Archive

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 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 Critic

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...

Spiked: An Invisible Crime

Posted 11:02pm Sunday 19th May 2024 by Jodie Evans

TW: Mentions of sexual assault and detailed depictions of drink spiking  At university, everyone seems to know someone who’s been spiked. The phenomenon hangs in the air at flat parties and lingers about the bathrooms of student bars, yet remains grossly stigmatised. Following Read more...

Frontiers of Scarfiedom: The Legacy of the Capping Cult

Posted 4:33pm Saturday 11th May 2024 by Nina Brown

Now in its 130th year, the Capping Show is a time capsule of the ever-evolving Otago University student culture. To recap Capping – and reuse a joke that Critic has made time and again in our 99 years writing about it – what began as a 19th century flash mob of sorts during graduation Read more...