World’s Top-Ranked Team Shaped by Kane Williamson
“After beating Pakistan by an innings and 176 runs in the second Test of a series they swept 2-0, New Zealand (a country with the total population around half that of London, and a…
Blog Archives
Benee Makes DIY’s Class of 2021
Riding high off the back of megahit ‘Superlonely’ and her recent celeb-featuring full-length debut LP, Hey u x, Benee’s already done the hard bit – now she’s ready to reap the rewards, Elly Watson…
Thomasin McKenzie Poised to Dominate 2021
“Even in a year free from Hollywood’s typical machinations – red carpets, fall festivals, movie theatres – stars could still be made seemingly overnight,” Keaton Bell writes for Vogue. “Here’s our rundown of 15…
Contact Tracing Company SaferMe Focuses on US
Wellington-based contact tracing technology provider SaferMe, which played a role in helping New Zealand bring COVID-19 case counts down to zero, is setting its sights on Texas and the North American market, Dom DiFurio…
Cooee Keeping Tour Guides in Virtual Business
Cooee, a travel platform developed in New Zealand, is finding ways to keep tour guides in business during the pandemic – and let people get a view of somewhere besides their own house, Adele…
Peter Jackson Astonishes With Beatles Documentary
“In a brilliant move, the Beatles him to work on the 56 hours of…
Learning Te Reo Māori Is Where It’s At
New Zealanders of all stripes are signing up to learn te reo Māori, according to Amy Gunia reporting for TIME magazine. Gunia writes that experts say over the last five or so years, the…
Culinary Leader Ben Shewry Shines a Light
Given Melbourne thinks of itself as Australia’s food capital, its double lockdown was particularly identity-shaking. Luckily, one of the city’s culinary leaders, New Zealand-born chef and restaurateur Ben Shewry, stood tirelessly tall and stayed…
Rachel House Counts Souls in Pixar’s Latest Outing
Auckland-born actor Rachel House, 49, is the voice of Terry, a Great Beyond “soul counter” in Pixar’s latest animated comedy-drama, Soul. House recorded remotely for the film from New Zealand, which also stars Jamie…
Tech Sector Humming with Mergers and Acquisitions
Specialist in the tech area, Mark Clare of Wellington’s Clare Capital, said the level of mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and general advisory work in the industry was busier than he had ever seen…
Weta Digital Looks to Become Content Producer
At a time when much of Hollywood is reeling from Covid-19, Weta Digital, the Wellington visual-effects company behind Avatar and Avengers: Endgame, is looking to pull a growth story out of its magic hat,…
Rocket Lab Launches Sixth Successful Mission of ‘20
Rocket Lab USA Inc. has completed another mission sending a satellite into space aboard one of the New Zealand-founded company’s Electron launch vehicles, Elijah Chiland reports for the Los Angeles Business Journal. It was…
Marlon Williams’ Records with Saskatoon Soulmates
On tour a couple of years ago in Europe, Christchurch-born musician Marlon Williams was travelling with his band when Canadian folk duo Kacy and Clayton popped up on the radio. Williams knew instantly that…
Martin Henderson Isn’t Just Jack From Virgin River
Auckland-born actor Martin Henderson, 46, stars in Netflix series, Virgin River as the love interest of Mel Monroe played by Alexandra Breckenridge – “who moves to the tiny titular town in hopes of escaping…
Canada-Based Builder Rob Parsons Lauded
New Zealander Rob Parsons a Victoria, Canada contractor known for building high-end homes and for integrity in his business dealings has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Victoria Residential Builders Association in recognition…
How Our Film Industry Boomed During the Pandemic
Thanks to its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, New Zealand is enjoying an unprecedented boom in film production, with directors seeking safe conditions, and that most elusive thing this year – a normal life,…
US TV Host Stephen Colbert Revisits 2019 NZ Trip
Stephen Colbert, host of US television’s The Late Show, has shared footage from his 2019 travels to New Zealand on a recent episode, including a Lord of the Rings-themed adventure and bungee jumping off a…
Richie McCaw World Rugby Player of the Decade
