Ahead of tonight’s ‘More than a Pretty Face’ event in Wellington, Angela Meyer and Anna Dean of the Ace Lady Network shuffle the deck and read the fortunes Let’s preface this by saying there’s an occult show on at City Gallery Wellington. We’re over the endless polls and a great deal of male commentary which … Read more
Bill Cashmore, deputy mayor of Auckland, tells Simon Wilson why he loves working with the government and why he has such high hopes our problems will all be fixed. Bill Cashmore gets up at 4am so you don’t have to. It takes him an hour to drive to work and he’s there before six. Cashmore … Read more
Parties are forever chasing the youth vote, but it’s during election season when the power of young political supporters is at its height. Branko Marcetic meets the leaders of the parties’ youth wings – and finds them fired up and ready to go. The various political party youth wings are a little like the small … Read more
The very latest from the Ardernified election campaign, which has claimed yet another leader resignation. Fresh from having read all 140 pages of the Prefu just minutes after it was published, Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire rest their chins upon their fingers and analyse the issues of the moment. How is National coping … Read more
The NZ Music Hall of Fame currently inducts two local artists a year, but is it really enough? Hussein Moses talks to Peter Grattan who’s petitioning for a total overhaul of the system to give New Zealand musicians the recognition he feels they deserve. Salmonella Dub made headlines recently when they turned down an offer to … Read more
All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books devotes itself to poetry in the build-up to Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day on Friday. Today: Louise Wallace, co-editor of an online journal which publishes poetry and stories by New Zealand writers under 25, reaches out to high school students. I really didn’t like poetry when I … Read more
You know her right? The Relaxed Mother? The mother you’re always compared to? Georgina Langdon-Pole takes on the myth. Gather around, ladies and gents. I am going to tell you the story of a magical sorceress. Legend calls her the ‘Relaxed Mother.’ The myth of the Relaxed Mother is perpetuated by the Baby Whisperers AKA … Read more
When businesses and others respond to customer demand they do their best to be fast and flexible. So why, asks Mark Knoff-Thomas from the Newmarket Business Association, doesn’t the council work the same way? It’s interesting to observe the lightning speed with which certain things are approved by Auckland Council, when it wants to act … Read more
Sam Brooks watches the new Eva Longoria vehicle Decline and Fall and finds a show more British than a pint of lager and a packet of crisps. Decline and Fall is maybe the most British show I’ve ever watched. How British is it? First of all, it’s based on a 1928 satirical novel by Evelyn … Read more
Every day this week the Spinoff Review of Books is publishing a new poem in the build-up to the Phantom Billstickers national poetry day on Friday. Today: ‘Words of praise’ by Ashleigh Young Words of praise On most drives I like quiet because my mother had a habit of appraising every passing scene, calling … Read more
Vanessa Ellingham brings a gift from Norway back to the motherland: an innovative teen drama that doesn’t suck. Earlier this year, I watched as The Spinoff found itself at war with Filthy Rich producer Gavin Strawhan over the quality of the New Zealand television shows receiving public funding. Strawhan argued that critics of his show, … Read more
In this special edition podcast, the On the Rag team do a roadie to the Spark festival in Hamilton to talk creativity and struggles. Arriving on a sugar high courtesy of Duck Island ice-cream and good vibes, Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court hit the couches at the Spark Festival to chew over what … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has outsourced Labour’s decision on a capital gains tax to a working group. But why? It’s time we stopped treating tax working groups as the magical solution to problems in the tax system, writes Jess Berentson-Shaw. Melchett: Field Marshal Haig has formulated a brilliant new tactical plan. Blackadder: Ah. Would this brilliant plan involve us … Read more
We continue serialising an epic essay from the New Zealand Initiative’s Eric Crampton, exploring what life is like in and out of New Zealand. Today: chapters three and four, covering tax and airport security. Read chapters one and two here. Chapter 3: A sense of proportion: The tax system “He’s spending a year dead for tax … Read more
