One of the success stories of the level four lockdown, SOS Business has provided a channel for incapacitated communities to send support where it is needed most. In the frenzied 48 hours before level four took effect, when packs of Cottonsoft were being ripped off supermarket shelves like the last lifejackets on a sinking ship, … Read more
Tired of watching human faces on your screen but still love a bit of action? Tara Ward has you sorted with nature docos to fill the heart and lift the soul. People are annoying, and that’s the truth. Look it up in the dictionary, write it in the sky, tattoo it across your heart. Have … Read more
In the third part of a new series sharing the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Jessie Moss observes her daughters learning at each step of their lockdown journey. As Covid-19 began to sweep the world, our family started looking for a new house. We finally moved on March 20 and a few … Read more
In the second part of our new series with Kiwibank answering your questions about Covid-19’s impact on New Zealanders’ finances, a reader asks what the mortgage holiday offer is and what it would mean for their repayments. Kiwibank’s Nicole Pervan responds. Dear Nicole, I’d like your help in understanding the mortgage holiday offer. I am … Read more
Midway through lockdown, Kiwibank received Rainbow Tick accreditation. Sam Brooks talks to Kiwibank’s chief risk officer Liz Knight about what the Rainbow Tick means for the company. Acceptance isn’t a state of being, it’s an action. It’s not a casual nod to a stranger on your walk, it’s a handshake. You know, back when we … Read more
Economists warn that house prices are about to see a sharp correction. The NZIER public good team explains why this is happening, and how we can handle it. For the first time in recent history, New Zealand has been preoccupied by something that isn’t the housing market. With the entire country locked down for four … Read more
Delivery services for supermarkets across the country are filling up weeks in advance, leaving immunocompromised people without options. Students up and down the country have been stepping up, through the Student Volunteer Army, to help those in need. If anyone had said at this point last year that a smile from a stranger passing on … Read more
You Got This! pits bubble against bubble in family fun challenges with no risk of overlap. Tara Ward gives us a few of the challenges she’s done with her own family during lockdown. Gather all ye wooden spoons and empty boxes and prepare to enjoy You Got This!, a new show that sees Kiwi families … Read more
In the second part of a new series sharing the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Charles Anderson tries to impose some order on his household and learns that disorder is OK too. It was somewhere between week two and three of level four lockdown when Ivie Anderson, aged 5, began to have … Read more
First aid training could be a crucial step in our fight for better mental health in New Zealand. Emily Writes looks into what it means to be a “mental health first aider” in the workplace. Mental health gym, wellness spectrum, personal transformation, and theatre-making to support people through life transitions – it sounds like horseshit, … Read more
In the first part of our new series with Kiwibank answering your questions about Covid-19’s impact on New Zealanders’ finances, a reader asks about ways to get their business through the economic downturn and take advantage of new opportunities. Kiwibank’s Nigel Gaudin responds. Dear Nigel, I run a small retail business with five staff and … Read more
How do you move your news-stuffed, comedian-packed game show to Zoom? Sam Brooks talked to Hayley Sproull, host of Have You Been Paying Attention?, to find out. Over the last five weeks we’ve all become a lot more comfortable seeing inside the homes of our colleagues, politicians and epidemiologists. And while television has always been … Read more
Ahead of the NZ debut of Eat Well For Less, literal first-time cook Sam Brooks gives a few of his own (barely tested) tips for how to eat well for less. We all spend too much on food. I know I do. Back in the golden age of “restaurants” and “eateries”, I would be found … Read more
Dilworth School was founded on the principle of providing quality education for students from families in hardship. Now, as Aotearoa prepares to navigate a post-Covid-19 world, they’re stepping up. Nestled among Auckland’s leafy suburbs, Dilworth School’s normally bustling grounds have been eerily quiet in the past month. The boarding school for boys, which has two … Read more
The doors may be closed, but the Auckland Museum is open. Elly Strang pays a visit to Auckland Museum At Home. As New Zealand moves through its fourth week of lockdown, there’s no doubt many across the nation will be feeling an itch to explore a place beyond the four walls of their home. After … Read more
In the first part of a new series sharing the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Emily Writes watches her sons hold on to connections in isolation. I think when I look back on this time as a parent one of the things that will stick with me is my seven-year-old son desperately … Read more
Need to scratch that Gone Girl itch from years past? The Secrets She Keeps is the new Australian thriller that asks how far you should go to get the perfect life. Pre-lockdown, influencers were king and there was no better way to feel stink about your own life than to step into theirs. This is … Read more
Answering hundreds of calls a day from anxious KiwiSaver investors, Kiwi Wealth’s head of customer services Matt Beach paints a picture of how some New Zealanders are handling the Covid-19 downturn. For essential services everywhere, from supermarkets to gas stations to toilet paper manufacturers, the overriding message of the lockdown has always been the same: … Read more
Oil markets are in turmoil, energy demand has been hammered by Covid-19, and economic crises loom all over the world; so why is energy economist Michael Liebreich optimistic? He talked about the current state of the world with Alex Braae. In the world of energy economics, there are no simple answers. Decisions made in one … Read more
The government provided a $12.1 billion stimulus package to cushion the blow of Covid-19. The NZIER public good team explains where that money is coming from, and how the whole thing works. Normal life is on hold. Buying and selling across New Zealand has ground to a standstill. While most of us attempt to do … Read more
Among the endless pile of plastic and food scraps being produced every second, some small businesses are creating a shift in how we treat our waste. Callaghan Innovation’s C-Prize this year has a focus on these initiatives, aiming to reduce the waste we’re sending to landfill. Around a quarter of the waste New Zealanders send … Read more
Pooch Perfect is the dog-grooming reality show you never knew you wanted. Here are the famous dogs who we think deserve a spot to be groomed by the best of the best. Tired of seeing dogs only on your daily walk or scrolling through your Instagram? Do you want to see some dogs looking their … Read more
With more New Zealanders feeling isolated, anxious and stressed from the Covid-19 effect, the need to take a moment and establish a sense of calm has never been more important. That’s where a new free app can help. In late 2018, when mental health advocate and All Black legend Sir John Kirwan launched his company … Read more
Let’s meet the brave Australians who threw caution to the wind in search of $250,000 and a free trip around the planet. It’s been yonks since we last took a trip with The Amazing Race, so it’s ironic that the latest season hits our screens during a time when we can’t go anywhere. Who wants … Read more
Noughts + Crosses is set in the present day, but if our history had run a wildly different course. Sam Brooks brings you up to speed on what you need to know before you dive into the show. First things first, what is Noughts + Crosses? Noughts + Crosses is a BBC series adapted from … Read more
Returning nutrients to the soil was once part of every culture, and now, more than ever, it’s time we restore its valuable role in everyday life. Like keep cups, organic cotton tote bags and eco-friendly cleaning products, composting can at times seem like a new trend latched on to by sustainability-obsessed millennials trying to up … Read more
In times of economic uncertainty, good information can be an invaluable commodity. So we’ve been working on a way to channel it to you. For many people, knowing what to do in our radically changing economy is like trying to figure out what to do when the power in your house stops working. You’re at … Read more
The Single Object is a series exploring our material culture, examining the meaning and influence of objects that surround us in everyday life. Artist Bronwyn Holloway-Smith shares her obsession with the 30,000km long Southern Cross Cable that connects New Zealand to the internet and the rest of the world, and the effect it has had … Read more
The number of Māori academic staff remains disproportionately low at New Zealand universities. Simon Day spoke to three newly appointed Māori professors at the University of Otago about why putting te ao Māori at the centre of their work is so important. Māori participation in tertiary education is steadily increasing. According to the Ministry of … Read more