News of New Zealanders via Global Media

New Zealand Clears Historical Gay Sex Convictions

New Zealand Clears Historical Gay Sex Convictions

The New Zealand parliament has unanimously passed a bill that is expected to allow about 1000 men to apply to have past convictions for homosexual activity removed from their criminal records. Homosexuality was decriminalised in…

Gamer Andrew Barrow Wins Score Wars in Santa Fe

Gamer Andrew Barrow Wins Score Wars in Santa Fe

New Zealander Andrew Barrow, 29, is the new Galaga World Champion after winning the top prize at immersive art gallery Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The objective of Galaga is to rack up…

Britain’s Sunday Times Interviews Jacinda Ardern

Britain’s Sunday Times Interviews Jacinda Ardern

This week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to arrive in the UK for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, and will see both Theresa May and the Queen. She knows England…

Māhia World’s Best Spot for Rocket Launching

Māhia World’s Best Spot for Rocket Launching

“The Māhia Peninsula has been a holidaymakers’ haven for decades. It offers sandy beaches, hot springs and scenic trails. And, for those of a technological mindset, it also offers the world’s first private orbital-rocket-launching…

Keith Murdoch a Giant Who Never Made It Home

Keith Murdoch a Giant Who Never Made It Home

Keith Murdoch, who has died in Australia, aged 74, played just three Tests for the All Blacks, but his name was etched in New Zealand rugby folklore after he became a recluse in the…

Karen Walker’s Monumental Challenge to Masculinity

Karen Walker’s Monumental Challenge to Masculinity

Israel Adesanya, 28, a UFC fighter, stars in a new fashion campaign for New Zealand designer Karen Walker, in which the pair tackles the concept of masculinity while promoting Walker’s new eyewear collection. While most…

Escape to Nature in Cosy Pods in New Zealand

Escape to Nature in Cosy Pods in New Zealand

“Travellers seeking a mix of rustic, unspoilt charm and relaxation with a touch of luxury” should consider travelling to Te Wepu Intrepid Pods in New Zealand, writes James Gabriel Martin…

In the Two Paddocks Man Cave with Sam Neill

In the Two Paddocks Man Cave with Sam Neill

Peaky Blinders star Sam Neill speaks to the Financial Times about his New Zealand oasis, Jacinda Ardern and tech titans buying bolt holes against catastrophe. At Two Paddocks, the vineyard and farm which Neill bought…

Hanging out with India Yelich in New York City

Hanging out with India Yelich in New York City

You’d think that spending your adolescence watching your sister – in this case, Lorde – become a world-famous pop princess might make you insecure, but 19-year-old India Yelich says no: She swears she won’t…

8 Degrees’ Brewer Scott Baigent an Irish Favourite

8 Degrees’ Brewer Scott Baigent an Irish Favourite

“If you were to run a poll about Ireland’s best loved New Zealander, there’s no doubt that a certain Mr J Schmidt would enjoy a greater landslide than a Russian election victory,” according to…

Ngaio Marsh’s Inspector Alleyn Continues to Impress

Ngaio Marsh’s Inspector Alleyn Continues to Impress

Dame Ngaio Marsh’s skilfully completed “continuation novel”, set in a New Zealand hospital, is an exquisite reminder of the brilliance of Marsh’s London detective Inspector Alleyn, Sophie Hannah writes in a review of the…

Model Lili Sumner Shares Top Beauty Secrets

Model Lili Sumner Shares Top Beauty Secrets

Whether she’s walking the runways of Miu Miu and Sonia Rykiel or gracing the inside pages of W, New Zealand-born model Lili Sumner has quickly become one of the most recognisable faces in fashion. Known…

Treading Grapes With Angela Osborne in California

Treading Grapes With Angela Osborne in California

California didn’t always produce top-quality Grenache, but these Central Coast growers, including New Zealand-born Angela Osborne, are changing that by focusing on varietal bottlings to produce terroir-driven wines on par with top-shelf Pinot Noirs…

Auckland Is Becoming a Global Dining Powerhouse

Auckland Is Becoming a Global Dining Powerhouse

“Rather than thinking of Auckland as a progressive cultural hub, people envision its glistening harbors, lush green mountains, and untouched islands just off its coastline. But Auckland has become one of the most innovative…

