New Zealand Listener Issue 38, 2025

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 Digital Editor Dionne Christian Content Producer Louise Barnes Subeditors Richard Betts, Alison Mudford, Bevan Rapson  Senior Designer Richard Kingsford Editorial contact listener@aremedia.co.nz Contributors this issue: Steve Braunias, Jennifer Bowden, Russell Brown, Jane Clifton, Michael Cooper, Greg Dixon, Anthony Ellison, Mark Fryer, Peter Griffin, Charlotte Grimshaw, Jonathan Kronstadt, Michele Hewitson, Marcus Hobson, Sarah Lang, Danyl McLauchlan, Garry Moore, Graham Reid, Jack Ross, Alex Scott, Chris Slane, Matt Vance, Sarah Watt, Marc Wilson Chief Executive Officer Jane Huxley  General Manager Stuart Dick  Editorial Director Sarah Henry  Head of Digital Melissa Walsh  Senior Digital Content Producer Katie Delany  Sales Director Claire Chisholm  Senior Account Managers…

I remember someone trying to explain unemployment to a senior person some time in the 1980s. They were puzzled and asked, “Is all the work done?” No, in my opinion all the work is not yet done. Consider the terrible effects of recent flooding. People in Tasman, Nelson, Northland, Gisborne and Coromandel need assistance digging out their orchards, houses, roads and rivers. There’s a work scheme all on its own. Yet leaving school without having any chance of a job is the reality for some 70,000 unemployed young people aged 15-24. It’s a national disaster with long-term ramifications for this country’s future hopes and prosperity. It’s essential all efforts are taken to support young people and their future. Twenty-five years ago, a group of seven mayors responded to a challenge…

D Upton (Letters, September 20) writes we should avoid using te reo because international communication requires “plain English”. I’ve worked for New Zealand’s foremost plain-language writing consultancy for over 20 years. Around the world people have progressed from calling it “plain English” to “plain language”, recognising the need for all nations to communicate clearly whether domestically or internationally. The global plain language movement is vast, with an international standard published in 2023. The primary focus of communicating in plain language is to “write for your reader”. It’s not a one-size-fitsall approach — it recognises that for every writing task we need to understand why we are writing, what we want to happen and who we are writing for. So, if you are writing primarily for a Kiwi audience, then please…

For our Limerick Competition, we asked you to write a limerick on weight-loss drugs. FINALISTS: Our pharmacies are under the pump Wegovy made workloads jump Big Pharma cashes in As waistlines get thin The poor stay at home just as plump ‒ Joanne Buchanan, Lower Hutt A well-covered young lady named Jill Had heard of the weight losing pill She thought she would try it But increased her diet So weight loss eluding her still ‒ Chris Bossley, Lower Hutt They told me these pills were a winner In no time at all I’d be thinner But now I’ve a hunch That I won’t eat my lunch And won’t even fancy my dinner ‒ Stuart Douglas, Paraparaumu A skinny young model named Clair Chugged semaglutide as a dare The very…

“I will not be setting a precedent that the way to get a meeting with me is to don an adult nappy and chain yourself to a door.” “Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.” “God bless America. Stay strong, be brave. And if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.” “The Prime Minister [Keir Starmer] needs to change course immediately. Otherwise, I’m pretty certain he’ll be gone next May.” “To be conservative is not to worship the ashes of defunct institutions.”  “People have been so busy relating to how I look, it’s a miracle I didn’t become a self-conscious blob of protoplasm. It’s not easy being Robert Redford.” “He gave me a kick in my ass…

1. Who will play Albus Dumbledore in the new TV series of Harry Potter currently in production? ❑ Gary Oldman ❑ John Lithgow ❑ Mandy Patinkin ❑ Geoffrey Rush 2. What’s the English equivalent of fleuve, rio and awa? ❑ Sky ❑ River ❑ Mountain ❑ Snow 3. Which word was said to have been invented by former Harper’s Bazaar fashion editor Diana Vreeland? ❑ Oomph ❑ Pep ❑ Boho ❑ Pizzazz 4. Which NZ broadcaster from the past was known to say “By hokey!” ❑ Aunt Daisy ❑ Selwyn Toogood ❑ John Clarke ❑ Chic Littlewood 5. In which film does a character say, “Life finds a way”? ❑ King Kong ❑ Jurassic Park ❑ Alien ❑ Deep Blue Sea 6. Europa is a moon of which planet? ❑…