In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today, one Kiwi has had it up to here with trick or treaters. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey reviews Halloween night at Horrorfest NZ. Say what you will about Freddy Krueger, but the man is very well-situated to point out a toilet at a crowded event. Our gazes followed his long, sharpened knife finger all … Read more
Earlier this week, the ‘handpicked’ support acts for Lorde’s New Zealand tour were announced. In case you weren’t up with all of them, Lauren Spring has made you a playlist. New Zealand’s high priestess of pop is coming home for a string of shows in early November, supporting her sophomore album Melodrama. She recently announced … Read more
The new government’s attempts to soften up public opinion for the return of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a masterclass in spin, writes ActionStation’s Laura O’Connell Rapira. As outgoing RNZ news director at Brent Edwards recently said, we need to stop treating the goings-on of our democracy as a carnival or sport. Too often we … Read more
Duncan Greive plays the SNES Mini and recalls a time in his life when it was the one thing he wanted to be happy. When I was a child, all I wanted was Super NES. I grew up in London in the ‘80s and my mum was deeply fearful of all things that weren’t English … Read more
One of the stand-out chapters in Chris Bourke’s new best-selling history of New Zealand music in World War One is about the contribution and legacy of Māori music. He expands on the subject for the Spinoff. Māori popular music is the most crucial gap in the expanding bookshelf of New Zealand music histories. When researching Blue Smoke, my … Read more
Hope and rhetoric are a great tonic but it’s time to act, writes columnist Graham Cameron. At the United Nations in late September, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave an impassioned speech about the historical abuses of Canada’s First Nations, stating that “for Indigenous peoples in Canada, the experience was mostly one of humiliation, neglect … Read more
In New Zealand and around the world, modest boosts to the minimum wage have failed to trigger the catastrophic effects detractors prophesy, writes Branko Marcetic No sooner was the new government’s minimum wage hike announced than the land speed record was broken to denounce it. The Employers and Manufacturers Association went first, complaining that it … Read more
Ports of Auckland has released its brand new long-term plans. Simon Wilson is impressed, but also not impressed. The cars are moving off the finger wharves. Hallelujah. And instead of spreading over every inch of available wharf space, most of them will be contained in a remarkable, brand-new carpark building. With a green park on … Read more
Dynastic hero and top vlogger Max Key has just released an emotional reaction video in response to the Spinoff’s universally lauded parody, and we love it. Our story begins in 2014. The National Party, led by John Key, ran an ad with an Eminem-esque theme. Owners of the Eminem original, Eight Mile Style, sued the … Read more
An international survey shows book sections publish many more male critics than female – and that they review many more books written by men than women. Spinoff books editor Steve Braunias (a man) looks at the state of play in New Zealand. A landmark survey has revealed that more women than men review books at … Read more
Our Forever Hopeful Club columnist Kat McKenzie is back with the final installment of her series on the hopes, fears and medical practicalities of trying to be a mother. Over three installments, Kat has shared her IVF journey – you can read part one here and part two here. It felt good to not be on … Read more
Fair access to the judicial system is societal linchpin, but there’s an increasing divide between those who can afford good legal representation and those who can’t. Adam Goodall looks at how the legal profession has been trying to raise the alarm. Back at the start of August, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias gave a speech … Read more
Jacinda Ardern’s programme offers real hope for the issues Mum fought so passionately for, from labour law and cannabis reform to forestry and Pike River, writes Dylan Kelly A little over a year ago, my mother Helen Kelly passed away, aged 52. She’d been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer 18 months earlier, and had resigned … Read more
Mayor Phil Goff has announced the results of his first round of spending cuts and, as Simon Wilson explains, they’re full of surprises – not least for him. Phil Goff is not going to slash and burn the council’s spending on promoting Auckland to the world. That’s despite a good deal of gnashing of teeth … Read more
