Archive
The Breatha’s Guide to Understanding the Rugby World Cup
Posted 12:22pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Oscar Paul
What is the Rugby World Cup? The Rugby World Cup (RWC) is a quadrennial meeting between the best countries in the world, i.e., the ones that play rugby. The coolest donnies, the blokes you’d happily invite over for your red card. 20 countries in total, each with mixed Read more...
Cluckergirl
Posted 12:17pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Fox Meyer
“This is for everyone who’s ever been told they couldn’t make it, everyone who’s been told they’re ‘too old’, ‘too bold’, ‘too much at risk of transmitting avian flu’... They tried to keep me down, but you can’t stop this Read more...
Ngāti Pākehā? More like Naughty Pākehā!
Posted 12:19pm Monday 11th September 2023 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
The descendants of Porourangi are known as Ngāti Porou, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa in the central North Island are, of course, descended from Tūwharetoa. So if ‘Ngāti’ means ‘descended from’, then who the hell is Pākehā? Many Read more...
Your Wellness Instagram Is Just Yassified Colonialism, Actually.
Posted 11:51am Monday 11th September 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
I think we can all probably agree that the golden age of social media is officially over. We’re no longer posting wholesome and heartfelt statuses on Facebook or being unapologetically cringe on Instagram while simultaneously running a successful One Direction Twitter fan account. Instead, Read more...
Literary Legends: A Peek Inside 2023’s New Zealand Young Writers Festival
Posted 9:02pm Sunday 3rd September 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
From the 21st to the 24th of September, Ōtepoti is lucky enough to be hosting the New Zealand Young Writers Festival. Produced by Dunedin Fringe Festival, the event is a free, four-day celebration of our creative community across all literary forms: poetry, fiction, zines, journalism, podcasts, Read more...
Pussy, Power and the Patriarchy
Posted 8:45pm Sunday 3rd September 2023 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
Being a boss bitch comes with an asterisk. Even that term, boss bitch, still carries the word “bitch” in it, as if women can’t be in charge without being insufferable. But despite all the resistance, many have forced their way to the top. Like a modern Elle Woods, pushing on in Read more...
Self-guided art tour/pub crawl
Posted 3:51pm Sunday 13th August 2023 by Critic
Want to go see some art but also want to make it a red card? Here are some pre-planned stops on an art gallery pub crawl. Just remember: no touching the galleries, even after ten pints. And no, you couldn’t have made that yourself. Start at Ironic Bar and Cafe before heading Read more...
Rouge:
Posted 2:17pm Monday 7th August 2023 by Zak Rudin
Disclaimer: OUSA does not endorse dumpster diving as it can have serious legal ramifications. Joey, a local fashion dumpster diver, told Critic Te Ārohi dumpster fashion “is fast fashion”. As in, you’ve gotta be fast: “I don’t want to get Read more...
The American College Jumper. Why?
Posted 1:51pm Monday 7th August 2023 by myia Pearce
I doubt many Americans are walking around their college campuses with Otago University jumpers. You don’t need to visit Michigan to rock U of M gear. You don’t need to know how to pronounce “Worcester'' to look like an alumni, and the only reason I can Read more...
OPINION: Everyone dresses queer now and it’s fucking with my gaydar
Posted 1:43pm Monday 7th August 2023 by Amelia Blockley
Gaydar is a magical thing. It gives us queer folk the ability to pick up on little hints and clues that can guide our flirtatious approach, and since the 1940s and 1950s fashion has been one of the best ways to sense someone’s queerness. Docs, work wear, chunky rings, and suits were some of Read more...
The Search for Conehenge
Posted 1:45pm Monday 31st July 2023 by Hugh Askerud
Ahhh, the simple art of cone theft. Over the years many have loaded a number of descriptions onto this noble craft: thrilling, devious, psychotic even, but pointless? Many have dared to make this bold assertion, calling cone theft ludicrous for the fact that the art has no purpose. And…to Read more...
Degrees and How They Smell: A walkthrough of the academic perfume aisle
Posted 1:43pm Monday 31st July 2023 by Rose mills
Computer science: The worst. Just the worst. Have you been to the comp sci labs in the science building? They absolutely reek. They never shower because they don't want to get their electronics wet. Yuck. Natural sciences: Distinct aroma of mud, weed, and septum piercing. Strangely Read more...
Chlöe Swarbrick: On Harm Reduction, Landlords, and (still) being the Youngest in Parliament
Posted 4:34pm Monday 24th July 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
Whether you love her or hate her, over the past few years, it’s been hard to ignore Chlöe Swarbrick. The 29-year-old Green Party Member and Auckland Central MP was elected to office at 23, making her the youngest politician to enter parliament since Marilyn Waring in 1975. In 2023 Read more...
