Register for Monthly Updates about Kiwis Rocking the World
Archive >> April 2015
Scrabble Genius Nigel Richards’ Talent Helping Science
The boardgame Scrabble is giving psychologists a better understanding of the underpinnings of complex skill and a clearer picture of the origins of greatness. New Zealander Nigel Richards is…
For the Sake of Britain James Cook Amended NZ Map
In an extract from a paper called, “Political Captain Cook” by Australian lawyer Margaret Cameron-Ash, Cook’s decision in 1770 to misrepresent Stuart Island as a peninsula is discussed.
“Like every…
Fight Song: The X Factor NZ
Listen to the X Factor NZ Top 12 contestants as they collaborate and record a charity single with proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House…
Jess Cornelius Releases New Track Ahead of Courtney Barnett Tour
“New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Jess Cornelius is the tour de force behind Teeth & Tongue, and returns with a rollicking new track ‘Cupcake’,” Monica Tan writes for the Guardian’s…
Country Star Marlon Williams Takes to the Road
New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Marlon Williams will tour Australia and his home country in support of his just-released, critically acclaimed self-titled debut album.
“A free-ranging complement to the assured country…
Slow West – Actors Discuss the New Western
Actors Kodi-Smit McPhee and Ben Mendelsohn discuss their new movie Slow West which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Sundance Institute’s World…
Chilli Head Chris Cullen Concocts New Sauce for NY Expo
New Zealand chef-turned-entrepreneur Chris Cullen seems to have hot sauce running in his veins, judging from the passionate way he speaks about one of America’s hottest food trends, the…
Louis Baker Takes Flight with New EP Birds
The “impressive” New Zealand-born songwriter Louis Baker’s new EP Birds will be released in the United Kingdom on 29 June. Clash magazine premieres the title track.
Continually observing the world…
Kimbra Plays at California’s Coachella
Singer Kimbra was a headline act at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, included alongside big names like Florence and the Machine, Caribou, FKA Twigs…
Google Doodle Honours Detective Novelist Ngaio Marsh
New Zealand-born crime writer and theatre director Dame Ngaio Marsh who wrote during the “golden age” of detective novels was celebrated on 23 April 2015 with a Google Doodle.
Marsh,…
New Zealand Final – Rip Curl GromSearch 2014-2015 New Zealand Series
The final stop of the Rip Curl GromSearch saw plenty of action in clean waves at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth, Taranaki with six new…
Russell Crowe’s Water Diviner a Story Only He Could Tell
Growing up a New Zealander-Australian, Russell Crowe, 51, was intimately familiar with the Dardanelles Campaign, a veritable slaughterhouse battle over a tiny Turkish peninsula also known as Gallipoli. In…
Keeping the Anzac Memory Alive
Tableau vivant installation The Unforgotten Soldiers has toured New Zealand as a tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers, who fought 100 years ago in…
Ode to the Fallen – ANZAC Day
The New Zealand Herald presents the video of the RSA Ode to the Fallen (Laurence Binyon), to remember fallen servicepersons, and is recited every…
Rugby Remembers Anzacs in the True Spirit of Their Sacrifice
The rugby community paid tributes to the Anzacs, who had lost their lives during World War One over the course of the Anzac weekend.
On Friday, April 24 at Waikato…
Sundance TV Launches The Red Road Prequel Graphic Novel
Sundance TV’s acclaimed drama The Red Road, starring New Zealander Martin Henderson “has gotten off to quite the intense start” in its newly released second season according to
WETA Digital Helped to Complete Paul Walker’s Scenes for ‘Fast & Furious 7’
WETA Digital has helped to finish current box office hit Fast and Furious 7 after movie star Paul Walker passed away in a car accident halfway through the filming.
Walker’s…
The Legend of the Anzac Biscuit
The first published record of the Anzac biscuit, whose origin is “shrouded in myth” was in a New Zealand St Andrew’s Cookery Book published around 1922.
