Yesterday morning five leading mayoral candidates – Goff, Swarbrick, Crone, Palino and Thomas – visited Mangere’s Ngā Whare Waatea to debate the issues facing South Auckland. Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden was there. At 9.30am I arrived for the powhiri, as instructed, and waited at the entrance to be called on to Whare Waatea, the … Read more
Wellington Rugby seems determined to say the bare minimum about Losi Filipo’s assault case. Jamie Wall says it’s time for rugby to stop looking the other way. It was somewhat telling that the Wellington Rugby Football Union’s official statement regarding the Losi Filipo assault case and subsequent discharge without conviction was released at 10pm Monday night. … Read more
For Monitor this week, Aaron Yap basks in the grinning goofiness of DUKE’s Angie Tribeca, the best cop show spoof you probably aren’t watching. My tastes in comedy tend to drift towards fare like Louie and Curb Your Enthusiasm, where laughter stems from dark, cringe-making, cankerous worldviews of the human condition. But revisiting The Naked Gun … Read more
Forget transport and housing policy. Hayden Donnell dons his sorting hat to uncover the only info on the Auckland mayoral candidates that truly matters. We’ve found out a lot of personal stuff about the Auckland mayoral candidates during this heart-stopping election campaign. Her Warship Penny Bright cleans her hoardings with senior nappies. John Palino knows … Read more
Why did we endorse Not Mike Lee? We explain our controversial decision and talk housing, elections and potential mayors with a pair of all-star guests. With Auckland in the throes of voting, Mana editor Leonie Hayden joins the Warcast to recap the most recent mayoral debate at Ngā Whare Waatea Marae, where one candidate emerged as a clear crowd favourite. Hayden … Read more
On the world stage at the UN, the prime minister attempted to appear the global statesman. But following Obama’s pledge on resettlement, Key produced a series of clangers, argues Murdoch Stephens of the Doing Our Bit campaign. At the weekend both The Nation and Q+A interviewed John Key in New York, fresh from his address … Read more
TVNZ’s Terry Teo remake is a return to form for New Zealand family programming, says Ethan Sills, and a shining example of what our local television should be. What will it take for the rest of the industry to take note? When you’re a kid, nothing seems impossible. You have the whole world ahead of … Read more
Three Figure.NZ charts offer an insight into the 2011 earthquake’s ongoing impact on the Garden City. Our recent post on Christchurch’s local election apathy was inspiration for this week’s charts from Figure.NZ – a snapshot of a city in three acts. Hungry for more Christchurch data? Check out Figure.NZ.
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Rachel’s war path, Warner’s windswept hair and some incredible VR technology. 1) Rachel is scary Rachel picked up a plethora of life skills during her 10 seconds of rehab, like how to not give a shit, and how to scare the bejeesus out of everyone … Read more
Antony Millen of Taumarunui was runner-up of the 2016 Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with The Spinoff Award – and used his time at the spacious and splendid Grey Lynn hotel to write 28,000 words of his next YA novel. Yowsa! My Surrey Hotel writing residency really started and ended on the train … Read more
With recent efforts at drafting a constitution for New Zealand stalled, a new and engaging approach is called for. Geoffrey Palmer introduces a fresh project and its core principles. “A constitution is a human habitation. Like a city, it may preserve its life and its beauty through centuries of change. It may, on the other … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. The Spinoff: The Spinoff announces its mayoral endorsement “The Spinoff’s War for Auckland psy-ops division has emerged from their underground bunker with their picks for Auckland mayor. – Click here – to discover on whom The Spinoff has bestowed its coveted mayoral seal of … Read more
In this week’s advice column, in-house psychotherapist Ms. X helps out a concerned big sister. Dear Ms. X, I am a 21 year old woman needing some help with how to advise my younger sister about sex stuff. She is nearly 16 and has a 17 year old boyfriend. You can probably imagine what my … Read more
Content warning: This feature contains descriptions, though not the details, of sexual and physical abuse, which may be triggering to survivors. When I walk into the courtroom I see the back of my father’s head. It is grey-haired now, but I still want to smash it into pieces with some large, pointed, heavy instrument. Something … Read more