Fresh Stress Relief
Posted 4:27pm Monday 24th July 2023 by Fox Meyer
It’s that time of year again - it’s ten degrees colder than when you first began to complain about the winter chill, your fingers continue to grow stiff on your laptop keyboard, it’s difficult to get out of bed in the morning, and the motivation you thought would return after the Read more...
OPINION: Gaslighting is totally normal, actually. (a response)
Posted 4:21pm Monday 24th July 2023 by Lotto Ramsay
Gaslighting is totally normal, and I can’t believe you didn’t know that. Assuming you’re a loyal Critic reader, I’m sure you know all about gaslighting by now. We can’t seem to publish an issue without mentioning the word, and we even ran a feature earlier this year Read more...
How to Take Your Landlord to Court
Posted 9:58pm Tuesday 18th July 2023 by Zak Rudin
Dunedin’s rental rates are rising faster than any other university town in the country, but the quality of the homes is not exactly a sterling standard. Since people come and go every year, it can be easy for a property owner to neglect a home for years on end, always promising to do work for Read more...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins: On the Tertiary Sector, Student Life, and Protesting
Posted 9:44pm Tuesday 18th July 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins represents one thing: hope. At least, hope for rangas and hope for people from The Hutt that, despite the circumstances they were born into, they too can achieve their dreams. While he now has the biggest job in the country, it wasn’t long ago that Chippy was just Read more...
Opinion: Nepotism: It’s okay if it’s tradition!
Posted 5:58pm Monday 29th May 2023 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
Exam season may be daunting but, remember, if old mate Charlie can succeed the throne at the overripe age of 74 and still not know his allocated lines, then you can walk off that B+ with your head held high. Despite the archaic, dormant vibe that the British monarchy insists on maintaining in the Read more...
South Otago Pubs Ranked by How Scared I Am to be In Them
Posted 5:52pm Monday 29th May 2023 by Hugh Askerud
Last month I cut my hair short. No longer was I the long-haired lad who sat reading Proust in the summer sun. Instead, I endeavoured to become the beer-guzzling, duck-shooting, rugby-loving, Southern man which my rugged short hair prescribed me to be. Yet how is it possible to make such a rapid Read more...
Opinion: Dear Straight Men: Gay Girls Leaving Gay Events Don’t Want to Fuck You
Posted 6:00pm Thursday 25th May 2023 by Becca Thorby
With Dunedin Pride month firmly at our backs, a memory that stands out to me was Woof! and Dunedin Pride’s club night ‘Wetness’ on March 19. The dress code was the very elaborate “moist / thirst-trap / tropical summer / poolside swimwear / evening-wear skin / cabana cocktail Read more...
Drum and Bass: How it took root in Dunedin
Posted 4:05pm Sunday 21st May 2023 by Anna Robertshawe
In the 1800s, they brought gorse from the UK. Now it’s everywhere. In the 2000s, another import took root in Dunedin’s soil: Drum and Bass. Whether you love to hate it or hate to love it, you can’t deny the fact that drum and bass is at the heart of Dunedin music culture. Read more...
Banned Shirts: Why Not Knowing the Band is an Act of Feminism
Posted 3:49pm Sunday 21st May 2023 by Jamiema Lorimer
Nirvana. The Beatles. Pink Floyd. Bands that mean absolutely nothing to the girlies. Or do they? In this essay, I will outline why basic bitches wearing band shirts is actually a feminist act of sticking it to the man. Self-proclaimed music bros, Anthony Fantano subscribers, and guys who tune Read more...
QUIZ: Which Dunedin Venue Are You?
Posted 3:26pm Sunday 21st May 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
Your latest Tinder match hits you with the dreaded question: “What kind of music are you into?” What half-truth will make you seem more interesting? Jazz, but like, real jazz. Have you seen Whiplash? I’m actually in a surf rock band, that’s probably my go-to Read more...
Opinion: Busking Needs a Glow-Up
Posted 3:06pm Sunday 21st May 2023 by Hugh Askerud
As a timid fourteen-year-old, I wanted to go busking in town with my ukulele. Ignoring the fact that a ukulele is a terrible busking instrument, I quickly found myself in a swamp of bureaucratic bereavement which only subsided after I gave up on my musical dreams forever. Granted, I was a terrible Read more...
