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. This week José and guest Joseph Harper actually play a game they might be good at: Tour de France 2017. Joseph is a dedicated cycling nut, so we … Read more
In the first of a new monthly column by Dr Lance O’Sullivan, the former New Zealander of the Year addresses the anti-establishment mood, and the potential of technology in the internet age to both challenge and enhance science and medicine. There is nothing new about rebelling against elites, but there is a deepening mood of … Read more
Need a parenting hack? Spinoff Parents has got your back – sort of. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes shares the best (*mostly* best) reader brainwaves. “I bribe my child to behave in public so often that we’ve worked out how to do it through hand squeezes. Three hand squeezes means shut up you’ll get a … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Sarah Aldridge, costume designer on Westside, about dressing the early-80s West family. Look, I love a spot of opshopping as much as the next person. Give me a giant, musty Sallies out in the wops any day, just as long as it contains at least three dog-eared copies of The World … Read more
What the hell is Sarah Quigley playing at in her novel about three mentally ill young people on the brink of suicide, wonders Holly Walker. Last week’s “Break the Silence” series by Olivia Carville in the New Zealand Herald was intended to start a national conversation about youth suicide. Are we not already having that … Read more
You’ll never believe it, but the election race is heating up and people are fighting over whether the NZ First leader has made racist statements. Hayden Donnell comes out in Winston’s defence. The hottest debate in New Zealand politics right now is one we could never – not in a million years – have seen … Read more
In order to constructively address anti-Asian sentiment, development of a proud Pākehā identity seems vital, writes K Emma Ng in this extract from her new BWB Text Old Asian, New Asian. Whiteness was for a long time the informal cornerstone of our nation building in New Zealand. Though the scientific racism of the 19th century has long … Read more
For years left-wing politicians and activists have fantasised about the ‘missing million’ voters, and what they might do to an election if they returned. Danyl Mclauchlan argues that the million aren’t who we commonly imagine them to be. A few days before the 2014 election I ran into the leader of a political party who shall remain … Read more
Pollwatch: A new poll for TVNZ is being called dismal for Labour and Little. And it is. But it’s not all rosy for National, either, writes Toby Manhire. There’s no getting around it: this evening’s Colmar Brunton poll for TVNZ is for the Labour Party, if you’ll forgive the technical language, pretty shithouse. With two and a half months to polling … Read more
From House of Cards’ sinister trumpets to The Fresh Prince’s iconic rap, TV theme tunes are powerful signifiers and also, just occasionally, standalone hits superior even to the show they prelude. Elizabeth Beattie examines five of New Zealand’s television theme songs to sift the cultural gold from the mud. We can tell a lot about … Read more
When this mother gave birth, her daughter was unable to breathe on her own – for 11 long, agonising minutes. These days she has a different attitude to the developmental milestones that many parents take for granted. The author of this piece asked to be anonymous for her daughter’s privacy. I’ve always found the concept … Read more
Whether they’re sharing beauty tutorials or performing pratfalls for the camera, social media influencers tend to have one thing in common: they want us to buy things. In a video collaboration between Frame News, Wrestler and The Spinoff, we look at influencers, and the powerful marketing industry behind them. Almost as soon as we had … Read more
The Stormblood expansion is finally open to travelers – get in before the trustafarians with our exclusive guided tour by Eugenia Woo. For the uninitiated, Final Fantasy XIV is Square Enix’s answer to the flood of MMORPGs out there. It had a bit of a rocky beginning; it was panned by critics and players alike … Read more
She missed it the first time around, so Tara Ward decided to watch the first season of Filthy Rich in one marathon binge. Filthy Rich hits our screens again this week like a stripper with a heart of gold dropped from a great height by her evil business associate. New Zealand’s glitziest show is back … Read more
New Zealand writers – published and unpublished, sane and unsane – have until midnight to apply for the writers residency at the Surrey Hotel in Auckland. The deadline to apply for New Zealand literature’s coolest writing residency has been extended but not by much: writers have until midnight (Monday night, July 10) to send in … Read more
