The biggest stories published by The Spinoff this year, from protests to chocolates, the All Blacks to furries.
1. Heather du Plessis-Allan should be ashamed of how she bullied my daughter
After listening to Heather du Plessis-Allan interview School Strike 4 Climate leader Izzy Cook on Newstalk ZB, editor Madeleine Chapman asked Cook if she wanted to write a response. Cook said yes, then followed up the following day to say that actually her mother wanted to respond. The column from Rose Cook was far and away the most-read story on The Spinoff this year, with audiences applauding her words and her willingness to stand up for her daughter in a very public way.
2. Feeling Covid-positive but your RAT is negative? Here’s why
Another smash hit from Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris. This one was published in March, as case numbers reached their peak and testing was at (what felt like) an all-time high. Clear, simple communication with a RAT visual demonstration that shocked the nation (yes, the swab should go back into your nose, not up).
3. Rich-lister blames Nadia Lim ‘cleavage’ photo for My Food Bag woes
4. Meet Dancing with the Stars’ celebrity contestants for 2022
Sometimes articles become a search engine hit and this was one of them. A mild indictment on the “celebrity” status of the celebrity contestants but 2022’s season of Dancing with the Stars was particularly popular among readers, with Sam Brooks’s scathing assessment of the show’s format also doing big numbers.
5. The Side Eye
Toby Morris’s Side Eye’s are always extremely popular and this year was no different. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most read was his frank and honest look into the effects porn has on real-life sex expectations (sexpectations?).
Not far behind was, well, the left behind. A deep dive into vaccine uptake across demographics and which communities were being left behind in the fight against Covid.
And finally, the table. A stunning visualisation of Aotearoa’s wealth distribution and inequality. A must-read for all the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” fans out there.
6. When misinformation spreads like fire
Like many New Zealanders, every eye in The Spinoff newsroom was trained to at least one (usually a handful) of the livestreams coming out of the parliament protests. When the fire broke out on that truly horrific final day, we all watched and wondered how quickly the narrative would change from protest leaders attempting to distance themselves from the violence and destruction. It happened quickly, but thankfully Dylan Reeve had all the receipts to show exactly what happened and who did what.
7. Why The Warehouse’s $4 blocks of butter could mean more than just a bargain
Remember when all we could talk about was the price of cheese and butter? This hit right in that sweet spot. Note: Butter at The Warehouse is still cheaper than supermarkets.
8. Scotty Stevenson doesn’t want to talk about the All Blacks
A scathing and thrilling read from one of our most revered rugby commentators following the All Blacks’ shocking loss to Ireland. He wrote about why he couldn’t discuss the loss, and included this barnstormer of an end note.
“Maybe next time, if you were interested, I could write something about what happens when you package up 120 years of respected representative sporting success, call it a brand, and sell it off to Oxbridge dudebro buddies in an act of ego-inflating, nausea-inducing corporate capriciousness. Now that would be a read.”
The All Blacks’s woes were a hot topic for a while and Stevenson’s jab at NZR proved equally popular. Headline: “Next All Blacks test cancelled due to everyone being mean“.
9. What did Country Calendar do to make farmers so mad? An investigation
After 56 years on our television screens, Country Calendar finally went rogue. The placid documentary series that celebrates shearing and silage featured an episode filmed on Lake Hāwea Station in Central Otago. It followed a wealthy farming family who use unconventional methods to nurture and protect their stock and land, and it made farmers around the country steaming mad.
Viewers turned against the top-rating series like never before, expressing their outrage on social media. This was the worst episode of Country Calendar they’d ever seen, they said. This wasn’t real farming, they argued. Some turned their televisions off in disgust, others accused the show of breaking their hearts. Over 1,500 comments about the episode filled the Country Calendar Facebook page, and while many praised the farm’s approach, the majority of comments were negative. Tara Ward investigated what the hell happened.
10. Private schooling and the expectation of success
One of the biggest political stories of the year was then-Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell’s history of violent bullying and expulsion from King’s College. Editor Mad Chapman wrote about what happens when the expectation of success is placed on those who don’t need or particularly deserve it.
“I have no doubt that, regardless of what comes out in the internal review and what actions are taken, Uffindell will continue to succeed in life. Of course he will, it was decreed the moment he put on a school uniform.”
Uffindel remains an MP within the National Party.
11. All 54 classic Whittaker’s flavours ranked from worst to best
Mad Chapman’s annual Big Ranking.
12. ‘We feel unseen’: An Auckland ED doctor responds to calls to ditch Covid restrictions
With many industries leading the news cycle this year (largely due to workers protesting low pay, work conditions and the like) stories that were written by those very workers were what readers wanted. This letter from an Auckland emergency department doctor in the middle of soaring case numbers and loosening restrictions was felt by many.
13. Chasing the dream of $60 per hour
Likewise, this first-person essay from someone who did seasonal work and had firsthand experience of the fruit-picking that was so often promoted last Summer was a refreshing perspective on a highly-politicised sector.
14. I’ve had Covid and here’s my advice
Back when a lot of people hadn’t caught Covid yet. That is no longer the case but the advice is still incredibly helpful. One to bookmark as we head into a Covid Christmas.
15. Two hours with the secretive rich lister bankrolling Sean Plunket’s The Platform
Duncan Greive is the go-to voice for revealing, explaining and contextualising Aotearoa’s media landscape. So it was no surprise that he was the one to interview and interrogate The Platform’s very rich funder.
16. I was a McAuley High School student. It was no ‘joke’
When a TikTok podcaster insulted the Pacific girls of South Auckland, particularly those from McAuley High School, he angered many. Sela Jane Hopgood, a McAuley High alum, had a few things to say to him.
17. RIP Ernest Adams, the nation’s slice
We lost some good snacks this year. A lot of the time, brands discontinue items very quietly and it takes months (if not years) for consumers to notice. Not this time. Alex Casey’s ode to Ernest Adams channeled the mournful cries of a nation.
18. When the lessons end
One woman shares the impact that a secret relationship with her music teacher had on the rest of her life. He was in his 50s, she was 16. This longform feature from Alex Casey (again) was the story our readers spent the most time reading this year. And for good reason.
19. What we can learn from MAFS AU’s nude photo scandal
A hat-trick from Alex Casey. Taking a reality TV scandal, placing it in the at-times terrifying evolution of technology we’ve come to expect, and contextualising what it means for all of us.
20. Who runs the internet? Furries
What an appropriately bizarre way to end this list and the year. If you don’t want know what a furry is, you’re in for a hell of a ride.