How to Know if You’ve Got The Ick
Posted 11:54am Tuesday 16th May 2023 by Anna Robertshawe
Part 1 of 2: Understanding the Ick Understand that getting the ick is not your fault. Society often stigmatises the ick and those who suffer from it. This means it can be easy to believe that you are a bad person. And maybe you are. You might be Read more...
Correlation or Causation?
Posted 3:19pm Sunday 14th May 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
According to Gen Z, “pipelines” are no longer what Big Oil puts in the ground. Rather, a pipeline is an ominous way of understanding the correlation or causation between particular people and their tendencies. There are a few pipelines which are specific to Otago and greater student Read more...
Secret Community Unearthed!...Sorta
Posted 2:03pm Sunday 7th May 2023 by Hugh Askerud
Athletics aren’t necessarily synonymous with student life. Sport New Zealand attests to this, claiming weekly participation in sporting activity drops from 98% to 75% at the age of 18. Despite these staggering statistics, the question remains: how do breathas remain so skinny in spite of such Read more...
How to Lose a Guy in Five Dates
Posted 3:26pm Sunday 30th April 2023 by Nina Brown
As someone who’s been called a serial monogamist, I recently had the novel (dis)pleasure of re-entering the Dunedin dating scene. Now, “dating scene” is a somewhat generous term for what awaits singles on the damp streets of Dunners, which I was reminded of upon redownloading Read more...
Opinion: The System Isn’t Broken
Posted 3:11pm Sunday 23rd April 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
A clean, green, egalitarian nation. One that cares deeply for its people and wildlife, all of whom exist within a beautiful, isolated bubble of freedom, safety, and prosperity. At least, that’s what New Zealand likes to go around bragging about. But when you take a deeper, harder look at this Read more...
Burnt Out
Posted 2:38pm Sunday 23rd April 2023 by Anna Robertshawe
“Work hard, play hard” works, until it doesn’t. Most of us drink anywhere between 1-4 nights a week, work one or two jobs, and belong to one or two clubs or volunteer groups - all on top of uni. It’s a lifestyle, and we make it work. But students are burning the candle at Read more...
All the gear, no idea
Posted 11:41am Sunday 16th April 2023 by Max Phillips
Otago is the MDMA capital of New Zealand. Wastewater testing has revealed that Otago consumes nearly twice as much MDMA (1.8x) per capita than anywhere else in the country. In Quarter 2 of 2022, the Southern District consumed 538 mg per day per 1,000 people, compared to a national average Read more...
How to Smuggle Meth into New Zealand: Just Add Vinegar
Posted 11:38am Sunday 16th April 2023 by Rauri Warren
Imagine if New Zealand banned a specific LEGO set from crossing the border. Let’s say it’s the Titanic model, set #10294. That set comes with precisely 9,090 pieces, and only a specific combination of those pieces results in set #10294. Now let’s say that you built set #10294 Read more...
Pick your Poison: Drug Trends in Dunedin
Posted 11:32am Sunday 16th April 2023 by Anna Robertshawe
The relationship between drugs and Dunedin party culture is probably stronger than your parent’s marriage. But much like fashion and music, taste in drugs has changed over the past few decades. Critic Te Ārohi decided to take a deep dive into Dunedin drug trends over time and ask why some Read more...
Moshers of the world, unite!
Posted 3:04pm Sunday 2nd April 2023 by Hugh Askerud
Trapped in every student’s soul is an immutable desire to mosh. Whether that be in a crowd of hundreds or alone in a crusty bedroom, mosh culture is fundamental to the plight of every student. As the age old saying goes: “Up there’s for thinking, down there’s for Read more...
Different Breeds of Landlord
Posted 3:02pm Sunday 2nd April 2023 by Zak Rudin
Nestled throughout the sprawling ecosystem of Dunedin lies perhaps the most pervasive pest of all: the landlord. They come in all different shapes and sizes, marking territory in their own unique and equally infuriating ways. With each species of landlord comes a different experience. Critic Te Read more...
Lavender Town: A Lesbian’s Guide to a Dunedin Day Out
Posted 3:59pm Sunday 26th March 2023 by Lotto Ramsay
Rock climbing What is it about this sport that attracts queer women? It’s true that climbing gyms are often swarming with shirtless, sweaty “boulder bros”, and outdoor walls can crawl with trad climbers sporting greying beards and bulging veins, but climbing is overall a diverse Read more...
Dammed If You Do: Safe Vulva Sex
Posted 3:17pm Sunday 26th March 2023 by Lotto Ramsay
Note: This guide aims to inform on safe sex practices with and between vulvas. Not all women have vulvas, and not everyone with a vulva is a woman. Resources around STI prevention tend to focus exclusively on sex involving penises, even though STIs can also pass vulva-to-vulva Read more...
