Nik Dirga
@nikdirga.bsky.social
RNZ Digital Explainer editor and AAP journalist, indefatigable blogger, cartoonist and creator of small press comic Amoeba Adventures, website nikdirga.com! Used to be an American, New Zealander since 2006.
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Nik Dirga
@nikdirga.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Hey, groovy people! My sprawling memoir of my journalism life and times from America to New Zealand, “Clippings," is now on sale for the holidays for a mere US$12.99 for the paperback (ebook $2.99)! If you’ve been putting it off, wait no more! Get it right here: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DW4D9KRR
Reposted by Nik Dirga
I talked to @nikdirga.bsky.social for his story about what to about X. Musk has wrecked its public utility and now he's put an abuse tool front and centre. Public agencies and NGOs need to ask whether they should be there. www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...
The X Factor: Grok deepfakes and why NZ is still using Elon Musk's X
Explainer - Elon Musk's X has been in the line of fire over Grok AI deepfakes - with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's office calling them "concerning." What's going on?
www.rnz.co.nz
January 14, 2026 at 10:08 PM
I talked to @nikdirga.bsky.social for his story about what to about X. Musk has wrecked its public utility and now he's put an abuse tool front and centre. Public agencies and NGOs need to ask whether they should be there. www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...
And you may ask yourself, how did I get here? My review of the awesome David Byrne show in Auckland now up at RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/life/music/d...
David Byrne has already given us one of the year's best shows | Review by Nik Dirga in Music
It's only January, but the legendary Talking Heads frontman served Auckland a dazzling display that will go down as one of the year's best.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 14, 2026 at 9:11 PM
And you may ask yourself, how did I get here? My review of the awesome David Byrne show in Auckland now up at RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/life/music/d...
David Byrne and his 12 (!!) piece band are here to single-handedly save 2026 and make us love again
January 14, 2026 at 10:12 AM
David Byrne and his 12 (!!) piece band are here to single-handedly save 2026 and make us love again
My first explainer of the year is now up at RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...
What exactly are American ICE agents and what can they do?
Explainer - America has been in an uproar the past week over the actions of ICE agents after the shooting of a Minneapolis woman. But who exactly are they?
www.rnz.co.nz
January 12, 2026 at 1:31 AM
My first explainer of the year is now up at RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...
Yes, but will your Instagram ad make me enough money to be able to buy a current calendar?
January 11, 2026 at 1:54 AM
Yes, but will your Instagram ad make me enough money to be able to buy a current calendar?
Happy New Year, and happy New Issue of Amoeba Adventures! The grand finale of the “The Crane Flies High” trilogy in AMOEBA ADVENTURES #37 is here for you as a FREE PDF download! It’s the latest issue in the comic book I’ve somehow been putting out on and off since 1990! nikdirga.com/2026/01/09/h...
Happy New Year, it’s Amoeba Adventures #37 time!
Happy New Year, world, and happy New Issue of Amoeba Adventures! The grand finale of the “The Crane Flies High” trilogy in AMOEBA ADVENTURES #37 is here for you as a FREE PDF download! …
nikdirga.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Happy New Year, and happy New Issue of Amoeba Adventures! The grand finale of the “The Crane Flies High” trilogy in AMOEBA ADVENTURES #37 is here for you as a FREE PDF download! It’s the latest issue in the comic book I’ve somehow been putting out on and off since 1990! nikdirga.com/2026/01/09/h...
It's the last day of 2025, thank god, so it seems like a good time to think positive with my Top 10 Pop Culture Moments of the year: nikdirga.com/2025/12/31/a...
And now, it’s my top 10 pop culture moments of 2025!
At this point, complaining about what a terrible year life has thrown at us is a bit of a cliche, eh? So yeah, bad things happened in 2025, oh boy did they … but if you try to doomscroll less…
nikdirga.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
It's the last day of 2025, thank god, so it seems like a good time to think positive with my Top 10 Pop Culture Moments of the year: nikdirga.com/2025/12/31/a...
Continuing with the Year in Review over at my website, it's time to stop doomscrolling and start ...bookscrolling? My 10 favourite new books of 2025, revealed! nikdirga.com/2025/12/30/i...
