There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. Much to Alex and Duncan’s … Read more
The Blackcaps win over Australia in the recent ICC World T20 tournament had nothing to do with masterful innings construction and well-executed bowling plans – according to Greg Bruce’s dad it was all just a fluke. My dad came into the ICC World T20 hot. The morning after the match against Australia, he turned up at … Read more
Opinion: Five years ago, many mocked a speech calling for liberalised drug laws. Today, such a position is becoming mainstream, writes former ACT leader Don Brash. It is astonishing how rapidly attitudes towards marijuana are changing. Less than five years ago, most politicians thought I had lost my mind (indeed, perhaps had been smoking pot … Read more
It is perhaps the world’s most famous dildo – but what became of it? Hayden Donnell reveals the answer in this Spinoff special investigation into the fate of the Waitangi dildo. We all remember the moment of impact. “Thwack.” Pink flesh striking pink flesh. The dildo sprung off Steven Joyce’s jowls like a prisoner released, careening … Read more
Dark clouds gather into FX mattes and suddenly all the adults and electricity disappears. This is the setting for The Cul De Sac, TVNZ’s new young adult series. The first episode played on Sunday night and José Barbosa reckons it shows promise. Dark, grim promise. “It’s the apocalypse” says bespectacled neighbour played by former Shortland Street star KJ … Read more
We cross live to Matahiwi marae in Hawkes Bay, where Charlotte Grimshaw reports from a ceremony to honour the new poet laureate – her father, Karl Stead. The Poet Laureate had been summoned to a weekend at Matahiwi Marae in the Hawkes Bay, for a ceremony to honour his appointment. He was invited to bring … Read more
Opinion: Are we really living in an era of “social media menace”? Jessica Williams doesn’t think so. In these confused and dangerous times, where headlines and front pages scream about a “social menace”, spare a thought for the most marginalised group of all. A group that is hurting. The target of hate speech, harassment, constant … Read more
Dom Corry talks to Michelle Monaghan, star of new drama The Path, about soul-searching, green juicing and delving into the world of devout religion. The new Lightbox drama The Path dares to venture into the world of religion, a dangerous route which most of popular culture avoids. For all the edginess in the New Golden … Read more
Scotty Stevenson pays tribute to the dominant Chiefs and delivers a stinging rebuke to a sledger in the latest KFC Super Rugby power rankings. 1. Chiefs Rd 6: 48-23 v Brumbies Last week: 1 (N/C) As the Chiefs tore the Brumbies a new one in Canberra on Saturday night, I received the following message: “Lucky you changed … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including Chris Warner 2.0, a gaggle of sleazeballs and an uber disaster. 1) Finn Connelly is a crinkle-cut chip off the ol’ Warner block Chris’ super sperm was once so powerful that it impregnated RoboNurse Carrie Burton’s womb with not one but three … Read more
An excerpt from Colin Hogg’s sweet, elegiac book Going South, about going on a roadtrip with his friend, the journalist Gordon (“Gordie”) McBride. The two first met at the Southland Times in Invercargill. Hogg takes up the story in chapter one… Shortly after turning 21, I packed all my records in my car and moved … Read more
Opinion: the minister’s tough-on-crime agenda is at odds with much of the wider direction on justice and corrections, writes Di White. “Explaining” is not a mode politicians tend to enjoy. Following the release of new figures that show the prison population at a record high, the recently reappointed Minister of Corrections, Judith Collins, went into … Read more
This week José Barbosa is joined by Don Rowe and together they test the limits of human emotional endurance by playing the bomb defusing simulator, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. This gaming coverage is brought to you by Bigpipe, the one ISP you’d really want close by to help cut the red wire
The latest episode of our bi-weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week they discuss loose office burritos, Mike … Read more
Madeleine Chapman and her Aunty Henga assess the skills, builds, and tattoos in Game of Bros, Māori television’s reality quest for the ultimate Polynesian warrior. Aunty Henga arrived back home just in time to witness Game of Bros completely give up on trying to maintain the illusion of being on an island. After spotting a Mitre 10 in the background, … Read more