Homie-Eroticism: All the gay shit breathas do
Posted 3:11pm Sunday 26th March 2023 by Lotto Ramsay
Dunedin is one of the few places on earth where you’ll hear the f-slur casually used by straight breathas who are mere hours away from drinking out of each other’s nutsacks. I posit that Breathadom creates a unique space for playful, casual male intimacy that remains socially Read more...
Ko Te Katoa o Te Ingoa i Kōrerotia
Posted 2:55pm Sunday 19th March 2023 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
Mātauranga taiao, environmental knowledge, has never been more relevant. Built over generations, it’s represented in the names of places all around us, and it offers insight into how these places might behave in a changing climate. That is, if you know what they Read more...
Birds of a Feather
Posted 2:34pm Sunday 19th March 2023 by Fox Meyer
Note: We’d like to thank the DCC staff who take care of Sid and his avian mates for letting us in and sharing Sid’s story. They’re keen to tell a bigger story about the ethics of aviaries, which are a relic of a more Victorian time. They can’t just get rid of the birds Read more...
My Life with the Bus Hub Barnacle
Posted 1:50pm Sunday 19th March 2023 by Hugh Askerud
A bus hub barnacle is usually about 1.5 metres tall, and can be identified by their disposable vapes and matching clothing. Pack behaviour is common in this species. While they are often regarded as dangerous, like so many other mid-sized mammals, their bark is worse than their Read more...
Nut Up or Shut Up: Why Halls Should Go Vegetarian
Posted 2:06pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Fox Meyer
The way halls work right now, with opt-in veggies but obligate meats, is completely backwards. I don’t care if you keep eating meat in your day-to-day life. It’s kinda cringe, but ultimately, the emissions from one private jet flight outweigh any of your dietary choices. So Read more...
Cutting Your Fringe: The Cost of Defunding the Dunedin Fringe Festival
Posted 1:17pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Jamiema Lorimer
Dunedin Fringe Festival 2023 was thrown into doubt in September last year when Creative NZ (CNZ) declined their funding application. This year’s Fringe is set to go ahead, after a crowdfunding campaign and a great show of support from the community. Critic looks at what costs it took to send Read more...
It’s All Greek to Me!
Posted 1:10pm Sunday 12th March 2023 by Hugh Askerud
Before you get upset about the title, understand that a toga party in New Zealand in 2023 is about as Roman as it is Martian, so making a Greek pun is excusable. With that out of the way: Toga party. What’s the deal? This annual event has become an intrinsic part of student Read more...
Avatar 2 Sucked, Actually
Posted 2:53pm Sunday 5th March 2023 by Skyla o Ngāti Hine
Avatar: The Way of Water recently ranked as the sixth-highest grossing film in all of cinematic history. Like thousands of other Kiwis around New Zealand, you may have found yourself in your local Hoyts this summer enjoying a box of popcorn and the long-awaited sequel. It’s also likely that Read more...
Game of Throwns
Posted 1:32pm Sunday 5th March 2023 by Hugh Askerud
There is something distinct in the Otago student spirit which inevitably leads to a bottle, egg, or other assorted item being thrown in the streets of studentville. Maybe it's the Leith’s unyielding supply of inedible trout which spawned the madness, or perhaps the bountiful amount of food Read more...
Google Form Flat Quizzes: How Much Heat Can You Handle?
Posted 1:28pm Sunday 5th March 2023 by Iris Hehir
When tensions are highest in a flat, everyone agrees to the bad idea of doing an anonymous Google Form quiz. It’s a fact of life. However, like with all good things in life, you can choose the spiciness level of these questions. From complimentary props to sulk-inducing burns, here’s Read more...
Opinion: Critic Te Ārohi Will Be Covering The Election This Year
Posted 7:53pm Sunday 26th February 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
For those of you too young to remember, or those who need a memory jog, Critic Te Ārohi made the decision to not cover the 2020 general election on the basis that party politicians had “nothing more to offer students than a shrivelled pea.” The decision received an extensive amount Read more...
Flo and O Party Themes, Reviewed
Posted 6:42pm Sunday 26th February 2023 by Critic
Monday 13th: Courtyard: Back to School Appropriate for day 1 of parties. Makes sense. Opportunity to wear some kinky outfits. Eyewitness testimony: Seemed to have the most turnout as a uniform is pretty easy to source. People got sloshed immediately and many Read more...
