The High Court rejection of the Free Speech Coalition’s challenge to the cancellation of an Auckland event by Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux carries a cruel irony for the zealous right. If the current madness of modern life permits, cast your mind back to the middle of last year. Two “right-wing provocateurs” from Canada (ship … Read more
Art activist group the Guerrilla Girls has been calling out gender bias in the American art world since 1985. Their survey show, Reinventing the “F” Word, is in its final weeks at Auckland Art Gallery. But what’s the picture on gender representation closer to home? How equal are the opportunities for male and female artists … Read more
Uber became one of the biggest companies in the world in a few short years. Duncan Greive reviews Mike Isaac’s extraordinary Super Pumped, which shows the world just what it sacrificed for cheap rides. There are so many stories in Super Pumped, a riveting new account of the rise of Uber, which seem to capture … Read more
Toby Morris plays the lo-fi avian puzzle game that’s taken over the internet. “It’s a lovely morning in the village. You are a horrible goose.” And with that, we’re in the world of this week’s surprise hit game: Untitled Goose Game by Australian studio House House. You play a goose – not a super powered … Read more
Otago University professor James Flynn says the ‘banning’ of his book by the publisher that rejected it is an attack on free speech. That’s an obtuse understanding of what free speech really is, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. James Flynn, an emeritus professor at Otago University, is one of New Zealand’s most renowned social scientists. His work … Read more
Laura O’Connell Rapira looks at what benefit cuts and successive generations of an unregulated housing market has done to welfare and housing for those in the margins. For the first seven or so years of my life, I was raised mostly by my mum on the domestic purposes benefit (my dad is a big part … Read more
Sophie Handford, the 18-year-old responsible for starting School Strike 4 Climate NZ, is running for council in the Paekākāriki-Raumati Ward. Alex Casey hasn’t done anything as impressive as that, but does look a bit like her. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and … Read more
The big boys are here and they want to make it clear: they do not like young women raising their voices. Josie Adams on Mike Hosking and Duncan Garner’s visceral reactions to a tearful 16-year-old telling them to emit less. Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg’s global reprimand at the UN this week was delivered in … Read more
Fonterra has delayed its walk up the annual results aisle by two weeks, after earlier warning it will make a multi-million dollar loss. Peter Fraser traces the events leading up to the surprise decision and considers whether there is more to it than meets the eye. For Fonterra, September 12 2019 mattered. It was the … Read more
Last night Auckland mayoral contender John Tamihere said “sieg heil” when answering a question on diversity. Sadly that has forced us to put together a cheat sheet on how to not say Nazi phrases in debates. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and … Read more
One of our country’s finest writers gorges herself on Gilead – and finds herself wishing for more osmosis between the Booker-shortlisted new novel and the horror-story politics playing out around us. Over the past five days I’ve re-read Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, caught myself up with the MGM/Hulu TV series of the … Read more
For some, it symbolises the very backbone of New Zealand’s food culture. But can Kiwi onion dip survive after the factory that makes reduced cream is shut down? The Australian factory that makes Nestlé reduced cream, an integral ingredient in Kiwi onion dip, is shutting down, casting a shadow over the future of the New … Read more
Toi Kai Rākau Iti, who is running in the Eastern Bay of Plenty Kohi Māori constituency, encounters an unlikely channel of youth engagement. In te ao Māori you’re always looking for tohu, or symbols. They guide you through uncertain territory and help you make sense of the world. The arrival of Matariki? He tohu! A … Read more
Sure, Scotty Morrison’s Māori At Work is a wonderful resource for Aotearoa’s collective te reo Māori journey. But is it judgemental enough for the modern office environment? This year’s theme for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is ‘Kia kaha te reo Māori’, ‘Let’s make the Māori language strong’. The growing strength of te reo … Read more
