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How many phones will stop working after New Zealand’s 3G shutdown?

From the end of March 2026, we'll no longer have a 3G network. What does that mean for all the people who have yet to upgrade their devices?

By Shanti Mathias | 13th December, 2025

Contributing writer

Why does hardly anyone ever buy a house on Location Location Location NZ?

For a show about buying houses, there's not a lot of house buying going on.

By Tara Ward | 13th December, 2025

NZ racism hits different: ‘I’m not even going to try to pronounce the next name’

After swapping Wellington for London, Preyanka Gothanayagi was surprised to find people treated her like an actual person.

By Preyanka Gothanayagi | 13th December, 2025

I still don’t know what Synthony is and at this point I’m too afraid to ask

What is it, who are they and what do they want from millennials?

By Alex Casey | 13th December, 2025

The art of Camp A Low Hum: 2007 – 2027

A dazzling visual journey through 20 years of posters.

By The Spinoff Review of Books | 13th December, 2025

Marisa Bidois is chief executive of the Restaurant Association of New Zealand. (Image: Supplied). (Additional design: The Spinoff).

Ko wai tēnei: Hospitality leader Marisa Bidois

'When you’re clear on what matters most, you stop being swayed by every wave that comes your way.'

By Liam Rātana | 13th December, 2025

Three of this week’s best.

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending December 12

That book about the hare is back.

By The Spinoff Review of Books | 12th December, 2025

The Friday Poem: ‘The Ancestral Call’ by Ari Prakash

The Friday Poem: ‘The Ancestral Call’ by Ari Prakash

The new moon spins into the distance in this week's poem.

By Ari Prakash | 12th December, 2025

Gerry Brownlee and Christopher Luxon.

Echo Chamber: The week parliament pushed away the public

Dog, hog or whoever's breakfast it is, it's hard to not feel like a mess after a week of urgency.

By Lyric Waiwiri-Smith | 12th December, 2025

Dunedin’s new mayor Sophie Barker (Photo: Tara Ward/Getty / Design: The Spinoff)

Sophie Barker haunted Dunedin’s Larnach Castle – now she’s running the city

'People think living in a castle would be glamorous – but it was just cold.'

By Tara Ward | 12th December, 2025

The Spinoff’s favourite TV shows of 2025

The Spinoff’s favourite TV shows of 2025

From the horrors of Adolescence to the twists of The Celebrity Traitors UK and beyond.

By Group Think | 12th December, 2025

The cost of being: A government worker saving for gender-affirming surgery

The cost of being: A government worker saving for gender-affirming surgery

'Surgery is looking like it will be around $40,000, so that's where most of it is going for the next few years.'

By The Cost of Being | 12th December, 2025

The greater Wellington region has a population of 545,000, represented by eight mayors and nine councils. (Image: GWRC)

Could Wellington finally be ready to merge?

Wellington's mayors have agreed to explore amalgamation – a decade after the last attempt collapsed.

By Catherine McGregor | 12th December, 2025

Hurstmere Road in 1994, Jervois Road 1996, Symonds Street 2025. (Images: David Cass, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections T5051; Diane Stewart, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 802-06-27; The Spinoff)

Pour one out for New Zealand’s pay phones: this is the last call

'The majority of phone booths will be disconnected and stop working in the coming months.'

By Emma Gleason | 12th December, 2025