Simone Kessell on Yellowjackets Season 2
Adult Lottie is described by a Yellowjackets showrunner as “kind of a cool Jesus” – she’s a charismatic cult leader-like figure who’s also a potential threat to her former teammates, and New Zealander Simone…
Blog Archives
How Peter Beck Built $1.8 Billion Rocket Lab
New Zealander Peter Beck didn’t have a college degree and couldn’t talk his way into NASA and Boeing – so he built a US$1.8 billion rocket company, Tom Huddleston Jr. reports for CNBC’s Make…
Kyle Chaning-Pearce Behind DIY NY Private Club
“Want the nightlife of Eric Adams but can do without the glitz or the starch? Try Maxwell,” Nathan Heller writes for The New Yorker. Co-founded by New Zealander Kyle Chaning-Pearce…
Anne Perry a Crime Writer with Her Own Dark Tale
“Anne Perry, the prolific London-born author of historical and socially conscious crime fiction who in her teens served five years in prison for murder, a sordid past that came to wide attention with the…
THR Puts Two Campion Films on Best of Century List
“Over the course of a few months, several Zoom meetings, and countless emails, six Hollywood Reporter (THR) film critics came together to hash out, and rank, what they consider the 50 greatest films since…
Arctic Ultra Fourth for Tim Hamlin
Originally from Gore, Melbourne-based Tim Hamlin completed the 6633 Arctic Ultra marathon in March, a self-supported race that sees athletes travel 617km through the Canadian Arctic in just nine days. It was Hamlin’s second…
Granta Names Eleanor Catton a Best Young Novelist
Literary magazine Granta has announced its 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40, which, for the first time, includes international writers who view the UK as home, the BBC’s culture and media…
Driving into New Zealand’s Forgotten World
“I had just a single night at Omaka Lodge before being taken 19km north to Okahukura and the start of the old Stratford-Okahukura railway, long since abandoned by regular train services and now known…
ABs Set for Drastic Overhaul under Scott Robertson
“Sea change in the form of Scott Robertson’s eccentric new era will soon envelope the All Blacks. Just as the pre-World Cup timing of his national head coaching anointment shatters long-standing New Zealand rugby…
Bushwhacker Butch One Tough Son of a Gun
New Zealander Bushwhacker Butch, a member of one of pro wrestling’s most beloved tag teams, has died in Los Angeles after arriving for public appearances around WrestleMania 39. He was 78, Joseph Staszewski reports…
Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood Does the Improbable
“Eleanor Catton’s third novel, Birnam Wood, is a big book, a sophisticated page-turner, that does something improbable: It filters anarchist, monkeywrenching environmental politics, a generational (anti-baby boomer) cri de coeur and a downhill-racing plot…
Kirk Harding’s Bad Habit Label Growing Roster
The self-styled “outsider” label Bad Habit, co-founded in 2015 by New Zealander Kirk Harding and Nigerian-American Matthew “Baus” Adesuyan, has added a live piece to its existing management, publishing and distribution activities, and re-upped…
Our Fabled Shellfish That Nearly Vanished
Mainly found on the North Island, the large clam treasured by Māori coastal communities that nearly became extinct due to exploitation. But now, the toheroa might be on the way back, Norman Miller writes…
M3GAN Director Gerard Johnstone on Inspirations
With executive producer James Wan and producer Jason Blum already blue skying ideas for sequels, Syfy got on a Zoom with M3GAN director, New Zealander Gerard Johnstone, to ask about his horror sequel involvement,…
Sam Neill’s Memoir a Real Charmer
Over almost 50 years, since his big-screen feature debut in Landfall, made in New Zealand, the beloved New Zealand actor who became Sir Sam last year, has brought a charm to many of his…
Atamira’s Te Wheke Debuts at NY’s Joyce Theater
“Founded in 2000 in New Zealand, Atamira fuses Māori cultural expression with contemporary dance theatre. There’s an admirable integrity to how the group doesn’t explain much to the uninitiated,” New York Times…
To the Farther Corners of Aotearoa
