Waitangi Day 2024 for Monday 8 February 2016
James Frankham - NZ Geographic
While many of us look to the past on Waitangi Day, some are looking to the future too. James Frankham is the editor of New Zealand Geographic, a magazine that looks not just at flora and fauna, but what's really happening in our environment and society. He talks to Waitangi Monday about five big issues that affect all New Zealanders.
Duncan Brooker - The Revival of African Funk
Steele Beauttah of the cover of Duncan Brooker's compliation: Afro Rock Vol 1. Photo: supplied
Duncan Brooker spent years scouring west Africa for long lost funk music from the 1960's and 70's. He's been described by The Guardian as "the man who saved African Funk". He shares his tales of finding musicians and master tapes in markets and chicken sheds and chooses some of his favourites.
Duncan Brooker - the man who saved African funk, some say - spinning discs at Glastonbury. Photo: supplied
Lutz Pfannenstiel - The wandering goalie
Lutz Pfannenstiel has played for more football clubs in more countries - including New Zealand - than any other professional player. He was nearly killed on the pitch in England, jailed for match-fixing in Singapore - and busted for pinching a penguin from the Otago Peninsula. Now he's works for a top German club and campiagns for sustainability. Perhaps he should have stayed home in Germany?
Lutz Pfannenstiel was 18 when he decided to leave Germany to play as a professional goalie overseas, even though ginat club Bayern Munich offered him a deal. Looking for a break, he chose Malaysia - not exactly a hotbed of world football.
Then he went to the US and Brazil, and England where he nearly died on the pitch once. Then he pitched up in South Africa, Finland, Belgium and Singapore, where he was jailed for matchfixing.
That didn't stop his globetrotting.
Nomadic soccer goalie Lutz Pfannenstiel. Photo: Supplied
He rebuilt his life and career in New Zealand in the 2000's - with one hiccup when he "borrowed" an Otago peninsula penguin. The he left for Canada, Namibia, Norway, Armenia and Albania - and other places.
When Lutz finally retired, he'd played for 25 clubs in 15 countries spread across five continents - the only player ever to manage that as a professional. There's now talk of his extraordinary life becoming a movie.
Lutz is now international relations manager for top-grade German side Hoffenheim, and he also runs a charity using footballers to spread the word on sustainability. Perhaps he should have stayed in Germany all along?
Steve Sumner - Kiwi football legend
The football legends reflects on his life on and off the pitch and making the most of today.
Olivia Carville - life after trauma
Olivia Carville was working at The Press newspaper in Christchurch on February 22nd 2011. Moments after the initial quake, she headed out into the streets with a cameraman to capture the devastation and chaos. Hundreds oif thousands of people watched the harrowing footage online.
Later she left to work as an investigative reporter in Canada, where her Toronto Star scoop on the sex trafficking trade is still making waves.
On the fourth anniversary of the 2011 quake, Olivia put her personal feelings in to words for The Press from faraway Canada. Remarkably, The Toronto Star put it on their front page.
Some days I feel like I’ve abandoned my wounded hometown. I fear that when I do return I will be given the cold shoulder; treated as a stranger in my own city.
But, my heart has and always will be in Christchurch, no matter how many miles away I am, no matter how long I’m gone and no matter how much it changes.
It’s my native land: It’s where I made my first mistakes, it’s where I learned to love, it’s where I learned to write, it’s where I learned to lose.
Olivia Carville, February 2015
She's now back to work at The New Zealand Herald, and reflecting on the upcoming fifth anniversary of the the big quake.
Can trauma spark creativity?
Huffington Post writer Carolyn Gregoire and psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman wanted to delve into this rapidly growing area of psychological research in their new book "Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind". Is creativity something we all possess and if so how do we embrace it? Do we become more creative after we've come face to face with adversity?
Naomi Arnold's Long Reads
Naomi Arnold is the journalist behind featured.org.nz, a website that collates all the great features from publications New Zealand and around the world. She picked six recent ones for us from overseas.
Naomi Arnold Photo: supplied
The Last Day of Her Life
New York Times Magazine
May 2015
Robin Marantz Henig
I like this one because it is so simply told, which belies a great deal of sensitive reporting. The ending in particular is a wonderful exercise in restraint. This is a quiet family story, not a public fight for the right to die.
The Old Man at Burning Man
GQ
August 2015
Wells Tower
"A beautifully written piece of trash," according to one Burning Man festival goer. I include it because it's seriously beautifully written prose, where the reporter is interloper.
Just Get Us in the Room - The Women of Hollywood Speak Out
New York Times magazine
Nov 2015
Maureen Dowd
Hugely necessary piece on that ridiculous industry that controls so much of our lives. She got some great quotes on the record, coupled with brilliant portraits.
The Life and Times of Strider Wolf
The Boston Globe
Sarah Schweitzer, images Jessica Rinaldi
Amazing reporting, simply told. It goes deeply into the boy's head as smooth as fiction. Also really nicely presented on the web (is it so hard?)
The Witness
Texas Monthly
Pamela Colloff
Sept 2014
Texas has fantastic longform reporting. Here is one such story.
The Really Big One
The New Yorker
Kathryn Schulz
July 2015
Great science reporting that made huge waves in the States and countered all that San Andreas ridiculousness about at the time. Just a great narrative that builds its terror slowly.
Australia Day vs Invasion Day
Olivia Suleimon & Ebony Boadu are two young vloggers from Izmzmag, an online video magazine which delves into different sectors of society and people's individual beliefs. Two weeks ago they went to Redfern and Cronulla and asked the question "What does Australia day mean to you?"