The rest is history

Rest - both sleep and non-sleep - is essential to help our overstressed bodies and minds repair themselves. But many of us remain in a constant state of 'fight, flight or freeze'.

Right and power

Israel is profiting financially and extending its global technological influence in response to the October 7 massacre, says investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein.

Dolphins be damned

Is SailGP's future in this country really under threat because of an at-risk marine mammal?

Orwellian irony

Our thinking about one of the 20th century's best-known writers is being challenged by the 'smelly little truths' Anna Funder uncovered about George Orwell's marriage.

The alchemist

Talent and a little magic have taken state-house kid Moses Mackay to the heights of Italian opera. He's coming back to sprinkle some of his gold dust around.

Good Lord, he was scandalous

Lord Byron still fascinates 200 years after his death, but more for his bohemian lifestyle than his poetry.

Stars in their eyes

Debut novel a heady mix of grief, astronomy and love.

Dark matter

Ngaio Marsh-style whodunnit set among academia attached to the Mt John Observatory.

Mirren's mirror on Meir

Dame Helen talks about playing Golda Meir, Israel's iron lady, during a pivotal chapter in the controversial politician's long career.

Game, set and match

Love, sex and great tennis take centre court in this highly charged drama.

Silence is golden

Dog and robot tale a five-star gem.

Still screaming

Pearl Jam's 12th album proves the senior statesmen have what it takes after 33 years.

Taylored to startle

Swifties flocked to their idol's latest release in their millions. Awaiting them was Taylor at her most raw and brave.

Morning songs

On a recent early and glorious Saturday morning - it was 4°C outside I let the complaining chickens out. Chickens never stop complaining.

Upwardly mobile

Climate-friendly e-scooters are proliferating but there are stumbling blocks for users and non-users.

A potent brew

There's a correlation between moderate coffee drinking and reduced risk of colorectal cancer - but evidence of a causal link is still percolating.

Food saviours

A little bit of silliness lightens the mood on the serious topic of food waste.

Ode to old masters

The Polynesian sound and Auckland's ska-punk scene are remembered in new releases.

Weaving Welsh with waiata

Te reo meets Cymraeg in a musical project partly spearheaded by Kawiti Waetford, an opera singer with connections to Wales.

Culture warrior

Activist and scholar Ngahuia te Awek6otuku achieved several firsts in society but had to fight many battles to get there.

An age-old problem

Is our lifespan fixed, or might we be able to slow down or even abolish ageing? And what would we do if we could?

When Jim becomes James

'What would white people do to a slave who had learned to read?' This impressive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn seeks to find out.

Manhattan transfer

A Kiwi movie star led the charge for an Anzac garden atop New York's Rockefeller Centre that's still in use today.

A Wylde life

How a West Coast mechanic who lost a leg at Gallipoli ended up living in luxury on the banks of the Thames, rubbing shoulders with artists, composers and poets.

'That German boy'

Paul Oestreicher's Jewish family escaped the Nazis in 1938. Once here, he was ostracised for being German. How did this committed pacifist end up leading a military Anzac Day service in East Germany?

Uncovering our past

For veteran broadcaster Cameron Bennett, navigating the origins and consequences of the New Zealand Wars has been both confronting and exhilarating.

Friend or foe?

An ambiguous war memorial on the banks of the Waikato River raises confronting questions about what it is commemorating.

Taonga tales

Collections of war memorabilia no longer just signify battles and bravery; they have evolved to tell us about ourselves.

Branching out

A lexander Hamilton described the courts as the least dangerous branch of government.

A real head banger

We owe an incalculable debt to scientists but they could have done with a crash course in tact before laying their latest, inevitably disempowering, tranche of findings on us: intermittent fasting could kill you, they now tell us in their pitiless way.