Last month Paul Henry continued its strong gains in the ratings war against Breakfast, despite losing Aunty Hilary. Following his supportive piece for Paul Henry‘s one year anniversary, Tim Murphy returns to explain what TVNZ should do next. Hey, Hilary, get back from dancing in the rain at Pakiri Beach and help TVNZ out. The … 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 Ra, learn a Māori phrase every day this week with these helpful videos, depicting real life conversations between ordinary hard-working … Read more
Scotty Stevenson awakes from a long and disorientating slumber to continue the unforgiving weekly task of ranking every team in Super Rugby from best to worst. Sweet Lord, that break was so long I had actually forgotten which team was last top of the Power Rankings. Worse, I am now reminded of how much can … Read more
The Press Council has upheld a complaint about the comment relating to Miles Davis and homophobia contained in this article. The full decision is available here or at www.presscouncil.org.nz Somewhere in a darkened studio a few weeks ago, two men unleashed the world’s most powerful tsunami of terrible radio. Hayden Donnell dug up the recording. … Read more
Independence Day. 4th of July. ‘MERICA. To celebrate the most patriotic of days, here are the best, like totally, American shows currently available on Lightbox. USA! USA! USA! The Americans “The best show on TV, period” – Aaron Yap, The Spinoff The name hits the nail squarely on the head. The Americans is all about … Read more
Amid Australia’s election deadlock, independent candidates have become a lightning rod for discontented voters, and there are lessons for NZ political parties, writes Jennifer Curtin. It might not be as internationally extraordinary as Brexit or Trump winning the Republican nomination, but the result of the Australian election has revealed a profound disaffection with both major … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Vinnie’s fridge swear and Leanne’s fixation with workplace exercise. 1) Leanne ponchos above her weight Nothing will stop Leanne in her quest to reach 10,000 steps a day, other than her complete inability to reach 10,000 steps a day. Jogging on the spot, running in … Read more
New verse by Kaipara poet Sam Hunt. My father’s waistcoats My father’s waistcoats never had pockets. It was years later someone explained a good lawyer in court didn’t need notes… I never went with the law like my father would have liked. But I got to swing juries – … Read more
Arthur Grimes is former chief economist of the Reserve Bank. He thinks we should flood the Auckland market with 150,000 homes and aim for a 40% crash in house prices. In March 2016, the REINZ Auckland median house price reached $820,000. Four years previously, it was $495,000 – that’s a 66% increase in 4 years. … Read more
Our Olympic uniforms have rightly been savaged from all angles. But research by The Spinoff’s crack intern team suggests that rather than a design disaster, they were in fact a successful online bargain hunt. The New Zealand Olympic uniforms were revealed on Wednesday. Athletes said they were “comfortable” and “practical”, while others said they were an … Read more
Australia wakes to discover it can’t make its mind up. Elle Hunt recaps the action from Sydney It’s the campaign that never ends, it just goes on and on, my friends… After an eight-week campaign and a neck-and-neck contest in which not very much happened, the Australian election was expected to be a close-run thing, … Read more
Charity may start at home, but it shouldn’t stop there, writes Amnesty International’s Grant Bayldon I spent a recent chilly Thursday night sleeping in the car with my son at Mangere Town Centre. It was the Park Up For Homes event, raising awareness of local homelessness. I can’t pretend it was a great hardship for … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Geoffrey Palmer: The political elites foisted a new system on ordinary Brits. Little wonder they’re grabbing it back “So when the people have an opportunity to decide they reject it. Their fear about jobs and their sense of insecurity about immigration are entirely understandable. They … Read more
Out of nowhere, England are challenging the All Blacks for the title of ‘Best Side in Rugby’. Rugby bosses need to strike while the iron’s hot and schedule an emergency test match between the two sides, writes Jamie Wall. Even if you’ve been saving for an Auckland house by giving up Sky, you’ll know there’s only … Read more
