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
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

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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 ...

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Society
Nov 28, 2017

The folk story of NZ history, as told by drunk uncles, bores and columnists

Why the strange fixation with broadcasters using te reo? Probably because it raises questions about the legitimacy of the country they imagine themselves to live in, writes Danyl Mclauchlan.

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Books
Oct 18, 2017

Why did Trump win? Hillary Clinton appears to have no goddamned idea

Danyl Mclachlan reviews the new election memoir by a baffled loser

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Politics
Sep 30, 2017

Inside the campaigns: how the Greens survived Jacindamania

Novelist Danyl Mclauchlan describes his experiences and processes his thoughts after working on the Greens campaign in election 2017. I had a bit to do with the Green Party campaign this …

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Politics
Sep 6, 2017

The art of prime ministerial bullshit

Does being prime minister compel a person to lie? Of course, says Danyl McLauchlan, and thus far in this campaign it's the more convincing liar with all the momentum.

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Politics
Aug 29, 2017

Let’s wet together: water pistols at dusk in the Aro Valley debate

There is no more reliably rowdy candidate meeting than the one held just off Aro Street in Wellington. Danyl Mclauchlan puts on his waterproofs and heads to the hall.

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Politics
Aug 20, 2017

Communism by stealth: notes on conservatism, neoliberalism, social investment, and a UBI

Danyl McLauchlan writes an epic and extraordinary essay drawing threads from the past and present of political history and discourse and various books that, he says, 'might be peripherally relevant to the 2017 General Election but to be honest probably won’t be'.

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Politics
Jul 11, 2017

The myth of the missing million

For years left-wing politicians and activists have fantasised about the 'missing million' voters, and what they might do to an election if they returned. Danyl Mclauchlan argues persuasively that the million aren't who we commonly imagine them to be.

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Politics
May 27, 2017

The book of Rob: Revisiting Muldoon’s Rise and Fall of a Young Turk

These days ambitious NZ politicians are more likely to be crafting a Facebook post than a memoir. Danyl Mclauchlan gets absorbed in the towering 1974 book by the man who would become the most powerful PM in modern NZ history.

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Politics
Apr 22, 2017

The New Zealand Project offers a bold, urgent, idealistic vision. I found it deeply depressing

Danyl Mclauchlan agrees with most of the ideas in an acclaimed new book by Max Harris about New Zealand politics, yet the What Must Be Done tome leaves him feeling even gloomier about the immediate prospects for the progressive left.

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Media
Apr 17, 2017

Seeking shelter from the information monsoon

Saturated with Trump commentary, Danyl Mclauchlan's brain felt like a tiny teacup with a firehose gushing into it. Here he explains why he decided to refocus his attention away from the floods of content and the 'ludic loop' of social media, where, more than ever, the audience is the product.

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Politics
Mar 22, 2017

Hit & Run: A depressingly credible account of blunder, bloodshed and cover-up

In their new book Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson offer evidence of a botched raid that killed six civilians and led to a scramble to conceal the truth. Danyl Mclauchlan reviews Hit & Run: The New Zealand SAS in Afghanistan and the Meaning of Honour and weighs up the prospects for an inquiry.

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Politics
Jan 1, 2017

Summer reissue: How John Key won at politics – all four of him

Who was PM Key? A lovably uncool dad on the breakfast TV couch? A proudly vicious parliamentarian? A political genius with an uncanny knack for understanding voters? Or a cautious conservative who avoided the real issues? Danyl Mclauchlan picks apart the man who, even when he lost, just kept on winning.

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Politics
Dec 16, 2016

The four John Keys you meet when he governs your country

Who was Prime Minister John Key? A lovably uncool dad, goofing off on the breakfast TV couch? A proudly vicious parliamentarian, sticking the knife in at Question Time? A political genius with an uncanny knack for understanding voters better than they did themselves? Or a cautious conservative who avoided the real issues? Danyl Mclauchlan picks apart the man who, even when he lost, just kept on winning.

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Politics
Sep 11, 2016

Straight outta Khandallah: to Malvina’s with the Wellington mayoral hopefuls

Danyl Mclauchlan explores the mayoral race in the capital by heading for the key battleground: the La Scala lounge at the Malvina Major Retirement Home.

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