Microsoft first announced their move into the action-adventure genre when they scored temporary rights to Rise of the Tomb Raider. Now with ReCore they have their own title – but is it any good? A couple of years ago, Microsoft announced they had obtained exclusive rights to Rise of the Tomb Raider, at least for … Read more
The best-seller chart at Unity Books for the week just ended: September 23 WELLINGTON STORE 1 Through the Eyes of a Miner: The Photography of Joseph Divis (Friends of Waiuta, $40) by Simon Nathan Fantastic black and white photographs of the West Coast coalmining town that died. A feature will appear at the Spinoff Review … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on our Twitch channel. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. This week José Barbosa is joined by The Spinoff writer and boy wonder Hayden Donnell. Watch as the two … Read more
New Zealand On Air has signalled a transformation of the way it funds media – the biggest such change in the public body’s 27-year history. What will the new approach look like? The draft funding strategy published this morning sets out the plan for a single, contestable media fund as part of NZ On Air’s … Read more
With the second season of local comedy web series Auckward Love available now on TVNZ Ondemand, the folks behind the show share their worst experiences in the dating trenches. Holly Shervey (Auckward Love creator, writer and plays Alice) I was outside Countdown and a middle-aged chap came up to me and asked if he could paint me … 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. Although it probably shouldn’t be so newsworthy, it hit the headlines the … Read more
New verse by Wellington writer and college student, Mira Karunanidhi. The Universe we once had a conversation about the universe and i told you i like to think that space is infinite that it has no beginning middle or end but like most things it has to end somewhere in the same … Read more
To mark the occasion of our endorsements for Auckland council and mayor, this week’s quiz looks at the differences between the Big Smoke and the country beyond the Bombay Hills.
A Black woman living in New Zealand talks about this week’s episode of Real Housewives, and why it’s indicative of a broader racist culture in New Zealand we still refuse to acknowledge. This week’s episode of Real Housewives has left many people shocked. They cannot believe that there are white people who think it’s okay … Read more
Why is there a Swarbrick-shaped hole in the Herald’s 23-page election guide? Hayden Donnell has a whinge. The Herald’s recent local body election guide is mostly unremarkable. There are interviews with the main mayoral contenders. An obligatory trudge through the wards. An even more obligatory trudge through the regions. One piece blaming uncool political candidates … Read more
Roy Colbert reviews Women of the Catlins: Life In The Deep South Women have always done it hard in the Catlins, a, I was going to say a remote and difficult area on the South Island’s south-east coast, but the people who live there would have none of that. For townies, it would be remote, harsh, … Read more
The second big-budget local drama of the year debuted last night. Duncan Greive watches and finds some promise buried under very familiar problems – and one serious lapse of judgement. When a brand new company was awarded $15m in NZ on Air funding for two brand new shows within a matter of months, it sent shockwaves … Read more
For all the hand-wringing over the economic damage done by the housing crisis, precious little attention is paid to its health effects – particularly on those living in poverty. Dr George Laking explains why house prices should come with a health warning. Warning: contains photos of doctors and gory things. We loved our scuzzy flat … Read more
Brave scientist and television enthusiast Lucy Zee attempts to solve one of the last remaining mysteries of modern times: at what moment does Elliot in Mr Robot become irresistibly attractive? There’s no doubt that Mr Robot is one of the most engrossing, trippiest shows of 2016. But apart from the intriguing storyline, the Emmy-winning acting and the … Read more
The prime minister took to the stage at the UN General Assembly in New York today. Watch a video of his address, and read the completely mature digested version. If the video fails to load, you can always click here to watch. Gidday world. I’m from New Zealand and I’m here to tell you to … Read more