I’m an open book: My 10 favourite books of 2025
In this AI-generated world we’re morphing into, you’ll have to pry my actual human-written books out of my cold, dead hands. Or at the very least send the Terminators to do the job. Anyway, re…
nikdirga.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Continuing with the Year in Review over at my website, it's time to stop doomscrolling and start ...bookscrolling? My 10 favourite new books of 2025, revealed! nikdirga.com/2025/12/30/i...
Let the year in review madness begin! My 10 favourite movies of 2025, laid out for all the world to see and debate: nikdirga.com/2025/12/29/m...
Monsters, madness and heroes – My favourite movies of 2025
The calendar is on its last page yet again and it’s Year In Review week here. Let’s kick it off with my 10 favourite movies of 2025* – a surprisingly excellent year for mainstream Hollywood w…
nikdirga.com
December 28, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Let the year in review madness begin! My 10 favourite movies of 2025, laid out for all the world to see and debate: nikdirga.com/2025/12/29/m...
This is a shocking embarrassment for NZ media.
#4 sounds like a lovely book but I didn't write it. Have had whānau up and down the country send me clippings lol
Whoever put together this list that has been circulated to regional papers, didn't fact check.
Whoever put together this list that has been circulated to regional papers, didn't fact check.
December 25, 2025 at 10:29 PM
This is a shocking embarrassment for NZ media.
New on the website today - Quiet on the set! My brief vicarious moment on the sidelines for the filming of One Battle After Another: nikdirga.com/2025/12/21/a...
Action! Live on set with One Battle After Another
I’m not expecting anything to dislodge One Battle After Another as my favourite film of 2025 with mere days to go before the rough beast of 2026 slouches in, snorting fire and brimstone. Paul…
nikdirga.com
December 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
New on the website today - Quiet on the set! My brief vicarious moment on the sidelines for the filming of One Battle After Another: nikdirga.com/2025/12/21/a...
Shoutout to my coworkers at AAP Factcheck who have been very busy debunking the sewage flood of misinformation after last week’s horrific Bondi shootings. Don’t fall for the nonsense out there. www.aap.com.au/factcheck/
AAP FactCheck | AAP
www.aap.com.au
December 19, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Shoutout to my coworkers at AAP Factcheck who have been very busy debunking the sewage flood of misinformation after last week’s horrific Bondi shootings. Don’t fall for the nonsense out there. www.aap.com.au/factcheck/
New on the website today: The mass market paperback is dead, long live the mass market paperback in our dreams -- nikdirga.com/2025/12/18/t...
The death of the mass market paperback, the people’s books
The mass market paperback is dying. Publishers Weekly makes it official, as distributors have pretty much ended those once-ubiquitous 4-by-7 inch-sized books sold around America and the world. Peop…
nikdirga.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:03 PM
New on the website today: The mass market paperback is dead, long live the mass market paperback in our dreams -- nikdirga.com/2025/12/18/t...
Grandpa: And as they reached for each other...
[stops reading]
The Grandson: What? What?
Grandpa: Ah, it's kissing again. You don't want to hear that.
The Grandson: I don't mind so much.
Grandpa: Oh, okay.
[keeps reading]
[stops reading]
The Grandson: What? What?
Grandpa: Ah, it's kissing again. You don't want to hear that.
The Grandson: I don't mind so much.
Grandpa: Oh, okay.
[keeps reading]
December 15, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Grandpa: And as they reached for each other...
[stops reading]
The Grandson: What? What?
Grandpa: Ah, it's kissing again. You don't want to hear that.
The Grandson: I don't mind so much.
Grandpa: Oh, okay.
[keeps reading]
[stops reading]
The Grandson: What? What?
Grandpa: Ah, it's kissing again. You don't want to hear that.
The Grandson: I don't mind so much.
Grandpa: Oh, okay.
[keeps reading]
One day, the oral history of how an adaptation of Orwell’s dark and satirical Animal Farm somehow turned into a cinematic version of AI slop with Seth Rogen, fart jokes and pigs driving Lamborghinis will make for fascinating reading. It’s like they made 2025 Disappoints: The Movie.
The "Based on the masterpiece by George Orwell" title card is really quite something.
December 13, 2025 at 2:59 AM
One day, the oral history of how an adaptation of Orwell’s dark and satirical Animal Farm somehow turned into a cinematic version of AI slop with Seth Rogen, fart jokes and pigs driving Lamborghinis will make for fascinating reading. It’s like they made 2025 Disappoints: The Movie.
