Already the internet is being bedazzled by political messages in the election leadup. Here Toby Manhire helpfully analyses National’s debut effort using the medium of captions. We’re still awaiting a ruling in the lawsuit against the National Party over their “Eminemesque” commercial – the one with the boats – from 2014, and already the first ad … Read more
As the legalisation of cannabis edges closer to reality, some savvy entrepreneurs are getting ready to cash in. But what about the tens of thousands who’ve suffered mentally, physically and financially under our marijuana laws? Madeleine Holden argues the case for post-legalisation reparations. Legal marijuana could be a reality in New Zealand very soon. Peter … Read more
In a followup to his report as an embedded NZ First member at the party’s conference, Branko Marcetic looks at how the Winston Peters bus is going through the gears and gives his take on the party’s prospects. The New Zealand First Party tends to be more associated in the public mind with mobility scooters and … Read more
Hyperemesis gravidarum is a terrible, debilitating illness that few people understand. It’s more than morning sickness and it takes an immense toll on a pregnant mother. Wellington mother Wendy Harper shares her hyperemesis story. Two years ago at Easter, I planted a whole lot of tulip bulbs outside my bedroom. I hoped I would be … Read more
Turns out you can randomly issue demands for payment, and we’re totally into it. Please pay promptly. New Zealand woke this July morning to news that the Taxpayers’ Union will be issuing Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei with a “very large invoice on behalf of all the taxpayers and beneficiaries who follow the law”, following … Read more
Pete Douglas asks Queens of the Stone Age about their new album, classic rock and fate of the humble guitar. Last week Queens of the Stone Age played a great show in that strange school hall of a venue known as the Logan Campbell Centre on a very stormy night. I was there and chatted with the … Read more
Our War for Auckland Veteran’s Association memorial mugs, complete with rare collector’s edition spelling mistake, are a covetable momento of last year’s War for Auckland campaign, and we have 10 of them up for grabs. Just complete our super-quick reader survey and you’re in the draw. Take the survey here. The Spinoff Media is sponsored … Read more
Year on year, board games are selling at historical rates – and one Waikanae dad is cashing in. Douglas Moore speaks with Shem Phillips, full-time board game designer and director of Garphill Games. * So Shem, could you tell me a little about yourself and how you came to be a designer? I’m 33, married with two … Read more
The Southern gothic comic book fable Preacher is back and exclusive to Lightbox. Dominic Corry sat down with Joseph Gilgun (Cassidy) to talk about acting anxieties, American money, and living the ganja dream. Instantly recognisable to fans of Emmerdale, This Is England and the beloved cult series Misfits, English character actor Joseph Gilgun had been kicking … Read more
In the second of our occasional series of reports of literary activity in provincial towns, Taumarunui writer Antony Millen – a runner-up in last year’s Surrey Hotel writers residency award – describes what goes on in the King Country. It’s nearly 3am, sometime in December of 2012, and I’ve just completed the draft of my first novel … Read more
A new regular column following the female-to-male transition of Wellington writer Felix Desmarais. Month one: ‘It’s not easy having your balls put in your butt.’ Hi! My name is Felix and I am a 14 year old boy studying journalism at Massey University. I’m also going to turn 30 next year. I am female-to-male (FTM) … Read more
At first look, it all seems so sensible: people who find no value in their lives should be allowed the choice to end them. Right? Wrong, says Dr John Fox – and here’s why. One of my first memories is pain. It was my first hospital operation, a corrective surgery to make it easier to … Read more
The headlines don’t quite capture the core message of Winston Peters’ party, finds Branko Marcetic when he attends their pre-election conference. Midway through the first day of the New Zealand First conference, the 300 or so assembled party members considered a remit put forward by the party’s South Hutt branch. It proposed that the party … Read more
BBC have announced that the 13th Doctor in Doctor Who will be played by a mere human woman and men are not happy. Sadly, this isn’t the first time a woman has committed an act of violence against thousands of men. Madeleine Chapman ranks the worst of them. There’s nothing worse than blatantly miscasting a fictional … Read more
