Culture
Sound Check: HIGH HØØPS on how NZ music can emerge stronger from Covid
The music industry is suffering, but it might emerge from this pandemic stronger than before.
Sound Check: Randa rejects the productivity myth
And they talk gender identity, and dealing with OCD before and during Covid.
Here's our award-winning stories
Last night at the Voyager Media Awards we won in three different categories. So we're going to toot our own horns and show off our award-winning…
Disruptors 4: The quiet persistence of theatre life in lockdown
In this special fourth episode of Disruptors, recorded in the depths of lockdown, four theatre practitioners reflect on what happens when the disruption in their work…
Disruptors 3: The problem with having a seat at the table
Episode three of Disruptors pairs up the incoming and outgoing producers-in-residence at Basement Theatre – Elyssia Wilson-Heti and Alice Kirker. If, like us, you’re still a…
Disruptors 2: Sarita Das and Alice Canton on the transformative power of art
Sarita Das sets out to make art to “feel less alone”, and “more connected to the giant existence that is being human”. The Tāmaki Makaurau theatre…
Sound Check: Folk singer Holly Arrowsmith is rebuilding a housebus and her dreams
All of Holly's shows for the year are cancelled, so now she's turning an old bus into a house.
Live music's fight to survive Covid-19
It's estimated the NZ live music industry has lost $68 million due to Covid-19. Musicians, venue owners and all those who love music are rallying us…
Sound Check: Indie-pop duo Imugi 이무기
Yery and Carl tell us how they're looking after themselves as the music industry slows down.
Melodownz turned self-affirmations into a catchy hook
During a rough time in his life, Melodownz repeated positive affirmations to himself in the mirror. Then he realised the mantras made a pretty sweet hook.…
Sound Check: Merk carries on
We check in with artists who were on the verge of breakthroughs - before a global pandemic happened.
How Zoë Bell got 37 of the world's most famous women to fight
You might've seen the BOSS BITCH FIGHT CHALLENGE on your social feeds. Zoë Bell tells us how she got a bunch of impressive stuntwomen and celebs…
Release of the Week: Kita takes us into 89 lockdown houses around the globe in their latest video
There are fewer phrases more appropriate to this moment than “try to find a way”.
When Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant , Ed Zuccollo and Rick Cranson of Wellington…
Ramadan in lockdown has been 'very different'
With the country in lockdown, this is the first time New Zealand’s Muslim community is observing Ramadan without access to a mosque.
“This year, Ramadan has been…
5 things we learnt about JessB in our IG live chat
It's NZ Music Month and we're having lunchtime chats on the gram with NZ artists! First up, we talk durags from AliExpress and being creative during…
Five young artists tell us what they’ve been making in lockdown
If you're not an essential worker, there's plenty of time to spare while we stay at home. Arwen Sommer talks to five Kiwis who are using…
Comedian James Roque teaches us his favourite Filipino eggplant recipe from lockdown
Comedian and writer James Roque shows us how to make a "very traditional/lazy Filipino meal" called tortang talong (eggplant omelette) paired with garlic fried rice. To…
How to make the best easiest no-knead bread
Re: head of content Anna Harcourt has been making this bread every weekend for the past year, and now flour is finally back in supermarkets, you…
What bread says about our food security
Flour is finally back on the shelves after nearly a month of lockdown. While New Zealand is self-sufficient with milk, meat, fruit and vegetables, it turns…
Global snapshots of Covid-19
While New Zealand is in lockdown and America erupts into protest, other countries are coming to grips with Covid-19 in different ways. Here is a selection…
A poem to help us process our frustration and anxiety right now
In just a few weeks, many of us went from feeling more or less secure in our livelihoods to losing them. The rest of us are…
Comedian Johanna Cosgrove teaches us her favourite 2-ingredient recipe from lockdown
For some reason, staying confined to our homes has rendered us all bread makers and comedian Johanna Cosgrove is no exception. She shows us how to…
How Church & AP are making it work during Covid-19
“There’s not a lot of interesting things in the world to talk about right now apart from Covid-19,” says Church from the Tāmaki Makaurau rap duo…
Yes, Tiger King is misogynist, but there’s more to it.
The men in Tiger King couldn’t hate women more if they tried, argues Jean Sergent. But our obsession with whether Carol Baskin killed her husband is…
New music release: Paige colours her wairua yellow
Imagine the aura or the energy that you’re giving off right now. If that aura had a colour, what would it be?
Auckland singer-songwriter Paige has released…
New release: Adam Hattaway and the Haunters’ “woozy swamp ballad” hits the spot
“I want to make music that's classic and kind of hits the spot,” says Adam Hattaway.
There’s a repeated motif in Adam Hattaway and the Haunters’ new…
How burlesque helps break down the rules of gender
"Wearing heels makes my legs bulge and my muscles ripple in ways that they don't in flat shoes. I feel more masculine." We visit burlesque dancer…
New release: How to be The Beths in four easy steps!
The Beths make music that is jubilant, neurotic, carefree and anxious. I revisited their debut album Future Me Hates Me during a state-sanctioned walk around my…
A very scientific analysis of Covid memes with comedian Chris Parker
It’s natural to turn to humour in times of darkness. Here, we rank eight Covid-19 memes with comedian Chris Parker.
If you haven’t seen at least one…
Release of the Week: Auckland R&B singer-songwriter Jordan Gavet is both baby and baddie
One rhinestone-encrusted hair clip reads ‘BADDIE VIBES’. The other reads ‘HONEY BABY’. In the opening of her new music video, directed by Shae Sterling, Jordan Gavet…