Philip Matthews
@secondzeit.bsky.social
Journalist in Christchurch, New Zealand. Senior writer with The Press newspaper. Reviewer of the year (Voyager Media Awards 2022). Author of The Quiet Hero (2023), the story of a peaceful NZ volunteer's death in Ukraine.
Pinned
Someday this war’s gonna end
You have got to see this
February 8, 2026 at 12:57 AM
You have got to see this
Breton Dukes on the front of the Sunday paper
February 8, 2026 at 12:56 AM
Breton Dukes on the front of the Sunday paper
Reposted by Philip Matthews
New Breton Dukes story!
Probably the best short story of 2025
Short story: Trina and Cat, by Breton Dukes
newsroom.co.nz
August 2, 2025 at 10:21 PM
New Breton Dukes story!
Reposted by Philip Matthews
What an incredible, insightful, and poetic piece: "Twin Peaks is my comfort show: not because it makes me feel better, but because it assures me the world is worse and that I am not alone in noticing."
Last year, I wrote about Jeffrey Epstein and Twin Peaks. I wrote about Laura Palmer. A generation of girls, now women, who grew up in Laura Palmer’s world.
sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/laura-palm...
sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/laura-palm...
Laura Palmer’s House
Jeffrey Epstein, Twin Peaks, and dreams of justice.
sarahkendzior.substack.com
February 7, 2026 at 10:36 PM
What an incredible, insightful, and poetic piece: "Twin Peaks is my comfort show: not because it makes me feel better, but because it assures me the world is worse and that I am not alone in noticing."
Reposted by Philip Matthews
Turning his hand to fiction, Dukes’ new novel Party Boy helped him process dark memories of Otago Boys’ High.
Author Breton Dukes wanted to write an exposé on high school abuse. The truth was darker than he imagined
Turning his hand to fiction, Dukes’ new novel Party Boy helped him process dark memories of Otago Boys’ High.
dlvr.it
February 7, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Turning his hand to fiction, Dukes’ new novel Party Boy helped him process dark memories of Otago Boys’ High.
Reposted by Philip Matthews
The Cafe Continental was meant to crown Sumner as New Zealand’s premier watering place, but a fire left only twisted iron and unanswered questions about the hotel’s so-called safety.
Inside the 1909 blaze that levelled Sumner’s landmark Christchurch hotel
The Cafe Continental was meant to crown Sumner as New Zealand’s premier watering place, but a fire left only twisted iron and unanswered questions about the hotel’s so-called safety.
dlvr.it
February 6, 2026 at 3:11 PM
The Cafe Continental was meant to crown Sumner as New Zealand’s premier watering place, but a fire left only twisted iron and unanswered questions about the hotel’s so-called safety.
Reposted by Philip Matthews
For the first time in more than 40 years, this year’s Rakaia fishing competition will not involve fishing. What has gone wrong?
What happened to all the fish?
For the first time in more than 40 years, this year’s Rakaia fishing competition will not involve fishing. What has gone wrong?
dlvr.it
February 6, 2026 at 3:11 PM
For the first time in more than 40 years, this year’s Rakaia fishing competition will not involve fishing. What has gone wrong?
Reposted by Philip Matthews
Claris Harvey traces the life of her ancestor, uncovering a story long buried.
Tracing the history of Ripeka, the young girl killed beneath Kororāreka’s flagstaff
Claris Harvey traces the life of her ancestor, uncovering a story long buried.
dlvr.it
February 6, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Claris Harvey traces the life of her ancestor, uncovering a story long buried.
Reposted by Philip Matthews
The sudden disappearance of a small native fish from Canterbury’s rivers has broken an ancient cycle, revealing how the Rakaia River is being steadily drained of life and energy.
Video by @aldenwilliams. Click the link in our bio or go to thepress.co.nz for more.
Video by @aldenwilliams. Click the link in our bio or go to thepress.co.nz for more.
February 6, 2026 at 7:34 PM
The sudden disappearance of a small native fish from Canterbury’s rivers has broken an ancient cycle, revealing how the Rakaia River is being steadily drained of life and energy.
Video by @aldenwilliams. Click the link in our bio or go to thepress.co.nz for more.
Video by @aldenwilliams. Click the link in our bio or go to thepress.co.nz for more.
Interview with Brian Boyd about his link to Epstein
Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein reveal meetings with an Auckland professor who remarked on Epstein's 'bevy of beauties'
Auckland professor associated with Jeffrey Epstein
newsroom.co.nz
February 1, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Interview with Brian Boyd about his link to Epstein
Reposted by Philip Matthews
some emails in the new Epstein tranche from/to a Nabokov specialist (Brian Boyd?) that are a bit alarming. English profs not coming off great here. Although it is funny to respond to a rich person asking you to do a "Lolita project" by saying "I have to finish a biography of Karl Popper"
January 30, 2026 at 10:32 PM
some emails in the new Epstein tranche from/to a Nabokov specialist (Brian Boyd?) that are a bit alarming. English profs not coming off great here. Although it is funny to respond to a rich person asking you to do a "Lolita project" by saying "I have to finish a biography of Karl Popper"
Reposted by Philip Matthews
The 2026 Ockham Book Awards longlist is out - includes Jacinda Ardern, Dominic Hoey, Steve Braunias, Catherine Chidgey and Erik Kennedy @erikkennedy.com www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-... #TheOckhams
2026 Awards | New Zealand Book Awards Trust
www.nzbookawards.nz
January 28, 2026 at 4:14 PM
The 2026 Ockham Book Awards longlist is out - includes Jacinda Ardern, Dominic Hoey, Steve Braunias, Catherine Chidgey and Erik Kennedy @erikkennedy.com www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-... #TheOckhams
Reposted by Philip Matthews
Congratulations to @hendysh.bsky.social, whose book The Covid Response is on the longlist for the General Non-Fiction Award at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-... 🎉
2026 Awards | New Zealand Book Awards Trust
www.nzbookawards.nz
January 28, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Congratulations to @hendysh.bsky.social, whose book The Covid Response is on the longlist for the General Non-Fiction Award at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-... 🎉
Earth’s Bologna Show Canceled Over Band’s Objection To Venue’s Palestinian Flag - stereogum.com/2486859/eart...
