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.

Colophon

Who are you calling elderly? • Broad statements lumping people together to elicit a reaction do more harm than good, says Clare Goodwin.

Compromise for peace

10 Quick Questions

Quips & Quotes

Enhanced memoirs

Let the brawling begin • We’ve had a government for barely a week and already the insults are flying thick and fast.

Jibes across the Tasman

Facing the music

Equal measures • Living behind her parents’ dairy taught Vanisa Dhiru all about being helpful. Now, she puts that into practice in her advocacy roles.

An untimely delay • An unnecessary operation delayed appropriate treatment for prostate cancer patient Paul Catmur. One year on, he’s still waiting for his surgeon’s actions to be investigated.

Complaints Backlog • Despite improvements, 11% of complaints to the Health and Disability Commissioner’s Office are unresolved after two years.

The Ardern enigma • Why did many New Zealanders turn so quickly on our most popular leader of recent times? And will the politics of compassion ultimately be her legacy?

Performance pressure • Young women are weighed down by feelings of being judged by their peers, and social media mores are making it worse.

It’s a celebration • Turkey is the main event, bookended by refreshing watermelon to start and raspberries to finish, with sourdough stuffings and a potato pie in between.

Cooking by the book • What cookbooks do chefs and foodies reach for? Alana Rae asks some of our culinary leaders about their favourite tomes.

A kaleidoscopic crème brûlée • David Cohen taste-tests what’s coming to the boil and what’s so last year to help home kitchens and top-end diners stay on trend in 2024.

Staples • A strong local flavour marks the year’s top-selling cookbooks.

The books we loved • The novels, bios, sport, nature and self-help titles that caught our attention in 2023.

Nz fiction still on the rise

Sharp as a knife • Memoir of a girl growing up across two hemispheres is a sly and delicious peepshow.

Bestsellers

Word zealots • An alphabet soup of the people who helped build the world’s most-thumbed dictionary.

Bestsellers

Jandal all the way • Long a mainstay of the pop business, Christmas music is adapting slowly to how Kiwis celebrate the season.

The last round • Veteran director Ken Loach says goodbye to a lifetime of political cinema with a story of hope in an English mining town.

Mr Bright Side • Peter Gabriel completes a lunar mission with a decidedly mixed result.

A talk about Kevin • Grand Designs guru Kevin McCloud meets his NZ counterpart, Tom Webster, for a chat about the former’s forthcoming live shows.

Tv Picks of the week

TV Films • The big movies on TV this week

SATURDAY DECEMBER 16

SUNDAY DECEMBER 17

MONDAY DECEMBER 18

TUESDAY DECEMBER 19

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 20

THURSDAY DECEMBER 21

FRIDAY DECEMBER 22

Radio December 16-22

Not the Messiah • Had enough Hallelujah Chorus? Try these picks for other seasonal classical options.

Chewing the fat • Avocados fall into the good-fat category, but people with gallstones may find eating them can exacerbate their symptoms.

Gimblett gold • Hawke’s Bay’s riverbed reds are rich, ripe and eminently drinkable.

Animal magic • The long-held view that pets make us happier and healthier is being challenged.

The antisocial media • The dominant online...