Puddling along

Our daily traffic has created big patches of brown ooze into which gumboots, chickens and hearts sink.

Music with pictures

The APO's Opera in Concert brings together two underappreciated artists.

Following the rainbow

Queerness is a major feature of a series being made especially for Kiwi kids.

A need to talk

Rock raconteur Henry Rollins returns to NZ, where fans have given him magic memories in a past encounter.

A final bow

A posthumous release offers a hint of the diverse and prolific work of New York underground figure and cellist Arthur Russell.

Sweet, smart & funny

An older woman stages a meet-cute with a shy teen.

Ford knocks it out of the ark

Indiana Jones' fifth instalment is back to form as its ageing star hangs up his fedora.

Galaxy quest

How the stars have aligned for Tamati Rimene-Sproat after he turned his back on TVNZ current affairs.

War of the Wager

Where does duty end and survival begin, asks David Grann in his rip-roaring account of an 18th-century mission gone wrong.

Heart's desire

Ambitious debut explores murky line dividing fan and fanatic.

Humanity's darker side

Expertly crafted stories make for more demanding reading.

Building bridges

Even if it's selective, a new history of world culture is still enriching and educational.

Hard knocks

Searing honesty is a mark of ex-All Black Carl Hayman's bleak story of a superstar whose life has gone tragically wrong.

Sky's the limit

As aviation heads for a new boom, flying's CO₂-emission facts are stark.

Dachau days

A concentration camp memorial is a powerful reminder of our vulnerability to psychological manipulation.

Let them eat cake

TILLY PAMMENT has cakes and sweets to soothe the emotionally wrung out and those craving a tropical escape.

Buyer beware

Ultra-processed foods make up an astonishing proportion of average daily energy intake, and they are harmful. Yet they meet food safety standards.

Back on track

Back pain is the No 1 cause of physical disability worldwide, and the bad news is, rest is no cure.

Gotcha!

Psychologist and TV presenter NIGEL LATTA writes about what he learned from diving into the world of scams for his latest series.

Given a golden ticket

Taranaki author Emma Pearl has writing in her blood via a relative famous for his classic kids' books.

Trapped in a dream

After a less-than-idyllic childhood on the oceans, Suzanne Heywood and her younger brother were put ashore in New Zealand to fend for themselves. She was 16.

Another country

Norman Kirk's death in office drew a veil over a fevered period of reform. How differently might New Zealand have evolved had he lived longer?

The bigger picture

Seoul-based Kiwi businessman and avid art collector Adam Ballin plans to share some of his vast collection in a dedicated NZ gallery.

On life support

Doctors fear 10 years of lifesaving advances are being put at risk by the absorption of the National Trauma Network into Te Whatu Ora.

Balancing act

With her first novel since 2012 due for release, Emily Perkins talks to ELISABETH EASTHER about the benefits of risk-taking, letting go and finding imaginative space.

What the hang

Election year? Must be time for the Opposition to proclaim itself tough on crime.

Just beastly

\"We're having pizza, but you enjoy your Whiskas, sweetie.\"

Locked and loaded

Conditions favoured the demagogue opportunist who harnessed the rage.

It's a set-up

Volatility is produced by two key factors: the overproduction of elites and the immiseration of the poor.

Fragility of hope

US author Cormac McCarthy was a seer who foretold the destruction of our natural world in his novels, writes PATRICK MULLIGAN.