Journalism

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January 24, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

Ex-Radio Head: No Longer A Music Writer/Always A Music Writer

I’m always looking for music to write about. Which is not my ‘job’. But it is my ‘role’. Something I selected for myself a long time ago, long before I was ever published or paid. Music started speaking to me on the level where I felt I had to speak back to it – and […]

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January 2, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Joan Didion

Just ahead of Christmas it was very sad to hear of the passing of Joan Didion. She lived a long and extraordinary life and wrote so beautifully, so dutifully also. She was a chronicler of times, putting art into journalism, putting her life down on the page alongside all she captured. She’s been one of […]

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December 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: I Wrote My First Poem Over 30 Years Ago

I handwrote the poems first, then typed them up after – and I was inspired at first by the music I was listening to and the poetry I was reading. There are still a few poems that survive from those early years and I’m locked in a pact with myself to never look at them. […]

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November 16, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

So You Think You Wanna Be A Freelance Writer…

I finished school in Hawke’s Bay and moved to Wellington for University. I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to do – but I was always interested in writing, so I figured I’d be a journalist. My plan was to do a BA in English and then apply to journalism school. In my second […]

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December 17, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 243: Murray Cammick

Welcome to episode 243 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify […]

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September 16, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 230: Anna Dean

Welcome to episode 230 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify […]

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August 27, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 227: Charlotte Graham-McLay

Welcome to episode 227 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify […]

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July 1, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 219: Colin Morris

Welcome to episode 219 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify […]

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June 18, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

This Is Not A Movie: Film

This Is Not A Movie Director: Yung Chang National Film Board of Canada (NFB) / Documentary Edge Festival Subtitled Robert Fisk and The Politics of Truth – This Is Not A Movie is both portrait of Fisk and his working methods and a reminder of how journalism has changed, perhaps how far it’s fallen; certainly […]

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March 25, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 213: Mike White

Welcome to episode 213 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys . Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify […]

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November 13, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 193: Sean Plunket

Welcome to episode 193 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and La Petite Chocolat. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved […]

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June 10, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: 20 Years of Allenby Tce

The only thing between me and a journalism degree was the Allenby Terrace steps. Well, there was at least one other hurdle – but those steps started to bite. And rather quickly. Best to blame them, since the real reason escapes me still (a good reason to still be writing, funnily enough). Every time I head down that hill I think, still, of being sat right outside the journalism class, my phoney – but all too real – Lucky Strikes. (Just […]