Remember When... – a new podcast series from The Spinoff
And other things we're enjoying this week
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
Remember when texts cost 20 cents each and being on the wrong network had the potential to end friendships? What about peak Tumblr era? Or where you were when you tasted aioli for the very first time?
These are all topics in the episode ideas spreadsheet for The Spinoff’s newest podcast series Remember When…, which launches this week. Hosted by podcast manager and mega-memory Jane Yee with guests from across the office, it’s a fast, fun tour through all the trends and phenomena that defined growing up in Aotearoa.
There’ll be a couple of short episodes coming out each week, so subscribe now via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods and join us in revisiting everything from all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut to Rugged Sharks. And if you’ve got a good idea for a future episode, reply and let me know so I can add it to the spreadsheet.
–Cal
Scratched: Aotearoa’s Lost Sporting Legends
The star of the 1990 Commonwealth Games was a young New Zealand gymnast whose shock win in the vault catapulted her to national celebrity status. But Nikki Jenkins wasn’t our only gymnastic champion that year – rhythmic gymnast Angela Walker won a gold and three bronze medals at the games too. This week’s episode of Scratched revisits her historic performance, and tells the story of New Zealand’s forgotten gold medal gymnast.
The Real Pod
The Bachelorette NZ is hurtling toward its thrilling and romantic conclusion this week, and I still believe my prediction from last week to be true: Todd is going to win! To unpack this potential love match and all the other action from hometowns, Jane and Duncan are being joined by special guest Ben Thomas of Gone By Lunchtime / New Zealand politics Twitter fame in this week’s episode of The Real Pod, which is due out in the podverse from 8:30pm tonight.
We Are Who We Are
Sam says: “A new limited series from Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), We Are Who We Are (streaming on TVNZ On Demand) follows the lives of two wayward teenagers as they explore their gender and sexuality on an American military base in Italy. The show is utterly gorgeous, way more driven by mood and music than any plot, and if you ever wanted to see Chloe Sevigny play a military officer, here’s your chance.”
Final Mix
A lot of people in the office seem completely obsessed with TEEKS at the moment, so it was quite brave of the soulful singer to agree to get into a private vehicle and be driven all the way to Piha for the latest episode of Final Mix. Come along for the ride to hear a couple of new songs from his album Something to Feel (out next month) and hear what he had to say about them.
Gone By Lunchtime
Plenty of politics has happened since the Gone By Lunchtime squad last assembled – the whole furore about wearing a tie in parliament, for example, which already feels like it was months ago. Also discussed on this week’s episode: last week’s short, sharp lockdown, trans-Tasman relations, MIQ, benefits and why Ben hasn’t been on Twitter recently.
A lovely fish sandwich
Toby Manhire says: “I'd like to rec the Hoki Fish Bite Sandwich at the Sprig & Fern Tavern in Wellington. The Spinoff contingent at the Garden Party in Wellington scoffed about a million of these over the weekend: the perfect, unfussy mix of bread, aioli, pickle and fish bite. I'd also like to rec the divine Paekākāriki Pops, which The Spinoff contingent at the Garden Party in Wellington scoffed about a million of over the weekend too.”
Daft Punk
Josie says: “Daft Punk has broken up! I recommend listening to Daft Punk.” Here’s a 24-minute long video that shows how good at sampling they were.
Business is Boring
If you’ve been to the Sky Tower in the last year or two, you might have noticed something new at its base – an esports gaming studio LetsPlay.Live. Esports is mind-bogglingly big business these days, and LPL is the biggest esports broadcaster in Australasia. The company’s founder and CEO Duane Mutu joined Business is Boring last week to chat about just how big esports is and how much bigger it’s probably going to get.
Keanu Reeves
Eden says: “Not only is he badass in action films like The Matrix and John Wick, but he also gifts Harley Davidsons to his stunt team and makes up some of the best memes on this planet (shout out to St Heliers Library for inspiring this rec with their 'Keanu Reads’ poster). If you’re a hardcore fan like my mum and dad, you could even buy a Keanu Reeves shower curtain.”
That’s all for this week! If you’ve got a rec to share or anything else to discuss please reply to get in touch. Share if you want, too! See you next Wednesday 👋