Dean Barker to Lead Japan’s America’s Cup Team
New Zealander Dean Barker has been appointed as skipper and CEO of Japan’s challenge for the 2017 America’s Cup. “This is an incredible opportunity to build a new team from the ground up,” Barker said…
Blog Archives
Nielson Family Reunion Perfect Subtext for New UMO Album
“Visionary” New Zealander Ruban Nielson, frontman of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, has tightened up his songwriting, “with the added bonus of synths” on the band’s latest album Multi-Love. “Nielson’s favourite new toy is apparent from the…
Australia’s Top Chef Ben Shewry Saved by a Fisherman
New Zealand-born Ben Shewry’s Melbourne restaurant Attica is admired all over the world over – but success did not make him happy, and he nearly walked away from the kitchen. Until he was saved…
Thomston Challenging Pop Conventions
Aucklander Thomas Stoneman, aka Thomston, who recently made his British debut at the Great Escape festival in Brighton, “is most certainly a talent to watch out for,” according to Clash magazine. The 19-year-old singer’s debut…
Mad Max Stunt Star Dayna Grant Tweets Action Shots
New Zealand stuntwoman Dayna Grant, 39, who doubled for Charlize Theron’s cunning warrior Furiosa in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, posted some behind-the-scenes snapshots on her Twitter page. Esquire shared them with its…
Sean MacPherson’s Marlton One of NY’s Hippest Hotels
In 2013, New Zealand-born hotelier Sean MacPherson “decided to turn his attentions to a Greenwich Village flophouse that used to host the likes of Jack Kerouac back in the literary heyday of New York.”…
Slow West Set in Dauntingly Beautiful Landscape
John Maclean’s “compelling” directorial debut Slow West set in Colorado in 1870 was shot in New Zealand and stars Michael Fassbender. South African-born New Zealander Caren Pistorius plays crofter’s daughter, Rose Ross “who even…
Michaela Anchan’s Woolf Works for Women
When New Zealander Michaela Anchan, 34, decided to launch a career as a freelance writer in Singapore, she discovered few offices in the city-state that were suitable and that fitted her budget. So last…
Jeweller Jessica McCormack Adopts Consignment Policies
In recent years the jewellery industry has experienced a surge of growth, with an explosion of new designers, as well as outlets offering their creations. Some designers have chosen to differentiate themselves by forgoing…
Lorde Immortalised in Wax at Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds in Hollywood has unveiled a wax figure of 18-year-old New Zealand singer Lorde. Human Lorde was quite excited when the wax museum’s Hollywood location revealed her figure. She tweeted out a photo of…
Emirates Returns as Team New Zealand’s Top Sponsor
America’s Cup syndicate Emirates Team New Zealand have received some good news, with the airline announcing it will return as the team’s major sponsor, which could help it reach the starting line of the…
Hurricanes Taking Super Rugby by Storm
The Hurricanes have scored some breathtaking, length-of-the field tries this year, but what they have also done is find a way to win matches when opponents have not allowed them to play the style…
Aucklander Lila Kuka Reclaims Old School Hip
In a bid to be hip, flask manufacturers are turning to their feminine side creating items with pink, glitter and jewels. New Zealander Lila Kuka is a big fan. Kuka began collecting vintage hip flasks…
Fifteen Quirky Contenders for a New NZ Flag
New Zealand is appealing to the public to design and vote on a new flag. The Guardian features 15 examples that are are “as weird and wonderful as you’d expect.” “There’s an internet joke, perpetuated…
Jack Body Leaves Us with His Asia-Inspired Music
Te Aroha-born composer and music academic Jack Body, whose work was influenced by the music of Asia, has died in Wellington at the age of 70. Body studied at Auckland University and in Germany and…
Open Water Swim Accolade for Adventurer Charlotte Brynn
New Zealander Charlotte Brynn has been included on the 2015 list of the world’s 50 most adventurous open water women by the World Open Water Swim Association. Brynn, a New Zealander who lives…
Prince Harry Charms New Zealand Crowds
Prince Harry has been warmly welcomed throughout New Zealand on his first ever visit to the country after a month-long deployment with the Australian military. Arriving in Wellington in a Royal New Zealand Air Force…
Luxury Holiday in New Zealand the Perfect Gift
The best present you could give your mother would be a “trip of a lifetime” to New Zealand, Los Angeles Times correspondent Amanda Jones recommends in an article featuring “über-luxe lodge” Kauri Cliffs, the…
David Clarkson’s Encoded Opens New Canberra Festival
New Zealander David Clarkson, artistic director of Australian company Stalker Theatre, opened the inaugural SEGUE festival in Canberra with a work called, Encoded. Clarkson says the piece – which combines physical theatre, dance theatre and…
