Tara Ward counts down the top ten moments from ‘Creme de Menthe’, the seventh episode of Outlander season three. Contains major spoilers, obviously. There were bedroom hijinks aplenty in this week’s episode of Outlander, but sadly none of them involved Jamie Fraser’s naked butt cheeks. I thought Jamie’s post-coital wig was the worst crime their bedroom would … Read more
Dan Taipua explores indigenous ideologies in Thor: Ragnarok, the blockbuster movie from the king of the space Māori, Taika Waititi. Warning: contains spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok Without a doubt, Taika Waititi is the finest New Zealand filmmaker of his generation. At the time of writing, Thor: Ragnarok is the most critically well-received Marvel movie of all … Read more
It began as a birthday party on a farm, now Blackwoodstock Festival runs for three days on an idyllic spot on New Caledonia’s west coast. Simon Day spoke to organiser Jean-Marc Desvals about growing the indie rock scene in the Pacific, how to attract big artists to New Caledonia, and the ‘spirit of the cow’. On … Read more
An adviser on America’s opioid epidemic says New Zealand needs to treat all drug abuse as a health problem, not a criminal one. Fresh from leading a committee advising US Federal officials on policies to address America’s runaway opioid problem Professor Richard Bonnie believes New Zealand must go beyond the legalisation of cannabis and decriminalise … Read more
Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy responds to an anti-Semitic speech at an Auckland mosque. People who deny the Holocaust took place are many things, but most of all, they are liars. Whether they are visiting Iranian clerics or whether they are members of a “White Pride” group – they are all liars. Holocaust survivors are … Read more
The demon foodies of Christchurch get brought down to size by a French celebrity chef as My Kitchen Rules NZ prepares to enter the sudden-death cook-off round. From Chris and Bex’s fortress of broken culinary dreams in Wanaka we head up country, to Christchurch, for the final instant restaurant of MKRNZ 2017. Lying in wait … Read more
The Brit Award-winning blues singer with a hip-hop heart just announced he’s coming to New Zealand in April. Yo New Zealand! I'll be over in April '18 doing some shows. Tickets on sale this Friday 👍 pic.twitter.com/oRuTdNK2T8 — Rags (@RagNBoneMan) October 29, 2017 What’s a Rag’n’Bone Man? Rag’n’Bone Man in the stage name of Rory … Read more
Abolition would be a step too far. Jacinda Ardern should retain the Social Investment Agency, but reshape it so it is truly about people’s lives, argues Simon Chapple. Social investment in the welfare system was the flagship policy for the National-led government, and specifically for Bill English’s – an approach which links welfare reform with improving … Read more
Auckland has a new bike share scheme! Or does it? Simon Wilson investigates the strange case of the bumblebee bikes in the central city. Seen the brand new OnzO bikes all over central Auckland? Two by two, like animals from the Ark, gleaming black with shock-yellow wheel rims, they’ve turned up suddenly at almost every … Read more
Jihee Junn takes a look at some nifty graphs from ATEED’s latest report and gleans some interesting insights about the city’s economy and future. *Update: a previous version of this article used outdated information from ATEED regarding Auckland’s ethnic makeup. ATEED has now updated the graph and figures in its report. Last week, Auckland Tourism, … Read more
The Real Pod team are back together to talk about the important stuff, namely poo and poo-adjacent topics. This week on The Real Pod, we get stuck into the fifth week on Married at First Sight NZ in all it’s grimy glory. What the heck is a “surrender date”? Is Haydn a good wrestler? And … Read more
Alex Casey power ranks the fifth week of Married at First Sight NZ, including wrestling, a new type of pavlova and a severe toilet scare. It only took five weeks for me to realise that the inner workings of Andy’s rancid flat is basically the perfect symbol for the Married at First Sight NZ couples. … Read more
Michael Bennett won the 2017 Ngaio Marsh crime writing award for best book of non-fiction on Saturday night for his book In Dark Places, a study of the wrongful, shameful conviction of Teina Pora for the 1992 murder of Susan Burdett. The excerpt is from the opening chapter. Content warning: This chilling excerpt describes the … Read more
As well as being the official NZ Wars commemoration date, October 28 is celebrated by Northland iwi for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document that recognised Māori sovereignty, explains Miriama Aoake. In 1835, 34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tīreni, the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes … Read more
