Emily Writes

Parents Editor

Emily Writes is editor of The Spinoff Parents. She is a mother of two, the best-selling author of Rants in the Dark - From one tired mama to another, writer and speaker. He second book Is it bedtime yet? is out now in all good bookstores. Email her on emily@thespinoff.co.nz

Parents

Mar 26, 2020

Children talk to grown-ups about Covid-19

We asked children how they were coping - and what advice they had for adults.

Television

Nov 21, 2019

Emily Writes: RIP Fanimals, New Zealand's best kids TV show in years

A few days ago, Fanimals announced it would not be returning for another season. Emily Writes, and her kids, are heartbroken.

Parents

Nov 18, 2019

Emily Writes: All the weird 2019 toys your kids will want for Christmas

It's the most beautiful time of the year! Emily Writes investigates the top 10 toys your ungrateful kids will want this Christmas.

ATMS

Nov 13, 2019

A guide to buying your first sex toy

Emily Writes provides an essential guide through the vast world of sex toys and finds something for everyone.

Television

Nov 7, 2019

Ninja Warrior is what all sport should be

Emily Writes gushes about the show she never thought she'd enjoy so much: the endurance-testing, gravity-defying Australian Ninja Warrior.

Society

Nov 6, 2019

To the person who let off fireworks from 3.30am till 5.20am last night

I will find you. I will make you pay.

Hello Fresh

Oct 30, 2019

What I wish I’d known as a new parent

Emily Writes looks back at the early days of her children’s lives – and wishes she knew that no parent knows what they’re doing.

Parents

Oct 24, 2019

Emily Writes: Enough with treating mothers as punchlines and punching bags

Parents editor Emily Writes on everything wrong with Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig's latest work on motherhood.

Society

Oct 23, 2019

Columnists unite to help save women who are doing it tougher than Meghan Markle

In response to Meghan Markle's admission that she's finding it a struggle to be a new mother in the media spotlight, columnists have banded together in support of all those women who 'have it worse'.

Parents

Oct 19, 2019

Emily Writes: A love letter to the people that keep our houses standing

To the early intervention therapists, to the teachers, to the speech therapists, the occupational therapists, music therapists, diabetes nurses and all: you change the world.

Society

Oct 11, 2019

First comes love, then comes an all-day orgy, then comes a tiny floofy capybara

Resident capybara reporter Emily Writes checks in on Wellington Zoo's beautiful new addition.

Television

Oct 9, 2019

Emily Writes: Netflix’s Unbelievable is a sadly believable story

Emily Writes watches Netflix's new US-set series Unbelievable and can't help be reminded of events back home.

Business

Oct 7, 2019

Leaked: a terrifying and definitely real transcript of a toy marketing meeting

A recording of a toy store Christmas marketing meeting has been leaked to Emily Writes. And it's horrific.

Business

Oct 3, 2019

How to regulate a sex toy

For the first time a universal international standard for sex toys is being considered. Emily Writes goes balls deep.

Parents

Sep 29, 2019

Tomorrow, you are seven

On the eve of her child turning seven, Emily Writes shares a personal essay on birthdays and parenthood.

Womens Health Action

Sep 24, 2019

It’s time to talk about bodies after birth, and not just stretch marks

The impact of pregnancy and birth on the body is immense, yet we rarely discuss the ways it impacts women's lives, says Emily Writes.

Business

Sep 19, 2019

The rise of the ethical sex toy industry

Vegan lube? Faux feather strokers? Condoms made by employees paid the living wage? Emily Writes delves into the world of having ethical sex.

Parents

Sep 10, 2019

Art and Matilda’s home birth was safe and critics need to back off

A patronising, snide and all-round awful opinion column tried to guilt the celebrity couple for giving birth at home, and Emily Writes is not having it.

NEON

Aug 29, 2019

In praise of True Blood, home to television’s greatest-ever sex

No show has ever delivered more and better sex than True Blood. Emily Writes looks back on a trashy high-art masterpiece.

Parents

Aug 26, 2019

Ward One

Emily Writes on love and fear and hope at her son's hospital bed.

Television

Aug 19, 2019

Netflix’s new true crime doco shows the depths of rape culture in small-town USA

Roll Red Roll is a brutal, painfully illuminating documentary on the Steubenville High School rape case, a shocking crime that made headlines worldwide. Emily Writes reviews.

Society

Aug 16, 2019

How to orgasm in four easy steps

When Emily Writes reviewed a life-changing sex toy, the response from orgasm-starved women was huge. So why are so many having so few orgasms, and what can be done?

Society

Aug 13, 2019

Coroner says breastfeeding mums should never drink alcohol. 400 doctors disagree

Over 400 doctors, most specialising in child health, have signed an open letter to the coroner expressing concerns about a judgement which blamed alcohol in breast milk for the death of an infant.

Society

Aug 11, 2019

Interviewing the headmaster who won’t let the longhaired boy go to school

An exclusive interview with the principled principal who is leading the resistance to long-haired lads at high school.

Society

Aug 1, 2019

The coroner was meant to explain a tragedy. Instead, he compounded it

For Carla's parents to let her walk to school and back with her older siblings was, he said, "unacceptable".

Science

Jul 30, 2019

Emily Writes: What is 5G and how likely is it to fry my brain?

Forget 1080 – these days 5G is the conspiracy theory that everyone is freaking out about. But is there any basis for the scare stories? Emily Writes tries to unravel fact from fiction.

Media

Jul 26, 2019

Boris Johnson pissed off the Queen, and other terrible things in the news

Emily Writes dives once more into the hideous gaping maw of online news, so you don’t have to.

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