After years living in New Zealand with her family, English writer Jai Breitnauer is going home. Or is she? I bloody love New Zealand. That might not always come across in the pieces I write, but I do. I love Jacinda and our lefty, greeny, don’t-mention-Winston government. I love the people who take their actual … Read more
Some people say it’s confusing. Others think it’s boring. But running all its elections under an STV system could be the single most effective way for local government to fix its lack of diversity and woeful voting turnout, argues Hayden Donnell. The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about … Read more
Emily Writes on love and fear and hope at her son’s hospital bed. I hate horror films with monsters in them. I am skilled at fearing almost everything in my day-to-day life so I find little joy in being professionally scared in a cinema. I fear almost everything from bee stings (I’ve never been stung … Read more
In the space of days a waitress was racially abused in Auckland and a deaf student mocked by his peers in Canterbury. In both cases there were apologies. In both cases those apologies fall short, writes Christine Ammunson What a stink week. Within days and in two different cities, we had two very different young … Read more
Lisa McMillan is an adrenaline junkie. Instead of Sallydiving or driving race cars, she collects rooms full of naked strangers. Josie Adams went along to the Naked Dinner and found it stimulated all the wrong hormones. In a tealight-lit lounge in a rented Symonds Street flat, I milled around with 23 strangers. We were all … Read more
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the karaoke game that introduced an entire generation to the horrors of ‘Downtown’ by Petula Clark. Jordan Hamel ranks all 30 songs from SingStar v1, from worst to best. Before my generation was old enough to get smashed on reasonably priced Merlot and wander down to our local … Read more
As Auckland attempts to encourage greener alternatives to car use, a huge new car park is rising beside Les Mills’ flagship inner-city gym. Josie Adams asks Les Mills CEO Phillip Mills how it tallies with the company’s clean, green brand. Les Mills Victoria Street has 12,000 members, and up to 700 visitors during peak hours. … Read more
We’ve become used to Samoan characters as peripheral bad guys. But from the tatau Sāmoa on his chest to his relationships with his aiga, Hobbs & Shaw showed us someone who is us. And he kicks arse. When I was growing up, there were hardly any Sāmoan or Polynesian faces on our television or movie … Read more
Roll Red Roll is a brutal, painfully illuminating documentary on the Steubenville High School rape case, a shocking crime that made headlines worldwide. Emily Writes reviews. This review discusses rape and sexual violence August 11, 2012: two teenage boys rape an unconscious teenage girl as two of their peers watch and take photos on their … Read more
We love it battered and served with chips, but tarakihi stocks aren’t doing well and another big cut to commercial catch limits is in the works. Ah yes, terrakee, that’s a fish, right? Well, first things first, let’s say it correctly. Pronounce every syllable, remember the Māori vowel sounds (A-E-I-O-U), roll the r and you’ll … Read more
The ancient Australian shock-jock yesterday targeted Jacinda Ardern, urging Australia’s PM to ‘shove a sock down her throat’. It’s all in keeping with a substantial history of being an arse. The plucky nation of Australia excels in a range of endeavours, but nowhere more than the angry, anguished howls of bloated, Jurassic men. It’s a … Read more
MediaWorks’ CEO asks us to imagine a world with only government-owned TV news. Unless something is made to change at TVNZ, he tells Duncan Greive, that could be a reality. The New Zealand media executive in 2019 is an individual suffering from a very specific type of exhaustion. This is true of people from all … Read more
Over 400 doctors, most specialising in child health, have signed an open letter to the coroner expressing concerns about a judgement which blamed alcohol in breast milk for the death of an infant. Update 13/08: The open letter to the coroner has now been submitted with a total of 727 doctors’ signatures. Sapphire Rose and … Read more
The Opportunities Party’s new leaders have firmed up control of the party after a weekend of sweeping organisational reforms. But are the chances of this TOP any better than the last one? Alex Braae heads to the party conference to find out. When the reborn Opportunities Party gathered for a conference on Saturday at the … Read more
