New Zealand Listener

New Zealand Listener is the country’s most respected general interest magazine, bringing you a wide variety of news, stories, columns, reviews, plus TV listings, every week.

New Zealand Listener

On the wry side • A unique and charismatic New Zealander needs greater recognition, writes Keith Woodley ahead of the annual Bird of the Year flap.

Forward left

Bright Lines

Quips & Quotes

10 Quick Questions

An inspiration vacuum • Politicians don’t have to be bold to win, but the safe approach can deliver underwhelming governments.

Frogs in pots

All too common

Going to America

A Dickensian boy in a heatwave

It happens in vagus • A nerve that acts as a ‘superhighway’ between brain and body is increasingly seen as key to controlling inflammation, the root cause of a swathe of killer diseases. In a new book, US neurosurgeon Kevin J Tracey explores the promise – and the myths – of vagus nerve stimulation.

Power swerve • Former finance minister Grant Robertson’s memoir goes full circle, from his political baptism in Dunedin through the toll of the Covid years to his return to Otago.

Going for a song • The NZ Youth Choir’s winning ways have hit the news, but as the popularity of community singalongs shows, you don’t have to be a good singer to join a choir.

Different worlds • An encounter with the Asmats of Southern Papua exposes a cultural divide thousands of years in the making.

Distant minds • In his latest novel, a Kiwi author is interested in secrets, control and our inability to truly communicate with others.

Bestsellers

Force of nature • An off-the-grid debut thriller brings to evocative life the disquieting wilderness of the West Coast.

A shot in the dark • For his first novel, former doctor Adam Kay mixes medicine, mystery and murder with a solid dose of humour.

Bestsellers

High and dry • Former journo’s tense, compelling crime novel is one of the best to come out of Australia in recent times.

Solving the puzzle • There’s abrasion aplenty in a return story of a disparate police duo investigating a murder in Mangawhai.

Besties for ever • Unusual friendships and feisty animals are central to these readable junior fiction/YA titles. By Ann Packer.

Short cuts

Future me loves me • Against a backdrop of the lead singer’s mental health struggles, The Beths have a new album, a new record label and a new world tour.

Emotional download • Mother, Pray for Me has the power to bring people to tears – including members of the band.

Going for broke • Husband and wife team direct and star in bittersweet movie drawn from experience.

Trigger happy • Political satire coughs up the laughs.

Senseless sensibility • Possessed of good intentions, this Austen romcom is in want of a plot.

McKenzie country • Flight of the Conchord-ian gets folksy and rootsy on second solo album.

A novel take on Austen era • Big-name modern authors ponder the lasting influence of Jane Austen in epic docudrama marking her 250th anniverary.

TV Picks of the week

Tv Films

Saturday/Rāhoroi August 30

Sunday/Rātapu August 31

Monday/Rāhina September 1

Tuesday/Rātū September 2

Wednesday/Rāapa September 3

Thursday/Rāpare September 4

Friday/Rāmere September 5

RADIO AUGUST 30

Into the labyrinth • Sarah Castle returns for a Pacific spin on a Greek myth-inspired British opera.

Breakfast will be late • Among many nutrients that can reduce absorption of meds, calcium in dairy is an issue for those who need a daily thyroid hormone boost.

Nice and easy • Nutritionist and sports coach...