News of New Zealanders via Global Media

New Zealand Hosts US Comedian Stephen Colbert

New Zealand Hosts US Comedian Stephen Colbert

In a stunt hailed as a coup for the New Zealand travel industry, American comedian Stephen Colbert has screened segments from his trip here on The Late Show. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern…

First for Surfskier Danielle McKenzie in Hong Kong

First for Surfskier Danielle McKenzie in Hong Kong

World champion surfskier New Zealander Danielle McKenzie proved that winning the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in France in September was no fluke when she backed up her performance in Hong Kong recently…

Designer Richard Clarkson Has His Head in the Clouds

Designer Richard Clarkson Has His Head in the Clouds

For people living in the forest of skyscrapers like Manhattan, seeing the open sky is often not always part of their everyday scenery, according to Epoch Times correspondent Robert Jay Watson. With his ‘Cloud’…

Physicist Stephen Parke Makes Maths Discovery

Physicist Stephen Parke Makes Maths Discovery

Three physicists, including one New Zealander, wanted to calculate how neutrinos change. They ended up discovering an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in maths, Natalie Wolchover reports for online publication,…

Emilia Wickstead’s Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep

Emilia Wickstead’s Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep

New Zealander Emilia Wickstead has built her eponymous brand on the premise of being properly dressed for every occasion, be it a black tie event or a boardroom meeting; a wild night out or…

Tūī Winner Benee Has a Vision

Tūī Winner Benee Has a Vision

Aucklander Benee, otherwise known as Stella Bennett, who claimed four Tūīs at this year’s Vodafone Music Awards, talked to Billboard’s Gab Ginsberg in the United States recently about her latest EP, Stella & Steve,…

Winemaker Michael Corbett Expands Business

Winemaker Michael Corbett Expands Business

New Zealand-born winemaker Michael Corbett, co-founder of Vanguardist Wines in South Australia, has recently opened a new Clare Valley cellar door in Clare’s original town hall, wine writer Katie Spain writes for Adelaide newspaper, The…

Moe mai rā Nancy Brunning

Moe mai rā Nancy Brunning

One of New Zealand’s best loved actresses Nancy Brunning, made famous as Nurse Jaki on Shortland Street, has died in Wellington, aged 48, Daily Mail Australia reports. Brunning, a talented playwright, acting coach and director,…

New Zealand’s Bird of the Year is the Hoiho

New Zealand’s Bird of the Year is the Hoiho

The endangered hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin) won New Zealand’s coveted Bird of the Year competition after two weeks of intense campaigning, the BBC reports. The hoiho saw off many avian rivals to become the first…

In Wellington Meet Food Hero Monique Fiso

In Wellington Meet Food Hero Monique Fiso

Chef and owner of Wellington restaurant, Hiakai, Monique Fiso has been named a “Hero of Travel 2019” by Australia’s Traveller publication. “Travel is a little like theatre – much of the magic happens behind the…

Taika Waititi Puts on a Tuxedo

Taika Waititi Puts on a Tuxedo

His film Jojo Rabbit may be the year’s most unlikely Oscar contender: a Nazi comedy. How will the irreverent director fare amid Hollywood’s sacred rituals? Pop culture reporter Kyle Buchanan investigates for a New York…

Sharna Osborne’s Shots Like Nothing Else in Fashion

Sharna Osborne’s Shots Like Nothing Else in Fashion

The videos and stills made by the New Zealand-born artist Sharna Osborne don’t look like anything else in the fashion world – or at least not like anything else being produced today, this decade,…

Young CEO Jamie Beaton Inspired by Chance Encounter

Young CEO Jamie Beaton Inspired by Chance Encounter

When New Zealander Jamie Beaton, 24, was in his first year of high school, he happened to bump into the dux of his school on a train, Alexis Carey writes for Australian news site,…

Rich Production Incentives Draw Global Projects

Rich Production Incentives Draw Global Projects

For a small country with a film industry that is export-driven, the quality of New Zealand’s incentives is critical, Variety’s Asia bureau chief Patrick Frater reports. Despite the kudos and tourism dollars delivered by producing…