Where’s Phil? Eight months into his first term as mayor, Phil Goff hasn’t had any spectacular embarrassments and he hasn’t blown the budget. Is that good enough? Simon Wilson doesn’t think so, and each day this week he’s got a challenge for the mayor. Here’s the first. Why isn’t Phil Goff a champion for the … Read more
‘Via their KiwiSaver accounts, ordinary New Zealanders are beginning to buy back New Zealand. They deserve to have a say in how the companies they own are managed.’ Sam Stubbs, GM of Kiwisaver provider Simplicity, and economist Shamubeel Eaqub – a Simplicity board member – explain why they’re putting Simplicity’s funds to good use. KiwiSaver … Read more
The Water Drop Café in Christchurch has had a bad week after they told a breastfeeding mother to feed her baby in the toilets. Here Mary Sea writes them a letter reflecting on the ups and downs of a public scandal. Dear The Water Drop Café, Imagine if we had to pay forever for our … Read more
Now that July is underway, many people will have taken their last drinks until August. But just how beneficial is one sober month? Julie Robert walks us through the ups and downs of binge sobriety. Dry July‘s annual campaign to raise funds for people affected by cancer has just begun and thousands have pledged to abstain for … Read more
In a departure from usual service, the second candidate diary entry by the National Party’s East Coast Bays hopeful Erica Stanford is not written by Erica Stanford at at all. Dear Erica’s diary, Kane here, her husband. She doesn’t know I’m here but I read her emails and txts anyway so a diary doesn’t seem too different. … Read more
Compiling the best reading from your friendly local website. Carlene Newall de Jesus: When rugby brings out the worst “The level of inappropriateness was shocking. These were not catcalls, these were the sounds of lions preying on the vulnerable. Literally. Ninety percent of the harassment came from men wearing the recognisable red and white Lions … Read more
Duncan Greive and Toby Manhire rate the current crop of political shows on New Zealand television right now. Most New Zealanders, as John Key was fond of calling them, would very likely be shocked and appalled to discover that our politics shows run just about all year, every year. Irrespective of the election cycle, or … Read more
The NZ Herald’s recent special feature on teen suicide in Northland was a reminder, should anyone need it, of the tragic cost of suicide in New Zealand. It’s time we all started treating suicide as the national emergency it is, writes Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw. What do I want for my children and what do I … Read more
As the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan, celebrates its sixth birthday, the pursuit of a durable peace hangs in the balance, but there are glimmers of hope, writes New Zealander David Shearer, head of the UN mission Just five days after Americans celebrate 241 years of independence, the people of South Sudan will today mark … Read more
Scientist Dr Michelle Dickinson looks at the truth behind the scaremongering headlines over a questionable study– and the disturbing way its Australian commissioners went after her when she wrote about it. This post has been updated with responses from Friends of the Earth Australia and the New Zealand Science Media Centre. (12 July 2017) Wow Now … Read more
The All Blacks’ attempt to start a parochial New Zealand rugby chant has been embraced wholeheartedly… by Lions supporters. The last month has been a pretty long and interesting time. I’ve been to every game of the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand, from Whangarei to Dunedin. I’ve listened to a lot along … Read more
A UMR nationwide survey suggests that New Zealanders are remarkably complacent about the threat new technology poses to their job security, writes UMR executive director Stephen Mills. If there’s one takeaway message from our nationwide survey of attitudes to work, it’s that Kiwis are largely unconcerned – at least for now – about the threats … Read more
Remember staying up extra late, one hand hovering nervously over the remote in case of footsteps, waiting to catch a tantalising glimpse of nudity on TV? You were not alone. An anonymous panel revisits the golden era of SKY 1 soft porn. In the years before broadband internet and personal devices, New Zealand teenagers had … Read more
Caitlin Carew’s partner decided he wanted to be at home with the children so she needed to find full-time work. Here she describes what decision they made and how they worked it out together. We were on holiday when my partner made his Big Announcement. Holidays are often when he does his Deep Thinking. He’d … Read more