RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai  & Letterboxd   | Film Columnist Chocolat (Claire Denis, 1988) Don’t get mixed up here: I don’t mean ‘ Chocolat ’ (2000). Not the shlocky rom-com starring Juliette Binoche as a travelling chocolatier who brings love back to rural France with the power of sweeties, the DVD which you find on op-shop shelves next to Hayley Westenra CDs. I mean the lesser-known ‘Chocolat’ , about a nati

SPORTS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Luke Fisher (he/him) | @lukefish7__  | CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST My first encounter with the concept of climate change was seeing the bumper stickers on my primary school bible studies teacher’s van. Climate change is just a load of hot air. It’s always been hot. Aged seven, I didn’t have a clue what these meant. I honestly thought the first one was nothing more than a scientific fact. But fast forward 14 years (good god), and the phrases

NEWS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Liam Hansen they/them | @liamhanse.n | Associate Editor The university experience isn’t moulded to every student’s needs. It varies from course to course, but the overreliance on readings, tests of rote learning, and reflections tend to serve the needs of most students fine . But the number of students who feel like they’re working against a brick wall has increased year on year, and with AUT’s cohort of domestic and international stude

EDITORIAL | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Tashi Donnelly she/her | @tashi_rd | Editor We forget how unpoetic English can be as a language until we encounter words like ‘whenua’. Those words that say what English would need ten words to describe. Words like ‘wabi-sabi’ or ‘schadenfreude’. Translated into English, ‘whenua’ could mean ‘land’ or ‘homeland’. It could mean ‘Motherland’ or ‘Mother Earth’. ‘Ancestral land’ might come close. Another translation is ‘placenta’.  Whenu

COLUMN | ISSUE TWO | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY Written by The Hot Lesbian she/they | @hot_lesbian_initiative I’ve always had a complicated relationship with religion. When I was younger, I saw no issue with my somewhat religious upbringing. But as I grew older, the shadows became harder to ignore. As a lesbian, I carried an internal battle with internalised homophobia, something that is hard to unlearn in spaces that quietly (or loudly) tell you that you are wrong. I think t

COLUMN | ISSUE TWO | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY Written By László Reynolds he/him | @laszloreynolds | Contributing Writer Aries Resist the urge to postpone everything, but also refrain from sprinting ahead too quickly with your tasks; you will simply be forced to go over them again. Ignore half-lies exchanged between hidden enemies. If you like someone, let them make the first move. Deeply scrutinise everything coming your way; the World is trying to rebirth itself through yo

BREAD & CIRCUSES | COLUMN | SPORTS | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY Written by Luke Fisher (he/him) | @lukefish7__  | CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST “I believe sport is actually a chance for us to have other human beings push us to excel.” Though I can’t say I’ve ever recited a line from a poem as part of a football drill, this quote resonated with me. It felt like a suitable one to start this piece with, not least because I look like every student from the Dead Poet’s Society put togeth

ARTS | ISSUE TWO | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY Written By Noesheen Sherreeze Buksh she/her | @bon._.bon._.908   | Contributing Writer My art practice examines mortality. Through my interpretation of the apocalypse, my practice is shaped by my interfaith Christian-Islamic upbringing and Fijian-Indian heritage. Painting is a tool I use to escape the never-ending dread I feel in the pit of my stomach when the topic of religion and spirituality are brought up. I use the means of c

COLUMN | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai  on IG & Letterboxd   | Film Columnist 1.   A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956) The goal is to escape. It’s the only goal. Hours, days, and months pass while Fontaine, a captured French Resistance fighter, chips away at the door of his prison cell. Sweeping away the wood shavings on the floor, he plies the frame of his bed for a wire with which to weave a rope. Bresson is famously a director who

FEATURE | HANGA / CRAFT Written by Rose Scott (she/her) | @aut_ventures   | AUT Ventures For students, identity is rarely set in stone. School is a space of development – where who you’ve been begins to loosen, and who you’re becoming starts to take shape through not only learning, but community. For some, that journey unfolds naturally. For others, it becomes something lived and learned. Poi+ was born from this in-between. Founded by Joe Patuki (Tainui, Ngāpuhi), Poi+ is a m

We’re starting off the year with a theme that can feel insurmountable: identity. It shapes our sense of self, from our bodies to our communities, spanning the personal and the political. For some, it’s a passing thought. For others, it’s a lived reality every day. And right now, identity is being weaponised.

KOTAHITANGA | COLUMN | ANAMATA / THE FUTURE Written & illustrated by Hirimaia Eketone (they/them) | @hiri_music | Te Ao Māori Editor He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? The people, the people, the people.  I’m struggling to kōrero about the future when global and local events keep driving us further down as a community into the depths of despair. Usually at the end of the year I find myself in a reflec

EDITORIAL | ANAMATA / THE FUTURE Written by Liam Hansen (they/them) | @liamhanse.n | Editor-in-Chief Illustration by Stella Roper (they/she) | @dodofrenzy | Arts Editor When I began volunteering across the road at 95bFM in 2021, copies of Debate were strewn across various coffee tables, couches, and desks. They were bought over by various AUT journalism students, to be poured over by a little baby Liam in their last year of college while they poorly wrote the news bulletins

AUT VENTURES | COLUMN | ANAMATA / THE FUTURE Written by Rose Scott (she/her) | Contributing Writer When you think about your future beyond being a student, it can feel like a lingering – and often intimidating – question mark. For some of us, stepping straight into a job or career doesn’t sound as exciting as the chance to build something ourselves.  Whether that’s a business, an innovation, or a product, the idea of being your own boss has its own kind of spark. That’s where

KOTAHITANGA | COLUMN | HANGA / CRAFT Written & illustrated by Hirimaia Eketone (they/them) | @hiri_music | Te Ao Māori Editor Kia ora e...