Calum Henderson reviews this year’s pretender to the Hatchimals throne, a cool-but-rude robot called Cozmo. In the future robots will do just about everything. They’ll provide us with healthcare and drive our cars, they’ll do the washing up and if the movie RoboCop proves an accurate prophecy, keep our city streets safe from crime. Eventually robots will … Read more
Following the success of Thor: Ragnarok, Toby Morris looks at other Hollywood franchises that Taika Waititi could improve. It’s Taika’s world, we’re just living in it. So where does he go next? Wherever he bloody wants. After the success of Thor: Ragnarok, every major studio and blockbuster franchise in Hollywood will be lining up to … Read more
Dominic Hoey (aka Tourettes) used to tour New Zealand as a rapper and, before that, as a drummer in punk bands. This November he and singer-songwriter Skyscraper Stan are playing 17 towns around New Zealand and Hoey will be reporting from the road for The Spinoff – a sort of state of the nation through the … Read more
Leonie Hayden presents Kaupapa On The Couch, a six-part webseries looking at interesting issues and events in te ao Māori. What do we mean when we refer to our mountains and rivers as ancestors? Episode three looks at the world-leading legislation in Aotearoa that recognises Te Urewera National Park and the Whanganui River as people. … Read more
Beef + Lamb NZ’s Nick Beeby responds to a recent Spinoff column predicting that synthetic proteins will lay waste to our farming sector. Food strategist Dr Rosie Bosworth is not wrong in her comment piece about the challenge ‘synthetic’ proteins pose to New Zealand’s agricultural sector – but sheep and beef farmers, and our exporters, … Read more
It’s been estimated to be worth $26 billion, with significant stakes in the forestry and fishing industries. But underneath the story of the Māori economy are also the humming small business stories in Frankie Apothecary and Huia Publishers, Rebecca Stevenson finds. The numbers bandied around are staggering. A 2013 report by BERL for Te Puni … Read more
Will Jacinda Ardern and her new cabinet mess with our beloved remote? Duncan Greive inspects the broadcasting policies of Labour, NZ First and the Greens to find out. The elevation of Jacinda Ardern to prime minister has led to torrents of words being typed – about her youth, her gender, her impact on national sporting … Read more
Paranormal and fantasy author Steff Green asks: why the hell is it that characters with disabilities either have to be super heroes, or super villains? Can’t they just be characters with disabilities? Blinded by a mysterious illness at the age of 25, James Holman set out on foot to circumnavigate the globe. Armed with only … Read more
Clinical psychologist Amy Wilson-Hughes shares some advice for parents and whānau to help their teens deal with the stress of exams. I spend my days working with teenagers, and I know that term four can be rough. Heck, they’re teenagers – every day is rough. But exams add unique pressures all of their own, and … Read more
Researcher Dr Jo Cribb writes about the difficulties faced by not-for-profit boards in an economy of start-ups and listed companies. For the thousands of New Zealand directors serving on the more than 100,000 not-for-profit (NFP) boards in New Zealand – that is an estimated one in 40 of us – being on the board is a … Read more
Bitcoin has experienced an unprecedented explosion in value over the past eight years. Here Richard Meadows outlines just what it is, and why the good times won’t last. In the winter of 1928, Joe Kennedy stopped to get his wingtips buffed on his way to the office. After the shoeshine boy finished, he offered the … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, the Spinoff’s resident youths Madeleine Chapman and Don Rowe try out the latest summer beverage. Don: So it turns out Coke events are a lot like Coke advertisements – beautiful people standing around just generally stoked about living a … Read more
Simon Wilson called the play Te Pō “a masterpiece” when it premiered last year. It’s back for a short return season and he went along to see if he got it right. There’s a moment late in the play Te Pō when the actor Carl Bland stands alone on stage and bawls out his grief that … Read more
A couple of weeks ago The Spinoff streamed a Facebook Live performance by Bic Runga and her band, ahead of their three-date tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of her debut album Drive. Here’s her performance in full, for your viewing pleasure. And while you’re here, you may be interested in reading a condensed transcript of … Read more