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Book of the Week: Holly Walker reviews Roxane Gay’s short stories about sex, violence, and sexual violence

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Feminist writer Roxane Gay explores the female condition in her new collection of short stories. Some critics have loathed the depiction of women characters who welcome violence; reviewer Holly Walker takes another approach. Roxane Gay is good at opening sentences. Examples from her first short story collection, Difficult Women: “The stone thrower lives in a glass house … Read more

Techweek Special: Patrick McVeigh delivers all your Techweek’17 essentials

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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 week ago, on the second week of this podcast, we had … Read more

‘She’ll be right, Britain’ll be right’: the UK’s man in Wellington on Brexit, the snap election, the Lions and more

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With a snap election amid a divorce from the European Union, there’s plenty afoot in Britain. Toby Manhire sits down with the UK high commissioner, Jonathan Sinclair, to find out what it means for him, along with his thoughts on NZ rugby crowds, dossing with the Australians post-earthquake, and how many Pitcairn Islanders he knows by name. The British … Read more

An ugly great can of Winston: the inescapable result of Labour’s immigration push

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Winston Peters’ contemptible race-baiting rhetoric has hit a new low, but he’s able to go further than usually thanks to the party that gave us ‘Chinese-sounding names’ having already climbed half way, argues Keith Ng. You can try to have a sensible debate about immigration – and you can say it’s not about race – but inevitably, … Read more

Is working at Jono and Ben just like 30 Rock? Head writer Alice Snedden explains

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Alice Snedden has taken off in the past few years, becoming a head writer of Jono and Ben, a regular cast member of hit improv troupe Snort and a regular columnist for The Sunday Star Times. Comedy co-editor Sam Brooks had a chat with Alice about her comedy, her column and controversial pop-star Katy Perry. Sam … Read more

A comprehensive rebuttal of a man’s opinion piece on periods

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Tom O’Connor bravely penned an opinion piece for the Waikato Times on how men suffer from a woman’s period. Madeleine Chapman responds to each of his relevant points. “Only a very brave man or a fool would dare give women advice on how to manage their menstrual cycle. I am not sure which one I am but–” You’re a … Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Jordan Mauger flipped a coin to decide the winner of The Bachelor NZ

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In a tell-all appearance on The Real Pod this week, ex-Bachelor Jordan Mauger revealed how he chose the winner of season two, among other confessions including when he really wore the earpiece. Jordan Mauger, star of The Bachelor NZ season two, has revealed to The Spinoff that he flipped a coin to decide who was … Read more

The Real Pod: In which we are joined by ACTUAL BACHELOR Jordan Mauger

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In a Very Special Episode of The Real Pod, Jane Yee and Alex Casey have a revelatory two-on-one date with ex-Bachelor Jordan Mauger.  Welcome to a landmark episode of The Real Pod, where Jane and Alex are joined LIVE and IN PERSON by Jordan Mauger of The Bachelor NZ 2016. Despite his resistance to watching … Read more

Why do so few of the best New Zealand picture books for kids have characters who are girls, Māori, or Pasifika?

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Thalia Kehoe Rowden finds a lot of great reads in the Storylines selection of the best picture books for young kids – but wonders why the hell it is in this day and age that so few authors write about  girls, or Māori, or Pasifika. You’re standing in a children’s bookshop, wading through the vast … Read more

What was that strange object glowing above New Zealand on Anzac Day?

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Last night a bright disk-shaped object had New Zealanders craning their necks at the sky. Cosmologist Richard Easther explains what it was. Clue: not Venus. Last night my twitter feed carried a string of “what’s that in the western sky” queries, including this picture from Rachael King: There’s a clear disk showing in this snapshot, … Read more

How is Ariana Grande, a perennial top ten artist, still underrated?

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Kate Robertson on why Ariana Grande is more relevant than Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Fifth Harmony combined. Ariana Grande is incredible. Criminally underrated and often overlooked, her potential to be recognised as pop music’s It Girl has consistently been overshadowed by the more iconic players in the game. She’s always there, lurking around the top … Read more

The Bachelor NZ Power Rankings – An elephant, a dolphin and a seagull walk into a mansion

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Alex Casey tackles the sixth week of The Bachelor NZ, including tuk tuk tension, elephant dung and a dolphin in the mansion. In a bold comparison drawn by Ally, spending time with Zac in Bangkok this week was like “winning a ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.” Swapping out the everlasting gobstoppers for dried scorpions, and … Read more

