Archive

Breaking the STIgma

Posted 8:40pm Sunday 13th October 2024 by Jodie Evans

“Welcome to a dog shit dimension, where everyone is infected with something that they got from fucking.” Back in May, we attended Otago’s annual Capping Show, and much like every other year, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) were the punchlines of a handful of sketches and Read more...

Break-Ups: An Anthology

Posted 8:51am Sunday 6th October 2024 by Critic Staff

Love is cool and all, but chances are if you’ve been in love, you’ve also been through heartbreak. There’s no way around it: break-ups are shit. They can be respectful, and props to anyone who’s come out the other end with a friend instead of a blocked account and the ability Read more...

Sidelines to Sabers: A Sports Saga

Posted 5:44pm Saturday 28th September 2024 by Hunter Jolly

I’ve never really been a fan of Big Sport™. The conventional Kiwi kids’ rugby, cricket, soccer, tennis, and basketball never really piqued my interest, and besides Palmy’s love of canoe polo, New Zealand high schools don’t tend to offer a ton of other options. Parkour Read more...

Dylan Lloyd: Polytech & Parasport

Posted 5:20pm Saturday 28th September 2024 by Adam Stitely

There are not many who live, breathe, and work sports to the same extent as twenty-year-old Otago Polytechnic student Dylan Lloyd. Ever since Dylan got into his first Wheelchair Rugby chair at a Halberg Games event in 2019, he instantly knew that it was for him. He’s devoted his life to Read more...

Better Initiations & Flat Warmings: OUSA Exec Test Alternative Initiation Methods

Posted 8:30pm Sunday 22nd September 2024 by OUSA Exec

Initiations. The age-old tradition of the oldest university in Aotearoa – but also, not really. Students come and go, upholding the bastion of traditions in the name of the “true student experience” without realising they cycle out of the rotation faster than a cheap pair of Read more...

That’s just the rules of Wheminism - Opinion: Māori Wāhine deserve their flowers

Posted 4:23am Monday 16th September 2024 by Nā Heeni Koero Te Rerenoa, R.W.C, Jessie Witeri, Maria Davis-Tini, Hineira Tipene-Komene

Navigating tikanga Māori can be like navigating your waka through the waves – it’s dynamic, fluid, and never the same from one iwi to the next. The idea that tikanga (practices) is a fixed, rigid structure is laughable when, for centuries, Māori have adapted, evolved, and Read more...

The Limit Does Not Exist: Kura Kaupapa Māori and Beyond

Posted 4:16am Monday 16th September 2024 by Shakayla Andrews-Alapaki

Conventional education often shackles success to outdated standards and narrow frameworks, measuring achievement by grades or awards. The dynamic force of Kura Kaupapa Māori (KKM) throughout the motu redefines what it means to achieve greatness. Kura Kaupapa Māori are Māori language Read more...

Critic Te Ārohi’s Third Not-So-Annual Kebab Review

Posted 4:07pm Saturday 7th September 2024 by Critic Staff

2020 was a year of many firsts. The pandemic pushed the population to extremes – emotionally, yes, but also creatively, with many trying things they’d never thought to before. Sourdough starters were born, hair-cutting scissors were purchased, and Critic Te Ārohi published the Read more...

Revival: A History of The Drag Scene of Ōtepoti

Posted 7:39pm Sunday 25th August 2024 by Jordan Irvine

There’s been a drag revolution in Ōtepoti this year. The revitalised queer scene has been spearheaded by Ōtepoti Drag Directory founder Ann Arkii, who has firmly established herself as Dunedin’s queen of drag. Earlier this year, Ann Arkii was quoted in a Local Produce column Read more...

Beyond The Binary: A Conversation on How Heteronormativity Intersects With Sexual Harm

Posted 6:06pm Sunday 25th August 2024 by Giorgia Fletcher

Content Warning: Discussions of sexual violence, homophobia and transphobia Ever stopped to think about the 'norm' in heteronormativity? It's a concept so woven into our daily lives that we often overlook its subtle, but disturbing, influence. From the popularity of Love Island to Read more...

