A slow slip event off the east coast of the North Island, with an estimated equivalent impact of a M6.9 quake, was detected this week. GNS Science geophysicist Laura Wallace explains this important new area of seismic research, and what’s up with the Hikurangi subduction zone Among the most fascinating discoveries in the days following … Read more
There’s a revolution underway. Deep within the Auckland Viaduct lurks the beginnings of our own tiny Silicon Valley. At GridAKL, more than 50 startups, in industries as diverse as medicine, robotics and augmented reality, are running the entrepreneurial gauntlet looking to build a high-growth business – or at least get a second funding round. In … Read more
View the impact of seismic activity on sea level following last Monday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake in this visualisation by Richard Clark, with commentary from geophysicist William Power. Comparing the quake drum and tidal gauge nearest to the Kaikoura quake, web developer Richard Clark has created an animated reconstruction of what happened following the violent magnitude 7.8 … Read more
Leftwing blogger Martyn Bradbury claims that ‘nothing screams white middle class privilege quite like cycle lanes’. Tell that to the increasing number of Aucklanders from all walks of life who are getting on a bike, says Kurt Taogaga. For a long time, cycling was something that just didn’t occur to me. It was too dangerous … Read more
Resident weed correspondent Don Rowe sits down with fellow weed journalist Krishna Andavolu to talk fruit bongs, pseudoscience and the silver lining of a Trump election. The lobby of the Hilton on Auckland’s waterfront is a strange and garish place to talk about weed. More so when grey battleships loom in the port outside, and … Read more
Philip Matthews reviews CK Stead’s new short story collection, which has been longlisted for the 2017 Ockham national book awards. To review CK Stead is to negotiate personal and political minefields. Let’s cover the personal first. Every reviewer of Stead worries that they might be poking a bear with a stick and cautiously expects a … Read more
With TV3’s sketch show Funny Girls wrapped up for another year, we got the writing team to pick their favourite sketches from season two. Laura Daniel During a brainstorm session, I sat down with Joseph Moore and we talked about how we really wanted to make a full-length, romantic ode about getting the booty call … Read more
Leonard Cohen has died. Sean Donnelly, Samuel Flynn Scott and Bill Manhire reflect on his music and life. I stepped into an avalanche It covered up my soul In trying to write something about ‘Avalanche’, I’m listening to it and, again, I’m just floored by it. As a songwriter, I want to ask him which … Read more
Nadine Millar’s son Cormac has loved books all his life – but for a long time he just couldn’t (or wouldn’t) read them. She explains why this wasn’t as terrible as it first seemed, and tells the story of how Cormac finally learned to read. When I was five I learnt to read. Each letter … Read more
Pete Douglas recoils in horror at the cover of the new Metallica record, placing it top of his worst album covers ever chart. Metallica are a mess of contradictions – the best heavy metal act of the 1980s, a massive corporate machine built to sell t-shirts and vast masses of pointless ephemera, a totem for … Read more
Gerry Brownlee’s intemperate response to the GeoNet director’s calls for a 24/7 response centre can only damage further scientists’ willingness to share their expertise with the public, writes Richard Easther. On November 17 my alarm went off simultaneously with a call from Radio New Zealand asking me to do an on-air interview about the end … Read more
Duncan Greive reviews the NZ on Air-funded Pike River, a docu-drama blending dramatic recreations and interviews with those most affected by the 2010 tragedy. “29 men died on the 19th of November. Is that OK? How can that be,” she asks, “in the 21st century, in New Zealand?” These are questions posed by Kath Monk … Read more
Everyone said The Sellout, winner of the Man Booker prize, was “satire”. Everyone except the author – and Spinoff reviewer Charlotte Graham. “This may be hard to believe, coming from a black man,” begins the 2016 Man Booker prize-winning novel The Sellout, “But I’ve never stolen anything.” The urge to giggle awkwardly at this line is acknowledged … Read more
Who will host 7pm current affairs show The Project when it comes to TV3 next year? Tara Ward makes some very early, very plausible predictions. All my dreams came true in one press release when Mediaworks announced the launch of current affairs panel show The Project. Scheduled in the troublesome 7.00pm timeslot, Mediaworks promises The Project … Read more
