Life

Anti-nuclear protest in Queen St 1983, photo NZH

Where have all the protests gone?

Bill Ralston thinks there's too much whingeing and not enough chaining ourselves to Steven Joyce. [more]

Photo NZH

The great Kiwi staggered vacation

Bill Ralston somehow fills up the long, empty holiday hours. [more]

Typical transport on Great Barrier, photo Natalie Slade/NZH

Great Barrier? No barriers.

Bill Ralston eyes up the barter economy of Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf. [more]

Getty Images

Save our suburbs

Bill Ralston worries that planners are intent on doing for inner-city Auckland what quakes did for Christchurch. [more]

Getty Images/Listener photo illustration

Bill Ralston catches up on the showbiz news

Endless rain and a book drought find our columnist caught in the web of celebrity goss. [more]

Bill Ralston’s highway hell

Bill Ralston’s highway hell

It’s a sad day when the only emails I’m getting are from Cabinet ministers worried about my personal... [more]

Bill Ralston searches for campaign

Bill Ralston searches for campaign

There’s a good argument for starting a campaign and socking it to... [more]

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New year, same old mistakes

Bill Ralston has some good advice for 2012 which he firmly plans to ignore. [more]

Curing the “must haves”

Curing the “must haves”

I’ve found a cure for my terrible case of the “must... [more]

Reflecting on 2011

Reflecting on 2011

Did you get healthier, wealthier or wiser in the past year? [more]

Bill Ralston ponders Christmas

Bill Ralston ponders Christmas

’Tis the season to wish it was next year already. [more]

Bill Ralston on morning people

Bill Ralston on morning people

Don’t talk to me about being a morning person – not until lunchtime, anyway. [more]

Bill Ralston’s sibling rivalry

Bill Ralston’s sibling rivalry

Sibling rivalry never gets old. [more]

Bill Ralston commits Facebook suicide

Bill Ralston commits Facebook suicide

Experience the joys of social-network oblivion. [more]

Protesters outside SkyCity, photo Greg Bowker/NZH

Surviving the class war

Bill Ralston only just makes it through an Occupy protest with lunch and red wine. [more]

Liliane Bettencourt and the Duchess of Alba

Liliane Bettencourt and the Duchess of Alba

Eat, drink and be merry – especially if you’ve got pots of money and a much younger companion. [more]

Bill Ralston considers stupidity

Bill Ralston considers stupidity

Stupidity is a condition that can range from mild foolishness to rank idiocy and it is an extremely common phenomenon when it comes to humans.

It can be brought on by a variety of factors. For example, fear or self-interest overriding common sense, as in the case of Renee-Nicole Douceur. She... [more]

Huffington Post poll reveals surprise

Huffington Post poll reveals surprise

An informal internet poll asking what men want from women produced some surprising results. [more]

Bill Ralston on neutrinos, Einstein and vodka

Bill Ralston on neutrinos, Einstein and vodka

Turning back time could be the ultimate hangover cure. [more]