New Zealand Listener

New Zealand Listener is the country’s most respected general interest magazine, bringing you a wide variety of news, stories, columns, reviews, plus TV listings, every week.

A gift that keeps on giving • Organ donation requires a precise combination of circumstances, starting with incredible generosity, writes Dr Joanne Ritchie.

A Hill to die on

Bright Lines

Quips & Quotes

10 Quick Questions

Common as a tea towel

Deal or No Deal, we will Survivor • Even right-wing commentators turned against the ‘Great Negotiator’ as the coalition talks dragged on.

Talkfest begins as Gaza burns

Ink stink

Always a champion • A lifetime achievement award for screen product ion is a far cry from Robin Scholes’ early days, selling lingerie to brides.

Algorithm’s arrow • Older adults are now embracing online dating as enthusiastically as digital natives. But many find the path to true love as pothole-strewn as old-school approaches.

Chance Encounter • An artist couple living in separate towns were brought together by geo-mapping technology.

From the ground up • An ex-Mongrel Mob member is teaching a new generation that a difficult past need not define their future.

Airbn’ bust • Short-term lets have shaken up the tourism industry and housing markets. Now, authorities are clamping down – but that’s far from the only issue confronting travellers and hosts.

Better Room Service

P for panic stations • A drug once regularly doled out for weight loss is now a terror of the modern age but crackdowns so far have failed. Is it time for a different approach?

Kids’ stuff • Original, often quirky, stories of redemption and the healing power of nature and friendship stand out in the top books for children and young adults in 2023. Ann Packer picks 50 of the best.

The year’s best verse

Man of the match • As his football comedy Next Goal Wins finally arrives, Taika Waititi talks about ego, money and having nothing left to prove. 

Win A Double Pass To One Life • The Listener is giving readers the chance to win tickets to ONE LIFE

Her plucky stars • How touring harpist Mary Lattimore has found a niche among pop’s left field.

Folky valentines • Erny Belle confirms her early promise and Cat Power plugs and unplugs Dylan.

The cannonball run • French leader biopic is hardly revolutionary, but it sure is fast.

Regaining the appetite • Hunger Games origin story leaves you wanting more, even without J-Law.

Titillating takedown • Mr Ripley meets Brideshead in this black comedy, an outlandish dissection of the British upper classes.

Sunday bloody Sunday • Outback noir’s small-screen adaptation has big-screen aspirations.

TV Picks of the week

TV Films

Saturday December 2

Sunday December 3

Monday December 4

Tuesday December 5

Wednesday December 6

Thursday December 7

Friday December 8

Radio December 2-8

On a high note • Countertenor Stephen Diaz explains why JS Bach presents such a challenge to singers.

Sweet talking • A common artificial sweetener has for the first time been classed as possibly carcinogenic.

Fine dining • Top-tier dinner parties are at your fingertips with the recipes of Martin Benn & Vicki Wild.

From the top drawer • The best of the best was on display at Villa Maria.

Great expectations • It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, so keep your stresses at bay.

An AI leap for robots • The same tech underpinning ChatGPT is set to finally make the general-use robot a reality.

Ladies Who Lunched

One fine day