TVNZ’s New Blood competition crowned its winner last month and awarded one team $100,000 to make a web series. Emma Clark talks to Isla Macleod, one half of the winning pair behind Oddly Even, about producing quality content on a non existent budget. TVNZ web series competition New Blood has lived up to its namesake … Read more
Simon Day talks to Grayson Gilmour about spatialised audio, his Silver Scroll nomination, and new album, Otherness. Grayson Gilmour has been recording music since he was a teenager, but it has taken the arrival of his 30s for him to make peace with the direction of his career. On his eighth solo album, Otherness, released … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes has all the tips you need to get you through the last half of the school holidays. I said to my husband earlier in the week “These school holidays are unending!” and he said “Emily, it’s 10am on the first day. Are you drinking wine in a mug?”* and it … Read more
The new Netflix movie is a remarkably tone-deaf and insight-free depiction of anorexia nervosa, writes Lucy Kelly. Content warning: this article discusses anorexia and other eating disorders in detail, which may be triggering to sufferers and survivors. It was summer in 2011 and I lay in my bed and went through my ritual of checking … Read more
We received close to 100 entries for the coolest writers residency award in New Zealand. Today, right now, we name the 10 writers who have made the shortlist. Ten finalists have been chosen in the 2017 Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with The Spinoff Award. Applications for the second annual extremely groovesome writers award … Read more
The New Zealand First leader is promising two referendums if his party is in government. One is daft and the other is daft and dangerous, writes Andrew Geddis If we believe Winston Peters’ speech to the New Zealand First party conference – admittedly a pretty risky thing to do, given past precedent – any future Government … Read more
The Greens had their annual conference this weekend: the perfect opportunity to provide the bold leadership and arresting policy they’ve been missing. Simon Wilson was there to find out if they took it. It’s about leadership. Political parties can have the best policies in the world but if we don’t believe their leaders are trustworthy, likeable … Read more
A TVNZ exec made headlines last week for calling Netflix a fad. But after another big budget failure, Duncan Greive asks if it’s time the state broadcaster tried to learn from the streaming giant, rather than embarrassing itself by dismissing it. Last week Andrew Shaw, TVNZ’s veteran deputy director of content, made headlines for describing … Read more
It is week three of series six of The Block NZ and Jane Yee has figured out her Lings from her Zings. But how are they doing? Are they any good at renovating property? Does it matter? What is life? “I do not want Julia and Ali’s house because they have ****** those two rooms” … Read more
Compiling the best reading from your friendly local website. Harriet Gale: What the hell went wrong with Parnell Station? “[Parnell Station] will always be out of the way and down the hill, tucked away via a warren of dog-leg back alleys. It’s hard to find, physically hard to walk to and so deserted it’s a little … Read more
The achievements and challenges of women in STEM disciplines were the focus of the Celebrating Women in Science conference, which closed in Auckland on Friday. Among the speakers was American chemist and physicist Cather Simpson, now of the University of Auckland, who writes here about her involvement in an intense effort to level the playing … Read more
A week after the melodramatic ending to the Lions tour and the “controversial penalty, that wasn’t a penalty, that could have been a penalty, that wasn’t a penalty,” the rugby world is none the wiser. Former All Black Mils Muliaina is still pissed that no clarity has been provided around that final decision. We all … Read more
The construction industry can hardly bear the suspense: who will win the contract to dig the tunnels for New Zealand’s first* underground railway? As for the rest of us, the question is: how good will it be? Simon Wilson went to see the project director to try to find out. On the second-to-last day of … Read more
The weirdest schedule in all of professional sports naturally gets a weird ending this week. Maybe it’s just time to admit that the system is too weird for everyone, writes Scotty Stevenson. The Chiefs and the Hurricanes both will be in action in the final round of Super Rugby’s regular season on Saturday with no chance … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Selena Gomez, Diaz Grimm, Widowspeak & more… SONG OF THE WEEK Selena Gomez – ‘Fetish’ ft Gucci Mane Starting with ‘The Heart Wants What it Wants’ in 2014, Selena Gomez embarked on a streak of hot singles as good as anyone currently active. Discounting … Read more