Local Produce: Bespoke Ōtepoti

Posted 9:19pm Sunday 10th August 2025

If there’s a will, there's a way. When George Street doesn't provide it, this pack of student fashionistas certainly will. Critic Te Ārohi has reached out to three local entrepreneurs to see what they get up to in between lectures. From beauticians to lending out curated Read more...

Trip Report: 98 Years of OUTC’s Bush Ball

Posted 8:16pm Sunday 3rd August 2025

What happens in the bush stays in the bush. The Otago University Tramping Club (OUTC) has built up an illusive reputation over its storied history of people full-sending it in the woods. Bush Ball is arguably the most famous (and feral) of their many adventures across the motu each year. Read more...

Local Produce: Flipper Fest

Posted 8:06pm Sunday 3rd August 2025

Saving the penguins has never looked sexier. Hoiho advocate and local musician Mario Girardet of Dibs! and Caribou is putting his money where his beak is. Over a series of seven gigs, each with an equally stacked lineup, Flipper Fest is raising money for the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust (Te Tautiaki Read more...

Local Produce: Saints: The Card Game

Posted 5:10pm Saturday 26th July 2025

Following his tenure at Critic Te Ārohi as 2019 Editor, one marked by “that” Knox College investigation and a war on shady landlords, Charlie O’Mannin has managed to keep himself busy. The Dunedin local turned indie board game creator hopes that his most recent venture helps Read more...

Local Produce: Powder Chutes

Posted 1:02pm Monday 14th July 2025

From fans to friends. A local rock band from Wanaka ended 2024 on Spark Arena’s stage playing with Grammy-nominated act Highly Suspect. 2025 saw the band interrupt their usual rotation of gigs with a nationwide tour promoting their self-titled album, Powder Chutes. Shredding through chords and Read more...

Students Swarm the Beehive: Youth Parliament Debriefed

Posted 1:01pm Monday 14th July 2025

Youth Parliament provides a socially acceptable setting for rangatahi to yell at a room full of important people. The biggest news story to come from Youth Parliament were the accusations of censoring the youth voice, levied against the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD). Critic Te Ārohi had a Read more...

The Great Cup Snatch: Takeaway Cups Gone from Campus Cafés

Posted 5:23pm Sunday 25th May 2025

Uni-owned cafés were rocked by a surprise email on the 7th of May, being served with the ice-cold news that iced drinks could no longer be served in biodegradable plastic takeaway cups. In a huge loss for people who actually go to class, students will no longer be able to carry around their Read more...

Local Produce: Te Kahui

Posted 3:57pm Sunday 11th May 2025

Kahui is an Ōtepoti Hip-Hop and R&B band that has been reinventing the solo work of their frontman's Spotify tunes for a live audience. Opening up for Kiwi legend Mā at Pearl Diver on the 12th of April has been the band's most recent accolade. The group is made up of rapper Te Read more...

TURN DOWN FOR WHAT! No seriously, what? I couldn't hear you

Posted 2:51pm Sunday 11th May 2025

Whether it’s the smell of the Greggs’ factory, snorting lines through a rolled up $20, or staring at multiple screens for hours on end at the library, students are accustomed to abusing their senses on the regular. Putting your body through the wringer is part of the university Read more...

Local Produce: EKM Virtual Studios

Posted 9:29pm Sunday 4th May 2025

You may recognise her work from what was supposed to be the centre-fold of last week's Critic (sorry about that one team) or have been blown away by the immaculate Instagram feed that she has cultivated. Emma Millburn is the genius behind EKM Virtual Studios. Her most recent artistic venture has Read more...