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.

Understanding Asia • New Zealand still turns to the West but our future lies with nations closer to home, writes Chris Hawley.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

No, Minister

THE POLITICAL CARTOON

“Quote Marks”

LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE

SCHOOL GAZE

HAIR APPARENT

TWIST OF LEMON

THANKS, LYNDA

Bright Lines • Creative words competition

Is there a doctor in the house? • The public loves to watch a lancing of an MP expense scandal but true malignancy buried deep in government should be cause for concern.

In Germany, cool is uncool

A buyer’s market

A simple case?

Bend it like Burnham

United, we fall

Winter warmers • As we enter the depths of winter, Books Editor Mark Broatch and our reviewers highlight the best reads of the year so far and tantalising titles to come.

The bottom line • In straitened times, local nonfiction is ever popular, though NZ fiction sales have declined since last year’s surge.

True love conquers the market • The romance genre covers many world views, but all unite in the ‘audacious’ concept of the happy ever after.

Midwinter books special

Szalay in the city • Book clubs on New York’s Upper West Side are different from New Zealand’s.The moderators are paid, for a start.

Midwinter books special

To the bunker • Armageddon is coming, and you are applying for the job of ‘end of the world librarian’. The bookshelf already has the complete works of William Shakespeare, an Edmonds Cookery Book and the SAS Survival Guide. We asked well-read Kiwis to name another three to help pass the time in the bunker.

Figuring it out • Staggering Genius author’s new novel is a six-part, decades-spanning story about love and the pursuit of art.

Spirit of adventure • Women worked, thrived and failed alongside men during Aotearoa’s gold rush.

Trooping the colours • Auckland supergroup Exploding Rainbow Orchestra is set to shine in the biggest performance of its career.

Messing with the museum • Gallery norms are being turned inside out by less-recognised and well-established artists.

Festival highlights • This year’s New Zealand International Film Festival programme is in the can. Here in 10 wide shots is a guide to what’s on offer.

Homeward bound • Documentary uncovers the troubled journey of a taonga.

Sister act • The great Frederica von Stade is head judge in this year’s song quest.

Meth on the brain • Research is raising hope that the damaged brains of former meth users may respond to rehabilitation.

Health briefs

Mad for the Med • Italian chef Francesco Mattana shares authentic fare just like mama used to make.

View from the top • Conditions in 2024 were ripe for stellar chardonnays from Hawke’s Bay.

Be gentle with me • A massage-table pummelling is all right for some; I prefer a light touch.

Ray of hope • Marine biologist Lydia Green is on the tail of an ocean giant, hoping to reverse its decline.

MAVERICK

Mud & roses