Māori, Pacific and low income groups have health outcomes well below the rest of the population. In Dunedin there’s a community that’s come up with the medicine to treat itself. On the grounds of an old school in the South Dunedin suburb of Caversham, there’s a village of healthcare services that’s a vision into a … Read more
Over the past two years a movement of Dunedin bands have played sold out gigs in all the major centres, riding a wave of hype unseen since the glory days of Flying Nun. Don Rowe kicks off his shoes and gets into the thick of it. On a peerless afternoon in late January, 250 people … Read more
An exclusive walking tour reveals the true extent of a city’s obsession with visiting pop star Ed Sheeran. Contrary to what an out-of-towner might believe, Ed Sheeran is not the first international pop superstar to ever play a show in Dunedin. In 2004, Busta Rhymes came and played at the Town Hall. In 2006, seven … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Astro Children’s Millie Lovelock about the band’s new single and Dunedin’s indie music generational rift. The Spinoff: So… You’ve got a new record out? Millie Lovelock: Yeah, it’s exciting and stressful and all sorts of fun things. How come it’s stressful? I don’t know, I just find the releasing music quite difficult. It … Read more
Police and council are trying to throttle the life out of Dunedin’s student culture. We sent a reporter down to experience its exhilarating chaos before it gets too boring. This story first appeared in the winter 2015 edition of 1972 Magazine by Barkers. When a party is really cranking, you can hear it long before … Read more
Every week we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Harpoon Cold Brew’s Arjun Haszard, who’s in the business of brewing one of the trendiest coffees out there this summer. ONE: How did Harpoon Cold Brew start and what was the inspiration behind it? I … Read more
Dunedin journalist Helen Speirs investigates a controversy swirling around Robbie Burns. Robert “Robbie” Burns, Scotland’s national poet, feted worldwide, author of “Auld Lang Syne”, commemorated in Dunedin with a handsome statue overlooking the Octagon, one of the immortals of literature – and, now, accused as a “sex pest”, a rapist, “Weinsteinian”. Scottish poet Liz Lochhead has unleashed a storm … Read more
As music director for this year’s Silver Scroll Awards, Shayne Carter’s job is to design song reinterpretations of the five finalists for the best New Zealand songwriting. He spoke to Calum Henderson about the skill of covering a song, writing his book, and not really liking awards shows. The midday temperature in Dunedin is 3 … Read more
Hussein Moses talks to Kane Strang, whose album Two Hearts and No Brain is out today. Kane Strang just got fired. Well, he thinks he might’ve. “I don’t even know if it was serious,” the Dunedin-based songwriter says. “But I work with my guitarist and he came home the other day and told me that … Read more
Dunedin can sometimes seem like the neglected afterthought of New Zealand’s main centres, unappreciated by all except those who choose to live there. Peter Newport reports on what’s coming next for Dunedin after Cadbury shuts its doors. Some words are so powerful that people should need a licence to use them. I’m going to use … Read more
The fast-growing Southern Lakes district – Queenstown, Wanaka and surrounds – currently faces enormous challenges. But the bigger problem? The body in charge is three hours’ drive away and seems reluctant to spend the money needed to fix them. Peter Newport explains how an upcoming by-election could become a referendum on the future of Otago. … Read more
For at least 22 years, the Hyde Street Party has been a highlight of Dunedin’s scarfie social calendar, a dawn to dusk marathon of drinking, dancing and general debauchery. This year’s party took place on Saturday April 1 and Joel MacManus was there for the whole thing. This story will appear in next week’s issue … 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
When your first album sees you described as the savior of folk music, how do you turn around and make a second album that’s even better? Nadia Reid talked with Calum Henderson about her new album Preservation, released yesterday. For months after Nadia Reid’s debut album Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs came out, … Read more
For good or ill, the first three years of a child’s existence have an outsized impact on the rest of their life, according to findings taken from the world renowned Dunedin Study. The study’s director talks to Toby Manhire about what it all means. Give me a child at seven, and I will show you … Read more
A select committee review into assisted dying is coming up, and all signs point to a foregone conclusion. Former caregiver Talia Marshall recalls her time working in a rest home, where the debate has a very different meaning. I remember trying to a watch a VHS copy of Anne of Green Gables with my grandparents in my grandads … Read more
The Otago Daily Times has called time on the great online giveaway. The big New Zealand publishers will be watching closely, writes Tim Murphy, former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald. Its masthead describes it as the “Independent Voice of the South”. Others, affectionately, call it the Oddity. Now the Otago Daily Times lives up to … Read more