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Jane Clifton
Columnist

Jane Clifton is a columnist for the NZ Listener

The listener.co.nz is the website of the award-winning New Zealand Listener, which has been covering the political, cultural and literary life of Aotearoa New Zealand for 80 years with features on current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, food, culture and entertainment.

Check out Jane’s latest content
LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Say what?
World

Jane Clifton: Say what?

18 Jun 06:00 PM
LISTENER
Jane Clifton: If taniwha trouble you, be glad we don’t have Irish fairies
Opinion

Jane Clifton: If taniwha trouble you, be glad we don’t have Irish fairies

29 May 06:00 PM

A new book offers practical advice on navigating the world of fairies.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: The fallen tree that grew a national argument
Opinion

Jane Clifton: The fallen tree that grew a national argument

22 May 06:00 PM

Felling of the Sycamore Gap tree generates outrage, and possible prison sentences.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Citizenship-for-investment all the rage but now facing a legal slap down
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Citizenship-for-investment all the rage but now facing a legal slap down

15 May 06:00 PM

The EU has ruled Malta's system of citizenship in exchange for investment is illegal.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: I Am Farticus - the TV ads declaring war on dignity
Opinion

Jane Clifton: I Am Farticus - the TV ads declaring war on dignity

08 May 06:00 PM

Advertising for lavatory paper and laxatives has gone down the toilet.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Golfer Rory McIlroy caught in a custody battle
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Golfer Rory McIlroy caught in a custody battle

01 May 06:00 PM

Champion golfer’s appeal easily crosses the Irish divide.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: The politics of grass is a new turf war
Opinion

Jane Clifton: The politics of grass is a new turf war

23 Apr 06:00 PM

The widening divide between lawn purists and those who want nature to take its course.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Trouble comes in threes
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Trouble comes in threes

10 Apr 05:00 PM

Updating emergency preparedness advice, the EU newly urges residents to prepare for attack

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Your dog might just be the key to living longer
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Your dog might just be the key to living longer

03 Apr 03:59 PM

New research could be the longevity breakthrough no one expected.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: When your quiet corner of the world is shot to pieces
Opinion

Jane Clifton: When your quiet corner of the world is shot to pieces

27 Mar 04:00 PM

Towns - and countries - made famous by a TV series or film can be a mixed blessing.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: I have seen the future of road-traffic management
Opinion

Jane Clifton: I have seen the future of road-traffic management

20 Mar 07:00 PM

Forget about orange cones and get ready to welcome a more organic alternative.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Eurovision might be the ultimate foreign policy test for Trump and Putin
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Eurovision might be the ultimate foreign policy test for Trump and Putin

06 Mar 03:55 PM

Politics meets pop in the venerable annual song contest.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Scotland’s peculiar perverse cat problem
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Scotland’s peculiar perverse cat problem

27 Feb 04:00 PM

Europe’s growing practice of reintroducing fauna strikes wild issues.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Should we really be washing our clothes less? France says yes
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Should we really be washing our clothes less? France says yes

20 Feb 04:00 PM

The science and practicalities behind low-wash are compelling.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Environmental and economic toll of cruise ships is a floating crisis
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Environmental and economic toll of cruise ships is a floating crisis

06 Feb 07:23 PM

More and more ports are banning massive cruise ships.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: How an evangelical Christian Protestant has divided Ireland
Opinion

Jane Clifton: How an evangelical Christian Protestant has divided Ireland

23 Jan 04:00 PM

The figure keeping Ireland’s most famous modern-day vigil is unlikely to warm the cockles.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Not everyone is in want of a Jane Austen experience
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Not everyone is in want of a Jane Austen experience

16 Jan 04:00 PM

Pride, prejudice and promenades: Austen's year of celebration but are we at peak Jane?

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: It’s beginning to seem a lot like Scrooge had a point
Opinion

Jane Clifton: It’s beginning to seem a lot like Scrooge had a point

09 Jan 04:00 PM

Now another Christmas is over, it's safe to ask tough questions about the annual festival.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: A short goodbye to listicles
Opinion

Jane Clifton: A short goodbye to listicles

26 Dec 04:00 PM

The auction of crime writer Raymond Chandler's old listicle sparks some genuine surprise.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Brits want royals to talk more about social issues and less about personal lives
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Brits want royals to talk more about social issues and less about personal lives

12 Dec 04:00 PM

Brexit, Royals and the Jaguar rebrand expose UK contradictions.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Fighter Conor McGregor’s celebrated machismo is beginning to tarnish
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Fighter Conor McGregor’s celebrated machismo is beginning to tarnish

05 Dec 04:00 PM

The downfall of a former "scallywag with a heart of gold".

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Who’s winning the word war as France polices words and Britain cautions kids?
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Who’s winning the word war as France polices words and Britain cautions kids?

28 Nov 04:00 PM

From Dictionnaire to Cautions, France and Britain fight battles to police words.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: The US election and when stardust turns to ashes
Opinion

Jane Clifton: The US election and when stardust turns to ashes

17 Nov 04:00 PM

It seems perverse that Taylor Swift couldn’t outgun a septuagenarian convicted felon.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Is fun at the UK’s historic sites worth the cost?
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Is fun at the UK’s historic sites worth the cost?

14 Nov 04:00 PM

The National Trust’s new vision for heritage site sparks debate and division.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Loo and behold - language class barriers are taking a break
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Loo and behold - language class barriers are taking a break

07 Nov 04:00 PM

Being able to determine one’s class by the words one uses may be on its way out.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: The weight of reality as a new chapter in obesity treatment opens
Opinion

Jane Clifton: The weight of reality as a new chapter in obesity treatment opens

31 Oct 04:00 PM

Economists are generally keener on weight-loss drugs than doctors.