Fjords Crucial to Carbon Burial
An Otago University study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, has found fjords could play a very important role as a driver of atmospheric CO2 levels at times when ice sheets are…
Why Grand Designs Kevin McCloud Loves NZ Homes
Presenter of popular UK television show Grand Designs Kevin McCloud has visited New Zealand four times because of his involvement in a competition to build a new residential quarter in Christchurch as part of…
Rugby Convert Paul Lasike Lands NFL Contract
Auckland-born Paul Lasike, 24, a former Chiefs back, has signed a contract with NFL team Arizona Cardinals. Branded a “violent” ball-runner, Lasike was picked up by the Cardinals after impressing as a running back in…
Wet Dogs Dry Dogs Captured by Serenah Hodson
New Zealand-born photographer Serenah Hodson’s Wet Dog Dry Dog series captures show dogs in two essential physical and emotional states: dry and pleased, and then wet and oh so grumpy. The idea came about while…
Jess Johnson’s Parallel Realm Finds Home in a Book
Tauranga-born visual artist Jess Johnson has drawn inspiration from some lesser-known belief systems like UFO religion Raëlism, to create an art book for the National Gallery of Victoria’s inaugural art book fair. ” movement was…
Simon Denny One of the Top Reasons to Get to Venice
Some exhibitors at the 56th Venice Biennale have a shot at changing the art world and New Zealand representative Simon Denny is one of them, according to Bloomberg, which includes the Aucklander in a…
NZ an Appealing Choice for 30-Something Singaporeans
New Zealand is becoming an ever more popular choice for Singaporeans in their early 30s looking to emigrate, choosing our country for its space, value for money, healthcare and cost of living. Freelance journalist Surekha…
John Bracewell Tasked with Leading Ireland to Test Status
New Zealander John Bracewell has been tasked with leading Ireland on the final leg towards Test status, with his experience of playing and coaching his native country at international level seeing him win out…
Heath Cozens Grapples with Controversial Sport
New Zealand-born filmmaker Heath Cozens, 41, saw his first Japanese disabled pro wrestling match in 2010. At the time, he didn’t know what to think. Cozens, who spent 18 years in Japan as a video…
Canada Going Wild for NZ’s Grassy Fruity Wines
“In New Zealand, wine is in top gear,” Canada’s Globe and Mail reports. “Exports marked a record high of $1.29-billion last year, up 8.2 per cent over the previous 12 months, according to New…
Billboard Gets a Rush on Gin Wigmore’s New Video
New Zealand singer-songwriter Gin Wigmore, 28, is preparing for the release of her third studio album Blood to Bone with the “intense and uninhibited” video, “New Rush,” Billboard reports. “ Wigmore is giving her…
Danielle Cormack an Ambitious Currency Trader in New Play
Award-winning actor New Zealand-born Danielle Cormack, who came to prominence in Australia with her performances in Underbelly and Wentworth, is currently playing an ambitious currency trader in Boys Will Be Boys at
Golf Champion Michael Campbell Calls It Quits
Former US Open Champion New Zealander Michael Campbell, 46, is retiring from golf to concentrate on running his golf academy in Malaga, Spain. Campbell, who won the Open at Pinehurst in 2005, told New Zealand’s…
Paul Ding Signs Mega Deal with S Korean Online Shopping Giant
New Zealand home shopping channel, Auckland-based Yes Shop, has signed a groundbreaking supply agreement with online shopping giant HMall of South Korea, which will see more goods being traded directly between the two countries. HMall…
Scrabble Genius Nigel Richards’ Talent Helping Science
The boardgame Scrabble is giving psychologists a better understanding of the underpinnings of complex skill and a clearer picture of the origins of greatness. New Zealander Nigel Richards is widely regarded as the best…
For the Sake of Britain James Cook Amended NZ Map
In an extract from a paper called, “Political Captain Cook” by Australian lawyer Margaret Cameron-Ash, Cook’s decision in 1770 to misrepresent Stuart Island as a peninsula is discussed. “Like every military man, Cook knew that…
Jess Cornelius Releases New Track Ahead of Courtney Barnett Tour
“New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Jess Cornelius is the tour de force behind Teeth & Tongue, and returns with a rollicking new track ‘Cupcake’,” Monica Tan writes for the Guardian’s weekly “Mixtape” column. “Although recorded in…
Country Star Marlon Williams Takes to the Road
New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Marlon Williams will tour Australia and his home country in support of his just-released, critically acclaimed self-titled debut album. “A free-ranging complement to the assured country weirdness of last year’s Sad…
Chilli Head Chris Cullen Concocts New Sauce for NY Expo
