New Zealand Listener

New Zealand Listener is the country’s most respected general interest magazine, bringing you a wide variety of news, stories, columns, reviews, plus TV listings, every week.

Flipping the script • Covid was no fun, but a board game based on the pandemic aims to be – and raise money for research at the same time, says Vicki Price.

Brain pain

“Quote Marks”

10 Quick Questions

Bright Lines

When tragedy meets farce • War in the Middle East has underlined the PM’s weaknesses, but NZ First is making hay while the missiles roam.

Bunker mentality

Cannabis charges getting higher

Discovery doctrine is a fiction

Chequered flag waved

Out of control • Wellington’s infrastructure woes are a textbook case of what happens when public services are outsourced, politicians and management lead parallel lives and pet projects intervene.

How to destroy a capital city

INTO THE POTHOLE • Former Labour leader Andrew Little has stepped into one of the worst jobs in politics.

Write, she said • Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern struggled with penning a memoir that is now an Ockham award finalist. She tells Dionne Christian about the difficulties along the way.

Strength of character • An elevated earthquake-risk rating threatens the heritage buildings that draw visitors to Dunedin. Two veteran campaigners assess the likely economic fallout.

‘FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS’ • Submitters say the higher earthquake-risk level for Dunedin buildings is based on unreliable and incomplete data.

Cold comfort • In his final report from northern Europe, GRAHAM REID finds a region gripped by insecurity.

Winning at failure • Mick Herron’s Slough House series has been a sensation on page and screen. Why does he seem so astonished by it all?

Mind trip • Michael Pollan samples biology, philosophy and pharmacology in his search for the source of human consciousness.

Unscientific methods • Two top academics on the worrying ways clinical trial outcomes can be skewed.

Of Earth & sky • Four finely crafted books from New Zealand women poets, marking daily life in its small details and larger threats.

Upturned expectations • Death in an Irish village, a literary take on the classic whodunnit, and a femme-fatale sleuth.

Prince turned frog • An intimate exploration of a fairytale interrupted.

Dance till you drop • If you think raving is just for kids, think again. People are dancing and DJ-ing well into their seventh decade.

Texas arranger • As he releases a solo album, Austin-based Kiwi film composer Hanan Townshend talks of a career that began when American auteur Terrence Malick hired him as a student.

Layered cake • Cannes winner is tenderly told and finds joy in the face of adversity.

Doom merchants • Seattle’s Sunn O))) unleashes its sonic artillery on a transcendent album that captures the mood of the times.

Going for bloke • Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd’s new series explores toxic male friendships.

Key to success • Pianist Sylvia Jiang returns – and this time she gets to practise first.

Buds of hope • Medicinal cannabis offers pain relief for some women with endometriosis, a local study suggests.

Health briefs

Saucy & sweet • MasterChef Australia winner Emelia Jackson’s selection of rich indulgences.

Flying solo • Two of our top winemakers have branched out to make their own ‘flagship’ vintages.

Seasonal con job • April Fools pranks show we’re much more gullible than we think we are.

Closing the loop • Rather than dig up critical minerals, we could extract the materials needed for technology from existing items.

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