Immune to the Truth

Posted 11:51am Sunday 23rd July 2017

If you’ve ever taken a vitamin C tablet thinking it will stop you getting a cold, you’ve bought into the myth of immune boosters Go to any pharmacy, supermarket, or health food store in New Zealand and you will be find a sizable section of pills, powders, and potions with labels Read more...

Editorial | The Other Side

Posted 10:22am Sunday 16th July 2017

Liberals are a bunch of bike-riding, tree-hugging, whale-saving, big-government-promoting, tax-increasing, flip-flopping, wishy-washy, namby-pamby bedwetters. Conservatives are a bunch of meat-eating, game-hunting, tax-decreasing, hard-drinking, Bible-bashing, black-and-white-thinking, Read more...

Editorial | The things we don’t talk about

Posted 10:29am Sunday 9th July 2017

Mel Ansell’s feature “Health Science: A Trial by Fire” is an expose on the pressure put on first year health-sci students and the effects the course can have on their mental health. The course needs to be difficult to make sure only the toughest, smartest people get through, but Read more...

Editorial | Issue 13

Posted 10:21am Sunday 28th May 2017

I get into the odd conversation with someone about how illiterate our generation is becoming, because we don’t read novels and write letters anymore. And of course, about the destruction of grammar from the force that will surely end the world, text speak. Because it’s my job to fix Read more...

Tim Player: The Bruised Proscenium and The Immaculate Rock Dog

Posted 12:26pm Sunday 7th May 2017

Tim Player spent a Friday morning floating round playing his drums on a tiny raft in the Dunedin harbour. The performance was filmed by Arron Clark and will be screened at The Audio Foundation in Auckland on May 4th. Critic spoke to Tim about what the hell he was doing. Critic: Can you explain Read more...

Editorial | Issue 10

Posted 10:36am Sunday 7th May 2017

This week Critic has a bit of a music theme going on. We bring you hot scoops from Feastock, a Kiwi’s take on Coachella featuring a delicious cheese sandwich, a rock dog floating on a tiny raft in the Dunedin harbour, and a review of opera singer Jonathan Fa'afetai Lemalu at the Town Hall. Read more...

There’s always someone to talk to

Posted 11:49am Sunday 30th April 2017

Youthline focuses on supporting young people between the ages of 13 and 26. Brian Lowe is the Youthline Otago manager. He and one administration person are the only staff members, neither of which are employed full time. Lowe has volunteered since his university days and has always been drawn to Read more...

Second Blackest Black Paint in the World Not That Black

Posted 10:54am Sunday 30th April 2017

Critic recently obtained a small bottle of “Stuart Semple Black”, which was meant to be a replica of the world’s black- est material, “Vantablack”, of which controversial artist Anish Kapoor has exclusive rights.  Vantablack absorbs about 99.6 percent of light, Read more...

Editorial | Issue 9

Posted 10:23am Sunday 30th April 2017

This week’s Critic includes a couple of features on mental health in Dunedin. When visiting Youthline Otago we were struck by the modesty of the operation—we sat in a small room with a second-hand table and two mismatched chairs. In the corner was a beanbag, on the walls, posters for the Read more...

Editorial | Issue 8

Posted 10:29am Sunday 23rd April 2017

Around half the emails I get are from people wanting to do the Cookin’ Up Love blind date. That’s cool, but seriously, guys, you can do a whole lot of great things for Critic that don’t involve ogling a stranger over a table.  We’re a quarter of the way through the Read more...