The Spinoff

  • The Spinoff
  • Politics
  • Pop Culture
  • Ātea
  • Podcasts

Sections

  • Society
  • Books
  • Sports
  • Media
  • Business
  • Kai
  • Internet
  • Partners
  • Science
Search for an author...

SEARCH


AUTHOR SEARCH

Search for an author...

Sections

  • Society
  • Kai
  • Books
  • Internet
  • Sports
  • Partners
  • Media
  • Science
  • Business

Watch

  • Videos

Members

  • Donate
  • =
  • Log in

About

  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • About us
  • Jobs
  • Use of Generative AI 

Subscribe

  • Newsletters

Events

  • Wellington
  • Auckland

Review

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.
avatar
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.'
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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.'
avatar
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?
avatar
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. 
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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.
avatar
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
Image: Tina Tiller

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

Bonus content: a very good poem about a house that Jack built.
avatar
By Anahera Gildea | 27th January, 2022
Guest writer
Whiti Hereaka as Kurangaituku (Photo: Tabitha Arthur; Design:  Tina Tiller)

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

Kurangaituku, the bird-woman, shows essa may ranapiri a new way to stand tall.
avatar
By essa may ranapiri | 25th January, 2022
Guest writer
Maurice Shadbolt’s studio, photographed in 2002 after he moved out (Photo: Sean Shadbolt)

Stephen Stratford bows out, brilliantly

Quite possibly the last essay by Stephen Stratford, the author, editor and critic who died in November.
avatar
By Stephen Stratford | 18th January, 2022
Guest writer

Sections

  • Society
  • Books
  • Sports
  • Media
  • Business
  • Kai
  • Internet
  • Partners
  • Science

Watch

  • Videos

    Members

    • Donate
    • Members terms

    About

    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • About us
    • Jobs
    • Use of Generative AI 

    Subscribe

    • Newsletters

    Events

    • Wellington
    • Auckland

    FOLLOW US

    DOWNLOAD THE APP

    Privacy PolicyThe Spinoff Members Terms and ConditionsThe Spinoff Advertising 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.

    © The Spinoff 2025
    ×
    ▼

    Loading...