Today’s piece at RNZ by me looks at the mysterious world of lactose intolerance, which is totally not a thing that the author has been experiencing 😉🐮 www.rnz.co.nz/life/wellbei...
Why you might suddenly stop drinking milk
Explainer - Lactose intolerance affects most of us as we get older. Why does this happen?
www.rnz.co.nz
December 11, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Today’s piece at RNZ by me looks at the mysterious world of lactose intolerance, which is totally not a thing that the author has been experiencing 😉🐮 www.rnz.co.nz/life/wellbei...
New on the website today - a look back at Pierce Brosnan's tenure as James Bond, 30 years on! nikdirga.com/2025/12/10/w...
Why Pierce Brosnan never quite worked as James Bond
In theory, he should’ve been the perfect James Bond. He looked great. He was groomed for the role and talked about it far longer than other actors, and yet, 30 years on after his 1995 debut in Gold…
nikdirga.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:53 AM
New on the website today - a look back at Pierce Brosnan's tenure as James Bond, 30 years on! nikdirga.com/2025/12/10/w...
Are our holidays actually too long in New Zealand? My latest explainer digs into how the Kiwi summer became a cultural institution: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Why does New Zealand take such a long summer holiday break?
Explainer - Are our summer breaks too long - and how did they become a Kiwi institution?
www.rnz.co.nz
December 8, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Are our holidays actually too long in New Zealand? My latest explainer digs into how the Kiwi summer became a cultural institution: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
New on the website: Why after all these years I never get to the bottom of figuring out the Beatles - nikdirga.com/2025/12/08/i...
I never really got over my Beatles phase
My Beatles phase has never really ended. Like all of us, I go through phases. One week I’ll be super-into the films of Billy Wilder, or I’ll be reading all of Percival Everett’s novels I can find o…
nikdirga.com
December 7, 2025 at 8:08 PM
New on the website: Why after all these years I never get to the bottom of figuring out the Beatles - nikdirga.com/2025/12/08/i...
How do you run the roads in a city of 1.5 million people? My latest explainer at RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Metallica, Santa and IKEA - How Auckland Transport Operation Centre controls the city's traffic
Explainer - It looks like Mission Control, but it's actually where traffic for Auckland and much of the North Island is managed.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 3, 2025 at 7:04 AM
How do you run the roads in a city of 1.5 million people? My latest explainer at RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
New by me at RNZ: What happens when a political party decides to roll its leader? www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
How leadership challenges happen in New Zealand politics
What happens if National or Labour MPs decide to turn on their party's leaders?
www.rnz.co.nz
December 1, 2025 at 7:16 PM
New by me at RNZ: What happens when a political party decides to roll its leader? www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
New by me at RNZ - why the heck is Black Friday a thing in New Zealand when Thanksgiving doesn’t exist here? (short answer: 💰💰💰)
www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
What is Black Friday and why is it a big deal in New Zealand?
Explainer - You can't turn around without seeing a Black Friday advert this week. But where did it come from?
www.rnz.co.nz
November 27, 2025 at 8:52 PM
New by me at RNZ - why the heck is Black Friday a thing in New Zealand when Thanksgiving doesn’t exist here? (short answer: 💰💰💰)
www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
post your warning label
November 26, 2025 at 2:31 AM
post your warning label
New in the website today: Adventures on the edges of the world - nikdirga.com/2025/11/23/t...
There’s more than one edge of the world
I’ve always been fascinated by the edge of the world. Regrets, I’ve had a few, but one of them is that I’ve never travelled as much as I would like. In my free-wheeling 20s I was dead broke, …
nikdirga.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:47 PM
New in the website today: Adventures on the edges of the world - nikdirga.com/2025/11/23/t...
Got a surprise very nice hand-written letter and package full of zines today from a cartoonist I’ve long admired, and it was like a ray of nostalgic sunshine from the before times when our lives didn’t feel subservient to faceless algorithms.
November 15, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Got a surprise very nice hand-written letter and package full of zines today from a cartoonist I’ve long admired, and it was like a ray of nostalgic sunshine from the before times when our lives didn’t feel subservient to faceless algorithms.