Copyright thespinoff
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Today marks four years since I stepped into this role and four weeks until I step away from it. And I have found myself feeling both profoundly changed and exactly the same. The end of October in 2021 marked a period of increased (physical) activity for me. Deep in a depressing lockdown and desperate for air and non-laptop time, I started running laps around the Domain (specifically the Auckland Memorial Museum) with my brother. There were contact restrictions in place and we didn’t live together but the runs were legal because he ran twice as fast as me so we were only close to each other for a split second each time he lapped me. According to my running app records, I completed 10 loops of the museum on Monday, October 25, 2021. A week later on Monday, November 1, I took over as editor of The Spinoff. I never ran around the Domain again. When I accepted this job I asked my wise older brother if he had any advice for me as a manager himself. He had only two thoughts to share: 1. Everyone is annoying – don’t take it personally 2. Don’t stop exercising because work is busy, that’s when you’ll need it the most. To no one’s surprise, I nodded sagely then ignored both sentiments. Two days ago, in a genuine coincidence, I ran around the Domain for the first time in four years as part of my latest attempt to Become A Runner. There were dozens of people there, running their after-work laps, some probably doing their final slow run ahead of the Auckland marathon today. As soon as I started my loop, I was transported back to my 2021 Domain runs, full of nerves and stress about this new job that I maybe wasn’t ready for. I wondered if there was something pulling me back there to complete the cycle or to attempt to return my body to its 2021 state in the same way my mind would soon be. The older you get the more you realise there are very, very few new ideas in the world. In politics in particular it can feel like every three years we argue about the same things. Labour announced its watered down capital gains tax this week, marking an early start to the sixth consecutive election where Labour’s biggest challenge will be explaining CGT to voters. Measles, which is highly contagious and which the World Health Organisation declared officially eradicated here in 2017, is back again amid horrifyingly low immunisation rates. This is after a deadly 2019 outbreak should’ve been enough to remind people of measles’ severity. Perhaps the average memory lasts about three years, and after that we’re happy to revisit the same topics and challenges ad nauseum, returning to the well on cue until we die. As I began my slow jog down to the Domain on Thursday, my headphones immediately stopped working. Left to my own thoughts, I laughed at how many times I have “taken up running” only to, three months later, remember once again that I actually hate running. This current attempt is my fifth. Every three or so years, I complete a loop of my life and return to running, thinking maybe literally running in circles is actually the trick to staying sane. The stories Spinoff readers spent the most time with this week Joel MacManus argues that we’re spending all our money on roads that suck The cost of being: A full-time office worker with an array of side hustles Bumble fumbles: A brutally honest anthology of modern dating Liam Rātana reviews Once Were Gardeners and deems it a must-watch for anyone wanting to grow Joel MacManus again, asking how much is the capital gains tax on this priceless Ming vase? Feedback of the week On Help Me Hera: Should I be worried about my age gap relationship?“The expression ‘statistical rite of passage says it all. Human beings are capable of endless variations of relationships and you are currently exploring one of them. Age differences are not really all that significant. There is a thirty years gap between myself and my partner and we have lasted 23 years. If it feels good to both of you it’s OK. Go for it!” On Read the winner of the 2025 Landfall essay prize “Such beautiful writing, and I really appreciated it being shared. Hooray for gender euphoria!This knocked the breath out of me and I had to stop and re-read it a few times: “Being the subject of your own apathy is hard. Being the subject of your own compassion is worse.”
