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?

Anthony Ellison’s cartoon of the week

Anthony Ellison shares his perspective on current events.

Greg Dixon’s Another Kind of Politics: Luxon to NZ: your power bill, your problem

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

Danyl McLauchlan: There are pathways to government for Labour but will it be in any shape to govern?

Voters want to know if Labour has a viable plan to fix the economy or if it's all talk.

David Harvey: The rules-based international order is dying. What comes next?

The rules-based order was only as robust as great powers’ willingness to abide by it.

Simon Wilson: Smart politics does not equal smart town planning

David Seymour's dramatic hyperbole spooks PM into playing politics.

Health NZ’s annual report is not a story of a system on the mend; it’s a real-time demonstration of managed decline

Despite cost-cutting, Health New Zealand’s financial state is far from fighting fit.

Russell Brown: In the UK, the Epstein Files cause a parliamentary crisis. In the US, they barely raise eyebrows

Deputy US attorney-general Todd Blanche tells journalists any Epstein investigation's over

Wellington scientists lead world’s largest sponge study

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

Job losses, seismic threats and now a sewage spill: Why they’re not the end for Wellington

You wouldn't think it, but there's a lot to look forward to in Wellington.

Listener weekly quiz: February 18

Test your general knowledge with the Listener’s weekly quiz.

Record-breaking Kiwi teen track star Sam Ruthe on his astonishing achievements and fleet-footed family

Sam Ruthe is only 16 years old and already clocking record-breaking times.

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.

Pay more tax, greater equity and demand better: Three doctors on how to heal the health system

Drs Lucy O'Hagan, Ineke Meredith and Ivor Popovich on how to heal NZ health system.

Hot honey - sweet hype or real health?

Hot honey is heating up menus but is the sweet and spicy craze actually good for us?

Want to live longer? Be happier and healthier? Why picking up a paint brush, joining a choir or cooking a meal could help

At a time when arts education is under siege, research shows how vital creativity is.

The Good Life: Signed, sealed - and delivered

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

Delicious Japanese street eats from the back lanes of Tokyo

French-Japanese writer Laure Kié recreates some of her favourite dishes.

Weekend wine guide: Wines for sauvignon blanc lovers who like a richer, smokier tipple

New Zealand winemakers strive for greater complexities when handling the grape variety.

Our clothes reveal much about us, so what happens when fashion conformity turns toxic?

Dressing for identity is powerful, but fashion obsession can come at a cost.

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.

From bro’Town to the rag trade, Ant Sang stitches up his next act

Why this bro'Town creative's latest project might be his most significant yet.

Some 16 years after his death, NZ artist’s acclaimed exhibition rides again

A restaged retrospective reveals NZ artist's Julian Dashper’s lasting impact.

Anatomy of a music season: How Chamber Music NZ plans a concert year

When the money won’t stretch, NZ arts organisations can use other means to attract talent.

Rose Byrne saves exhausting and stressful portrait of motherhood from being unwatchable

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is a smart and sensitive but tense take on parenting.

Felicity Kendal on living a good life, making dungarees sexy and not coming to NZ for Small Town Scandal

Michele Hewitson profiles UK star Felicity Kendal.

Chris Hemsworth’s heist caper has star power but lacks grunt

The decent caper movie that author Don Winslow’s story suggests never quite emerges.

From Paris with love, Bic Runga returns

Bic Runga introduces adult stuff in the innocent guise of pop.

Book of the day: Pedro The Vast by by Simón López Trujillo

A survivor of a fungal apocalypse is hailed as a messiah in captivating Chilean dystopia.

Book of the day: Crick: A Mind in Motion – from DNA to the Brain by Matthew Cobb

Entertaining, meticulous biography of the flawed scientist who discovered secret of life.

Book of the day: Party Boy by Breton Dukes

Dark-humoured novel explores splintering life of man tormented by his schoolboy antics.

Top 10 bestselling New Zealand books: February 14

There's a new number one on the list of local bestsellers.

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.

Foreigner, bigamist, killer: The wild life and dubious conviction of a colonial double murderer

Faced with a double murder that rocked colonial NZ, police were quick to find a suspect.

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