Too much news? Here’s the only political round-up you need. I spent Saturday evening reporting from the Act Party election event and witnessed a crowd of Act supporters mumble halfheartedly through Sweet Caroline despite the DJ’s increasingly desperate words of encouragement. I tell you this only to give an indication of the headspace I’m currently … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. We’re so close. We’re so close that I voted on Saturday thinking I’d be smart and check out early but forgetting that I still have this column. If you haven’t voted yet, what are you doing? You could be free! If you haven’t voted because … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. Have you voted yet? Voting opened nationwide on Saturday. Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins both voted early with Ardern posting very casually on Instagram about her voting experience and Collins voting at a church complete with prayer beforehand. That about sums up both of their … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. We’re on the last lap! This election campaign has been a marathon in every sense but we’ve entered the stadium now, the finish line is in sight… just. Hang in there and don’t forget to read up as much as you can on each side … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. The election was supposed to be over by now. We were all supposed to be free but instead we’re back talking about fiscal holes and house prices. Bit of housekeeping: there’ll be no more yes, no, huh? in this column as politics isn’t binary. Unlike … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. Mōrena and welcome to another week. Another week of what, you ask? It doesn’t matter, another week is enough at this point. Labour’s Tax Policy – NO Labour and tax. Like two magnetic south poles, they will never connect. For days, finance minister Grant Robertson … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. Parliament has dissolved and the campaign has officially begun, which means politicians have officially logged on. Marama Davidson – Yes It took six months (read: all of history) but an elected official has finally done something good and funny (on purpose) on social media. It’s … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. Which would you prefer: accidentally telling 500,000 people to get Covid tests immediately, or approving $11.7m to a private school that hosts conspiracy theorists? You don’t even have to choose because both happened last week. Congratulations. James Shaw – NO James Shaw was doing so … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only round-up you need. Auckland is still in level three, the rest of the country is in level two, and I am still using my last brain cell. Welcome. New Zealand being chill about a world leader criticising us – YES Donald Trump said that New Zealand was seeing … Read more
Stewart Sowman-Lund talks to the anonymous, ideologically opposed creators of two Facebook meme pages about the role the Gen Z mainstay plays in our political landscape. In total, almost 70,000 people “like” the two biggest New Zealand political meme pages on Facebook. Out of the entire “team of five million”, that’s not a lot. However, … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only political round-up you need. How foolish we were to believe that we could just go ahead and have our little election without disruption. Remember there was chat about Pacific travel bubbles? Hahaha hahaha ha ha. Covid-19 – YES It’s Covid, bitch. Guess who’s back in the limelight, ruining … Read more
Welcome to the third edition of Memebers of parliament, a politics column for people who just want the memes. Let’s just get to it, shall we? Buses – YES Buses. They’re back. Winston Peters has had his giant face on a big ol’ bus for a while now, but he surely won’t be the only … Read more
Welcome to memebers of parliament, a politics column for people who just want the memes. This column began because for one fortnight last month there seemed to be daily breaking news involving the actions of MPs. There was so much to digest and the only solution was for me to condense it while also adding … Read more
Welcome to memebers of parliament, a political column for people who just want the memes. In 53 days there will be an election and already there’s too much news. Too many politicians doing too many things. Who’s bothering to keep up with politics? Well, technically we all should because we live in a democracy and … Read more
From the US primaries to the New Zealand election campaign, the battle of the memes is something to take very seriously, writes Sarah Austen-Smith. Simon Bridges is single-handedly killing every last Māui dolphin. Jacinda Ardern is personally stealing from you to pay for her promises. In the wild west of political memes, almost nothing is … Read more
A surge of Māori internet memes have appeared on Instagram in the past year tackling topics from land theft to a shared love of fry bread. They’ve been around since the dawn of the internet, but in the last few years memes have become intrinsic to popular culture. They’ve also become increasingly political. Indigenous groups … Read more
It’s Aquarius season, which means it’s time to unpack why exactly young people are so into astrology all of a sudden. Alice Webb-Liddall asks two social media astrologers, one astrology enthusiast, and a counselling astrologer what the stars are saying. So it’s mercury retrograde that made you put an x on the end of an … Read more
Posting your art online is a no-brainer: it’s a gallery and marketing all in one. It’s also a cesspit of digital thieves. Josie Adams spoke to three artists about theft online. Ardie Savea has just changed his Twitter profile picture to a drawing by Toby Morris. Morris is stoked the rugby player likes his work, … Read more
A leaked email from prominent share broking firm Forsyth Barr perpetuates a tediously old-fashioned idea of the way people think – and it isn’t even salvaged by wit or originality, writes business editor Maria Slade. Investment manager Forsyth Barr’s daily market commentary came with a seasonal extra on November 1. Atop the dull recital of … Read more
The Gen Z-targeted mobile application TikTok is finally being noticed by adults. But what is it? Here’s a quick explainer. What is TikTok? TikTok was the most-downloaded app in the Apple store last year. It’s a mish-mash of the deceased Musical.ly and Vine, with over 500 million active users. The app allows you to film … Read more
A lesson on why you shouldn’t always believe what you read on the internet A few years back, there was a meme (if you can call it that) telling us that everything we knew about toasters was wrong. It said that the numbers on our toasters – usually on a dial ranging from one to … Read more
Not for the first time, the bleakest corners of the internet have apparently spawned real world tragedy. What is 4chan, and how does it foment so much hate? Even as the nation was plunged into a whirlwind of shock, horror and grief, there were plenty of online communities that had an opposite, chilling reaction – … Read more
Last year Seven Sharp aired a segment warning against the left-leaning political extremist groups, aka meme pages, on Facebook. Madeleine Chapman expands on the report. This post was originally published on 28 February, 2018 It’s a dangerous world out there for young people. No one drives safely, everyone drinks too much, and there’s MDMA laced with … Read more
Quinovic property management have embraced their stereotype of crusty rich people by sharing terrible memes as ads. Madeleine Chapman discovers they’ve been doing it for years. First published 13 August 2018 Mark Richardson explained memes to the eight contestants on The Block NZ last night. “The meme has become very on-trend in the world of … Read more
On Monday night, Seven Sharp aired a segment warning against the left-leaning political extremist groups, aka meme pages, on Facebook. Madeleine Chapman expands on the report. It’s a dangerous world out there for young people. No one drives safely, everyone drinks too much, and there’s MDMA laced with something more dangerous than MDMA. But there’s a new … Read more
Getting young voters engaged in political discourse is a challenge no NZ party has yet cracked. Could memes save the day? Madeleine Chapman leads a guided tour. At age five, most children are able to detect sarcasm and identify it as humour. By age ten, they’re able to differentiate between sarcastic and ironic humour. And somewhere … Read more
Political internet memes played a controversial role in the US election and now they’re taking hold here, just in time for the election campaign. Carys Goodwin reports on the rise of meme warfare in New Zealand. The NZ election campaign is under way, and Andrew Little is bae, according to this: We’ll return to the … Read more