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.

Masthead

Bottom’s up • It’s time Aotearoa New Zealand took its rightful place at the top of the world, says Lindsay Wright.

Age matters

Bright Lines

Quips & Quotes

10 Quick Questions

Just asking questions • Phase 2 of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid response is deeply political – but so was phase 1.

A prefab in the country

Capital beat

Starry hallucinations

Hanging the judge

Ardern’s missed moment

Murder, he wrote • The mad, bad, dangerous parade of alleged criminals has long been fodder for journalist Steve Braunias, and last year’s Polkinghorne trial inspired a book.

Lunch with Madison • In this extract from Steve Braunias’s new book, ex-fiancée Madison Ashton discusses central characters in the Polkinghorne case with the outrage of a wronged woman.

Money or the bag? • Have we been well served by those who hold the country’s purse strings? Our ranking of the best and worst reveals the cavalier, the timid and those who just got lucky.

Ride of her life • At 15, Sammie Maxwell was urged to accept hospital treatment for anorexia. Eight years later, she’s on top of the mountain-biking world.

The thick of it • Professor and film-maker Welby Ings reaches out to kids who, like him, were classed as dumb.

Quest for peace • Compelling, meticulous account of the life and aspirations of the monarch who created modern Britain.

Playing to win • Insider interviews power this account of the political machinations behind last year’s US election result.

Short cuts

Earthly creatures • Ann Packer checks out kids’ non-fiction including tales about bats, bugs, otters and a national treasure.

Bestsellers

Freudian slippage • A kind-of sequel to Hideous Kinky where the author again fictionalises her life.

Bestsellers

By any other name • Auckland Theatre Company’s Romeo and Juliet is set in the 1960s and toys with sex and gender. But its director claims it remains true to Shakespeare.

Behind the mask • With 11 plays watched by more than half a million people, Jacob Rajan and his Indian Ink theatre company have helped shape New Zealand culture.

On the right path • Refreshing reinventions from seasoned local jazz acts.

Power of good • Yet another Superman reboot, but this one has humour and heart.

Once were warriors • Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison help paddle Jason Momoa’s Hawaiian war canoe.

TV Picks of the week

TV Films • The big movies on TV this week

SATURDAY/RĀHOROI JULY 26

SUNDAY/RĀTAPU JULY 27

MONDAY/RĀHINA JULY 28

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FRIDAY/RĀMERE AUGUST 1

RADIO JULY 26

Family Ties • Callum Hall joins sister Amalia for an eight-date NZTrio tour.

Old Meds, New Hope • The spotlight is on a 100-year-old tuberculosis vaccine for its potential to curb a variety of ills.

Savoury spread • Auckland food writer, stylist and chef Gretchen Lowe serves up Mediterranean-inspired meals.

A taste of Europe • A love of overseas wines is easily indulged, but back in the 1980s it was a different story.

Life in transit • Airports are strange places that elicit equally unusual human behaviour.

On thin ice • The much-celebrated Antarctic Treaty is in danger as nations fail to agree on actions.

The Bigger Picture

Presents of greatness