Shane Archbold has been a surprise standout for New Zealand at this year’s Tour de France. He talks to Joseph Harper about what life’s like inside the peloton, and how to keep your hair clean while competing in the world’s most gruelling race. The New Zealanders have had a mixed bag so far at this year’s Tour … Read more
Calum Henderson tuned into Breakfast this week to witness what was potentially going to be the end of the Rawdon and Nadine era. What he discovered was a conspiracy theory that probably requires urgent global attention. It’s 6:21am on Monday morning and Breakfast co-hosts Rawdon Christie and Nadine Chalmers-Ross are watching footage of a distressed … Read more
Greg Pritchard is just another person watching nothing be done about the housing crisis. We’re told it’s too complicated and impossible to fix – but, as he points out below, it’s actually terrifyingly simple. Millions of words have been written about the housing situation in Auckland. TV networks have screened countless hours of renovation shows whose clear subtext … Read more
This is Piki is Māori television’s new youth-oriented soap, the first of its kind. The Spinoff intern Rhianna Osborne sat down with the director Kiel McNaughton to find out how the bilingual show came together – and how Snapchat might be the future of storytelling. This is Piki is the latest local show to hit Māori Television, a … 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. At the recent Hi-Tech awards one of the first awards of the night was the Hi-Tech … Read more
Sarah Laing reviews The Girls by American author Emma Cline, hyped as the next big thing in US writing. After I finished reading Emma Cline’s The Girls, I googled her. I have this notion that proper reviewers meditate on a book in a hermetically sealed intellectual space, sipping green tea and arranging river stones as … Read more
Today The Spinoff officially turns off comments. Here editor Duncan Greive explains his reasoning behind the decision. As of today, as of exactly right now, The Spinoff is turning off Disqus, the comments engine we’ve used since we started in September of 2014. The motivations are simple and twofold. First, comments make us no money but … Read more
The ruling from the Hague on the South China Sea is stunning. For the region the stakes are huge, and New Zealand’s response is notably more cautious than Australia or the US, writes David Capie. Last night’s decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague delivered a resounding legal defeat to China’s maritime … Read more
Alex Casey is joined by Steve Newall and Liam Maguren of Flicks to discuss their plans for week one, and share hot tips on how to survive the harrowing festival conditions. With sincere apologies for their disastrous and ill-advised first preview pod, the great Spinoff X Flicks merger podcast returns one day out from the … Read more
Ethan Sills has a radical solution for NZ on Air’s long-running drama problem: letting the public be more involved in choosing which shows get funded. Public funding hasn’t had a great few years here in New Zealand. Since the end of Outrageous Fortune and the cast swap on Go Girls, many local dramas this decade have more-or-less failed, … Read more
So you think Pokémon GO is pretty stupid? Perhaps you’ve even indicated your dislike online and ripped into those who are poké-intoxicated? Comedian and actor James Roque stands firm and argues there’s a place and a need for the digital monster collecting diversion. Last week, Pokémon GO was released and the world went nuts. For … Read more
Wyoming Paul reviews two new New Zealand novels by women authors. She enjoys one but the other one leaves her cold. Debra Daley’s The Revelations of Carey Ravine and The Quiet Spectacular by Laurence Fearnley are both written by women and celebrate women. In Fearnley’s case, I wanted – but failed – to like a … Read more
Over the weekend Lizzie Marvelly wrote a column condemning reality television, a sentiment that she shares with many. But does reality TV really herald the end of critical thinking, devouring brain cells as every minute passes? Leah Damm responds. Imagine writing an opinion piece in which you spend a thousand-odd words expressing disapproval of an entire genre, … Read more
We edited John Key and Andrew Little’s words together into a surprisingly unified speech on the housing crisis. While I was putting together this impossible quiz, I noticed something surprising: John Key and Andrew Little were starting to make sense. Reading quotes by the pair on the housing crisis – Key’s from a speech in 2007, Little’s from interviews … Read more
