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.
Danyl Mclauchlan
Danyl Mclauchlan is a novelist, writes the Dim Post blog, and volunteers for the Green Party. He was born in Wellington in 1974.
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.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
