s going on … Read more
New verse by Kaipara poet Sam Hunt. Reminding me I call my mother thirteen years dead the phone says there’s nobody home. The phone is right. My mother hung it up thirteen years ago, then died… But none of that stuff stops our night time chats, my mother telling … Read more
The actual bird of the year was the kea. Well done, kea. But who is the Dirtbag Bird of the Year 2017, as voted by you, the readers? Sam Brooks announces it. It’s been a week since our poll came out. The comments were fierce. I even got a few well-intentioned emails out of it. … 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. Once again into the breach head Joe and José and this time they try out wrestling IP WWE 2K18. It’s a good whack of flying elbows, DDTs and brutal damage dealt out with folding chairs. … Read more
In opposition, Kelvin Davis was a vocal advocate for an overhaul of the lock-’em-up approach. In government, will he walk the talk, or cow to the reactionaries, asks criminologist Liam Martin Construction is set to begin next year on the biggest prison New Zealand has ever seen. A facility for 2000 prisoners is to be … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, staff from The Spinoff gorge themselves on giant pieces of fried chicken. Before you read this review, go somewhere you can listen to this at the same time. Trust us. Today The Spinoff lunched on more than $50 of … Read more
Scrapping of the “three-strikes” law will have a huge impact on Māori prisoners, and is just one new government policy which will have a positive impact on te iwi Māori, writes Mihingarangi Forbes. This post originally appeared on RNZ. Labour confirmed on Wednesday that the government would scrap the “three-strikes” law – which mandates increasingly harsh … Read more
With another tremendous season of Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty coming to an end, Tara Ward rounds up some key tips for better living. Kiwi legend and my latest imaginary BFF Rachel Hunter spent the last few weeks travelling through the Americas on an epic search for beauty. I didn’t think she’d find anywhere more … Read more
The best-selling books at the two best book stores since Neanderthals became extinct and homo sapiens continued to assert themselves as the dominant species of modern humans. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 Lazy Girl’s Guide to Living a Beautiful Life by Matilda Rice (Allen & Unwin, $40) Matilda! 2 Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Canongate, $23) Highly-praised … Read more
Simon Wilson sat down to pick the five shows he was most looking forward to in the 2018 Auckland Arts Festival next March. Here are 10 of them. And a few more. A new festival, a new director, a new music venue, a new look and some new ideas to guide it all. Change is … Read more
The price of kumara has soared in the past two years, so maybe it’s better to buy spuds? Data scientist Aaron Schiff was tired of trying to figure out how to get the best deals, so he built an app. At the supermarket (toddler in tow) I find it very hard to remember grocery prices, … 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. Today Simon talks to Scott Blanks about helping shape New Zealand comedy … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture. As the stardust settles and the chicky-babes stop cheeping, the On the Rag team assemble to talk about what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern means to them. Is she a Red Queen? Is she a Pink Princess? … Read more
With divorce commonplace and an increasing number of families blended ones, it’s well past time we start looking at step-mothers differently, writes Kristen Joiner. If we were characters in a movie, my children’s stepmum and I would be enemies. We’d swap dirty looks and smoldering passive aggressive comments, while our shared husband (my ex, her … Read more
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is the star of Arnott’s latest ad and film campaign. Madeleine Chapman attended the premiere and still doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be. Something big is happening at Arnott’s. In August they released two “trailers” to a supposed real-life film starring notorious great-but-boring person Steve Hansen in a quest … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, José Barbosa suffers pure horror in the form of Hamilton Gardens’ trauma-inducing scarecrows. Hamilton gets ribbed a lot, but the city has at least two things going for it: 1) the mighty Waikato River (why was the city built … Read more