Local Produce: Becca Caffyn
Posted 7:48pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
“I’m good at feeling and feeling deep,” Becca Caffyn laments on her new song ‘Replacement Blonde.’ The sorrowful ballad is also the title track of her debut EP. We caught up with Becca to talk about her latest music, change and processing these feelings through Read more...
Opinion on VIP Entry: Special Admission or Special Treatment?
Posted 7:44pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
For too long, Māori have been surrounded by the stigma of relying on handouts and “free money” from the government. There are social expectations of what Māori are meant to be, and if you don’t fit a particular narrative, then you aren’t Māori enough. A plastic Read more...
Dictionary of Rare Duds Slang
Posted 7:39pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by Critic
Acoustic adjective: To wank without the use of sex toys, objects, or lubricant. Ex: “I forgot to charge my Satisfyer so I had to go acoustic last night.” Synonyms: Acapella, cavemanning. Analogue: adjective. Hand-rolled cigarettes, as opposed to pre-rolled. Battler: noun. Read more...
A Guide to the Night Sky: Existential Crises Have Never Been So Accessible
Posted 6:47pm Sunday 9th October 2022 by Keegan Wells
The night sky is like your lectures: you catch yourself saying “I should go look at that sometime” and rarely actually follow up. However, this article is not here to tell you to watch your lectures. Lectures cost around a box and a half ($35) apiece if you’re a domestic student, Read more...
Te Roopū Māori 2023
Posted 5:03pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Critic
Tumuaki Clay McQueen Mauri ora e te whānau! ko Clay McQueen tōku ingoa he uri au nō Ngāpuhi, Otaua, Wainui, Mataraua anō hoki. I te taha o tōku pāpā he uri au nō Kawhia me Whaingaroa, he mangainga o Hoturoa. Ka mutu, i tipu ake au i Te pū o te Read more...
Reviewing the Law Revue
Posted 3:55pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Zak Rudin
Disclaimer: this article was written by a law student (cringe). Last Saturday night saw the return of the annual Law Revue, hosted in the first year law school chapel that is Castle 1. The theme: High (Law) School Musical. Critic Te Ārohi took one for the team and put their Saturday night in Read more...
An Indigenous Opinion on the Queen’s Death:
Posted 3:54pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Skyla o Ngāti Hine
As the world remembers Queen Elizabeth II, it is clear that for many, her 70-year-long reign symbolised great strength and familiarity. However, with the #RoyalFamily TikTok hashtag skyrocketing to 17.7 billion views, and Parliament’s recent declaration of September 26th as an official day of Read more...
What Houseplant Are You?
Posted 2:46pm Sunday 2nd October 2022 by Nina Brown
The frost-bitten landscape of Ōtepoti doesn’t exactly provide the ideal living environment for houseplants – or students, for that matter. But there’s nothing quite like a flat filled with withering houseplants at varying stages of mortality, and this quiz will help you Read more...
Liz Stokes of The Beths on ‘Expert In A Dying Field’:
Posted 1:55pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
Aotearoa indie darlings, The Beths, released their third album ‘Expert In A Dying Field’ mid-way through this month. To Critic’s surprise, the album is not actually about our humanities/marine science students and staff looking on in despair as their department is slowly snuffed Read more...
Unipol: Opioid of the masses?
Posted 1:52pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Hugh Askerud
It’s a Saturday night. You’ve decided to do scrumpy hands and are midway through the second bottle feeling at the top of your game. Then it strikes you: that ‘what the fuck am I doing’ sort of feeling that inevitably leaves you in tears. Everyone has moments like this, where Read more...
BASK Vol. III: A Deep Dive into Ōtepoti’s Newest Creative Community
Posted 1:50pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Kaia Kahurangi Jamieson
There’s something about this city. Something that made Chris Knox pick up a guitar, Taika Waititi envision a film set in his dingy student flat, and Steven Malkmus refer to us ‘home-baking Kiwis’ in Pavement’s recently blown-up TikTok hit Harness your Hopes. We come here and Read more...
Local Produce: Dunedin Dream Brokerage
Posted 10:16pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
If you’ve heard birdsong on George Street, or admired the rainbow lights adorning the street during Pride month, then you’ve experienced the mahi of Dunedin Dream Brokerage. We talked to Madison Kelly to learn more about this dynamic local organisation. The focus of Dunedin Read more...
Quiz: How did you get arrested?
Posted 8:34pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Critic
Oof, things are a bit blurry this morning. You’ve ended up in the paddy wagon (again!) but this time, you’re not sure how. Let’s see if we can piece things together: how did you get arrested? You’ve got a big night coming up, so the first stop is the piss shop. What are Read more...
