Undertaking the yearly challenge that is digesting the New Zealand International Film Festival line-up, Alex Casey from The Spinoff and Steve Newall from Flicks team up with notorious film festival fan Matthew Crawley to chew over the 2016 programme. Every. Last. Word of it. With their new mate Terry that they picked up in a … Read more
Practising psychotherapist Ms. X answers readers’ questions on manners, morals and mental health. Dear Ms. X I have a tricky issue. My partner likes a drink which is fine because y’know, she doesn’t drive drunk or drink all the rent money but she does end up using social media drunk and it’s getting a bit … Read more
It was the competition that captivated a nation. The busy working world of New Zealand ground to a halt as one tweet, featuring three identical, nondescript beanies, received 6,800 retweets and a bountiful supply of favourites. This is the oral history of the greatest online giveaway in New Zealand history, as told by key players. … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Alex Casey and Hayden Donnell: This article about terrible millennials is quite sexist and dumb “The article – written by the usually great feature writer Mike White – is mostly a collection of rheumy-eyed reminiscings for an imaginary bygone age, where men were men, … Read more
The internet rediscovered New Zealand’s longstanding ban on personal gardens, and it collectively lost its mind. Joshua Drummond argues that the ban has had its day. Well, it happened again. We should be used to it by now. It’s only a year since the topic of New Zealand’s gardening ban last exploded on the now-infamous … Read more
On Monday a new North & South came out, with a story as old as time: ‘what the hell is wrong with millennials’? Two millennials had a read and What They Found Inside Will Shock You. The latest issue of North & South magazine has done the unthinkable, and found a non-millennial to shine a selfie-camera spotlight on … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Madeleine Holden: ‘This is how you raise a rapist’: on the culture which created Brock Turner “Mr Turner held attitudes about women, consent and entitlement that fed through to his son and helped to inform his behaviour. This became evident throughout the trial and … Read more
Today marks the last day for MediaWorks’ gossip site SCOUT. If you didn’t have time to say your goodbyes, Alex Casey has assembled a shrine to the greatest headlines the site ever published. Last week MediaWorks bought out Rachel Glucina’s share of her entertainment website SCOUT, and as of today the website has disappeared, redirecting straight to Newshub … Read more
The only universally understood business in Auckland today is housing. So what better metaphor for Tim Murphy to use to describe the motivations and implications of today’s Sky-Vodafone deal. The Parable Vodafone New Zealand and Sky TV are happy next door neighbours. Two houses. One with a view, the other with a sprawling yard. Both valuable. Both relied on by … 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: Dion Nash, creator of male cosmetics brand Triumph & Disaster. Triumph and Disaster … Read more
A Vodafone-Sky merger works for companies waking up to new realites about content, distinctiveness and immediacy. Whether it’s good for consumers is another matter altogether, argues Paul Brislen. There are two major trends in the telecommunications market that directly relate to the Vodafone-Sky-TV merger. The first is the commoditisation of everything. If you can reduce … 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
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
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
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
‘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
Facts and ‘cloistered’ expertise have well and truly been put in their place by the Seven Sharp host and his unique brand of smug bullshit, writes Siouxsie Wiles “Thank God the scientists aren’t running things!” So concluded Seven Sharp host Mike Hosking’s assessment on Monday night of calls by more than 120 doctors and scientists … Read more
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 are joined on the couch … Read more
An early participant in the saga that became Tickled, Joshua Drummond recounts the online comments, threats and shadow-boxing in the leadup to David Farrier and Dylan Reeve’s acclaimed documentary. For me, it started with trolling. David Farrier had just left a message on the Facebook page of Jane O’Brien Media, a company that seemed to exist solely … Read more
Thick skin comes from scar tissue, and Sarah Walker, BMX pro, has more to teach us about early-stage businesses than an analogy that straps you into a fairground ride, writes software developer and investor Rowan Simpson Founders of early-stage ventures often describe their experience as like being on a roller coaster. It’s easy to see … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Sacha McNeil: “My work BFF is leaving” – Sacha McNeil farewells Hilary Barry “A couple of years ago Hilary took me aside and earnestly explained that she wanted a mentor, and wondered if we could be that to each other. She went on to … 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: Sam Gribben of Serato and Melodics. Imagine taking a company from before … Read more
Think media celebs are spoilt rotten? They are, confesses Jesse Mulligan – right up until the day they say goodbye. Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders will watch Hilary Barry deliver her final bulletin on TV3 this Friday night, but the real tragedy is that only dozens will get to attend the party afterwards when … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Sonia Gray: Where are the Asian faces on our TV screens? “I watched more TV, searching for any sign of that great endangered species, The New Zealand Asian male. But no. From a pool of 150, my survey had just two Asian dudes, both … Read more
Everybody wants to be like The Rock but what happens when you actually try and live like him? Madeleine Chapman was foolish enough to find out. Gym, movie set, movie set, gym, throwback Thursday, movie set, gym. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Instagram page is both inspiring and extremely repetitive. Whether it’s his known work ethic … Read more
We didn’t know what to do about the Comedy Festival, so convened a motley trio of know-nothing punters to talk about it. Host Alex Casey is joined by Spinoff editor Duncan Greive and internet sensation Paul Williams to discuss the final week of the New Zealand Comedy Festival. We look at the Billy T nominees we weren’t … Read more
RNZ needs to do some serious soul-searching about its decision to give a platform to non-scientific nonsense, writes Dr Siouxsie Wiles As I write my blood is boiling. I’m in a rage. There is a measles outbreak going on in the Waikato region, with over 20 confirmed cases. It looks as though the virus has … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Delaney Mes: A point-by-point rebuttal of Tony Veitch’s terrible column “It is appalling. It is appalling to many of us who don’t think he should have a prominent platform from which to share his opinion. He should be embarrassed. And yet, it’s so clearly … Read more
Student magazines like Massey University’s MASSIVE have lurched from scandal to scandal lately. Why do they keep doing terrible things? A former student paper feature writer explains. A cover by Massey University’s MASSIVE recently joined the ever-expanding mushroom cloud of student magazine controversy. It featured a drawing of an almost-naked young student crouched over, wincing at her hair … Read more