New Zealand Listener Issue 28, 2022

The contrasting media responses to recent killings in Aotearoa highlight a two-tiered value attribution to human life. Deaths of “top-tier” people elicit public sympathy and outrage, whereas “second-tier” people are associated with things that mitigate the killing. Is the life of a second-tier person – someone who belongs to a gang, a boy-racer group or has a prison record – worth less? When second-tier deaths are reported by the media, the stories are often seasoned with references to any other known crimes by the person or their whānau in bold subheadings. Perhaps this makes rationalising the death easier for the reader and provides them with a mental safety net that such occurrences are unlikely to happen to them or their family. In contrast, when top-tier people in the community die, they are…

WINNING CAPTION Mike Hamblyn, Dunedin FINALISTS Jacinda Ardern: Now ScoMo’s got the heave-ho, let’s give his 501 policy the Albo. – Paul Kelly, Palmerston North Anthony Albanese: “Does she know I’m talking about jeans?” – Niels Jonker, Wellington Ardern: “Look, they’ve got another one, and he’s looking quite promising.” – Bob Richardson, Christchurch Ardern: “Our new best friend has offered to send over some Gib board!” – Margaret Cannon, Palmerston North Ardern: “Swap you Chris Bishop for the lady from Ipswich?” – Ann Love, Nelson Ardern: “You keep the 501s. It’s easy peasy Albanese.” – Anne Smale, HanMer Springs Ardern: “… and on my left is this week’s Australian Prime Minister.” – Robert Morey, Dunedin Caption Competition {listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo at right to listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz, with “Caption Competition No 468” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries can…

Thank you for David Cohen’s article (“Waiting on the night train”, June 18) on the royal commission which is hearing from those who suffered in state or faith-based institutions from 1950-1999. Abuse in care took many forms beyond removal from families and communities: physical, psychological, sexual, unconsented medical interventions, loss of identity and culture, and general neglect. The article underestimates the numbers of children, young people and adults affected. As well as welfare and youth justice homes, abuse occurred in psychiatric and psychopaedic hospitals, residential schools, orphanages, foster homes, penal and faith-based care. For example, there were four psychopaedic (child specialist) hospitals operating during this era, each housing hundreds of disabled children and young people. Many families were unaware of the existence of their missing sibling. Large numbers (4225 in 1978 alone) were admitted…

“When there are so many challenges that face women and girls, we need progress, not to fight the same fights and move backwards.”– Jacinda Ardern on the overturning of Roe v Wade“Wanna hear a secret, girls? Your bodies were destined to be controlled and objectified since before you were born. That horror is your birthright.”– Lorde on the same subject at Glastonbury“But here’s another secret. You possess ancient strength, ancient wisdom. Wisdom that has propelled every woman that came before you. That wisdom is also your birthright. I ask you today, make accessing that wisdom your life’s work. Because everything depends on it.”– Lorde, again, at Glastonbury“The first resistance to social change is to say it’s not necessary.”– Gloria Steinem“For this Prime Minister [Boris Johnson], ethics is a county east…

1. Which of these films does NOT star the trio of Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito? ❑ The Jewel of the Nile❑ The War of the Roses❑ Body Heat❑ Romancing the Stone 2. If you travelled from Tashkent to Samarkand to visit the mausoleum of Tamerlane, which country would you be in? ❑ Mongolia❑ Armenia❑ Georgia❑ Uzbekistan 3. The Chicxulub crater in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula is associated with what event? ❑ Gold mine collapse❑ Dinosaur extinction❑ Supervolcano eruption❑ Nuclear test 4. Which David co-wrote the hit song Psycho Killer, released in 1977? ❑ David Bowie❑ David Crosby❑ David Byrne❑ Dave Matthews 5. Which 2021 streaming TV series is the most-watched show on Netflix? ❑ Inventing Anna❑ Bridgerton❑ Stranger Things❑ Squid Game 6. Which body of water is also known as “the Blue Eye of Siberia”? ❑ Lake Baikal❑ Barents…

Summer in the German capital is, by turns, annoying and delightful. It’s also rather warm. There’s been a “mini-heatwave” here and temperatures have hovered around 30°C for much of the past month. So the city’s unwashed drains smell more threatening than usual, party people sing loudly on the street under your balcony, and the queue to get into any public pool is long and plagued by sweaty parents and irritable offspring with inflatable toys. At the same time, there are also unexpected charms: surprise outdoor exhibitions of art or weird music, lingering sunset beers in a park, beautiful, tattooed people gliding by on roller skates. Berliners should probably be clinging to these good times more tightly than we currently are. Thanks to ongoing international tensions around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the city may…