DANICA CREAHAN WRITES — Though the elections occurred just a few weeks apart, New Zealanders and Americans are living in seemingly different worlds. With New Zealand at just under 2000 Covid-19 cases as a whole and the U.S. at more than 92,000 on election day alone, the one thing they…
DANICA CREAHAN WRITES — On October 17, New Zealanders will vote in the general election on the Prime Minister, legalizing the use of recreational marijuana and one uniquely straightforward question: “Do you support the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force?” New Zealand is the first country in…
DANICA CREAHAN WRITES – In response to Australia’s proposed legislation requiring both Facebook and Google to pay media companies for content that appears on their platforms, Facebook threatened to stop sharing local and international news in Australia. To be clear: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has begun drafting a…
SEAN SINGH WRITES – Due to popularity among tourists, it appears that coronavirus spread more quickly to French Polynesia than to other islands of the South Pacific, where it looks to be well contained. Paradise uninterrupted! For example, Tonga has a population of approximately 100,000 and is less developed compared…
ROSE RTEIMEH WRITES — A world in which it is possible to receive a naked picture of a well-known online model in exchange for a donation to charity is very 2020. Kaylen Ward, a 20-year-old influencer and online sex worker, started a fundraiser on Twitter for multiple Australian fire relief…
NATHAN RIVAS WRITES – During this year’s Academy Award ceremony at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater, Taika Waititi became the first person of Maori descent to win an Oscar (for “Jojo Rabbit”), which he dedicated to all of the indigenous children of the world “who want to do art and dance and write…
JOSEPH LITTUA WRITES—Joji, a Japanese-Australian R&B singer, is not your classic success story. In fact, one might argue that he is not yet a star. But his transition from dark social commentary via his old Youtube Channel, TVFilthyFrank, to the music that he is known for today is somewhat astonishing.…
TOM PLATE WRITES — Australia has a China problem, and it’s not clear that anyone can help it out of the box it’s in. Yes, it’s a China box: The ground underneath the Asia-Pacific is starting to shake, and the incipient foreign-policy shakeout ‘Down Under’ may well tell those of…
ANTONIA HORLICK WRITES — At the beginning of March, Ndless: The New Normal, an ethical sourcing and sustainable supply chain fashion consultancy agency, hosted Australia’s first ‘sustainable” fashion summit: Legacy Responsible Fashion. This was done in partnership with The Australian Fashion Council and Fashion Revolution Australia. The Legacy summit included…
Following the brutal massacre in two mosques in New Zealand earlier this month, Asia Media staffers penned their thoughts on what it means to be an ally to the Muslim community, and how the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, exemplifies it. MUHAMMAD ALOTHMAN WRITES– “Welcome Brother,” the first…
ANDREA PLATE WRITES: The fine-art fingerprints of Debra Granik, director of 2010’s “Winter’s Bone,” are all over her stunning new movie “Leave no Trace,” recently released on DVD. Both set the stage for breakout young actresses—“Trace’s” star, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie is just eighteen — Jennifer Lawrence was around twenty when…
Courtesy of the East West Center: From Singapore, 30 June 2018—From the Himalayas to the Korean DMZ to the South China Sea, the balance of power in Asia appears to be shifting. But beneath the rhetoric, have the fundamentals really changed? At this past week’s 2018 East-West Center International Media…
NINA YUSTIARTI WRITES – A prominent Australian female politician has come to the defense of two male journalists accused of chauvinism. Australia’s Deputy Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek had just finished a speech at the National Press Club of Australia earlier this month on efforts to close the country’s gender pay…
FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER KEVIN RUDD — Over the span of history, this nation has grown from thirteen fissiparous colonies to become the most powerful nation on earth. And while the challenges have been many, you have preserved the flame of liberal democracy throughout the nation’s rise. When this nation…
DYLAN RAMOS WRITES — North Korean missiles, awkward Trump handshakes and the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya may dominate today’s Asia headlines. But in his new book, “Asia’s Reckoning,” journalist Richard McGregor turns the spotlight to the more enduring, triangular relationship between the United States, China and Japan. To look forward,…
KATRINA CROSBY WRITES – With Election Day upon us, New Zealanders are encouraged to show off their democratic pride with pictures of “I Voted” stickers or selfies taken at the polling stations, encouraging other Kiwis to come out and make their voices heard. This year, the polling stands looked a…