Lest we forget: 1917, New Zealand’s darkest year in military history

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2017 is the centennial anniversary of New Zealand’s darkest period in military history. This Anzac Day, Don Rowe looks back on 1917, a time of fleeting hopes and unprecedented human loss. While the Gallipoli campaign is rightfully remembered as both a tragedy and the birth of a national character, it’s easy to forget that almost … Read more

Memories of memorials: Looking back at the Anzac Days of my life

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Over the past two decades, Sandra Sarala has attended Anzac Day ceremonies in Wellington, Berlin, Moscow and at Gallipoli itself. She reflects on the meaning of our war memorial day as the terrorist threat grows in Europe and Turkey slides towards dictatorship. Growing up in Dunedin’s splendid isolation, Anzac Day meant ‘holiday, shops closed’. Aside … Read more

I gave birth without a midwife, and it was awful

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Angela Cuming gave birth to twins in Northern Ireland, under the British National Health Service. She reflects on the difference of care she received there compared to her oldest child’s birth in New Zealand. When my identical twin boys were born via c-section the doctors had me walk, crying and in pain, into the operating … Read more

They need more support than Spanx: A therapist on the The Bachelor NZ and mental health

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The Spinoff’s in-house therapist Ms X returns after reading a concerning article about The Bachelor NZ contestant Claudia Hoskins. On Sunday morning, a reality TV article filed under the Entertainment section of the Herald caused me to fire off more “wtf” texts than I usually do. The Herald quoted a Woman’s Day article in which … Read more

What can we expect from Married at First Sight New Zealand?

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How will Three add some Kiwi flavour to the unmissable televised trainwreck that is Married at First Sight? Tara Ward has some suggestions.  Ladies, drag that net curtain off the window. Fellas, you might like to wash and condition your facial hair, because a new reality tv franchise is about to hit our shores in a Cyclone … Read more

Spaghetti, pineapple and cheese: Bill English’s tasty cabinet reshuffle

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Just like his spaghetti pizza, Bill English has served up another mostly predictable – but also a little surprising – cabinet reshuffle, writes Ben Thomas. One of the more surprising elements of today’s announcement was that the Prime Minister resisted the temptation to use the media attention on the event to campaign. He failed to … Read more

Teen pop sensation Nakita on working with her songwriting heroes: ‘I just wanted to pinch myself’

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Kate Robertson talks to Nakita about making music with some of New Zealand’s best pop songwriters. The name Nakita might not ring any bells just yet, but chances are you’ve heard at least one of her upbeat and youthful electronic pop songs blasting from the sound system of a hip clothing store or on the … Read more

After the equal pay decision, joy – and anxiety – from care workers who missed out

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Amidst the celebration of last week’s landmark care worker pay settlement came concerns about how future wage discrepancies will affect the mental healthcare sector. Jess McAllen reports. Last Tuesday it was announced that workers in aged and disability residential care and home and community support services will receive pay rises between 15 and 50 per … Read more

‘Some people treat you like toilet water’ – What it’s like to be a K’ Rd bartender

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As part of Equalise My Vocals, a new Spinoff project focusing on equality in the music community, Coco Solid speaks with Auckland musician and bar-keep Dorian Noval.  Raised in the Philippines as a child, Dorian Noval’s family moved from the city of Cebu to New Zealand when she was ten. Coming of age in Wellington … Read more

The Monday Extract: The ballerina who was hospitalised with anorexia

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Massey University creative writing graduate Sacha Jones was a principal dancer in the Sydney City Ballet – after surviving a teenage diet of cake and laxatives on Saturdays. Her memoir takes a tragi-comic look back at her early dance career. Kelly Barden, a fledgling young dancer, was lithe and lovely and very much built for ballet, … Read more

Rebuilding flood-stricken Edgecumbe with the Ngāti Awa Volunteer Army

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The flooding of the Rangitaiki River left devastation for residents of the small Bay of Plenty town Edgecumbe. To help with the recovery effort local iwi Ngāti Awa put out a call for volunteers. People from across the district and the country answered. Jason Renes joined them  Your shoulders start to get tight after a … Read more

The Spinoff’s guide to Techweek’17 – Auckland edition

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Techweek’17 is almost here. Don Rowe previews the event and curates a few selections for the discerning event-goer.  After a hugely successful debut in 2016, Techweek is back – and now it’s gone national! Last year’s event, TechweekAKL, saw more than 10,000 people – including investors, business leaders, entrepreneurs and even Joe Public – gawking at … Read more

The Good Farmer: in defence of (non-industrial) dairying

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Gina Williams’ family has owned the Waikato dairy farm she grew up on for generations, and today they still tend the land with pride. She writes about the other side of the dairy industry, where care for animals and the environment remains paramount. Earlier this month, the current affairs show Sunday aired a segment called … Read more