Teen Plans to Open Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand
Jack Lanting, from Hamilton, was eight years old when he fell in love with Lily, a rescue elephant he met at the Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand while on a trip with his…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Kim Chambers Swims with Sharks in New Doco
New Zealand-born Kim Chambers started swimming after a life-changing accident. Just a few years later, she became the first woman to take on a notorious stretch of shark-inhabited waters – a solo swim from…
Why Bob Dylan Matters to Author Richard Thomas
“It took six months for New Zealander Richard Thomas to draft the manuscript for his newest book, Why Bob Dylan Matters, a study, among other things, of the songwriter’s deep and abiding connection to…
Phillipa and Brangka Munan’s Borneo Efforts Pay Off
New Zealander Phillipa Munan and her husband Brangka, who earned his Bachelor of Agriculture and Science from Lincoln University, operate The Milk Shop, an organic dairy goat farm in Kuching,…
How to Win the Man Booker Prize
The upstairs room of an indie bookstore. A book launch for a local author. Crisps and wine are being handed out, a buzz is in the air, congratulations are showered upon the young writer….
Thor: Ragnarok Marvel’s Best Film to Date
Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok has an “oddly beautiful scuffed-plastic aesthetic”; it’s “funny, charming, dazzling, gorgeously designed, and full of actors you already like,” with Waititi managing “to finally imbue Marvel’s dullest Avenger with a…
Ben Shewry’s Attica Best of the Best
New Zealand-born Ben Shewry has done it again, winning more accolades for his popular Melbourne restaurant. Shewry’s Attica in Ripponlea was named restaurant of the year at the inaugural national Good Food Guide awards…
Why Golriz Ghahraman Entered NZ Politics
New member of parliament Golriz Ghahraman is having her Twitter feed documented by the national archive as a testimony of New Zealand’s 2017 election. “It will be interesting for others to see what happens when…
NZ’s Wine “Quirky, Exciting And Worth Studying”
“New Zealand is sort of out there on its own, mysterious and captivating. We’re talking about two islands, inextricably linked, yet with quirky underdog identities all their own,” writes Michael Austin in an article…
The Ethical Minefields of Technology
“As we embrace technological innovation, we must also grapple with its implications,” warns New Zealand futurist Roger Dennis in a blog post in the Scientific American. “The introduction of new software…
Vintner Hugh Crichton Loves Chardonnay
Hugh Crichton gave up a successful career in the London financial markets to return home to New Zealand to pursue his first love – wine. But Crichton, 51, is not obsessed with sauvignon blanc,…
Library Solves Mystery of Missing Books
Auckland Library “has finally solved the mystery of why some books were going missing from its shelves,” writes Mark Molloy in an article for The Telegraph. When staff first discovered…
LeRoy Transfield’s Design Makes Commemorative Coin
New Zealand-born sculptor LeRoy Transfield’s winning design for a collectible silver dollar commemorating all Americans who served in the First World War has been unveiled. Available to buy from January 2018, sales of the centennial…
Great Barrier Island Best Spot for Stargazing
“It was as if a great celestial Bake Off was in action. Handfuls of sugar spilt across the sky and the faint floury stain of the Milky Way scattered overhead. With my neck craned…
Jacinda Ardern, 37, Will Be NZ’s Youngest Prime Minister
“A minor party holding the balance of power in New Zealand threw its support behind 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern’s bid to become prime minister on Thursday, ending the center-right National Party’s nine-year grip on power,”…
High Commissioner Mark Ramsden Says Fiji Farewell
The outgoing New Zealand High Commissioner Mark Ramsden says Fiji has gone through a lot of positive changes during the time he worked in the country. “The Fiji New Zealand Business Council has been a…
Bittersweet Return to Georgia for Amos Chapple
One man who knows the country of Georgia better than most is Amos Chapple. The New Zealand photographer, known for his pioneering use of drones, has been a regular visitor for the last seven…
Will Paton in the Front Seat of New UK Trains
It’s hard to imagine being responsible for the safety of 1700 lives, but that’s what New Zealander Will Paton faces every day, when he steps into the high-tech cab of his train. Paton spends up…
Sara Wiseman and Craig Hall Acting Up Together
New Zealand actors and couple Sara Wiseman, 45, and Craig Hall, 43, work together on Australian series A Place to Call Home. Wiseman, who grew up in Auckland, gives the Herald Sun her tips…
