Newsletter
Ambitious
This is an update in confidence for my much-appreciated paid subscribers.
Newsletter
Newsletter
Joining the club, after it's stopped being exclusive
I had the slightest tickle of symptoms yesterday. A friend was in town with his family, and we talked about catching up. I wasn't sure, so I mentioned what I thought was my mild sniffle, and he decided to play it safe. He was with a parent who
Newsletter
In crisis
The worst moment came one weekend in winter. I was rostered on - not that it made a lot of difference, because everyone worked weekends, without rostering or pay. I was checking my email. I was exhausted. I felt broken. It wasn’t just work, if I’m honest, in
Newsletter
Conscience
Moana Jackson was meant to be around forever. He had no business dying, because he was part of our conscience. Sometimes the uncomfortable part: that's how conscience works. But an Aotearoa without it would feel depleted or lost, or like nothing at all. Conscience can seem uncomfortable, until
Newsletter
Nerd Sunday: a New Zealand Income Insurance Scheme?
Welcome to my new series, where I take one for the team – making something quite boring a bit less boring. You can thank me later. Or now. Now is good too.
Newsletter
Rough cuts
You can call it a bunch of things. It’s a cost of living crisis, if you’re an old white guy with a suit and an eye on the polls. It’s a cluster***, if you can’t afford to fill your shopping trolley or your car. Probably, your
Newsletter
Thought for the day, 8 March 2022
My 15-year-old son just told me a joke. Q: What concert only costs 45 cents? A: 50 cent feat Nickelback. Children. They'll take you down to the bottom of every bottle.
Newsletter
I'm establishment AF and I still support the right to protest
To be clear, I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t want to think about it. I want to pull the covers over my head, like I’m a little kid, until all of this is over. I want the pavers laid back in the ground they
Newsletter
I'm checking in on you
How are we, e hoa mā? It feels like we're all struggling for morale right now. Our resilience was already kind of low, and the events of the last few days have been a kick in the pants. More of us are succumbing to COVID - and sure,
Newsletter
In harm's way
Warning for graphic content.
Newsletter
I can't believe I'm saying this: let's be nicer to the police
Until yesterday, I hadn’t seen the protest up close and personal. I skirted around the edges, on my way to the office, by the placards and the flags and the vitriol-laced unreality; gawking though I knew I shouldn’t, feeling a faint mix of horror and sickness. Wellington has
Newsletter
Thought for the day, 16 February 2022
One of the many things I can't forgive the protesters for is stealing our thunder, on the day the Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill passed. It was a day that Parliament grounds belonged to rainbows, love and celebration, not barbarous and incoherent hate. But the victory was no less