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 Kate Robertson and Calum Henderson about some recent pop music highlights. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to contributor Kate Robertson and staff writer Calum Henderson about Lorde’s Melodrama, Selena’s ‘Bad Liar’, … Read more
In 1961, the ‘Pill’ became available in New Zealand and women’s lives were changed forever. Being able to control your fertility was now a matter of choice. But not everyone was judged worthy of making that choice. This story was first published on radionz.co.nz. Carol’s Story In 1966 “Carol” was young, single, sexually active and in … Read more
Dunedin can sometimes seem like the neglected afterthought of New Zealand’s main centres, unappreciated by all except those who choose to live there. Peter Newport reports on what’s coming next for Dunedin after Cadbury shuts its doors. Some words are so powerful that people should need a licence to use them. I’m going to use … 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. One of the big ingredients for business success is other people’s money. … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes is an anxious mess, which is why she’s constantly talking about mental health in mothers and the need to get help if you need it. She recently spoke to a clinical psychologist who specialises in treating mothers with anxiety and depression and other mental health issues. This is the fourth … Read more
Dominic Hoey shares the music-related parts of his new novel Iceland and makes a playlist so you can play along while reading. Music features heavily in my novel Iceland and since we’re living in the future, I thought I’d put together a Spotify playlist of all the songs and/or artists I mention. I got the … Read more
The best-selling books at the two best bookstores known to God. WELLINGTON UNITY 1 The Whole Intimate Mess: Motherhood, Politics & Women’s Writing by Holly Walker (Bridget Williams Texts, $15) “There is nothing normal about crawling up the hallway, screaming and hitting yourself in the head, in front of your baby…”: Revealing and intense … Read more
With the countdown on to this weekend’s big deciding race, test your knowledge of all things America’s Cup related, from boats to Bermuda. Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here.
In her third candidate diary for the Spinoff, Kiri Allan writes about the emotional rollercoaster after chucking in the day job, growing a layer of skin to deal with the scrutiny, a gathering of women who get shit done, and rugby as a metaphor. The boxes were full of random papers I’d accrued over the past few … Read more
In part two of The Spinoff Music’s two-is-not-a-thing sports series, Steve Newall goes in search of that most elusive beast: the great sports song. Read part one, in which Gareth Shute writes a new All Blacks supporters’ song, here. New Zealand has tried its hand at many a sporting song, with everyone from the Feelers to … Read more
Today, as part of a week-long series chatting to Wellingtonians about what they’re up to in the windy city, Alex Casey talks to Rebecca Stewart of Pomegranate Kitchen about social enterprise and doing good in the community, one meal at a time. It’s 8am on a Friday, and it doesn’t take long to start talking … Read more
New verse – he wrote it on Wednesday, actually – by Wellington writer Bill Manhire. Last words It’s nice out there, says the dying man. Yes, says the doctor, not too bad at all. Bill Manhire, 2017 The Spinoff Review of Books is brought to you by Unity Books.
Tara Ward does the unthinkable: turning on her television and looking for nothing but sweet, sweet ads. Television advertisments are often overlooked and misunderstood — until now, my friends. I love a challenge like I love a Coronation Street weekend omnibus, so when someone suggested I spend an entire day watching only commercials, I was … Read more
Remember that proposed new highway from Penrose to Onehunga, the East-West Link, set to cost close to $2 billion? Turns out no one has worked out, using current figures, if it’s worth the money – and it’s most likely no one ever will. And it’s not clear if the responsible ministers even know this. You … Read more
It demands a Herculean effort to shift the spotlight from a scandal engulfing a government MP, but New Zealand Labour’s shonky intern scheme might just have done it, writes Toby Manhire. Campaign for Change is a pithier title, but the universe has today revealed that the full name of Matt McCarten’s initiative to deliver a Corbyn-esque youth … Read more
Jessie Moss has written for The Spinoff Parents before about her daughter’s syndrome and her quest for a diagnosis. Here she writes about a new stage in their lives – how she and her partner will tell their precious child about her differences. When we received our girl’s diagnosis last year, we didn’t tell her. … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today, small business owner Chris Harper-Ludes offers the voters of New Zealand a new choice this election. This content is brought to you by LifeDirect by Trade Me, where you’ll find all the top NZ insurers … Read more
Paperboy launched late last year as a stylish free weekly magazine by and for Auckland. We at The Spinoff noticed what they were doing with their covers, and not doing – all 30 of them run below – and asked editor Jeremy Hansen to write about what he looks for in a cover. We’ve just … Read more
Marion McLeod reviews an ‘icy-cold’ account of a Scottish serial killer by the brilliant Denise Mina. Scottish writer Denise Mina has been dubbed Glasgow’s answer to Edinburgh’s Ian Rankin. Having written a dozen crime novels, several plays and films, a comic (Hellblazer) and three graphic novels (adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy), she has decided to … Read more
The Todd Barclay affair has prompted many memory lapses, but perhaps none as powerful as Prime Minister Bill English’s now-forgotten objections to cover-ups and deceit. Branko Marcetic looks back to 2002, when Helen Clark’s Paintergate and Corngate scandals were making the news – and Bill English was making hay. “Today we see the real story … Read more
Opera – especially an opera like Carmen – is the world turned upside down: being good makes you miserable and being in love is a sure portent of doom. And it’s fabulous, says Simon Wilson. The best way to listen to opera is when you don’t know the language. I probably should confess I am … Read more
Today, as part of a week-long series chatting to Wellingtonians about what they’re up to in the windy city, Alex Casey talks to Jo Randerson and Thomas LaHood of Barbarian productions about making theatre on the fringe. Here’s the beginning of a comedic Wellington setup for you: a viking and a clown walk into a … Read more
Gareth Shute delved into the history of All Blacks songs, found them wanting, so wrote his own. New Zealand is a rugby-mad nation but, despite many attempts, there has yet to be a song written for our national team that’s had any staying power. But how hard could it be to write a song about … Read more
Our favourite animal expert Thom Adams is back to reassure us about our parenting choices by looking to the animal world. I’m not sure why, but first-time parents have this weird resistance to giving their kids medicine. It happened to me, and I don’t know why. Fever, snotty noses and coughs are all natural responses … Read more
Henry Oliver reviews L$D Fundraiser’s new album StreetNOISE, which led to a sizeable section of Dunedin’s CBD being shut down after a cassette copy was mistaken for a bomb by a concerned citizen. ‘When There’s Nothing Else To Lose’, the first half of L$D Fundraiser’s new album, StreetNOISE, begins with a gentle sweet of repeating … Read more
The announcement that the female-dominated aged care work force would have its pay equalised with similar male-dominated industries seemed like a huge cause for celebration. But now, says Home and Community Health’s Julie Haggie, it’s clear the government will be underfunding the deal while still requiring employers to pay. And the effect on an already … Read more
Better than algebra! The Greens’ Chlöe Swarbrick and Labour’s Jacinda Ardern talk personal aspirations and politics with students at an Auckland inner-city school. Jacinda Ardern told the students at ACG Senior College this week she got saddled with a nickname when she entered parliament: “Socialist Cindy”. She hates being called Cindy, although her mother has … Read more
Todd Barclay is going, but how much damage has he caused – to his party and especially to the leader who tried to cover for him? Or has Bill English brought this on himself? Remember when former PM John Key went on radio station The Rock and took part in a prison rape joke, and … Read more
‘Now I’m old and introspective and critical,’ writes Scarlett Cayford, ‘let me tell you why the young adult fiction penned by New Zealand women in the 90s is some of the best in the world.’ When I think back to the first books I read, my first thought falls to Sweet Valley High, and my … Read more