New Zealand chef-turned-entrepreneur Chris Cullen seems to have hot sauce running in his veins, judging from the passionate way he speaks about one of America’s hottest food trends, the New York Times reports. “I had…
Louis Baker Takes Flight with New EP Birds
The “impressive” New Zealand-born songwriter Louis Baker’s new EP Birds will be released in the United Kingdom on 29 June. Clash magazine premieres the title track. Continually observing the world around him, Baker…
Kimbra Plays at California’s Coachella
Singer Kimbra was a headline act at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, included alongside big names like Florence and the Machine, Caribou, FKA Twigs and Father John Misty. For the…
Google Doodle Honours Detective Novelist Ngaio Marsh
New Zealand-born crime writer and theatre director Dame Ngaio Marsh who wrote during the “golden age” of detective novels was celebrated on 23 April 2015 with a Google Doodle. Marsh, born in Christchurch, would have…
Russell Crowe’s Water Diviner a Story Only He Could Tell
Growing up a New Zealander-Australian, Russell Crowe, 51, was intimately familiar with the Dardanelles Campaign, a veritable slaughterhouse battle over a tiny Turkish peninsula also known as Gallipoli. In his latest film, The Water…
Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf’s Powerful Partnership
Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf are included in a list of literary “titans” who banded together as penpals whilst they produced the classics. “Before Woolf was lionised she shared an unlikely friendship with a New…
Sam Neill Remembers Fallen Family in Why Anzac
In one pivotal scene from Sam Neill’s thoughtful and moving examination of the Anzac legend, the ABC documentary Why Anzac, he approaches his grandfather’s grave in Lijssenthoek Cemetery, Belgium for the first time. “This is…
Rocket Lab Deems Space Open for Business
A New Zealand rocket company, founded by inventor Peter Beck in 2007, says it has found a way to drastically cut the cost of satellite launches, by 3D printing rocket components. The Rocket…
All Blacks Thrashing of USA Eagles a Big Money-Spinner
The first rugby match in the United States for the All Blacks in over three decades helped TLA Worldwide, an American athlete representation and sports marketing business, report a 26 per cent rise in…
Attica Chef and Forager Ben Shewry’s Plates Didactic
New Zealander Ben Shewry’s role at Melbourne’s Attica is lauded in the Sydney Morning Herald, with the restaurant named one of reviewer Terry Durack’s top 12 in Australia. “No, you haven’t made a mistake, that…
Failepou Peni’s Label Lapou to Unveil New Collection
New Zealand-born designer Failepou Peni’s resort wear label Lapou will showcase new collections at the Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival on 17 October. Lepou specialise in figure flattering resort pieces, luxurious kaftans, swimwear and…
Shushila Takao Stars in Cook Island-Set Thriller Tatau
Like many of the cast of BBC3’s new supernatural thriller Tatau, Shushila Takao is a New Zealander. She stars alongside British newcomers Joe Layton and Theo Barklem-Biggs as Aumea in the television…
Heath Cozens’ Film on Japanese Disabled Wrestlers Premieres
A documentary about a small troupe of Tokyo wrestlers with disabilities made by New Zealander Heath Cozens will premiere at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto on 27 April. Five years in the making,…
Auckland May Well Be the World’s Edgiest City
Innovation happens on the edge and “you cannot get more on the edge than New Zealand,” according to the CEO of Auckland’s economic development group Brett O’Riley. Auckland may be New Zealand’s biggest city but…
Award-Winning Correspondent Peter Arnett Speaks on War
Pulitzer-winning journalist New Zealander Peter Arnett spoke to a packed crowd at California State University in Fresno on his 50 years of reporting experience – from covering the Vietnam War to his struggles with…
Lifestyle Coach Sene Naoupu Flexes Her Muscles in Ireland
When fitness and lifestyle coach New Zealander Sene Naoupu came to Ireland with her husband, Connaught Rugby’s George Naoupu, she had no idea that she would end up lining out for Ireland’s Six Nations-winning…
Contemplating the Rebuilding of Christchurch Cathedral
“Henry John Chitty Harper was the first bishop of Christchurch. He battled to build the Anglican cathedral that, for more than a century, was the city’s centrepiece, its greatest landmark and an inspiration behind…
Ian North’s Antarctic Images Evoke Beauty and Terror of Our Era
The latest exhibition of Ian North’s work, “East Antarctica 1915”, demonstrates the Lower Hutt-born artist’s uncanny ability to tap into the zeitgeist of our socially fractured and culturally fragmented times, writes Flinders University lecturer…
Stan Walker’s New Album Marks Becoming of Age
New Zealand soul singer Stan Walker, 24, is about to release his new album Truth & Soul, a collection of songs from icons like Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding. The Australian Idol winner says,…
