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Review

Patricia Grace, then and now (Photos supplied; photo illustration by Archi Banal)
17th April, 2022

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
Guest writer
Aldous Harding’s Warm Chris is the singer’s fourth studio album. (Image: Supplied / Treatment: Tina Tiller)
25th March, 2022

‘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
A bunch of people
Noelle, born at Christmas, named after the carol that was playing on the radio (Photo: Supplied)
24th March, 2022

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
Books editor
Don’t let her fool you, Ghostwire: Tokyo is a delightful, engrossing ride through Shibuya. (Photo: Bethesda Softworks, Image Design: Archi Banal)
22nd March, 2022

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
Staff feature writer
Image: Netflix (additional design by Archi Banal)
18th March, 2022

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
Senior writer
Hazel and Pluto the dog, plus some recent local kids shows (Photo: Supplied, additional design by Archi Banal)
17th March, 2022

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
Guest writer
The best-dressed book at this year’s Ockhams (Photos: Supplied)
15th March, 2022

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
Staff feature writer
Left: Laser Kiwi, an act from 60 Seconds. Below: Laura Daniel, Tegan Yorwarth and Pax Assadi, judges. (Photos: TVNZ, Image Design: Tina Tiller)
14th March, 2022

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
Staff feature writer
Additional design: Tina Tiller
6th March, 2022

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
Guest writer
The Assadi family in Raised by Refugees (Photo: Sky TV/Supplied)
24th February, 2022

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
Guest writer
Aloy, the heroine of Horizon Forbidden West. (Photos: Sony, Image Design: Tina Tiller)
18th February, 2022

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
Staff feature writer
(Design: Tina Tiller)
6th February, 2022

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
Guest writer
Image: Tina Tiller
27th January, 2022

Reading Imagining Decolonisation, the slim book that invites us to dream big

Bonus content: a very good poem about a house that Jack built.
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By Anahera Gildea
Guest writer
Whiti Hereaka as Kurangaituku (Photo: Tabitha Arthur; Design:  Tina Tiller)
25th January, 2022

Transformation: a takatāpui response to Whiti Hereaka’s novel Kurangaituku

Kurangaituku, the bird-woman, shows essa may ranapiri a new way to stand tall.
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By essa may ranapiri
Guest writer
Maurice Shadbolt’s studio, photographed in 2002 after he moved out (Photo: Sean Shadbolt)
18th January, 2022

Stephen Stratford bows out, brilliantly

Quite possibly the last essay by Stephen Stratford, the author, editor and critic who died in November.
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By Stephen Stratford
Guest writer
Dita Bala, a Kelabit penghulu (chief) with Operation Semut leader, New Zealander Major Toby Carter (Image:  Semut, by Christine Helliwell)
13th January, 2022

Secrets of war: how indigenous tribes helped the Allies in the jungles of Borneo

A new book fleshes out a high-stakes secret military operation.
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By Christopher Tremewan
Guest writer
Bloody menopause
11th January, 2022

Bloody menopause

New Zealand women – and doctors – are told enragingly little about menopause. Two new books are out to change that.
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By Catherine Woulfe
Books editor
Station Eleven might be about a pandemic, but it’s pandemic fiction at its most hopeful. (Photo: HBO)
17th December, 2021

Review: Station Eleven is the post-pandemic story we need right now

Despite its uncomfortably relevant subject matter, Station Eleven might be 2021’s most hopeful show.
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By Sam Brooks
Staff feature writer
The Armed Constabulary Coastal rugby team, Rāhotu Domain, 1881. Andrew Gilhooly, captain, holds the ball (Photo: Supplied)
23rd November, 2021

The Forgotten Coast: A Pākehā wrestles with his family history at Parihaka

What stories do your dead tell you? How do you see your past? Those questions drive Richard Shaw's new book.
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By Rachel Buchanan
Guest writer
Alex Hassell as Vicious and John Cho as Spike Spiegel in a conforntation from Cowboy Bebop. (Photo: Netflix)
19th November, 2021

Review: Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop is a so-so version of an all-time anime classic

The long-awaited adaptation finally drops on Netflix today. How does it hold up? 
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By Sam Brooks
Staff feature writer

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Privacy PolicyThe Spinoff Members Terms and Conditions

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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