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Dove and Watchful Stedfast in Devotion: The Gloriavale Story (Photo: Three)

Julie Christie’s new Gloriavale documentary plays it dangerously neutral

Three’s new docuseries wants viewers to decide for themselves about Gloriavale – but is that fair?

By Tara Ward | 29th June, 2026

A little better every day: ‘The garden was quite a healing process’

A little better every day: ‘The garden was quite a healing process’

Inside Matariki at Amberley School, where they're planting seeds of growth to honour a beloved teacher's legacy.

By The Spinoff | 29th June, 2026

The interior of XO Book CO, a romance bookstore that just opened on Willis St in Wellington. (Photo: Bayleigh Gibson)

A reading renaissance: Wellington welcomes two new indie bookshops

Willis St will soon be home to not one, not two, but three indie bookstores.

By Claire Mabey | 29th June, 2026

Chris Hipkins speaking to Labour supporters in Wellington (Photo: Lyric Waiwiri-Smith)

Labour’s hype train has finally arrived in Wellington

If there’s anything a Labour Party event can do well, it’s emulating the vibe of a church youth conference.

By Lyric Waiwiri-Smith | 29th June, 2026

Politics reporter

David Seymour at the Act Party campaign launch. Photo: Joel MacManus

Aura edits and protests: Field notes from the Act Party’s big flash rally

Act kicked off the election campaign with a new deputy leader and an American-style rally. Also, David Seymour botched his Latin.

By Joel MacManus | 29th June, 2026

Chris Bishop, the minister for nearly everything. (Photo: The Spinoff)

Chris Bishop moves fast. It’s his super power and Achilles heel

He’s powerful and polarising and he would really like his mic to work.

By Joel MacManus | 26th June, 2026

Raúl Jiménez (Mexico), Kylian Mbappé (France) and Erling Haaland (Norway). All good fits. (Photos: Getty Images)

A fashion critic's guide to the best (and worst) kits at the Fifa World Cup

From 'fabulously ornate' to 'this looks like something excavated from the back of my fridge'.

By Emma Gleason | 26th June, 2026

Quotes from the IPCA report ‘Issue of police safety order on protection order applicant not justified’

When women are ignored and disbelieved every day, what options do we have left?

A disturbing incident detailed in a newly released IPCA report is part of a pattern that goes back years, across the criminal justice system.

By Michelle Duff | 26th June, 2026

Liv Parker, NĪ Dekkers-Reihana and Tatum Warren-Ngata star in Head Girl (Photo: Three)

Poetry comes alive in bold new local drama Head Girl

Flo, Dee and Sadie are on the precipice of something great – and so too is this series drawn from the poetry of Freya Daly Sadgrove.

By Tara Ward | 25th June, 2026

Gone By Lunchtime (Image: Tina Tiller)

Gone By Lunchtime: Simeon Brown and the family feud

A bumper week of policy and the launch of a striking new infantilisation strategy.

By The Spinoff | 24th June, 2026

Dating Files: A 33-year-old who’s ‘not attractive enough for run clubs’

Dating Files: A 33-year-old who’s ‘not attractive enough for run clubs’

An occupational health worker is looking for a man 'ideally a different ethnicity to mine'.

By Dating Files | 24th June, 2026

Former Wellington mayor Tory Whanau at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cambridge Terrace improvements. Image: The Spinoff

Why Wellington can’t build

The Golden Mile, the housing crisis, and the problem with progressive cities.

By Joel MacManus | 24th June, 2026

Den Ramen, cucumber and buckwheat miso, and shio ramen

New and approved: Den Ramen, Auckland

Just off Karangahape Road, this cosy, cave-like slip of a room is devoted to slurping ramen.

By Charlotte Muru-Lanning | 23rd June, 2026

Contributing writer

Workplace relations and safety minister Brooke van Velden (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty. hart hat: The Spinoff)

One of Brooke van Velden’s final acts as a politician will also be her most dangerous

The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill has been opposed by ACC, business owners and economists, yet persists.

By Max Rashbrooke | 23rd June, 2026

Contributing writer

The Beehive reno: Party leaders draw up their wishlists

The Beehive reno: Party leaders draw up their wishlists

Gerry Brownlee’s inbox is full of ideas.

By Veronica Schmidt | 22nd June, 2026

Image: The Spinoff

Nicola Willis’s magic money tree and other go-to spending metaphors in NZ politics

Unfurl the money hose and fire up the cash bazooka: it's time for a brief history of parliament's favourite fiscal figures of speech.

By Alice Neville | 22nd June, 2026