There’s an increasing belief that you don’t need a degree to get a 21st century career. In the first of a two-part series on the future of tertiary education, AUT vice-chancellor Derek McCormack argues that New Zealand’s universities have an essential role to play in our changing world. I’m constantly asked about the relevance of … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Campbell Smith, music mogul and the man behind Auckland City Limits, about bringing the festival back after sitting out a year. “Anyone got any drugs?” Campbell Smith, a man who has done nearly every business-y thing it is possible to do in New Zealand music, yells to no-one in particular as … Read more
Attempts to renegotiate the TPP provide the immediate task, but defence also looms as a big challenge for a government with three key internationally focused positions filled by NZ First MPs, writes the director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, David Capie One of the biggest surprises to emerge from talks to form a new … Read more
Craving some spooky TV that isn’t soaked in 80s kitsch? Try the bone-chilling Channel Zero: Candle Cove, writes Aaron Yap. Syfy, look at you! First The Expanse, now Channel Zero? It’s like I might have to start paying attention to your shows or something. Where the former – a superb piece of serious, high-end science fiction … Read more
When Counties Manukau Health dropped plans for a Ronald McDonald House for families of Middlemore Hospital patients, many parents of very sick children were shocked. Caroline Beech explains why Ron’s House means so much to those who use it. The scan found our daughter’s tumour on a Tuesday. A week later we were on a … Read more
The Herald says communications spending at Auckland Council is out of control, but is that true? Simon Wilson looks at what council comms should be doing and why. The water went off in parts of Auckland yesterday. But Watercare didn’t post anything about it on its website and it put out no information on social … Read more
If you’re anything like the Herald’s readers, you’ve spent most of the last week weeping about Labour’s fuel tax. Hayden Donnell provides some good reasons to rein in your grief. Labour has announced it will raise taxes on fuel in Auckland by roughly 10c a litre, and everyone is freaking out. People are screaming that … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has signalled her focus by adopting a portfolio tackling child poverty. But will the coalition government have the mettle to make the differences needed, asks Jess Berentson-Shaw. Prime minister Jacinda Arden has shrugged on her swannie, pulled on her red bands, and is wading into the mud to pull out a struggling lamb. … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Emmaline Matagi: How to dress your Pākehā child up as Maui or Moana without appropriating Pasifika culture Disney’s Moana has been a smash hit in New Zealand. Children everywhere want to dress up as characters from the movie. So how do you let your child … Read more
This week, the newly-formed Government confirmed its policy is to double the country’s refugee quota. Red Cross migration programmes manager Rachel O’Connor says the priority now is ensuring its swift implementation. Two years ago, a single photo haunted the world’s consciousness and galvanised the global community into taking action to address the largest humanitarian crisis … Read more
Ahead of the season four premiere of The Brokenwood Mysteries, Alex Casey speaks to two of the show’s stars about their favourite murders. Everyone wants their friends to throw them a nice surprise birthday picnic, but nobody wants the party to be crashed by a mangled skydiver who never quite got his parachute open. Really … 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 former Telecom CEO Theresa Gattung. At the age … Read more
Minimum wages are going up – but when they do, Working for Families will go down. The Maxim Institute’s Alex Penk and Julian Wood weigh up the new Government’s wage policy. Raising the minimum wage will usher us forward into the glorious workers’ paradise – or it will grind the economy to a halt? These are … Read more
The arrival of a new government offers the chance to reset the often heated immigration debate. So where should we start? Immigration policy expert David Hall has some ideas. There are few better ways to fuck up a society than to stoke the coals on immigration. It is easy to do, but hard to retract … Read more
Pick up some flowers, drop off your laundry, and order in on a Friday night – Kiwi app LazyAz will do it all for you. Jihee Junn talks to its 19-year-old founder Aryaman Taore about making the most of the delivery craze. Back in the old days (ie: pre-2010), the dominant option for getting food … Read more