Ahiahi mārie, welcome to The Spinoff Daily. Today on The Spinoff: A day of kōrero, kaupapa and kotahitanga at Waitangi, while at Laneway ‘brat summer’ arrived in New Zealand at long last. Plus: public transport fares, local body elections and Miriam Margolyes.
“She’s beauty. She’s grace. She smells like a decaying corpse and lurks in the backrooms of Auckland Zoo, wallowing tragically in a bucket. In recent weeks an Australian corpse plant named Putricia has captured the noses and imaginations of thousands around the world. She’s had a livestream, at least 15,000 guests lining up before even unfurling, and a piece in Vogue, where she’s been named “The Internet’s Stinkiest It Girl”. And in New York, another corpse plant had people queueing in the cold for hours to catch a whiff. Meanwhile, one of New Zealand’s own Putricias languishes in obscurity. She has no name. She has no fanfare, no velvet curtain, no cultish devotees. She was kept in the ectotherms team room, says a source, ‘ominously growing’ in a bucket (‘we hoped it moved before it was stinky’). She was briefly on display, then relegated to an industrial aquarist pump room.”
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Waitangi 2025: A day of kōrero, kaupapa and kotahitanga Who is in and who is out in the big mayoral races of 2025? Are public transport fare increases in Auckland the start of a nationwide trend? Vale Brian Turner, 1944 – 2025
A passive protest at the pōwhiri. A prime minister avoiding the Treaty Grounds. A “very interesting” idea about a possible te Tiriti Commissioner. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been a pretty full on Waitangi week, and The Spinoff’s unofficial Māori unit has been there to witness it all. Recorded on the sandy shores of the mighty North, guest hosts Liam Ratana and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (along with regular producer Te Aihe Butler) discuss the problem of David Seymour, Tama Potaka’s messy kūpapa-kaupapa wordplay, the (seemingly undercooked) te Tiriti Commission proposal, and what we’d like to see at Waitangi in 2026. Follow Gone By Lunchtime on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Join us at Bryn & Ku's Singles Club PartyOn the day before Valentine’s, join Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester for a viewing party to celebrate the launch of their new series, Bryn & Ku's Singles Club, on The Spinoff. Bryn & Ku will be live on stage at Q Theatre on February 13, with Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman, to talk about discovering new ways of living and loving and maybe even finding The One. Open to anyone who has ever been single.
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Justice for the stinky plant that lives in a bucket at the zoo
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