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.

New Zealand Listener

Working for us • The public sector has long been treated as a political football to the detriment of New Zealanders,

Bright Lines

Right, left? Right

THE POLITICAL CARTOON

“Quote Marks”

10 Quick Questions

Green shoots • The sabre-rattling at forests and oceans has a large pool of voters who love the outdoors ready to punish the incumbents.

Bought and sold

A little bloodletting

Pious hypocrisy

100 readers canʼt be wrong

Democracy shrinks

Living while dying • After a terminal cancer diagnosis, Karen Barnett is putting the fun into a FUNeral she plans to hold before her death. She’s one of many refusing to go quietly.

PRECIOUS TIME • People are more likely to get stuck in the health system in their later years, but there’s a move to get them out and making the most of life.

Kicking arts • A new funding approach and restructuring at Creative New Zealand have left many established arts groups reeling. Is a Helen Clark-style cultural recovery programme called for?

CREATIVE DEVOLUTION

Delivery man • When he stops mixing corporate mantras, Christopher Luxon can actually build a rapport with people. But then it’s back to his big agenda.

She’s got the look • Newly crowned Arts Foundation laureate Anapela Polata’ivao knows how to stay humble, but her natural rebellion and withering stare paid off in her acting and directing career.

In other words • Classical scholar’s timely and readable essays on the fine art of translation.

Into the underworld • A young man tumbles into the world of gangsters in a book replete with ugly but beautifully rendered characters.

Crack in the rock

Short cuts

BESTSELLERS

Tell it like it is

BESTSELLERS

Rhyme and reason • A survey of new poetry collections from Aotearoa and one from across the ditch.

Get with the program • Taika Waititi on why robot story Klara and the Sun is similar to his previous films and the next book he’s making into a movie.

Earthy & enjoyable • The new Sense and Sensibility features bonnets aplenty – and an unexpected gunfight.

Call of home • Star power lifts this story of an octogenarian determined not to end life in a rest home.

Acceptable collateral • Israeli use of AI and surveillance in Gaza told through soldiersʼ stories.

Irish highs • Former punk brats Fontaines DC continue to evolve with synth-cloaked fifth album.

Many happy returns • Surprise hit Happiness is back, with a new, multi-talented lead writer but the same old, utterly incapable hero.

TV Picks of the week

TV Films

Anyone for tennis? • Auckland Philharmonia gears up for music director Bellincampi’s farewell year.

Milk for what it’s worth • The amount of processing a food undergoes is not the sole indicator of nutritional value.

Nutrition bites

Dinner done better • Drawing on her Maltese heritage, Julia Busuttil Nishimura puts a herby twist on old favourites.

Harvest gold • Warm, dry weather gave Gimblett Gravels vineyards a stellar 2024, with vintages to prove it.

Learning the hard way • Three years of backsliding on equity and public health have taken their toll.

Kicking it down the road • Electioneering politicians seem loath to tackle one of the biggest issues facing Kiwis ‒ artificial intelligence.

HAPPY LANDING

Dumb waiter