Arwen Sommer
Survivors of the Christchurch mosque attack respond to the terrorist's life sentence
It's the first time in New Zealand history a person has been given life imprisonment without parole.
A gender-neutral option has finally been added to NZ voting papers
The gender-neutral title Mx. is an option on the electoral roll for the first time. Kiwis tell us what this means for them.
You can enrol to…
Finding freedom in Sweet Lolita fashion
"On days when I don't feel confident in myself... I can put on this piece of artwork. To me Lolita is a form of building up…
For queer youth in NZ, homelessness is a real fear
1 in 5 trans people in New Zealand have experienced homelessness. We look at why.
Release of the week: teen punks Sit Down In Front talk first world problems
Teen punks Sit Down In Front's music will be ringing out across New Zealand with the release of their album Confessions Of A Pie Thief. The…
Covid closed Ōtāhuhu's only art gallery, but there's a novel way to keep it going
Vunilagi Vou provided a dedicated space for contemporary Pacific art, and was the only art gallery in Ōtāhuhu. The financial pressures of Covid made maintaining this…
At Auckland’s gay rugby club for their first training after lockdown
Now that we’re well into Covid alert level 1, we can finally go out and do fun stuff again. This also means the country’s favourite sport…
People with obsessive compulsive disorder say lockdown allowed their condition to thrive.
Sam is a typical 23-year-old who works nine to five in an office job. At 14, he was diagnosed with contamination obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and has…
Photo gallery: the first night out in town in post-lockdown Christchurch
Last weekend New Zealanders were finally allowed to gather in groups of more than ten people. Arwen Sommer headed out to town on Friday night in…
New Zealanders tell us why they marched with the Black Lives Matter movement
On June 1, New Zealanders marched in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Here's why.
Intern Arwen meets an AI named Josie
Re: intern Arwen has a fascination with artificial intelligence. New Zealand businesses are catching on too with over half saying that AI is or will be…
Students with disabilities are hoping online learning wasn't just a Covid phase
University classes start back in-person this week, and students will once again have to drag themselves out of bed to get to class. But those with…
Five young artists tell us what they’ve been making in lockdown
If you're not an essential worker, there's plenty of time to spare while we stay at home. Arwen Sommer talks to five Kiwis who are using…
We asked five people with chronic illnesses for advice on staying home all day
New Zealand may have dropped to alert level 3 but we’re basically still in lockdown, and being able to leave our house to socialise and travel…
Three things you can grow during lockdown without going to a garden centre
Two weeks into the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown people are stuck at home with loads of time but no idea how to use it productively. I decided…
We asked an IT guy what to do if your tech breaks during lockdown
With all the tech repair places closed, many of us are living in fear of our laptops breaking. We wouldn’t be able to work, or even…
One year on: Asim Mukhtar
Muslim New Zealander of the Year Asim Mukhtar was heavily involved in looking after survivors and families of those killed in the March 15th terrorist attack.…
We need to talk about grief
How does grief manifest for these men? Actors from the play Over My Dead Body: LITTLE BLACK BITCH share their experiences with grief.
Over My Dead Body:…
How to stop being afraid of the word 'fat'
Ema Tavola first learnt about BMI when she was at school. “We went around the class. Everyone got weighed, and then we looked at everyone on…
What's it really like when you go to Waitangi?
If you've never been to Waitangi before, it's easy to think it's all sombre politics and fighting, but the people there know it's about so much…