Chris Ingam took his kids to the Gold Coast and reviewed and ranked every single theme park show so you don’t have to. New Zealand loves the Gold Coast! So much so that Mediaworks spent loads of money making a reality show about it! And what New Zealand loves more than anything else about the … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Henry Oliver talks to Alex Casey and Madeleine Chapman about the best FOTC songs, the worst FOTC songs, and every song in between. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to fellow Spinoff writers Alex … Read more
He was plucked in 2014 from the Labour caucus by National’s Murray McCully and made Pacific ambassador. Now, sporting a “Put New Zealand First Again” cap, the ego has landed in Camp Winston, becoming leader-in-waiting. Toby Manhire asks whether Shane Jones’ reinvention is a brilliant idea or a disaster in the making. The interminable prelude to Phil Goff’s … Read more
With Harlots arriving exclusively to Lightbox today, Tara Ward delves into the teaser trailer for the women-led period drama. Harlots has me more excited about a television programme than the time I found out they were bringing back Anne of Green Gables. While my Anne anticipation ended badly with a red-haired orphan running across a WW1 … Read more
This year, comedian Angella Dravid took out the Billy T award in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival for her extraordinary show Down the Rabbit Hole, exploring her spell in a UK prison. She talks to Alex Casey about finding humour in the dark, and being the ‘car crash’ of Jono and Ben. When Angella … Read more
Jane Yee has committed to watching four-and-a-half hours of kiwi renos on TV every week for the foreseeable future. This week we meet the new batch of Block NZ contestants. “Okay, fine.” These two seemingly innocuous words have effed up my life for the next three months. They’re the words I reluctantly mumbled when asked … Read more
Montell2099, whose debut single ‘Hunnid on the Drop’ with Savage 21 is released today, reports from his trip to LA to perform at Red Bull Sound Select. Auckland-based, Katikati-raised producer Montell2099 is on a meteoric rise, from making beats in his grandparent’s rural home to collaborating with rapper 21 Savage (who has worked with Drake, Future among … Read more
Slap on your rose-tinted sunnies because Crash Bandicoot is back, and he’s aged like a fine wine. Don Rowe gets stuck into the N.sane trilogy and positively bathes in nostalgia. I never had a Playstation as a child. The only one on my street was shared between three families, commune style, and so my gaming … Read more
The best-selling books at the two best bookstores south of Aberdeen. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 No is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need by Naomi Klein (Allen Lane, $35) From the introduction: “This is one attempt to uncover how we got to this surreal political moment. It is also an … Read more
New verse by Dunedin writer Michael Hall. The Survivor Series Jeff, I used to watch the show Jeff, I liked the first two well enough I suppose Jeff, I came back for a later season Jeff, one day instead of the island it will be the planet you will be voted off The … Read more
The super city is broken, says eminent sociologist Ian Shirley – but it doesn’t need another review. It needs the government to fix the problems we already know about. Recently the NZ Herald published an article by Terry Dunleavy, a member of the National Party, under the headline: National’s ‘super city’ for Auckland is not … Read more
It’s too bloody cold to go outside so stay in and take this chill quiz instead. Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here.
Hussein Moses talks to Kane Strang, whose album Two Hearts and No Brain is out today. Kane Strang just got fired. Well, he thinks he might’ve. “I don’t even know if it was serious,” the Dunedin-based songwriter says. “But I work with my guitarist and he came home the other day and told me that … Read more
Jane Goodall is mostly famous for her work with chimpanzees. Her greater feat, writes lifelong admirer Nicola Toki, is showing that we are deeply connected to the living world around us – that through kindness, we can turn things around for our planet. “I have one wish for people in NZ. And that would be that they would be … Read more
As we near the end of Pride Month, the Spinoff Parents is sharing some stories from Rainbow families. First off, a story of getting pregnant from a lesbian couple who wish to remain anonymous. Content warning: This post talks about fertility and conception and may be upsetting to couples who are trying to conceive. For … Read more
Welcome to the first Spinoff Auckland serial: The Bakers’ Tale, Brian Ng’s story of a couple of guys and a pastry stall at La Cigale market. Episode 1: Starting with a thousand leaves. Ever the Frenchman, Ben Chevre’s first question when talking to a girl was if she had a boyfriend. Of course, if she … 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 is a pioneer in organics and sustainable business, and has … Read more
Felix Desmarais rewatches The L Word, one of the first mainstream TV shows to put queer voices on the small screen. The year is 2005. In the dark – past midnight – in the lounge, I am lit by the glow of The L Word on TV and I am feeling things. They are very teenage things. … Read more
To celebrate 25 years of making music together, former child band Hanson played a single concert at Auckland Town Hall. Madeleine Chapman went along with a stranger she met while eating dinner. Despite my outsized confidence in the reliability of my friends and family, on Tuesday night I found myself eating at Nando’s, about to … Read more
Mainfreight founder Bruce Plested has used the company’s annual report to criticise the political response to the housing crisis, educational underachievement and the degradation of the environment. Here’s an edited version of what he wrote. Mainfreight’s 39th year saw a record profit, up 17% on the previous year. As is the way with business and … Read more
From Beavis and Butt-head to Drew and Shannon, TeleTrader to the Champagne Lady, Calum Henderson looks back on the first 20 years of New Zealand’s fourth TV channel. In 1997, I spent a week of intermediate school metalwork classes carefully etching the TV4 logo onto a sheet of copper. That is how excited I was … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today, Lindsay-Rae enthuses about Team New Zealand’s win in the America’s Cup. The Society section is sponsored by AUT. As a contemporary university we’re focused on providing exceptional learning experiences, developing impactful research and forging … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes put the call out for your dirty little secrets about parenting and was inundated by text, email, and private message. Here’s the best of the worst. I have a favourite child. I try not to, and I don’t think my other kids would ever know. But I really like my … Read more
In the first in this new celebrity-endorsed-and-branded mobile game series, Sam Brooks plays the upsettingly addictive Demi Lovato: Path to Fame. Some disclaimers before we start: I haven’t played a mobile game since the ubiquitous Snake. The entire phenomenon has skipped me, mostly because I’d rather spend my valuable battery power on making nonsense tweets, and … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Don Rowe worships at the temple of roti, K’ Rd Malaysian joint Warisan Uncle Man’s. In the late 80s, more than eight thousand kilometres from Auckland city, a tradition of roti excellence began. The venerable Uncle Man, a humble … Read more
Loaded to the eyeballs on performance enhancing mint chocolate, the Gone By Lunchtime beat combo pick over the remains of a momentous week in New Zealand politics. As the election build-up lurches through the gears, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, executive producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of Exceltium to discuss the scandal that led … Read more
Incensed by the government’s absence from a conference on a proposed sugar tax, this week celebrity chef Jamie Oliver got stuck into the National Party. Watch the video below. The Essex TV chef campaigned for a sugar tax on soft drinks in the UK and the levy is set to be introduced in 2018. A group … Read more
A personal essay by Kaipara novelist Kelly Ana Morey. ‘I can’t be the ‘Māori’ writer people want me to be,’ she writes, ‘all I can be is myself.’ Two weeks ago I buried my father. He had a good innings and largely got to die in the privacy and comfort of his own home due to … Read more
What Catholic high schools teach teenage girls about sex affects them for years to come. 21-year-old Lucy Kelly looks back on her Catholic education. So here’s me aged 14. We’ve just been handed our forms for the Gardasil vaccine. A public health nurse explains that the vaccine is most effective for HPV contracted by sexual … Read more