With screeds of media coverage of self-help strange tie fan Jordan Peterson, Emily Writes ponders if there possibly might be anyone more interesting to get on your podcast.
Noted beef eater Jonathan Peitersen is almost literally covered in the excited juices of male journalists everywhere right now. You can’t avoid it even if you wanted to. This circle jerk over Joran Pelberson by men who look just like Gordon Spetersam is a sight to behold and I for one am loving it. It’s like when you find a cheeseburger in the gutter when you’re hungry. Delicious.
As much as I think mediocre dudes with huge followings on MRA Reddit deserve all the success in the world, I thought it would be useful to provide a list of people who don’t have old white guys gushing and panting through podcast interviews asking them where the best fedora outlet is. Just on the off-chance that they deserve some publicity far more than some guy whose great wisdom is “clean your room” and – apologies if I haven’t go this exactly right – “capture your farts in a cup, seal the lid and keep it under your bed for good luck”.
Writing, producing, directing, creating: it’s hard work, and usually if you don’t produce dross for shock you don’t get much publicity, especially not free publicity in every major news outlet. So let’s celebrate some creators who will never get featured due to their work being advocacy or art and not hot takes like “make up is sexual” and “have women ever done anything great probably not LOL AM I RITE DOODS” (number 11 in his acclaimed bestseller 53 ways with Beef).
Feel free to have any of these people on your podcast slash man radio man station.
Veranoa Puketapu Hetet (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa and Ngāti Maniapoto) is a revered weaver. She runs the Hetet School of Māori Art. Veranoa has a BA in Maori Design and Art, an advanced certificate in Tertiary teaching and more than 30 years experience teaching Maori weaving. She has taught in various tertiary institutions including Te Wananga o Raukawa and several Polytechnics. You can learn from her online or at her events.
Nadine Ann Hura (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi) has a background in journalism, education policy and kaupapa Māori research. Her astonishing essays have been published on E-Tangata, this very website, and all over New Zealand. Her essays explore themes of identity, biculturalism, politics and parenting and I see a book in her future that will win multiple awards.
Hadassah Grace’s new collection of poetry How To Take Off Your Clothes is being published by Dead Bird Books. It has already been described as “Beautifully expressive in its simplicity, this is such clever writing. Draws the reader in with layers of subtle yet sublime analogy.”
Lesley Chu is the founder of the Wellington Chinese Women’s Association.The association began as a playgroup that Lesley started. It now has more than 350 members, and supports new Chinese migrants settling in the Wellington region.
Wellington’s very own GAG Drag Collective have booked Drag Race Season 9 and All Stars S3 contestant Aja! Why not chat to a member of the incredible GAG Drag Collective about the capital scene or their fundraising efforts for Outline. Hariel, Claire Voyant, Tess Tosterone, Stabitha, Luna, Kelly Fornia, Indy Pendant, Scarlett Adams, Harlie Lux, House of Drag’s Vulga Titz, Amy Thurst, Mike Litoris, Yonic K, Timothy Taffy, Blu Virtue- The Bombay Bombshell, Angel Ace and Anglebert Humpermink are currently on the Gag books.
Stevie Hancox-Monk is a Wellington-based actor and improviser. She graduated from Victoria University with Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and French, and currently works at Active Youth Service (a vocational service for intellectually disabled youth). She has been involved with Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand since a young age, and travelled to the Globe as part of the SGCNZ Young Shakespeare Company in 2012. She has, since then, continued to be involved with the festival by running the Special Sessions for non-performers at the SGCNZ National UOSWSF. She’s playing Hamlet in the 35th Wellington Summer Shakespeare production of Hamlet.
Kiki Van Newtown is one half of the Wellington-based rock duo Hex. They recently performed at South by SouthWest and were included in the NPR SXSW 2018 Hottest 100: “HEX calls its sound “witch-rock,” and damned if it doesn’t sound like witch-rock: dark and sinister, gritty and ethereal, muscular and feminine”. Their new album The Hill Temple is getting rave reviews.
Kristine Bartlett is an equal pay campaigner who won New Zealander of the Year. Kristine’s fight for fair pay (after working at a rest home for 24 years for only $14.46 an hour) took her all the way to the Supreme Court and took five years. With her union E tu she won equal pay for 55,000 care and support workers in an exhausting five year fight for women’s rights.
Mary Biggs is the Operations Manager of the wonderful Featherston Booktown. While parenting four children and running her own business, Mary is the heart and soul of the 2018/19 event which transforms sweet Featherston into a thriving literary centre. It’s an absolutely huge amount of fun that rolls around in May each year.
Tayi Tibble (Te Whānau ā Apanui/Ngāti Porou)is an unstoppable force whose first collection of poetry Poūkahangatus has a cult following. In 2017 she completed a Masters in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington, where she was the recipient of the Adam Foundation Prize.
Farida Sultana is the founder of the Shakti Community Council New Zealand and Australia.When Farida Sultana came to New Zealand in 1995 she didn’t intend to set up the Shakti Women’s Network but she quickly saw a great need for the service. Originally from Bangladesh, Farida endured an extremely controlling and abusive marriage, she has devoted her life to supporting women. Over 23 years, the Support Group has grown from the confines of one tiny room to a national umbrella organisation with 8 centres and 5 refuges covering Central, West and South Auckland, North Island Central and South Island. Shakti’s services include a 24-hour domestic violence intervention service for women and other social services for immigrant families.
Dame Margaret Sparrow DNZM MBE New Zealand medical doctor, reproductive rights advocate, author and she has dedicated her life to supporting people with the reproductive health and rights. She was the president of Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1984 until 2011 and the Wellington Family Planning clinic on Victoria Street is named after her.
Mica Still is a phenomenon. Her art work is breath-taking but she’s also an incredibly compassionate and respected advocate for others. She is a much loved Wellington-based artist who has been colouring in our city with stunning murals for the last seven years. Despite experiencing debilitating symptoms of chronic health conditions, she works so hard for others.
Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw affectionately known as Dr Jess to a heap of NZ women is a researcher, author, writer, and public policy and science communicator. In 2017 Jess published Pennies from Heaven, a book that investigates the most effective policy actions for moving families and children out of poverty. She is co-director of think-and-do tank The Workshop and her book A Matter of Fact: Talking Truth in a Post-Truth World, explores the science of communicating and presents innovative ways to talk effectively (and empathetically) about contentious information.
Lyndee-Jane Rutherford is a national treasure, award-winning TV and theatre actor turned director. She’s just had a four week run at Circa of Rants in the Dark which she adapted from the book of the same name by moi.
Sarah Forster and Jane Arthur, Thalia Kehoe Rowden are co-founders and editor respectively of the amazing children’s literature website The Sapling. All are parents – they run The Sapling out of love, not money, which means they pay contributors, not themselves. Theirs is a home to amazing stories for children, supporting parents and friends to instill a love of reading and celebrate great kids Lit.
Dr Siouxsie Wiles is a microbiologist tackling the crisis of antibiotic resistance. She’s head of the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland and her book Antibiotic Resistance: The End of Modern Medicine? is an incredible call to action.
That’s just a selection off the top of my head. Tell us who else should be on the list by emailing info@thespinoff.co.nz. Unfortunately an overactive spam filter means we may not receive any feedback explaining why Jordan Peterson actually is the greatest.