A futile search for ghosts

Also: team building for the next government

Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend brought to you by Coffee Supreme. I’ve really appreciated The Spinoff’s recent coverage of the books taught in high school English classes, not least because I recognise so many texts I was taught. Even though I mostly went to high school overseas, I studied To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies and Louis Sachar’s Holes, like many New Zealand students. What makes it onto the curriculum is always going to be a contested issue: I thought teacher Nicole Titihuia Hawkins was remarkably thoughtful and self-reflective in this piece about the abundance of choice available to English teachers, and how her thinking about which texts to teach have changed. This week, we also have Auckland hauntings, roti canai and appreciating solidarity.

-Shanti Mathias, staff writer

Are there any ghosts left in Auckland?

For New Zealand’s top paranormal activity research group, Hallowe’en is the time of year when everyone is paying attention to what they are always thinking about. Gabi Lardies joined them on a trip to the North Shore’s Pumphouse Theatre. She told me about her experience: “They’re really serious about looking for ghosts, they have all this gear – but they’re not quite sure what they’re looking for, since they don’t know what ghosts are made of.” Overall, the serious scientific purpose of the ghost hunters made the experience less “silly” than she (a ghost sceptic) expected. There’s a perk, too. “They have all these relationships with historical buildings who give them the keys and they get to spend the night in there! Sleepovers multiple times a month!”

• Last minute Halloween costumes, sorted

A blend of several excellent Brazils, roasted medium-dark to give a sweet, milk chocolate cup, a smooth silky body and a long finish. Grab a bag.

How Gavin Bishop’s whakapapa became the core of his work

Gavin Bishop is an integral part of Aotearoa’s children books scene, and has been writing for many decades. His latest book explores the Land Wars for children, and has stories of his own whānau. Here’s a piece of his remarkable history, from an interview with Ataria Sharman. “We knew we had whakapapa Māori, but my granddad never told my mother anything other than giving her the tūpuna names Irihāpeti and Hinepau. He never explained the meaning of those names; she never knew. Later, my brother and I realised that those names were the key to discovering our whakapapa. My granddad spoke Māori fluently, as did his sister. Mum would tell us how she remembered them sitting outside on the verandah, speaking te reo to one another. They never taught the children because you were punished for speaking te reo at school.”

Number of the week: 14 roti canai combos (ranked!)

“If you walk through Wellington on any given day, you’ll probably stumble across what feels like several thousand different Malaysian restaurants. From the dazzlingly bright green walls of Little Penang on Victoria, to the various ‘Satays’ that have conglomerated on Cuba, Malaysian cuisine is an important feature of the world’s OKest-unless-it’s-a-good-day city,” writes Preyanka Gothanayagi. With a crack team of flatmates, third-culture kids and cousins, she sets out to try every roti canai-curry combo on offer in the capital. Which roti “looks like folded paper”? Do you get extra points for garnish? Which restaurant has a wall so bright it can double as a green screen? All the answers — as well as Preyanka’s top-ranked roti combo — are revealed in this excellent ranking.

• Less value for money than a roti canai: Wellington’s $330m town hall rebuild and the sunk costs fallacy

A message from Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman

Thanks to the generous support of Spinoff Members, we were able to cover this election more expansively than ever before with writers reporting from Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, New Plymouth, Wairarapa, Gisborne, Auckland and Northland. With the results in, we will continue to interrogate and report on those who lead this country with rigour, range and humour. If you value The Spinoff’s political coverage, now is a great time to join the thousands of people who support The Spinoff by becoming a member or making a donation.

- Madeleine Chapman, Spinoff editor

Team-building tips for the new government

As coalition negotiations take place behind closed doors, Toby Manhire calls some team-building experts for ideas of what Winston Peters, Christopher Luxon and David Seymour can do to improve their bond — all important in a governing arrangement. As a bonus, many of the tips double as potential weekend activities if you’re at a loss. Adventure racer Steve Gurney has some ideas. “There’s nothing, absolutely nothing better to garner trust, cooperation and mutual respect than to trust the other person with your precious life on the end of a rope, dangling 300 metres over a mountain precipice. We observe the true and transparent nature of a person in times of unpredictable trauma, when their life, health and very existence is under immediate threat.” Gurney is ready if you are: “I’ll take them on a mountaineering trip.”

What is a union?

Why do we have weekends? Unions! Charlotte Muru-Lanning takes the time to explain what unions are and how they’re important, even when you like your job. “This might shock you, but we didn’t always have to go through the awkwardness of nervously asking managers for a pay raise following a week of rehearsing a script with your flatmate. In 1985, when unionism in New Zealand was at a historic high, with nearly half of all workers being members, your union would have dealt with that,” she writes. “At the most basic level, it comes from having the chutzpah to know that your time is worth something. People spend a scary chunk of their lives at work, and while you could spend your time dwelling on that gloomy fact, you could instead ensure that time and labour is fairly rewarded and safe.”

• More solidarity via this Palestine reading list

Everything else

• Caster Semenya, in her own words

• What is the future of workwear?

• Sometimes heritage buildings burning down is good for everyone

• What hand me downs represent in this poem by writer Zia Ravenscroft

• Remember, “reading a book from start to finish is not a moral act”

• Yes this article about the fame formula discovered by a TikTok creator manager made me scared about the internet!

• Tara Ward reviews lovely-sounding show Shepherdess

• Was the Sword of Damocles exactly what you wanted? I loved this satire of fake reviews on the internet

• Libraries are so much more than “buildings with some books in”

• Media podcast corner: Duncan Greive reacts to the news that 7pm show The Project is ending

• I’ve been reading some of Paul Farmer’s work this week and appreciated this essay about the desperation in Haiti now

• If you want to watch the rugby final and run the Auckland Marathon, you better be fast

• Sometimes (as my flatmates have heard frequently) having a petty nemesis just makes sense

• James Mustapic is extremely stoked about being the winner of Celebrity Treasure Island

• Now that National is in government, surely Gabi’s rent will go down? (A piece that made me revisit this 2021 photo essay about unaffordable housing in New Zealand.)