Ahead of the release of their seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast, The National frontman Matt Berninger spoke to superfan Madeleine Chapman about their new look, politics in music, and why Ed Sheeran got to cameo on Game of Thrones and he didn’t. I’ve never considered myself a melancholic person. In fact I’d go so … Read more
Asian New Zealanders should not have to put up with ineffectual representation decided by Pākehā party bosses, writes Porirua GP and film-maker Sapna Samant. With just over a month to election day, we’re overwhelmed with voices from the left and the right, punditry and predictions. A considerable majority of it is by Pākehā, for Pākehā. … Read more
Helen Clark’s ill-fated bid for the top job at the UN is documented with extraordinary proximity and passion in My Year with Helen. Alex Casey sits down with the former NZ prime minister and director Gaylene Preston, in an empty foyer at the movies, to discuss the shit that happens. Of all the firm handshakes … Read more
We’re back for month two of Congratulations, She’s a Boy, a monthly column following the female-to-male transition of Wellington writer Felix Desmarais. Read part one here. Great news! One and a half months on testosterone, and like an almost decade-long tradition of uninspiring Labour leaders, my voice is breaking! #TopicalTrans. I just got a haircut. … Read more
In her quest for good parenting advice, Thomasin Sleigh has asked Google, skulked around online forums and, of course, become a devoted fan of The Spinoff Parents. But what are the pros and cons of turning to the internet for parenting tips? There’s a great quote by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze which I came … Read more
Everyone is competing for your eyeballs this election and it’s hard to know where to direct them and when. We’ve compiled your guide to leaders’ debates, election night coverage and the morning-after walk-of-shame. These are available to view or listen to by the public on broadcast television, radio or streamed live via the miracle of the … Read more
For years now Sky has been the biggest force in New Zealand media, crushing everything in its path. But by ignoring digital it has found itself in a brutal squeeze between rising costs and shrinking revenue – all with thousands of customers poised to flee post-Lions tour. Duncan Greive asks if the end is now … Read more
They’re a metal band from Auckland who write songs about life as part of the 2% – those born with red hair. Hussein Moses sits down with Bloodnut to find out where the sweet spot is between taking the piss and being completely serious, and just how far they’re willing to push the concept. Bloodnut … Read more
With Jane Yee galavanting away across the ditch, Tara Ward steps up to power rank the only four night a week NZ renovation show that matters. It was Guest Bedroom and Bathroom Week on the relentless renovation extravaganza that we love to call The Block. The pressure was on like a power hose pointed at a … Read more
Climate change is harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. Madeleine Chapman travelled to the Solomon Islands with World Vision to meet the communities whose lives are already being upturned by climate change. The skipper navigated our banana boat through wooden posts that shot out of the ocean like tombstones. Beyond them, on an island no … Read more
Just a couple of cents? Hardly. The opposition plan to charge for use of irrigation would impose a major burden, and it is hard to see how it would alleviate water quality problems, argues Megan Hands. There is no doubt that water management is top of mind for many of us this election, but none more … Read more
It’s 10-year planning time. The time when the mayor sets out his vision, his plans to realise that vision and the budget he will use to do it. But there’s a $6 billion hole in the money that needs to be spent on Auckland, and right now Phil Goff has no idea where the council’s … Read more
All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books is devoted to poetry in the build-up to the Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day on Friday. Yesterday we ran an essay by Helen Hogan, editor of 1970s anthologies of poetry by New Zealand college students; today, an essay by distinguished poet Andrew Johnston, who Hogan published when he … Read more
Because dating isn’t already horrible enough, an app named Attractive World recently launched in New Zealand aiming to make it worse. Current members decide whether prospective members are hot enough to be allowed in. Lucy Zee went undercover to see if it was as shitty as it looked. Last month, Attractive World was launched in … Read more
Next up in Sam’s Celebrity Game Reviews is Shady Wars, a game in which Sam has to reconcile his feelings for Eminem while throwing chainsaws at drones. I have a limited familiarity with Eminem. I am aware that Kathy Griffin was in a video he did, he has said lots of homophobic things in songs, … Read more