LISTENER
The horrendous rigmarole required to buy tickets for Oasis comeback
Opinion

The horrendous rigmarole required to buy tickets for Oasis comeback

08 Sep 05:00 PM

Can you legislate to force a business to have an adequate IT system?

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Shock and awe at Eurovision
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Shock and awe at Eurovision

19 May 12:00 AM

Viewers were pounded with such an onslaught of garishness as to cause outrage outage.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: High fashion ditches pants, profits soar (but please, wear underwear)
Opinion

Jane Clifton: High fashion ditches pants, profits soar (but please, wear underwear)

17 May 12:30 AM

Celebrities might be able to get away with underwear as outwear; us mere mortals cannot.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Just when you thought you understood something... “it’s not that simple”
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Just when you thought you understood something... “it’s not that simple”

07 May 12:30 AM

Opinion: Too much time on a screen is bad for kids’ development, right?

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: We’ve been fooled! The travel experiences based on lies
Opinion

Jane Clifton: We’ve been fooled! The travel experiences based on lies

03 May 12:30 AM

Opinion: At what point do facts spoil travellers' fun?

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Does science ever say sorry?
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Does science ever say sorry?

25 Apr 05:30 PM

Science is losing its sheen thanks to two new reports on diet & exercise.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: A spud crisis and a water shortage - Ireland’s rain paradox
Opinion

Jane Clifton: A spud crisis and a water shortage - Ireland’s rain paradox

18 Apr 12:30 AM

It’s a forecast no Irish person with a sense of history expected ever to hear again.

LISTENER
Bum notes: Jane Clifton takes a rear view of fashion
Opinion

Bum notes: Jane Clifton takes a rear view of fashion

12 Apr 12:30 AM

Jane Clifton: You know a fad has hit the big time when it’s on the shelves of M&S.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton:  UK celebrity designer's list of what's common causes Christmas debates
Opinion

Jane Clifton: UK celebrity designer's list of what's common causes Christmas debates

30 Nov 11:30 PM

Debating what’s “common” according to a celebrity designer becomes new Christmas tradition

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: A scandal short of a secret
Opinion

Jane Clifton: A scandal short of a secret

23 Nov 04:30 PM

A 350-page sulk by a jilted British MP reveals no scandal or conspiracy.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Playing the blame game in the Covid inquiry
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Playing the blame game in the Covid inquiry

14 Nov 03:00 AM

"Politicians, officials and scientists are still at war over the most basic facts."

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Is it overkill to catch motorists in car traps?
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Is it overkill to catch motorists in car traps?

01 Nov 04:30 PM

Recent complaints from indignant drivers have brought to light a little-known scheme.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Quelle horreur in the bedroom
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Quelle horreur in the bedroom

25 Oct 04:00 PM

A third of UK residents don’t wash their towels above every three months.

LISTENER
Riders of the storm: Trauma at a young age can be a path to extraordinary lives
Life

Riders of the storm: Trauma at a young age can be a path to extraordinary lives

21 Oct 05:00 PM

What if an alternative route to greatness was a nasty, brutish, Dickensian childhood?

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Why the UK hates heat pumps and EVs
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Why the UK hates heat pumps and EVs

16 Oct 04:00 PM

As so often, the real problem is not the changes themselves, but fear of them.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: It’s no New Zealand, but Dublin’s wildlife puts on a pretty good show
Opinion

Jane Clifton: It’s no New Zealand, but Dublin’s wildlife puts on a pretty good show

09 Oct 04:30 PM

Here, Fox News starts after dusk in this busy corner-section garden.

LISTENER
New gardening regime: More is more, even of weeds
Life

New gardening regime: More is more, even of weeds

07 Oct 11:00 PM

Manicured lawns are making way for gardens that are naturalistic.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: More and more businesses seem to be scalping customers
Opinion

Jane Clifton: More and more businesses seem to be scalping customers

01 Oct 05:00 PM

Pubs in Britain and parts of Europe are dabbling in what we might call Unhappy Hour.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Companies treat customers like morons, yet somehow continue to get away with it
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Companies treat customers like morons, yet somehow continue to get away with it

22 Sep 12:00 AM

Tactics include shrinkflation, placebo and condescension

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Are we one Taylor Swift tour away from a mass currency collapse?
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Are we one Taylor Swift tour away from a mass currency collapse?

18 Sep 04:00 AM

The joyful activity of attending a pop concert turns out to be fiscally damaging.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: How do airlines get away with inconvenience?
Opinion

Jane Clifton: How do airlines get away with inconvenience?

11 Sep 04:00 AM

The frustration when catching a plane wouldn't be accepted in any other modern activity.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Beauty prioritised over risk as enhancements become affordable
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Beauty prioritised over risk as enhancements become affordable

03 Sep 08:50 PM

No one but a dutiful medical professional wants to be the killjoy who dwells on risk.

LISTENER
Diet hack: The simple new rule for managing your blood sugar and weight
Health

Diet hack: The simple new rule for managing your blood sugar and weight

01 Sep 05:00 PM

This chance discovery could revolutionise the way we eat and help fight obesity.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: TikTok eating broadcasters for lunch with younger audiences
Opinion

Jane Clifton: TikTok eating broadcasters for lunch with younger audiences

27 Aug 05:00 PM

It’s easy to blame the internet. But youths were developing their own culture for aeons.

LISTENER
Jane Clifton: Why have these breakthroughs sparked indignation?
Opinion

Jane Clifton: Why have these breakthroughs sparked indignation?

20 Aug 05:00 PM

They will improve life for a probable majority, but have sparked a lot of criticism.

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