After last summer’s successful debut, the Pop-Up Globe is returning to Auckland in February. That’s great news for audiences, says Laura Irish – but less wonderful for New Zealand’s actresses, who’ve been shut out once again. So here’s the thing. I love Shakespeare. I’m a thespian through and through. I’ve studied Shakespeare extensively, performed Shakespeare, … Read more
With the Presidential election just days away, America is on the verge of making history regardless of who wins. Tara Ward watched as Michael Moore made a desperate, and perhaps successful, attempt to talk sense with potential Trump voters. “I think Hilary Clinton will have dead people vote.” It’s indisputable logic like this that makes Wilmington, … Read more
‘The Album Cycle’ features new releases reviewed, every Friday. ALBUM OF THE WEEK D.R.A.M. – Big Baby D.R.A.M. Rising to prominence when his vibe-blurring future classic ‘Cha Cha’ copped a sort-of-backhanded co-sign by rap’s most ruthless sonic magpie, D.R.A.M. probably could’ve been forgiven here for turning in a forgettable cash-grab and promptly relocating his entire career … Read more
‘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. Stolen Rum, 42 Below, Sans, Triumph and Disaster. Some of the greatest … 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 a get a second funding round. … Read more
Just a few thoughts, writes Toby Manhire, that’s all. And so the cat is out of the bag. Gareth Morgan has long been an influence on politics, but there is more than one way to skin a cat, and today he bared his Cheshire grin to announce the formation of The Opportunity Party. While no … Read more
We wanted to better understand the changing New Zealand economy, and who better to explain it than superstar economist Shamubeel Eaqub. Below, the second of six short videos featuring Shamubeel giving it to us straight while sitting comfortably in a classic Kiwi chair. This time he’s taking us through New Zealand’s tumultuous economic history while sitting … Read more
The row over Jacqueline Rowarth’s strange suggestion that the Waikato River is one of the world’s five cleanest reveals a need for more scientists to be heard in public, not fewer, writes Shaun Hendy. In post-Brexit Britain, failure to heed the warnings of economists on the risks of leaving the EU has spawned many a … Read more
The weekly best-seller chart at Unity stores in Auckland and Wellington, for the week just ended: November 4 AUCKLAND STORE 1 City House, Country House (Godwit, 485) by John Walsh and Patrick Reynolds City houses, country houses. 2 Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (Harvill Secker, $40) by Yuval Noah Secker “The old trope … Read more
On Saturday night the skies will be filled with light and dogs will be wondering what they ever did to deserve this. But first, test your knowledge of all things Guy Fawkes below. Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here.
New verse by Auckland writer Amanda Kennedy. When Lorelai broke the curtain rail I was sitting in the kitchen talking to my sister When Lorelai broke the curtain rail. She ran in to announce her crime, trailed off behind her mother to the scene awaiting sentencing, her husky little voice going sorry, sorry, … Read more
The veteran scribe talks to Grant Smithies about glam’s ‘gleeful celebration of falsehood, façade and artifice’ – and casts judgement on New Zealand’s own platform-booted glam heroes, Space Waltz. It’s about the size of three bricks, side by side. Maybe four. If you accidentally knocked it off your bedside table, it could kill your passing … Read more
Penny Ashton takes time away from drinking boxed wine and crying into her Justin Bieber throw cushions to announce the recipients of the 2016 Women of The Year award. On November 8, if all is well in the world, Hillary Clinton will become the first woman to take the hitherto fully penised position of POTUS. … Read more
The government is trumpeting the fact that the Auditor-General’s report into the Saudi sheep fiasco did not find its mastermind guilty of criminal corruption. Good for McCully, says Ben Thomas – now let’s look at what the report did say about New Zealand’s most bizarre ovine scheme. “A government can do anything they want”, said … Read more
Mark Hanna’s greatest passion is debunking bad science. Here, he looks at the New Zealand Beverage Council’s recent media campaign claiming soft drinks aren’t a big factor in obesity. The New Zealand Beverage Council’s president was interviewed on Morning Report today about a curious, conveniently self-serving claim he’d made in a recent media release: “Olly Munro, President of the … Read more
