Looking at New Zealand through the lens of the US

With calamitous US politics stoking fear and division in an already fraught nation, the New Zealand election makes for a calm and refreshing change.  The front page of the New York Times today reads: “A Regulatory Rush by Federal Agencies to Secure Trump’s Legacy,” referring to the mad rush to pass Trumpian legislation before the … Read more

The novel that asks: what if Hillary hadn’t married Bill?

Linda Burgess reviews Curtis Sittenfeld’s much-anticipated novel, Rodham.  I read Rodham a while ago now but I put off writing about it. I was waiting. Waiting for what exactly? Well, waiting to see if they do what Trump kept insisting they do, back then, when the world seemed what we nostalgically think of as normal. … Read more

LIVE BLOG: The US Midterm Election votes start to roll in

Howdy, and welcome to The Spinoff’s live blog of the 2018 US midterm elections, brought to you by Catherine McGregor, Toby Manhire, Alex Braae, and maybe some of your other mates at The Spinoff. We’ll see how it goes.  9.07pm: Union-busting Wisconsin governor Scott Walker lost his re-election bid. The unions issued this six word statement … Read more