The top 20 of 2020: The Spinoff’s most-read pieces in the diabolical year

North of 50 million posts were served up for your reading pleasure (and, let’s face it, sometimes, reading terror) across the year. As we bid farewell to 2020, here are the 20 that got clicked on the most, countdown style. 20 A better visual breakdown of the 2020 election results Remember the election? Neither. Here’s … Read more

The ones that got away: 10 great 2020 stories that deserved a wider audience

It may surprise you to learn that not every article we publish is read by hundreds of thousands of discerning punters. Here are 10 reads from this year that we think warranted more click-love. Tomorrow we publish the top 10 most-read posts of 2020. Today, as a curtain-raiser, we turn our attention to the stories … Read more

Eight extraordinary money moments in this heart attack of a year

Recapping the highs and lows of 12 turbulent months.  It’s officially the last week of the year and yet March 2020 feels just like yesterday. So much of our lives have been affected in strange and unexpected ways since the global pandemic was declared and our markets and economies have been no exception. So what … Read more

A year like no other

The Spinoff was in mortal peril in late March, before its members came to the rescue. Managing editor Duncan Greive takes a look at what those members made possible in this most memorable year. Illustration and design by Ezra Whittaker and Lauren Maree Stewart. I’m writing – exhausted and, if I’m entirely honest, with a … Read more

The Spinoff Aotearoa 2020 Time Capsule: an update

The contents list is nearing completion, and the location options are coming together nicely. Last week we announced our plan to literally encapsulate the year 2020, and literally to bury it: a time capsule. A bit futuristic, a bit nostalgic, and a convenient alternative to reviewing the year by staring helplessly into the endless void. … Read more

We’re going to fill a time capsule with 2020 Aotearoa. Where on earth will we put it?

The Spinoff launched a plan to bury a time capsule containing the epitome of this hell year before working out where we were going to plant the thing. Josie Adams was tasked with finding somewhere suitable. So, you want to bury a time capsule. First, stop. Does the future need this? Historians in a century … Read more

A brief history of the world in six time capsules

They’re under parliament buildings, in opera houses, even floating through space. And now The Spinoff is about to bury one for 2020. While stashing stuff for future humans to unearth has been a tradition for thousands of years, when did ‘time capsules’ become a thing? At the beginning of high school, it is these days … Read more

Announcing: the Spinoff Aotearoa 2020 Time Capsule

This has been a year of amazement and endurance. Let’s bury it together. How do you tell a story like 2020? The lockdown year. The bubble year. The suppurating mouth ulcer year. As with just about every media operation around this infectious planet, we’ve been wondering how to sum up such a terrible and cacophonous … Read more