

The air was stagnant, I could taste the presence of hundreds of pastors who had led services years before. The congregation rustled— shifting weight, creaking pews, the soft drag of dress shoes across the hardwood. Pastor Sheridan’s voice rolled from the pulpit, controlled but thunderous through my unsettled ears. As he lifted

Properly diagnosed or not, medicated or not, having ADHD while trying to get yourself an education is a little bit of a bitch to deal with. You’d think it wouldn’t be so hard; this is a degree I want to do, I chose to do, I like the subjects, but every reading and assignment and tutorial feels

When you’ve been in Hamilton long enough you realise this place kinda sucks, we don’t have aesthetic historical buildings and multiple libraries like dunedin, we don’t have a supermodern student bar and restaurant like Christchurch, we don’t have a rooftop soccer pitch and multiple dinner spots on campus like auckland, I dont know what those country Bumpkins do at massey and lincoln but we’re

SUNDAY Scalding at the bottom of the kettle, a bloom I decide it’s nothing but like the sting and the red after this weekend getaway of sexing, fucking the beachside’s famous vanishing act Piss it drunk down the motel sink SATURDAY On Saturday morning they confirmed the worst news I watched the caterpillars gather, beneath

If you pay attention to what goes on in New Zealand politics at all, you’d know the Beehive contains more drama than a high school theatre kid friend group. The politicians that we trust with our country with are… volatile, to say the least. What’s ever-so-slightly concerning is how high-school-style drama has recently encapsulated New

Byrne Power says, quoting Tomáš Procházka; “It’s nice to say it. Because then we can say we do Punk. We do Punk Puppetry.” With DIY elements and a fundamental concept of alienation to the standard creativity leech that is capitalist powers, the puppet is punk, in and of itself. Through parody and

In November of 2025, Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop and Minister for Local Government Simon Watts announced reforms to local government. On Tuesday the 5th of May, they gave councils three months to figure out how they would do it before the New Zealand Government steps in. According to

If you are familiar with the world of perfume and fragrance, you have probably come across the word “oud” at some point. A staple on the shelves of fragrance bros around the world, oud is a scent that is widely known but scarcely understood. In fact, oud is the Arabic name for Agarwood, a

What year is it? Because I thought it was 2026, three years after New Zealand’s last election, making it an election year. The behaviour of our political leaders does not seem to line up with this. There’s no denying that as idyllic as the world would be if we all made educated votes

Hitler flunked out of art school and then threw one of the deadliest bitch-fits in history. Though the degree of correlation between the two events is questionable, that’s just a fact. Not necessarily a fun one but anyone who knows anything about Adolf (the capital A is for Asshole) knows that he wanted to

This educational game is excellent for teaching children about the economic state of the world right now and the oppressive system of capitalism. It starts off with an excellent metaphor in which you arrive on an island, expecting to start a new life, but the island is deserted. This is a specific

My sister has brought home another date. This one seems fine, but after Evan the fascist—anyone would seem fine. I look him up and down, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Mum and Dad giving him the same scanning stare. Daniel had arrived exactly on time. He wore

Gothic culture is one of complex meanings, presentations, and cultural associations. The style originated in France in the 12th century, being characterized by pointed arches, stained glass, and ribbed vault features in architecture. This style was labelled as “Gothic” later, used as a derogatory term. The style moved closer to

Tattooing is one of the raddest, welcoming, quirkiest, creative, and friendly cultures I’ve ever encountered. I have twenty tats, nothing compared to Ruby or Lans or folks who’ve had the money or connections and time to really get inked. I’ve enjoyed every one. Nearly half of them I’ve done, about

Make way for the creatives We’ve had academia, now it’s time for the arts students to rise and shine (not that the arts aren’t academic), to fill the pages with creative freedom and all kinds of stuff that might make you question everything entirely. That’s what artists are good at.

by Brianna Waka E ngā hau e whā o te ao, nō mai tata, nō mai tawhiti, tae noa mai ki tēnei pito o Nukutawhiti, tēnā koutou, take a photo, tēnā koutou katoa. Mauri ora you magic people sitting with these kupu now. We’re sliding headfirst into the busiest, most

By Toby Brockelbank & Mykhaylo Tevkun Stake and Destroy Most of the reason I was stoked on this job was to write about the skate scene, share cool shit I thought was going down in our world of grinds and flips, and convince at least one of you readers to

Holding the power of being your opening thoughts to this week’s issue, I am giving you a list of (some of) my favourite films and why you should most definitely watch them (after reading this issue): 1. Juno (2007) This is the best romcom ever, and don’t let the genre romcom

When Toby asked me if I’d like to write the editorial for a ‘newspaper’ theme, my first thought – and words – were ‘Yea, sure.’ And then once I’d left the office and was halfway down the motorway, I was thinking to myself… What the fuck will that look like?

