Journalist Charlotte Bellis Questions Taliban
New Zealander Charlotte Bellis was the only female journalist at the Taliban’s first official press conference in Afghanistan last week and her bold question to the group of armed men who took over the…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Labour Giant Michael Cullen Committed to NZ
Sir Michael Cullen, Helen Clark’s deputy prime minister and the father of New Zealand superannuation, has died in Whakatāne aged 76, Ben McKay reports for a story published in The Canberra Times. Prime Minister Jacinda…
Lorde’s Latest Album Too Complex to Be Basic
“Ever since people started slinging around the word basic as an insult, delights as disparate as pumpkin-spice lattes, the music of Lizzo, and sunsets have gotten a bad rap. The diss refers to pleasure…
Meet Paralympic Cyclist and Adventurer Steve Bate
Having become the first person with visual impairment to scale El Capitan, New Zealand-born Steve Bate, 43, is no stranger to adventure. The Tokyo Paralympic Games are but one challenge on his horizon –…
“Genius” Katherine Mansfield’s “frantic creative flourishing” collected in ‘Strange Bliss’
“One of the genuine, if frequently under-recognised, geniuses of 20th-century literature, Katherine Mansfield wrote the majority of her short stories during a frantic creative flourishing between 1920 and 1922 while suffering from the tuberculosis…
Taika Waititi Behind Triumphant Reservation Dogs
Oscar-winning writer-director New Zealander Taika Waititi is co-creator of the “unforgettable (and caper-filled)” television series Reservation Dogs, a “portrait of a modern-day Native American community”, Inkoo Kang reports for The Washington Post. “From the pilot…
Is NZ the Best Place to Survive Global Collapse?
Two English researchers have found that New Zealand is best poised to stay up and running as climate change continues to wreak global havoc, Heather Murphy writes for The New York Times, but other…
Allbirds Puts a Label on Fashion’s Climate Impact
Allbirds’ sustainability lead Hana Kajimura talks to The Guardian’s Nadra Nittle about why the company, founded by New Zealander Tim Brown and American Joey Zwillinger, uses carbon labelling to raise consumer awareness about the…
Philip Roche’s Palm Springs ‘Desert Dreams’
Former Wellingtonian Philip Roche and his iconic Palm Springs Mid Century Modern feature in September’s issue of NZ House & Garden. His design and restoration of the ranch-style house tells a story of care,…
Xena’s Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor Reunite
One of the most shipped couples in TV history, Xena and Gabrielle, are finally getting back together, Dominic Corry writes for Entertainment Weekly. New Zealander Lucy Lawless and American Renee O’Connor, who co-starred on…
Pianist Ben Wilcock’s Fond Edinburgh Connections
When Hamilton-born Ben Wilcock signed up for a Fringe run with New Zealand’s Indian Ink Theatre Company in 2003, he had no idea that Edinburgh would play a recurring role in his career as…
Fortress NZ Looks to Open Borders to Vaccinated
New Zealand, one of the last countries successfully pursuing a zero-tolerance approach to the novel coronavirus, has said it could open its borders for quarantine-free travel early next year. But only the vaccinated need…
Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck Living His Space Dream
Rocket Lab’s founder Invercargill-born Peter Beck talks to Al Jazeera about moon shots, deep space exploration and overcoming dream crushers. Beck, who dreamed of launching rockets ever since he was a child, is a major…
Northland and Christchurch on Greatest Places List
Northland and Christchurch both feature on Time magazine’s third annual list of the World’s Greatest Places, “and while it may not be possible to safely visit each place just yet, they’re…
Nine News Legend Brian Henderson Will Live On
Television and radio pioneer Dunedin-born Brian Henderson, who presented Nine’s evening news in Sydney for 46 years, has died, aged 89. Nicole Douglas, of Daily Mail Australia, looks back on his illustrious career. Karl Stefanovic…
Chunk of Ancient Supercontinent Found Under NZ
As the California heat blazed outside in the summer of 2018, Rose Turnbull sat in the cool confines of a windowless basement sorting through grains of fine sand. A geologist based at New Zealand’s…
All Blacks Seal Series Win in Bled-Bath
“The Wallabies admit they ‘didn’t respect the ball’ enough against a potent All Blacks outfit that scored more points than ever before against Australia and only increased its aura in a one-sided Bledisloe II…
Wool Plus Aid Plus Big Investors Equals Expansion
Early on in Lucas Smith’s researching, patenting and manufacturing of merino Wool+Aid bandages, Stuff’s Marta Steeman reports, a local lawyer told him there was no other product in the world like it. But the…
Brothers Ravenhall Swim Whirlpool with Whisky
