The Spinoff Weekend: Abortion access is lifesaving
Also: get prescribed weed, get Wellington moving, get out of the British Empire
Welcome to The Weekend for July 2, 2022. We’re now halfway through the year, and I’m trying not to panic, or to feel ferociously envious of everyone who lives in summery Europe. This weekend on The Spinoff, there’s a thoughtful, generous essay about abortion as the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in the US. We’re appreciating winter by sharing kūmara, getting frustrated about supermarkets sponsoring a show about food budgeting, and being thankful that Prince Charles isn’t our head of state – for now. If you’re the caffeinated type, pour yourself some Coffee Supreme and read on.
-Shanti Mathias, staff writer
Abortion access saves lives
Legal abortion is essential for those in domestic violence situations, says this writer, who tells their story about how a consultation at Family Planning provided support when their parents didn’t. “With a great Metro-magazine-featured Catholic school, comes a not-so-great abstinence-only sex education…. I thought about the violent environment I was living in. Perhaps that would bring more violence, shame, intergenerational trauma than I ever could with a pill and a healthcare consultation.” For the thousands of people, in the US and beyond, who can’t access abortions, the cycle of violence will continue.
Charlotte Muru-Lanning asks New Zealand MPs if they stand by their vote in the 2020 abortion law reform
For the love of kūmara
“This isn’t a well known kūmara story”, writes Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen, in this essay about what the root vegetable means to her Māori-Chinese family. “Instead, it’s a story from me, from my heart, about the way kūmara gave sustenance, growth and love to my whānau.” Different varieties of sweet potato are grown around the world, and they mean different things: a last resort food for the very hungry in Southern China, a generous food connecting Māori across Aotearoa to their ancestors. The exhibit Twin Cultivations, for which this essay was written, invites strangers to harvest ceramic vegetables and give them to each other, a reminder of the generosity of the earth.
Sam Brooks profiles Micheal McCabe, who designed Twin Cultivation and twisting, turning, winding, about what exhibition design is and why he does it
Number of the week: $319 for 10 grams of weed
Marijuana legalisation was narrowly defeated in the 2020 referendum, but there’s still a legal way to get weed: on a prescription. As Chris Schulz finds out, thanks to a quiet law change earlier this year you can now get imported Australian weed from doctors. There are a lot of advantages to going this route – the amount of the active THC ingredient is monitored, for instance, and the product is quality checked – but it will cost you. The other catch is publicity: doctors aren’t allowed to advertise that they prescribe the product, so patients can only find out by word of mouth.
With fentanyl in the country, drug reform in Aotearoa is urgent, writes Duncan Greive
A vital message from The Spinoff’s publisher, Duncan Greive:
If you’re reading this, you’re hopefully getting value out of The Spinoff. Yet like many publishers, we’ve suffered a significant drop in members, despite our costs continuing to increase. On one level I understand why our membership has dropped away. As the cost of living has reached new heights and the pandemic has become less of an urgent news event and more of a part of day-to-day life, it’s totally normal to feel like you don’t need to support your local media organisation.
The promise we’re making to you is that we’re actually better suited to times like this than the pandemic itself. Of course we will continue to write about Covid-19 and the many effects it’s having on society, but our plan now is to return to something more of what made us, which is coverage of culture, politics, business, te ao Māori and more with heart and humour.
But we can’t do it without you. We need your support more than we ever have. So please, if you can, click here to support The Spinoff by becoming a member today.
Eat Well for Less (brought to you by Countdown)
In a cost of living crisis, there’s a lot that might seem attractive about a TV show focused on healthy eating on a budget. TV writer Tara Ward watched the new season of Eat Well for Less and wondered if telling people to stop eating takeaways and start making their own homemade gnocchi – all while being sponsored by mega supermarket chain Countodown – really makes sense. Is taste testing expensive ice cream and promoting recipes featuring parmesan and prosciutto perhaps a bit tone deaf? “At this point, I would simply chuck everything into the slow cooker – including the string – and run myself an expensive bath of chocolate milk so I can reflect on a life filled with poor choices,” writes Tara. Eat Well For Less soldiers on, semi-affordably.
Thinking of King Charles should make us want to be a republic
Across the Commonwealth, countries are becoming republics, abandoning the Queen as their head of state. The new Australian government is inching towards joining Barbados and Jamaica in leaving the monarchy, just as the Commonwealth starts preparing for the end of the Elizabethan era. It’s all very well having the Queen, writes Toby Manhire, but what about her offspring? Prince Charles has historically loved to offer advice to the New Zealand government, and when he becomes King there’s every indication this could continue. An over-involved monarch is the opposite of what Aotearoa needs, Toby argues. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has been in Europe and the UK this week, and is due to meet with Prince William. It’s unlikely the subject will come up.
everything else
Clickbait, carbon credits, and everything else worth reading this weekend.
The conventional understanding of calorie counting is wrong — and so is the way we calculate carbon emissions
I’ve been loving this thoughtful column from RNZ’s Megan Whelan on living with diabetes
The newest All Black is called Leicester Ofa Ki Wales Twickenham Fainga'anuku. Out-there names are great, actually, says Lofa Totua.
The economics of being a YouTuber look different in Nepal
The Spinoff previews all the shows and movies coming to streaming services this month
I'm super fascinated by the low-waste movement and its role in the broader context of climate change. This story about a Dunedin couple producing only one rubbish bag a year is another clipping for the collection.
The Nē? team talks to astronomer Olive Karena-Lockyer for a round-up of the first Matariki public holiday, and to explore the special connections between the night sky and our taiao.
It’s time to get Wellington moving. If only the plan didn’t rely on the densification the council keeps stymieing!
The conventional understanding of the relationship between cocaine and class needs to change, says British essayist Tabitha Lasley.
Children’s writing in Aotearoa needs The Sapling to be resourced
Regina Spektor has a new album, and I’m excited for all the versions of myself from 2008 to now.
When I was staying in Dunedin a few weeks ago, some friends working in South Dunedin were excited about a new food truck making affordable, delicious kai for the community. One of the founders of Dunedin Bowling Club writes about why they started the project.
And finally, everything might be a bit exhausting, but this (gorgeous) photo essay about dust storms on Mars reminded me that I’m pretty happy sticking to this planet.