Are you in the market for sun, sand and a designer vagina? Alex Casey watches TV One’s new plastic surgery in paradise reality show, Beauty and the Beach. The unexpected utterance of “nice little nipples” let me know I had arrived in the plastic surgery paradise that is TV One’s Beauty and the Beach. Following … Read more
Joseph Harper loves nothing more than watching strangely shaped men pump their huge quadriceps in pursuit of cycling glory. You can start sharing some of his joy by boning up on this cheat sheet to the Tour de France. Sport’s greatest spectacle begins this weekend. 3,519 kms over 21 stages, from the shores of La Manche, … Read more
The long, long, long campaign has come to an end. Miss anything? Fear not: in a dispatch from Sydney, Elle Hunt breaks down everything you need to know. While New Zealanders have been shivving each other for avocados and living in abandoned cruise ships, Australia has been weathering its longest campaign since 1969. Prime minister … Read more
Te Puea Memorial Marae has become the epicentre and symbol of Auckland’s homeless families. The Spinoff’s Madeleine Chapman spent a week volunteering there to compile this report. Photography by Qiane Matata-Sipu. The Warehouse has agreed to match all donations delivered through this story – scroll to the bottom for information on how you can help. Two teenage boys … Read more
Our resident Blockaholic Jane Yee recaps the highs and lows from week five of The Block NZ, including Punk’d style candle prank and Dylz being very rude. It’s week five on The Block NZ and things are absolutely hissing along in Meadowbank. With Living Room week, there’s a whole new doorgate to get razzed up … Read more
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub, Auckland mayoral candidate Vic Crone, Alan Johnson of the Salvation Army Policy Unit, and Leonie Freeman from Goodman Property Trust discuss the crisis of homelessness and affordable house prices with Guyon Espiner. The latest Ika Table Talk, titled “Can’t We Fix This Housing Thing?” sold out within hours of being announced. On Tuesday … Read more
The New Zealand Olympic team uniforms were unveiled earlier this week, and the sight of them sent Robyn Gallagher into a long spiral of sadness. She explains her profoundly negative reaction. Every four years the New Zealand Olympic team unveils their uniform, usually a combination of black and fern motifs, and you look at it … Read more
The King of the Cosmos intends to build a planet. Joseph Harper answers his call and discovers and terrifying yet thrilling cosmic techno nightmare. Finally the pure, unfiltered joy and weirdness of the Katamari franchise has returned to my iPhone. It’s the first Katamari game since the 2012 PS Vita game, Touch My Katamari (which I … Read more
The father of Imran Patel, the 26-year-old Aucklander convicted for distributing extremist videos, tells Yasmine Ryan he fears that jail risks turning a silly boy into a serious threat. When Imran Patel shouted, “Tell John Key to stop being a slave to America, and to get out of Iraq. Allahu akbar!” after being sentenced last … 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. You could be forgiven for thinking TV is all the bachelor, but if you look … 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 1 UNITY BOOKS AUCKLAND 1 In Love with These Times: My Life with Flying Nun Records (HarperCollins, $37) by Roger Shepherd The Nun man’s memoir is … Read more
Our new weekly advice column, in which practising psychotherapist Ms. X answers readers’ questions on manners, morals and mental health. Dear Ms. X, I am a divorced dad of three. The split was about five years ago now and I thought we had worked out a reasonable co-parenting arrangement. But now my ex has a … Read more
“Lionel Shriver has written a gripping novel about fiscal and monetary policy,” says reviewer Holly Walker, “and the punchline is this: America is fucked. “ In humans, the mandible is the largest and strongest bone in the face. In insects, mandibles are those freaky appendages near the mouth, used to grab food and fend off … Read more
Last night there was a party to celebrate the launch of Beauty and the Beach, a new local reality TV show following women to the tropics for some plastic surgery. The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and Madeleine Chapman went along, and combine to bring you this special report. Alex: “Two girls in high school who want … Read more
This morning, John Key conceded some of his loudest and most persistent critics are right – about one thing at least. Tim Murphy was there to watch the Prime Minister change tack. John Key this morning conceded the government is not spending enough on the nation’s most vulnerable. In the midst of a political winter dominated by homelessness … Read more