The life-changing magic of judging Drag Race
How Rhys Nicholson went from super fan to established judge on the show
Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend, your Saturday morning guide to good writing on The Spinoff and around the internet. This week, Sam Brooks profiles Australian comedian Rhys Nicholson, asking them about how they ended up being one of the judges for the reality TV juggernaut that is RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. (The acronym, incidentally, is RPDRDU — unwieldy!) It’s an essential read for anyone who is already logging in to TVNZ+ to watch the latest season. Other things also happened this week! We have analysis on the New Zealand First Foundation trial, a new study highlighting medical bias and an investigation into the demise of library books. It’s a perfect range of reads to pair with Coffee Supreme. Let’s go.
-Shanti Mathias, staff writer
Drag Race Down Under has transformed Rhys Nicholson
When Rhys Nicholson got the call that they were going to be a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, they didn’t believe it. Two seasons later, they’ve become a fully entrenched member of the panel. With the new season now available on TVNZ+, Sam Brooks spoke to them about how they see their role on the panel, as someone who is not a drag expert but a drag enthusiast, how being on the show has changed their life, and their take on the cultural juggernaut that is Drag Race. An extra insight: Sam says “we spoke at the Fed Deli and they ordered the highly underrated street dog. Take note.”
What are the NZ queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under season one doing now?
Number of the week: Auckland Libraries gets rid of 320,000 books each year
I’ve always adored libraries, and loved reading Alex Casey’s investigation into what libraries do with unwanted books. Auckland Libraries, Aotearoa’s biggest library system, holds 3.2 million items, and cycles through about 10% each year. Why does that happen? Because books get out of date — think medical textbooks or the 2005 edition of PCs For Dummies — and also change in popularity. Casey discovers that in 2018, when Michelle Obama’s Becoming came out, the library had over 100 copies, and the holds list were still long, but as the book’s popularity waned, storing that many copies was unnecessary so many had to go to make way for the new. Books the library doesn’t want go to rest homes, prisons, book sales and the recycling.
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A letter to failing to create life
“We would make good parents,” says Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this essay about wanting, but not having, children. The absurdity of Zoom calls to evaluate sperm donors was a signal that maybe it was time that she and her husband stopped trying to procreate. “Nobody tells you what the road to failure looks like but doing throat-slitting signs about life-giving sperm seems like a solid sign for the journey,” she writes. But there’s a full life to live, still: to love friend’s children, space and time to think and write, long walks with beloved dogs. Anna wrote this letter as part of an event series hosted in Wellington; the next event is in August.
The legal loopholes that allowed the New Zealand First donation case to occur
Last week, two individuals involved with the New Zealand First Foundation were acquitted in the High Court. Essentially, a group called The New Zealand First Foundation gave more than $140,000 to MPs and the New Zealand First Party, despite saying they had no agreement with the political party. The case has highlighed the ways in which New Zealand law leaves loopholes for political donations, says legal expert Greme Edgeler. He explains how a bill currently in Parliament may fix the loopholes that allow some large political donations to take place without public disclosure.
There’s another political donations case in courts right now. Toby Manhire reports.
How does medical bias occur?
A new research paper in the New Zealand Medical Journal has found that medical system bias may lead to under-diagnosis of heart enlargement in Māori and Pasifika populations. How does this happen? As Naomii Seah explains, rationalising inequitable health outcomes in different ethnicities as due to inherent differences often conceals the complex social and systemic factors that prevent certain populations from getting access to care. In this case, assuming the Māori and Pasifika populations have bigger bodies and therefore bigger hearts is not backed up by evidence, and may lead to the medical system not identifying individuals with larger hearts, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Everything else
This week, I’ve been reading about the spiritual nature of smartphones, a supermarket checkout competition, and the long history of a new school in Hāwera.
Te Puke might be a great place to go on holiday, but did Christopher Luxon’s scheduled Facebook post need to be the scandal of the week?
Good news! Taking climate action makes us happier. (If you’re interested in climate psychology more broadly, I highly recommend the Generation Dread newsletter)
Why people in the global south are being paid to write werewolf novels
Hāwera has a new school. Airana Ngarewa explains the history of fire and hope evoked by its name.
Representation of disabled people on television has to go beyond narratives of inspiration porn and address systemic issues
What’s up with the referendum on Tunisia’s new constitution?
I love this column from Wired addressing internet conundrums as questions about philosophy and spirituality. The latest edition tackles the desire for a dumber phone.
Keen for a non-alcoholic weekend tipple? With some other Spinoffers, I put my tastebuds on the line for this article investigating if there are any good non-alcoholic spirits in New Zealand. Spoiler: there are not that many!
These people are working to design the internet to prioritise Māori values, rather than Big Tech data commodification.
I’m always wary of how much US analysis applies here, but this piece about how climate change and obesity and loss of community are all part of the housing crisis feels quite pertinent.
Could you win a supermarket checkout competition?
