Had the leaders of the National Party contented themselves with simply promising more resources for police along with a long-overdue boost of $40 million for drug dependence services (including a very welcome 1500 new inpatient beds), their announcement today would…
The medical cannabis question from a cancer survivor in last night's leaders' debate was an absolute gift for Jacinda Ardern, and she didn't miss. Her swift, succinct "Yes" was everything Bill English's uncomfortable, qualified answer wasn't. ¶ It was also effective…
It is with unbridled pleasure, a great deal of nervousness and unending thanks to Russell that we are happy to say, "Welcome!" to our newest channel of the Access Granted NZ, "your weekly tech and media podcast" ¶ The "we" is…
The ostensible topic of last night's Media Take show was Mike Hosking's awful performance over who can vote for the Māori Party (answer: anyone, of course). But, especially in the extended "open floor" korero, it developed into a frank, intriguing…
Things are heating up ahead of next Friday's The Others Way Festival. Sneaky Feelings first album in forever, Progress Junction, is released on the day of their warmup show at Hamilton's Nivara Lounge next Wednesday. It's a canny collection of…
There has, for obvious and understandable reasons, been much talk about polls in this election campaign. But amid the hubbub, a few key questions have gone missing. Primarily: where are all the polls at? ¶ Since the last general election in…
I confess, it had escaped me that there had not been a Disasteradio album for seven years. It's not as if Luke Rowell had been idle: he's made a bunch of records as his alter-ego Eyeliner in that time. But…
For the past decade and a bit, I've been working as a computer technician and sales rep. During that time, I've seen the desktop and laptop computer go from being the main method people get on the Internet, to an…
Orcon IRL’s election special took place Sunday evening, and it was a right time. Kiri Allan mesmerised crowds in te reo. Stephen Berry knocked Rock Enrol. Chloe Swarbrick spoke of a Green future. And I disrespected Russell’s authority and went…
What is synthetic cannabis? Why is it even called that? Where does it come from? What's the extent of the problem in New Zealand? And why have we seen a spate of deaths linked to these products in Auckland? ¶ The…
It was only because I happened to see a tweet that I clicked through last Friday to the first live stream of Neil Finn and and friends as they record his forthcoming album, Out of Silence, at Roundhead Studios – and…
It was a deep irony that the final push for the decision of Metiria Turei to end her Parliamentary career appears to have come from Checkpoint, a programme whose people have so often weighed in behind the vulnerable New Zealanders…
Jacinda Ardern opened her transport policy speech yesterday, as she should, with a mihi to the tangata whenua. And then she did something interesting: a specific shout-out to three Auckland transport advocacy groups – Greater Auckland, Generation Zero and Bike Auckland.…
We don't really want our politicans to be honest. Not really honest, omitting nothing, because we all omit things about ourselves, especially about our deep histories. We simply don't want to know everything about the past when we vote in…
During my mercifully brief period in music PR – and I emphasise that brevity was a mercy to all concerned – there was an NME writer who wanted everything on cassette. ¶ It was a practical matter: he lived a fair way from…
Kia ora! We're staging one of our Orcon IRL talk events at Golden Dawn from 4pm to 7pm on Sunday, August 13 – and, as it says in the title above, it's about New Zealand's impending general election. ¶ I'll be hosting…
A friend of mine who works as a broadcast soundie has always hated doing Andrew Little. Not because he dislikes the man personally, my friend explained, but because his voice is so hard to get right in the mix. No…
When we use the word "infrastructure", we often do so with some idea of magnitude unspoken in our heads. Infrastructure is big, not human-sized, utilitarian rather than merely handy. It is about things, not people; serious rather than delightful. ¶ And…
In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British Crown and the indigenous Māori population of Aotearoa New Zealand. Its principles promised partnership, participation and protection. However, colonialism was largely negative for Māori and two centuries later they…
Sneaky Feelings announced this week that they'd be reconvening as a full live band for the first time in 22 years – on a Wednesday night in Hamilton. It seemed highly likely that there would be other shows in the pipeline…
In Nigeria, they call it Black Mamba, and the papers report it's causing "convulsions, kidney failure and a ‘zombie-like’ state of intoxication that can lead to death." In Mumbai, kids are flocking to "Spice" because it doesn't show up in…
According to a statement issued today by the Chief Coroner and the police, seven deaths in the past month in Auckland have been linked to the use of "synthetic cannabis". A follow-up report in the Herald has more bad news:…
In the days before email, when even toll calls were prohibitively priced, we would write each other letters. Rambling affairs, typed single-space (yes, some of us had typewriters – we weren't cave people) and full of news, gossip and extravagant ironic…
Paul Oremland was born gay in a New Zealand where homosexual conduct was a criminal offence, to deeply religious parents who regarded it as a mortal sin. Not long after a disastrous attempt to pray away the gay by studying…
Responses to Metiria Turei's confession of historic benefit fraud have fallen along the lines you would expect. The usual suspects on the right have leapt on it, others have expressed sympathy and the range of opinions on the political wisdom…