New Zealand’s two-time Rugby World Cup-winning captain Richie McCaw has been named men’s player of the decade by World Rugby, Reuters reports in an article published online by The Guardian. McCaw, 39, who led…
Emilia Wickstead and Royalty a Perfect Fit
“Any close followers of the Duchess of Cambridge’s style will know the name Emilia Wickstead,” Ciara Sheppard writes for Harper’s Bazaar. “The New Zealand-born fashion designer is the brains behind one of the duchess’…
Harvard Activist Award for PM Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has received a Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership Gleitsman International Activist Award, which was presented at a virtual ceremony on 1 December. According to the Harvard Kennedy School, the…
Vintner Jules Taylor Celebrates 20 Years
As a child in Marlborough Jules Taylor dreamt of another place that offered more options than the animal and vegetable/fruit farming that dominated her area in the late 1970s and 1980s, Cathrine Todd writes…
Author Chloe Gong is a New York Times Best Seller
It’s not every day that a 21-year-old debut author lands near the top of the young adult hardcover list, Elizbeth Egan writes for The New York Times. Chloe Gong, a Shanghai native who grew…
Former Olympic Athlete Now Criteo CEO Megan Clarken Aims Ever Higher
Internet advertising company Criteo’s first female CEO, Megan Clarken, has had an illustrious career in business so far. For the past 15 years, the native New Zealander has been a champion of diversity and…
Turn Disappointments of 2020 into Forest of Hope
To say 2020 has been a year full of disappointments is an understatement, but New Zealand is hoping to inspire some positivity for this coming year with its Forest of Hope campaign, Jessica Poitevien…
Football Talent Liberato Cacace Moves to Belgium
Wellington-born Liberato Cacace, 20, wants to imitate childhood hero Paolo Maldini by one day donning the captain’s armband for his national team, South China Morning Post sports journalist Andrew McNicol writes. The left wing-back, who…
Siouxsie Wiles Makes BBC List of Inspiring Women
Scientist and public health communicator Siouxsie Wiles has been named on this year’s BBC list of 100 Women, a roll call of “inspiring and inspirational women from around the world”. This year, the BBC reports,…
With Pandemic Australia Has New Lens on NZ
“New Zealand’s response to the coronavirus is just the latest reason Australians have sometimes looked wistfully, or at least with interest, across the Tasman,” ABC-TV’s 7.30 chief political correspondent Laura Tingle writes in Quarterly…
Furniture Design Company PLN Group Thinks Wellbeing
West Auckland-based furniture design company PLN Group has created furniture for Apple, Google and Disney to reduce sound and boost productivity – and now it hopes to use design to improve employee wellbeing in…
Ocado Retail CEO Mel Smith Takes on M&S
Mel Smith is a plain-speaking, cheery New Zealander who joined online supermarket Ocado as CEO of Ocado Retail just over a year ago from Marks & Spencer, Harry Wallop reports in a story about…
October and The Eyes Puts Together EP Collage
“October and The Eyes makes music that wouldn’t feel out of place on the soundtrack of an arthouse thriller. Read: dark, sexy and a little dangerous,” Fiona Hartley writes for British magazine, i-D. “After…
Henry Blake’s County Lines Draws From Youth Work
A thoroughly absorbing though deeply upsetting drama, County Lines is a remarkable debut feature from New Zealand-born writer-director Henry Blake. Inspired by his own experiences as a youth worker in East London, Blake hopes…
Antarctica Trip Motivates Lorde on All Levels
New Zealand-born singer Lorde, 24, has teased fans with more information about a new album while announcing her book, Going South, inspired by her 2019 trip to Antarctica. The Independent’s Isobel Lewis reports. The “Green Light” singer has…
Rebecca Thomas’ Polish Portraits Stand Out
“More Radical Empathy, a project by New Zealand-born photographer Rebecca Thomas, is a poignant and inspiring series of portraits of activists from the global queer community in London, bearing heartfelt slogans of resistance against…
Journalist’s Flock to Hamish McKenzie’s Substack
“Between the collapse of newspapers, the misfortunes of digital media, and the economic wreckage of the coronavirus pandemic, writing for a living can feel like a cold, dreary, morale-sucking march to the unemployment office….
