All pitch, no policy: Danyl McLauchlan on why political PR trumps investment

Fondness for managing the message has obscured NZ's failures in infrastructure for years.

Anthony Ellison’s Cartoon of the Week

Anthony Ellison shares his perspective on the week in politics.

Greg Dixon’s Another Kind of Politics: “Great Helmsman” Luxon deserves bravery medal after using umbrella

Greg Dixon runs a satirical eye over local and international politics.

Danyl McLauchlan: Relentless government mediocrity could lead to the unthinkable - PM Winston Peters

Winston Peters as PM is still a long shot, but don’t the lead horses look exhausted?

Former National MP: 'Political calls to withdraw from the Paris Agreement are a complete distraction'

Climate denialism is growing but we must stick with the principles of the Paris Agreement.

Last post for journalism: Weak reporting has helped normalise US corruption

Once people would have been prosecuted and jailed for acts that now go unreported.

Leah McFall: Foragers are irritating middle class thieves and don’t get me started on wild swimmers

Why foraging and wild swimming have got to be the world’s most pretentious hobbies.

Duncan Garner: Could Luxon’s slide cost Nicola Willis her job?

Nicola Willis could be a high profile casualty if election results don't go National's way

Can putting non-teachers into struggling schools fix them?

Is Teach First NZ a game changer or a well-meaning Band-Aid?

Brown tides, big stinks and toxic beaches: Why our wastewater nightmare has just begun

The government is lowering standards for wastewater discharged to many waterways.

Nat Boltt’s Holy Days brings Joy Cowley back to NZ cinema and gets Miriam Margolyes to a nunnery

Riverdale star’s directing debut stars Miriam Margolyes, Judy Davis and Jacki Weaver.

Wellington scientists lead world’s largest sponge study

Scientists to search for microbes that may help marine sponges survive in warmer seas.

Why piling supplements on top of an already balanced diet can be risky

Serious side effects can result from excessive vitamin consumption.

'Meno divorce' is a trending term, but it doesn’t have to be this way

Why men need to do their homework on menopause transitions.

Ageing becomes focus of more research as population gets older

Researchers focus on positives of ageing rather than deficits.

Genetic testing for all? As Australia weighs preventive DNA checks, should NZ follow its lead?

Publicly funded testing for high-risk genetic problems would save money as well as lives.

The Good Life: Lush Places’ old-age pensioners

Lush Places' two remaining hens show no signs of slowing down.

MasterChef UK guest judge Ping Coombes celebrates kitchen staple in latest cookbook

Try three delicious rice based dishes packed with Malaysian flavours.

Wine thief puts his penchant for fraud to good use

A handy winemaker’s gadget brings to mind one of the world’s most infamous fraudsters.

The Good Life: Signed, sealed - and delivered

On the demise of 142 NZ Post Stores across the country.

Out of frame: What stories do art works from colonial times tell?

The Art of Colonisation finds interpreting these images is far from straightforward.

Composer’s rendering of Māori love story is revisited in a concert of greats

The legend of Hinemoa inspires NZ composer's "beautiful and evocative" music.

NZTrio’s new cellist Matthias Balzat finds his rhythm

Matthias Balzat is looking forward to branching out with new colleagues.

The Edinburgh Tattoo brings Scotland to Eden Park: Five things you need to know about summer’s biggest show

Dust off your tartan, gather the clans and prepare for pipes and drums.

Splore is no more: Russell Brown on the final act

The annual left-field musical festival that ran for nearly three decades has called time.

Wahine unmoored: Thrilling Māori horror hits the screens

Cultural colonisation is at the heart of gothic horror Mārama.

Listener’s Songs of the Week: New tracks by Pulp (with thoughts on Auckland show) , Foo Fighters, U2, Lana Del Ray and more

New and intriguing tracks picked by writers at the NZ Listener magazine.

Jimmy Carr’s Downton spoof Fackham Hall feels like it belongs in an earlier era

Do English people still find farts, willies and veiled homoerotica amusing?

Sex & stilettoes: Racy 1980s’ genre gets a thorough academic appraisal

The Bonkbuster is a thorough exploration of an "under-appreciated" literary genre.

Out of frame: What stories do art works from colonial times tell?

The Art of Colonisation finds interpreting these images is far from straightforward.

Cop-turned-novelist writes handbook on police procedures out of frustration over common crime-writer mistakes

How to write a crime novel that rings true - and the most common mistakes writers make.

Top 10 bestselling New Zealand books: February 21

The local books New Zealanders have been buying this week.

Cop-turned-novelist writes handbook on police procedures out of frustration over common crime-writer mistakes

How to write a crime novel that rings true - and the most common mistakes writers make.

Milk, Madness and Mayhem: The Ruahine Triple Axe Murders

Was it an act of temporary, alcohol-induced madness? Or plain bloody murder?

The Listener 2025 collection: Our most popular crime writing

From contemporary court cases to historic murders, 2025's best read crime stories.

Steve Braunias on the sentencing of the mother responsible for the ‘suitcase murders’

Mercy for Hakyung Lee was bartered for at sentencing.

Democracy needs armed forces, but young Germans will take a lot more convincing

With increased Russian aggression and US untrustworthiness, Germany needs more soldiers.

Apocalypse how: A field guide to the end of the world as the doomsday clock ticks forward

When’s the apocalypse coming, and what are the six likeliest ways it's going to kill us?

The political divide over the future of Bondi’s bridge

The bridge at the centre of the Bondi massacre is the latest subject of debate.

Was Renee Good’s death the result of senseless violence or an outcome of domestic terrorism?

Why your “moral language” will determine how you answer this question.

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See the world anew when science, art and nature converge in Te Papa’s Breathe | Mauri Ora

Te Papa’s new experience is at the cutting edge of technology and immersive art practice.

This Titirangi home was transformed into a functional family home

A mid-century Auckland home is reconfigured to make it more functional for a young family