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New Zealand Listener Magazine - December 20-26, 2025

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In this issue

OH BEEHIVE!—Our annual awards for political bravery & buffoonery, from Schrodinger's Legislation Prize to the Boo Radley Award Noels, Razor, Liam—The sporting year's high and lows Buckets of it—Why 'AI Slop' is in this year's enshittification

Honourable members, take a bow

The late Tariana Turia set a high bar, so who deserves the top gongs in the Listener's 2025 political prowess awards?

5 mins

The kids are alright

Were I a master of understatement, I might say now is not America's finest hour.

2 mins

The broken man

It was an unseasonably hot afternoon. Driving, listening to the radio, I complained to the dog about a verbal solecism I kept hearing: the justice system is “broken”. The health system is “broken”. It’s a very basic word to apply to complex situations. If a surgeon announced, “My patient is broken,” you'd think it was language worthy of a toddler.

2 mins

Mercy not strain'd

Mercy was horribly absent in the recent case of the “suitcase murders”, so-called because Auckland woman Hakyung Lee killed her two young children and placed their bodies inside airtight orange suitcases, leaving them to mummify in a storage locker for four years until they were discovered. I attended the trial (Listener, October 11 & 18) and returned for the sentencing at the High Court at Auckland in the Christmas season.

2 mins

The more things change

Inauspiciously, the first thing I wrote for this magazine was a political column, at a time when there was pretty much no politics.

2 mins

That thinking feeling

Far from being emotionally driven, gut feelings can help us to make the best decisions, says a US expert on entrepreneurialism.

9 mins

Thinking and feeling

In this edited extract, Laura Huang explains how watching investors shaped her ideas about the role of gut feelings.

4 mins

Lives in a holding pattern

Syrian refugees who fled civil war are increasingly unwelcome in the countries that took them in. But they face going home to renewed violence and a devastated economy.

10+ mins

Diamonds in the rough

In a year in which our usual sources of sporting pride stumbled, some unlikely heroes sparkled.

7 mins

Inspect a gadget

The 10 best tech upgrades of 2025.

4 mins

Something in the air

Polymath author and adventurer Simon Winchester on his 'grasshopper mind' and current fascination - the wind.

8 mins

Heavyweight division

Mark Broatch checks out the year's best coffee table books.

3 mins

Piece train

Very readable collection of novellas unified by seasoned writer's keen observations.

2 mins

Hum dinger

The year's NZ music books have a high-volume encore.

2 mins

As bad as it gets

Veteran filmmaker wide of the mark in dated political comedy drama.

1 mins

Heavenly hubbies

Til death do we part gets a clever rethink in afterlife romcom.

1 mins

Less sharp but still cutting

Former Prince Charles and ex-007 play detective duo.

2 mins

You should have been there

It was a year of wonderful performances but fewer wonderful concerts.

2 mins

Shelling out

Eggshells are a great source of calcium, but think again if you're contemplating adding them to your diet.

2 mins

Thai up

Rocker Jimmy Barnes and wife Jane deliver seasonal recipes with an accent on Southeast Asia.

4 mins

To absent friends

A search of Listener issues from ages past reveals the lack of classy wines was long lamented.

2 mins

Flake news

Yes, those denigrated as 'snowflakes' do tend to be more liberal and likely to see injustice in the world.

2 mins

Slap the slop this summer

2025 was the year Al slop oozed into every corner of the internet. I'm taking the summer to go cold turkey.

2 mins

An aspirational Christmas

I am going to make a banana and artichoke wreath to put on the door. Why? Because 'tis the time of the year when one must, by law, deck the halls with boughs of holly while singing, tunelessly, fa, la, la, la, la, etc. And one must, again by law, have a homemade Christmas wreath to hang on the door to show you are not just the perfect homemaker, but you are also enviably creative. I don't think anything could express your enviable creativity better than a banana and artichoke wreath.

2 mins

Read all Stories from New Zealand Listener

New Zealand Listener Magazine Description:

Publisher: Are-Media

Category: News

Language: English

Frequency: Weekly

The New Zealand Listener is New Zealand’s highest-selling and best-read current affairs magazine. Each week the Listener brings you the latest commentary and insight from award-winning writers and columnists.

An energising read, full of witty insight and award-winning investigative journalism, this is the magazine that has been setting New Zealand’s agenda since 1939.