Issue 13: Autumn 2023
The smell of uranium
“HOLD YOUR BREATH JUST FOR A MOMENT. I CAN SMELL THE URANIUM ON IT.” PRIME MINISTER DAVID LANGE TO HIS AMERICAN OPPONENT AT THE OXFORD UNION ‘NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE MORALLY INDEFENSIBLE’ DEBATE, MARCH 1, 1985. One evening in November of 1955 a pair of long-in-the-tooth miners rolled out of a West Coast pub. On the…
Our hearts’ desires: We can go our own way
“Lines are created by being followed and followed by being created.” THE LINE ABOVE IS A LINE BY SARA AHMED, AND SHE’S WRITING ABOUT LINES CALLED DESIRE LINES. YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF DESIRE LINES, BUT YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN ONE OR WALKED ONE IN YOUR LIFE. Desire lines, sometimes called desire paths, rat tracks,…
Size matters: The 1964 guide to the roadside attractions of the South Island
BACK IN 2013, IN SEASON 1 OF THE SERIES HOUSE OF CARDS¸ CONGRESSMAN FRANK UNDERWOOD FACES A POLITICAL CRISIS IN THE FORM OF THE PEACHOID, A 41-METRE-HIGH PEACH-SHAPED WATER TOWER IN GAFFNEY, SOUTH CAROLINA. THE STRUCTURE, WHICH UNDERWOOD HAD CHAMPIONED, IS IMPLICATED IN A FATAL CAR ACCIDENT. THE DRIVER WAS TEXTING HER BOYFRIEND WHEN SHE…
The cutting edge
Zambonis and the business of smoothing the ice in Aotearoa. THE HILLS OF THE CROWN RANGE ARE ALIVE WITH SECRET CARS. THEIR MAKES AND MODELS ARE HIDDEN UNDER DARK CLOAKS, LIKE NUNS’ HABITS. THESE ARE THE CARS OF THE FUTURE (HENCE THE SECRECY), SENT HERE BY INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS TO HAVE THEIR ICE HANDLING PUT…
Living in a fantasy world
Trolls and Tolkien and the landscapes of the far south. A FOREBODING CLOUD CLINGS TO THE UPPER PEAKS OF A GREY-BLUE, SHARP-EDGE MOUNTAIN. YOU STAND ON A ROCKY OUTCROP WITH A GOOD VANTAGE POINT OF THE ICY LAKE IN FRONT OF YOU AND BREATHE IN THE MOSS-SCENTED AIR. THE LAKE IS UNFATHOMABLY DEEP AND FAERIE…