These New Zealanders – today: 72 years of doom-loop repetition?
“are we in a doom-loop of repetition of national and cultural failing? And if so, what could we do?” – Michael GrImshaw
27Sep 
19Sep 
Surrogacy is The New Adoption
“Oddly the growth in surrogacy is against the backdrop of what we now know about the impact of adoption on both birth mothers and adopted people, who have reported that adoption can be traumatic.” – Yvonne van Dongen
13Sep 
The BSA must remember, censorship is a cure worse than the disease
Free speech and the exchange of ideas is inextricable from any free society that has ever existed. Yes, even we admit it can cause harm. But it is clear that censorship causes even more.
13Sep 
How to Down Racism
“Obviously, any Maori or Polynesian names currently borne by pubs, warships and parks with less-than-perfect reputations will have to be reviewed.”
26Aug
She’ll be right…? Is New Zealand stuck in the churn of complacency?
“Our challenge, then as now, is to facilitate the organic growth of a New Zealand culture, not the synthetic, deliberate choosing and mixing of elements” – Mike Grimshaw
16Aug 
The very English pastime of silencing the poor…
The recent riots in the UK and the government’s heavy-handed response, marked by censorship and imprisonments, have raised concerns. Under the leadership of new Prime Minster Keir Starmer, the state’s approach to managing dissent appears increasingly authoritarian. Social media mogul Elon Musk has also come under fire for allowing for, and himself posting, misinformation. Tony […]
2Aug 
Exploring Soul Mates, and Related Matters
Bad Archive, Flora Feltham. Wellington: Te Herenga Waka University Press 2024. In the last of this series of intriguing essays, the narrator attends a conference for writers of romance fiction. One of the speakers, a prolific novelist, defines her practice thus: “I’m mainly Paranormal, Historic Scotland, Urban Contemporary and Veterinarian … usually with an Enemies […]
1Aug
Heretics – but no Communists – in the University??!!
Free speech and tertiary education in NZ Given the recent debates, disputes, and discussions concerning free speech in New Zealand universities, it’s timely to go back and examine a forgotten episode from which we might learn how – and how not – to proceed today. In a time where issues of free speech are somehow […]
18Jul 
Who’s teaching our teachers? Punishing dissenting voices in education
“There is a deliberate and often orchestrated attempt to filter out dissenting or independent thinkers at the professional level” – Nick Hanne
18Jul
A philosopher, a clergyman and a trade union leader walk into a meeting… (or, the question of civil liberties – and free speech)
“Why is there the need for a Free Speech Union if there is a Council for Civil Liberties?” – Mike Grimshaw