Sam Brooks talks to Matthew Goldsworthy, the 20-year-old founder and CEO of Youth Arts New Zealand, about helping young people access the arts both as creatives and as an audience. What’s the point of having a vibrant, robust arts culture if the next generation can’t access it? The old adage of “it’s not what you … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Grace Stratton from All is for All. Around a quarter of New Zealanders have accessibility considerations, but very … Read more
Throughout history, fashion has had the power to advance cultural discussions, writes Grace Stratton. For its summer 2019 issue, fashion magazine i-D – constantly hailed as a source of inspiration in fashion culture – put neurodiverse environmental activist Greta Thunberg on its cover. By featuring an advocate like Thunberg so prominently, i-D is telling us … Read more
For Auckland is a new Spinoff podcast of civic conversations with people working to create and sustain a better Auckland for all. In episode three, host Timothy Giles speaks to Grace Stratton about accessibility, in fashion and in Auckland. She’s launched a groundbreaking fashion business, been nominated for Young New Zealander of the Year, profiled … Read more
With every new FromSoftware game comes the same debate – how hard is too hard, and why does it matter? Matthew Codd examines this age-old argument and its bogus foundations. Any new release by FromSoftware – famed creators of Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and now Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – is inevitably followed with a refreshed … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Grace Stratton, founder of All is For All, about creating a pioneering online store that makes accessibility a priority. It all began last July with an uninvited tie. Grace Stratton – fashion enthusiast, uni student and wheelchair user – had bought a pair of pants online from a New Zealand designer, and … Read more
Music festivals are slowly making progress towards being accessible to disabled people – but is it happening fast enough? Alice Mander shares her experience at this year’s Laneway and offers some suggestions for improving accessibility. Sometimes I want to scream, “Disabled people like to party too!”. Or, maybe more accurately, “Disabled people want to join the … Read more
The arts are meant to be for everyone. But are they really? Mary Sea looks at theatre for babies and why we really really need more of it. Baby theatre. Theatre for babies. What’s the point, I hear you cry, rotten tomatoes at the ready. Why not just get out a wad of cash and hiff … Read more
A theatre show written by parents and for parents is welcoming mums to see the show with their babies. It might be a first in New Zealand. Producer Rachel Millar outlines why they’ve made the decision to be accessible. After children and babies in cafes and children on planes, babies in the theatre is the … Read more
An outcry over the treatment of disabled patrons at Hamilton’s Seddon Park during a recent Blackcaps match could have been avoided with just a bit of prior communication, says sports writer and disabled person Michael Pulman. During last Saturday’s Twenty20 International at Seddon Park, disabled patrons were turned away from their designated seating in order … Read more
The issue isn’t just how many homes we’re building, it’s what kind. Erin Gough, a wheelchair user, makes a plea for more accessible housing. I live on the fourth floor of a five-storey apartment building in central Wellington. It’s not fully wheelchair accessible, but it’s the most manageable I’ve been able to find in my … Read more
Dunedin dad Aaron Hawkins went to the cricket and all he got was his pram banned. Here he questions the decision of New Zealand Cricket to exclude families from watching his beloved game. As a long suffering test cricket tragic it’s my job to pass that obsession on to my one-year-old son, so off we … Read more
There’s a revolution underway. Deep within the Auckland Viaduct lurks the beginnings of our own tiny Silicon Valley. At GridAKL, more than 50 startups, in industries as diverse as medicine, robotics and augmented reality, are running the entrepreneurial gauntlet looking to build a high-growth business – or at least get a second funding round. In … Read more