I Never Remember A Face

Posted 11:34am Sunday 15th May 2016

Human beings rely on being able to recognise other people by their faces for normal social interaction. Lucy Hunter talked to three prosopagnosics, people who have difficulty recognising faces, about some of the problems their condition causes in their Read more...

John Dies at the End

Posted 12:55pm Sunday 1st May 2016

I quite like insects. I don’t mind them on me unless I can feel the weight of them. If one is stuck somewhere I will administer a gentle transport of cardboard over glass jar and dispatch the creature outside. However, while reading John Dies at the End, I developed a fear of bugs. If you are Read more...

Science, Bitches | Issue 9

Posted 12:01pm Sunday 1st May 2016

"Natural" is defined as existing in nature and not made or caused by people. Many people believe natural products are intrinsically better for you than synthetic ones. Arsenic is natural. Blood poisoning is natural, but wearing clothes is unnatural. AIDS is natural, as are snakebites. A Read more...

Interview With A Ghost

Posted 11:34am Sunday 1st May 2016

In the office, Ceri, Laura, Tash, Joe, Jean, Bij and I sat around waiting. Red light from the candles flickered on our faces and over the board. My workmates and I had had a couple of wines each and were trying to get scared. We held hands, breathed deeply and closed our eyes. “We are here in Read more...

In Defence of Self-Defence

Posted 11:33am Sunday 24th April 2016

A piece of advice for all you female-identified people – get good at yelling. You don’t have to be ‘ladylike’ if someone is disrespecting your boundaries. You have a right to get mad! Unleash the beast and yell from your belly like a frickin’ dragon. In the debate Read more...

Conversational Intercourse With Intellectuals | Issue 7

Posted 11:53am Sunday 17th April 2016

Lecturer in Media, Film & Communication, Dr Rosemary Overell When Rosie was hired she was the youngest ongoing academic staff member at the university. She was 29. Now 32, Rosie says she was “Just lucky. I went from finishing my PhD to getting the job.” She moved from Melbourne Read more...

Editorial | Issue 7

Posted 10:07am Sunday 17th April 2016

Hello!  My name is Lucy and I’m the deputy editor at Critic. My workmates and I have spent the last couple of weeks talking, arguing, and sometimes screaming at each other about gender roles in society. This week we have two features in Critic that examine some of the complications of Read more...

Bubblegum Industrial Fashion Shower

Posted 12:46pm Sunday 10th April 2016

“As well as being good friends we’re artistically compatible,” says Christian McNab on his relationship with collaborator Nikki Cain. Bubblegum Industrial Fashion Shower was an exhibition involving performance, music, painting, video, and garments made by Nikki and Christian. It is Read more...

Harm Reduction

Posted 11:00am Sunday 10th April 2016

Lucy Hunter looks behind the doors of the Dunedin needle exchange Needle exchange programmes were created to reduce harm and to educate people on taking drugs in the safest way possible. I spoke to Manager Barbara Smith and one of her colleagues Dene Barnes from the Dunedin Intravenous Read more...

The Lady In The Van

Posted 1:39pm Sunday 20th March 2016

Rating: A When Lady in the Van opened with Maggie Smith driving a van in the ‘70s in England, I was clawing at my seat with the claggy white smugness of it. It seems like every year Maggie Smith does a twee, baby-boomer-bait comedy piece to drag a group of people to the cinema who will only Read more...