Our superfan think tank weighs in following the premiere of Survivor New Zealand on TVNZ 2 last night. Luke Harries on the voting paper scandal We need to talk about the paper. During the inaugural tribal council of Survivor New Zealand, I noticed something seemed off – and it wasn’t the rotten papaya. I realised … Read more
Heads should roll, writes Simon Wilson. Auckland Transport is preparing to ask for government funding to build an expensive and inefficient bus route through the central city, blocking plans for a new park, despite its own analysis revealing it has chosen the wrong option. Why? How do senior executives at Auckland Transport manage to keep … Read more
The very best coverage of the Auckland Writers Festival – the most expansive, the most intelligent – is right here, as the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to encounters with guest writers. Today: Hera Lindsay Bird talks with George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo, the stand-out novel of 2017. Read more … Read more
The evidence is overwhelming: our current drug laws aren’t working. As governments worldwide admit defeat in the war on drugs, it’s past time for New Zealand to make drug law reform a priority, writes former MP Laila Harre. To my shame I voted for the Misuse of Drugs (Drug Paraphernalia) Amendment Bill in 1997. In … Read more
“And she stood up and said, ‘It’s just not funny!’” Welcome to the third instalment in our video series Comedians Answer Our Questions, featuring a number of funny people appearing in this year’s NZ International Comedy Festival. This time we asked comedians to tell us about the worst heckle they’ve ever had. The answers we got … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring HAIM, EarthTiger, DJ Khaled, System Corporation and… Nickelback! SONG OF THE WEEK HAIM – ‘I Want You Back’ Another 2013 bright spot returns after a notable absence Yada yada yada … Christine McVie … yada yada yada … Lindsey Buckingham … yada yada yada … Tusk … Read more
The shorthand used in The 9th Floor insinuates that Jenny Shipley’s prime ministership was somehow less legitimate than that of her successor, and that’s just not true, argues Paul Brislen. I’ve really enjoyed Guyon Espiner’s The Ninth Floor series of interviews for RNZ with former prime ministers of New Zealand. I’ve learned a lot about Mike Moore that … Read more
Comedy co-editor Sam Brooks wraps up his first week of the festival with British stalwart Zoe Lyons. Zoe Lyons: Little Misfit When you’re at the end of the first week in the comedy festival, especially a week where you’ve seen close to ten shows, largely by new or emerging acts, what you want is to … Read more
Do the Devonport nimbys have a point? Is it good enough to settle for developments that are merely ‘good enough’? Simon Wilson reports on the retirement village project that has big implications for the whole city. My parents spent their last years at a Ryman Healthcare facility, so I know a little about that company’s … Read more
From Don Brash to Helen Clark to the latest media spiel, the ‘debate’ is one of the great bogeymen of NZ politics. And it needs to get in the sea, writes Ben Thomas. It’s probably a little too cute to observe that the foreshore and seabed “debate” in New Zealand is built almost entirely on … Read more
Compiling the best reading from your friendly local website. Michele A’Court: Here, let me help. Start by imagining your penis is bleeding “So… imagine that you are you, Tom. All good? And that for a few days every month, you bleed out of your penis. Sometimes a little bit, sometimes a lot. And your testicles (which … Read more
Ahead of the premiere of Survivor New Zealand tonight, Holly Hunter rounds up 10 of the most groundbreaking moments in the history of the reality franchise. In April this year, after 34 seasons and 17 years of Survivor, the show met its most hated contestant. Jeff Varner broke the unspoken rule of Survivor – don’t … Read more
Over-the-counter cold-and-flu remedies are mostly useless, says Consumer NZ. The industry strongly disagrees. Siouxsie Wiles takes a look at the studies. Over the last few days a fight has broken out between Consumer NZ and the New Zealand Self Medication Industry over expensive cold and flu products. Consumer NZ says the products are no more … 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 Hussein Moses about the pros and cons of New Zealand Music Month. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to writer and Spinoff Music contributor Hussein Moses about what’s wrong with New … Read more
