Home — North & South Magazine

On Our Cover

The Fight for the Future of Farming

Meet the farmers who are risking their reputations to save our environment.

By Nicola Harvey

View December issue

Features

Filter

Feature Article

Hired Guns

Hundreds of former New Zealand soldiers have gone on to lucrative careers as private contractors, often experiencing deep trauma when they return home.

By Pete McKenzie

High Growth

How hemp went from a niche interest of hippie enthusiasts to an industrial cash crop with serious market potential.

By Oliver Lewis

The Roaring Game

Curling is a sport with a 500-year-old history, but one mystery still remains: why the game’s distinctive stones move the way they do.

By Laurie Winkless

A Tale of Two Churches

Why is Christchurch restoring its Anglican cathedral but destroying the architecturally significant Catholic basilica?

By Sally Blundell

Poetry for the People

New Zealand's Poet Laureate programme democratises an art form typically seen as the province of literary elites.

By Tobias Buck

Best In Class

A round-up of the most popular, innovative and surprising courses at New Zealand's universities.

By Patrice Dougan

Homecoming

A much-awaited road trip prompts Linda Burgess to wonder why she felt more comfortable with her national identity than the country she calls home.

By Linda Burgess

Lost In Transit

Hundreds of families have been divided by Covid border policies. Can't the country of 'be kind' do better?

By Branko Marcetic

A Tiny Piece Of Her Brain Could Save Yours

At the Centre for Brain Research, patients give Auckland scientists a rare and invaluable advantage.

By Donna Chrisholm

“We Spent 25 Years Doing Virtually Nothing”

The inside story of why New Zealand is one of the developed world's worst laggards when it comes to combatting climate change.

By Veronika Meduna

The Age of Permanent Anxiety

As mounting crises throw our future into turmoil, anxiety may become a permanent state of mind for more and more of us. How will we cope?.

By Anna Rawhiti-Connell

An Equal Shot

As the vaccine rollout finally ramps up, who’s getting left behind?

By Helen Glenny

The Info-Demic

Could vaccine misinformation from Chinese-language media outlets in New Zealand harm our local rollout?

By Emmanuel Stokes

Down On The Farm

The complexities of modern farming have brought new pressures to rural life. For some, the load becomes too much to carry.

By Paul Gorman

Burst Bubbles

Once borders re-open, will our anxiety about holidaying in a post-Covid world change the way we travel forever?

By Anna Rawhiti-Connell

The High Price of Absolutely Everything

Bullying, price gouging and market monopolies — the real reason New Zealand is so expensive.

By Ollie Neas

A Lot Of Harm To Put Right

Emma Espiner and Dame Naida Glavish discuss inequities for Māori in the health system.

By Emma Espiner

The Great Divide

New Zealand has transformed from a home-owning democracy into a society fractured by property wealth. How did it happen — and what is it doing to us?

By Rebecca Macfie

The Afterlife Of Peter Ellis

How the fight to clear his name is changing New Zealand law.

By Pete McKenzie

A Space For Life To Grow

The anger and anxiety of the fertility game.

By Michelle Langston

The Nazi Who Built Mount Hutt

The untold story of how a former Waffen-SS soldier lied his way into New Zealand — and got away with it.

By Andrew Macdonald and Naomi Arnold

Confidence And Supply

How MP Nicola Willis orchestrated a radical shift in National’s housing policy.

By Hayden Donnell

The Man In Charge Of The Money

Finance Minister Grant Robertson wields a lot of power. How will he use it?

By Madeleine Chapman

Children vaping illustration by Paul Blow

Lost In The Clouds

As a new generation gets hooked on nicotine, New Zealand's approach to vaping has been bafflingly lax.

By Don Rowe

Herman And The Serpent

How a retired diplomat in Wellington brought a notorious serial killer to justice.

By Tobias Buck

The Hard Grind: Is This New Zealand Sailing’s Next Star?

How a builder won a place among sailing’s elite.

by Michael Burgess

Mahia, We Have A Problem

As the superstar Kiwi startup takes on work for the US military, a tiny beach community faces some major moral dilemmas.

By Ollie Neas

Without You I Was Nothing

What Māori have given the game of rugby.

By Talia Marshall

Inferno at Pigeon Valley

For two weeks, helicopter pilots battled one of New Zealand’s worst wildfires. That was just a preview.

By Charles Anderson

Man of Letters

You’ve seen the work of worldclass type designer Kris Sowersby everywhere. You just don’t know it.

By Ashleigh Young

Culture Etc.

Filter

Culture Etc

About Town: Te Anau

Sparsely populated Fiordland is even emptier thanks to Covid. That's a source of anxiety for local businesses, but just one more reason for the rest of us to visit.

By Sonya Wilson

Simply Red

The trend upending everything you thought you knew about red wine.

By Jo Burzynska

Fantastic Beasts

How an English backpacker with an unusual history became the most sought-after sculptor in Whanganui.

By Sharon Stephenson

About Town: Waiheke Island

Seen as the playground for Auckland's wealthy, Waiheke's residents are some of the supercity's oldest and poorest.

By Alex Stone

Number One in New Zealand

Could closed borders usher in a cultural renaissance?.

By Anna Rawhiti-Connell

About Town: Waipu

On growing up out of place..

By Shilo Kino

Recovery Island

The site of a longstanding rehab facility in the Hauraki Gulf has become a sanctuary for native species.

By Michelle Langstone

Reel Life

From half-dressed projectionists to teenage fumbles, independent cinemas have long been part of small town Kiwi life.