Albert Mateni Brings the Hearts of Men to Life

Albert Mateni Brings the Hearts of Men to Life

New Zealand-born Tongan, Albert Mateni, 26, aims to inspire Pacific youth with his play, Hearts of Men set to debut on 5-14 April at the Mangere Arts Centre in Auckland. Affected by the suicide rate…

Hamish Bond Switches Strokes for Spokes

Hamish Bond Switches Strokes for Spokes

For eight years New Zealander Hamish Bond was unvanquished, winning double Olympic gold and seven world titles with rowing partner Eric Murray, CNN reports. But what do you do when winning becomes routine? In Bond’s…

NZ Indie Film STRAY Selected for Moscow International Film Festival

NZ Indie Film STRAY Selected for Moscow International Film Festival

“Independent New Zealand feature film, STRAY, has made history by becoming the first New Zealand feature film ever to be selected for the world’s second oldest film festival – the…

Peter Gordon’s “Who’s Cooking Dinner?” “Top Foodie Fundraising Event”

Peter Gordon’s “Who’s Cooking Dinner?” “Top Foodie Fundraising Event”

Top foodie fundraising event “Who’s Cooking Dinner” 2018 boasted a line-up of 20 chefs and 15 Michelin stars. At the annual event which was hosted by Leuka, diners in attendance were assigned to…

Jacinda Ardern on Life as a Leader

Jacinda Ardern on Life as a Leader

In a Guardian interview, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reveals how her life has changed and her ambition for a can-do country. This time last year Ardern was known as a young opposition MP…

Getting More Done in a Four-Day Week

Getting More Done in a Four-Day Week

On the first long weekend of her employer’s experiment with a four-day working week, Kirsten Taylor freaked out a little bit. Like a housework hurricane, she got through mounds of clothes-washing, weeded the garden,…

Our Illustrious Hall of Famer Sir Bob Charles

Our Illustrious Hall of Famer Sir Bob Charles

Carterton-born “legendary left-hander” Sir Bob Charles, 82, had a “remarkable” golfing career, the Bangkok Post’s Brett Brasier writes in his regular ‘Golf Tips’ column for the newspaper. “My few words on the great golfers that…

Sam Stuchbury Makes Prestigious Forbes List

Sam Stuchbury Makes Prestigious Forbes List

Sam Stuchbury, 27, is co-founder of The Social Club, an influencer marketing platform in Auckland, and has made the annual Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list, which features 300 young innovators and disruptors across…

Tami Neilson Drops New “Sassy, brassy soul number” ‘Stay Outta My Business’

Tami Neilson Drops New “Sassy, brassy soul number” ‘Stay Outta My Business’

“Silver Scroll-winning soul artist Tami Neilson has shared a brassy new tune Stay Outta My Business and announced her forthcoming album Sassafrass! will be dropping this June ahead of a…

On Formula One Driver Brendon Hartley’s Comeback

On Formula One Driver Brendon Hartley’s Comeback

A demotion from the Red Bull programme allowed Palmerston North-born Brendon Hartley to seek new ventures, with the driver going on to forge a reputation in sports car racing that he was never able…

Opiuo to Take 20-Piece Syzygy Orchestra to Colorado

Opiuo to Take 20-Piece Syzygy Orchestra to Colorado

New Zealand-born, Australian-based electro-funk DJ Opiuo (Oscar Davey-Wraight) will travel to Colorado for a headlining show at Red Rocks on 21 April. After last year’s Red Rocks performance before Emancipator, where it was hard to…

Soul Singer Jordan Rakei Caters Directly to Fans

Soul Singer Jordan Rakei Caters Directly to Fans

Jordan Rakei’s first SXSW appearance was also his first time setting foot in the state of Texas, one of the few areas of the world he had yet to visit. Born in New Zealand,…

How Flight of the Conchords Took Off

How Flight of the Conchords Took Off

Few comedians ever play London’s O2 Arena and fewer still manage three nights in a row. Those who do tend to have some things in common: a relatable observational style, limited creative ambition and…

Poet Ashleigh Young to Open Bathurst Festival

Poet Ashleigh Young to Open Bathurst Festival

Wellington author, poet and literary editor Ashleigh Young will open the Bathurst Writers’ and Readers’ Festival on May 4. The festival consists of three days of live streamed sessions direct from the Sydney Writers’ Festival…

