So You’ve Got a Degree. Now What?
At some point – tragically – university ends. Your student email is deactivated, the midweek hangovers become less defensible, and people start expecting you to exchange roughly eight hours of your day for money. Boo. If you’re currently staring down graduation and assuming everyone with professional LinkedIn headshots knows something you don't, we’ve got good news: they don’t. Critic Te Ārohi...In Defence Of The Small Room
Signing a flat is exhilarating. I think it’s just part of that ‘grass is always greener’ mentality: throughout the year, you notice more and more things wrong with your living conditions that make it all too easy to glorify your digs for next year. Whether it’s a shitty bathroom, living with two hundred other students in halls and having zero personal space or finally getting rid of that one weird flatmate,...Hot Girl Summer, Karanga Mai
If there’s one thing a Ngāpuhi likes, it’s arguing a case. Unfortunately for everyone else, I’ve always got one. With exam season looming, my attention has already wandered several weeks ahead. Right now, I’m dreaming about summer: long afternoons, baking in the sun, with nowhere particularly urgent to be, listening to 100% Ginuwine and 2000s pop on repeat. There is something about summer that makes life feel...On The Voting Fence? There’s A Website For That
On the Fence is back for the 2026 election, helping to support young people in turning out, getting involved and voting. Brought to you by Massey University’s Toi Ara Research Cluster, the website includes an interactive quiz to see where your personal beliefs align with Aotearoa’s political parties. Critic Te Ārohi caught up with Hanna Breurkes, Designer for Toi Ara, to learn more about the kaupapa. If the name On the...Rock The Vote Reviewed
DISCLAIMER* Critic Te Ārohi sent their hungover designer with no writing experience to document the day. All the writers were more hungover. On October 3rd, a random street in the industrial area of Ōtepoti was taken over by young musos, politicians, a voting booth, food trucks, a fucking massive Palestine flag, Craig Daniels, several hundred supporters, and a whole lot of political rage. This crock pot of awesomeness was an...Vote Otago is Back in Action with Breaking News
About two weeks ago, Critic Te Ārohi grabbed a cuppa and a yarn with some of the Vote Otago team. Vote Otago is a "by students, for students" election-year group who conduct political...
Student Theatre Stitches Up Critic
Not all Otago graduates have hopped across the ditch, it would seem. Ellie Swann and Lanient Swann – certifiable uncs (aunts?) of the Otago University's Theatre Studies – invited...
NZ Young Writers Fest Takes Over Dunedin
The recent New Zealand Young Writers Festival and associated wānaka was a fabulous success, and although these Critic Te Ārohi writers were both part of this year’s cohort, we promise...
Editorial: The Twenty-Sixth Time
Where to begin. Writing this feels surreal. This year, I’ve dreaded Thursdays (the day we print) twenty-five times. I’ve wondered if I could do it twenty-five times. I...
OUSA Exec: Come to the OUSA AGM
Did our last general meeting get cancelled because not enough students showed up? Yes. Was it quite embarrassing? Also yes. Does OUSA represent Otago students?...
Booze Review: Wakachangi
Leonardo Da Vinci has the Mona Lisa. Beethoven has Symphony No. 9. And Leigh Hart has got Snackachangi chips, ig. It’s just unfortunate that they come paired with their wet drip of a brother: Wakachangi beer. Even more unfortunately, that’s what...
Horoscopes: Issue 26 2026
Pisces The reality of your time at uni being over is hitting. It’s time to hide under your bed as you ask yourself for the first time if you really want to leave. It’s a hard reality to accept, but don’t be afraid. Maybe in this next stage...
Crossword Answers - Issue 26 2026
Across: 1 - Poker face 4 - Waltz 8 - Essex 9 - Balm 10 - Miami 11 - Gavel 12 - Audi 13 - Amend 14 - Earmuffs 16 - Cuffed 20 - Mozart 21 - Portugal 23 - Imitation 24 - Goner 25 -...