Better late than never, host Alex Casey is joined by comedian and writer Michele A’Court and Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden to talk about what June held for women in New Zealand and the world. That is to say: the bad month for women in sports, free tampons in NYC schools and an exciting new book … Read more
Steve Braunias interviews the amazing Wellington poet Hera Lindsay Bird, author of the smash hit poem ‘Keats Is Dead So Fuck Me From Behind’. This week Hera Lindsay launches her first collection of poetry titled Hera Lindsay Bird. It includes her breathtaking poem posted yesterday at the Spinoff, ‘Keats Is Dead So Fuck Me From Behind‘, … Read more
Imagine strange cars and weird people hanging around your house. This is the shocking reality for some in this post-Pokémon world. In part two of the Pokémon GO Orgy Week, Jess McAllen interviews a number of unassuming Americans who’ve had uninvited Pokémon hunters turning up on their doorstep. Catch up on Pokémon GO Orgy Week … Read more
Today The Spinoff assesses the state of the professional critic in New Zealand with four pieces – two new, two older – which reflect on the challenges the form faces. Aaron Yap is one of the most insightful film critics in New Zealand. Unfortunately his reviews have lost him friends and infuriated people. He recounts his … Read more
A shock new leader emerges at the top of Scotty Stevenson’s Super Rugby power rankings heading into the final round of the regular season. 1. Lions Rd 16: 57-21 v Kings Last round: 2 (up 1) Johannesburg is not the place any team other than the Lions wishes to find itself for the next few … Read more
Today The Spinoff assesses the state of the professional critic in New Zealand with four pieces – two new, two older – which reflect on the challenges the form faces. The final piece is a reissue of an interview which was originally published on Pantograph Punch in 2012. It features a conversation between The Spinoff editor … Read more
It was one of the greatest things that has ever happened in a game of rugby league, but at what cost, asks Calum Henderson. Fullback Ben Barba scored two first half tries to lead the Cronulla Sharks to a 26-10 victory over the Penrith Panthers at Pepper Stadium on Sunday afternoon – the team’s 13th … Read more
We designed a quiz to test whether you can tell the difference between the Prime Minister of nine years ago and the Labour leader of today. It’s improbably difficult. It’s the End Times in the Auckland housing market. An average house is worth 10 times the average household income. Only four percent of sales are “affordable”. A … Read more
This is the final episode for this season of The Get. A new season will start in the near future. In the meantime if you have journalists and writers you’d like us to talk to send your suggestions to jose@thespinoff.co.nz. “It might be a week or even a couple of weeks where you’re on the … Read more
Today The Spinoff assesses the state of the professional critic in New Zealand with four pieces – two new, two older – which reflect on the challenges the form faces. In 2002 a small storm erupted when the brilliant film, theatre and restaurant critic Peter Calder dared to negatively review a local production. An actor angrily accused … Read more
Pokémon Go has turned the world upside down. It’s led players into armed ambushes. It’s got them stumbling across washed up corpses. And after something of a online outcry to his first review, it’s even forced Joseph Harper to get his feet wet again. Last week I tried playing Pokémon Go and it pissed me off. … Read more
New verse by Wellington writer Hera Lindsay Bird. Keats Is Dead So Fuck Me From Behind Keats is dead so fuck me from behind Slowly and with carnal purpose Some black midwinter afternoon While all the children are walking home from school Peel my stockings down with your teeth Coleridge is dead and Auden … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Victoria’s annoying death and a classic Warner seduction. 1) Victoria dies a wooden death What the bloody hell, Shortland Street? For months we’ve trudged along the dark and boggy trail of the ‘Who Shot Drew’ storyline. We trusted you’d lead us out of the shitstorm … Read more
In 2014, Jarryd Hayne left the NRL to pursue his dreams of NFL stardom. Two years later, he’s retired from the NFL and trying to reinvent himself as a sevens player. He tells Scotty Stevenson it’s all part of God’s plan. The Uprising Resort is 45 minutes up the coast from Suva City. It is a laid … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. Sons and daughters, love and laughter, tears of sadness and happiness. You might recognize that as the theme tune from the timeless Australian soap Sons and Daughters, but to me, it sums up my Outlander … Read more