The legend of the…
Peter Jackson Helps History Come Alive in New Zealand
Peter Jackson has helped to create an exhibition to mark the Centenary of the First World War at New Zealand’s Te Papa museum with the support of…
New Zealand Brothers in Arms to Be Remembered in Australia
A greater New Zealand focus will be introduced at this week’s Anzac Day services in Mount Gambier.
“I don’t know why this hasn’t been done before (…). We really have…
Australia and New Zealand to Mark ANZAC Day in Manila
Australia and New Zealand will jointly commemorate the centenary of the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign in Manila in the Philippines at a dawn service, which will be held in Fort…
Building Gallipoli Episode 1
Behind the scenes of the episode 1 of the exhibition “Building Gallipoli with Te Papa & Weta Workshop. The exhibition consists of movies, model-making,…
New Zealanders in Gallipoli 100 Surf Boat Marathon
More than 30 surf boat crews from around the world will pay tribute to the sacrifices of young soldiers 100 years ago as they take part in a marathon…
Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf’s Powerful Partnership
Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf are included in a list of literary “titans” who banded together as penpals whilst they produced the classics.
“Before Woolf was lionised she shared an…
Keisha Castle-Hughes Starring in Game of Thrones Season Five
New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes has joined the Game of Thrones cast in the series’ fifth season, which has just kicked off in the US and New Zealand.
Castle-Hughes is…
ANZAC Memorial Video on NZ National War Memorial Bell Tower 2015
An amazing video projected onto The Bell Tower at the National War Museum, Wellington, New Zealand, in the lead up to the 100th Anniversary…
Sam Neill Remembers Fallen Family in Why Anzac
In one pivotal scene from Sam Neill’s thoughtful and moving examination of the Anzac legend, the ABC documentary Why Anzac, he approaches his grandfather’s grave in Lijssenthoek Cemetery, Belgium…
Rocket Lab Deems Space Open for Business
A New Zealand rocket company, founded by inventor Peter Beck in 2007, says it has found a way to drastically cut the cost of satellite launches, by 3D printing…
Gallipoli Film Restored By Peter Jackson
Take a Look at this rare Gallipoli film restored by Peter Jackson for The Auckland War Memorial Museum’s special week of activities leading up…
All Blacks Thrashing of USA Eagles a Big Money-Spinner
The first rugby match in the United States for the All Blacks in over three decades helped TLA Worldwide, an American athlete representation and sports marketing business, report a…
Attica Chef and Forager Ben Shewry’s Plates Didactic
New Zealander Ben Shewry’s role at Melbourne’s Attica is lauded in the Sydney Morning Herald, with the restaurant named one of reviewer Terry Durack’s top 12 in Australia.
“No, you…
Failepou Peni’s Label Lapou to Unveil New Collection
New Zealand-born designer Failepou Peni’s resort wear label Lapou will showcase new collections at the Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival on 17 October.
Lepou specialise in figure flattering resort…
Shushila Takao Stars in Cook Island-Set Thriller Tatau
Like many of the cast of BBC3’s new supernatural thriller Tatau, Shushila Takao is a New Zealander. She stars alongside British newcomers Joe Layton and Theo Barklem-Biggs…
Neil Finn with Jim Carter Commemorating Anzac Day 2015
Commemorating the centenary of the Gallipoli landing, Neil Finn and Jim Carter have re-recorded “Blue Smoke”, composed by Ruru Karaitiana in 1940. Jim Carter…
Heath Cozens’ Film on Japanese Disabled Wrestlers Premieres
A documentary about a small troupe of Tokyo wrestlers with disabilities made by New Zealander Heath Cozens will premiere at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto on 27…
Auckland May Well Be the World’s Edgiest City
Innovation happens on the edge and “you cannot get more on the edge than New Zealand,” according to the CEO of Auckland’s economic development group Brett O’Riley.
Auckland may be…
Richie Benaud’s career made possible by Timaru pharmicist
The cricketing career of Richie Benaud – Australian captain and the first man to take 200 wickets and score 2,000 runs in Tests – was had a critical intervention…
ANZAC Day Tribute
Archives New Zealand presents images of New Zealanders serving in the First World War at Gallipoli, Sinai/Palestine, and the Western European Front.
