Compiling the best reading from your friendly local website. Emily Writes: Putting to bed bad advice about infant and toddler sleep “Let me start by saying I’ve tried every single thing possible to get my children to sleep at night. Now, aged two and four – they mostly sleep. Usually for about five hours straight. Which … Read more
Jacinda Ardern met a cute dog today and also faced up to questions about the environment. She did not say what some people might expect. The Green Party announced a plan today to help some farmers move out of dairying and assist others to operate more sustainably. The Greens’ plan would be funded by a … Read more
Labour’s surge makes a change of government a very serious possibility. History offers some interesting lessons, writes former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp Only once in the last 75 years has a government won four terms. That is the size of the hurdle facing National. It had been easy to forget that, with successive male … Read more
The young rugby player at the centre of last year’s biggest news stories, Losi Filipo made his Mitre 10 Cup debut for Wellington last night. It’s a chance at redemption, but not just for him, writes Jamie Wall. It was a wet, greasy game last night at the grandly-named Rotorua International Stadium. The weather and … Read more
It should be New Zealand provincial rugby’s greatest rivalry, but the Battle of the Bridge barely rates a mention on the list of great contests. Is 2017 the year to change all that? Scotty Stevenson certainly hopes so. I have a soft spot for North Harbour. I really do. I once captained an under-19 grade … Read more
Sometimes, the Auckland Council does some very good things. The new plan for the city centre and waterfront, says Simon Wilson, could just be one of them. Although it does have a few problems… Auckland councillors did something a bit unusual the other day: they gave council officials a standing ovation. (Well, that’s what a … Read more
We conclude an epic essay from the New Zealand Initiative’s Eric Crampton, exploring what life is like in and out of New Zealand. Today: chapters seven and eight. Read chapters one and two here, chapters three and four here, chapter five here and chapter six here. Chapter 7: For your own good The way [the Nutri-Matic Machine] functioned was very interesting. … Read more
This week NZ First released their full list of candidates. Sam Brooks took a deep dive into the trenches of the internet to find out who these people are, where they came from, and what they bring to Team Winston. Like many people, I see New Zealand First as synonymous with Winston Peters, much in … Read more
As Bill English and Jacinda Ardern battled it out during TVNZ1’s debate last night, Emily Writes was left extremely confused by a sexy candy ad. I never watch free-to-air television on an actual television. I’m not sure why in 2017 you would. So last night’s TVNZ leader’s debate was the first time in a long … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Frank Ocean’s continued glory, Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett’s indie-dream collab, and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Frank Ocean – ‘Provider’ Frank’s post-Blonde productivity continues Four loose singles into his post-Blonde period, Frank Ocean’s transition from quasi-recluse to mercurial and erratically prolific auteur seems pretty much … Read more
Climate change is a harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. After travelling to the Solomon Islands to meet the communities already affected by climate change, Madeleine Chapman looks at New Zealand’s responsibility in the region and the campaign for the Zero Carbon Act. There’s a completely unfounded and illogical belief among humans that, at the … Read more
On the first day of Spring, we present to you all the content sprouting forth in September for you to enjoy on Lightbox. Happy Valley (S2 available now) The second season of the British chiller returns with Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood back on her murder beat. With a string of homicides hitting West Yorkshire, and … Read more
From small beginnings in January last year, the true crime podcast My Favorite Murder has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. Ahead of their Auckland show next week, Lucy Gable pays tribute to creators and hosts Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, while Sam Brooks lobs them some questions. Imagine this; It’s a shitty, wet Saturday night and … Read more
After some scared principals blamed Westside for all their woes, Sam Brooks investigates what other carnage the Outrageous Fortune prequel has caused. Earlier this week, five high school principals in West Auckland blamed Three’s fictional series Westside for driving children away from their schools. Let’s be straight here: this is balls-out stupid. What would that conversation even … Read more
Political verse by Dunedin writer Diane Brown. Every day my name is out there Some say it’s pointless, we have no say but every day they land in my inbox or on Facebook, petitions asking for my name: on state housing, refugees, the TPPA, the writers imprisoned for telling the truth, the stoning of … Read more
The best-selling books at the two best bookstores known to science. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 Strange Beautiful Excitement: Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington 1888-1903 by Redmer Yska (Otago University Press, $40) “Wellington is revealed as grim, filthy, dangerous to health, and yet, in the course of this idiosyncratic mix of biography and memoir, Yska transforms the terrain into … Read more
Just how hard is it to win an election and successfully lead a government? Seems easy enough, but there’s only one way to find out for sure: simulate it in a computer game. No actual politics game measures up to the ideal politics game for which I yearn. What I want is basically a straight … Read more
Father’s Day isn’t a happy day for a lot of families. A new dad reflects on the lessons he learned from his own dad – one who wasn’t the father he deserved. Dear Dad, Happy Father’s day I guess. I wish this note were written under better circumstances, but the reality is that you’ve been … Read more
For Auckland teenager Grace Stratton, using a wheelchair means also having to sit in one particular place on the school bus. But does that have to define her? I live in on a farm in Warkworth, but I go to school on the North Shore. You could say that I have one foot in the … Read more
Welcome to Top of the Pile, a gaming series in which the participants are forced to play a game at the top of the ‘just released’ list. In this episode Joseph and José learn a lot about each other was blood and gore and undead horror rain down on them in this topdown Zombie shooter. … Read more
Winston Peters wants to move the cars from the Auckland waterfront to the port near Whangarei in just two years, and the whole container port within ten. Is he nuts? Simon Wilson reports. How do you decide on the future of the ports of the upper North Island? We now have three clear ways to … 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’s guest has been mentioned at least three times on the podcast … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today: didn’t we all do well? Morning has broken on the day after the first TV leaders debate. Bill English, Jacinda Ardern and Mike Hosking give their reflections on how they think the debate went. … Read more
Welcome to Take Me Out, a semi-regular series wherein Kate Robertson, music critic and dating blogger, finally combines her expertise by going on a date with a musician and then sharing it with you. First up, Kate takes Kane Strang for coffee ahead of his appearance at The Others Way festival. Dating is one of … Read more
Who won – Jacinda? Bill? A surprisingly competent Mike? A range of commentators from The Spinoff and all points on the political spectrum weigh in. Duncan Greive: Mike Hosking is still really good at this one thing Everyone from party leaders (with some justification) to activist movements wanted him gone. I myself wrote recently about … Read more
Pollwatch: The new One News poll proves the Jacinda effect is no blip. And the game has changed dramatically ahead of the first debate. For anyone who has been paying attention to New Zealand politics over recent years, these latest numbers from One News and Colmar Brunton don’t so much speak for themselves as shout … Read more
Leonie Hayden presents Kaupapa On The Couch, a six-part webseries looking at issues in te ao Māori that aren’t as well known or understood as they should be. This month: the Māori seats. What are they for and who cares about them anyway? Made with the support of NZ On Air.
We have all had those really, really hard days and weeks where everything feels like it’s too much. Mum of two Jessie Moss talks about how she copes when life is sending her curve balls. This year I have been feeling increasingly paralysed by the seemingly immense and insurmountable tasks that surround me. From small … Read more
Every week Chartlander travels back through time, landing in a different year on the official New Zealand singles chart in the hopes of (re)discovering forgotten Top 40 gold. Today we continue our tour of classic general elections in 1990. The date is the 27th of October, 1990. Tonight the National Party will land a crushing … Read more