New Zealand FurCon (Furry Convicts)
Posted 8:27pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Arlo Hill
Max the Paddle Pop Lion: Suspect Description: Max the Lion, also known as Paddle Pop the Lion, is not only the Mascot of the flavoursome ice creams; he is also the star of his own nightmare-fuelling animated TV show/movies where his otherworldly agility and strength are demonstrated. Like, Read more...
Cone Stealing
Posted 8:17pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Keegan Wells
Ah, the road cone. The orange trumpet, the witch’s hat, the tradie’s funnel. Whatever you want to call it, it serves an important purpose within society: allowing drunk students to commit a (mostly) victimless crime and be creative with interior decorating. Except it’s mostly Read more...
Behind Bars:
Posted 7:53pm Sunday 18th September 2022 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan (Ngāi Tahu)
We often look to the Treaty of Waitangi as the definitive turning point in New Zealand history. As the founding document and shared agreement between two peoples, many look at this early colonial era as a time of trade, survival and adapting to a new society. Pākehā immersed themselves in Read more...
Local Produce: Aidan Taira Geraghty
Posted 6:36pm Sunday 11th September 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
Ko Maukatere tōku mauka Ko Waimakarere tōku awa Ko Tākitimu tōku waka Ko Kāi Tahu tōku iwi Ko Ngāi Tūāhuriri tōku hapu Nō Ōtepoti ahau Ko Aidan tōku Ikoa Aidan (Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Kāi Tahu) is currently in his Read more...
MĀOR110 Should be Mandatory
Posted 6:27pm Sunday 11th September 2022 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
The University’s decision to bar students with recognised experience in te reo Māori from taking MĀOR110 (Conversational Māori) was regrettable to be sure. It was undone after students pushed back. The second most regrettable decision the University has made was not making the Read more...
Torn Between Two Worlds:
Posted 6:23pm Sunday 11th September 2022 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
Navigating one’s identity at university can be a tricky task for many. You’re away from friends, family and the familiarity that comes with home. You’re finally off in the big wide world, free to experiment and figure out who you really are. But for Māori students, the Read more...
Māori, Pasifika and the N-word
Posted 6:20pm Sunday 11th September 2022 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
Black Americans have permeated Aotearoa with their culture for decades. We can hear them in our music, we can see them in our fashion. The likes of Michael Jackson, Tupac and NWA have left an indelible mark on global communities, particularly people of colour, who otherwise have been Read more...
Local Produce | TìMMY the FIRST
Posted 8:19pm Saturday 3rd September 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
TîMMY the FIRST is a rapper, songwriter and producer based here in Ōtepoti who has been creating music for years. Critic caught up with the graduated neuroscience student to chat about how he got involved in the music scene as well as his upcoming projects. It all started when a Read more...
Opinion: Dunedin Desperately Needs a Queer Nightlife Scene
Posted 8:02pm Saturday 3rd September 2022 by Lotto Ramsay
Dunedin’s queer scene for the most part consists of one bar, UniQ, a Facebook group, and the occasional drag queen or king. These folks are doing the absolute most, don’t get me wrong, but what we desperately need is queer nightlife aimed at students. It’s no secret that Read more...
Gone Fishin’
Posted 7:53pm Saturday 3rd September 2022 by Hugh Askerud
With food prices skyrocketing over the past couple months, and student allowances increasing only ever so slightly, it seemed suspicious to see so many students with full bellies around central campus. With many others huddling around their open ovens, the presence of pot-bellied breathas around our Read more...
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch:
Posted 7:26pm Friday 2nd September 2022 by Ruby Werry
Picture this: it's the start of the semester, and you are once again reluctantly sitting in a packed lecture theatre for a paper you’re definitely not going to pay attention to. Your lecturer then begins the class by asking for a class rep. After a long awkward silence and a few glances Read more...
Local Produce | Jazz Club
Posted 5:02pm Friday 19th August 2022 by Zak Rudin
The student-led Otago University Jazz Club formed at the start of the year to perform weekly jam sessions to a live audience. The club describes itself as “a collection of students who are interested in playing and listening to jazz.” Jazz Club founder and pianist Matthew Tait, said, Read more...
What Shitty Student Car Do You Drive?
Posted 4:54pm Friday 19th August 2022 by Ruby Werry
There’s nothing that screams ‘student’ quite like the deafening, failing exhaust of a shitty car you love with all your heart, held together by nothing but duct tape and a dream. A key part of your personality, this quiz will determine what noble steed gets you from Burns A to B. Read more...
How Many Hats Would A Hat Guy Post If A Hat Guy Could Post Hats?