Award-Winning Correspondent Peter Arnett Speaks on War
Pulitzer-winning journalist New Zealander Peter Arnett spoke to a packed crowd at California State University in Fresno on his 50 years of reporting experience – from covering the Vietnam…
Lifestyle Coach Sene Naoupu Flexes Her Muscles in Ireland
When fitness and lifestyle coach New Zealander Sene Naoupu came to Ireland with her husband, Connaught Rugby’s George Naoupu, she had no idea that she would end up lining…
Contemplating the Rebuilding of Christchurch Cathedral
“Henry John Chitty Harper was the first bishop of Christchurch. He battled to build the Anglican cathedral that, for more than a century, was the city’s centrepiece, its greatest…
Ian North’s Antarctic Images Evoke Beauty and Terror of Our Era
The latest exhibition of Ian North’s work, “East Antarctica 1915”, demonstrates the Lower Hutt-born artist’s uncanny ability to tap into the zeitgeist of our socially fractured and culturally fragmented…
Stan Walker’s New Album Marks Becoming of Age
New Zealand soul singer Stan Walker, 24, is about to release his new album Truth & Soul, a collection of songs from icons like Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding….
Vicky Robertson Appointed New Environmental Chief in New Zealand
Former New Zealand hockey player Vicky Robertson has been appointed the new chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) by state services commissioner Iain Rennie.
As the Treasury’s…
Rocket Lab Unveils 3D-Printed, Battery-Powered Rocket Engine
Auckland-based commercial space company Rocket Lab has unveiled their 3D-printed battery-powered Rutherford engine.
The liquid-fueled, battery powered engine is capable of 4,600 pounds of thrust and…
Sophie Pascoe Breaks Paralympic World Record at New Zealand Open
Sophie Pascoe, a New Zealand superstar in the Paralympic swimming community, has broken her Paralympic world record of 1:03.95 in the 100 fly for the S10 division with a…
Wladimir Klitschko Getting Help from Joseph Parker
Undefeated #10 WBA heavyweight contender Joseph Parker has been helping out heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko with his sparring to get him ready for his upcoming fight against Bryant Jennings.
“He’s…
Rambo: The World’s First Octographer
“Rambo” the octopus at Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium in New Zealand has been trained to take photos with a Sony DSC-TX30 in his…
Hawke’s Bay – “A Must-Visit Corner of New Zealand”
“If you tell a Kiwi you’re off to (Hawkes Bay), they’ll respond with a knowing smile and a ‘you lucky thing’”, proclaims Will Macpherson in The Guardian.
“Rolling, sun-stained hills,…
Jemaine Clement Joins Steven Spielberg’s The BFG
Jemaine Clement is set to star in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The BFG alongside Penelope Wilton and Rebecca Hall.
“In more than 40 years of making movies, I…
Kody Nielson Is Another Exciting NZ Music Offering
New Zealand’s “most exciting offerings” of late, according to the Guardian, “have been the warped psychedelia of Connan Mockasin and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Completing this trio of peculiarity is…
Auckland and Kawau Island 1947
Watch this historical video presented by New Zealand National Film, New Zealand Diary no. 8 – Auckland and Kawau Island (1947). The short clip…
Rising Star of the Art World Simon Denny Exhibits at MoMA
New Zealand–born, Berlin-based Simon Denny, who is represented by one of New York’s most reputable galleries, Petzel, has opened his first American show “The Innovator’s Dilemma” at…
Sam and James O’Connor Row for Winning Oxford Team
New Zealand brothers Sam and James O’Connor have helped Oxford University beat Cambridge in the annual University Boat Races held on the River Thames in London.
Sam, 27, (pictured left)…
Leon Grice and Milou Dogged Diplomats in LA
New Zealand’s consul-general to Los Angeles Leon Grice and his Bichon Frisé Milou feature in Monocle’s “Ambassadogs” series.
“The eight-year-old, named after Tintin’s companion, has accompanied the Grice’s through Leon’s…
Dîner en Blanc, Auckland 2015
Dîner en Blanc originally launched with just a handful of friends by François Pasquier over 25 years ago in Paris. Now it is celebrated…
