Sarah Maguire

Guest writer

Sarah Maguire is the founding director of Austen Advisory and former deputy director of communications to Jacinda Ardern. She’s been a political staffer on and off since 2008 and works in leadership advisory and political management.

Being a politician is hard. So is working for one

Being a politician is hard. So is working for one

For political staff, election year is as close as you get to a performance review.

By Sarah Maguire | 17th September, 2026

Carla Poulton teaching a group of students at the Arch of Constantine in Rome (Photo: Supplied; design by The Spinoff)

So where can art history take you?

A bunch of art history classmates reunite to explain how the soon-to-be-scrapped subject has served them, two decades on.

By Sarah Maguire | 17th September, 2025

Image: Archi Banal

How to survive in the hive

Beehive staff exiting the building give their brutal, burnt-out advice on how not to end up like them.

By Sarah Maguire | 15th January, 2024

Image: Archi Banal

How to survive in the hive

Beehive staff exiting the building give their brutal, burnt-out advice on how not to end up like them.

By Sarah Maguire | 20th October, 2023

Grant Robertson speaks to media shortly after the cabinet was announced by Jacinda Ardern earlier this week. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Insider tips for lobbying each member of Ardern’s new NZ cabinet

A former press secretary to the PM has some advice for anyone looking to win sway with the top table team

By Sarah Maguire | 6th November, 2020

Here comes the political meme blizzard

Here comes the political meme blizzard

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.

By Sarah Maguire | 3rd March, 2020

Kiwi classics at Cafe Baku in Taupō and Black Stump Berries in Te Puke (Photos: Sarah Austen-Smith)

Are country cafes better than city ones?

As our summer road trip season rounds to a close, Sarah Austen-Smith takes a whistle-stop tour of country cafes between Auckland and Wellington to see whether the grass really is greener in the regions.

By Sarah Maguire | 19th January, 2019

Plating up at The Matey Hut cooking school (Photos: Sarah Austen-Smith)

Coconuts, curries and multiple courses: Living large in Sri Lanka

A whistle-stop tour of southern Sri Lanka is a culinary overload of colour and fragrance – but ordering a beer can be, er, weird.

By Sarah Maguire | 16th December, 2018

Feastin’, Kyrgyz style (Photo: Viktor DrachevTASS via Getty Images)

No vowels, big flavours: WTF is Kyrgyz cuisine?

Spoiler alert: it's hearty, it's humbling and it involves horse.

By Sarah Maguire | 24th October, 2018

Chongqing hotpot: not for the faint-hearted (Photo: Getty Images)

Boiling point: Feeling the burn in the home of hotpot

A lily-livered foreigner braves the fiery cauldron that is Chóngqìng's specialty.

By Sarah Maguire | 6th August, 2018