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In 2023, Spinoff readers collectively spent over a year reading our most popular food stories. That's why we want to do more, and why we're asking for support.

Why we’re putting reader-funded work at the heart of our 2024 editorial programme

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After 12 years of painstaking restoration, a 160-year-old icon of Ōtautahi is finally open to stargazers once more. 

The ‘miracle’ survival story of Christchurch’s ‘munched’ telescope

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In times of difficulty, people have always found less powerful groups on whom to blame all of society's problems. 

The Side Eye: The trans tipping point

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My most regrettable purchase in the last 12 months? Clothes I never wear.

The cost of being: A 21-year-old flatting in Auckland

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We're paying 40% more for milk, cheese and eggs – and that's just the beginning. 

How much cheaper are groceries in Australia than New Zealand, really?

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Let's use Tusiata Avia’s '250th anniversary of James Cook’s arrival in New Zealand' as an example.

How to read a poem

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It may not be as fashionable as it used to be, but people are still buying military gear – if Sir Peter Jackson doesn't get to it first.

Soldiering on: Inside New Zealand’s last army surplus stores

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Co-governance is not another name for a masked intruder slipping into your home to steal what's yours. 

The prospect of co-governance sparks deep, irrational fears

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India's trains tell many stories – not least those of class and power. 

The Sunday Essay: I grew up riding trains across India

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From the Big Bang to Cyclone Gabrielle, everyone just needs to calm the f down.

Hot takes through the ages from Mike Hosking and Kate Hawkesby

Hosking and Hawkesby – hot takes through the ages

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A celebration of Joanah Ngan-Woo's World Cup-winning left hand.

I can’t stop thinking about The Hand

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Open banking would do much more for New Zealand’s bank customers than the vague threat of a loss of social licence ever could.

Banks really don’t need a social licence to operate. Open banking could change that

What is a social licence and why is it that banks absolutely do not need one?

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Elisa Rivera is learning to find the beauty in the balance of cultures within her whānau.

Embracing the inbetween cultures of my Puerto Rican, Pākehā, Māori family

Ben Gracewood

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We checked the health and economic data to see how NZ did over the whole pandemic against the USA, UK, Australia and more.

A report card: Eight charts that show how New Zealand managed the pandemic

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A new paper confirming the link between CTE and repetitive head injuries should be a watershed moment for sport… right?

Sport’s ‘Big Tobacco = lung cancer’ moment

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One of our most entertaining writers is back with a play about female bots. <br />
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How do you design the perfect woman?

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A story of innocence lost in Hamilton, 1973.

Fifty years of silence

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Why are we so bad at talking about wealth inequality?

The Side Eye’s Two New Zealands: The Table

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It can be hard to get back on your bike after a bruising, but it's worth it.

Feel the fear and cycle anyway

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Our failure belongs to my husband and me. We have failed to create life.

A letter to our biggest failure

Madeleine Chapman

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Our reviewers debate a new novel about a grieving copyeditor in London.

A hater and an enthusiast review The Royal Free by Carl Shuker

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It would be a more wonderful time of year if I knew there was no exploitation under the Christmas tree.

All I want for Christmas is modern day slavery legislation

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As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television.

‘We were as famous as Tom Cruise’: Craig Parker on 90s Shortland St fandom

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'I want to check in at the pearly gates and have them say, ‘theres nothing left here, he’s worn to a nub, put it in the bin’.'

‘I prioritise the mission, not my health’: Adam McGrath’s perfect weekend playlist

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'It’s just so lovely to see a dog again.'

The rescue dog bringing joy to Christchurch retirement homes

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The Friday Poem: ‘Bejeweled log’ by Holly Fletcher

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The 2024 Christmas cliffhanger screens on Monday, and you can expect the final episode to be bigger and badder than ever before. 

The one episode of Shortland Street you need to watch this year

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The bestselling books of the year, revealed.

The Unity Books bestseller chart for 2024

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A couple of weeks after Spotify Wrapped comes a much more comprehensive survey of New Zealand’s listening.

The real NZ Wrapped: Analysing the 2024 NZ Music charts

In times of difficulty throughout history, people have found less powerful groups on whom to blame society’s problems. 

 asks if trans people are simply the latest in a long line of scapegoats.

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

The Spinoff

MembersMay 2, 2023

The Side Eye: The trans tipping point

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