Hampton said that both antisemitism and Islamophobia were among the concerning themes seen running through the violent extremist environment in New Zealand, alongside "other hateful narratives". "Such harmful rhetoric should be called out early to stop it from festering and crossing the threshold to violence."

Simulacra more believable than real politicians, safety toolkit, poisonous AI, discourse networks, and more...

The linguistics of conspiracy, message drift, snorkeling through bullshit, fake NZ news, conspiracy theories at the movies, and more...

In this week's newsletter: Scholarships for students at the 2026 New Zealand Skeptics Conference, Christchurch Degrowth is exactly the wrong solution to Climate Change AG1: The Lazarus of supplements, part 2 A Skeptical Reaction to Reactionless Drives Kessler Syndrome: Are we going to get trapped on earth by a swarm of colliding space debris?

In a media environment where disinformation, fake news and polarising propaganda are already permitted to proliferate, this represents a real risk to democratic processes.

RIP info quality 😦

Gloriavale Christian School exists to indoctrinate children, maintain a caste system and grow a workforce rather than for teaching and learning, according to documents released by the Ministry of Education

New Zealand has passed the "tipping point" where most people buying solar panels will save more money than they spend on them,

In this week's newsletter Breaking the record for obsolescence? The history and controversies of Guinness World Records Iran’s Potemkin Problem Don’t say it don’t use it - Alzheimer’s treatments and the stats vs effect dilemma When it’s not okay to Givealittle Good news and Bad news

In this week's newsletter Everything I know about Skepticism I learned from the Bible Should We Be Worried About Microplastics? Is climate change making extreme cold more common? Sugar Feeds Cancer? Youth with a Mission (YWAM)

In this week's newsletter: Sea level much higher than assumed in most coastal hazard assessments Friday the 13th x 3: The mayhem, the meme, and some math The Deepest Meaning of Liff? Inside the Manosphere – Louis Theroux Auckland Shallow Thinkers A Cult has infiltrated my Market

In January, Newsroom revealed the world’s largest asset management firm had quietly abandoned plans for a multibillion-dollar climate fund to help New Zealand reach 100 percent renewable energy, less than three years after it was unveiled.

In this week's newsletter Medical Marijuana and Mushroom Mania My first Book of Mormon Stories Pumped hydro storage Philology Fictionology Fragment 176–191: Poisoning AI Summaries?

PLUS: Leading AI Models Advance False Claims 28% of the Time

In this week's newsletter Climate Platitude Bingo Uncanny Valley Hidden Messages in the Epstein Emails? Dead Skeptics Society: Thomas William Driver, aka Professor Robert Kudarz, Part 2

He says in the space of a couple of years, electric vehicle sales have slumped, with the blame trail leading straight to Wellington. The Government scrapped the clean car discount, introduced EV road-user charges, and, most recently, weakened the clean car standards. “Government ministers would say they didn’t think it was working – they would probably say, look, the market share is way down, that’s proving Kiwis don’t really want electric vehicles, but I think the Government has … really leveraged the politicisation of EVs to their advantage,” Harvey tells The Detail. “And they haven’t shown leadership in a technology that is actually going to save Kiwis money.”

This episode covers: Menopause Supplements Wham, Bam, Autism scams and a grand slam: Telepathy Tapes, Autistic Barbie, and a systematic review. Reflect Orbital: Engineering marvel or just smoke and mirrors? Newsletter issues these articles appear in: 2026-01-20

In this week's newsletter Christian Hot Readings Dead Skeptics Society: Thomas William Driver, aka Professor Robert Kudarz, Part 1 Show me the Toes! Book review: “The Alarmist” Astrological Computing

Overall, 40 percent of the 1057 respondents to a new Horizon Research survey said they supported the reversal of the ban, while 36 percent disagreed. However, the research showed stronger support for renewables than fossil fuels, with 64 percent saying the Government should back clean energy to bring down household power bills.