News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Artist Bella McGoldrick Inspired by Coffee

Artist Bella McGoldrick Inspired by Coffee

Working meticulously with coloured pencil, with each drawing taking up to 200 hours for an almost photo-like finish, New Zealand-born Bella McGoldrick’s travel paintings capture connection. Her new Black Water collection explores a global…

All Aboard Fiji’s Unique Ecotrax Bikes

All Aboard Fiji’s Unique Ecotrax Bikes

“Where else can you jump on a tandem electric bike mounted on an abandoned railway and pedal through scapes of lush tropical bush, alongside gorgeous turquoise waters, through villages lined with friendly locals en…

Icehouse Ventures’ Stephanie Benseman Makes the Cut

Icehouse Ventures’ Stephanie Benseman Makes the Cut

New Zealander Stephanie Benseman, 27, principal at venture capital firm Icehouse Ventures, is one of eight female investors on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia: Finance & Venture Capital list who are helping…

Niki Caro Holds Reins Tight in The Mother

Niki Caro Holds Reins Tight in The Mother

“The Mother is a mutha of an intimately scaled action film, a violent female-centric drama about a hardened combat veteran who has great difficulty adapting to being anything other than a…

Formula E’s Evans and Cassidy Taking Top Spots

Formula E’s Evans and Cassidy Taking Top Spots

Formula E drivers and friends Mitch Evans, 28, and Nick Cassidy, 28, have spoken of their pride in flying the New Zealand flag high following their respective victories in the Berlin E-Prix double header…

Josh McGregor Conquering the Modelling World

Josh McGregor Conquering the Modelling World

Modelling was never on Josh McGregor’s radar, but ever since he was scouted in New York City, life has drastically changed. He’s only been modelling a few years but McGregor, 22, who grew up…

Bi-Lingual Punk Trio Half/Time Tour Wales

Bi-Lingual Punk Trio Half/Time Tour Wales

Hamilton punk band Half/Time recently performed alongside Welsh artists who sing in Cymraeg as part of a musical cultural exchange, which aimed to spark important conversations about what it means to create pop songs…

Mouth-Watering Ka Pies Best in Mid Cheshire

Mouth-Watering Ka Pies Best in Mid Cheshire

New Zealand baker Hayden Parsons’ Mid Cheshire business Ka Pie, which is located in the village of Holmes Chapel, has won the Knutsford Guardian title of ‘Best For Pies’ in a regular series the publication is running highlighting…

New Zealand Fashion Brands Making Mark Overseas

New Zealand Fashion Brands Making Mark Overseas

A group of emerging designers from Australia and New Zealand are plotting global expansion, according to Vogue’s Madeleine Schulz. For some, Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (AAFW), which ran from 15 to 19 May, is…

Comedian Melanie Bracewell Living the Dream

Comedian Melanie Bracewell Living the Dream

Describing her work with Australian comic Tim McDonald on The Cheap Seats, Auckland-born Melanie Bracewell says with self-effacing charm, “Tim brings a lot of hard work, determination and vision; I bring vibes.” The 27-year-old…

Benee Speaks to Interview from New LA Home

Benee Speaks to Interview from New LA Home

Auckland-born Gen Z leading light Benee, 23, who recently took the stage at Coachella – “a pretty surreal experience,” she says – spoke with Interview magazine from her new apartment in Los Angeles about festival…

New Culture’s Vegan Cheese Gets Big LA Break

New Culture’s Vegan Cheese Gets Big LA Break

A pioneer of Los Angeles’ Italian food scene, James Beard Award-winning chef Nancy Silverton, has chosen to partner with New Culture, a food-technology company founded by New Zealand-born Matt Gibson. New Culture makes dairy-identical…

Bergendy Cooke Collaborates in Morocco

Bergendy Cooke Collaborates in Morocco

“New Zealand architect Bergendy Cooke has joined forces with Moroccan architect Amine Abouraoui to meticulously craft an earth-sheltered, sculptural retreat that pays homage to the vibrant history of the region,” Nate Storey writes…

Quarter Acre’s Menu Soft Spoken But Eloquent

Quarter Acre’s Menu Soft Spoken But Eloquent

In a story originally appearing in the May issue of D magazine with the headline “A Kiwi Takes Flight”, Brian Reinhart reviews Dallas “bistro with a twist” Quarter Acre, owned and operated by New…

Wisden Names Tom Blundell Cricketer of the Year

Wisden Names Tom Blundell Cricketer of the Year

“The Five Cricketers of the Year represent a tradition that dates back in Wisden to 1889, making this the oldest individual award in cricket. In 2023, Tom Blundell, 32, was one of the…

