Paul Brislen writes an ode to that most European method of transport, the humble scooter. It’s Friday afternoon in Auckland city and, as the offices let out, the roads seize up. There’s traffic as far as the eye can see and each green phase of the lights allows one car through, to join the tailback … Read more
Last October, Onzo rental bikes, with no gears and airless tyres, appeared around Auckland city as a commuter option. Madeleine Chapman decided to see just how far she could commute on one in a day. It took nine hours for me to feel genuine fear on my Onzo bike ride to Huntly, and it was … Read more
All this week on The Spinoff, we pick up the NZ commute, shake it and peer at it from every direction. As the tote-bag wisdom teaches, it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Or to be more specific, for our immediate purposes, it’s about the journey to work and the journey back home. … Read more
Almost 20 more people have been in touch with The Spinoff to relay their experiences with Dommy Topia, whose actions were first brought to light via Instagram this week. And it’s clear Topia’s been pulling the same tricks for years. Dozens of people have come forward accusing Dominic (Dommy) Topia of scamming them out of … Read more
Earlier this week, a concerned parent shared photos of an NZ Drug Foundation pamphlet that was being used in a high school health class. Controversy, of course, ensued. But what exactly was the pamphlet? And what were the kids doing with it? So, I’ve been hearing about this drug pamphlet telling kids how to do … Read more
The emphasis placed on formal written grammar in schools obscures the fact that English has many kinds of grammar – and they’re all equally valid, writes Waikato University senior lecturer in linguistics, Andreea Calude. “But don’t you want your kids to get a job one day?” There are almost 200 people in this room. It’s … Read more
After a cinema in Hawera banned patrons wearing pyjamas last week, ex-cinema attendant Alex Casey shines a light on much grosser stories from the back row of theatres around the country. First published May 2018. Something extremely weird happens to people inside a cinema. Maybe it’s the enveloping womb-like darkness that reverts grown adults to … Read more
A video series featuring interviews with young female bloggers, business owners and creatives has been accused of being an elaborate scam by numerous Instagram users, who say its creator used stories of terminal illness and family death to emotionally manipulate interviewees into handing over cash. Scroll down for updates from former NZ Bachelors Art Green … Read more
There’s only one problem with our annual feijoa windfall – there’s far too many of the little buggers. Emily Holdaway has some ideas to use them up. The way we go on about feijoas in New Zealand you’d think it was a native. It’s not – the feijoa is actually native to central South America … Read more
Yesterday came the shock news that Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre had closed after 44 years and more than 400 productions. Playwright Roger Hall, who lived in Dunedin for 20 years and had close ties with the Fortune, looks back at the theatre’s decades-long struggle to stay afloat. Ah the Fortune. The tantrums, the dramas, the jealousies, … Read more
The behaviour modifiers are inhumane and should be banned, writes Dr Helen Beattie of the New Zealand Veterinary Association The New Zealand Veterinary Association supports the use of humane training methods, therefore we are against the use of shock collars other than under exceptional circumstances. We believe this strongly, which is why we formalised this view … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Don Rowe hops in an ice bath and gets introspective with the Wim Hof Method. “Breathe into your ballsack Art. Breathe into your balls brother.” Strange words to hear when one is concerned with visualising their diaphragm as an … Read more
Last week Red Nicholson tweeted a word of advice to Stuff, and found the system works. But to help us avoid bungling it in the first place, he offers some extra advice for journalists and editors on disability-related news and language Most days on Twitter are spent shouting enlightened reckons into the social media void, … Read more
In going along with the Queen’s wish to make Charles their next head, Commonwealth leaders put paid to any hopes the crown might skip a generation, writes Louis – sorry, Lewis – Holden When it comes to the British Royals, the excitement of many for Prince William and Kate’s latest addition eclipsed a somewhat more … Read more
