In part two of Coming Home, hosts Duncan Greive and Jane Yee meet more recently returned New Zealanders and learn what factors drew them abroad and what life looked like in their new home countries. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you usually listen to podcasts. In last week’s episode, we heard about the “brain drain” … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 24. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 9.00pm: Resene shop closes, other sites of interest visited by Air NZ crew member revealed Auckland Regional Public Health Service has announced further information about sites visited by the Air NZ crew member who is under investigation in China for Covid-19 prior … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 23. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 8pm: The day in sum Two new imported cases of Covid-19 were announced – but the location of origin for one of the two cases is still being determined. An Air New Zealand worker has reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 in Shanghai. … Read more
Community leaders and politicians are crying foul over how Auckland Council runs the decision-making body that rules on liquor store licences, with some going as far to describe the process as an example of institutional racism. “I just hoped we’d get a fair hearing.” That’s what Arihia Stirling was thinking as she went into the … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 20-21. Reach us at info@thespinoff.co.nz. 1.00pm: Nine new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation The Ministry of Health has just released its daily Covid-19 update by email. Here’s what it says: There are 9 new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today, all in recent … Read more
For nearly two years, blanket suppression orders prevented the New Zealand Herald from reporting the troubling case of a New Zealand teenager who planned to shoot teachers and fellow high school students. The teen – armed with a pistol grip shotgun and AR-15 semiautomatic rifle – described themselves as a ‘terrorist’ and a judge believed … Read more
We all have bad habits, picking her cuticles till they bleed is Ruby Clavey’s. She went on a mission to get to the roots of her compulsion – and how she can finally be free of it. Nail-biting, hair pulling, nose-picking, scab picking — most of us have bad habits. Some of us have more … Read more
In our latest episode of On the Rag, Michèle A’Court wrestles with the eternal question – how much boob is too much boob? If you have boobs, you may be familiar with the contradictory experience of hearing “tits out for the boys” on the same outing as you might hear “put it away love”. Breastfeeding? People … Read more
Another week, another scandal hits a lowly ex-reality TV idiot. But what of those who rush in to defend Pete Evans, and people like him? Emily Writes outlines the tried and true formula. Welcome to the first ever guide to defending D-grade celebrities who share Nazi imagery online. Before we start, you might be wondering … Read more
The same week Melbourne Cup favourite Anthony Van Dyck was put down, three horses in New Zealand races suffered similar fates – and their deaths went unnoticed by most of us. It’s a sadly familiar story in a ‘sport’ that doesn’t deserve the name, writes Sandra Kyle. Two weeks ago, viewers watching the Melbourne Cup … Read more
Belief we tend to associate with the fringes of US society have torn a swathe through Aotearoa’s traditionally easy-going if occasionally oddball community of hippies, yoga teachers, and spiritual festival-goers. From the outside, Joe Nunweek finds out if it will ever be the same. Ady* remembers the night she finally tried to intervene with Eve. … Read more
Today’s central city poonami seals it: Wellington is New Zealand’s capital of crap, reports Emily Writes Wellington city’s shitty problem might be worrying residents but faecal enthusiast Steve Steverson says it couldn’t have come at a better time for those hosting the Annual National Undercarriage Symposium. Steverson said the team behind the poo-fest were thrilled … Read more
A suburban Auckland property home to hundreds of rabbits is causing a stir with neighbours, who have called in the Auckland Council to take control of the situation. Dylan Lewis is surrounded by rabbits, all different sizes and colours. The 51-year-old shares his large Mount Eden home with hundreds of the fluffy creatures, and neighbours … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 19. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 8.00pm: The day in sum Two new cases of Covid-19 were reported in managed isolation. There are now just 37 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. The prime minister was among those marking a decade to the day since the Pike … Read more
Endless misconceptions exist about people who identify as ‘ace’, and filmmaker Julie Zhu wants to clear some of them up in Frame documentary Ace of Hearts. “Bisexuality used to be ‘the invisible sexuality’, but now I feel like asexuality is. I see people in the LGBT community saying it’s not part of the LGBT spectrum.” … Read more
New Zealand is the world’s only major purchaser of phosphate from Western Sahara, where mineral revenues are driving a newly declared war. Amal Samaha explains what you need to know. On Friday morning, leaders of the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi independence group in Western Sahara, declared war on the Kingdom of Morocco over the latter’s … Read more
The current inquiry into allegations of Australian Special Air Service war crimes in Afghanistan highlights the far from admirable culture in our own defence force, writes Nicky Hager. The reports have gradually been coming out for years: repeated killing of civilians and mistreatment of captives by Australian SAS troops, people who believed they were above … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for November 18. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day in sum The state of South Australia was put into a strict lockdown for six days. The royal commission of inquiry into the March 15 terrorist attacks finished. There were three new cases of Covid-19, all detected in managed … Read more
Rugby commentator Keith Quinn’s call for rugby players to ‘harden up’ shows how much New Zealand’s macho culture has changed since the days he ruled the airwaves, writes Trevor McKewen, author of the book Real Men Wear Black. I have a confession to make. I am helplessly addicted to the tearjerking TV documentary series Lost … Read more
With violence erupting in Washington DC this weekend and Covid-19 sweeping the nation, you could be forgiven for thinking the United States is descending into utter chaos. Justin Latif got in touch with a few mates to see if this really is the case. Following Joe Biden’s US presidential election victory and then Donald Trump’s … Read more
In the latest episode of On the Rag, we asked three people from the transgender community to share how their relationship with their chests has changed over their lives. Lexie Matheson, academic I would get out of the shower and I would look down at myself in the mirror and there was always a hint … Read more
Excitement is high following optimistic results from two vaccine developers. There are some big questions that await, however, on logistics, write Barbara Allen and Michael Macaulay. The world was ablaze with hope following the announcement last week that a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech may be more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19. New … Read more
Three decades since it first emerged on our screens, Captain Planet and the Planeteers will always be remembered as the show that introduced an entire generation to corporate greed and environmental protection. Children of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a number of iconic cartoons to choose from: Transformers, He-Man, Gummi Bears, My Little … Read more
Both pigs and humans alike should rejoice over the High Court’s ruling on farrowing crates, writes University of Otago law lecturer Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere. If you know anything about pigs, it’ll likely be that despite their slovenly and biblically-dubious reputation, actually, they’re quite clever creatures. As smart as dogs! As smart as chimpanzees! At the … Read more
Working For Families payments are a lifeline for kids in poverty – but only if they happen to have a parent in paid work. It’s time to end this false dichotomy between the ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor, writes Child Poverty Action Group’s Susan St John. As 2020 stumbles to an end and the wage subsidies … Read more
For extreme auctioneers, selling houses isn’t a nightmare – it’s a craft. Josie Adams talks to National Real Estate Auctioneering champ Ned Allison about discovering his talent, and what it takes to be a two-time winner. Every year real estate agents from around the country are locked in a room. Their phones are taken, and … Read more
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace. Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff. “A lot of people don’t take it seriously,” … Read more
As South Auckland’s property market heats up, those in poorly managed rentals often face a hard choice – complain and face the consequences, or stay quiet and keep their home. Neo is a half ragdoll, half moggy eight-month-old kitten. For Bronwyn Cann and Aaron Smith, the excitement surrounding Neo’s arrival was palpable – and finding … Read more
Thousands of highly-skilled New Zealanders are returning from overseas as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. But why did they leave in the first place? Listen to episode one of Coming Home now. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you usually listen to podcasts. New episodes arriving weekly, brought to you by The Spinoff and Kiwibank. For … Read more