Executive editor of Condé Nast Traveler Erin Florio travels the less-explored regions of New Zealand where she was raised to discover the Indigenous traditions and contemporary thinking that make Aotearoa a place like no…
In the Studio with Painter Angela Heisch
New Zealand-born, Brooklyn-based artist Angela Heisch takes inspiration from organic forms and patterns in nature for her luminous, abstract paintings. Her solo exhibition ‘Low Speed Highs’ at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London (through 29…
Actor Simone Kessell Seeing Industry Change
Playing adult Lottie in the second season is a breakout moment for the New Zealand-born actor Simone Kessell – but like her accomplished co-stars, she’s been here all along, on shows like…
Packrafting a New Adventure Sweeping New Zealand
“New Zealand has long been known as one of the world’s greatest adventure travel hotspots. From bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, and heliskiing, to jet boating, mountain biking, hiking, and swimming with sharks and dolphins,…
The Tattooist of Auschwitz Is Coming to TV
The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the bestselling novel by New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based writer Heather Morris is being turned into a six-part television series, Karl Quinn reports for The Sydney Morning Herald. The production is currently shooting…
The Examined Life of Melanie Lynskey
In series like Yellowjackets, New Plymouth-born actor Melanie Lynskey specialises in revealing the turbulent emotions of women who seem innocuous and mild on the surface, Alexis Soloski writes in a profile piece for The…
Scott Robertson to Succeed Ian Foster
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson will succeed Ian Foster as head coach of the All Blacks after this year’s World Cup, the BBC reports. Robertson has been appointed on a four-year deal which will run to…
Endurance Racing Helps Will Hayward Beat Stress
By day, New Zealander Will Hayward is dean of social sciences at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Outside its corridors, Hayward is running obsessed, a passion he developed in his mid-30s. Kate Whitehead interviews…
Aves Appreciation Rubs off on Sydney Writer
It seems like “every single” New Zealander has some kind of “bird madness”, and Sydney writer Rebecca Shaw has now determined that she too is “infected”, “and loving it”. Shaw reports on her new-found…
Career Shift for Hamilton’s Physio Angela Cullen
New Zealand-born performance coach Angela Cullen, 48, who joined the Formula 1 Mercedes team as physiotherapist for British driver Lewis Hamilton in 2016, has announced she is leaving the role for “a new adventure”,…
Ans Westra’s Photos Captured a Changing Nation
Ans Westra, a Dutch-born photographer who created the most comprehensive record of New Zealand’s social history, comprising more than 300,000 powerful images, died on 26 February at her home outside Wellington. She was 86….
Private Chef Mike Shand Cooking for Beyoncé
Paparazzi seem to be constantly catching your favourite celebrities coming and going from restaurants like Nobu in Malibu, the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, or Le Rock in New York City, but…
Cocaine Bear is Actually Allan Henry
The cocaine bear in Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear is an impressive feat of visual effects wizardry, but there was an actual person behind the 227-kilogram, drug-addicted beast, and that person was New Zealander Allan…
Reading Bliss and Bending Time with a New Story
“Now widely anthologised, taught, and considered a paragon of modernist literature, ‘Bliss’ seems to prove what we have discovered as editors of NOON – that a story that generates powerful feeling,…
Birnam Wood a Gripping Explosive Thriller
“It’s taken Eleanor Catton 10 years to follow up on her Booker Prize winning novel of 2013, The Luminaries. Fortunately, her latest offering, Birnam Wood, begins with a bang, quite literally. A series of…
Jeweller Layla Kaisi Built Her Brand via Instagram
At 28, New Zealand-based Layla Kaisi, founder and creative director behind five-year old company Layla Kaisi Collection (LKC), has achieved a level of success many young entrepreneurs dream about, Lauren Mowery writes for Forbes. With…
Should New Zealand Cats Be Kept Indoors?
