Janie Cameron details the horror of watching iconic New Zealand children’s television presenter Suzy Cato transform a kiwi favourite into the unthinkable. As a child of the ’90s, Suzy Cato taught me many things: the perils of headlice, how to water a person, and perhaps most importantly, that you’re never too old for a scrunchie. Despite … Read more
Everybody loves a good bandwagon, and the Warriors one is once again pulling into the station. Experienced bandwagonner James Dann has some sage advice for those thinking of jumping aboard. So the Warriors pulled out their best performance of the season on Saturday, demolishing last year’s beaten finalists the Brisbane Broncos at Mt Smart Stadium. … Read more
When John Key flies out to Fiji today, one journalist who won’t be joining the delegation is old Pacific hand Michael Field, who is banned from entering the country. He explains how he got added to Bainimarama’s blacklist. I’ve a long history of being banned in the Pacific. The reason why I’m unable to join … Read more
For fans, the journey to the end of The Bachelor NZ season two was an excruciating one. But, as Alex Casey finds, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel with the latest season of UnREAL. Contains spoilers. Everyone’s afraid of the difficult second season, especially in New Zealand reality television circles where our … Read more
A rare and exciting opportunity to work at this wonderful website. The Spinoff is seeking a social media manager to run social for our plucky media startup. It’s a full-time role working within The Spinoff team to assist in planning, buying, monitoring and reporting of social activity for The Spinoff, and will involve work for … Read more
On the second anniversary of her migration to the Lucky Country, Di White is moved to tears by Chasing Asylum, an acclaimed new film about Australian refugee policy. It’s been two years since I moved to Australia. I arrived on a plane on 4 June 2014. I remember the day well. I was moving between … Read more
After Max Key flagrantly and repeatedly copied her style, The Spinoff’s editorial assistant Madeleine Chapman was left no option but to hire legal representation in a bid to uphold the integrity of her personal brand. Mr Max Key St Stephens Avenue Parnell Dear Mr Key: The Spinoff Legal Counsel represents MISS MADELEINE CHAPMAN. If you are represented … Read more
The statements of Stanford student athlete and rapist Brock Turner’s family and friends point to the poisoned atmosphere which helps prominent men believe they are entitled to rape, says Madeleine Holden. Trigger warning: this opinion piece addresses rape and sexual violence. On January 17, 2015, Stanford student athlete Brock Turner raped an unconscious women behind a dumpster. In … Read more
Who better to critique the controversial new post-Clarkson series of Top Gear than a renowned New Zealand car lover and car crusher? The Spinoff asked me, as a bit of a petrolhead, to write about the new Top Gear. So I watched it. I sort of love cars. To me, they are the ultimate in … Read more
The heroic image of Richie McCaw chugging an ice cold bottle of Powerade has been blamed for ruining kids’ teeth, but as Jamie Wall finds, it’s far from the first troubling endorsement in All Blacks history. First published in June 2016. Richie! All this stuff about you being responsible for destroying a poor little kid’s … Read more
The embargo for the shortlist of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children was lifted at 5am – and this story went live at 5.01am. Sarah Forster reveals the shortlisted authors and books, and makes her picks for who will win at the awards ceremony on August 8. Those who write children’s books do it, most … Read more
Tens gathered outside Queen Street McDonald’s this morning for a chance at a cheap feed. Don Rowe feeds at the corporate teat and reports. “Oh my God. No way. Oh. My. God.” These were not the words of some Pentecostal in the throes of religious ecstasy, wrapped in snakes and screaming at the roof, but a real reaction … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including a Fentidge frenzy, Kate’s toast-on-toast banquet and Bella’s medical breakthrough. 1) Spurious George makes like a tree and leaves News just in: George has left the building. Take one last look at his miserable mug. Breathe one last lungful of his putrid air filled with lies, … Read more
