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Review

The cast of Tangata Pai. (Image: Supplied).

Tangata Pai is an ambitious drama that excels beyond its heavyhandedness

A groundbreaking primetime drama weaves protest, politics and 30% te reo Māori.
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By Dana Leaming | 24th September, 2025
Guest writer
Joy Cowley in the new documentary, Joy: Full & Fearless

We should all hope to live like Joy Cowley

The prolific New Zealand author might have found the secret to a happy life. 
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By Joel MacManus | 20th September, 2025
Senior writer
Faren Ormond. (Image: Supplied).

Review: Pukunati is a raw exposé of our fat bias

Bariatric surgery is inaccessible for many in Aotearoa who need it – but why?
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By Ash Gillon | 1st September, 2025
Guest writer
Portraits by Abhi Chinniah. (Photo: Supplied)

‘We just are’: When can migrant artists stop representing culture and just create art?

Representation matters, but the piece of the puzzle that’s missing is the freedom to represent no one but yourself.
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By Preyanka Gothanayagi | 2nd December, 2024
Contributor
Patricia Grace, then and now (Photos supplied; photo illustration by Archi Banal)

Patricia Grace, the great navigator

'It’s more than a mindset, this resolute spirit. It is her very being.'
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By Ben Brown | 8th January, 2023
Guest writer
Thor: Love and Thunder has all the noise but no spark

Thor: Love and Thunder has all the noise but no spark

Unfortunately it's quite disappointing.
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By Group Think | 6th July, 2022
A bunch of people
Rebecca Hawkes (Photo: Ebony Lamb)

One more for the bloodbath

Pop-squirt-snip-snap-shove: Meat Lovers is a queer book of sex and viscera.
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By Lily Holloway | 26th June, 2022
Guest writer
Brace for the best book yet by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Design: Archi Banal)

A review of Onehunga horror story Slow Down, You’re Here

A domestic hellscape from the author of Sprigs.
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By Claire Mabey | 24th May, 2022
Books editor
Patricia Grace, then and now (Photos supplied; photo illustration by Archi Banal)

Patricia Grace, the great navigator

'It’s more than a mindset, this resolute spirit. It is her very being.'
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By Ben Brown | 17th April, 2022
Guest writer
Aldous Harding’s Warm Chris is the singer’s fourth studio album. (Image: Supplied / Treatment: Tina Tiller)

‘Like doughnuts on dark days’: First impressions of Aldous Harding’s Warm Chris

Critics having been anticipating her fourth album for months, and now it's here. So what's Warm Chris like?
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By Group Think | 25th March, 2022
A bunch of people
Noelle, born at Christmas, named after the carol that was playing on the radio (Photo: Supplied)

Crash and glitter: A review of Noelle McCarthy’s new memoir

Books editor Catherine Woulfe reviews Grand, a story of mothers and daughters and shame. 
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By Catherine Woulfe | 24th March, 2022
Contributing writer
Don’t let her fool you, Ghostwire: Tokyo is a delightful, engrossing ride through Shibuya. (Photo: Bethesda Softworks, Image Design: Archi Banal)

Review: Ghostwire: Tokyo might be Bethesda’s best game yet

A game as delightfully assured and well-rounded as this deserves to be a massive hit.
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By Sam Brooks | 22nd March, 2022
Contributing writer
Image: Netflix (additional design by Archi Banal)

Review: Byron Baes is a buzzy trip to wellness influencer purgatory

The climax of the series happens at a launch for fake tan.
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By Alex Casey | 18th March, 2022
Senior writer
Hazel and Pluto the dog, plus some recent local kids shows (Photo: Supplied, additional design by Archi Banal)

A seven year old (and her parent) review four new local shows for kids and tweens

Junior binge-watcher Hazel gives her verdict on some of Aotearoa's newest shows for kids.
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By Thalia Kehoe Rowden | 17th March, 2022
Guest writer
The best-dressed book at this year’s Ockhams (Photos: Supplied)

New Zealand history but make it fashion

We review Dressed, a book about gorgeous gowns and purses that's also, really, about people.
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By Sam Brooks | 15th March, 2022
Contributing writer
Left: Laser Kiwi, an act from 60 Seconds. Below: Laura Daniel, Tegan Yorwarth and Pax Assadi, judges. (Photos: TVNZ, Image Design: Tina Tiller)

Review: 60 Seconds is a bizarre, confusing delight

New Zealand's Got Talent? We do, but this show isn't that. It's so much more.
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By Sam Brooks | 14th March, 2022
Contributing writer
Additional design: Tina Tiller

Beats of the Pa’u: stories of Aotearoa, land of watered-down milk and honey

We review a book of short, resonant stories by Cook Islands New Zealander Maria Samuela.
By Audrey Brown-Pereira | 6th March, 2022
Guest writer
The Assadi family in Raised by Refugees (Photo: Sky TV/Supplied)

Raised by Refugees brings my immigrant childhood to life, with even more laughter

For Afghan-New Zealander Abbas Nazari, the new Pax Assadi comedy stirs memories of his own family life in the early 2000s.
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By Abbas Nazari | 24th February, 2022
Guest writer
Aloy, the heroine of Horizon Forbidden West. (Photos: Sony, Image Design: Tina Tiller)

Review: Horizon Forbidden West flies close to the sun, but ultimately soars

Sony’s new exclusive makes an early play for game of the year.
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By Sam Brooks | 18th February, 2022
Contributing writer
(Design: Tina Tiller)

Notes on an Execution: a new kind of novel about serial killers

We're fascinated by men who murder, especially the wildly narcissistic ones. This book says: refuse to be dazzled.
By Jacqueline Bublitz | 6th February, 2022
Guest writer

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The Spinoff is subject to NZ Media Council procedures. A complaint must be first directed in writing, within one month of publication, to info@thespinoff.co.nz. If not satisfied with the response, the complaint may be referred to the online complaint form at www.presscouncil.org.nz along with a link to the relevant story and all correspondence with the publication.

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