New verse by Wellington writer Dame Fiona Kidman. Man weeping A man walking down a road, his shoulder muscles packaged tight as boulders under his shirt, a thick set handsome man, all sinew and brawn. I knew this man, stayed under his roof more than once or twice. Until then I had not seen a … Read more
The Spinoff is shocked and awed to have received 11 nominations across nine categories in the 2016 Canon Awards. Finalists for the annual awards were announced yesterday afternoon, with The Spinoff vastly improving on its previous record of zero nominations. It received a nod in the prestigious “Website of the Year” category. Judges have to … Read more
With daylight saving coming through an end, fall even further back than one hour with Tara Ward’s Outlander-inspired survival guide to the 18th century. It’s the end of daylight saving this weekend, and you know what that means – one more hour of sleep! Be still, my beating heart. A word of warning: take care … Read more
Fiona Kidman reviews the essay collection Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner Everywhere I Look is Australian writer Helen Garner’s latest collection of essays and, like much of her former work, it’s not lacking in controversial aspects. Her early writing was like entering a soothing bath of recognition, a woman who understood the suburban condition and … Read more
Madeleine Chapman, her Aunty Henga and her Mum Pani assess the skills, builds, and tattoos in Game of Bros, Māori television’s reality quest for the ultimate Polynesian warrior. Last week, Aunty Henga left Pani and Pani in Auckland and flew to Wellington to visit Pani, my mum. Which means you get not one, but two island experts weighing … Read more
A top-level inquiry by an anthropologist (a bookseller, actually) into gender buying habits. The book world, like the world-world, shows sad signs of gender bias. To work in a bookshop is to become an anthropologist of sorts, specialising in the genus Biblio Lector (or book reader/buyer, for those who are not fluent in the anthropologists’ … Read more
In the beginning there was darkness. Then professional sports said: let there be garish uniforms, nonsensical team names and frightening, hallucinatory mascots. Calum Henderson looks at the real heroes of the NRL. Almost every professional sports team in the world has one now, but few leagues have embraced the humble mascot as enthusiastically and wholeheartedly … Read more
Joseph Harper celebrates Taika Waititi’s ingenious early comedy gems on NZ On Screen. There’s lots of cool pre-Waititi era Taika – when he was better known as Taika Cohen – on the internet. There are a couple of really lo-fi vids of him and Jemaine Clement as The Humourbeasts hosting some kind of talent quest in … Read more
As cannabis decriminalisation finally looms as a political possibility, Don Rowe tracks down an ex-dealer to get a look into the black economy – and asks whether they’d consider going legit. A wheezy sigh of relief was heard yesterday as Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne indicated the possibility of finally loosening his bow-tie stranglehold on the … Read more
Madeleine Chapman attends the Chinese Easter Tournament every year and firmly believes it is the greatest sporting event on the calendar. Growing up, I would spend my Easter weekends hunting for and eating too many chocolate eggs. For the past six years I have spent my Easter weekends playing sport with and against hundreds of Chinese people. … Read more
In principle, a Universal Basic Income, as floated by the NZ Labour Party, sounds great. It’s once you start looking harder at implementation that things quickly become, well, messy, writes Eric Crampton. If you like a UBI, economist Kevin Milligan tells us you can choose two of the following three options. But only two. 1. … Read more
Few of us can refrain from speculation when faced with a crime story like Making a Murderer and Serial – or Mark Lundy or David Bain. Elizabeth Beattie talks to New Zealand legal experts about the influence of social media on our most high profile trials. Had a conversation about Teresa Halbach’s RAV4 lately? What about Adnan … Read more
This is On the Rag, a podcast hosted by Alex Casey which looks at, laughs at and questions the state of women in pop culture, news and the world. To dissect March’s issues in The Spinoff boardroom, she is joined by comedian and author Michele A’Court and marketing guru and longtime good mate Zoe Scheltema. … Read more
It goes down easy like syrup soaked pancakes; Joseph Harper puts you through boot camp on the “unconventional warfare” in Canadian WW2 drama, X Company. What’s the story? The world is at war – World War II to be exact. Canada has a role to play: assembling a small team of (mostly) Canadians who can … Read more