The candidate comparison super-tool is now live, making it easy to find out who is offering what in local elections from the top to the bottom of New Zealand. Here it is. Last time round, it was called “the stand-out success of the 2017 election”. Today Policy returns to The Spinoff, sharper, shinier, and a … Read more
A patronising, snide and all-round awful opinion column tried to guilt the celebrity couple for giving birth at home, and Emily Writes is not having it. If you ever want to write an opinion column, I’m pretty sure I’ve found the absolute best way to end it if you know full well it’s a piece … Read more
Opinion: in a feature published today on The Spinoff, a Young Labour volunteer detailed a traumatic sexual assault she alleges was committed by an influential Labour staffer. It marks the second time in two years that the party has badly let down its most vulnerable. Read The Spinoff’s reporting on the alleged sexual assault within … Read more
For weeks, Carpet Mill has been running a very strange full page in a national newspaper. Duncan Greive investigates. At first glance, you barely notice it. A large, mostly empty page in a newspaper. A scattering of text, some logos, enough so you don’t immediately clock anything amiss. Only, there’s something off about it. There … Read more
This year’s crop of local election signs range from the inspired to the utterly terrifying. Professional illustrator Toby Morris delivers his analysis of the best and worst designs. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Faces, faces … Read more
‘A girl’s best friend’ was Creme magazine’s tagline, and for many girls growing up in New Zealand in the early 2000s, that was absolutely true. Five years after Creme shuttered, Amanda Robinson looks back at a teen phenomenon. When I think of Creme magazine I think of grocery shopping at the Foodtown in Glenfield Mall, … Read more
The latest twist in the Warriors tale might be grim, but it comes as little surprise to sports journalist and former Warriors CEO Trevor McKewen. He traces the club’s long and sorry history I know that by now a lot of people don’t care what happens to the Warriors. I’d like to think this piece … Read more
You may think you’re not interested in the local elections. But did you know the candidate pool is a smorgasbord of celebs, oddballs, and otherwise interesting people? Hayden Donnell reports. The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. There’s so much at … Read more
That poop-inspired kids’ clothing brand you keep seeing everywhere? Turns out it’s a viral marketing stunt. On Sunday, scrolling through Instagram as you do, I came across a sponsored post for a brand called Fe-Cál Kids. The post featured a photo of a little girl in a colourful short dress with the caption “the latest … Read more
This Father’s Day, broadcaster Nadine Higgins reckons with her complex relationship with her estranged Dad who passed away last year. When someone you love dies, people console you for your loss. But in truth, we lost each other some time ago. Long before that Sunday when I woke inexplicably at 3.30 am, anxious but unaware … Read more
A team of University of Otago researchers and weavers will unlock the secrets of one of te ao Māori’s most precious taonga for the first time in more than 200 years. The late Hec Busby was in his 50s when the Hawai’ian ocean voyaging waka Hokule’a landed at Waitangi in 1985. By that point, most … Read more
TaiTokerau Rugby League is a breakaway competition aiming to bring power back to the people in the Far North. But under the lead of CEO Hone Harawira, it’s not without its critics. Don Rowe reports. This feature is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Three … Read more
To mark the centenary of Colin McCahon’s birth, a weekend of events in August included a bus ride to experience ‘McCahon’s Auckland’ and an ‘open home’ at the McCahon House Museum. Paula Morris takes the trip. Buckle up. The first bus to Titirangi leaves at nine AM on Saturday and there’s a certain giggly excitement … Read more
With Falling Inn Love, New Zealand gets its very own Netflix romcom – so how accurate is its depiction of small town NZ? Sam Brooks investigates. When the trailer for Falling Inn Love dropped earlier this month, I had my knives out, and so did the rest of The Spinoff office. A Netflix romcom set … Read more
After the success of the Policy tool in the 2017 general election, this time we’re going local – making it easy to compare the rival candidates in your area. In May 2017, a small group of young people from Wellington approached The Spinoff with an idea. “Proposal: interactive election content,” read the subject header. Their … Read more