New Zealand’s remarkable birdlife evolved on a land without apex predators. Introduced cats have decimated their numbers. New Zealanders may have to change the way they keep cats, Stephen Dowling reports for the BBC. New…
Former All Black Campbell Johnstone Speaks Out
In January, former All Black Campbell Johnstone, 43, made headlines around the world by speaking publicly about his sexuality for the first time. It was a watershed moment for the game and a deeply…
Paris Opera Ballet’s Hannah O’Neill a Star
The Paris Opera Ballet has named New Zealand’s Hannah O’Neill as a new star dancer, a rarity as a non-French dancer in the world’s oldest ballet company, France 24 reports. Tokyo-born O’Neill, 30, is one…
Without Frank Worsley the Endurance Story Would Likely Have Been Very Different
Ernest Shackleton gets credit for rescuing his doomed Antarctica voyage – but it’s his navigator New Zealander Frank Worsley’s leadership that saved their lives, Daniella McCahey and The Conversation editors write in an article…
Neil Wagner Strikes Gold in Famous Win
“New Zealand became the fourth team in the game’s history to win after being asked to follow-on. They beat England by a single run, making them only the second to win by what is…
New Zealand’s Café Culture Influences Japan
While food is, of course, of primary importance to Tokyo café owners Kim and Teru Harase, of Iki Espresso and Iki Roastery & Eatery, recruiting and training the right people is equally crucial for…
Time to Rethink the Ideal of the Indigenous
“Many groups who identify as Indigenous don’t claim to be first peoples; many who did come first don’t claim to be Indigenous. Can the concept escape its colonial past?” Manvir Singh asks in an…
How The Fall Nearly Sank Flying Nun
When the New Zealand indie label Flying Nun got a chance to record a live album by Manchester band the Fall, the tensions fraying the group almost destroyed the record company – as documented…
Microbiologist Tanu Gupta Wins Basil Jarvis Prize
Palmerston North AgResearch senior scientist Tanushree Gupta has received the Basil Jarvis Prize at the Applied Microbiology Awards, which was presented to her in London, AgResearch communications specialist Gred Ford writes in a story…
How Quake Survivors Must Deal with Lasting Trauma
Research has confirmed that natural hazards such as the magnitude 7.8 temblor in Turkey-Syria lead to acute trauma and an increased risk for chronic conditions such as anxiety and depression in survivors. Psychiatrist and…
Water Carved Our Landscape Now it Risks Lives
New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay is known for its fine wine, but many of the region’s vineyards are now under water, along with homes and roads in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, Hilary Whiteman reports…
Melanie Lynskey Analyses Last of Us Character
When The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin pitched a role in the series to New Zealand-born actor Melanie Lynskey, he started with a bang: “He called me and said, ‘I would love for…
Quarter Acre’s Toby Archibald’s Fave Dallas Spots
After years working in fine-dining kitchens like The Greenhouse in London and Cafe Boulud in New York and Toronto, New Zealand-born chef Toby Archibald settled in Dallas in 2016. He served as chef de…
Brendon McCullum Embraces Rugby Roots
Brendon McCullum’s former rugby coach and mentor at Kings High School, Darryl Paterson, reveals the ‘incredible self-belief’ the England cricket coach showed as a six-hitting, hard-partying youngster, Ali Martin reports for The Guardian. From a…
Eleanor Catton’s Latest Has a Serious Message
It has been 10 years since New Zealander Eleanor Catton became, at 28, the youngest writer to be awarded the Booker prize, Lisa Allardice writes in a profile piece for The Guardian. Her third…
Fashion Journalist Hilary Alexander Ever the Pro
Napier-born Hilary Alexander, one of the original Fleet Street fashion journalists and former fashion director of The Daily Telegraph, who has died age 77, was a prolific reporter and writer who epitomised the fashion-loving,…
US TV Presenter Visits Our Shrinking Glaciers
New Zealand is full of stunning, natural beauty and home to nearly 3000 glaciers, which are huge tourist destinations. But the glaciers are quickly vanishing due to rising temperatures, ABC News reports. Good Morning…
Glen Johnson on Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation: Le Monde Diplomatique
New Zealand journalist Glen Johnson, who is currently in Ukraine, writes on the resignation of Jacinda Ardern, the international acclaim she received for her handling of Covid, and the years of threats, vitriol and…
Two Prehistoric Penguins Added to Our Aviary
New Zealand has been a haven for earthbound birds for aeons. The absence of terrestrial predators allowed flightless parrots, kiwis and moas to thrive. Now researchers are adding two prehistoric penguins to this grounded…
After Ardern Politics Will Never Look the Same
“ Ardern may have been known on the international stage for many things as a leader, but her wardrobe was rarely among them,” Vanessa Friedman reports for The New York Times. “Yet throughout her time…
Farmer Marc Gascoigne Promoting Mental Health
With mounting pressures facing farmers compounding issues around poor mental health, Cambridge dairy farmer, Marc Gascoigne, is on a mission to strengthen farmers’ resilience, during a Scotland-wide tour, The Scottish Farmer’s Claire Taylor reports. On…
Botanical Artist Bryan Poole World-Renowned
“ Bryan Poole, who has died aged 69, was one of the most talented botanical artists working in Britain; he helped to raise the status of a branch of art which has too…
Chef Margot Henderson Sets Up in Somerset
With The Three Horseshoes in Somerset, the chef-patron of Rochelle Canteen, New Zealand-born Margot Henderson, and former gallerist and investor Briton Max Wigram are launching the most hotly anticipated new boozer of the year,…
Revolutionary Gibbs Quadski Something Epic
“As its name suggests,” the Gibbs Quadski “was an exciting mix” of a jet ski and a quad bike, Vlad Radu writes for car and automakers database, Autoevolution. It was “the first of its…