In which Dan Kelly – our man in New York – heads into Soho to see the world’s greatest writer speak at a bar. Meeting your heroes can be risky: expectation loves disappointment. But like everyone before me, I didn’t care. This was Karl Ove Knausgaard, Norwegian literary sensation and author of the critically acclaimed … 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. “You can have a really cool life in this career … Read more
Our resident Blockaholic Jane Yee recaps the highs and lows from week one of The Block NZ, including wild pranks and the Dylz/Dyls conundrum. Hello, my name is Jane and I’m a Blockaholic. I did the quiz on the TV3 website, it’s official. The Block holds a lot of appeal for me. Not because I … Read more
Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis examines whether the NZ First leader could really become prime minister, with the help of political nerds’ favourite TV show Could life be about to imitate art, with Winston Peters reprising the lead role in what should be every true political nerd’s favourite television series? No, I’m not suggesting Winston … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Madeleine Chapman: John Key suggested we Google TradeMe for homes under $500,000. So we did, and here they are “Of the 6548 properties listed in Auckland, 65 had an asking price below $500,000, 20 of which were over $495k.” Tainui Stephens: Blindness to … Read more
Could the NZ First leader really get the top job after the next election? Here are some alternative designations Turns out when you mix red and green the colour many see is black – a bumptious, puckish, pin-striped, double breasted sort of black: the black of Winston Peters’ New Zealand First Party. This morning’s column … 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 May held for women in New Zealand and around the world. That is to say the growth of women’s swim nights, ball dress controversies, abortion laws and the ideal way to … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored segment where we line up shows from the catalogue that you might like to watch. For Queen’s birthday weekend, Alex Casey and Madeleine Chapman line up a slew of shows that Liz herself would enjoy. Almost Royal If her photobombing shenanigans are anything to go by, we can all agree that … Read more
The 100th episode of Jono and Ben airs tonight on TV3, so we asked the cast and writers to share their favourite sketches from the last 99 shows. JONO PRYOR: Robbie Magasiva in NeXt Actor, the segment involves us controlling a celebrity through an earpiece while they pretend to work in a store. The first … Read more
Former Herald editor-in-chief Tim Murphy has now read the 130-page media mega-merger application to the Commerce Commission three times. Here he examines the central argument, along with the long bows, flying pigs, and echoes of Napoleon. They must have smiled at times in the flash headquarters of NZME and the “character” K Rd digs of … 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. Christmas came early yesterday when Lightbox announced that they’d treat us to an early episode of Outlander, since we’d been such well behaved children. The skies cleared, the sun came out, and the world rejoiced as we marched … Read more
New verse by Auckland poet Tusiata Avia. Feagaiga/ Covenant I tell my brother about the boy at school I make him tickle my back and every time he stops I tell him about the boy at school who can do it The Best In … Read more
A weekly feature at the Spinoff Review of Books: the best-selling books at the Auckland and Wellington stores of Unity Books. THE BEST–SELLER CHART FOR THE WEEK JUST ENDED: June 3 UNITY BOOKS AUCKLAND 1. A Little Life (Picador, $25) by Hanya Yanagihara Still at number one in its umpteenth week! It’s big, it’s harrowing, it’s good. … Read more
‘Business is Boring’ is a new 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. This week: Anna Curzon of Xero. What’s it like to lead up one … Read more
Bears, bears, bears; Joseph Harper’s phone hosts a fight to death between two games based on and around the terrifying caniforms. Weirdly, I happened to download two games for my phone last week that feature murderous bear-type characters. The first is Killer Panda. It’s an infinite scrolling thing where you jump over very small concrete … Read more
In the latest Ika Table Talk, Jessica Mutch, Grant Robertson and Suzanne Snively join Guy Williams to discuss the impact of the Panama Papers in NZ. Comedian, broadcaster and tall man Guy Williams led a lively discussion at Ika restaurant on Tuesday evening on the subject of Politics, the Press and the Panama Papers. Reporter … Read more