Posted 4:46pm Friday 19th August 2022 by Keegan Wells
Daniel [@end_my_lyth], a local student and self described “not really a hat guy” has been putting hats on his head and taking photos of them for the past 2,000 days and posting them to Instagram. Like all bad things, it began in high school with his acquaintance posting a photo of a Read more...
Opinion: Artificial Intelligence Creating Māori Designs is Basically Cultural Appropriation
Posted 4:39pm Friday 19th August 2022 by Nā Skyla from Ngāti Hine
We were supposed to have flying cars by 2022, but instead, we have bots that don’t know how to differentiate indigenous cultures from opposite sides of the globe. The day that artificial intelligence recognises tā moko on iPhones, automatically generates captions in te reo Māori, and Read more...
Local Produce | Spicy Paint Job
Posted 3:54pm Monday 15th August 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
In my favourite Spicy Paint Job piece, a demon girl balances a wineglass in her hand. “My art comes so easily when I’m absolutely horsed,” she is saying, an exact portrait of every Critic writer ever. You may already know Spicy’s work from Critic centrefolds past. This issue, Read more...
Opinion: Rural Communities Should be at the Heart of the Mental Health Discussion
Posted 2:55pm Monday 15th August 2022 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
It’s no secret that Aotearoa faces a crippling and harrowing mental health crisis. From a young age, you’re told to ‘harden up’ or ‘suck it up’. Did you get hurt playing rugby? Toughen up and get back out there. Upset about something? Shut up and stop complaining, Read more...
Breathology 101: A Crash Course in Breathaism
Posted 2:52pm Monday 15th August 2022 by Lotto Ramsay
Okay dudes, so hear me out: I’m in a bit of a bind over here, ‘cause I may or may not have just kidnapped a breatha, and I don’t have a lot of time until he figures out how to open the (unlocked) door and escape. From his cries of “Oi bros, watch this!” I think Read more...
Why Dunedin Boys Live in Shit Houses
Posted 2:50pm Monday 15th August 2022 by Anna Robertshawe
It’s a man’s world, and we’re all living in it. Unless, of course, you’re a Dunedin boy. Then there’s a chance you’re not living anywhere. The flatting scene in Dunedin is one-of-a-kind. One could compare it to an episode of Survivor, where competing Read more...
Local Produce | Sunflower Scent
Posted 7:50pm Friday 5th August 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
Sunflower Scent have been on the scene for a few years now, shooting thrashing riffs right into your ear canals. Critic caught up with two of the band members, Jamie and Liam, for a catch up on their latest projects and a bonus botany lesson. Jamie and Liam started making music together in 2019. Read more...
Opinion: International Students Deserve More Scholarships
Posted 7:48pm Friday 5th August 2022 by Keegan Wells
International students pay around five times as much as domestic students and don’t receive first year fees free. Yes, the government partially subsidises university fees, including fees free, and international students or their parents have not been paying taxes to the government, so it makes Read more...
Why did your student visa get revoked?
Posted 7:42pm Friday 5th August 2022 by Critic
You’ve made it across the border, into the airport and down to Dunedin. Now that you’re in the filthiest Uni town Aotearoa has to offer, there are plenty of ways to get yourself into trouble. So, tell us, how did you lose your visa? QUESTIONS: What’s your ideal night out? a. Read more...
Sex Education: Does single-sex schooling affect us more than we realise?
Posted 7:25pm Friday 5th August 2022 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
If you didn’t go to a single-sex school, then you probably know someone who did. Single-sex education is a socially accepted norm here compared to other countries, but over the past 30 years there has been plenty of debate about its efficacy. In Aotearoa, the argument is something like Read more...
Degenerate Delicacies:
Posted 7:23pm Friday 5th August 2022 by Lotto Ramsay
Everyone is intimately familiar with some variation of broke student food, the sort you stumble through making after a night on the piss, or eat with your hands while crying in bed. There’s a certain comfort to its simplicity (toasted sandwich, anyone?), and it always manages to taste like Read more...
Local Produce | The Edmond Brothers
Posted 4:37pm Sunday 31st July 2022 by Jamiema Lorimer
By the time you’re reading this, Edmond Brothers will have released their latest track ‘Waiting For A Sunday’ and will be gearing up for their Thursday night gig at U-Bar. Critic caught up with the literal bros on their new music, and on sussing your Thursday night plans. The Read more...