New Zealand Passes Zero Carbon Law

New Zealand Passes Zero Carbon Law

New Zealand has passed a law to reduce its emissions in a bid to become mostly carbon neutral by 2050, Britain’s Independent newspaper reports. The zero-carbon bill aims to tackle climate change by setting a…

Sonny Bill Williams’ Toronto Signing Makes Waves

Sonny Bill Williams’ Toronto Signing Makes Waves

A long-time member of the famed All Blacks, who has won the Rugby World Cup twice and represented New Zealand at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sonny Bill Williams is a superstar of the highest…

Christchurch Opens Its Doors to More US Visitors

Christchurch Opens Its Doors to More US Visitors

American Airlines has announced the first ever direct flight service between the US and Christchurch. Beginning in October of 2020 the carrier will embark on the 13-hour voyage three times a week. The announcement…

Rodin Reveals Formula One-Like Hypercar

Rodin Reveals Formula One-Like Hypercar

The car you see here might look and drive like a Formula One model, but it’s actually the work of a New Zealand-based hypercar brand, Rodin Cars, Sam Jeremic writes in a motoring story…

Glasgow-Based MOY Pop Star in Waiting

Glasgow-Based MOY Pop Star in Waiting

“With only two live shows and two singles behind him, MOY, 23, is already showing signs that he’s a real contender,” Scottish Sun music journalist Jim Gellatly writes. “The New Zealander from Auckland was…

Black Grace Thrill in New York

Black Grace Thrill in New York

New Zealand contemporary dance company Black Grace wowed New York Times’ dance critic Brian Seibert during its debut season at the Joyce Theater with “an exhilarating, seemingly inexhaustible energy.” Seibert lauded the “unaffected style…

Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness Remastered

Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness Remastered

Celebrated television noir Edge of Darkness propelled New Zealand-born director Martin Campbell into the Hollywood big time. In a story featured on the UK’s Radio Times web page, Campbell, 76, talks about his “terrific”…

Irish Rugby Bids Farewell to Coach Joe Schmidt

Irish Rugby Bids Farewell to Coach Joe Schmidt

Failing a second time to lead Ireland to a first Rugby World Cup semifinal will haunt New Zealander Joe Schmidt, who steps down as coach following six transformative years, AP journalist Foster Niumata writes…

Artist Scott Conrad Kelly Gets Some Rich Insights

Artist Scott Conrad Kelly Gets Some Rich Insights

London-based artist Scott Conrad Kelly, 29, first started documenting the kind of scribbles people left on the walls of public bathrooms in London in 2016, Raj Aditya Chaudhuri writes for Condé Nast Traveller. “I like…

Singer Jamie McDell Celebrates Her Own Perspective

Singer Jamie McDell Celebrates Her Own Perspective

New Zealand alt-country guitarist and singer-songwriter Jamie McDell, 26, has just released her introspective Botox EP. Music magazine Billboard reports on the set and how it all came about. McDell enchants with airy vocals…

Media Man David Robie Discovers Another Iran

Media Man David Robie Discovers Another Iran

New Zealand author, journalist, media educator and retired university professor David Robie believes that Iran is a hugely friendly country despite propagandas by Western media, the Tehran Times reports. Robie spent several weeks travelling in…

Happy Sad Grant Trebilco Opens Up in New Film

Happy Sad Grant Trebilco Opens Up in New Film

New Zealand-born Grant Trebilco, who lives in Bondi, is one of the five subjects of Melbourne director Genevieve Bailey’s feature film Happy Sad Man, which investigates how men, who represent 75 per cent of…

Davinia Sutton Kitchen Design Wins Major Award

Davinia Sutton Kitchen Design Wins Major Award

The world’s best kitchen has been unveiled at a prestigious annual design awards ceremony in London. Alice Murphy reports for the Daily Mail on the prize, which was won by New Zealander Davinia Sutton. The…

Activist Richard McLachlan Talks Tough on Climate

Activist Richard McLachlan Talks Tough on Climate

Since June, activist New Zealander Richard McLachlan, 68, regularly gives talks on the New York subway, warning riders “we are sleepwalking into a catastrophe”. McLachlan is a member of Extinction Rebellion, an environmental action…