Spark CEO Simon Moutter challenges the local subsidiaries of Google, Apple and Facebook to stop using tax avoidance strategies and help fund the cost of the civil society from which they profit so handsomely. We certainly live in interesting times. The turbulent political events of recent times in the UK and the US has increased … Read more
Announcing the longlist of the 2017 Ockham national book awards. Right then. Last night we set the switch for 5:01am, to get in first and fastest with the 2017 Ockham national book awards longlist, embargoed till 5:00am. There are some stunning inclusions, mystifying omissions, and a leading publisher has already attacked the judges of one … Read more
Emily Writes sits down with a dentist to drill him about kids and teeth and all the stuff parents need to know about dental health. Open wide, this shouldn’t hurt a bit… This is the first in a series of posts in which I’ll be asking health professionals questions about child health, crowd-sourced from you. … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Miranda Lambert – ‘Pink Sunglasses’ The first lady of country’s new double album The Weight Of These Wings is chocka with hits (and she plays around with vocal personas nearly to the same extent Beyoncé did … Read more
With antibiotics’ power on the wane, infectious diseases are increasingly hard to combat. And it is much more than just a third world problem, writes Siouxsie Wiles Every week they gather. In church halls and bowling clubs, community centres and rest homes. U3A. Probus. Lions. Rotary. Zonta. Groups of people, often retired, meeting to hear … Read more
Steve Braunias finally gets around to writing about the event he got sent to cover by Wellington Tourism – LitCrawl, which kind of got overshadowed by this thing that happened on a Sunday night. I was all set to write about Wellington’s very lively and audaciously staged LitCrawl live-event literary extravaganza last Monday, but the … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street, including TK’s testosterone, fruit mince pies and a wild Warner week. 1) Chris goes commando and all is right with the world again Colour me happy, because that was the best Warner week since 1992. In truth, it should have been terrible. Chris couldn’t turn the TV … Read more
Tsunami scientists have returned from Canterbury, where they found at least one spot of severe damage from the tsunami that followed the Kaikoura earthquake, and it’s a powerful reminder that you shouldn’t wait for a formal evacuation, explains Caroline Little of GNS In the days since the earthquake, much of the focus at GNS Science … Read more
Reflecting on Aaradhna’s speech at the New Zealand Music Awards and the subsequent media coverage, Mana editor Leonie Hayden reflects on language, race and how racism is covered in the media. Just listen. I’ll admit I laughed when I saw that Aaradhna had been given the same lazy headline as Efeso Collins after his family … Read more
David Farrier, director of docu-thriller Tickled, stumbles into another deeply disturbing instance of vulnerable people being exploited online – this time children, on YouTube. Editor’s note: While we have endeavoured to protect the identities of the children involved, we recognise that by publishing this story their privacy may be compromised. It is our opinion that privacy … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Toby Manhire: This stunning map shows that six faults – at least six – ruptured in the big Kaikoura quake “To be clear, that’s six faults that have ruptured? At least. On our initial flight we only flew down the coast and straight … Read more
We all know that breast is best, but is it fair that mothers who are forced (or choose) to bottle feed are forever made to feel second best? Maryrose Painter wonders why there is so little help and information available to mums who hit the bottle. Before I gave birth to my daughter earlier this … Read more
This morning Māori current affairs show The Hui devotes a full episode to the extraordinary story of Ruka Hudson, who had his legs taken from him in Vietnam and returned there this year with his whānau and reporter daughter to make peace with the land. If there was ever a man who had the right to be … 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: Leonie Hayden, Duncan Greive and Damien Vaughan join host Henry Oliver to talk about everything that happened with Aaradhna and the Urban/Hiphop Album award at this year’s New Zealand Music Awards. Spinoff Music editor … Read more
Today is World Toilet Day, a campaign to draw attention to the sanitation crisis in the developing world. But we also have a toilet crisis in the West, says Violet Hunter, and every one of us – woman, man, trans and gender-diverse – is affected. The woman next to me eyes my pink appendage. “I … Read more