Two New Zealand-born UK-based brothers, Alex and Nick Ravenhall, have just completed a crossing of the world’s third largest whirlpool, The Corryvreckan in Scotland, as part of a bid to raise awareness of the…
Connan Mockasin and His Dad Make an Album Together
“New Zealand psych rocker Connan Mockasin’s collaborative album with his dad, Ade, has bad jokes, stream-of-consciousness poetry, and an odd, undeniable appeal,” Pitchfork Raphael Helfand writes in a review of, It’s Just Wind. “It only…
New Zealand Olympians Triumph in Tokyo
New Zealand is basking in the glow of its greatest ever Olympic medal haul, departing Tokyo with 20 medals – seven gold, six silver and seven bronze, and a new champion, Lisa Carrington, who…
New Zealand Ships Covid Vaccines to Tokelau
Tokelau, one of the most inaccessible atolls in the world, has just received 12 precious boxes of vaccine delivered by the New Zealand Defence Force, Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson writes for The Guardian. Inside the boxes…
4-Day Week Spurs Productivity
In 2018, New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian gave each of its 230 employees a day off each week. After the eight-week trial, it reported a 20 per cent jump in productivity and made a…
Deep Dive into Peter Jackson’s Beatles Doco
“It’s the Beatles as none would ever see or hear them again – their last live performance as a group, 30 January 1969. It’s also the Beatles as none of us, 52 years on,…
Older New Zealanders Join Climate Change Fight
On his early morning bike rides to school, David Yockney would deliberately seek out the crunch and splash of the ice-hardened puddles. It was a winter joy he loved, and one he took for…
Mayonaize x Indian Collab Tattoo-Inspired
The first of three in an Indian x No Regrets collaboration, New Zealand-born Melbourne-based tattoo artist Mayonaize’s handiwork has come to life on the Indian Motorcycle Chief, Alex Strange reports for UK motorcycle website, Visordown. Known…
Super Choice NZ-Style Ice Cream Hits Boston
When American August Radbill visited New Zealand for the first time a few years ago, he became enamoured with our real fruit ice cream, “a simple, ultra-creamy style that swirls together a scoop of…
Pounamu Jade Aikman Wins Fulbright Award
Pounamu Jade Aikman, who finished his PhD on racism and police violence against Ngāi Tūhoe, is this year’s recipient of the Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar Award and will spend five months at…
Conductor Gemma New Returns in Demand to US
New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New and Malaysian pianist Tengku Irfan, “among the leading young lights in the international classical music world”, worked together in July as guest artists at the Aspen Music Festival. Irfan performed…
HUM Ups Visibility of New Zealand Artists Abroad
New Zealand doesn’t have a dedicated cultural diplomacy wing like the British Council or the Goethe-Institut. To help amplify New Zealand visual art on the global stage, Pauline Autet established online platform Contemporary HUM….
NZ Speed Flyers Swoop in Extreme Sport Doco
New Zealand speed flyers Jamie Lee and Malachi Templeton are two extreme-sports thrill-seekers who feature in the documentary, Reset, which is directed by Frenchman Thierry Donard, considered “the Fellini of adventure film-making”. “Speed flying,” according to…
England Football Looks to Owen Eastwood
In a Guardian article, UK-based lawyer turned performance coach New Zealander Owen Eastwood (Ngāi Tahu), who has been working with the England football team, explains his role in building a sense of belonging and…
See-Level Harnesses the Power of VR for the Seasick
Christchurch-based start-up See-Level may have found a seasickness cure using virtual reality to provide relief for sufferers. Yachting World’s Will Bruton reports on the innovation. See-Level founder Dudley Jackson, originally from the Isle of…
Integrating Mātauranga into UNESCO’s Work
“Like many Indigenous peoples around the world, Māori have developed their understanding of their environment through close observation of the landscape and its behaviours over the course of many generations,” Vogue Business sustainability editor…
Obscure Podcast Get Flushed Rated Highly
“Many is the podcaster who talks crap, but New Zealander Pete (perhaps understandably, he prefers not to share his surname) gets down and dirty with actual effluent in Get Flushed,” Fiona Sturges writes in…
Toymaker Zuru Makes Big Sales with Mini Brands
There were sceptics in 2019 when New Zealand-based toy company Zuru unveiled its toy line featuring miniature grocery store items, replicated in exact detail, but shrunk to a tiny fraction of their normal size,…
Howick Partners with US Construction Company
Together with New Zealand-based steel framing machinery designer and manufacturer Howick, Massachusetts company Windover Construction are renovating a century-old YMCA building in the US city of Beverly. By way of an Autodesk programme, Windover…
