‘Mapping Auckland’s Venues’ is a series by music writer and historian Gareth Shute that looks at the growth, contraction and general change in the city’s live music scene over the years. In this instalment, first published by Audioculture, Shute takes a look back at the decade where ‘Think Big’ applied just as much to shoulder pads … Read more
Snowpiercer imagines a world where the class system follows us to the grave, but in doing so, does it fail at its own goals? It was Snowpiercer, not Parasite, that was meant to be Bong Joon-ho’s big western debut, but the film had the misfortune to be picked up by the Weinstein Company. Harvey Weinstein … Read more
The company’s latest product, made with supplement company Jeuneora, has come under fire from Consumer NZ for failing to comply with food standards. High-end dairy company Lewis Road Creamery is the latest brand to jump on board the collagen craze with a new collagen-infused milk that hit shelves just last week. However, the company has … Read more
Our early success against Covid-19 was lauded the world over. If we want to continue to provide leadership, we need to reinvigorate our approach to foreign affairs, writes Nina Hall. With our borders largely closed, you could be forgiven for thinking that international affairs should take a back seat for a few months. But New … Read more
Grab your Factor 50 and put all your eggs into someone else’s basket, because a new season of Love Island USA just landed on Neon. Love Island is the ultimate reality show about strangers finding love on the telly, and this season comes with a shocking twist: they’re not on an island. It’s news more … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. Parliament has dissolved and the campaign has officially begun, which means politicians have officially logged on. Marama Davidson – Yes It took six months (read: all of history) but an elected official has finally done something good and funny (on purpose) on social media. It’s … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. Today: Jacinda Ardern promises a new holiday, Winston Peters’ uphill challenge, and New Zealand’s biggest privately owned broadcaster has been snapped up by the Discovery Channel. The discombobulating 2020 campaign lurched back into action yesterday, with leaders scattered about the country. Judith Collins is in Hawkes Bay, where … Read more
From shambolic interviews to dismal polling, it’s hard to see how the NZ First leader can save his party ahead of the next month’s election, writes Ben Thomas. In boxing, there’s a saying that “power is the last thing to go”. After speed, coordination and stamina are long gone, the oldest fighter still knows how … Read more
Property Investors Federation spokesman Andrew King has suggested landlords hold off installing a heat pump for tenants, saying a change in government could see the law reversed, and that some tenants don’t actually want new heat pumps. He has Hayden Donnell’s attention. New Zealand has long led the world in two shameful categories: Hobbit movies, … Read more
It’s likely you’re being exposed to masses of Covid information on a daily basis, and not all of it will be reliable. Here are some tips for telling the difference, and stopping the spread. Thanks to Covid-19, most of us have a new word in our vocabulary. Epidemiology: the branch of medical science that deals … Read more
It might be the most bonkers reality show of all, but The Farmer Wants a Wife is back for 2020. Tara Ward recaps the first episode. “It all begins with hope,” host Natalie Gruzlewski tells us in the opening moments of The Farmer Wants a Wife, and friends, I did not expect this show to … Read more
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is another trip into the mind of the pathetic man, but Charlie Kaufman finally finds universality in one man’s fantasy. Mild spoilers for I’m Thinking of Ending Things below. You can mark the exact point at which one-time wunderkind Charlie Kaufman went from being a critic’s darling to a difficult … Read more
After years of losses and months of speculation, Three has finally been sold. We speak to the MediaWorks CEO, and its broadcast operations’ new owner Discovery, about their plans for the channel. This morning, the long-rumoured acquisition of MediaWorks’ broadcast operations (mainly Three, along with some extras) was formally announced, with US cable TV monster … Read more
Annie Te One explains why embedding Māori representation in local government shouldn’t be such a big deal. After the next local elections, Tauranga City Council will join Wairoa District Council and Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils in being the only local governments with designated Māori wards. Debates over Māori representation in local government, … Read more
