The Spinoff Weekend: Tears and nosebleeds - at Hobbiton, they've seen it all
Every story we loved this week, from home and abroad...
Mōrena and welcome to the latest edition of The Spinoff Weekend! We’ve got updates from our biggest stories across the week, from our coverage of the 20th anniversary of Lord of the Rings to our end-of-year interviews with political leaders, a must-read story on birth traditions for Māori and a definitive ranking of every ice block at the dairy. So, kick back, find someone to make you a cup of Coffee Supreme — because what goes better with a weekend read than a fresh brew? — and catch up on all the news you missed. Relax. You made it. You’re here. Welcome to your weekend…
—Chris Schulz, features editor
Tears and nosebleeds - at Hobbiton they've seen it all
You might have noticed that we’ve gone a little crazy over hobbits, wizards, orcs and goblins. All week we’ve been marking the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, with plenty of content, both serious (Madeleine Chapman’s deep dive into Jackson’s Rings legacy, Rewiti Kohere’s analysis of how Orlando Bloom sent Huffer into the stratosphere) and silly (Sam Brooks’ “exclusive” review of Amazon’s new series, an 11-year-old’s thoughts on the original film). We also had final confirmation of what we all knew all along: yes, Frodo and Sam were definitely a couple.
Today, we’re putting a full stop on our Rings coverage with one final piece: our very own trip to Hobbiton. In an interview with The Spinoff, CEO Shayne Forrester talks us through the ups and downs of running one of the country’s biggest tourism attractions while going in and out of lockdown, discusses the impacts closed borders can have on a place that sees 3000 people come through its doors every day, and details some of the most intense fans they’ve had visit. Here’s one example: “He saw The Shire in front of him, the crown jewel Bag End up on the hills. He started hyperventilating … crying and kissing the ground. He had blood all down his face, all down his shirt, going, ‘This is the best day of my life.’” You can read that story, and the rest of our Rings Week coverage, here.
She did it: she ranked every NZ ice block and ice cream
It’s no secret when Madeleine Chapman is up to something. A few weeks ago, on a Zoom call, The Spinoff ed asked every editorial staff member to announce their favourite cold treat from the dairy. More recently, a suspicious number of wrappers have been appearing on her desk. On Friday, she finally revealed why: she’d ranked every ice block — that’s 87 of them — in order of worst to best. How’d it go? “Honestly I still feel bloated,” she says. “My skin doesn’t love it when I eat too much dairy either so it’s seen better days. But I’m feeling grateful that I no longer have to eat anything for my job and can instead eat things purely for my own poor health choices.” Despite that steady diet of slushy ice and mushy cream, Madeleine admits the weather still has her hankering for a cold treat. “It’s so hot today that I actually think I’ll have an ice block after lunch. The final push this week involved eating a lot of ice creams and that was a struggle, but I’d gladly have a Mango FruJu on sweaty day like today.” See if your fave icy treat made the cut here.
Are politicians winding down, or winding each other up?
Justin Giovannetti’s main job is as The Spinoff’s political editor, but, on the side, he also sends out daily editions of The Bulletin (subscribe here). As someone who only writes one newsletter a week, I can confirm that’s an impressive feat that must require some serious candle-burning. Even more impressive is that, in his spare time, Giovannetti’s been busy interviewing some of the major political party leaders for a year-end series that kicked off this week with Act leader David Seymour. Giovannetti says the main vibe around the Beehive right now is fatigue. “I can report from the halls of parliament that everyone is exhausted. It's been a long and difficult year, but it's almost done and some Christmas cheer is finally creeping into the joint,” he says. Despite the toll this year has taken, Giovannetti says plenty is already underway for 2022. “Whether in government or opposition, parliament is just awash in proposals, ideas, papers and panels. Things are certainly calming down and one of the nice things about working on year-end profiles is that they give you a break from a daily news cycle that has gone from intense to sleepy over the past few days.” Keep tabs on updates here.
