CATEGORIES
Happy
Linda arrived at my school at the start of fifth form...
The Ukrainian dentist
Rhonda and Nick are having a picnic in Podilskyy Park. It is late summer and the leaves on the birch, black alder and hornbeam oaks are beginning to turn. The grass between them is soft and sweet. The air carries a faint scent of vanilla.
The listeners
Each summer, we commission 12 of Aotearoa’s finest writers to tell us a short tale. This year’s theme is ‘the joy of friendship’. Here are the first four.
Spreading the word
For the Brits, the word that best describes 2022 could be “permacrisis”. But what about here in New Zealand?
Noah's Ark
Climate change will trigger global migration on a massive scale. A new book asks whether we can overcome tribalism and treat the planet as “a commonwealth of humanity”.
Up & atom
Forget the grand New Year’s resolutions. Making little changes that go the distance is how to achieve big results.
A dog's tale
In the first of a series on artefacts that tell the story of Aotearoa’s past, historian Jock Phillips explains the relevance of a small carved canine, known as the Monck’s Cave kurī.
Damage control
National's biggest danger is that it will continue to try to sleepwalk to victory.
Going home
Australia seems unable to exorcise the cruelty of exile from its DNA.
Bridging the great divide
BULLETIN FROM WASHINGTON DC
Making it stick
Developers love to give their new subdivisions grandiose names, but will they stand the test of time, asks Lyall McFarlane.
An inspector called
How new British cop drama DI Ray connects to the murder of a Line of Duty character.
Don't go crackers
Here's a gift of coping strategies for when the time of peace and plum pudding turns to custard.
A bone to pick
Freezing leftover meat straight after Christmas is one way to avoid ham overload in the holidays.
Top 10 tech gadgets
Listener technology writer Peter Griffin names some of the best gadgets and devices that debuted in 2022.
Sporting triumphs
It was a year of redemption for some stalwarts of NZ sport - young and not so young, writes PAUL THOMAS.
The year's best TV
Listener entertainment editor RUSSELL BAILLIE names his picks of the best shows on the small screen in 2022.
The best movies of 2022
Listener reviewers SARAH WATT and RUSSELL BAILLIE choose their picks for the best films of the year.
Top albums of 2022
Listener music writer Graham Reid names his picks for the best albums of the year.
Dollars & sense
Calculating the \"return on investment\" in social programmes may lead to better outcomes - but what's the measure of success?
Shifting the goalposts
Let he who is without sin kick the first football in the next Fifa World Cup, says PAUL CATMUR.
I'm constantly living in hope'
Christmas won't be quite the same this year without the Queen sharing her ups and downs with us common folk.
Goblin's choice
Many politicians triumphed against the odds in a year when kindness became passé. Here's a list of the winners.
Poor performances
I had planned to write this week’s column about a Hungarian family who had been given 42 days to leave the country by immigration officials.
Living with the unknown
Stage one of the root canal went pretty smoothly. The actual procedure was more lengthy and complicated than expected, but the only pain I experienced afterwards involved the Eftpos terminal. The recurring toothache of the past few weeks has gone.
The devil you know
It was a few weeks before Christmas, and in the Austrian alps, a rose-tinted twilight was giving way to long, dark shadows between the powder-coated pines.
Winging it
As 2022 comes to an end, we need to remind ourselves that things could, in fact, be a lot worse, writes Listener editor KARYN SCHERER.
Miniature marvels
Michael Houstoun plays Brahms’ small masterpieces of poetic reflection.
Look at moi
The mistresses of the malapropism from Oz’s most successful sitcom are getting two specials to mark their 20th anniversary.
Energy to burn
New albums from MEDaL and Adam Hattaway the Haunters feel fresh and danceable.