One of the world’s longest-running studies of wild mammals was running out of money, so the scientists did the obvious thing and put the marmots on OnlyFans. A few months, thousands of dollars and one completely unexpected meme coin later, the research has enough money to keep going.

New Zealand has reportedly overtaken Indonesia as the leading overseas destination for Australian travellers. After years of us moving there for better pay, the Australians are finally returning the favour by coming here and buying expensive dinners.

David Seymour wants New Zealand to offer companies a permanent pathway for testing emerging technology under temporarily relaxed rules. The idea could make us faster, richer and more useful, provided “test market” does not become a polite term for “guinea pig”.

Young Maa-speaking artists in Kenya are blending traditional songs with contemporary beats and finding audiences through TikTok, YouTube and WhatsApp. For once, the internet is not making everything sound the same.

One NZ is getting a new boss, but the more interesting story is not corporate musical chairs. It is that telcos might be the most complained-about essential infrastructure in New Zealand: boring when they work, unforgivable when they don’t, and suddenly very important when the country needs to stay connected.

Reading was meant to be the quiet thing people did alone while pretending they had not checked their phone in six minutes. Now book festivals, author talks and reading groups are starting to look less like homework and more like a social life with better sentences.

New Zealand is very good at producing ambitious people, then acting surprised when they leave. The better story is not the brain drain, but the founders, artists, designers and operators who stay anyway and try to build something here before the country has decided they matter.

New Zealand hospitality is having a rough year, but the better story is not another closure. It is the people still signing leases, building rooms and betting that a good table can survive an economy telling everyone to stay home.