Ruby I’m a history nerd. A world war junkie. An obsessor of origins. A know-it-all-about-America. Like seriously, I have a permanent space on my arm dedicated to the JFK assassination. I’m constantly seeking historical context; the who, the what, the why. But that’s not what draws me in. It’s not

Admit It, Geeks Run The World Geeks, freaks, nerds and tweaks, welcome to Nexus’ Geek Culture, where I’m sure you’ll find something in these pages to tickle your deepest geeky fancies and fantasies. Somewhere in these delectable pages to come, I’m sure you’ll find something that speaks to you, whether

Sex n Drugs I’m really excited for this week’s issue as it gives me an opportunity to share my story to people who have or are going through the same thing. Maybe some people can relate, and I can tell you some things I’ve learnt. When I was 12 living

The Future Is Female As you flip through the pages of this issue of Nexus, one thing is clear: to celebrate women is to celebrate possibility, perseverance, and the power behind shaping our ever-changing future. Let’s start with something big: dismantling the patriarchy. It’s a term we hear a

Love Beyond Borders Two years into my twenties, after a stretch of being single, I found the kind of romance I had only dreamed of. It was sudden, intense, and different from anything I expected. I fell in love for the first time in New York City, abruptly and fervently.

Aries: You will receive a complex and cryptic email from studylink this week. Begin gathering a group to decipher it. Taurus: Do not give in to the temptation of watching Heated Rivalry. If you’ve already seen it, don’t watch it again. Gemini: You will spend all of your McDonald’s points while hungover or drunk from O week. Prepare mentally

Alright gang, this is a snack that I grew up eating, and it is the best and easiest comfort food to make at home with minimal ingredients. Ingredients: Cooking Time: 2 hours Steps: Making the filling for the patties Your patties are now ready to enjoy!!

Capricorn: Aquarius: Pisces: Aries: Taurus: Gemini: Cancer: Leo: Virgo: Libra: Scorpio: Sagittarius:

Crush of the Week Jensen Ackles There’s a 99% chance this beautiful man showed up in one of our 2022 issues… but it’s 2024 now so we don’t care! You are barking mad if you don’t think that this man is the ultimate DILF. And guess what? He has always

Crush of the Week Laios Touden Back at it again with another golden retriever himbo – Laios Touden from Dungeon Meshi aka Delicious in Dungeon. Despite his bluntness, Laios is fully aware and respectful of other people’s opinions and boundaries… until food is in the discussion. His enthusiasm for

Crush of the Week The lil lizards in the carpark 🙂 Imagine you’re walking from the main carpark at uni towards the cafes and shops and stuff. Obviously, you’re going to be in a less-than-optimal mood because you arrived later than 9am so you had to park in Timbuktu and

Crush of the Week Heartthrob of the week: Andrew Scott You may know him as the priest from fleabag or the best dressed at every award show! This man is potentially my favourite Irish actor too, which IFYKYK, is a big call considering just how many beautiful male actors seem

Crush of the Week Ncuti Gatwa Ncuti Gatwa, born on October 16, 1992, is a Scottish-Rwandan actor known for his breakout role as Eric Effiong in the Netflix series “Sex Education”. Raised in Edinburgh, Gatwa discovered his passion for acting early on and honed his skills at the Royal Conservatoire

Crush of the week Kit Connor British actor with a big heart and a big uhh… just playing! Kit Connor has charmed the audience playing Nick Nelson in Heartstopper, a coming-of-age rom-com series. Unfortunately, my man recently fell for the buzzcut crush, decreasing his charm by 1% (I’m heartbroken). Check

