Ahiahi mārie, welcome to The Spinoff Daily.
Today on The Spinoff: Matthew Hooton, Don Brash and the defamation drama behind a deleted podcast. Plus: a definitive answer to an age-old All Blacks question and the very first episode of bro’Town, 20 years on.
“A three-year term in practice means a year of getting your feet under the Beehive desk, a year of mad rush to get stuff done, and a year of electioneering. No wonder we have such a mad-dash, slapdash governing approach with rampant, lamentable overuse of urgency.”
Vs.
“The reality is that New Zealand voters almost always give governments a second term at least – a basic level of competence will ensure a minimum of six years in power. That’s plenty of time to get stuff done, if you know what you’re doing.”
Matthew Hooton, Don Brash and the defamation drama behind a deleted podcast
Reviewing the very first episode of bro’Town, 20 years on
Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, reviewed by Rebecca K Reilly
Who stays up till midnight to buy a book?
Have the All Blacks lost their aura? Finally, a definitive answer
Hayden Donnell: “The problem for our media is that spiritual fields are hard to measure. Journalists aren’t made for that sort of work. Though there’s shades of grey to their analysis, it’s always underpinned by cold, hard, reality. Tackles made. Metres gained. Offloads completed. The world of the metaphysical is far more murky.
Where reporters fear to tread, psychics dance free. If the question is how to best organise a set piece, it’s worth consulting Gregor Paul. If it’s how to recharge a rugby team’s supernatural vibes, a medium is better placed.
Last week, The Spinoff set out to get the experts involved in this debate at long last, compiling eight All Blacks team photos dating to the first auratic murmurings and sending them to the entire cast of the original series of Sensing Murder.”
I listened to Katy Perry’s new album 143 so you don’t have to
Theatre review: Ngā Rorirori dazzles but falls short
The cost of being: A hard-working op-shopper with a hefty mortgage
New on The Fold: Glen Kyne returns to join host Duncan Greive to discuss a pair of different stories which seem to head to the same conclusion. The first is Shayne Currie’s report on a leaked email from TVNZ CEO Jodi O’Donnell flagging more cuts at the broadcaster, potentially at 1news.co.nz. The second is a Newsroom story about fast-rising ratings at RNZ’s website. It all points to a newsroom merger, something disruptive but increasingly necessary. We also discuss the new wave of commercially funded primetime TV, and country superstar Luke Combs’ rise to announcing two Eden Park shows in January.
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