Watch all five episodes of 100 Year Forecast on our special interactive website HERE. Aotearoa is getting warmer. How do we know this, and what will happen over the next 100 years? Watch episode one here: 100 Year Forecast explores what Aotearoa might look like in the next 100 years if we don’t take climate … Read more
The children’s theatre show that is making some conservatives furious opens in Wellington this week. Emily Writes spoke to co-creator George Fowler about the controversy, and the empowering message behind the play. When we talk over the weekend, George Fowler is on top of the world despite the challenging week he’s had. On Wednesday, his … Read more
Some election debates transcend simply putting candidates in front of potential voters, and become must-attend events in and of themselves. Alex Braae went along to the Opoho Presbyterian Church in Dunedin to see how one group does it. Most political junkies have probably heard of the Aro Valley Meet the Candidates debates in Wellington. Politicians … Read more
Despite recent hiccups, the Green Party still appears to be gaining votes. However, these may be coming from the Labour faithful, writes Pattrick Smellie for BusinessDesk. Three weeks out from polling day, and just five days before the start of early voting, Labour Party strategists might be expected to be feeling pretty confident. Poll after … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 28, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz The day in … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: One referendum looks set for easy win while the other flounders, Labour still enjoys huge polling lead, and farming exporters warned on animal welfare and environment. A new poll has set the scene for the likely outcomes of upcoming referendums on social issues. The One News Colmar … Read more
Having surgery was the best thing I ever did. Everybody deserves the option. I am 10 days post-surgery. Everyone seems surprised at how well I’m doing. There’s just one group who get it, who understand why I’m so happy. They’re those who haven’t yet been able to get the surgery that I’ve had. Last Monday, … Read more
Laura O’Connell Rapira has some ideas for improving the standard of TV election debates in Aotearoa. Last week I hate-watched the TVNZ Leaders’ Debate. I knew I wasn’t going to like it. TV election debates are generally awful. Whoever decided fast-paced, adversarial soundbite clashes where folks speak over each other was the best way to … Read more
The myriad plants we call ‘weeds’ get a bad rap, but many of them are nutritious, delicious and crying out to be added to your next salad. When lockdown 1.0 hit and we were confined to our house and garden, I began a wee love affair with edible weeds. Not only are they free, they’re … Read more
Rebecca Tobo Olul-Hossen, a writer from Vanuatu, celebrates a book woven of stories her country has lived through. This is an edited version of a review that appeared in Vanuatu’s Life & Style Magazine. Sado, a Bislama word that translates to “shadow” in English, as a noun means reflection, humiliation and dishonor. This is a … Read more
‘There is no word for depression in Vietnamese,’ writes Celine Dam, as she tries to tell her parents how she’s been feeling for too long now. Dear Baba and Mama, The world that you have tried to shelter me from has caught up on me. I am 19 now and my secrets have grown too … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 27, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on catherine@thespinoff.co.nz 6.55pm: The day … Read more
Israel Adesanya has fought his way to the top of his sport, and into the hearts and minds of New Zealanders – whether they want him there or not. What’s at stake when he fights this weekend in Abu Dhabi? Just two years into his UFC career, mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya is a bonafide … Read more
Whether they’re being cast as serial killers or compared to politicians, it’s a hard time being a clown. Sherry Zhang reflects on her time as a jester, and talks to some friends in the profession. Time and time again, clowns have been ridiculed and defamed in our parliament. A few weeks ago, in relation to … Read more
For almost four years, a thriving cannabis smoking lounge operated within walking distance of a police station. Michael Andrew looks back at his one and only visit to The Daktory, and asks the founder what it meant for New Zealand’s movement to legalise cannabis. It was a muggy summer afternoon in early 2009 when a … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 26, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on jihee@thespinoff.co.nz The day in … Read more
An extract from The Nature Activity Book, which we strongly urge you to invest in for the school holidays. Books editor Catherine Woulfe writes: Written by teacher, scientist and head of the National Aquarium Rachel Haydon and gorgeously illustrated by Pippa Keel, our review copy of The Nature Activity Book landed just before Auckland’s latest … Read more
On Thursday night, arts trust Te Taumata Toi-A-Iwi, in association with The Spinoff, hosted a pre-election forum on arts policy. Sam Brooks picks out the best moments. A conversation about arts policy is never going to get quite the same number of eyeballs as, say, an episode of The Chase, but it can still be … Read more
In recent years, an influx of cheaply made clothes has had a devastating effect not only on our local industry, but the entire planet. Rose Jackson takes a look at the wider impact of fashion’s waste issue, in a piece originally published by Ensemble. It’s hard to know where this story starts. Does it begin … Read more
In the latest instalment of her series chronicling the ins and outs of dating in 2020, Alie Benge details the unique challenges of dating while Christian. I’m part of a rare Christian archetype: the unmarried 30-year-old. You’ll see us prowling the edges of a congregation, hook noses and one blind eye, looking for an opportune … Read more
Dr James Jap regularly watches people die. He talks to Michelle Langstone about how working in palliative care has shaped his outlook, his family, and his wardrobe. James Jap had never seen anyone die until his fourth year of medical school. On an overnight shift with St John’s ambulance, he was called out to the … Read more
Netflix’s new ‘must-see’ documentary is an alarming watch, but a bunch of woke tech bros commodifying fear is not enough to impress Anna Rawhiti-Connell. The Social Dilemma, Netflix’s latest “must see” documentary, opens with a line-up of gulping, nervous white men (and one or two women), who are asked to try to articulate “the problem” … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Rage by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, $55) “A better title for Rage, perhaps, would be Rabid … He remains … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 25, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz The day in … Read more
A new poem from novelist and poet James McNaughton. Shark and Leg Seventeen years already of making the bed together, husband and wife. They say you never step in the same river twice and that change is the only constant in life, and truly the linen has changed, … Read more
Family First has been on tour over the election campaign, pounding out the message that voters should say no on both referendums. Alex Braae caught up with its leadership in Gore. I’ve long been fascinated and mystified in equal parts by Family First. At a time when it often looks like the march of social … Read more
Think a good pair of wireless earbuds means shelling out for Apple’s ubiquitous white sticks? Think again, writes tech reviewer Henry Burrell. The iPhone 7 was the first popular phone to lose the headphone jack, and frankly I’ve been furious ever since. One of the most universal and user-friendly tech interfaces of the last 50 … Read more
After more than a year of social distancing, Alex, Jane and Duncan are back in the same room for an emotional reunion and to talk about a cinematic masterpiece. Approximately a thousand years ago, the idea of The Real Pod maybe, possibly, perhaps one day recapping the Twilight movie was floated. The people heard the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Focus on the various farming plans put out this week, concerns raised about contacts of new positive Covid cases, and huge bill coming for Wellington region water. For a lead story today, a look at the various farming policies that will be taken into the … Read more