Doughnut Maker Adam Wills a Trailblazer in UK

Doughnut Maker Adam Wills a Trailblazer in UK

Artisanal doughnut and coffee chain Crosstown Doughnuts, co-founded by New Zealander Adam Wills, is at the forefront of the decadent craze in London. Now with seven locations throughout England’s capital city,

Allbirds Wants Your Next Sneaker to Come From Eucalyptus Trees

Allbirds Wants Your Next Sneaker to Come From Eucalyptus Trees

“Allbirds, the Silicon Valley startup behind a wildly popular wool sneaker, is pivoting from sheep to trees,” writes Kyle Stock in an article for The Financial Post. The sneaker brand is releasing two…

Smith and Sheth’s Ambitious Wine Plans

Smith and Sheth’s Ambitious Wine Plans

The Australian’s wine columnist James Halliday was introduced to self-made billionare, American Brian Sheth by New Zealand-born and bred Steve Smith MW (pictured right), who in 1996 had become the world’s first Master of…

Joe Schmidt Turns Ireland into Formidable Machine

Joe Schmidt Turns Ireland into Formidable Machine

During this year’s Ireland Grand Slam tournament, Joe Schmidt has been the master of almost everything he has surveyed. At times during his five-year tenure as Ireland head coach, the New Zealander has been…

Corpses and Clues in Ngaio Marsh’s Posthumous Novel

Corpses and Clues in Ngaio Marsh’s Posthumous Novel

“Roderick Alleyn, the ineffably posh Scotland Yard detective created by Dame Ngaio Marsh, returns for a posthumous outing with the help of Stella Duffy, herself a distinguished crime writer,” Andrew Taylor writes…

Actor Sam Neill Stars in His First Western

Actor Sam Neill Stars in His First Western

Sam Neill’s acting career has broken the 80-film barrier. In his most recent film, Sweet Country, the New Zealander plays a missionary making a new life for himself on the Australian frontier in the…

Helen Clark Film Reveals a Shadowy World at the UN

Helen Clark Film Reveals a Shadowy World at the UN

Filmmaker Gaylene Preston’s documentary My Year With Helen playing in Australia this month provides a happy and timely reminder that before there was Jacinda Ardern, there was Helen Clark. The extraordinary post-parliamentary career of former…

Batsman Kane Williamson on Track to Be World’s Best

Batsman Kane Williamson on Track to Be World’s Best

Mr Williamson sits on his sofa at home in Tauranga trying to watch the television, circa 1993. He lobs a ball, which the child prodigy Kane carefully hits around the living room. Around the world…

On the Rodeo Trail in New Zealand

On the Rodeo Trail in New Zealand

Animal activists are calling for rodeos to be banned in New Zealand, but cowboys say bull riding is their calling. Eleanor Ainge Roy and Paul Roy report on the controversial sport in a photo…

Rugby Union Star Dylan Mika Hugely Talented

Rugby Union Star Dylan Mika Hugely Talented

Former Samoa and All Blacks flanker Dylan Mika has died in Auckland of a heart attack at the age of 45. Mika played two tests for Samoa and seven for the All Blacks who he…

Alien Weaponry’s Furious Debut Tū Out in June

Alien Weaponry’s Furious Debut Tū Out in June

Three teenagers from the tiny Northland town of Waipu have managed to capture imaginations with their unique thrash metal sound and commanding live performances. Now, Alien Weaponry is ready to release…

Luxe Fisher & Paykel Appliances Appeal in LA

Luxe Fisher & Paykel Appliances Appeal in LA

“If you have a ‘Kitchen Porn’ board on Pinterest, and your idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon is drooling over showpiece ranges and luxe dishwashing drawers, then welcome to your new favourite place to…

Beautiful Wellington Not Short on Great Food

Beautiful Wellington Not Short on Great Food

“Home is where the heart is, and Wellington has my heart – with its harbour, skies and hills, it’s just so beautiful,” London-based chef Margot Henderson tells the Financial Times in a piece about…

Ivana Kostovich Wanders the World in Two

Ivana Kostovich Wanders the World in Two

New Zealander Ivana Kostovich, 31, and Scottish fiancée Jamie Craig, 31, hope their adventures around the globe will inspire others to do the same. They’ve launched a blog called Wander…

