The Spinoff guide to life: How to return home like a pro this summer
City slickers can antagonise whānau when they head home for the break – often without any idea they’re…
Sorry, but 2025 wasn’t actually cursed
Each December we ritually declare the year to be cursed. But is the hex on the year, or…
I was ashamed to grow up in a council house. Now, I feel lost without it
Love made Yawynne Yem self-conscious about living in a Wellington council house. But years on, she wishes she…
Help Me Hera: A festive miscellany of advice
A smorgasbord of wisdom for almost every possible situation. Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz or fill…
The cost of being: A self-employed couple ‘getting very close to retirement’
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a nearly-retired company director…
A plea from house-price hell: don’t let the nimbys win
A visiting urbanist from California is sharing a cautionary tale from his home state, and urging New Zealand…
Living with stigma, state inaction: What it’s like for some of Indonesia’s HIV-positive kids
December 15, 2025 SOLO, CENTRAL JAVA – The squat, one-storey school building near the Bengawan Solo (Solo River)…
How many phones will stop working after New Zealand’s 3G shutdown?
From the end of March 2026, New Zealand will no longer have a 3G network. What does that…
Meet ‘the brown Karen’ who keeps taking Apple to the Disputes Tribunal – and winning
A maddening tale of one man’s fight for his rights against one of the world’s biggest tech firms. …
Society Insider: Luxury lodge designer Virginia Fisher plans downsize from $25m waterfront mansion; real estate star Megan Jaffe sells up
She and husband Stephen, chairman of the Spirit of Adventure Trust, have owned the Sarsfield St property for…
Alternative communication apps for teens surge in the Australian charts as kids move from banned platforms
Alternative social media platforms have surged to the top of Apple’s App Store as young people flock to…
The Clarke Gayford and Christopher Luxon guide to festive fashion
Mismatched couple fits are a Kiwi tradition, and what better time to embrace tradition than Christmas? Attending the…