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Back in the day, we got jam sandwiches and we were grateful. Sigh. I’ve been watching the intergenerational debate play out over school lunches. My first set of musings is here. This is the second set. There’s been a bunch of advice from everyday people, many of whom
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RNZ: don't be dicks. Photos of politicians carry weight, especially in a social media-orientated world. Editorial choice around photos sends deliberate signals. [Picture description: An irrelevant and unflattering photo of the Prime Minister eating.] Sometimes photos are chosen to lionise politicians: think a triumphant Trump after a bullet
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The school lunch kōrero is a fascinating exercise in not recognising intergenerational privilege. Here are the arguments I'm seeing: * Parents fed their kids back in the day. * It's parents' job to feed their kids, not anyone else's - and if the parents can&
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I lived in Naenae, Lower Hutt, for several years, before our family moved a few kilometres north to Upper Hutt. When we shifted, I thought about changing my pen name to ‘Straight Outta Trentham’, but rapidly realised I couldn’t be bothered. And anyway, I still feel an allegiance to
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Kia ora Brian I’ve spent time in both churches and libraries, and I can tell you which I prefer. Here’s a story about me and my older kid, although I don’t expect you’ll like it much. You’ve been pretty clear: those ‘family values’ of yours
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A reflection. Humans are both stupid and sublime. I thought about this a lot when I wrote my PhD. I studied social policy in Aotearoa, and the contrasts in our history captured me. We were a nation that, at our height, built ten thousand state houses a year to give
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In confidence, for my paid subscribers.
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I learned about World War Two through family and movies and in class. I wasn’t especially worried. Humans learn from experience. We seldom mess up that badly twice, I figured - or, at least, not on any kind of scale. The battles of that time didn’t interest me,
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This is a story with questionable characters. You've met some of them before.
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People who take the train to and from the office in Pōneke are, more often than not, Pākehā and comfortable.
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The COVID-19 inquiry is starting to drip feed its findings, and I'm having a lot of feelings. Some of those feelings come from being a person who worked in the response in 2020. I can't even begin to say how awful it was - and I
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This piece is about the use of the 'rough sex defence' by men who harm women. I focus on ideas, not acts of violence, but it remains a challenging read. As always, a reminder I'm not a lawyer.