Whether you’ve seen the Social Dilemma several times, work in social media or simply participate in the world as it is today, chances are you are somewhat familiar with the ‘algorithm’. As we tend to do, society has been quick to anthropomorphise this amorphous and unpredictable equation. Like a…

For those who managed to avoid both the event and ensuing social media carnage, on Friday 5th of February, the ex-National Party leader Simon Bridges went on The AM Show and said, while forcing someone to undergo conversion therapy is wrong, making it illegal caused concerns. What were his concerns…

Stories are powerful things. Armed with a good narrative, a belief about the way the world is, one can endure a surprising amount of tribulation. …

There were many new year resolutions I could have chosen all those months ago. Back when the days were heavy with summer heat and plans were made with the audacious confidence that this year would be somewhat if not exactly like the ones that came before. After a year devoted…

Considering the time, effort and money involved in a 17th-century oil painting, it’s fair to wonder why Vermeer didn’t recreate a more compelling scene than that of an anonymous woman standing in a plain kitchen pouring milk. Yet for this Dutch genre painting, and hundreds of others like it, the…

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.” — Epicurious. It began with a blouse. A mustard coloured faux-silk number hanging in one of those colossal department stores, it wasn’t anything special. It’s ordinariness perhaps the very thing that made me aware of a particular kind…

He’ll never know it, but my motivation to bite the bullet and write this piece is owing to an old journalism professor. More specifically, some advice he imparted in response to a mild breakdown I once had in his office. “Sarah, how do you eat an elephant?” Stumped at how…

Being in social isolation leaves few genuine joys, so when you learn of a silver lining, it’s all too tempting to grab hold. Like the fact that, despite initial reservations, this lockdown is actually a government-mandated retreat of sorts, during which you can become your very best self. Armed with…