An exclusive interview with the principled principal who is leading the resistance to long-haired lads at high school. A 13-year-old boy taking Auckland Grammar School to court over his hair was in the news last week. Some people might say it’s wild that in 2019, when young people are facing a future that’s so damn … Read more
Cameron Slater’s mendacious, bullshit-ridden site has finally been shut down – and yet, somehow, the grift goes on, writes reformed blogger Danyl Mclauchlan I once had a blog on the internet. This was during the golden age of blogging, the late 2000s and early 2010s; a window when blogs were new and interesting and – … Read more
Psychiatry always thinks it’s on the verge of understanding and curing mental illness, but its real history is a story of torturers and frauds, a new book shows. Danyl Mclauchlan reviews Mind Fixers by Anne Harrington. If you visit your GP and tell them you have the symptoms of a mental illness – maybe your … Read more
Commissioners are among the most powerful and coveted roles in television. Suddenly, after years of little movement, there are five vacancies. Two stories hit players in the local television industry hard and in quick succession. The first came early in July when TVNZ announced the departure of its longtime head of scripted, Kathleen Anderson. Then, … Read more
The popular and staunchly independent Auckland eatery Coco’s Cantina has launched a ghost restaurant on UberEats, and it ‘shows that our industry is not in a healthy place’, says its owner. Over the past couple of weeks, as they idly scrolled through the mind-boggling array of dinner possibilities, Auckland UberEats users may have noticed something … Read more
Want to feel better and sharper, and get a better night’s sleep? Nick Atkinson has just the thing, and it’s very cold and wet Winton’s caught a couple of great looking snapper. He’s kayaked to Te Kākāwhakaara/Watchman Island and I’m about to meet him after swimming out from one of the ratty little Herne Bay … Read more
What’s it like to wait over a decade for a new record from one of your favourite bands? David Farrier writes about the joys, perils and embarrassment of being a Tool fan in 2019. Before you say it, let me: Tool fans are the worst. “You tall faggot!” a Tool fan yelled at me during … Read more
Coroner Tim Scott’s comments regarding the death of Carla Neems have the potential to plunge New Zealand into a moral panic. But having freedom and responsibility is an essential part of child development, writes Jai Breitnauer. When I was six, my mum walked me and my friend Marie to school every day. In the evening, … Read more
One woman’s online mission to blow the cover of false prophets around the world is becoming more and more taxing. Anke Richter talks to guru hunter Be Scofield, who is determined to bring sexual abuse in spiritual disguise to light. On our first meeting, via video link, Be Scofield was somewhere on the east coast … Read more
The most notorious publication of the digital media era in New Zealand has closed down for good. Alex Braae writes the obituary to Whaleoil. It is customary to say kind words about a person or entity when they leave this world forever. So what then can one say about Whaleoil, the blog which in 2014 … Read more
Public health campaigns constantly encourage parents to have their children walk to school. Yet when the unthinkable happened, a coroner pointed the finger at the parents. Dion and Fiona Neems have been through every parent’s worst nightmare. Their precious child Carla was killed by a rubbish truck outside her home. A tragic accident like this … Read more
The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read more comics here.
The modern zeal for eating this cruciferous crap must count among the most ridiculous food fads of our time, says Amanda Thompson. I bought a lush salad the other day, not a ‘I really should eat a salad or I might get scurvy’ grudge salad, but an expensive, delicious-looking salad, one I really wanted, full … Read more
The current standoff at Ihumātao has deep roots in the legacy of colonialism and land confiscation. Historian Vincent O’Malley writes about how it was taken by the Crown, and why that matters today. The New Zealand Wars may have ended nearly 150 years ago. But their consequences continue to be felt today. Nowhere is that … Read more
The 700-page Thomas Piketty economic treatise Capital in the 21st Century was a surprise blockbuster five years ago. Now it’s been made into a documentary film, directed and produced by New Zealanders. The message is out there, Danyl Mclauchlan writes – but are enough people listening? Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century enjoyed about … Read more