Introducing Nē? A te ao Māori podcast
...and other recs this week!
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
We have another very exciting new podcast to tell you about this week! Nē? is hosted by The Spinoff's Ātea editor Leonie Hayden along with Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes and Meriana Johnsen, and every two weeks they’ll be getting together to kōrerorero about te ao Māori me te ao hurihuri. The first episode is out tomorrow, so make sure you’re following on Spotify, Apple or wherever you normally listen to pods!
Nē? Is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
This week’s new podcasts
On the second episode of Breast Assured [Apple | Spotify], Sarah Gandy and guests explored some of the changes our breasts go through over our lifetimes – both planned and unplanned.
On The Fold [Apple | Spotify] this week, Duncan Greive talks to Bailey Mackey about the incredible feat of extremely short notice live TV production that was the Vaxathon.
On When the Facts Change [Apple | Spotify], Bernard Hickey looked at the new bipartisan housing agreement reached in parliament last week.
Gone By Lunchtime [Apple | Spotify] met at the traffic lights to discuss the last two weeks in New Zealand politics.
And The Real Pod [Apple | Spotify] has recapped another week of Celebrity Treasure Island, while guest host Chris Parker joined Jane for a trawl through the week’s Real News.
Subscribe and listen now wherever you get your podcasts. Also, vote now for your favourite podcast in the Listener’s Choice category at the NZ Podcast Awards!
Tova O’Brien on FIRST
Our guest on the final episode of FIRST (watch them all here) is Newshub political editor Tova O’Brien! She told us about nearly getting blown away like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz during her first live cross, and other things.
Extremely Online – What are the rules of the internet?
Have you ever wondered why platforms don’t get shut down when they host extremist content, why Twitter doesn’t get sued every time someone spreads misinformation, or how sites like 4Chan can even exist? It’s because of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act – or the 26 words that created the internet. The Shit You Should Care About team explains in this week’s episode of Extremely Online.
Butter on toast
Alice says: “I recommend butter on toast. That’s it, that’s the rec. I used to do a layer of butter and top with another spread, such as peanut butter (don’t trust anyone who tells you peanut butter doesn’t need butter underneath it), but as each cursed day of Auckland’s interminable lockdown hastens my transformation into a husk of the human I once was, sometimes that is just too much effort. So I just go butter, but heaps of it, and preferably Lewis Road Creamery’s sea salt crystals one (which Linda Burgess recommends here). Good for any and all meals and also if you’re a bit peckish in between meals.”
Invasion
Chris says: “I recommend watching Invasion on Apple TV+ for some unintended light relief LOLs. It's an incredibly idiotic show that thinks it's being extremely smart. It's an alien invasion show with barely any aliens. It's an apocalyptic thriller, a divorce drama and Lord of the Flies all at once. It rips off Gravity. It copies Black Hawk Down. It's a lot like Arrival. It's trying to be so many things that it isn’t really anything at all. But watching this 10-parter try so hard to become something is kind of fun – in an expensive, slow-motion trainwreck sorta way.”
American Dad
Sam says: “I’ve been rewatching American Dad, which has 16(!) seasons available on Disney+. While the first season is rough and quite skippable, since season two it’s been one of the funniest, weirdest comedies on TV. It’s the black sheep of the Seth MacFarlane Universe, and the fact that nobody really cares about has allowed the creators to do extremely weird stuff, like a full episode parody of August: Osage County, an episode set 200 years after the apocalypse and pretty much any episode that focuses on Roger.”
A good dam
Ben says: “I highly recommend visiting Lower Huia dam in the Waitākere Ranges while it's overflowing. Hopefully it'll keep overflowing for a while with all the rain last weekend. It's a 15 minute walk up a fairly gentle slope to the top of the dam, and you might see a flock of kererū on the way. The gigantic funnel is amazing to see – it's like a deadly but very tempting forbidden hydroslide, and you can get surreal videos or photos through the little peephole in the walkway.”
Dune (the memes)
Leonie says: “As a regular old Herbert-head, I’d love to rec Dune (2021), the high budget, epic sci-fi remake of the book, TV show and buzzy 1984 David Lynch film… but alas I cannot as it’s not released here until December. Until then I will satisfy myself with the parade of excellent memes. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the source material, all you really need to know is there’s a fair bit of sand involved, and some of that sand is drugs.
OK, that’ll do it for this week. Please reply to get in touch and share with anyone else who might like to subscribe too. See you next Wednesday 👋
If you're part of The Spinoff Members, thank you, from all of us. If you're not, and can donate, please do so today.