New Zealand Wasp Named After Harry Potter Villain
Auckland University entomologist and Harry Potter fan Tom Saunders has named a parasitoid wasp after “redeemed” character Lucius Malfoy in the hope of showing not all wasps are bad. Saunders named and described the wasp…
Lessons from New Zealand on Fiscal Discipline
“New Zealand and the UK are both regarded as pioneers in the use of a more modern system of accounting – accrual accounting, a method that records revenues and expenses when they are incurred…
Racing’s Brendon Hartley to Make F1 Debut
New Zealander Brendon Hartley, 27, is Toro Rosso’s new driver and will make his Formula One debut in Austin at the 2017 United States Grand Prix on 22 October. He will become New Zealand’s first F1…
John Clarke Remembered by Popular Radio Host
New Zealander John Clarke was “adored and admired” by the host of 3AW breakfast radio, Ross Stevenson, who dominates Australia’s most competitive radio market, Melbourne. Clarke and Stevenson co-wrote the ABC TV comedy The Games…
Phil Wood in Charge of Dream Restaurant Project
New Zealander Phil Wood, 35, has been singled out by Australian property magnate John Gandel to be the “culinary director” of the most ambitious restaurant development in Australia. Wood’s new winery restaurant will open…
Emirates Team NZ Stole the Show in Bermuda
“With greater ingenuity, a faster platform, and the determination to bring the America’s Cup back to Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand stole the show in Bermuda,” writes Dave Reed in an article for
New Zealand Film Team Transforms London
The bestselling book by Peter Reeve, Mortal Engines, is now being adapted for film by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, with visual effects specialist New Zealander Christian Rivers directing the project and…
Florida’s Etaru Opens With Hamish Brown as Chef
In the kitchen at the all new Etaru on Hallandale Beach, Florida, New Zealand-born chef Hamish Brown was until recently at the helm of it’s well-established sister restaurant in London, Roka. Originally from Christchurch, Brown,…
Maggie Hewitt’s Stratospheric Fashion Ascent
New Zealander Maggie Marilyn Hewitt’s story reads like a corny cartoon bildungsroman, Ellie Pithers reports for British Vogue. It goes like this: Fashion-obsessed teenager from pipsqueak, middle-of-nowhere town thousands of miles away from a…
Neil Finn’s Latest is a Quiet Masterpiece
Neil Finn’s latest solo album, Out of Silence, offers us the gift of catharsis in a season of unpredictable politics and societal division. This month, the Crowded House singer has returned with ten songs…
Grant King’s The Antipodean Most Promising
“Grant King hails from New Zealand, and has decided that cooking with ingredients sourced from Australasia is the way forward. The menu at The Antipodean is blissfully unadorned by anything…
Hard Work Pays Off Says Dancer Lance Savali
Lance Savali is currently working with music artist Chris Brown on the hip hop star’s Party Tour while travelling the world teaching workshops and brushing shoulders with superstars which have included Jennifer Lopez, Brandy…
Margot Henderson Opens Second London Canteen
One of London’s most discreet restaurants, co-owned by New Zealander Margot Henderson and Briton Melanie Arnold, will step out from behind its red-and-brown brick walls next month when Rochelle Canteen emerges from Shoreditch in…
Taika Waititi Best Dressed Director in Hollywood
Taika Waititi is a fashion superhero, according to Degen Pener writing for The Hollywood Reporter. The proof: When the New Zealand native and director of November’s Thor: Ragnarok showed up at Comic-Con in July,…
Author Lynley Dodd on the Secret Lives of Pets
On the release of her new picture book, Scarface Claw, Hold Tight! acclaimed New Zealand writer and illustrator Lynley Dodd talks animal antics and her favourite children’s books. Many cat owners would be familiar with…
Local Millennial Artists Confront Stigma
Are millennials equally lost and lamentable the world over? A recent trio of forward-looking exhibitions in New Zealand, including New Perspectives, suggests that youth remains a truly international – and consistently problematic – art-world…
KJ Apa Chats About Archie’s Second Season
Right now, only a handful of people know what happens after the big cliffhanger from Riverdale’s season one finale: whether or not Fred Andrews, who was shot in Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe, has survived. But…
New Zealand’s Tech Industry Boots Up
Majestic scenery, adventure tourism and agricultural products may be central to New Zealand’s international image, but technology and digital exports are growing fast, prompting industry calls for greater recognition, David Brooks reports for Nikkei…
Rainbow Youth Ad Challenges Casual Homophobia
