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.