FEATURE | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA AUT Ventures | @aut_ventures | ventures.aut.ac.nz When we think about caring for the environment, we often think about what we can see; forests, rivers, wildlife. But what if understanding the health of our whenua starts with listening? At AUT’s School of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences, researcher Dr Amin Barzegar is exploring exactly that through KōreroNet , a project that uses sound to better understand what’s happening in o

The value of physically experiencing environments FEATURE | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Polly Wenlock she/her | @p0lly2001 | Contributing Writer Australia looks to be a land of sun-baked influencers. It looks like rolling surf, blue skies, gold sand. It looks just like the reels you scroll endlessly and wistfully on your 30-minute lunch break. But how does Australia feel? Australia feels like sand in every crevice, under every nail. Australia sounds like the chat

The tears of Ranginui TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | @uku_rangi Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor Concrete weeps. Steel remembers. Water carries the weight of what we’ve buried. When rain falls in Tāmaki Makaurau, it carries the memory of wetlands drained, rivers forced underground, and land reshaped by colonial infrastructure. My recent artworks explore these relationshi

NEWS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Caeden Tipler (they/them) | @caedentipler | Contributing Reporter It’s the biggest entertainment news story of the decade - Warner Bros. put itself up for sale late last year, leading to a public bidding war between two industry giants: Paramount Skydance and Netflix. The ensuing battle was worthy of Hollywood. Paramount successfully launched a hostile takeover, backed by the billionaire Ellison family. The studio and its very determi

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

NEWS | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY Written by Liam Hansen (they/them) | @liamhanse.n | Associate Editor Have you ever felt a chill at the back of your neck while walking through campus late at night? Felt like you were being watched, but knew nobody was there? Heard a whisper and a giggle far too shrill for a uni-aged student? What you’re experiencing is probably the wind, but there’s no fun in that. Every stonemason who laid the first bricks of our tertiary education buildin

EDITORIAL | ISSUE TWO | WAIRUATANGA / SPIRITUALITY Written by Tashi Donnelly she/her | @tashi_rd | Editor Haere mai, welcome to issue number two. Here we will celebrate the voices, experiences, and perspectives that make our community vibrant and diverse. That’s right, we’re covering Spirituality. The existence of the human spirit, or soul, is a hot topic of debate. While some atheists question the existence of the soul, theologians study its divine nature, and agnostics rema

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