Immersing Myself in Dunedin’s Hidden Poetry Scene
Posted 4:28pm Sunday 31st July 2022 by Hugh Askerud
What is possibly the most anti-Dunedin thing to ever exist in Dunedin? Poetry. While the shades of autumn may give rise to some compelling imagery, there really isn’t that much in the way of beautiful land or people to show off, or at least not in the sunless boglands of North D. Dunedin is Read more...
Which Dunedin-Filmed Movie Should You Watch?
Posted 4:26pm Sunday 31st July 2022 by Elliot Weir
Not sure what it is about broken glass and burning vistas that attract film crews, but people sometimes decide to shoot their movie here. And that’s… certainly a decision they can make. While Wellington might be the film capital of the country, Dunedin has had its fair share of moments Read more...
Aotearoa’s Politicians if They were Your Flatmates
Posted 2:14pm Sunday 31st July 2022 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
Despite what they do now, many of Aotearoa’s politicians come from humble backgrounds, including being former Otago University students. Much like you and I, they were once flatting in cold houses, cooking shit meals, and bickering over power bills. Here, presented to you, are Aoteaora’s Read more...
How Reo Changes with Region
Posted 2:12pm Sunday 31st July 2022 by Skyla o Ngāti Hine
Te reo Māori is on the rise. Well actually, it has been for over forty years. Whether you’re from Dunedin or just here for the moment, you’re likely to have encountered the dialect of the Kāi Tahu iwi here in Ōtepoti. And while the mita is distinctly different from Read more...
Local Produce | Swooping Tūī
Posted 6:27pm Monday 25th July 2022 by Zak Rudin
Swooping Tūī is a brand new initiative designed to provide menstrual cups to people of lower socio-economic backgrounds in and outside of Aotearoa, through selling natural moisturising creams. Critic Te Arohi sat down with Mahina Walle, the second-year ecology student who started the Read more...
Vengeance Capitalist
Posted 6:25pm Monday 25th July 2022 by Lotto Ramsay
Look, we all know that relationships are a give and take. It’s just that sometimes that might mean it’s a given to take your ex’s possessions and then sell them on campus for profit. At the start of first semester I buried my teenage romance of two years, and I thought Read more...
Opinion: I’m Glad You Came
Posted 6:24pm Monday 25th July 2022 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan
Picture this: it’s late at night, and you’re tucked up in bed with your special someone. Maybe you’ve met up with your sneaky link to do the dirty deed, or you’ve pulled at a party. Maybe you’re one of those people who’s in a relationship, and have just come back Read more...
How to Take Tinder Photos
Posted 6:21pm Monday 25th July 2022 by Keegan Wells
North Dunedin Tinder is one of the nine circles of hell. If you manage to escape the aggressive post-hunt photos to the more left-wing side of Tinder, you end up with people describing their star-sign, Myers Briggs, and twenty other tests they’ve taken just to avoid reconciling with their own Read more...
Between a Cock and a Hard Place
Posted 6:17pm Monday 25th July 2022 by Kaia Kahurangi Jamieson
When you think ‘sexual dysfunction’, you probably imagine emergency room flyers for Viagra. The words ‘low sex drive’ might conjure up a dead-end marriage, two snotty children and a fold-out couch in the garage for dad. What you probably aren’t thinking of is your peers Read more...
Local Produce | Neive Strang and Band
Posted 5:11pm Sunday 17th July 2022 by Nina Brown
From winning the 2020 OUSA Bring the Noise competition, to opening for dreamy musician Mousey at Dive earlier this year, Neive Strang and her band have been making waves in the Ōtepoti music scene. Neive is the lyrical genius behind the operation, backed up by drummer Benny, guitarist Jack, and Read more...
Opinion: Roe v Wade Isn’t Just America’s Problem
Posted 5:07pm Sunday 17th July 2022 by Annabelle Vaughan
On June 24th, the conservative Catholic-dominated United States Supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, a landmark 1973 case which guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion. The decision was met with pushback and protest, and rightfully so. Solidarity protests are being held across the globe, Read more...
Where is Castle Street’s Pet Possum?
Posted 5:05pm Sunday 17th July 2022 by Keegan Wells
The conversation with Matt, James, and Peter was held through a layer of tears. We found the boys reminiscing over their pet possum, Possmate. Yes, you read it right: this group of breathas had “adopted” and “domesticated” a pet possum in their Castle street flat. However, Read more...
Make it 16:
Posted 4:12pm Sunday 17th July 2022 by Annabelle Vaughan
Young people face a plethora of existential issues, such as the housing crisis, climate change and student debt. But, if you’re under the age of 18, you can’t vote on the issues that will most impact your future. The crew of Make it 16, a non-partisan, youth-led campaign, want to lower Read more...
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