The Crowd Goes Wild’s James McOnie on the underrated man-management and team cultural strengths of Richie McCaw. As the stats whirled around about Richie McCaw’s incredible feats as an All Black (the most astounding: he played in almost a third of all New Zealand test rugby wins in history!) there was a story that couldn’t … Read more
The NZ flag debate is fomenting confusion throughout the international press. Voting forms for New Zealand’s flag referendum have been dispatched by the legions of androgynous orange workers at the Electoral Commission, and the debate has returned to entertain and curse us. One point on which almost everyone, or at least those who favour a … Read more
Don Rowe slept through high school history. Now he’s a quasi-scholar of the ancient world thanks to a series of videos from an anonymous American gamer. Anyone who’s taken a high school history class knows how quickly the stories of humanity’s most horrific, bloody and grueling armed conflicts can turn into potent sedatives when relayed … Read more
A dispatch from Estonia, where the five leading countries in terms of online government are deep in digital conversation. The second D5 Summit is being held this week in Tallinn, Estonia. At first glance, it may appear an unlikely venue. After all, Tallinn is one of the oldest cities in the world, with the first … Read more
Ben Stanley meets with Pulitzer Prize winning Southlander Peter Arnett – arguably the finest war correspondent ever – to talk about journalism and where it’s headed. This Q&A is taken from interviews associated with the cover story of Barkers’ 1972 magazine – the latest issue is in stores now. Despite the changing face of media, it … Read more
A close hearing of history reveals the things world leaders say to one another when they think the microphones are off. This week the world reeled at the release of footage that captured small talk between US President Barack Obama and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull at the Apec summit in Manila, during which they competed … Read more
In a special edition of Jamboree, our weekly gossip column, four Spinoff cub reporters share their experiences of the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards: José Barbosa From His Living Room: Alex Casey From the Truly Vile Livestream: “A limo’s pulling up, a limo’s pulling up,” Bella Henry exclaimed to her co-host Gwen Taylor “….it’s… Rachel…” A forced … Read more
Chum Likes, friends, the more chum we spread the more our pond fills up with eager, hungry fish.
Don Rowe is joined by Bigpipe‘s Josh Drummond and Gameplanet editor Matt Maguire to discuss another helping of Spinoff gaming content. Don shares the kaleidoscope of cosplay and consumerism experienced at his first Armageddon Expo, while Josh explores the difficulties he faces in getting to game at all. The group take on Fallout 4 as a … Read more
Calum Henderson helps the bloke from 800 Words finish writing his column, then sends it to three New Zealand editors to see if they’d give him a job. The main character of TV One’s Thursday night comedy-drama 800 Words is a middle-aged Australian bloke called George Turner, who has just moved to a small town … Read more
Bringing together the best, worst and weirdest TV moments of the week, including tributes to Jonah Lomu, inside Parris Goebel’s empire and VNZMA madness. Open Mic Madness on The Block NZ Funny to think there once was a time we all thought Dinner Wars was a highlight of The Block NZ season, that the show … Read more
The sombre tale of two Southern Men facing up to the fact – or doing their best to ignore the fact – that one of them has a year left to live. Media veterans and lifelong friends, Colin Hogg and Gordon McBride, are chatting in the embers of a Hogg birthday afternoon, sun sinking slowly. McBride’s … Read more
She’s already the youngest player in history to win 10 professional events. And over the next four days, Lydia Ko can close in on her 10 millionth dollar. She’s still three years from legal drinking age in America, but yesterday at the press table, on the eve of beginning the LPGA Tour’s season-ending tournament, forever-young … Read more
It seems like way more than two weeks since the Premier League broke for the international window. We’ve seen the best of times – Zlatan effortlessly curling a free kick around the Danish wall to send Sweden through to the Euros – and the worst of times – France – and now the return of … Read more
During a quiet moment at the Apec summit in Manila, microphones picked up Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull and US President Barack Obama chatting like any pair of old geezers might, about bilaterals and what have you, and Obama has the gall to say “You actually talk to the New Zealanders?” He’s kidding, relax, he’s kidding. … Read more