Since opening in October last year, the AR/VR Garage in Uptown has become home to more than 20 companies working across virtual and augmented reality. Don Rowe visits ahead of their ten day programme at Techweek’17. There are few things in pop culture more futuristic than the idea of virtual reality. Slipping on a headset … Read more
New Zealanders celebrated the government’s ambitious goal to completely eradicate possums, rats and stoats by 2050 – but according to some scientists, the plan is ill-conceived and unlikely to succeed. Ahead of a major conference on the future of New Zealand biodiversity, Dr Jamie Steer argues that Predator Free 2050 needs an urgent rethink. Last … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes has noticed a lot of parents online are really upset, often with each other. Here she shares some ideas to make the village a little less hostile and a little more kind. For the last two years (at least) I’ve been pretty fully immersed in the world of parents talking … Read more
Inspired by the past month’s new stories, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden are joined by special guest Alice Snedden to dive deep into period chat. With help from their legendary sponsors at BON Lifestyle, of course. With Michele still elbow-deep in beignets in New Orleans, comedian and half of Boners of the Heart Alice Snedden joins … Read more
Pay TV giant Sky has just pulled the handbrake on its online sports service Fan Pass, as it nearly doubles fees and removes daily and weekly options. A little over two years after the launch of Fan Pass, its unbundled sports package, Sky TV looks like it’s actively trying to destroy the service with a … Read more
It’s the end of week one of the comedy festival and you’re probably already tired from all those Late Laughs late nights, hungover from too many drinks at The Basement, and in pain from laughing too much. We asked Chelsea McEwan Millar, host of our new comedy podcast The Laugh-Off, to share her tips for … Read more
A conversation with the Dunedin scientist who stumbled on a way to talk to people about his work, in spite of sniffy colleagues who think his Nessie study is nonsense. Professor Neil Gemmell heads up the University of Otago’s Gemmell Lab at the University of Otago, where he juggles research into ecology, conservation, evolutionary biology … Read more
A few weeks ago, comedian Nic Sampson came to The Spinoff with an idea: What if he did a comedy show in a library? We’ve got the bizarre results, and a brief interview with the man himself, right here. Sam Brooks: Why on earth did you want to do stand-up in a library? Nic Sampson: … Read more
The best-selling books at the two best bookstores in the Western world. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 The Man Who Ate Lincoln Road by Steve Braunias (Luncheon Sausage Books, $25) Book of the year, obv! The editor of the Spinoff Review of Books eats a street and ponders matters of life and death. 2 The New Zealand Project … Read more
International Workers Day was celebrated on May 1st. How much do you know about New Zealand’s workforce? Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here.
Survivor superfan Joseph Harper shares some well-informed* predictions for the coming season of TVNZ 2’s Survivor New Zealand. Reality TV juggernaut Survivor, has been rolling along in the United States for 17 years. Last year, Australia finally had a crack at the beautiful game, and now at last we get a shot. It’s huge news for … Read more
Contrary to what many people in the city of sails might assume, there is in fact an entire country outside of Auckland. Here our Christchurch correspondent curates the best of Techweek’17 in the south. Let’s all say it together: New Zealand should become a digital economy. We get it already. Cow poo is poisoning the rivers … Read more
A memoir by Dame Fiona Kidman on the occasion of a new, posthumous book of poems by her “beautiful friend”, Lauris Edmond. The other day I was talking to a friend at a book launch, and somehow we got into one of those exchanges about who the greatest poets of the twentieth century were. Auden’s name came … Read more
In the fifth and final part of The 9th Floor, Guyon Espiner talks to Helen Clark about her three terms in power as she sought to draw a line under Rogernomics, unleash new social reforms and rethink New Zealand’s place in the world. In an hour-long conversation, Clark, Labour PM from 1999 to 2008: Discusses the “turning … Read more
Leonie Hayden has an announcement to make to the masculinists in this country: chill out, dudes, feminism can help everyone. As someone who felt sorry for Rachel Dolezal and cries at videos of dogs on a regular basis, it’s safe to say I’m highly emotional and empathetic to a fault. I find it hard to … Read more