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.

Masthead

On the buses • A new world of experiences opens up for Zoë Hart when she has an accident and has to use public transport instead of her car.

A positive trend

Bright Lines

Quips & Quotes

10 Quick Questions

Our strange new world • In the mid-2020s, perhaps the best we can hope for is a combination of best- and worst-case scenarios.

Highway to the polls

Jane Clifton

Losing a faculty

Leap year

London’s new calling

Green is gold • In her new book Good Nature, Oxford professor of biodiversity Kathy Willis explains how exposure to natural scenery can benefit our health, mood and functioning.

Stretched to the limit • 10 months after qualifying rules for support services for disabled people were thrown into confusion, decisions on a new regime are yet to be made. COLLEEN BROWN speaks to families left in limbo.

News is out • With Big Tech blocking a rescue plan for NZ’s traditional media, who will hold the powerful to account?

Before the rain • Drawn to Nepal’s mountainous northern region, Peta Carey wrestles with tourism guilt, vertical ascents, Buddhist rituals and the ultimate power of nature.

History-makers in the making • Young historian brings the early lives of the great, the good and the inspirational to vivid life.

Bestsellers

Identity crisis • Highly enjoyable debut novel set in the manipulative worlds of publishing and Hollywood.

Heart to heart • Sprawling epic follows the fortunes of a couple destined to be together but thwarted by history.

Blurring boundaries • Promising story of artistic intrigue loses its way.

Short cuts

Bestsellers

Origin story • A welcome addition that goes back to the beginning of Jeff VanderMeer’s dystopian trilogy.

Entering the snakepit • Thrillers explore racially charged Texas, London political intrigue and a Japanese locked-room mystery.

Future vision • Russell Baillie takes a look at the year ahead in TV, considering 2025’s new crop of local productions and the most anticipated titles from overseas.

Catching a new wave • Here are 18 new shows we’re keen to see in 2025.

Music and crime mix • Depending on your view, Jacques Audiard’s latest is either bravura or bonkers.

Prison drama • Life behind bars is portrayed in a different light in this touching tale.

Little bit of Ringo • The ex-Beatle returns to his beloved country sound, with Larkin Poe helping out.

TV Picks of the week

Tv Films

Saturday/Rāhoroi January 25

Sunday/Rātapu January 26

Monday/Rāhina January 27

Tuesday/Rātū January 28

Wednesday/Rāapa January 29

Thursday/Rāpare January 30

Friday/Rāmere January 31

Radio January 25 -31

Keeping the doctor away

Open doors • Falling vaccination rates leave NZ vulnerable to an awful disease we’ve grown complacent about.

Middle East magic • Sydney chefs Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley’s latest book is a selection of some of the classic dishes from their bistro Kepos Street Kitchen.

Vive la différence • Burgundy reveals its secrets to a Central Otago pinot noir grower.

Dig this • It’s official: gardening makes us happier and healthier, but why?

For the birds • Our first avian flu scare has put the spotlight on the most humane way to dispose of diseased birds.

Angels Weep

Kitchen whizz