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. Here theatre critic Sam Brooks assesses the state of his art. “To be a critic in New Zealand is to be a kind of weed. It’s … Read more
After months of anticipation, the biggest mixed martial arts event ever is finally upon us. Don Rowe attempts to prophesise the event on EA Sports UFC 2 for the Playstation 4, but finds his efforts hindered by the notoriously chaotic landscape of the UFC. Like a truck in the side mirror, UFC 200 is all of … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Arthur Grimes: How to fix a broken Auckland? Add 150,000 homes to crash prices by 40% “The question then is how can Auckland grow and at the same time have house prices that become affordable for more people. Logically, the only answer to … Read more
There’s a block of houses in Hamilton that exists as some kind of sad metaphor. It sits in the middle of tidy suburban streets and it lines a small part of the new motorway, so that thousands of cars pass by it on their way to work and on their way home. It’s as close … 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 8 AUCKLAND UNITY 1 In Love with These Times: My Life with Flying Nun Records (HarperCollins, $37) by Roger Shepherd Number one for the fifth week … Read more
Dyed-in-the-wool Pocket Monster fan Joseph Harper joined the burgeoning Pokémon GO craze this week and found it overwhelmingly pointless and bad. When the Pokémon GO trailer was hurled onto the internet last year, it seemed too good to be true. Playing Pokémon in the real world seemed fricking awesome. When I played Pokémon as a … Read more
Jane Yee watches the glittering official promo for The Real Housewives of Auckland, and isn’t even a little bit disappointed. If there’s one thing New Zealand TV does well, it’s turning the purses of overseas reality franchises into sow’s ears. We take the glamour and glory prescribed by the international reality overlords, throw some number 8 … Read more
Resident Spinoff float master Don Rowe gets deep with Billy T James award winning comedian David Correos in the first installment of Tank Talk, a partnership with Float Culture. David Correos waved as he ran across the courtyard, a towel draped over his shoulders. “Don,” he said, stepping into my girlfriend’s Ford Laser. “Mate. Do I need a … Read more
Last week, TVNZ announced that they wouldn’t air the controversial UK reality show Sex Box after receiving complaints and a 10,000 strong petition. Alex Casey takes a peek inside and suggests it might not be as bad as everyone thinks. It’s not everyday one is blessed with the opportunity to turn a deep shade of purple … Read more
‘Business is Boring’ is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound will speak with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and text. News hit recently that a small NZ production company had sold a television format … Read more
New verse by Riwaka writer Talia Marshall. My thoughts on the end of love and caravans this Friday At first love is the caravan and you are inside it playing cards and the gas lamp is burning and everyone inside the caravan is happy and unbearable Then you only go … Read more
Our resident Blockaholic Jane Yee recaps the highs and lows from week six of The Block NZ, including terrifying face cushions and some really cereal stuff. It’s been a whopper week on The Block NZ as the contestants faced the daunting task of completing both the master bedroom and ensuite. Along with the regular excitement … Read more
Hello Caller is our new advice column in which psychotherapist Ms. X answers readers’ questions on manners, morals and mental health. This week, Ms. X tackles the procrastination-guilt-procrastination shame spiral. Dear Ms X. I am really struggling with motivation at work. On the outside, I really enjoy my job, but when it comes down to … Read more
Pete Douglas revisits an original Dawson’s Creek drinking game he helped invent in the late 90’s to see how it stacks up today. I remember reading about Dawson’s Creek before it even made it to New Zealand screens back in 1999. The show was promised as a kind of Party of Five or Beverly Hills … Read more
This week is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week. Paul Brislen remembers growing up in Wales and why retaining and teaching Māori language is imperative to New Zealand’s cultural identity. If you put your tongue just behind your upper teeth and blow air (and spit) around the sides in a manner not unlike that laughing … Read more
Coco Solid reflects on the state of adult animation and representation in New Zealand, and reveals the inspirations and motivations behind her own animated web series Aroha Bridge. Friends hate picking movies with me because they know my preferences. I’m one of those ageless hams who love cartoons, generally any type. I watch them all the … Read more