Good news for four New Zealand writers, as exclusively revealed by the Spinoff Review of Books. Yeah, yeah, so the Man Booker prize was announced last week and some guy won it, but who cares bro! His book looks stink. It is with excitement that the Spinoff Review of Books can exclusively reveal that this … Read more
Cartoons, whether they do so intentionally or not, play a large role in shaping the beliefs and prejudices of children. Lucy Zee looks back at the ’90s cartoons of her youth and how they may have been more forward-thinking than they’re given credit for. There’s nothing better than being 8 years old, nursing a big … Read more
Marion McLeod reviews a new biography of the great novelist Beryl Bainbridge – which reveals that she wrote an unpublished manuscript inspired by the Parker-Hulme murder in Christchurch. This is the first full-length biography of Beryl Bainbridge, the brilliant Liverpudlian novelist, born a decade before the Beatles, died 2010. I’m leaving the birth date vague: … Read more
The new FIFA Mobile game is a satisfying but less life-destroying alternative to its console counterpart, writes Calum Henderson. Every couple of weeks I entertain an increasingly vivid fantasy in which I quit my job, buy a PlayStation, withdraw from the world and spend all my time at home playing video games. By video games … Read more
A deeply personal essay about ‘a boy it would be an honour to have, and to love’ and his mother, by young writer Chessie Henry. Every so often, I try to imagine it; skin taut with expectation, a languid vibration in the bottom of your stomach, like a heavy bass-line of baby. From nowhere came … Read more
Duncan Greive sits down with Bauer CEO Paul Dykzeul and publisher Brendon Hill to talk about the state of its business, and their double down bet on print in the digital era. Bauer, by far the country’s biggest magazine publisher, is in the midst of another of its regular spasms of change. Last month it announced … Read more
The unemployment numbers came out today, showing a job market in its best state since the GFC hit eight years ago. While this is undeniably good for the National government, Duncan Greive argues they shouldn’t expect the good times to last – but suggests one weird trick which might help them do so. In The Rise … Read more
Congratulations, New Zealand. The court of public opinion has outdone any mere judge, delivering a punishment that reeks of knee-jerk outrage and lazy prejudice, writes Madeleine Chapman. Losi Filipo was today re-sentenced to nine months’ supervision and counselling for assault. After being discharged without conviction earlier this year, the victims spoke out to the media … Read more
Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas brave the Spinoff stairwell of doom to join Toby Manhire for another Gone By Lunchtime, the hi-energy Zumba workout of political podcasting. The Spinoff political podcast trio abandon all good sense and attempt to analyse the auditor-general’s report into the Saudi sheep farrago and what it means for Murray McCully … Read more
Neil Cross, the acclaimed NZ-based novelist, scriptwriter and creator of Luther, tells Duncan McLachlan about violence and drama, being scared of the dark, and what makes him headbutt walls. Alert: contains spoilers for Luther. And Moonlighting On 4 May 2010, the BBC introduced us to DCI John Luther. His friends called him John. To the rest of … Read more
After going all the way down the rabbit hole, Eugenia Woo is back to talk about impossible comebacks and the victors of the 2016 League of Legends World Championships. This is it. I’ll admit, when the World Championships started about a month ago, I was contemplating giving the tournament a miss. Sure, maybe I’d keep … Read more
Kevin Keepa went from busking for loose change on Wellington’s Lambton Quay to winning fans’ hearts on The Voice Australia. To mark the release of the Koi Boys’ debut album, he tells his story. As told to Mana magazine‘s Leonie Hayden. I was born in Taranaki, but my mum and my dad moved us down … Read more
Here to top off your Halloween hangover, some grim figures on pumpkins, lollies, and child tooth decay.
Scotty Stevenson spent the weekend in the company of rugby players who’d just been on the receiving end of heartbreaking losses, and he loved every minute of it. I sat and drank with losers all weekend. Absolute losers. They had given their all for their teams, and their provinces and they had come up short … Read more