Everyone sort of loses their minds as terrifying new creative performance challenge ‘Block Stars’ consumes Backyard Week on The Block NZ: Villa Wars. 1. (Last Week: 2) Cat & Jeremy – House 3 While technically Brooke and Mitch are probably still ‘winning’ The Block NZ, it’s good buggers Cat and Jeremy who hold all the … Read more
Stoke City striker Peter Crouch holds the Premier League record for headed goals, famously enjoys free nachos, and wears his deep and enduring love of Britpop on his sleeve. At 34, he has made his first music video guest appearance. For most people Britpop died out to the celebratory strains of Toploader’s ‘Dancing in the … Read more
Over 20 years since it aired on TV One on a quiet Sunday night, Aaron Yap remembers Peter Jackson’s hoax-documentary Forgotten Silver. Peter Jackson might have sold New Zealand to the world as a viable enchanting Middle Earth filled with Hobbits and Gollums, but his greatest trick remains convincing us – for a brief moment – … Read more
It may have been the worst kept secret in rugby, but Richie McCaw’s retirement announcement finally came. And went. Scotty Stevenson watched it all unfold. He walked into the room in jeans and a sky blue shirt and told the world that the time had come. Richie McCaw, the highest capped test rugby player in … Read more
On Sunday afternoon, Holly Holm shocked the world when she knocked out the undefeated, undisputed UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Don Rowe was in Melbourne to watch the fight – here he discusses both the bout and the subsequent social media storm. On Tuesday morning Ronda Rousey left Melbourne Airport hidden behind dark sunglasses and … Read more
MediaWorks launched gossip site Scout amid much fanfare just two months ago, yet today it appears to be hanging by a thread amid resignations and troubling news stories. Duncan Greive spoke with a number of former Scout staff members and MediaWorks employees, and was given access to a large cache of correspondence, recordings, data and other documentation to create … Read more
James McOnie remembers Jonah Lomu as an athlete whose imposing physical gifts were allied to a playful, vulnerable, huge-hearted man. Watching Jonah Lomu in full flight was a thing of terrifying beauty. The grace, speed and power he possessed was like nothing rugby had ever seen before. He was larger than life and people around … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her contestant power rankings for week six on My Kitchen Rules NZ. This week: a gory cauliflower incident occurs and gatecrashers shake things up. We are out of the instant restaurants this week. No more funny fridge magnets, no more sensual animal art, no more Skytower-inspired decals. Things are getting serious, so … Read more
One of the true legends of Rugby died today in Auckland. Scotty Stevenson reflects on the passing of the one and only Jonah Lomu. The most unstoppable man in the history of rugby was finally stopped today. He was just 40. Jonah Tali Lomu died unexpectedly in Auckland this morning after returning from the Rugby … Read more
So after I spent the first $35 (on a collection of essays by the late New Zealand writer Nigel Cox) of my $1000 prize as winner of the 2015 Unity Books Award – it entitles winners to a thousand bucks’ worth of books at the High St store in Auckland – I returned to the … Read more
The weekend events in Paris have generated millions of words in response, be it reportage, raw emotion, or analysis. Paradoxically, it is possible to feel less informed the more you take in. Here are seven pieces that we think it’s worth taking the time to read. 1. Written before the latest attacks, George Packer’s fascinating … Read more
A Year of Good Eating: The Kitchen Diaries III by Nigel Slater, reviewed by Ben Sheehan. I find myself at an odd point of life. Mid-to-late twenties, struggling to understand how I’m ever going to join the ludicrous Auckland property market. Pretty normal in that sense I guess, but I’m mostly at an odd point … Read more
In a very recent interview, the CBS journalism legend Dan Rather opined that, “Journalists, Politicians and hangmen always do their best work after midnight.” I should like you to ponder that thought while I get on with the business at hand. The John O’Shea memorial address. John O’Shea died in 2001 and in spite of the … Read more
Matt Vance is known to Dave Dobbyn, Lloyd Jones, Graeme Sydney, Jane Ussher and many other artists, musicians and writers across New Zealand as a good bastard. In his former capacity at Antarctica New Zealand, he ran the Artists in Antarctica programme, personally guiding many creative types around the ice in the summer months. His wide experience in … Read more