Holy shit: Jimmy Kimmel and Alec Baldwin just re-enacted ‘Please Tell Me That Is Not Your Penis’

Hold your hand on your heart and watch Jimmy Kimmel, Alec Baldwin and Guillermo recreate the most meme-able New Zealand television moment of 2017 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.  It was a mere two weeks ago that we posted the clip of Harry Warner’s synching dick pic nightmare on Shortland Street, chuckling heartily over it on The … Read more

The black cloud: How I survived my postnatal depression to live again

‘This is what depression does. It feeds you lies.’ In this anonymous post, a mother talks about how her journey through postnatal depression and out the other side – and implores us to talk about it to save other parents going through the same thing. Content warning: This post contains a descriptions of mental illness. … Read more

Lordesession: A DM interview with two of Twitter’s biggest Lorde stans

Coldly objective music journalist Henry Oliver DMs two Lorde superfans who run Lorde news-related Twitter feeds. Spoiler: they’re fairly excited. @Lorde_fix @Lordedaily 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 on all Spark’s Pay Monthly Mobile plans. Sign up … Read more

First home buyers rejoice! House prices are falling! (maybe)

News that house prices fell this month represents a tiny glimmer of hope for ever-gloomy first home buyers. But is that optimism, however feeble, at all justified? Economist Shamubeel Eaqub investigates. House prices fell in February, per latest data from QV. Time to celebrate the popping of the bubble, right? Hold on, don’t uncork the … Read more

Why is Alice not in the video games? Resident Evil’s greatest mystery SOLVED

It’s a mystery that deserves an answer. Alice, the protagonist of all six Resident Evil films, has not once made an appearance in the video games. This could not be by accident. To get to the bottom of this enduring riddle, Uther Dean interviewed some of the key players in both the films and the video … Read more

Watch the first episode of our new online series Repressed Memories… SENSING MURDER EDITION

James Mustapic introduces our new web series Repressed Memories, and explains why he decided to revisit Sensing Murder for the first harrowing episode. NZ TV shows were such an iconic part of my life when I was younger. I was obsessed: with after school kids TV shows, drama TV shows, and even TV shows about … Read more

Pennies from Heaven: Why we need to give all parents cash

The amazing truth about reducing child poverty is that we already know what works: regular, no strings attached cash payments. Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw explains the research backing up her call for the government to reinstate the Family Benefit. It was 1985; New Zealand was riding high in the waves of economic deregulation. I was seven … Read more

The revolutionary live email interview conducted by Steve Braunias: part 4 of the strange story of the lost island of ‘Ata

Steve Braunias conducts the live email interview – the revolutionary journalistic practise trailblazed by the Spinoff Review of Books – with author and academic Scott Hamilton to conclude our week-long series on Hamilton’s terrific new book The Stolen Island. Scott Hamilton is a literary outsider, a maverick, a public intellectual without much of a public … Read more

I went to a Sensing Murder psychic and all I got was a dead budgie flying above my head

Murder Week continues: Alex Casey spends an evening with Sensing Murder’s Sue Nicholson during her Answers From the Other Side tour, and doesn’t get a lot of answers. Look, I’m not strictly saying I believe in ghosts. All I’m saying is, when I was 14 I’m pretty sure I talked to David Lange through a … Read more

The NZ International Comedy Festival programme is out and these are our hot takes

Spinoff Comedy editors Natasha Hoyland and Sam Brooks flick through the hot-off-the-presses NZ International Comedy Festival programme and give their expert kneejerk opinions on what you should go to this year. Natasha’s top picks: Aunty Donna – Big Boys The infamous Australian sketch group that do weird, insane, things. There’s basically nothing much else to … Read more

‘Dunedin is the reason I will never touch tequila again’: an oral history of the Boost Mobile Hookup Tour

Thirteen years ago, New Zealand hip hop’s king-hitters joined forces for one of the biggest tours this country has ever seen. Gareth Shute talked to many of those involved to get the inside story of what went down. In March 2004, after years of bubbling under underground, the local hip hop scene was riding a wave … Read more

Lordewatch: Clues, lyrics and music scattered across Auckland in a pop music Amazing Race

At three locations around Auckland, Lorde revealed lyrics and another clip from her single, ‘Green Light’. Kate Robertson hit the streets to investigate. 7:00pm: Lorde has just announced on Twitter what I can only describe as a central Auckland Amazing Race. It kicks off at 9:30pm, there are three checkpoints (Herne Bay, Ponsonby and CBD), and … Read more

Breaking (well it was at the time): Ashleigh Young wins $229,837.07 in a major literary prize!!!

