The joy of Reacher – The return of Primitive Technology – A new type of hot cross bun
...and other recs this week
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
In the final episode of Takeout Kids we meet Martynique, who spends the week between school and her family’s takeaway shop in Porirua, waiting for the weekend to come so she and her cousin can go into town. Remember the concept of “going into town”? That feeling of just waiting around for something to happen? This episode captures that side of being a teenager very authentically, I reckon.
–Cal
🎧 New this week on The Spinoff Podcast Network
The second episode of On Site [Apple Podcasts, Spotify] out this week is all about women in the trades – what the industry offers, where there's still work to do and how we can get more wāhine on the tools.
New Zealand has a lot of small businesses, but relatively few of them expand into larger, more productive operations. And strawberry farms, Bernard Hickey discovered in the latest episode of When the Facts Change [Apple | Spotify], are a good example of this.
Te Pūnaha Matatini research fellow Sanjana Hattotuwa spent the last month watching the occupation at parliament spread and outrate the mainstream media in venues like Facebook Live and Telegram. He joined Duncan Greive on The Fold [Apple | Spotify] this week to explain why Aotearoa has to view this as a sign of things to come.
On the topic of the parliament protest, Gone By Lunchtime [Apple | Spotify] recorded an episode all about it with The Spinoff’s political editor Justin Giovannetti last Wednesday morning, just before it all kicked off. Still a very good and relevant discussion.
And out later today, The Real Pod [Apple | Spotify] recaps all the on-agains and off-agains plus a potential partner swap as this year’s Married at First Sight Australia reaches its approximate midway point.
📺 Reacher
Sam says: “Reacher on Amazon Prime Video asks the question: ‘What if Sherlock Holmes was American, 6 foot everything, and had hands like roasted hams?’ Based on Lee Child’s rightly popular Jack Reacher series of novels, it’s a big, silly sort of whodunnit with great fight scenes and even better scenes where Reacher explains exactly how he came to the conclusion he did in a deep, gruff baritone. Is it good? No. Is it great? Absolutely.”
🕹️ Timezone
Josie says: “I went to Timezone last weekend and remembered how fun it is to sit on a pretend motorbike and throw tiny basketballs. The Riccarton Timezone has a VR rollercoaster so good I thought I was going to fall out of my chair. After you're gamed out, you can head to the shop and get as many stick-on tattoos and silly putties as your tickets will buy. Top ticket-dispensing games are always the kids' ones – if you want a shopping spree, don't play any games with screens more than a metre above ground level.”
🎫 Tickets to the future
Chris says: “I rec buying a ticket for a concert that seems light years away (and may not even happen anyways). Just the thought of being crammed into a tiny venue or standing in a field drinking warm beer along with hundreds or thousands of fans again is enough to give me a dopamine hit to last several omicron-infused weeks. We're getting more than a dozen Splendour in the Grass sideshows in July (hot tip: Isle of Wight indie-rock duo Wet Leg just announced a Tuning Fork show for July 17) and everyone from the Foos to Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Tyler, the Creator are coming at some point in the next year. My credit card is about to call it a day and I could not care less.”
📺 Primitive Technology
Ben says: “Primitive Technology just casually reappeared on YouTube with zero fanfare after an unannounced two-year hiatus. It's surprisingly enjoyable watching a guy use nothing but his hands and the tools he's able to craft from trees and rocks to build shelter, fire clay bricks, and even extract iron from ore – probably the closest thing you'll find to ‘Slow TV’ on mainstream YouTube. The chap has 10 million subscribers yet never speaks a word in any of his videos, and inspired dozens of copycat YouTube channels of various quality. Rumour was he disappeared to create a TV show for a "major TV network" but that ended up falling through. Pro tip: turn on the subtitles to see an explanation of what's going on; or don't, if you just want to vibe.”
👞 A valuable Birkenstocks tip
Alice says: “Do you absolutely thrash your Birkenstocks? Have you had them for some time? If you answered yes to either of these questions, have I got a life hack for you: tighten the straps. Oh, you thought they were as tight as they could go, because you set them just perfectly when you first got them? Turns out those buggers loosen up over time, and you’re probably walking along with them all loose and flappy without even realising. Ever had a Birk fall off your foot in the middle of a pedestrian crossing, requiring you to run back sheepishly, one foot bare, and grab it as the cars rev their engines and laugh at you? I have. Tightening them will put an end to that shameful scenario and revolutionise your stupid little walks in all sorts of other ways, giving you a new sense of security as you pound the pavements, and perhaps even putting a literal spring in your step.”
🍞 A new type of hot cross bun
Sela Jane says: “New World has collaborated with Pic’s to make peanut butter hot cross buns this Easter. Warning: sickly sweet, but if you're a sweet tooth like me, good luck trying to resist going back for seconds.”
OK, that’s all we’ve got time for this week. Please hit reply to get in touch, and of course feel free to share with anyone else who might like to subscribe too. See you next Wednesday 👋