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Embracing Māori birth traditions is changing the future
Ataria Sharman put together this beautiful story after spending a day with wāhine hapū at the kaupapa Māori birth and parenting programme Ngā Wānanga o Hine Kōpū. Having that intimate access was a special opportunity: “It's always a humble privilege to get the chance to kōrero with our whānau Māori. It's never expected, and if it is given freely, it's a taonga,” she says. “Narratives, stories and pūrākau are taonga and as writers, journalists and storytellers we have the important role of safeguarding those.” For her, the wānanga means she feels excited about the prospect of having access to these traditions when she has tamariki of her own. “I won't have to go searching for the mātauranga Māori. It's already there for me. I'm grateful to Koha (programme coordinator) and the Hine Kōpū team for that. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off my own potential hapū journey.” Read Ataria’s piece in full here, and watch the doco on Hine Kōpū here.
He’s online, all of the time…
Dylan Reeve has forged a career out of “digging into weird internet stuff”. They’re his words, but from his work on Tickled, David Farrier’s deep dive into foot fetishes, to random experiences like A night aboard the most loathed aircraft in New Zealand, Reeve keeps uncorking some stunning stories. He started full-time at The Spinoff a few months back, and has already made his mark with yarns about Italian military invasion concerns, and one woman's journey into and out of anti-vax beliefs. “I’ve done research and writing for years as a side project, but actually doing it full-time as a proper job was a big jump,” he says. “I've enjoyed it. The hardest thing has been moving from a job I'd done for a decade where I felt like I knew everything, into a role where I came in knowing nothing. But I'm feeling pretty comfortable now.” You can read his latest story, about why everyone hates RealMe, here.
Making headlines this weekend…
Stuff’s Sam Sherwood has the extraordinary story of a New Zealand man who had up to 10 Covid-19 vaccinations in one day. RNZ’s Matthew Rosenberg has this interview with Noel Peterson, a wizard hoping to become Invercargill’s next mayor. Is the housing market finally turning? This story from Stuff’s Geraden Cann suggests that maybe it is. The New York Times (paywalled) has a fascinating deep dive into the bonkers Birds Aren’t Real conspiracy craze. For NZ Herald (paywalled), Damien Venuto has compiled this great media wrap of the upcoming breakfast wars. On The Spinoff, Sam Brooks asks, about lockdown, What was the point of all this? And Tara Ward farewells Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson from The AM Show.
Everything else we loved this week…
The New Yorker’s Jeremy Strong profile caused quite a stir this week, especially when it revealed the lengths the Succession star takes to stay in character when he’s on set. We just want to know one thing: why wouldn’t he talk about Guy Ritchie’s movie The Gentlemen. Is there beef?
Thirteen years ago, Manawatū shearer Bevan Wright went missing. RNZ reporter Jimmy Ellingham has this impressive report into his disappearance.
One of 2021’s most unmissable series has been Stereogum writer Tom Breihan’s weekly instalment The Ones, a deep dive into every Billboard No. 1 hit. This week, it’s EMF’s ‘Unbelievable,’ but the whole series is worth your time.
Do you know what the ‘PB’ stands for in PB Tech? The answer is pretty great.
This piece from Josie Adams, in which she meets our most extreme Spotify listeners, is fascinating. Who has this much time to spare just for music?
Imagine losing half a billion dollars in bitcoin by literally throwing it in the trash. That’s exactly what happened to Welshman James Howells, who is still trying to get it back. The New Yorker picks it up from there…
The Spinoff’s Tara Ward has picked through our Google searches for the year and found some trends: apparently we baked a lot of scones, watched a lot of Squid Game and worried about Covid — though hopefully not at the same time.
Finally, my favourite story of the week comes from a diner who reviewed the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Lecce, Italy. The details of her 27-course meal are riveting, from a shot of vinegar to 12 kinds of foam to a dish served out of a plaster mould of the head chef’s mouth to EVERYTHING BEING COLD. Go read it, savour, the photos - it’s fantastic. And have a great weekend :)
