After more than 80 columns, Hera’s advice spanned the spectrum of human troubles. For our second live event, we revisited four problems from the archives, talked about Hera’s response, and heard updates from the callers themselves. Note: the callers emailed in their updates so the voices you hear won’t be their actual voices. Instead you’ll hear some of the greatest voice talent that works in the Spinoff offices.

Recorded in September 2024.

Help Me Hera: Men I haven’t seen in years keep crawling out of the woodwork

Help Me Hera: My friend dumped me and I don’t know why

Help Me Hera: I need my partner to eat some goddamn veges

Help Me Hera: How do I stop being the nosiest person alive?

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Senior writer Alex Casey has a long history with cinema, both as a reviewer and as a former projectionist. This week she wrote two film-adjacent features.

The first had Alex travel to Akaroa to speak to the people running a bustling local cinema and then go down a rabbit hole of South Island cinemas holding on to the movies as a third space. And the second is just a fun appreciation of our strangely high proportion of successful child actors, and what makes it possible to succeed here at 11 years old.

She appeared on Behind the Story to talk local reporting, the magic of movies and the very best of our child actors.

The small town cinemas holding on at the edge of the world

How does New Zealand produce so many successful child actors?

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Last month, senior writer at The Spinoff Anna Rawhiti-Connell was joined on stage at the Hannah Playhouse by Wellington editor Joel MacManus, along with special guests RNZ's Charlotte Cook and Billy T nominee Maria Williams, to review the year. They jumped backwards into the year’s headlines, political dramas, and some of the best Spinoff yarns.

Listen to the recording of this Spinoff Live event for a smattering of karaoke, a Ray Gun reveal, a vote on whether Wellington was "brat", predictions for next year, and some spicy takes about the year's big moments.

If you’d like to attend The Year in Review live at Auckland’s Q Theatre on Wednesday 11th December, get your tickets here.

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Normally on The Fold, we discuss events in the wider media, but today, the subject is us and the future of The Spinoff. Published on site today is an open letter from Duncan, The Spinoff’s editor Madeleine Chapman, and its CEO Amber Easby. It toplines where The Spinoff is right now as a platform – this paradoxical place where our audience is the strongest it has ever been, outside of events like Covid or elections – but that the stagnant ad market, and a hard drop in public funding for our work, has left us in a really tricky situation needing to make a very real call for help.

First, Duncan speaks to our editor, Madeleine Chapman, and our head of audience, Anna Rawhiti-Connell about what we’re asking for and why we’re asking for it. Duncan is then joined by Spinoff CEO Amber Easby to dig into some numbers that show just how radically our revenue picture has changed and explain why our audience is now our last, best shot at retaining the ability to carry on doing what we do.

Please take the time to read the open letter at https://thespinoff.co.nz/sos.

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Zeni Gibson has been stalked and gruesomely harassed for nearly nine years by a man she rejected when she was 17. This is her story.

Content warning: this story contains graphic descriptions of threatened violence, including sexual violence. Please take care.

As told to Madeleine Holden.

Read by Anna Rawhiti-Connell.

Made with support from The Spinoff Members.

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Last week, staff writer Lyric Waiwiri-Smith attended the Auckland event of the national apology to survivors of abuse in care. That historic event was quickly followed by another, with the nine-day hīkoi arriving in parliament to protest a number of government decisions, particularly the Treaty Principles bill.

Lyric and Ātea editor Liam Rātana reported on the hīkoi as it passed through Auckland. As journalists these were big stories, but as Māori journalists, they held an even greater weight and sense of responsibility to tell them in the right way. It’s a responsibility not shared by most other journalists in New Zealand, and one that can be hard to leave at work at the end of the day.

Lyric and Liam join editor Madeleine Chapman on Behind the Story to discuss the apology, the hīkoi, and the challenge of separating work and life when your work involves reporting on your own lived experiences.

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As homelessness hits an all-time high, New Zealand’s frontline organisations are embracing unconventional and innovative strategies. Joel MacManus takes a closer look at the crisis and meets the people who claim to have the cure.

Story by Joel MacManus.

Read by Te Aihe Butler.

Made with support from The Spinoff Members.

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Every other week we read reports of the rising rates of homelessness in our major cities. These stories are sometimes about homelessness itself and other times about the siblings of homelessness, like crime and welfare. Wellington editor Joel MacManus spent months speaking to those on the frontline in the fight to solve homelessness once and for all. It’s a long read, so for the first time ever we’ve made Cover Stories available in audio form. If you’d rather hear the story than read it, Te Aihe Butler has voiced Joel’s story and you can find it right here in the Behind The Story feed. Joel’s reporting covers the causes, the implications and the potential solution for homelessness in New Zealand. A comprehensive assessment of where we are at as a country in caring for our most vulnerable, and far we still have to go.

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After receiving a tip-off from an Elemeno P fan about a suspicious sounding new song from Elemeno P, staff writer Gabi Lardies followed the trail to a Ukrainian music producer, a distribution platform being sued for half a billion dollars, and the unresolved question: If it’s not Elemeno P, why is it on their official music pages? Gabi sat down with editor Madeleine Chapman for Behind the Story to discuss the new world of stories about AI, and the frustration when you can’t quite crack the case.

Elemeno P released a new song for the first time in 13 years, but is it real?

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Last week, The Spinoff unveiled its top 100 New Zealand TV shows of the 21st century, sparking plenty of debate about what truly deserved the top spot. This week, The Spinoff senior writer and Top 100 listmaster Alex Casey is joined by a panel of TV fanatics – Kura Forrester, Rhiannon McCall, Stewart Sowman-Lund and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith – for a special Behind The Story recorded live event at Q Theatre in Auckland. Together, they'll unearth some beloved TV gems and make their cases for their all-time favourite local TV show, with the live audience helping choose a new winner.

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