ICYMI: A practical guide to dealing with the arrival of the coronavirus in New Zealand
Monday 2 March
The vicious hidden message in Shane Jones’ blast at students from New Delhi. Over the weekend, minister for the regions and “verbal jukebox” Shane Jones took aim at Indian students and their impact on New Zealand universities, telling Newshub Nation that “I think that the number of students that have come from India have ruined many of those institutions”. But the weird thing is, as editor Toby Manhire points out, his attack comes as another prominent New Zealander completes a visit to India embracing… well, students from India. Who is that prominent New Zealander, you ask? The answer may surprise you.
The teacher stories. Set in a fictional Auckland high school, A Trio of Sophies is a new YA novel about a missing girl and an illicit teacher-student relationship. Fast, dark and thrilling, books editor Catherine Woulfe initially planned to write a rave review, “but then another book landed in my letterbox – and I just couldn’t read those stories in isolation from my own experience”. The piece Catherine ends up writing is not only beautifully written but incredibly important as well, reminding us that often what we read makes us who we are.
A practical guide to dealing with the arrival of the coronavirus in New Zealand. On Friday morning, we published this extremely useful guide by Dr Siouxsie Wiles on how to prepare for when coronavirus inevitably hits our shores. Her advice? Wash your hands, make plans, and don’t panic – advice which largely went out the door when news finally broke of New Zealand’s first case of Covid-19 that afternoon. Remember, we want to avoid pandemonium, not incite it. But do stay vigilant and informed: I recommend you read Siouxsie’s other pieces, such as this one where she explains how you actually contract coronavirus and whether we’re close to developing an effective vaccine.
Why are we still pitching voluntourism in universities? “Spending upwards of $7,000 for five-day trips are unlikely to carry a positive impact for the impoverished brown faces carted out to entertain the voluntourist,” warns lecturer Daniel Crouch. “It most definitely will not educate a generation. In fact, voluntourism is an industry which turns the world’s most vulnerable populations into tourist attractions. Worse, as these vulnerable populations become points of profit for voluntourism companies, the industry requires that the vulnerable populations being visited remain in their conditions of vulnerability. And it’s a very profitable industry – while hard to pin down an actual figure, 2017 estimates of the sector indicate US$2.6 billion per annum.”
“I love the way The Spinoff weave pop culture into hard news to make it relatable to a younger audience and gets them to engage with what's going on in the world.”
- Sophie Whitney, Spinoff Member.
Dad Man Walking: A new illustrated column on fatherhood. Dads. We’ve all met one. Many of us have one or had one while some of us are one. But who are these strange creatures? Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris has been working on a new project illustrating fatherhood and life as a dad, and we’re presenting a new monthly series sharing some of these moments with you. Are you interested? Hi interested, this is Dad Man Walking.
The rise of New Zealand’s renters by choice. Renting has long been considered a temporary state of being in New Zealand – a mere layover before reaching your final destination, often in the form of your own house in the suburbs with a partner, kids, and job for life. But not everyone’s looking for a permanent fix, and with changing lifestyles and a volatile housing market, renting has become an increasingly attractive long-term option. Of course, ‘choice’ is subjective and debatable, but I can tell you from personal experience and the handful of people I talked to that the Kiwi dream of homeownership simply isn’t what it used to be.
By any memes necessary: How Māori meme pages are helping to decolonise Aotearoa. “They’ve been around since the dawn of the internet, but in the last few years memes have become intrinsic to popular culture,” writes Charlotte Muru-Lanning. “They’ve also become increasingly political. Indigenous groups worldwide have been quick to utilise memes to communicate their messages. In the last year, Māori based meme accounts have taken off on Instagram. A constant flow of Māori memes are now being created and shared, and none of it is showing any sign of slowing down.”
Why it’s time to break up with the disposable cup. Single-use cups are an integral part of our takeaway culture, but they’re wasteful – in the same way supermarket plastic bags are wasteful – and a lot of people have started to recognise this. Over the years, consumers and businesses have started to turn to alternatives, such as compostable packaging and reusable cups instead. But there’s still a long way to go with New Zealanders still throwing out almost 300 million single-use cups every year. Food editor and The Spinoff’s sustainability tsar Alice Neville ponders on what’s needed for consumers to change their behaviour.
Politics in Pubs, a new series of live events for election year presented by Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, kicks off with a discussion on politics and the media. It’s on March 25, 6pm at Meow on Edward Street in Wellington.
Tickets are $10 each and you can get them here. For more info, click on the banner below:
This week’s newsletter was written by staff writer Jihee Junn.