Rebecca Thomas conducts a full-on interview with Brix Smith Start, ex-wife of the Fall genius Mark E Smith, on the occasion of her brilliant, crazy tell-all memoir. All photos by Rebecca. Brix Smith Start’s crazy, dramatic, glamorous life is all laid out in her book The Rise, The Fall and The Rise. She grew up in Hollywood; … Read more
Where will the Super Rugby semifinals be won and lost? Scotty Stevenson breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of each of the four remaining teams. How do we judge which of the four Super Rugby semifinalists put up the best performance last week? For sheer scoreline, it’s hard to look past the Hurricanes who, in … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Elijah Wood about producing The Greasy Strangler, the film bound to get the most dry-retches in the New Zealand International Film Festival this year, and wrangles a rare beanie competition for one lucky greaseball to win. “I love it, a beanie set the country on fire, that’s genius. I love New … Read more
The government endorsement of a predator-free nation is cause for real cheer. But it’s only a start, writes Gareth Morgan. The Government has formally endorsed a bold vision for a Predator Free New Zealand by 2050. They are investing $28m over four years into projects that will remove rats, stoats and possums from around a … Read more
Podcasts are an important pillar of the stuff that gets made for this website. So, as our audience is growing, we decided it’s a good time for staff producer José Barbosa to lay out our roster of podcasts for newcomers, the curious and the plain nosey. Take it away, José! Thank you, mysterious standfirst writer. I’ve … Read more
We found the the evil goblin sabotaging Auckland’s future. It’s an adorable cat who lives in a bus stop in Northcote Point. Why is it so hard to make good things happen in Auckland? Every positive project proposed for the city seems to have to hack through a horde of perma-frowning objectors. Everyone from Mayor … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including a new naked chef and TK’s disdain for the universe and beyond. 1) Leanne reacts in a calm and discreet manner when Lucy and Ali’s sex tape goes viral 2) Is Cam McCaskill an undiscovered culinary genius or a misguided man-child with the boundless energy of … Read more
Glen Campbell’s classic hit “Galveston” – what was that all about, and where the hell is Galveston, anyway? Karl du Fresne goes exploring in his new book about the birthplaces of American songs. We arrived in the city that inspired Jimmy Webb’s song “Galveston”, a hit for Glen Campbell in 1969, not knowing quite what to expect. … Read more
The National Party MP on the epic theatre of the GOP’s big event, why a President Trump remains a real prospect, and what he was doing in Cleveland. America! Jesus! Freedom! That was the all-important catchphrase for Will Ferrell’s satirical character in The Campaign. Cam Brady would have fitted right in last week at the … Read more
Writer John Summers recalls a road trip to Nelson punctuated by Antiques Roadshow, the cozy, dozy series that knows no end. We were a micronation of five, a Monaco within the wider limits of Christchurch, complete with our own rituals, talismans and anthems. Among these were the identical blue jerseys we’d each bought independently from op … Read more
People said it couldn’t be done. That it was impossible for even the most loud-mouthed rugby player to achieve. Last night, Aaron Smith proved the doubters wrong. Plaudits are flowing freely for Highlanders and All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith, who last night managed to pull off the most elusive feat in rugby union. After exactly 83 minutes … Read more
Our resident Blockaholic Jane Yee recaps the highs and lows from week eight of The Block NZ, including the moment that the schist hit the fan. Whatever the opposite of hissing is, it’s happening on The Block right now. Eight weeks in and the fatigue has finally hit me. I’ve watched every damn episode ever … Read more
His supporters at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and in comment threads around the world believe we’ll see a President Trump. But who else? Donald Trump has just finished his epic speech at a convention replete with mishaps and idiosyncracy. Despite the fact that he defied so many expert predictions that he stood almost … Read more
A rare experimental edition of On the Rag, featuring the women behind The Rehearsal, premiering in the New Zealand International Film Festival this weekend. In this special edition of On the Rag, Alex talks to the powerhouse of women behind The Rehearsal, the New Zealand film based on the novel by Eleanor Catton. Alison Maclean, … 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 text. Orion Health is one of the big names in NZ tech, with 1250 staff, operations around … Read more
