The savage end of Today FM
Also: Shapeshifter's summer that wasn't and battle of the Katherine Mansfield stories
Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend. It’s been a big week of news about the news so first up we have Duncan Greive on the end of Today FM; Chris Schulz talks to Shapeshifter about their summer that wasn’t; Claire Mabey marathonned Katherine Manfield’s collected works and came up with a top 20; Charlotte Muru-Lanning talks to the star of Red, White & Brass over over a Tongan lunch in Otāhuhu and Alex Casey on the rise of ‘Do We Have the Same Boyfriend’ Facebook groups. So pour a cup of Coffee Supreme and settle in.
-Shanti Mathias, staff writer
That all-staff meeting at Today FM is a sign of Mediaworks’ end
Today FM was a bold move from media company Mediaworks to create a new radio platform in Aotearoa. This week, it shut the network down, leading to some extraordinary radio as Tova O’Brien and Duncan Garner bid farewell, live on air. The execution of the station is “stunningly brutal”, says Duncan Greive, in a piece informed by his deep network of knowledge and sources across the industry. Even if you didn’t listen to Today FM, the closure is a sign of how traditional media is being eroded, which has implications for everyone’s information consumption.
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Shapeshifter’s summer that wasn’t
It was supposed to be the summer of Shapeshifter, the Aotearoa EDM titans who usually spend the sunny season at festivals packed with fans. But this year, the rain came. Three of their own festivals were washed out. By March, Shapeshifter hadn't played a single show in 2023, a time when they should be most productive. There have been tears, admits singer and frontman P.Diggs. It is, the band says, “heartbreaking”. But they’re picking themselves up. This Sunday they’re getting a rare chance to perform at Synthony in the Auckland Domain. They tell Chris Schulz about their shitty summer and how they’re going to make the most of the last of it.
Katherine Mansfield’s best story is…
One of my favourite classes at university was focussed on Katherine Mansfield, whose tightly constructed stories have been celebrated for more than a century. Indefatigable books editor Claire Mabey read all of Mansfield’s stories as events to mark the centenary of her death take place around the country. Which story has the best unlikeable but interesting protagonist? Which story has the best tragic twist at the end? And which one is best of them all? You may disagree with the ranking, but it’s always a great weekend to return to bite-sized fiction from one of our greatest short-story writers.
A message from Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman
You're reading this because you value the work The Spinoff does in telling the stories of our people in our voices. As we head further into an already eventful 2023, we have a big job ahead of us. Covering the stories that matter to you is no small job. We’re a fiercely independent media company in Aotearoa but that also means we’re small and I think sometimes people forget how small our team is. I'm asking you to consider deepening your commitment to The Spinoff and the work we do by becoming a Spinoff Member. If you’re already a member, thank you for your support and advocacy - it's what keeps us going.
Number of the week: four
John-Paul Foliaki plays the lead role, Maka, in the just-released comedy film Red, White & Brass – his feature film debut. In the last four years he’s produced theatre, starred on TVNZ reality talent show Popstars, performed spoken word poetry and worked in front of and behind the camera across multiple television shows and music videos. He’s also been a regular face in local advertising campaigns, released his own self-funded R&B and reggaeton inflected music and corresponding videos and opened for Sean Kingston. He talked to Charlotte Muru-Lanning about spectacle, honouring family sacrifices and his debut lead role over a Tongan lunch in Otāhuhu.
The fraught rise of ‘Do We Have the Same Boyfriend’ Facebook groups
Anna, a moderator for the thousands-strong ‘Do we have the same boyfriend’ Auckland group, first saw the trend on TikTok. Women would post pictures of their partners to see if they were being cheated on. It’s a simple concept, and groups are now popping up around New Zealand. The groups build solidarity and have allegedly supported several women through leaving domestic violence situations. But is this another example of using the internet to mediate conversations that should just be had in person with your partner? Does it encourage a sense of collective surveillance? Alex Casey talks to several experts about the possibilities and pitfalls of these digital communities.
Each weekday morning over the last year, Bulletin editor Anna Rawhiti-Connell has been waking up at 5 am to compile the news into a readable daily news email. I’ve been reading the Bulletin for most of the last five years - no matter how much New Zealand news you read, it’s a consistently calm and considered digest of what is happening around the motu and on The Spinoff. Read about what The Bulletin is here, and subscribe below.
Everything else?
How do you have more fun? Or at least be more interesting?
On protest and the limits of empathy
How do you prepare a Sāmoan umu?
What are the most common sources of litter in New Zealand?
What’s the good news story about conservation that is told on the $5 note?
Is TikTok really going to get banned in New Zealand?
Gone By Lunchtime file through Stuart Nash’s laundry list of infractions to decide whether or not Chris Hipkins should take further action.
How do you respond to the death of a pet you never really loved?
What does the word “vibes” actually mean?
Do you want to read some extremely good and nuanced reporting about the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage?
Are the companies you use every day taking action on climate change?
What do you do when a lake is irreversibly damaged?
And finally, because we can all do with some entertainment via celebrities: Did Gwyneth Paltrow ski into a retired optometrist? Either way, the videos are entertaining.