Ambassador to Korea Philip Turner Backs Diversity
New Zealand Ambassador to Korea Philip Turner, the first openly gay ambassador to Korea whose same-sex spouse is recognised by the Korean government, was interviewed recently by Korea Times journalist Kwon Mee-yoo about New…
Wellington-Made Jemaine Clement Comedy Explained
New Zealand-born comedian Jemaine Clement breaks down Wellington Paranormal for Vanity Fair and gives the Americans a crash course in New Zealand humo(u)r. The series will also introduce American audiences to the Māori language, Brian Ng…
Jamie Beaton’s Online High School Gains Traction
More and more Australian students are signing up to study at Crimson Global Academy, a new private, online high school founded by New Zealander Jamie Beaton, that is offering British school-leaving qualifications to students…
CrossFit Laura Clifton Wisconsin-Bound
Twenty-six-year-old Laura Clifton, who runs a gym with her fiancée in Melbourne, will represent New Zealand at the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games on from 27 July until 1 August in Wisconsin, United States. Although Clifton qualified…
Lorde Sings Solar Power atop Ed Sullivan Theater
New Zealand pop singer Lorde, 24, was the musical guest on a recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where she performed the title track from her forthcoming album Solar Power, NME’s…
NY Gallery Exhibits Susan Te Kahurangi King
“A small feast of King’s extraordinary drawings is currently part of an absorbing and knowledgeably assembled group show at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York,” Sanford Schwartz writes…
Authors Like Mansfield Found Solace in S France
“The shimmering azure of the Mediterranean, the dark green of the cypress trees, the scent of thyme, the sound of cicadas on the terrace at dusk … don’t we feel the pull of the…
We Show Australia How to Tackle Housing Dilemmas
“While the debate about house prices is stuck in a holding pattern in Australia (with governments too scared to do anything too radical for fear of upsetting homeowners, and regulators averse to dealing with…
Local TV Shows Enlightening US Audiences
New Zealand and Australia “have long been in the business of making excellent television that American audiences really would dig,” Alexis Gunderson reports for entertainment news site, Vulture. “Never before have there been so…
Māori-Influenced Umurangi Generation Compelling
“Umurangi Generation is as much a game of hide-and-seek as of photography: just as much time is spent exploring the warren-like scenes in order to locate the next item in the brief,” The Observer’s…
Celebrate Astronomically-Based Matariki
A story about Māori New Year, when the constellation Matariki is first visible in the morning sky, features in Forbes this week. The date of the inaugural Matariki public holiday has been announced by…
Oceanographer Kerry Black Helps Save India’s Beaches
Puducherry in India is a seaside city of nearly one million people. This 40km strip of coastline, divided into seven zones, used to be home to some of the country’s most beautiful beaches. But…
Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard a Reluctant Trailblazer
Aucklander Laurel Hubbard, 43, is preparing to become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics, reigniting debate on one of the most divisive issues in sport, Agence France-Presse reports for a story…
New Zealand Wins the ICC Mace Beating India
“India’s revered superstars failed to dazzle on ‘D-Day’ as New Zealand’s canny operators and their classy skipper Kane Williamson deservingly walked away with the inaugural World Test Championship title after a composed eight-wicket win…
First Look at Sam Neill in The Portable Door
Good news for fans of magic, adventure, and comedy: ArtsHub now has its first look at The Portable Door, Stan and Jim Henson Company’s comedic fantasy-adventure, which stars New Zealander Sam Neill and Austrian-German…
Celebrate South Asian Creatives with Anita Chhiba
Anita Chhiba, the New Zealand-born, London-based founder of Diet Paratha, an Instagram account and online “corner store”, is dedicated to celebrating the full range of talents across the South Asian diaspora run by creatives…
Lorde’s Just Scratching the Surface of Her Powers
Lorde is back and the world’s media is clamouring for interviews. This latest is from The Guardian’s deputy music editor, Laura Snapes, who speaks with the pop star about her forthcoming third album Solar Power,…
Chef Thomas Hishon Highlights Sustainable Seafood
Auckland chef Thomas Hishon grew up living an idyllic life most people would envy, Forbes contributor Lizzy Saxe writes. “I’m from rural New Zealand … both sides of my family were quite involved with farming…
WestJet CEO Ed Sims to Retire
WestJet Airlines chief executive officer New Zealander Ed Sims will retire at the end of the year. Sims, who joined the Calgary-based carrier in 2017 and became CEO in 2018, led the airline through…