Margo White reviews All At Sea by Decca Aitkenhead. It was a cloudless, calm Caribbean morning in Calabash Bay, Jamaica. From the porch of her holiday house, Decca Aitkenhead could see her four-year-old son, Jake, paddling in the shallow water, still in his pyjamas and at the feet of his Dad, Tony. A couple of minutes … Read more
The very long-awaited and very weightily long Chilcot report, from the inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war, has just been published. We’ve read all 2.6 million words (we haven’t), and plucked out the bits that really tell the story. Sir John Chilcot took the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Centre in Westminster to … Read more
There’s a serious housing crisis in Auckland, and New Zealand’s rental market is a disgrace. But house hunting in London is a special kind of hell, says ex-pat New Zealander Lucy Gable. A while back, like thousands of ruddy-cheeked, sparkly-eyed Kiwis before me, I left the sunny, if avocado-free, shores of Auckland for the drab weather, poor customer … Read more
The NZ Uber wars are heating up with calls for a crackdown on non-compliant operators as drivers begin to challenge the company’s criteria and pay rates. We talk to one driver leading the charge. The NZ Transport Agency says the company’s revised rules, with drivers no longer requiring P-endorsed passenger licences or to undergo NZTA-stipulated … Read more
‘Don’t call me racist for voting leave,’ wrote expat Kiwi and controversy magnet Alex Hazlehurst earlier this week. How about we call you short-sighted, self-centred and sadly misinformed instead, suggests New Zealand-born Londoner Paul Gallagher. Dear Alex, The upheaval and recriminations following the EU referendum result have seemingly left everyone in the UK on edge. … Read more
Given the failings of the legal system to prosecute sexual offences, some survivors of sexual violence and abuse are choosing to bypass the process altogether and speak out about their abuse online. Madeleine Holden explores this growing phenomenon. Content warning: This story contains discussion around sexual violence and survivors With increasing frequency, survivors of rape and … Read more
With many mainstream publishers downsizing and disestablishing and generally being kind of dismal places to work, fewer New Zealand books are being published. A solution: self-publishing. Two writers – Sarah Wilson of Nelson, and Auckland novelist Kirsten McKenzie, who released her novel 15 Postcards last year – discuss some of the pros and cons. Sarah … Read more
Last time Generation Zero called for a rail link across the Waitemata, Transport Minister Simon Bridges told them off for not trusting in still non-existent autonomous buses. Soon after, the group commissioned a poll to test whether their old-fashioned rail theory had legs. Ryan Mearns reports on the results. Besides combating an increasingly terrifying housing crisis, deciding the future of … Read more
American college super-coach John Calipari talks to Ben Stanley about the progress and NBA prospects of Kentucky’s new Kiwi basketball recruit Tai Wynyard. He has coached four No. 1 overall NBA Draft picks, led two different schools to three NCAA Division I Championship Finals in the last eight years, and last year he was inducted into … Read more
Bravo launched in New Zealand this week, bringing with it about 300 iterations of the Real Housewives franchise. Tara Ward, a real housewife herself, decided to see how their daily lives compare. With wine. A friend called me a ‘housewife’ the other day, a shocking attack that made me cry into the giant pile … Read more
Māori Language Week is upon us and to celebrate, The Spinoff has teamed up with Ra Pomare and Mana magazine to bring you ‘Te Reo Ākina with Ra Pomare’. Funded by Te Māngai Pāho and produced by instagram legend Ra Pomare, learn a Māori phrase every day this week with these helpful videos, depicting real life conversations … Read more
Steve Braunias talks with the greatest salesman in the history of New Zealand publishing – Paul Greenberg, a small, unassuming gentleman who lives in Palmerston North, and was honoured with a lifetime achievement award in the weekend. Everyone in New Zealand books knows Paul Greenberg – he’s a living legend, the last of the mohicans. … Read more
The Spinoff and Barkers are proud to present a new seven-part podcast series: The Get. Each week Canon award winning journalist Naomi Arnold will interview some of New Zealand’s best feature writers and news journalists about how they hunted down the biggest stories of their careers. “On a given week, from time to time, I … Read more