Season two of All Talk With Anika Moa premieres tonight on Māori Television. Madeleine Chapman attended the taping and was transformed into a star. The studio audience wasn’t big. In fact, it took me just a few seconds to count 19 bodies total, including me. I knew the audience for All Talk With Anika Moa would be … Read more
The best New Zealand production of the year isn’t TV or radio – it’s a podcast and online video which uses hindsight and our former prime ministers to produce a series of lasting power, says Duncan Greive. While it mightn’t seem so on Twitter during Question Time or in the comments sections of any semi-popular … Read more
If you’re under 18 and a music fan then your choice for attending gigs legally is remarkably scant. Seventeen year old Grace Stratton makes an appeal for promoters not to forget the younger crowd. One of the first gigs I went to was on my 14th birthday. Thinking back to that gig invokes some of … Read more
Alex Casey tackles the seventh week of The Bachelor NZ, including a freaky massage, puppet kisses and a torturous ice bath challenge. Before we race into the power rankings like a rogue raccoon into an animal cafe, we need to talk about wtf was going on in The Bachelor NZ land this week. The dramatic … Read more
Has there ever been a more video gamey genre than the beat ’em up? Liam Maguren doesn’t think so, and here he explains why he loves them so. Bare-knuckled violence seemed a lot more innocent when I was a child. I remember having to wedge myself in a corner and stand on my toes just … Read more
Host Chelsea McEwan Millar is joined by Spinoff Comedy co-editors Sam Brooks and Natasha Hoyland to talk about the kick-off of the NZ International Comedy Festival. The first episode of our comedy festival podcast sees actor, writer and comedy expert Chelsea McEwan Millar joined around the oval table by Sam and Natasha to talk about … Read more
Getting Your Shit Together is a new monthly column on everyday mental health from Auckland mindfulness educator Kristina Cavit. Here Kristina looks at simple ways to cope with workplace stress. A couple of years ago I was disorientated and hooked up to a drip at Auckland hospital, using my free arm to email my new … Read more
A passionate, intense essay by Taupo writer Chris Eyes, in answer to our innocent question: what kind of literary scene is there in the lake city? Images courtesy of Ben Horgan (@aotearoller). Can I be perfectly honest with you? There isn’t a literary scene here. No-one in Taupo, outside of my friends and family, gives … Read more
Oh the drama! The suspense! The daggers at each other’s throats! While Labour Party stalwarts mop up the blood after last night’s ’emergency discussions’ to review the importance of Willie Jackson, Simon Wilson takes a scalpel to the outcome. So Willie wasn’t going to die wondering, was he? Didn’t think 21st on the Labour list … Read more
Jane Yee, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey gather around the oval table and talk about the latest happenings in New Zealand television and real life in New Zealand. The Real Pod team are reunited after a tumultuous few weeks to chill out and talk Bachelor and pop culture like a bunch of frozen contestants in an ice … Read more
“As she’s going over, her pants just split right up the middle.” Welcome to the second instalment in our video series Comedians Answer Our Questions, featuring a number of faces in this year’s NZ International Comedy Festival. This time we asked comedians to tell us about the funniest thing they’ve ever seen, from unexpected peeing, … Read more
Like a true blue aging reality starlet, the Bravo logo has had a bit of work done in order to attract more men. Alex Casey asks the men of The Spinoff if it has worked. The more observant reality fiends among us may have noticed that Bravo, presumably inspired by the tanned and tucked talent that … Read more
Max Harris’s new book on NZ politics has had a striking impact, selling out its first print run in weeks and sparking a vigorous debate, with responses at the Spinoff and elsewhere. We invited Max to respond in turn, and elaborate on his call for a values-based politics Writing my book The New Zealand Project, and having the book released … Read more
It’s harder to be a teenager today than ever before. So how can you as a parent help? By continuing to show up and support your teen, even when they seem hellbent on pushing you away, says Louisa Woods. It’s the most common reaction I get when I tell someone I work with teenagers: ‘I … Read more
What do rape survivors think about the New Zealand justice system? How do they think we should address victim blaming and Kiwi rape culture? In a video collaboration between Frame News, Wrestler and The Spinoff, launched today to mark Rape Awareness Week, seven rape survivors talk candidly about their experiences. Here Frame News’ Kim Vinnell … Read more