Haere Rā Midnight Oil Bassist Bones Hillman
Midnight Oil’s bassist and backing vocalist, New Zealand-born Bones (Wayne) Hillman has died in Milwaukee in the US at the age of 62. His fellow band members said they were “grieving the loss of our…
Lewis Hamilton’s Physio Sidekick is Angela Cullen
Across a race weekend, New Zealand-born Switzerland-based physiotherapist Angela Cullen is a near-constant presence at the side of her harge Lewis Hamilton – a fact which has even earned her cult status among some…
Kākāpō Claims 2020 Bird of the Year Victory
The esteemed kākāpō has soared past its competition to claim victory in New Zealand’s Bird of the Year contest, a tense race marked by attempted voter interference during a divisive month of campaigning, Jennifer Hassan…
Rocket Lab Welcomes Electron Back to Earth
In a major milestone, the New Zealand-based launch company Rocket Lab has successfully recovered an orbital-class rocket after parachuting it back to Earth from near-space – only the second company in history ever to…
JK Rowling Picks Sophie Mills’ Ickabog Illustration
Southland Girls’ High School student Sophie Mills, 12, was one of four New Zealanders amongst 32 submissions worldwide to have an illustration included in JK Rowling’s latest book, The Ickabog. About 18,000 entries were…
Kai Ika Model for Reducing Hunger and Food Waste
Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae has been distributing two tons of fish a week – the parts often discarded in commercial and recreational fishing – to families affected by New Zealand’s sputtering economy. Sam Woolford, founder…
The Caker’s Rondel Sisters Take Baking Kits to US
Boxed cake mixes don’t have the most glamorous reputation, and that’s precisely why Jordan and Anouk Rondel think The Caker stands out. The two sisters have expanded the baking business from their hometown of…
Gender Pay Equity an Experiment for an Entire Society
“New Zealand is pursuing a century-old idea to close the gender pay gap: not equal pay for equal work, but equal pay for work of equal value,” American journalist Anna Louie Sussman writes in…
Chatham Islands Hot Ticket for Travel-Starved
“The coronavirus pandemic has decimated the travel industry,” Lilit Marcus writes for CNN, “But there’s one place on the planet where there are too many tourists right now: the Chatham Islands.” “As New Zealand’s borders…
Benee’s Debut Out Featuring UK Pop Royalty
Grimes and Lily Allen feature on Auckland pop sensation Benee’s debut album, Hey u x, and she’s just played one of the post-Covid era’s first arena shows. The twenty-year-old tells NME’s Caitlin O’Reilly about…
Auckland on World’s Best Covid-era Cities List
Auckland is among the top 100 cities in the world to live in or visit during the Covid-19 era, according to a new Resonance Consultancy global ranking. The annual best cities report ranked cities with…
Bill Gosden Lived and Breathed Film
Bill Gosden, who served as director of the New Zealand International Film Festival for nearly 40 years, has died in Wellington. He was 66. Mike Barnes looks back on Gosden’s illustrious career for The Hollywood…
Oamaru Rock Capital of the Universe
“It’s the kind of town where the public toilets remain open after dusk without being vandalised, and where the grand width of the rather beautiful main street is a reminder of busier days. And…
Rocky Horror Creator Richard O’Brien Interviewed
New Zealand-raised Richard O’Brien, the creator of the cult Rocky Horror Picture Show is not going quietly into his 70s. O’Brien, who lives with his third wife, Sabrina, just outside of Katikati, talks with…
New Zealand Inc Reaps Benefit of Lockdown Response
When Covid-19 struck New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern’s government quickly closed the nation’s borders and imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in a bid to eliminate the spread of the virus. Jamie Smyth, a…
Soul Machines’ AI Florence Helps Smokers Quit
With smokers at great risk of Covid-19 complications, Auckland-based Soul Machines, leaders in artificial general intelligence (AGI), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have developed Florence, an embodied AI who offers online counselling for…
Economist Writes on Our “Islands of Liberality”
“More notable than the appearance of Ardern’s cabinet is how voters answered one question on their ballot paper: should New Zealand legalise assisted dying for those with a terminal illness?” The Economist asks….
Braindead Reflects Mindset of Early 1990s Youth
“The rebellious nature of the mid-to-late 20th-century teenager sought to expose , deviating from the social norms to embrace the very depths of ‘bad taste’. Simultaneously, whilst yet unknown, New-Zealand…
Celebrities Mad for Jessica McCormack’s Jewels
London-based New Zealand-born jewellery designer Jessica McCormack, loved by celebrities and royalty alike, has revealed she “still gets a buzz” when she sees one of her pieces on a famous customer, Monica Greep reports…
Xero’s Steve Vamos Leads Staff Through Pandemic
Head of Wellington-based accountancy software group Xero, Steve Vamos, 62, strives to create an environment where staff do ‘great work’. The tech veteran recently spoke to Financial Times correspondent Jonathan Moules over a video call about…
Sixth IndyCar Title for Racing Legend Scott Dixon
Each of Scott Dixon’s six NTT IndyCar Series championships have bent to unique arcs, Marshall Pruett reports for American motorsports magazine, Racer. With his latest, earned late October in a thriller on the streets…
Icebreaker Aims to Go Plastic-Free by 2023
Last year, Auckland-based outdoor brand Icebreaker sponsored French ultra-swimmer Ben Lecomte to swim across the Pacific from Hawaii to San Francisco through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. He swam 350 nautical miles over the…
