Danyl Mclauchlan

Contributing writer

Danyl Mclauchlan is a Wellington writer. He is the author of two novels, and is an essayist and reviewer of stupendous quality. Danyl was born in Wellington in 1974.

Politics

Sep 20, 2018

There’s a solution to the great NZ tax rort. But Cullen’s group can’t touch it

The Tax Working Group’s first report cautiously backs a capital gains tax, but has been stymied from the start in addressing a massive and inequitable loophole

Politics

Sep 13, 2018

Jacinda and the Winston dilemma: do nothing or take the nuclear option

Not for the first time, NZ First has scuppered government plans – and the party's leader keeps proving he has all the leverage.

Politics

Sep 10, 2018

Here's what the NY Times didn't tell you about life in Jacinda Ardern's New Zealand

Following the another hard-hitting exposé on Jacinda Ardern in the international media, Danyl Mclauchlan reports that life isn't all trips down the road or chasing ducks in the park with her ragtag bunch of mischievous friends.

Books

Sep 5, 2018

Lies, damned lies, and Book Council data: a strange new survey on NZ’s reading habits

The dear old Book Council has released its annual survey of New Zealand reading habits, and claims that on average we read 35 books a year. 35! Danyl Mclauchlan asks what the devil is going on.

Politics

Aug 28, 2018

Chelsea Manning and the limits of free speech absolutism

The upcoming visit of the US intelligence whistleblower appears to have some on the right reassessing their commitment to free speech and open debate. How quickly they forget.

Objectspace

Aug 15, 2018

The Single Object: the water fountain that measures money

In the second part of our series about forgotten objects with outsize influence on New Zealand history, Danyl Mclauchlan visits the Reserve Bank to inspect Bill Phillip's MONIAC.

Society

Aug 10, 2018

Paradox, utopia and Don Brash: on liberalism and free speech

The idea of liberalism has been thrust to the fore amid debates over free speech. Yet the biggest threat to liberalism may be the failure of elites to make its systems work for the rest of us

Politics

Aug 3, 2018

A year on, why Jacinda Ardern was the right leader at the right time

Likability was the catalyst that made new government possible, and it's hard to sympathise with National's recently discovered attachment to the importance of substance, writes Danyl Mclauchlan

Society

Jul 18, 2018

The Wellington bus network is melting down and commuters are losing their shit

This school holiday Danyl Mclauchlan caught the bus to the Wellington Zoo. It was not fun.

Society

Jul 10, 2018

A ferocious debate between three implacable enemies about free speech

Danyl Mclauchlan sits down with Danyl Mclauchlan and Danyl Mclauchlan to debate the free speech issue.

Society

Jul 9, 2018

Forgive us, O Whale, release us from your cursed tempest

The burghers of Wellington have been lashed by storms, almost certainly because the whale is angry about something. How might they seek absolution?

Books

Jul 5, 2018

Did Bob Jones create the housing crisis? Revisiting his 1977 bestseller

Danyl Mclauchlan reads the 1977 Bob Jones on Property, and wonders about the role it played in creating today's housing market.

Politics

Jun 13, 2018

Why it’s getting hard to see Ardern’s government lasting past 2020

Given recent tumult, the prime minister's parental leave is a risk – but also an opportunity.

Politics

Jun 5, 2018

National announces benefit concert to aid those failed by the last government

The impact of the last government is being felt across NZ. At last there will be a reckoning.

Politics

May 24, 2018

How the Bennett vs Mallard standoff exposes a paradox at the heart of politics

The scrap between National and the speaker is an example of the Nash Equilibrium, and points to an altogether deeper sorrow and madness

Politics

May 4, 2018

Seven ways of looking at the Clarke Gayford rumours

National-aligned smear campaign? Idiot Aucklanders? How to explain the way the story exploded ...

Politics

May 2, 2018

Judith Collins is right: Jacinda Arden is an inveterate virtue-signaller

The country is changing. And in contrasting herself from her predecessor and advocating for this change, the PM is wielding her awesome and terrible powers of virtue-signalling.

Media

Apr 23, 2018

Breaking news: Clarke Gayford reputation rocked by Herald allegations

Claims in Deborah Hill Cone column cast doubt on the prime minister and her squeeze, who stands accused of being cringey and having a name ending with the letter ‘e’. Danyl Mclauchlan digs deeper

Business

Apr 12, 2018

Count me out on the tax-love bandwagon

Even if you admire the ends, the who and what of tax is pretty loathsome, argues Danyl Mclachlan

Society

Apr 9, 2018

A computer model may be dodgy on deportation, but not as dodgy as a human

If you remove computational algorithms which reveal discriminatory assumptions, you’re not removing discrimination, you’re just making it less transparent.

Politics

Mar 5, 2018

Simon Bridges and the opposition vacuum

Danyl Mclauchlan makes the case that what the new leader of the opposition doesn't say matters – and what he does say probably doesn't.

Society

Feb 24, 2018

Russell McVeagh and the limits of the law

Revelations of alleged sexual harassment by a former partner at Russell McVeagh underscore the unique privilege of the legal profession. Danyl Mclauchlan explores the case and what kept it secret.

Books

Feb 8, 2018

Book of the Week: A self-help book by an alt-right hero who calls women ‘chaos’

Danyl Mclauchlan investigates the strange philosophy of number one best-selling author and thinker Jordan Peterson, author of 12 Rules for Life.

Books

Jan 7, 2018

Wolff’s tale of the Trump clusterfuck is an instant classic, and strangely comforting

No one has ever produced a political exposé quite like Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, writes Danyl Mclauchlan.

Politics

Dec 23, 2017

Summer reissue: How the Greens survived Jacindamania (just)

Novelist Danyl Mclauchlan describes his experiences and processes his thoughts after working on the Greens campaign in election 2017.

Books

Nov 29, 2017

Book of the Week: What makes Jack Reacher books so damn good?

Danyl McLauchlan celebrates the latest Jack Reacher masterpiece by Lee Child.

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