Opinion: It’s The Damn Phone

Posted 12:01am Sunday 11th August 2024 by Tom Bouls

Author's Note: Tempted to skip this article because excessive phone use has destroyed your attention span? Head straight to this link to find out how addicted to your phone you are for an upcoming study.  What do you think of when you hear ‘addiction’? Someone at a bus stop, Read more...

Menstruation in the Wild

Posted 11:45pm Saturday 10th August 2024 by Jodie Evans

In an ideal world, the great outdoors would be a gender-neutral space. Just you, an open trail, towering treetops, and the echoes of birdsong carried on a soft breeze. But the reality is often less idyllic. Women and AFAB (assigned female at birth) people are significantly underrepresented in Read more...

No Place to Practice: How can there be an Ōtepoti music scene if bands can’t practise?

Posted 2:35pm Sunday 4th August 2024 by Jonathan McCabe

Drum n’ Bass may be the music of today’s student streets, but Ōtepoti Dunedin has been a cultural capital for live music since the emergence of the Dunedin Sound. The critically acclaimed genre is associated with iconic ‘80s bands like The Chills, who cemented Ōtepoti as Read more...

Static Age: For the Love of Vintage

Posted 9:04pm Sunday 28th July 2024 by Phoebe Lea

The world is burning, Shein sweatshops are churning, your Glassons mesh top is falling apart at the seams; suddenly two months out of style, and the last thing you want (unlike your first-year self) is to show up to a party and see someone wearing the same fit. A grey Butter hoodie? For Pint Night? Read more...

Piupiu, Penguin Pelts & Papatūānuku

Posted 8:29pm Sunday 28th July 2024 by Nā Heeni Koero Te Rerenoa (Sky)

In a world driven by fast fashion and throwaway culture, it’s not every day that you encounter garments crafted from the skins of freshwater eels, yellow-eyed penguins, and fur seals. That is until you step into ‘Te Whare Pora: House of Learning’, a current exhibition at community Read more...

Grant Robertson: Homecoming

Posted 4:11pm Saturday 20th July 2024 by Iris Hehir

On August 31st, 1992, 20-year old student president Grant Robertson gave Critic Te Ārohi what was quite possibly his first ever interview. 31 years later, Grant returns to the Clocktower, this time as Vice Chancellor of the University of Otago. Critic sat down with Grant once again to discuss Read more...

Bitter Cold: The Winter Blues

Posted 3:50pm Saturday 20th July 2024 by Nina Brown

Dunedin winters are harsh on bills, the body and the brain. The days shorten, showers lengthen, limbs stiffen, and – in the worst cases – eyes deaden. For freshers cosied up in residential halls, it’s not so bad with free heating and regular hot meals. The bitter bite of winter you Read more...

Critic Census 2024

Posted 7:11pm Saturday 13th July 2024 by Iris Hehir

Back for its fourth year is the Critic Census, the annual data-crunching exercise conducted by the nosy parkers at Critic Te Ārohi. We asked 52 questions on just about everything, and 1005 of you shared the juicy details on study, sex, drugs, flatting, money, politics, relationships and more. Read more...

Madam President: Can She Read?

Posted 8:26pm Sunday 26th May 2024 by Nina Brown

Every celebrity has fallen victim to the rumour mill. Jamie Foxx died and was replaced by a clone; Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson were boning during their One Direction days; Keanu Reeves is immortal; Khloé Kardashian is OJ Simpson’s daughter; Jennifer Lawrence faked her 2013 Oscars Read more...

Critic Scandals: An Inexhaustive (Updated) Account

Posted 8:00pm Sunday 26th May 2024 by Adam Stitely

Taking Dunedin Old to new heights, Critic Te Ārohi has been around for ninety-nine years. For almost all of them, we have pissed off some groups of people, from our very own Uni, landlords, to students and non-students alike; something news-breaking or outright offensive has definitely been Read more...