Grant Phelps’ Chilean Hotel a Sustainable Paradise

Grant Phelps’ Chilean Hotel a Sustainable Paradise

New Zealand-born winemaker Grant Phelps has just opened WineBox, a wine-focused hotel in the city of Valparaíso, Chile constructed out of 25 decommissioned shipping containers. Set on a former micro landfill in Cerro Mariposa (or…

Emilia Wickstead Launches Activewear Range

Emilia Wickstead Launches Activewear Range

New Zealander Emilia Wickstead – she of knock-‘em-dead evening dresses and, most recently, bridalwear fame – has branched out into activewear in a collaboration with Britain’s premier health and fitness facility, Bodyism. “It’s important for…

Chasing Great a Universally-Appealing Sports Doco

Chasing Great a Universally-Appealing Sports Doco

Justin Pemberton and Michelle Walshe’s documentary Chasing Great, about world-champion All Blacks captain, Richie McCaw, “proves surprisingly accessible to non-fans, and a well-articulated look at some of the mental processes behind sports success,”…

C.K. Stead’s Latest Novel Masterfully Structured

C.K. Stead’s Latest Novel Masterfully Structured

“The Necessary Angel’s literary preoccupations are familiar territory for Stead, a distinguished novelist, poet and critic who was for many years professor of English at the University of Auckland,” Financial Times correspondent Zoë…

Kester Black’s Anna Ross a Cosmetics Game Changer

Kester Black’s Anna Ross a Cosmetics Game Changer

No formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, camphor, formaldehyde resin, xylene, parabens, fragrances, phthalates, sulfates, palm oil, petrochemicals or animal-derived or tested ingredients; must be made here and a goal to be fair trade certified (or a…

True Blood Lead Anna Paquin Stars as PR Maven

True Blood Lead Anna Paquin Stars as PR Maven

New Zealand-raised Anna Paquin is returning to television. The True Blood and Alias Grace star is set to appear in the upcoming dramedy Flack. The limited series, which is co-produced by Paquin and her…

Francis Upritchard Finds New Ways to Break the Norm

Francis Upritchard Finds New Ways to Break the Norm

New Zealand-born artist Francis Upritchard is all about creating art that leaves behind societal norms, according to Jesse Oleson writing for The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Art is supposed to be fun,” London-based Upritchard says. “Work…

Comedian Deb Filler Does It Her Way in Yiddish

Comedian Deb Filler Does It Her Way in Yiddish

New Zealand comedian Deb Filler recreates 50 years of chart-toppers and pop icons in her solo show I Did it My Way in Yiddish (in English). Toronto-based Filler performed the show at this year’s…

Chefs Margot and Fergus Henderson Chat to the Times

Chefs Margot and Fergus Henderson Chat to the Times

Margot Henderson, 53, and her husband, Fergus, 54, recently spoke with the Sunday Times on their whirlwind courtship and coping with his Parkinson’s. Margot said that she first heard of her future husband through a…

Post Makes Its Way to the Farm up the Long Drive

Post Makes Its Way to the Farm up the Long Drive

A parcel sent to a couple in New Zealand addressed only with “a farm, situated up a long driveway with cows, opposite a pub or thereabouts” has reached its rightful owners, via the Cust…

Michael James Wong Helps Men Find New Masculinity

Michael James Wong Helps Men Find New Masculinity

Boys of Yoga founder New Zealander Michael James Wong, 32, is interviewed by Sunday Times correspondent Stuart Heritage for an article about the growing popularity of lifestyle sites for men. Wong describes himself as a…

Taika Waititi to Play Version of Imaginary Hitler

Taika Waititi to Play Version of Imaginary Hitler

Whenever Fox Searchlight Pictures ends up releasing New Zealander Taika Waititi’s satire Jojo Rabbit, it will give viewers the chance to see a version of Adolf Hitler they most likely never have before. IndieWire…

Chris Liddell Named White House Deputy Chief Of Staff For Policy Coordination

Chris Liddell Named White House Deputy Chief Of Staff For Policy Coordination

“Christopher Liddell has been named the deputy chief of staff for policy coordination, the White House announced Monday morning,” writes Jenna Johnson in an article for The Washington Post. “Liddell, a…

Joyful Acquaintances Made over Message in a Bottle

Joyful Acquaintances Made over Message in a Bottle

Whangarei teenager Julien Joy, 15, could not believe his eyes when he received a letter in the post from a German woman reminding him of a distant memory. Luisa, who was walking along a…