A real-life mother-daughter twisted true crime story makes it way to Lightbox tomorrow in The Act. Jean Sergent reviews the television event of the season. As a connoisseur of true crime, there is no telly event I’ve been more excited for this year quite like The Act. Chronicling the horrific crimes of Dee Dee Blanchard and … Read more
Owning a home isn’t just paying back a mortgage over 30 years – it also comes with dozens of extra expenses you may not have thought of yet. Congratulations! Through some combination of hard work, self-denial, and outside assistance, you’ve managed to scrape together the savings to buy your first home. Getting a deposit together … Read more
She’s written some of the biggest hits across the world the past few years, and now she’s stepping into the limelight. Here’s what you need to know about pop music’s next superstar. Jessie J co-wrote ‘Party in the USA’ before she found fame under her own name. Julia Michaels co-wrote ‘Hands to Myself’, ‘Bad Liar’ … Read more
When 60 CEOs signed up to the Climate Leaders Coalition in July 2018, much was made of the presence of the big players like Air New Zealand, Spark, Fonterra and Vector. The Spinoff caught up with the nimble smaller companies leading from the back. Since the launch of the Climate Leaders Coalition last year, … Read more
All the superheroes are coming to Lightbox this month – Spider-Man, Aquaman, Jennifer Lopez, Spongebob Squarepants – but there’s a few villains in the bunch too. It’s your round-up of what is coming to Lightbox in April. The Act (Four episodes dropping April 4, then weekly) From Jean Sergent’s review of The Act, coming later this … Read more
In this episode of Good Ancestors, we’re talking to the young people who are leading the campaign against unsustainable palm oil and how it shows that consumer power can make a difference – but, in the face of political inertia, it isn’t as easy as it looks. When Ben Dowdle was in year 11 at … Read more
Expand your horizons by giving these less popular white varietals some love. A nice glass of white wine is one of life’s great pleasures, but if you’re restricting yourself to the iconic trio of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot gris, perhaps occasionally branching out into a cheeky riesling, you’re really missing out. It’s understandable: if … Read more
In the second part of a series in which The Spinoff gets to know who, what, where and how our food gets to our plate, Alex Casey learns about how olive oil is made. The bright lights and smooth floors of the supermarket are a world away from the soil and sun, the plants, animals and … Read more
For most of his life, Brian Ireland had no idea about his Māori whakapapa, but when he discovered it he found a whole new way to look at the world and to teach about how we look after it. He spoke to Simon Day about bringing mātauranga Māori to the Auckland Zoo. “Most of this … Read more
Four members of the Spinoff staff and one completely unbiased stranger run down their favourite shows on Lightbox. What do Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden, Alex Braae, Toby Morris and one person who is definitely not Hayden Donnell watch in their time off? Check it out here. This content was created in paid partnership with Lightbox. Learn … Read more
With the increased security threat after the Christchurch attacks, Wellington’s CubaDupa street festival has had to move off the street and into venues around the city. The Spinoff spoke to the festival’s artistic director about why this was necessary for safety, and why the changes are not about letting fear win. The presence of armed … Read more
This year’s Te Matatini winners, Ngā Tūmanako, were first brought together as kura kaupapa students at West Auckland’s Hoani Waititi Marae. Foundation members look back at the group’s evolution over the years. In the early 2000s, talks among a few West Auckland school friends signalled a new kapa haka group was on the horizon. Bonded … Read more
We must do everything we can to stop people dying on our roads, writes Shane Ellison CE at Auckland Transport. And that starts by reducing speed. A few people have asked me, since we opened our consultation on the draft Speed Limit Bylaw, if 64 people dying on our roads in 2017 is enough to … Read more
As Auckland examines how to make its roads safer and more functional, one city has already shown us how it’s done. Teuila Fuatai looks at how slowing down changes the way a city works. On the other side of the world, one Swedish city’s dedication to driving down road deaths and serious injuries (DSI) has … Read more