An advert released by LGBTIQ rights charity Rainbow Youth is calling out New Zealanders over the negative use of the word “gay” through the medium of a dropped pie. The video was created to draw…
New Zealand Contingent Screenwriting Pioneers
“To make a good film,” Alfred Hitchcock once said, “you need three things: the script, the script, and the script.” Yet while it’s easy to find (and argue over) lists of the greatest films…
Ben Cochrane Wins Ironman on Gold Coast
Ironman Ben Cochrane’s move to Surfers Paradise has paid dividends in a single off-season, with the New Zealander winning the Coolangatta Gold short course event. Cochrane, who is originally from the Bay of Plenty, completed…
All Blacks Beat Springboks 25-24
The New Zealand “All Blacks completed a clean sweep of the Rugby Championship while the Springboks restored pride in their jersey in one of the great Test matches in front of 50,000 fans at…
Aldous Harding Talks about Creative Processes
“I called singer-songwriter Aldous Harding in the early evening hours from a computer telephone in the projection booth of a theatre in New York City. She picked up a hemisphere away in New Zealand…
Japan’s Landscapes Inspire Photographer Damon Bay
New Zealand photographer Damon Bay is shining an outsider’s eye on Japan’s countryside. He’s reimagining an ancient art form to showcase the beauty in everyday landscapes, according to Hiroyuki Tanaka, a journalist for Japanese…
Rising Star Vinnie Bennett Hits Toronto
New Zealander Vinnie Bennett, 25, who stars in Nic Gorman’s Human Traces, was one of seven actors selected to participate in this year’s Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF’s) Rising Stars programme. For four days during…
Drilling Reveals Secrets of Sunken Lost Continent
The mostly submerged South Pacific landmass Zealandia may have been closer to land level than once thought, providing pathways for animals and plants to cross continents from 80 million years ago, an expedition has…
Alien Weaponry Sign with Berlin Label
Thrash metal band Alien Weaponry, a group of three teenagers from Northland’s Waipu, has signed a management contract with Berlin label Das Machine. The band has also just won the coveted APRA Maioha Award…
William Trubridge’s Autobiography Oxygen
New Zealand freediver William Trubridge’s autobiography Oxygen will be released on 30 October in New Zealand and Australia. Trubridge said on his Facebook page: “After Vertical Blue this year I locked myself in my house…
Pianist Jason Bae Performs Classics in Vietnam
New Zealand pianist Jason Bae, 26, recently performed a classical concert in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, playing compositions by Chopin, Ravel and Rachmaninoff. Bae began studying piano when he was five, and had his…
Rodd and Gunn Takes NZ Style to LA
New Zealand menswear label Rodd & Gunn celebrated the soft opening recently of its first Los Angeles store, which joins others in San Francisco and Newport Beach. The focus on California makes sense, said the…
World’s Rarest Travel Books Auctioned
In a September Sotheby’s auction in London, some 400 books of explorers and travellers, scientists and sailors, botanists and big-game hunters were put up for auction, including a first edition of the official account…
Toronto Film Fest Review of Human Traces
“A sub-Antarctic research station is the setting for Human Traces, a twisty psychological thriller from promising New Zealand director Nic Gorman,” Richard Kuipers writes in a review for Variety. “Isolation is anything but splendid in…
Topp Twins – As Kiwi As Buzzy Bee
New Zealand’s Topp Twins are bringing their show Heading for the Hills to the Gisborne War Memorial Theatre on October 13. “They love New Zealand’s provincial towns so the yodelling…
New Zealand Opens First Rocket Launch Site
New Zealand’s first orbital launch site, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, on the Mahia Peninsula has been officially opened by New Zealand Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce. Joyce congratulated Rocket Lab’s chief executive and founder…
NZ Capture 7 Medals at World Rowing Championships
New Zealand have captured seven medals – three gold, two silvers and two bronze – at the World Rowing Championships in Florida. Newshub and the New…
NZ-UK Co-Production 6 Days to Screen on Netflix
The heroism of SAS soldier, Scotland-born John McAleese is being brought to the small screen in a joint £20 million UK-New Zealand co-production called 6 Days, which screens on Netflix on 3 November. The…
New Zealand Cap Fifth Rugby Championship Victory
New Zealand has capped their fifth Rugby Championship victory in six years with a 36-10 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires. The earlier 27-27 draw between South Africa and Australia in Bloemfontein had already ensured…