In which the Spinoff Review of Books reveals the New Zealand writer who has won a Major International Prize. It’s Ashleigh Young, but you might have guessed that because her name is in the headline. Wellington writer Ashleigh Young has won $US165,000 in a major US literary prize. The author of two critically acclaimed books – Magnificent … Read more

The Spinoff reviews New Zealand #7: Chipmunks chicken nuggets

We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes inspects the chicken nuggets at the Chipmunks indoor play centre. I can remember the first time I had chicken nuggets from the fine establishment that is Chipmunks. If you don’t know what Chipmunks is – … Read more

Wadeable, swimmable, indecipherable: cutting through the crap in the Nick Smith water row

The government’s Clean Water package quickly became bogged down in claim and counter-claim. What did it really amount to? Jenny Webster-Brown of the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management demystifies the policy. Last Friday, Nick Smith revealed a target to make 90% of rivers and lakes swimmable by 2040, the key outcome of the government’s proposed … Read more

Here are all the definitely real Breaking Bad nods you missed in Better Call Saul

With the third season of Better Call Saul coming exclusively to Lightbox in April, we looked back at some of the subtle* Breaking Bad nods you might have missed the first time around. You should all know about Better Call Saul by now. Set in the same shonky universe as Breaking Bad, but unfolding in the … Read more

The Legends Academy bills itself as a better way to pick up women. I went along, and here’s what I learned

Last week The Legends Academy’s Ben Alexander was back in Auckland to hold one of his regular workshops on ‘modern dating skills’ for men. The Academy claims to reject the blatant misogyny of the old-style PUA culture, but what does it offer men instead? Branko Marcetic joined the audience to find out. If our Google … Read more

The long nightmare of imperialism: part 3 of the strange story of Tonga’s lost island of ‘Ata

All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books looks at Scott Hamilton’s brilliant new book, The Stolen Island, his investigation into the people-snatching raid on the Tongan island of ‘Ata. Today: Leilani Tamu writes, “When the slavers came, they took more than our men. They raped our women. Beat our children. Pissed on our ancestors. … Read more

And just like that there was a vacancy after all: Annette King makes way for Labour’s rising star

After the Mt Albert byelection and with Labour stuck in polling doldrums, the case for Jacinda Ardern’s elevation to the deputy leadership had become irresistible. But what happens when she overtakes Little in the preferred leader polling, wonders Toby Manhire The politics gods’ simmering fury with the New Zealand Labour Party was evidenced again on … Read more

Mining the comedy gold for you: The Spinoff’s pop-up comedy section is here!

Starting today, and running until the close of the NZ International Comedy Festival, The Spinoff’s comedy pop-up section will be your daily guide to the festival and all that leaks out of it. Co-editors Sam Brooks and Natasha Hoyland explain what they think they’re doing here. What is this? We’re Sam Brooks and Natasha Hoyland, … Read more

Enough ‘telling our stories better’ spin in defence of dairy growth. We farmers need to face up to reality.

As New Zealanders’ drift to the city continues, the rural-urban divide grows ever deeper. Instead of writing off the complaints of ‘townies’, those of us in the agricultural industries can’t afford to ignore the increasing calls for action, writes John Hart, farmer and Green candidate. When I was kid in the 1970s, almost everyone I … Read more

‘If you want it too much it can strangle you’: Amy Satterthwaite on her record-tying fourth consecutive ODI century

Amy Satterthwaite is the second person, and only woman, to score four consecutive ODI centuries. Madeleine Chapman caught up with her to see about making it five.  “If you just read it as it’s spelled, it’s quite straightforward, but people seem to freak out.” Amy Satterthwaite doesn’t sound too bothered by the fact that commentators … Read more

Same DNA, same brain, same sleep patterns – right? What being a Twin Mum has taught me about child sleep

When it comes to sleep, identical twin babies might just hold the key to understanding what’s nature and what’s nurture – if twins have the same DNA and a mum who treats them the same, then surely it’s obvious: they’ll be two non-sleepers or two sleepers. If only it were that simple, says twin mum … Read more

Chilling: Emily Writes has been haunted by Kiefer Sutherland for more than a decade

To continue the thrills and spills of Murder Week, our Parenting editor Emily Writes recalls a Sensing Murder-style haunting of her own… by 24 star Kiefer Sutherland. When I was a kid I saw a movie on TV that scarred me for life. A little girl was getting ready for her birthday party and Kiefer … Read more

Why the DOOM Boardgame deserves to exist

Rubbish knock-off licensing seems to hound every mega popular entertainment property out there. (Exhibit A). Among the most questionable products are boardgames based on video games – but the DOOM boardgame might just be an honourable exception, as Liam Maguren discovers.  I’ve written about DOOM three bloody times for The Spinoff. I thought I had … Read more

Jack Bauer is gone, the clock is still ticking, and everything else you need to know about 24: Legacy

Aaron Yap, The Spinoff’s most die-hard 24 fan, tells you all you need to know about the return of 24, with a new star and a new name – 24: Legacy.  “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” It’s hard not to summon the words of French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr when … Read more

Melodrama in Minnehaha: Exclusive odds on the name of the new Lorde record

The teaser campaign for the long-awaited Lorde release has entered the troposphere, capturing the imagination of music lovers and crossword buffs alike. What’s it going to be? Yesterday Lorde did the most interesting thing to the 7pm New Zealand television half-hour since Dennis Conner stormed off the Holmes show, by dropping a 15-second teaser for … Read more

A masterpiece of Pacific story-telling: Part 2 of the strange story of Tonga’s lost island of ‘Ata

All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books looks at Scott Hamilton’s brilliant new book, The Stolen Island, his investigation into the people-snatching raid on the Tongan island of ‘Ata. Today: Michael Field reviews a masterclass in combining Pacific history with story-telling. Back in 1981, a reformed and repentant British colonial administrator, Henry Maude, had … Read more