Today we all witnessed the extraordinary moment that The High Court went to 8 Mile, where both some sick rhymes and legal arguments were dropped. We took things one step further. The Spinoff’s music content is brought to you by our friends at Spark. Listen to all the music you love on Spotify Premium, it’s free … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Kane Strang, SWIDT, TLC, Kimbra (kinda) and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Kane Strang – ‘My Smile Is Extinct’ The new single from New Zealand’s new indie export While first impressions indicate that Kane Strang’s new album Two Hearts and No Brain will be … Read more
In an early Auckland Writers Festival appearance, the creator of Veep and The Thick of It urged network execs to resist meddling – and chipped in on the great New Zealand political pizza debate. The British creator of television including The Thick of It, Veep and I’m Alan Partridge has offered some words of advice for New Zealand commissioners hoping … Read more
Sam Brooks caught up with David Ladderman and Lizzie Tollemache, husband and wife creators of circus-magic-sideshow-theatre hybrid Mr. and Mrs Alexander, currently at Wellington’s Circa Theatre as part of the Comedy Festival. How did you get into circus? David Ladderman: So, all those years ago at uni which I went to go to learn to be a … Read more
Alex Casey sits down with Anika Moa ahead of her return to television in All Talk With Anika Moa season two. Warning: contains burps, swear words and tangents about flaps. Interviewing Anika Moa is a little bit like attending a celebrity roast, except she’s the celebrity and you are the one getting mercilessly roasted. She’ll … Read more
The usual defence of stories about Pākehā enraged by Māori ‘uppitiness’ is that the media are simply reporting people’s views. And that’s bollocks, says Aaron Smale. If you drive down the new expressway on the Kapiti Coast towards Wellington, when you get near Waikanae there is a slight bend. On the left a large concrete wall … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Don Rowe reflects on Shaun Johnson’s clutch kick against the Roosters. It takes a special kind of masochist to devote Sunday after Sunday to seeing the Warriors ritually humiliated at home and abroad. But pleasure and pain are two sides … Read more
Sam Brooks’ take on two NZ International Comedy Festival shows that debuted in Auckland over the weekend: Ubiquitous funnyman Guy Williams and Wellington newcomer and 2016 RAW Comedy Quest winner Lucy Roche. Lucy Roche: Dollars and Sex One of the highlights of Last Laughs last year was watching an audience of eight hundred people react to … Read more
The leaking of previously unseen footage from within the mine drift shortly after the explosion only adds to the overwhelming case for re-entering the mine and bringing justice to the bereaved, writes Stephanie Rodgers, a volunteer on the families’ Stand With Pike campaign. It’s one of those “can’t beat Wellington on a” good days, and I’m sitting in a … Read more
The latest book by Steve Braunias is based on his Herald series about eating everything on sight on Lincoln Rd. In this excerpt from the prologue, he goes behind the scenes to reveal his desperate campaign to get it published. One day destiny came calling, and I picked up. For years I had been travelling along Lincoln Rd and wondering … Read more
Calum Henderson talks to Yuko Inaba, the rugby-loving artist behind the delightful internet presence Nadegata Penguin. In the cutthroat world of art it is important for an artist to find their niche. Yuko Inaba’s niche is painting rugby players as cute penguins. The Tokyo watercolourist is prolific, sharing a new painting on Facebook, Twitter or … Read more
A chef from “the best restaurant in the world” has taken charge at Clooney in Freeman’s Bay. Good news? Some of the local critics have raved, but, surprisingly, not all of them. So how good is this Jacob Kear really? And how good has he made the restaurant, and how much would you pay anyway? … Read more
The latest season of Broadchurch has been applauded for its nuanced handling of sexual violence in a way seldom seen on television. Charlotte Graham looks at what the show did right, and what it got very, very wrong. Contains spoilers for season three and frank discussion around sexual violence, please take care. I don’t watch … Read more
Natasha Hoyland caught up with Australian comedian and actor Nazeem Hussain backstage at the Flick Electric Co. Comedy Gala to talk about his experiences in comedy, living in the jungle, and talking to strangers. Natasha Hoyland: You were on the latest season of the Australian version of I’m a Celebrity…Get me Out of Here!, … Read more