By Tom Augustine

Bosker Days

What do we lose when a piece of iconic Kiwi slang is uttered for the last time?

By John Summers

On Your Bike

How much money could a horde of cyclists riding the length of the country pump into the regions along the way?

By Helen Glenny

About Town: Whakatāne

A trip to the east coast reveals a strong community in the aftermath of tragedy.

By Julie Clifton

What’s Chasing Marlon?

With his new release, the singer finds comfort in the familiar structure of folk music.

By Hayden Donnell

The Hunt For Big Red

Around the country, New Zealand's winemakers are quietly confident they could challenge some of the old world's best red’s.

By Tobias Buck

Diving In

An acclaimed Wellington poet writes about the natural world in sensory detail.

By Kiran Dass

About Town: Dunedin

Partying students aside, the Edinburgh of the south is place of quiet Presbyterian reserve.

By Morgan Godfery

Make Yourself At Home

The imperfect art of elevating domestic travel.

By Anna Rawhiti-Connell

The Absolute Fan

The American writer on a one-man mission to bring NZ literature to the United States. The American writer on a one-man mission to bring NZ literature to the United States.

By Tess Nichol

Paul Stewart and Mary McCallum of Mākaro Press

Go Big and Print Bravely

How a tiny mother-and-son publishing house produced back-to-back bestsellers by previously unknown authors.

By Maggie Tweedie

A Fashion Education

The Aucklander behind a quietly influential second-hand clothing business.

By Tess Nichol

How We Live

In their new book, Francis and Kaiora Tipene of The Casketeers share their experiences and knowledge of living in te ao Māori.

By Ollie Neas

About Town: Catlins

Closed borders prompt one "gullible North Islander" to head further south than she's ever been before.

By Sharon Stephenson

Bounty Hunting

Harrison Christian untangles the story of his ancestor, one of history’s most famous mutineers.

By Harrison Christian

Down Under

Long overlooked as a tourist destination, Tasmania offers both glorious wilderness and the wildest of art.

By Tess Nichol

About Town: Featherston

Despite a recent influx of city slickers, the town at the foot of the Remutaka Hill retains its small-town sense of humour and no-nonsense attitude.

By Alex Casey

A Matter of Records

How one Wellington historian is rescuing pieces of our music history from being lost forever.

By Sharon Stephenson

Points of Connection

Walters Prize-winning artist Bridget Reweti of the Mata Aho Collective on the history of Māori art making.

By Bridget Reweti

Rose Matafeo as Jessie in her new show Starstruck. Photo: Mark Johnson.

Prime Time

Comedian Rose Matafeo on the value and constraints of diversity on screen and her "accidentally feminist" new BBC-produced TV show, Starstruck.

By Lana Lopesi

Why Are Women Still Taking Their Husbands’ Names When They Marry?

Why do so many married women still take their husband’s last name? And does that even matter?

By Anna Rawhiti-Connell

Teeks performing during his intimate churches tour last December.

Old Soul

27 year old Teeks sounds like a cross between Adele and Elvis Presley. And he's poised to become New Zealand's next international superstar.

By Madeleine Chapman

In Tune

The use of taonga pūoro "traditional Māori instruments" has been reclaimed in recent decades. Two practitioners discuss how their music links back to landscape.

By Ruby Solly

Four Corners

Filter

Four Corners

Cut to the Chase

The Beehive's barber of choice bids farewell.

The most powerful man in Huntly

Meet the man pulling the strings in a town he says the rest of the country has forgotten.

Bath and Beyond

The second life of a dilapidated swimming pool.

Fish ‘n’ Liquor

How a brutal attack turned two Hamilton shopkeepers into (sort of) friends.

The Scholar of Doom

Meet the man who has forseen Covid, border closures — and much worse.

Mussel Men

A futuristic vision for shellfish farming.

In Exile

The harrowing stories of nine New Zealanders stuck waiting for a spot in quarantine.

Lords of the Ring

Inside New Zealand’s pro-wrestling renaissance.

Putting Down Roots

How a Chinese tourist became a seasoned New Zealand farmer.

Cheerio Cheerio?

What happened to this Kiwi tradition?

Pub Crawl

The long and sometimes troubled history of the Historic Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel.

Swimming with Sharks

An encounter with a surprisingly gentle giant.

Hibiscus Coast Blues

Biohunting with Dr Wiles.

Living in a City With Truly Radical Rental Laws

A look at Berlin suggests that New Zealand’s rental reforms are anything but.

Utopia Lab

Filter

Utopia Lab

Too Many People Are Dying On Our Roads

We need better roads, not better people.

Intensive Dairy Farming Is Killing The Environment

New Zealand should halve its number of cows.

The Criminal Justice System Is Broken

How we could reduce crime by locking up less people.

New Zealand Has A Dental Care Crisis

How do we fix it?

Why We Should Borrow More Money

A case for changing the way we think about national debt.

Bring Back the Glory Days of Rail

Why it's a smart idea to re-invest heavily in our national rail system.

Backstory

Filter

Backstory

Archive Highlights

Filter

Archive Highlight

Bert’s Labyrinth

Survivors are finally speaking out — but years earlier, a journalist tried to publish the inside story of the notorious Auckland commune. Then she came too close.

By Anke Richter

Issues

Contact Us

If you want to get in touch with us, please send an email to info@northandsouth.co.nz

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

For regular updates on what’s happening, please sign up for the newsletter here.