Earth Cancel Bologna Show Over Venue's Palestinian Flag
Right now, drone-metal pioneers Earth are touring Europe. On Tuesday night (Jan. 27), Earth were slated to play at the Bologna, Italy venue TPO, which hosts cultural events as well as underground band...
stereogum.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Earth’s Bologna Show Canceled Over Band’s Objection To Venue’s Palestinian Flag - stereogum.com/2486859/eart...
As 90s as grunge and Jennifer Aniston
In 1996 Christchurch got a Panini Bar. Thirty years later, we’re wondering - when and why did paninis fall off the menu?
Whatever happened to paninis? An investigation
In 1996 Christchurch got a Panini Bar. Thirty years later, we’re wondering - when and why did paninis fall off the menu?
dlvr.it
January 24, 2026 at 11:48 PM
As 90s as grunge and Jennifer Aniston
Okay. I’m convinced. We did need a covered stadium.
REVIEW: Rain killed all but two of Ed Sheeran’s guitars, an ear piece and caused a mechanical bridge to malfunction for a bit, but he still put on a show to remember.
Soaked but unstoppable: Ed Sheeran delivers night to remember
REVIEW: Rain killed all but two of Ed Sheeran’s guitars, an ear piece and caused a mechanical bridge to malfunction for a bit, but he still put on a show to remember.
dlvr.it
January 24, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Okay. I’m convinced. We did need a covered stadium.
Reposted by Philip Matthews
A new history of the famous Lloyd Geering heresy trial that pitted one New Zealand city against another, reviewed by Philip Matthews
Book of the week: Progressive Dunedin vs narrow-minded Auckland
newsroom.co.nz
January 21, 2026 at 6:50 PM
A new history of the famous Lloyd Geering heresy trial that pitted one New Zealand city against another, reviewed by Philip Matthews
Reposted by Philip Matthews
The Christchurch music promoter who founded one of New Zealand's leading poster companies says he is not afraid of dying, but is “afraid of living this way for much longer”.
Phantom Billstickers founder reveals terminal diagnosis, seeks assisted dying
The Christchurch music promoter who founded one of New Zealand's leading poster companies says he is not afraid of dying, but is “afraid of living this way for much longer”.
dlvr.it
January 19, 2026 at 3:14 PM
The Christchurch music promoter who founded one of New Zealand's leading poster companies says he is not afraid of dying, but is “afraid of living this way for much longer”.
Reposted by Philip Matthews
OPINION: After the earthquake in 2011 I remember standing outside our broken cathedral with Mayor Bob Parker and saying to the world’s media, “the heart of our city has been broken. We will rebuild it.”
Why the cathedral needs to be revived as city’s beating heart
OPINION: After the earthquake in 2011 I remember standing outside our broken cathedral with Mayor Bob Parker and saying to the world’s media, “the heart of our city has been broken. We will rebuild it.”
dlvr.it
January 11, 2026 at 4:11 PM
OPINION: After the earthquake in 2011 I remember standing outside our broken cathedral with Mayor Bob Parker and saying to the world’s media, “the heart of our city has been broken. We will rebuild it.”
Reposted by Philip Matthews
Reposted by Philip Matthews
“Art doesn’t have boundaries,” McGlashan tells the Star-Times. “We make it because it makes us feel more alive. We truly believe that somewhere in the new thing that we’re writing there’ll be a spark that connects with somebody and will make them feel less alone.”
Don McGlashan on music, ‘insane’ America and why he’s finally agreed to a documentary
“Art doesn’t have boundaries,” McGlashan tells the Star-Times. “We make it because it makes us feel more alive. We truly believe that somewhere in the new thing that we’re writing there’ll be a spark that connects with somebody and will make them feel less alone.”
dlvr.it
January 10, 2026 at 6:01 PM
“Art doesn’t have boundaries,” McGlashan tells the Star-Times. “We make it because it makes us feel more alive. We truly believe that somewhere in the new thing that we’re writing there’ll be a spark that connects with somebody and will make them feel less alone.”
One of the coolest photos ever taken in New Zealand. RIP a true original.
January 8, 2026 at 3:57 AM
One of the coolest photos ever taken in New Zealand. RIP a true original.
Reposted by Philip Matthews
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
January 8, 2026 at 12:15 AM
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
Captain James X Cook
January 8, 2026 at 2:16 AM
Captain James X Cook