Silver Fern Farms Enters US Retail Market in NYC

Silver Fern Farms Enters US Retail Market in NYC

Silver Fern Farms, the largest red meat producer in New Zealand has announced their entry into the U.S. market. The company launched its products in 14 Fairway Market stores around the New York…

Below Deck with Chef Kevin Dobson

Below Deck with Chef Kevin Dobson

The seventh season of American reality television series Below Deck is underway, and with it, a new cast to stir up drama at sea including New Zealand chef, Kevin Dobson. According to Bustle reporter Lia…

Scott McLaughlin Wins Bathurst 1000

Scott McLaughlin Wins Bathurst 1000

Supercars series leader Christchurch-born Scott McLaughlin, 26, claimed a maiden Bathurst 1000 title at Mount Panorama after a dramatic finish, the Australian Associated Press reports in a story published on The Guardian’s news site. Ford’s McLaughlin…

Inside Inner-City Garden of Chef Margot Henderson

Inside Inner-City Garden of Chef Margot Henderson

New Zealand-born London-based chef and co-owner of Rochelle Canteen Margot Henderson talks to The Telegraph about how she became a gardener and what she loves most about her inner-city garden for the “occasional” column,…

Satire Jojo Rabbit At Its Best Mocking Nazis

Satire Jojo Rabbit At Its Best Mocking Nazis

Taika Waititi’s latest movie, Jojo Rabbit is reviewed by film critic Kenneth Turan for the Los Angeles Times after its star-studded premiere in LA recently. “Unlikely though it sounds, we have a need to laugh…

All Blacks Torch Ireland to Reach World Cup Semis

All Blacks Torch Ireland to Reach World Cup Semis

Two-time defending champion New Zealand cruised into a Rugby World Cup semifinal matchup against England after dismantling Ireland 46-14 at Tokyo Stadium, Japan Times’ staff writer Andrew McKirdy reports. Ireland had beaten the All Blacks…

New Zealand the Small Country that Keeps on Top

New Zealand the Small Country that Keeps on Top

For a country with a population under five million, its prowess on the sporting stage has always appeared to be disproportionate, James Master writes for CNN. Olympic champions in rowing, sailing, canoeing, home of…

New Zealander Subject of UK Mental Health Exhibit

New Zealander Subject of UK Mental Health Exhibit

The Museum of Lost and Found Potential launches in London this week, marking World Mental Health Day with an exhibition that hopes to encourage empathy, action and even anger by showing what mental illness…

Lynley Dodd Reveals Secret of Hairy Maclary

Lynley Dodd Reveals Secret of Hairy Maclary

The influence of Jane Austen on Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy may not be immediately apparent, but it’s there. At least that’s what New Zealander Lynley Dodd said at the opening of the The…

Chit-Chat Flows Easily in NZ but Does It in Europe?

Chit-Chat Flows Easily in NZ but Does It in Europe?

“In New Zealand, small talk flows so easily, a ceaseless background banter you become inured to and engage in unthinkingly. And it often goes so much deeper than exchanging shallow pleasantries,” Guardian journalist Eleanor…

Jewellery Brand Monarc Good for the Planet

Jewellery Brand Monarc Good for the Planet

“Ethical jewellery is defined as jewellery that has no negative impact on the people who make it, or the environment it’s produced in, Naomi May writes for London’s Evening Standard. “It may sound like…

Walmart’s Greg Foran Flies Home to Air NZ

Walmart’s Greg Foran Flies Home to Air NZ

Big-box giant Walmart Inc. has announced that New Zealand-born Greg Foran, the CEO of its US division – which makes up the bulk of its sales and operating income – is leaving to become…

Fiac Art Fair’s Jennifer Flay on Challenges Ahead

Fiac Art Fair’s Jennifer Flay on Challenges Ahead

New Zealand-born Jennifer Flay, the director of Fiac (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain), insists that France’s most important modern and contemporary art fair can weather future storms, Gareth Harris reports for the Financial Times. The…

NZ Performs Well in World Energy Trilemma Index

NZ Performs Well in World Energy Trilemma Index

An analysis of the World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Index shows New Zealand ranks highly in comparison to other countries, but has slipped in terms of security and sustainability, industry bulletin NZ Energy and…

