Culture

What We Learn When We Talk With Our Immigrant Parents

The creators behind Conversations With My Immigrant Parents got to sit in on funny, moving, and poignant conversations between parents and children throughout Aotearoa. What did…

How a mum and son live out their Muslim faith in New Zealand

As a Muslim kid, how do you deal when one of your friends makes a “terrorist” joke? 13 year old Aliyaan says, “Just because I’m Muslim…

A family discusses their "white-passing" immigrant experiences

Francisco Blaha is as immigrant as they get. "I jump off a boat, literally," he says. He grew up amongst street violence in Argentina, with expectations…

Being gay, Filipino and going to Catholic church in the Hawke's Bay

"There are so many gay Filipinos in church," says Joseph Trinidad. He and his family immigrated to New Zealand more than a decade ago, and have helped…

A mum and daughter ask: what does it mean to be a "proper Tongan girl"?

"Our girls, we have to make sure they stay a virgin." Kesaia's mum Liliani wanted to raise her in New Zealand as a "proper Tongan girl".…

Re:hearsal Room: Mazbou Q

Mazbou Q (formerly Unchained XL) talks tapping into Pan-Africanism in his music, being united against imperialism and, really, just being a dope rapper.

What's with our love of astrology?

Astrology has seen a resurgence in recent years. What's up with that? Is it just memes and fun, or are people getting genuine direction from investigating…

What's with our love of homemade?

Sauerkraut and bread are some of the things that more and more people seem to be spending time to make themselves nowadays. Are they just fads,…

Farewell to Auckland’s creepy Santa

It's the end of an era. Aucklanders say farewell to 'Creepy Santa', that giant icon with the rather unsettling winking eye.

What's with our love of pop culture tattoos?

Tattoos can be a marker to everyone else of who you are, and a reminder to yourself of the things you love.

The mystery of the cannabis plant growing in downtown Auckland

In 1986, the Auckland City Council kindly planted some greenery on Vulcan Lane. And among the shrubs was a lone, humble cannabis plant... ?‍♀️

A cartoon about Samoa with love

"As a Samoan, I feel what happens to other Samoans." Comic artist Michel Mulipola talks about the illustration he's created to process the Samoan measles epidemic.

Re:hearsal Room: Swizl Jager

Swizl Jager is all about using as much te reo in his music as he can. He talks about "keeping it reo" and the joys of…

NZ's best new filmmaker of the year shares her top 5 films of all time

Matasila Freshwater, winner of the 2019 SPADA (Screen Production and Development Association) award for New Filmmaker of the Year, sat down with Re: to share her…

Re:hearsal Room: Raiza Biza

What's it like to move to NZ and feel the pressure to fulfill the classic immigrant's tale? That is: get educated, make lots of money and…

Stupid Robot Fighting

Stupid Robot Fighting is even more amazing than it sounds. There's no good explanation for it so you really just have to see this NZ invented…

NZ Music Awards: Breaking Down the Breakthrough Artist of the Year

Stylist to the stars Sammy Salsa takes us through a night at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards following the nominees for Breakthrough Artist of the Year…

Illustrator Ruby Jones on Going Viral and the Power of Drawing Kindness

After the Christchurch terror attacks, Ruby Jones illustrated two people hugging with the words, "This is your home and you should have been safe here." The…

New Zealand police show us their tattoos

We get tattoos for all sorts of reasons - to carry our loved ones with us, to symbolise our heritage and to express who we are.…

The writer of the book that inspired Jojo Rabbit

Christine Leunens is the author of Caging Skies, the book that was adapted into the movie Jojo Rabbit by director Taika Waititi. She tells us about…

The Manor

On October 6, a Dunedin house party ended in the death of second year university student Sophia Crestani. Natasha, a fellow university student at the party,…

Re:hearsal Room: Bobandii

Bobandii can only cry when he's making music - and he thinks maybe that's why he's a musician. He talks self-exploration, putting out music as a…

Reclamation: being brown, femme and proud

'Reclamation' is about unapologetically taking up space - physically, ideologically, spiritually. We went backstage at the show by FAF SWAG to talk to performers and crew…

World of WearableArt: Fashioning a friendship

Having gone from kindy to uni to flatting together, Renee and Kayla are besties for life. And, for the last 10 years, they've both been creating…

I cannot write a poem about China

Sherry Zhang reads her poem 'I cannot write a poem about China'.

Words from Sherry about her poem:

How do you navigate disagreement? I've been struggling with this…

Cosplay 101 with Cheshliddle

Cosplayer Lisa Bosman AKA Cheshliddle is a self-confessed "big nerd who loves to dress up." She shows us her workspace for bringing characters to life, and…

Re:hearsal Room: Lachie Hayes

Southland musician Lachie Hayes talks blues, cowboy movies, and how locals in the old days had to make their own entertainment... so they became musicians.

Re:hearsal Room: Nikita Tu-Bryant

Nikita Tu-Bryant talks us through her songwriting process and how she's moving on from writing songs about heartbreak, in our second installment of Re:hearsal Room.

Drinking in young adults

George Fowler AKA Hugo Grrrl shares his experiences with problem drinking, an issue that affects an estimated 780,000 New Zealand adults. After coming to terms with…

Re:hearsal Room: Bored Housewives Club

For our first ever episode of Re:hearsal Room, we get to know Bored Housewives Club, who describe themselves as "a pair of cute punks making guitar…