This week, Fijian-New Zealand artist Luke Willis Thompson was short-listed for the Turner Prize, Britain’s most prestigious contemporary art award. Don’t know what that means? We’re here to help. I see contemporary art is in the news again. What charlatan is leaching from the public purse for their conceptual pile of trash this time? First … Read more
It’s not just a challenge on Fear Factor anymore. Charlie O’Mannin talks to locust farmer Malcolm Diack about farming locusts for human consumption, doing it within city limits and doing it ethically. Malcolm Diack loves animals. As we enter his suburban house in Caversham we’re greeted by a beautiful deaf Samoyed, two cats, and a tank of … Read more
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There are a handful of dead bodies in the Auckland Hilton and Don Rowe has seen them all. The controversial Body Worlds Vital exhibition is a powerful meditation on mortality and death, he writes. “We do not see things as they are,” goes the old Talmudic phrase, “We see them as we are.” How then … Read more
Two very different ANZAC commemorations took place around mid-morning at the Auckland Domain. Alex Braae went to both of them. I arrived in time for the wreath laying. There were still hundreds, if not thousands of people surrounding the cenotaph, a huge contingent on the hill in front of the looming War Memorial Museum. As … Read more
While NZ and Australian visitor numbers may be dropping, Erdoğan’s hailed ‘pious generation’ are attending commemorations in increasing numbers. Islamic influence on remembrance rites at Gallipoli has been growing for more than a decade, but its political significance has increased dramatically since the July 2016 attempted coup, write Brad West and Ayhan Aktar With ongoing political instability … Read more
The Spinoff’s royals correspondent Alex Braae has been camped outside a London hospital for the past three weeks, waiting eagerly for the name of the new royal baby. In the meantime, these are his predictions. Another royal baby has been born, another barrier has been placed in the way of Prince Harry one day becoming … Read more
It is easier to create perfect fictions of heroes than acknowledge their failings, vulnerability and the suffering they caused. But maybe if we stop just seeing the dark stuff as personal, we can really start to deal with it, writes Isa Ritchie. On the April 25 every year, Australians and New Zealanders gather to remember … Read more
Rebecca Wood is a force of nature in a striking new Rebel Sport commercial. But ‘how many lives you live is up to you’? Nah, not for female rugby players. There’s a lot to like about Rebel Sport’s latest foray into the world of selling stuff. A powerful Black Fern is seen charging through a … Read more
Grey Lynn arts lovers just don’t get it. The debate over plans to close libraries at the University of Auckland lays bare a battle for the middle classes, writes design historian Peter Gilderdale. If one were to look for a watershed moment in New Zealand cultural history, Auckland University’s decision to axe specialist libraries in Art, Architecture, … Read more
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association. When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of Drury. A crowd would gather around a cenotaph that … Read more
Twenty thousand women experience a miscarriage every year in New Zealand, a country failing to provide adequate medical and emotional care, writes Kathryn Van Beek. Pregnancy loss and infertility counsellor Megan Downer is gearing up for Mother’s Day. The days before and after Sunday 13 May will be some of the busiest of her year. … Read more
Voluntourism – volunteering while abroad – would seem to be a way of making your OE that little less self-indulgent, leaving the communities you visit better than you found them. But what is intended as an act of charity can leave long-term damage, writes Hannah Reid. If you are thinking about volunteering abroad, we need to … Read more
Paris, Berlin, London. The New Zealand prime minister has been shuttling the major European capitals this week, and the snappers have been out in force to document the appearances of New Zealand’s ‘pregnant leftie PM’ (© Sun newspaper). Here, a selection of those photographs, and Sam Brooks’ scientific analysis reveals precisely what Jacinda Ardern was … Read more
The minister in charge of Housing New Zealand has given the agency a dressing down after it took an Auckland pensioner to the Tenancy Tribunal twice over a small table that sits on her front porch. Zac Fleming writes for RNZ. Vivienne Wright’s square, black faux-marble table, which her cat uses to get inside and … Read more