Filmmaker Gwen Isaac was meant to be in Japan filming a documentary about a New Zealand MMA fighter. But when Covid-19 hit, she found herself embedded in the household of Dr Siouxsie Wiles, documenting a different type of fight. I had never heard of Siouxsie Wiles before March this year. Then, suddenly, she seemed to … Read more
If the yes votes prevail and it’s legalised, employers will need to figure out where to draw the line for worker cannabis use, write employment law specialists Susan Rowe and Shaun Brookes. With the referendum on the legalisation of cannabis looming, employers are asking what legalisation might mean for their workforce. Will an employee be … Read more
What did people in the Facebook comments sections of major news websites have to say about the last month of Covid announcements? A new piece of social media sentiment analysis seeks to answer that very question. The comments section on Facebook is often seen as a toxic place, but a new piece of sentiment analysis … Read more
Covid-19 brought to an abrupt end to an extraordinary period of migration-fuelled population growth for New Zealand. Did we fully understand what was happening – and what comes next, asks Paul Spoonley. See also Duncan Grieve: The ‘staggering’ potential of New Zealand’s returning diaspora Toni Truslove: Returning New Zealanders deserve a softer landing – and … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 7, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7pm: The day … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Two deaths have now taken place in the renewed outbreak of Covid-19, Plan B group criticised for misleading scientist quotes, and new numbers show many taking up a benefit. After no Covid-related deaths in months, two have taken place in quick succession in Auckland. They were … Read more
Together with colleagues on The Disinformation Project, Kate Hannah has been studying the vectors and volume of false stories that wrap around the Covid crisis in New Zealand. Here she explains what they’ve learned, and what we might do to tackle it. As people, as communities, we connect to each other through story; it is … Read more
Whoever is successful on October 17, there is urgent work that needs doing to meet obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Laura O’Connell Rapira offers five to begin with. In 1840, Māori rangatira and representatives of the British Crown signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Māori text, which is the version of the Treaty recognised … Read more
Nadine Anne Hura’s brother was different, like Māui. Equal parts curious, reckless, determined and brave, he couldn’t leave things alone. He needed to know. I found my brother in a crowd of 60,000 people under the stars. It was 1993 and U2 was on tour at Mt Smart Stadium. If I said I remembered the … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for September 6, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and the Covid-19 pandemic. The whole country is now in alert level two, with extra restrictions in Auckland. Official information here. 5.30pm: The day in sum There were five new cases of Covid-19 reported, four of them in … Read more
In season two of The Boys, Antony Starr’s Homelander gets even more twisted. He spoke to The Spinoff about the gratuitous violence and nationalism that runs through the show. Antony Starr is calling from LA, where he’s riding out Covid-19. He’d love to come home to New Zealand one day, but now’s not the time. … Read more
Jean M Allen, a New Zealand-born Tongan/Pālangi health educator, reflects on how she negotiates discussions about sex and pornography with her children. The recent Keep it Real Online campaign ads feature two porn stars knocking on the door of a Pākehā family’s home to talk to a mother about what her son has been up … Read more
New Zealanders owe more than ever, but Covid-19 has brought with it a new question: is $120,000 a head too much debt, or not enough to get the economy back on its feet? NZ Herald’s Liam Dann investigates in this Herald Premium article. “There is room to accommodate more debt in the economy,” says Chris Bloor, manager … Read more
We’ve long lamented the loss of New Zealand’s best and brightest. Now that the ‘brain drain’ has the potential to be reversed, let’s not squander the opportunity, writes Toni Truslove. When Robert Muldoon famously quipped to a journalist that New Zealanders who migrated to Australia “raised the IQ of both countries”, his response diminished the … Read more
Rebuilding and healing broken communities can be a slow and frustrating process. But as Max Rashbrooke writes, it starts with listening to the powerful stories of those with lived experience. Just before lockdown, in Porirua’s Te Rauparaha Arena, a reversal of fortunes took place. At the People’s Voices conference, organised by Wesley Community Action, the … Read more