New Zealand Listener

NEW ZEALAND LISTENER Te Kaiwhakarongo Aotearoa Editor Kirsty Cameron Chief Subeditor Geoff Cumming Managing Editor Ruth Brown Art Director Derek Ward Books Editor Mark Broatch Entertainment & Arts Editor Russell Baillie Television Editor Fiona Rae Digital Editor Dionne Christian Subeditors Patrice Gaffaney, Alison Mudford, Rod Pascoe,  Assistant Art Director Shane Kelly  Senior Designer Richard Kingsford  Editorial Assistant Sam Clark  Editorial contact listener@aremedia.co.nz  Contributors this issue: Richard Betts, Sally Blundell, Jennifer Bowden, Russell Brown, Donna Chisholm, Louise Chunn, Jane Clifton, Michael Cooper, David Darby, Anthony Ellison, Mark Fryer, Paul Gorman, Peter Griffin, David Harvey, Michele Hewitson, David Hill, Parry Jones, Bernard Lagan, Danyl McLauchlan, Graham Reid, Craig Sisterson, Cheryl Pearl Sucher, David Trerise, Sarah Watt, Marc Wilson, Andrew Paul Wood Chief Executive Officer Jane Huxley  General Manager Stuart Dick  Editorial…

As a 14-year-old Wellington schoolgirl, my mother, Ngaire, was chosen for an international broadcast of the 1939 Empire Day greeting on May 24 to King George VI. As a presenter on 2YA’s daily children’s show, Ngaire was no stranger to the microphone, but the occasion earned her some fame. She was collected very early one morning in a government car from her parents’ home by James (later Sir James) Shelley, director of broadcasting, and driven to the 2YA studio to record the message. The one stumbling block was that overseas broadcasters couldn’t pronounce her Māori name – so they went with her middle name, Joyce, for the occasion. She also got paid for it – 5 guineas ($10.50) – and the photograph taken of her later by Spencer Digby was…

For our Headline Competition, we asked for a headline in seven words or fewer on the government tripling the fee to $100 for international visitors. FINALISTS: Levy increase a wallet wallop for tourists. –Eliza Reed, Kuaotunu Tax triples, tourists can take a hike. –Anke Van Roy, Wellington Doocey’s doormat now reads Kia M-Ora. –Joanne Buchanan, Lower Hutt Price goes up for welcome mats. –Paula McCool, Woodville Who’ll win with this new triple drip? –Lala Cullen, Hamilton WINNER: “Just Visiting” $100: Monopoly NZ version.  –Nick Brown, Alexandra For the next Bright Lines competition, please send us a limerick on gang patches. Don’t forget to include your address with entries. TO ENTER: Send your entry to brightlinescompetition@aremedia.co.nz with “Bright Lines 63” in the subject line. Entries must be received by noon,…

Many New Zealand schools, whether state or special character, were based on the English public school system of obedience (“Charting success”, September 14). Students who were not obedient or conforming were “othered”, often bullied and humiliated, not just by fellow students but also by staff. Things have changed. The conforming obedient are now the dinosaurs. The problem-solving creatives who benefit society are now the powerhouses. The grammar model needs dusting off or scrapping. Those students considered in the past as normative were really potential work units for capitalism and obedience models, such as the army. Educational nurseries for the future need rethinking, particularly with the advent of AI. Current political mindsets are backward focused. Could charter schools be the answer? Doubtful. Current thinking that learning can be compartmentalised and isolated…

“You gotta find somewhere quiet asap so you talk fast before anyone flushes.” “I struggled with some of them. Czechs have like this r with a crown over the top of it and I just for the life of me can’t do it.” “In New Zealand, it takes longer to talk about things than it does to build them.” “I took my watch off and I took my rings off. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that – I didn’t feel safe.”  “A lot of the New Zealand 1% do a much better job at camouflaging themselves than the 1% in other countries, appearing like they’re everyday Kiwi blokes.”  “The teams are your partners, that’s what it should be. This time it’s more of a communist state, you know.” …

1. The Dalmatian dog breed can be traced back to the former Dalmatia, now part of Croatia? ❑ True ❑ False 2. The word safari ultimately comes from which language? ❑ Latin ❑ Greek ❑ Iranian ❑ Arabic 3. The original version of Monopoly was based on which city? ❑ Atlantic City ❑ Chicago ❑ New York ❑ London 4. Which screen character said, “Do you feel lucky, punk?” ❑ RoboCop ❑ Dirty Harry ❑ Judge Dredd ❑ Rambo 5. Who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies? ❑ Farrah Fawcett ❑ Jessica Lange ❑ Meryl Streep ❑ Carrie Fisher 6. Which country’s currency is the baht? ❑ Vietnam ❑ Philippines ❑ Thailand ❑ Myanmar 7. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin placed a disk on the Moon that included…