The Best Of

Vincent-O&#8217;Sullivan

We remember one of Aotearoa's towering literary figures.

Vale Vincent O’Sullivan, 1937-2024

FeatureImage_HealthStarScam2.png

National may scrap the system critics call a marketing ploy. Is it delivering what it says on the box?

Is the health star system past its use-by date?

FeatureImage_NgaioMarshHouse-2.png

Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own. 

Inside the home of New Zealand’s greatest crime writer

W411Q7n3-ode-to-muesli.png

Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. 

An ode to the muesli bar, a national treasure

BYO-Wellington.png

Wondering where to host your next BYO in the capital? Whether it's a small gathering or a massive party, we've got some recommendations. 

A guide to Wellington’s best BYO restaurants

Table-and-Chairs-in-Garden.png

What does a forever relationship look like when you don't believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it?

Dreaming of my not-wedding day

FeatureImage_LouiseWallace-Ash.png

An early and strong contender for book of the year. 

Page-turning rural gothic: Ash by Louise Wallace, reviewed

Feature-Image-Popstars-3.png

'I just remember seeing them live for the first time and thinking to myself: This is it. This is the reason. This is what life is all about.'

‘It was my Eras tour’: Meet the world’s biggest TrueBliss fans

FeatureImage_LabourDidIt.png

Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change.

Labour has forgotten it was in government

gangnumbers.png

Rising membership has been cited as rationale for a crackdown, but this is what we actually know about gang numbers.

Have gang numbers really ‘skyrocketed’ in recent years?

Shanti-cruise-ships.png

Why Restore Passenger Rail has set its sights on stopping cruise ships

Bikes-Public-transport1.png

Buses will replace trains on weekends in Wellington for the next 10-15 years. But there are a few things to look forward to while we wait. 

A list of transport projects Wellington could actually deliver in the next 10-15 years

HousingisHard.png

Trust me, I know: I’ve been living in a damp, violent hotel in central Auckland for six months and counting.

There’s no need to make emergency housing harder. It’s hard enough already

Tunnels ranking.png

An essential guide to all the holes you can drive through in this country.

All 29 road tunnels in New Zealand ranked from worst to best

petrol.jpg

Of course I wind down my window at the lights to profess my love to the strangers in the black De Tomaso Pantera. And of course they accommodate me with amused grins.

Confessions of an unlikely petrolhead

EmailNotification.png

I was one of hundreds of people who lost my government job this week. Here's exactly how it played out.

What it’s like to be made redundant by the Ministry of Education

HMH_FeatureImage.png

They pressured me to have children, and I had two. Now they won't lift a finger. 

Help Me Hera: My parents won’t help out with my kids

Kidswithdavidontheirminds-1.png

Mild headache? School. Severe headache? Home. Don't know how to read your kid's mind? That's your problem.

How to tell if your child is well enough to go to school or is in fact sick

shortsightedness.png

Shortsightedness in kids is skyrocketing overseas. Is New Zealand next?

Staring down the ‘silent epidemic’ of myopia in children

Copy-of-Copy-of-Tinas-Test-Feature-image-2.png

'People always joke that they hope I never contact them. Because for blokes, it's probably the child they never knew about. And for women, it’s probably the child they’ve never spoken about.'

‘One hell of a shock’: Why not everyone wants flowers from David Lomas

Untitled-design-17.png

People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what's important about the institution?

Why I told a cop about my lasagne and what it’s got to do with the media

The-Moon-Is-Upside-Down-Poster-Art.jpg

This 'existential cathartic dramedy' from Eagle vs Shark's Loren Taylor is unlike anything this country has ever produced.

The star-studded New Zealand movie you need to see as soon as possible

FeatureImage_Phones-in-the-house.png

Imagine how much more productive the government could be without the hypnotic glow of all that screen time? 

Where else should phones be banned? The most unruly classroom of all – parliament

dog-food-burger-use.png

Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. 

Is cooking with dog food instead of meat actually fine? I gave it a go

HMH-monkey-melon.png

He's fine but it feels like I'm losing a friend and it's making me bitter. How do I say 'enough is enough'? 

Help Me Hera: My friend’s boyfriend Steve is always, always, always around

Bulletin-010524.jpg

Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won't be enough to move the needle on interest rates. 

Unemployment up, business confidence down

FeatureImageWorking_co-housing-Wellington.png

We thought we were starting a revolution of urban, modern, high amenity, socially connected housing. Here's what went wrong, and how the idea could still succeed.

My co-housing project failed, but I still think it’s a great idea

FeatureImage_ForeshoreSeabed.png

Two decades ago this week, 15,000 people marched to parliament in a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga. 

A new generation of activism: Marking 20 years since the foreshore and seabed hīkoi

BooksConfessional_UnityEden.png

The bookseller confessional delves into unusual requests, books not to read on a full stomach and more.

‘There is some properly foul content in this book’: What a bookseller reads

Summer reissue: New Zealand is one of the worst countries in the world at providing parental leave to partners. Why do we expect one parent to do it all alone? The Side Eye investigates.

strong

The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. 

Side-Eye-50-Missing-Dads-Feature-Image.jpg

New Zealand is among the worst in the world at offering parental leave for partners. Why do we expect one parent to do it all alone?

The Spinoff

The Best OfJanuary 8, 2024

The Side Eye: Case of the missing dads

Loading...