The faces behind the shop counter
A stunning photo essay, bliss week and a farewell from Shanti
Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend. This is the last edition I’ll be compiling; from next week, this newsletter is going to take a slightly new shape, with someone else at the helm. Don’t worry though — it’ll still be your go to place for the best of the Spinoff and the rest of the internet, every Saturday morning. Thanks for reading for the past two years I’ve been in charge, thanks to my editors for letting me go off on occasional wild tangents and read lots of longform journalism in work time, my colleagues for humouring my questions about the stories they’ve written and the Spinoff Members for being the reason this whole thing keeps running. I love working at one of the few places in New Zealand truly committed to original longform feature writing, and I’ll be doing lots more of that this year, along with all the other writers at The Spinoff. This week’s newsletter is actually filled in by my genius colleague Gabi, as I’m off tramping for a few days. Enjoy!
Behind the counter: Wellington shopkeepers
Over nine months, Hamish Thomspon photographed 30 shopkeepers for an exhibition at Thistle Hall Gallery. This morning, we bring you a sneak preview of 10. There’s Robert Vance from menswear store Vance Vivian, founded in 1924 by George Vance and Harold Vivian. Sandra Lai at the Eastbourne Fruit Supply where she started as an after-school helper for her parents. And Dan Mikkelsen from Bicycle Junction, who says “The thing that gives us most joy in the shop is watching parents go by on bikes with two or three kids on the back.”
How you can stay informed the year the world votes
Two billion voters are set to go to the polls in 64 countries this year. One of the perks of being a Spinoff member is receiving The World Bulletin, a weekly newsletter rounding up global news. Edited by Catherine McGregor, it’s sent to members every Thursday. Becoming a member means you’ll not only help sustain local journalism but stay on top of consequential world news, see less advertising, comment on the Spinoff and more. Join today.
Bliss week
In case you didn’t have it marked on your calendar, Alex Casey is here to tell you it’s the 25th Anniversary of Popstars, the series that cemented TrueBliss in our pop culture history and created a new genre of reality television. Alex watched the show when she was 8, and marvelled at “these New Zealand girls being plucked out of obscurity”. In revisiting the show, she was struck that their tour was the first time many people had been to a concert, “hard to conceive of now that P!nk is cavorting around Eden Park every other day”.
“TrueBliss really were the amazing cultural force that arrived at the perfect moment in time for television, the internet, the music industry, and PVC pant-wearing.” she says, “It's been a delight to celebrate all of that.”
There’s been a fun feature every day this week in celebration:
On Monday Alex looked back at the origins of Popstars and its impact.
Tuesday was all about looking back on their Y2K outfits.
On Wednesday Alex chatted to two of the world’s biggest TrueBliss fans.
Thursday was a day of remembering the great TrueBliss vs Bardot national anthem sing-off for Jaime Wall.
Tara Ward made an impassioned plea for a TrueBliss shirt (where are they?) on Friday.
Number of the week: Just 2,335 new homes
When Stewart Sowman-Lund moved into his new KiwiBuild home, he measured up his windows for new curtains and wondered how many people were as lucky as him. When he received back an Official Information request, he was surprised to see the scheme has resulted in only 2,335 new homes being built since 2018 — most of them in Auckland. KiwiBuild was launched with a pledge to build 100,000 affordable homes within a decade, so he investigates how that number has been whittled down, and what plans the current government has for building houses.
More complicated numbers: How does the government get its gang statistics?
An afternoon at the Repair Café
Last Sunday, Shanti went to a Repair Café, the local branch of an international movement where volunteers with fixing expertise get together to provide their services to the community for free. A Sodastream machine, a heater, and a pair of garden secateurs were repaired. Margaret, 93 years old and from the shore, had her toaster repaired. “When I was growing up, things were supposed to last forever,” she said.
With the Right to Repair members bill being pulled out of the ballot a couple of weeks ago, it’s worth considering the barriers people face to fixing things, and what practical solutions could be supported.
Friday Essay: Dreaming of my not-wedding day
Now that I’m over the hill (30) the wedding invitations have started dripping in. People I’ve never considered to have a traditional bone in them have donned white veils and walked down aisles. It’s nice, but a part of me feels betrayed — these aren’t things I see myself doing, and now I feel decidedly un-married, or un-marry-able. Am I on some sort of clearance shelf? In some sort of elongated not-really-committed grey zone? Thankfully essayist Gráinne Patterson finds herself in a similar situation.
Everything else
Restore Passenger Rail has a new target: Cruise ships
An anti-capitalist argument for and against going shopping. Plus, a thoughtful Sheila Heti talk on the subject
Is your job on the line? Hera can help
How your perception of time is shaped by what you see
Hayden Donnell compares Labour (in government) and Labour (in opposition) and finds they don’t always seem to have that much in common
Joel MacManus brings us a detailed guide to Wellington’s best BYOs, thank you Joel
We went to see Chris Isaak, and it was sparkly
Very fun essay about Sailor Moon’s Marxist undertones
“Swift has long constructed her identity out of archetype, cliché, and torn-up fragments of Americana.” If Taylor peeves you off, fair, try reading this
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War
“already she could smell the florals and the meat” – some beautiful imagery in Tayi Tibble’s Hoki Mai
Read this link last then drop your glowing rectangle: how to live without your phone
A very informative and entertaining read, thankyou....