Barbara Wheeler, The First New Zealander to Become a Longwood Gardens Fellow

Barbara Wheeler, The First New Zealander to Become a Longwood Gardens Fellow

Dunedin horticulturist Barbara Wheeler is the first New Zealander to receive a fellowship from Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, one of the premier horticultural gardens in the United States. The 13-month residency aims…

Chef Hayden McMillan Takes Charge Across the Tasman

Chef Hayden McMillan Takes Charge Across the Tasman

“It’s often said that Australia doesn’t really have its own national cuisine – that as a young country, its food culture is best understood as a mosaic of traditions drawn from Asia, the Mediterranean,…

Dan Carter Explains New Zealand’s Cup Success

Dan Carter Explains New Zealand’s Cup Success

Legendary former All Black fly-half Dan Carter tells ESPN that while the physical challenge of seven weeks of fierce competition at the Rugby World Cup sets it apart as the sport’s ultimate test, it…

Anniversary of Cook’s Arrival Marked with Debate

Anniversary of Cook’s Arrival Marked with Debate

The British government have expressed “regret” that explorers killed some of the first Māori they met 250 years ago but stopped short of issuing a full apology. British High Commissioner Laura Clarke met Māori tribal…

Tributes Flow for Randwick Legend Jeff Sayle

Tributes Flow for Randwick Legend Jeff Sayle

Former Wallabies flanker and “Randwick legend”, New Zealand-born Jeff Sayle has died in Sydney aged 77. The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Sayle was an icon of Sydney’s eastern beaches, a beloved member of Coogee Surf…

Skipp Williamson Tops Influential Consultant List

Skipp Williamson Tops Influential Consultant List

The Australian Financial Review magazine’s “hotly anticipated” annual power issue includes lists of the key players across six different industry sectors. At No 1 on the top five most powerful people in consulting is…

Kathmandu Buys Legendary Surf Brand Rip Curl

Kathmandu Buys Legendary Surf Brand Rip Curl

The iconic Australian surfing equipment and apparel company Rip Curl has agreed to a $368m takeover offer from New Zealand-based retailer Kathmandu, Peter Wells reports for the Financial Times. The deal marks the first major…

New York Times Reviews Fiona Kidman Novel

New York Times Reviews Fiona Kidman Novel

“One December night in 1955, a 20-year-old Irish immigrant named Albert Black, wearing heavy boots to make his hanging snap, shuffled to the gallows of a dark prison in Auckland. He’d stabbed and killed…

Four NZ Tech Superstars Bound to Become Global

Four NZ Tech Superstars Bound to Become Global

New Zealand is a country that immediately brings to mind a number of images upon its mention, London-based music and culture magazine The 405 reports. Jaw-dropping nature, a beacon of stability and commonsense governance…

Annabel Liddell Happy to Mix Medicine and Music

Annabel Liddell Happy to Mix Medicine and Music

New Zealander Annabel Liddell, 25, recently completed six years of medical study in Auckland and will graduate in November, but she’s held off on a job offer and is deferring registration, which requires her…

Why Ihumātao Truly is a Piece of New Zealand’s Soul

Why Ihumātao Truly is a Piece of New Zealand’s Soul

“In a city that has destroyed or forgotten most of its past, fragments of Auckland’s deep histories still survive at Ihumātao,” history curator at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira Lucy Mackintosh…

Welsh Appointment for Conductor Tianyi Lu

Welsh Appointment for Conductor Tianyi Lu

Welsh National Opera (WNO) recently announced New Zealander Tianyi Lu as its first female conductor in residence. The residency was launched to help re-address the gender balance across the industry, following WNO’s ‘Where Are All…

New Penguins Book by Lloyd Spencer Davis Published

New Penguins Book by Lloyd Spencer Davis Published

Napier-born Lloyd Spencer Davis is an award-winning scientist with many Antarctic field seasons behind him, Sara Wheeler writes for The Wall Street Journal. Wheeler reviews Davis’ new book, A Polar Affair: Antarctica’s Forgotten Hero…

Honouring the Historic for Business Sake

Honouring the Historic for Business Sake

“Even if you’re familiar with the All Blacks, you probably still weren’t aware of their dominant 77 per cent winning percentage against the planet over the last century. What you’re probably familiar with is…