Boners of the Heart is a new podcast hosted by Alice Snedden and Rose Matafeo, where the pair dissect their weird, often disturbing, celebrity crushes. By way of introduction, we got each of them to detail their favourite heart-boner-maker. Rose Matafeo I met Alice a couple of years ago, but I think we both agree we were … Read more
The world may have lurched hungrily in the direction of block-buster Pokémon GO, but Joseph Harper is still enjoying quiet feline pleasures. Here we check in on him and see what’s new in the world of Neko Atsume. Toward the end of last year I was turned on to Hit-Point’s immensely pleasurable orphan cat simulator, … Read more
A weekly feature at the Spinoff Review of Books: The best-selling books at the Wellington and Auckland stores of Unity Books. THE BEST–SELLER CHART FOR THE WEEK JUST ENDED: July 22 AUCKLAND STORE 1 Hera Lindsay Bird (Victoria University Press, $25) by Hera Lindsay Bird Number one in Auckland, number one in Wellington! “I love attention,” … Read more
Alex Casey is joined by Steve Newall and Liam Maguren of Flicks to discuss their plans for week two of the International Film Festival, review week one and share stories of crying at the flicks. Listen or download this episode using the player below or subscribe to our one-off podcast feed Pop Up Pods using iTunes
It’s the eye-pop has been talked about more than just about any other TV segment in New Zealand history. But one crucial voice has stayed silent about it, until now. Hayden Donnell talks to Thingee about the on-screen medical nightmare that changed his life forever. It started out like any other Son of a Gunn segment. Jason was prattling … Read more
Aaradhna Patel comes into the room near visibly shaking. She hates interviews, does them because she must, and afterwards feels like she’s said all the wrong things. Given her occupation, it’s an unfortunate situation. This one promises to be particularly trying. She’s talking about racism. About her personal experience of it, in fine detail. Haltingly … Read more
We conclude our special week-long look at the work of fiction master Don DeLillo with a piece written exclusively for the Spinoff by Jesse Kavadlo, Professor of English and Humanities at the Maryville University of St Louis in Missouri, and president of the Don DeLillo Society. Don DeLillo is following me. I know what you’re thinking—DeLillo is the … Read more
In this week’s advice column, Ms. X counsels a daughter who is flipping out over her mother’s search for online romance. Dear Ms. X, My mum is 62 and looking to date. I want to be good about this but I AM NOT. I think she is going to meet all kinds of idiots and … Read more
Spark Ventures CEO Rod Snodgrass on what the ‘exponential economy’ might bring, and how Auckland might tap into it to accelerate its transformation. There’s plenty of noise going on about the future of Auckland, from familiar and unfamiliar voices. That’s no surprise – we all have a vested interest in inhabiting the world’s most liveable … Read more
The New Zealand Home is a new docu-series which tells the story of New Zealand housing via a parade of gloating baby boomers. “Two men, from wildly different words, join forces to explore the New Zealand home on a road trip – in a 1960s Jag!” So intones the voiceover which announces The New Zealand … Read more
Red-faced Transparent fans fess up with their embarrassingly delayed reactions to the double entendre of the show’s title. Raking in yet another pile of Emmy nominations last week, it’s no secret that the Amazon original series Transparent is one of the boldest and best television shows in recent years. Yes, it tackles issues of gender and … Read more
At Greenpeace we’re not so big into war. We like peace, hence the name. But the US government’s decision to send a ship here marks something distinctly positive – a victory for the people of nuclear-free New Zealand, writes Russel Norman. If a US ship arrives in our waters later this year as part of … Read more
The world is a fucked-up place with terrorists controlling the narrative (and the images), and distracted, anxious, over-fed America slouching towards a Trump apocalypse. Don DeLillo anticipated the way things have turned out; to mark the publication of his latest book, the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to the work of maybe the world’s … Read more
SkyPath makes a huge amount of sense, but that hasn’t stopped a lot of angry old people complaining about it. Leroy Beckett of Generation Zero explains all the reasons our councillors should ignore the whinging and agree to back the project today. Last January over 11,000 people supported resource consent for SkyPath, a long-awaited walking and … Read more