The Spinoff’s favourite TV shows of 2025
From the modern horrors of Adolescence to the campy twists of The Celebrity Traitors UK, here’s everything we…
The beep test: ‘Ritual humiliation’ or efficient fitness appraisal?
You probably did it at high school. Your kid probably did too. But why? *BEEP*: Wait, what’s happening?…
How hard is it to eat enough vegetables? Pretty hard
The vast majority of New Zealanders fall short of the recommended five servings of vegetables a day, according…
The cost of being: A creative with ‘wildly varied’ annual income
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an arts sector creative…
When art is life: the exhaustive (and sometimes exhausting) Chris Knox biography, reviewed
Claire Mabey reads Not Given Lightly, Craig Robertson’s long-awaited biography of iconic, contradictory artist Chris Knox. Where do…
An ode to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Bee Trudgeon has had a lifelong love affair with CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.…
What is ‘dark academia’ – and why is it having a moment?
Claire Mabey unpacks the not-quite-a-genre of dark academia: its features, themes and examples. What is dark academia? “Dark…
Why was I so riled by Don’t Worry About the Robots?
Erin Harrington unpacks the frustration she felt at a Word Christchurch event aiming to demystify generative AI. Literary…
What would Sarah Jessica Parker think of Carrie Bradshaw’s novel?
Claire Mabey dissects the fragments of Carrie Bradshaw’s historical novel and wonders what Booker Prize 2025 judge Sarah…
The New Zealand Youth Choir global award shows there’s soft power in more than just sports
The New Zealand Youth Choir was recently awarded the title of ‘Choir of the World’ at the Llangollen…