Fewer New Zealanders Cancelled from Australia

Fewer New Zealanders Cancelled from Australia

The number of New Zealanders living in Australia who have had their visas cancelled on character grounds – including criminal behaviour – has halved under the Albanese government, Emma Elsworthy reports for independent Australian…

Aldous Harding’s Brighton Show Enraptures

Aldous Harding’s Brighton Show Enraptures

“Twenty minutes into Aldous Harding’s set, after a spellbinding version of Treasure, from her 2019 breakthrough album Designer, has provoked a particularly vociferous response from the crowd, she speaks her first words…

Orchard St.’s Kirsten Shanks Resists Permanence

Orchard St.’s Kirsten Shanks Resists Permanence

After almost 20 years tied to Sydney’s frenetic bustle, Orchard St. founder New Zealander Kirsten Shanks and husband James recognised that a change of scenery was imminent. Australian magazine RUSSH is invited for a…

Auckland Island’s Pesky Pigs Now Cash Cows

Auckland Island’s Pesky Pigs Now Cash Cows

Auckland Island was – and still is – home to pigs, initially introduced in the first half of the 19th century by European hunters and explorers, as well as a group of Indigenous New…

Jacinda Ardern Heads Back to Harvard

Jacinda Ardern Heads Back to Harvard

Jacinda Ardern, who earned international acclaim for her leadership as New Zealand’s prime minister, has been appointed to dual fellowships at Harvard Kennedy School – as 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and as…

Christchurch Combines Architectural Charm with Art

Christchurch Combines Architectural Charm with Art

“Framed by the Pacific to the east and the snowy Southern Alps to the west, Ōtautahi Christchurch is the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island and nicknamed the Garden City for its green…

SpongeBob Gets the Tami Neilson Effect

SpongeBob Gets the Tami Neilson Effect

The favourite characters of SpongeBob’s underwater town Bikini Bottom are set to be given some Aotearoa flavours next year, Amberleigh Jack reports for Stuff. New Zealand-based artists award-winning Tami Neilson and The Phoenix Foundation…

Bunk Beds on the Cards for Air New Zealand

Bunk Beds on the Cards for Air New Zealand

When taking a red-eye, there is nothing more valuable than the ability to sleep. Historically, the privilege to get some decent shut-eye has been reserved for those who can afford lie-flat seats in first…

The Two Colossi of Ahuriri, Pat Magill and John Harre

The Two Colossi of Ahuriri, Pat Magill and John Harre

Closing a Community Chapter. The Two Colossi of Ahuriri, Pat Magill and John Harre   On Monday 24 April Pat Magill, my kaumatua Pākehā, tangata Tiriti, called a few of us together for a coffee at…

Eleanor Catton Guest on New York Times Podcast

Eleanor Catton Guest on New York Times Podcast

The New Zealand writer Eleanor Catton, who won the Man Booker Prize in 2013 for her novel The Luminaries, discusses her latest book, Birnam Wood, with New York Times Book Review podcast host Gilbert…

Compostic Helping Californians Cut Down Plastic Waste

Compostic Helping Californians Cut Down Plastic Waste

In June of 2022, California signed into law The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (also called SB 54). A sweeping environmental bill, its most talked-about provisions are around single-use plastics; according…

Flying Officer Arthur Joplin Helped Sink Tirpitz

Flying Officer Arthur Joplin Helped Sink Tirpitz

Auckland-born Flying Officer Arthur Joplin, who has died in New Zealand aged 99, was the pilot of a Lancaster on the raid that finally sank the German battleship, the Tirpitz. His obituary is published…

Simone Kessell on Yellowjackets Season 2

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…

How Peter Beck Built $1.8 Billion Rocket Lab

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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…

Tiger’s Caddie Steve Williams Looks Back on Tenure

Tiger’s Caddie Steve Williams Looks Back on Tenure

Working alongside Tiger Woods does not afford time to look up and smell the flowers. Woods won 13 of his 15 major titles with Steve Williams as caddie, a run the New Zealander quickly…

Bushwhacker Butch One Tough Son of a Gun

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 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…

Politics Post Ardern, Marin and Sturgeon

Politics Post Ardern, Marin and Sturgeon

In January, Jacinda Ardern resigned as prime minister of New Zealand saying she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. Currently, just 12 UN member states have female leaders, down…

Kirk Harding’s Bad Habit Label Growing Roster

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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…

Katherine Mansfield, A Magician with Words

Katherine Mansfield, A Magician with Words

American author Roberta Silman reviews Claire Harman’s new biography of Katherine Mansfield, All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the Art of Risking Everything, for The Art Fuse. Silman speculates,…

The Examined Life of Melanie Lynskey

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

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

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

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

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”,…