Two years ago Augusta Grayson was working in advertising, now she’s running her own dog training business. James Borrowdale met Augusta (and Frank the dachshund) to learn about Unitec’s Certificate in Animal Management. Frank surveyed the park, narrow face framed by red-gold locks, his eyes following the active-wear-adorned man strolling through the gully on this overcast … Read more
In episode two of the Good Ancestors podcast, John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy look at the role of mātauranga Māori in conservation in New Zealand, and as an education tool at Auckland Zoo. The interconnectedness of everything is an essential concept in the Māori understanding of the world. Mātauranga Māori – the knowledge, and understanding of … Read more
In the first part of a series in which The Spinoff gets to know who, what, where and how our food gets to our plate, Jihee Junn learns about cherries. The bright lights and smooth floors of the supermarket are a world away from the soil and sun, the plants, animals and humans which have toiled … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to John Macaskill-Smith, CEO of virtual health company Ventures. … Read more
The pending announcement of the Sunwolves’ exit from Super Rugby points to a collective agreement from the SANZAAR unions that the Nations Championship is the future. However, trickle-down economics may be a hard sell for their constituents. The dollars are on the table for World Rugby but the dinner bell has yet to ring for … Read more
CubaDupa festival hosts nearly 200 artists across two days in the heart of Wellington to mark the end of summer. Trip glitch, Indian jazz fusion, 80s glam, alt dream-pop, contemporary jazz Afrofuturism, German electronic jazz, postpunk dream pop, and psychedelic kraut space rock. These are just a few of the nearly 100 different genres of … Read more
Twenty-one years after Steph Martin’s mother was killed in a road crash, she reflects on what’s been happening on New Zealand’s roads. Last year, 378 people died in road crashes – more than one life lost per day. Of those, 53 were under 20, and 16 hadn’t even reached the age of 15 – too … Read more
Auckland Zoo director Kevin Buley believes the majority of zoos around the world should be closed. However, he says Auckland Zoo is one of the few good ones. He showed Alex Braae around the zoo and explained why he believes the animals here live better lives than they would in the wild. A spider monkey … Read more
Refilleries such as GoodFor and Be Free Grocer say their time has come, with consumers from Ponsonby to Palmerston North seeking a zero-waste option. Horror stories such as sea turtles being found with hundred of pieces of plastic in their gut are shocking people into realising the planet will slowly strangle if we don’t stop … Read more
Teuila Fuatai is introduced to one of the most dangerous stretches of road in New Zealand. Between Albany and Silverdale is Auckland’s Dairy Flat Highway. The 15km stretch of road used to be how a few local farmers and their families would get around. It was a quiet piece of Auckland’s infrastructure. Today, it’s a … Read more
Asking eight-year-olds the hard questions about climate change wasn’t really the plan for John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy when Auckland Zoo asked them to do a podcast. But it turns out that kids are readier to look at our environmental reality in the eye than most. Listen to Good Ancestors, a four-part podcast that examines … Read more
Barkers CEO Jamie Whiting writes about turning around an iconic NZ business – and a new mission to make it sustainable. This story originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine under the title The New Barkers In 2008 it’s fair to say I was burnt out. I had started working at Hallensteins straight out of high … Read more
New Zealand researchers are developing alternative batteries from common material to go beyond lithium, skipping the solar cell and downsizing monster redox-flows. In today’s tech-hungry world, lithium batteries are ubiquitous. Everything from your mobile phone to the neighbour’s electric car rely on the metal, and it’s easy to see why. Lithium-ion batteries pack a serious … Read more
Alex Casey can’t stop watching Jojo Siwa’s vlogs on Youtube. With the documentary Jojo Siwa: My World arriving to Lightbox this month, here’s your much-needed introduction to a young internet sensation. Most nights I find myself falling down a Jojo Siwa rabbit hole, lying on my side with 400 chins as I let vlog after … Read more
Urban designer Ben van Bruggen spoke to Jeremy Hansen about why we should stop listening to the vocal minority attempting to block change, and be inspired about Auckland’s development. WH Auden once said “we would rather be ruined than changed”. It’s a quote urban designer Ben van Bruggen refers to when I ask him about … Read more