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You Can’t Say That!

Or Can You?

It’s time for a grown-up conversation about tough issues

By Yvonne van Dongen

Features

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Bluff and Lies

How one man’s fabrications about Māori land claims exposed deep-rooted prejudices and, surprisingly, led to an unexpected journey of healing. By Anna McMartin

Madam President

Too clean for green politics? What a Harris administration could mean for New Zealand and how the Biden White House fused environmental policy with industrial protectionism. By Henry Whyte

Out of sight and out of their minds

Alarming statistics reveal a mental health crisis behind bars. John Sinclair writes about the urgent need for reform and rehabilitation highlighting the struggles of both inmates and staff in a system that has been pushed to its limits. By John Sinclair

The Case of the Poisoned Milk

Experiencing dizziness, dry mouth, delirium or attempted murder? Scott Bainbridge exhumes a historic mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes. By Scott Bainbridge

Smoke & Mirrors: What’s gone wrong with the ETS?

The emissions trading scheme is meant to be the country’s main tool for reducing our emissions, but critics say it’s doing little more than carpeting the country in permanent pine forest. Meanwhile, the price of carbon credits has gone from boom to bust. What’s gone wrong? By George Driver

Nicola Willis – Liberal to a degree

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has introduced promised tax cuts and taken a swipe at the banks, but seems happy with incremental economic improvements. It’s still natural to wonder whether she might be prime minister material. By Grant Duncan

The mystery of the detached leg

A locked room. A hastily-packed suitcase. A bloody scalpel. And plenty of questions. By Scott Bainbridge.

Caught in the Web

Falling victim to a sophisticated scam begs the question: who pays? By Sasha Borissenko

Culture Etc.

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Christine Jeffs: Making A Mistake

Christine Jeffs latest film, A Mistake, is based on author Carl Shuker’s novel in which a surgeon’s split-second decision leads to dire consequences. Shuker talks to Jeffs about directing Hollywood stars and the love of horses that keeps her home. By Carl Shuke

The first XI

Once a thorn in the side of New Zealand sports media, the Alternative Commentary Collective have become Kiwi sports royalty over the last decade (and a year).

Man of Letters

A conversation with painter Julian Hooper. By Theo Macdonald.

Late bloomers and buttocks

Guy Somerset kicks off his new North & South column on reading the backlist with the genius of Barbara Anderson

Perfect pictures

Perfect Pictures By Theo Macdonald Let’s cut to The Chase (Arthur Penn, 1966). For the past five years, the New Zealand International Film Festival has been lost in The Fog (John Carpenter, 1980). Long-term leader Bill Gosden passed away in 2020, 2021’s Auckland leg was rudely cancelled by COVID-19 (We…

Surf’s up

Surf’s up. By Nadia Shaw-Owens

I Can Never Express My Angels

For the first time, the life of New Zealand’s greatest painter, Colin McCahon, has been revealed in his own words. DAVID HERKT interviews Peter Simpson, who explains just why this matters. By David Herkt

My first ever… Rhodes Scholar

Damon Salesa’s deep pacific roots and groundbreaking scholarship have shaped his remarkable life; however his first primary school teacher also likes to lay a claim to his success. Susana Andrew.

Partner Content

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Navigating the digital age

NORTH & SOUTH + Simplicity Navigating the digital age Liv Lewis-Long from Simplicity on embracing innovation as a non-digital native.   Change is hard. Fear of the unknown is a well-known phenomenon, and those of us who grew up before the world of chat bots, automated emails and digital currencies…

Smith’s Dream

The late Maurice K Smith spent most of his career practising and teaching architecture in the United States, but also left a vivid impression in the country of his birth. By Lucy Streep.

Virtual Revolution

NORTH & SOUTH + AUT Virtual Revolution AUT puts the latest technology in the hands of today's students AUT has opened its virtual production studio, putting top-end Hollywood production technology in the hands of today’s students. Associate Professor Dafydd Sills-Jones, Head of AUT’s Virtual Creative Precinct, says the virtual production…

Trading concrete for cows: A leap from city life to country bliss

NORTH & SOUTH + FMG Trading concrete for cows: A leap from city life to country bliss When Julia Jones decided to swap city living for the rural idyll of a lifestyle block, she was signing up for more than just fresh air and open space. It was a dream…

Four Corners

Utopia Lab

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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.

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

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Heaven or a Place on Earth?

What awaits us after death?

The Lost Islands

Historic artefacts washed up by the tides hint at lost lands whose full stories we can only guess at.

Beyond the Badlands

Strange monsters and ominous ghosts can be traced to repressed memories of violent histories, argues one Australian researcher looking at the past through a novel lens.

The Northern Bear

Our relationship with Russia has been characterised by instability — cycling between friend and foe, the nation and its citizens have often become symbols of our own fear and anxieties.

Echoes of History

Most New Zealanders remain unaware of the Surafend massacre by Anzac soldiers in 1918.

Gone Bush

To evade New Zealand’s draft in both world wars, scores of conscientious objectors fled deep into the bush.

Closed Encounters

Covid-19 checkpoints are not the first time some parts of the country have been sealed off from the rest.

As a Matter of Fact

Dismissal by Western scientists of mātauranga Māori and indigenous knowledge as unscientific “myth” often succumbs to its own criticism.

Archive Highlights

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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

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