In an exclusive and intimate conversation, comedian, writer and host of Now You Know, Robbie Nicol, chats with The Spinoff’s head of audience, Anna Rawhiti-Connell, about The Spinoff’s hit new explainer video series. Now You Know is all about delivering reliable, regular and relevant news content to young New Zealanders where they consume media most.

How can you explain a huge topic like climate change in 60 seconds? What happens if 18- to 24-year-olds get their news solely from social media? Robbie will explain all.

Hosted at Spinoff HQ in Auckland.

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Robbie Nicol is a writer, actor and comedian based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Nicol won Best Web Show at the NZ Web Fest for his satirical comedy series White Man Behind A Desk, before co-creating and hosting The Citizen’s Handbook for RNZ. Since then, Nicol has written for multiple television shows including Taskmaster New Zealand, 7 Days, and Paddy Gower Has Issues. As of 2025, Nicol writes and hosts Now You Know, explaining the news in bite-sized videos across The Spinoff’s social media.

Anna Rawhiti-Connell, senior writer and head of audience and off-platform strategy at The Spinoff, is an award-winning writer and former editor of The Bulletin. As a seasoned social media expert, she has returned to her roots to work on Now You Know, The Spinoff’s video explainer series. She looks after Members and a bunch of other technical and jargon-esque stuff at The Spinoff.