Crush of the Week Sabrina Carpenter You may know her as Barry Keoghan’s girlfriend (AKA the luckiest woman in the world) or the opener for Taylor Swift, but Miss Carpenter has more than earned her rights to the throne with her SKIMS campaign that dropped this week. It’s giving coquette

Crush Of The Week Brakence This man is a Bi-Icon and Hyper-Pop Emo-Rap legend. Go check him out on Spotify. (I would gatekeep him, but he’s just SO GOOD!!) I highly recommend rosier/punk2 (if you want to hear a man genuinely apologise in the most heart-wrenching love ballad ever written),

Crush of the Week Megan Thee Stallion Megan always eats when she cosplays, but when she posted herself as our blue-eyed glorious king Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, I knew she had to be this issue’s crush. Also, if you ever happen to stumble on her TikTok, she’s actually pretty

Maiki Sherman has resigned from her role as political editor for 1News at TVNZ. That’s the headline, but it’s not the full picture. The circumstances surrounding her resignation have been only one part of an ecosystem of muddied waters that now make up the relationship between Parliament, the media, and the New Zealand

There is no hiding the association university has with stress; deadlines, class, and the pending doom of an uncertain future have always been part of student life. But for many students in Aotearoa, that experience is increasingly being replaced by exhaustion. Between rising rents, grocery prices, transport costs, and tuition

The tumultuous history of deciding who pays for university The University of Waikato opened in1964, and its students back then had a much different experience financing university than we do today. From 1962 until 1989, the government paid for tertiary tuition fees in full with the state bursary. As the story often goes, all good things

It’s not much of a secret that online gambling has seen a rise in popularity in the last few years, especially with the younger generation. The technology being offered today means you can gamble from anywhere you can find a connection, anytime you want, on whatever device you’re using. It’s convenient, accessible, and marketed as entertainment suited

Content warning: mentions of sexual violence, drug use and suicide The popularisation of looksmaxxing has opened a gaping glory hole in the manosphere – ironically by some of the most homophobic people on the internet. Looksmaxxing, a portmanteau of ‘looks’ and ‘maximising’, is the idea and practice of improving one’s physical appearance through a variety of

At some point in the early 21st century, it became clear that the cultural mood had shifted. The ironic detachment that defined late 20th-century art and thought – so central to postmodernism – no longer felt sufficient in a world shaped by climate anxiety, digital hyperconnectivity, and renewed political urgency. Yet a return to

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 2001 film Amelie begins by describing the movements of a blue fly one day in 1973, and it only grows more whimsical from there. The film follows its namesake, 23-year-old Amelie Poulain, a shy and imaginative young waitress living in Paris. One night, Amelie finds a 40-year-old time capsule behind

Brittle Splits is a 30-something year old Waikato Arts alumni, who wears nipple pasties and fishnet tops onstage (in 9 inch boots) just for fun—and feminist expression, duh. Here, she outlines the mediascape of pole politics within Aotearoa. She recommends strippers to follow (Online only. Do. Not. Stalk.) for equal

FORGED IN FAILURE AFTER FAILURE Founded in 2016 by eccentric millionaire and Wellington Phoenix Co-Owner Gareth Morgan, The Opportunities Party was at best quixotic and at worst your most stoned friends half-baked take on civics lessons they hadn’t really paid attention to. Morgan was already somewhat of a meme-worthy celebrity, and the founding of what was, for all intents and purposes, a vanity party was

I try to avoid watching the news these days. Whenever I do it just seems like a sickening tableau of ruin. A macabre parade before the end of the world with grand marshals who sit in ivory towers and feed off the flesh of the masses beneath them. More and more I think that I

Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie are having sex again, but now it’s happening in a scene written by a chatbot that has never wanted anything in its life. It looks like a story: there’s rhythm, description, a beginning and an end. But nothing is at stake. No one is there behind it. Hollywood is doing a slower

Growing up in a very Catholic school system all the way from year one to year thirteen, learning about religion was more of an obligation than a choice, though I will admit, it wasn’t all that bad. I was surrounded by classmates who had very differing opinions on the topic: some hated

On the 20th of May, ACT member of parliament David Seymour announced on his Facebook account that ACT would be directly supporting the movement of the controversial ‘Man and Woman’ bill through parliament. Promoted as a feminist movement, the bill seeks to define transgender people under their biological sex in

Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered Budget 2026without any election-year giveaways. The Government has spent months preparing New Zealanders for what is one of the tightest budgets in years. Rather than major new spending programmes, the focus was on controlling government debt, returning the books to surplus, and funding a small number of priority areas. For students, that may

Max Verstappen takes a podium in Montreal: No one understands how much this means to me. The battle between him and Hamilton was class, and we got a podium out of it too. The Red Bull comeback might be coming sooner than we thought. Crusaders horse spooks at home game: Look,

Four people who’ve never voted or voted but didn’t care sit in a room and learn about politics, so you don’t have to. This week: Housing and Rentals. Labour ACT National Greens NZ First Te Pāti Māori Opportunity Party Responses: Lauren: Filly: Due to my current situation, what Labour is proposing sounds really good to me, one of my end goals has always been buying a house for my fam, so any support to help me

Thousands of public servants to lose their jobs, saving the government billions. Good to see that the government’s solution to being in crippling debt is to fire the people that literally operate the country. Another great example of why they are a one term government. Couple Devastated after uninsured pirate ship catches on fire and sinks

By Nexus Magazine – additional reporting done by Nexus Interns Tomas Richly and Hailey Reece Mid-Trimester restructures at the Waikato School of Design have led to tears, panic and at least ten students scrambling to find 100-hour internships in the last three weeks of the Trimester. According to a University spokesperson the

Missing Hotel Guest found inside huge crocodile airlifted from river Oh so this is a real thing that happens? You can actually get swallowed whole by a creature? Thank god we don’t have crocodiles here, because if we did I’d never touch a body of water again in my life. Pierre Gasly dramatically flips after a crash with Liam Lawson I’m not religious, but thank

We sent Dylan to talk to Campus Chaplin and genuinely good human Brother Andew. Or at least we planned to. We were curious as to ‘Brother A’s response to Trump reposting AI generated images and Pete Hegseth quoting fake scripture from Tarantino. Dylan wisely opted out of entering a house or worship in fear of

There was a twinkle of optimism drifting through the air just a week ago, it seems. Greens MP Francisco Hernandez put forward a Private Members’ bill that would see students receiving support during winter under the pretense that, like our country’s old, students are particularly at risk during the colder months of the year. But Fees Free is getting canned, continuing

Fees Free is gone! Winston Peters let it slip on the eighth that one of the outcomes of the upcoming budget would be the end of Fees Free, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis confirmed it. The policy has had a short and, to put it bluntly, awkward life. Introduced by Labour in 2018, the policy made

Four people who’ve never voted, 25 weeks and 4 days until the election, and a whole lot of issues on everyone’s mind. It’s a simple set-up, and this week’s been made a lot simpler with the buh-byeing of Fees Free. LABOUR ACT NATIONAL GREENS NZFirst Te Pāti Māori Opportunity Party Response: Lauren: Green party is definitely the one I agree with the most at the

Ah, travelling. Something so many of us want to do but can’t afford to. But regardless of whether you have booked your flights to your dream destination or are currently fantasising through your TikTok feed, buckle up. Because today I want to rant about the difference between travelling and sightseeing. By the end of this piece, you will hopefully be

Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere is a compelling but uneven look at misogynistic online influencers and the young men drawn to them. The film effectively exposes an ecosystem where outrage and insecurity are turned into a lucrative business model, with “manfluencers” selling courses, communities, and personas as much as ideas. It’s most powerful

Rating: +3 I flew to Melbourne last week to watch the 2026 f1 season opener in person, so here is my review of how it was run, and what they could improve on next time. The track was busiest for qualifying and race day, and most people caught the tram or walked

Ok gang, let’s talk about Resident Evil Requiem. For starters, I’m a big fan of Capcom and have been playing their games for about 8 years now. I was first introduced to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and my initial reaction when I started playing it was something along the lines

There are no words to describe this event. I genuinely fked myself going to this concert because after this there won’t be any better concert to go to. Benito is a great guy, one of the best people alive, but he fked my life and left me in an existential void. It was an amazing show,

Propelled to the forefront of the whole electroclash/knitted sweater/no-its-not-indie-sleaze-dont-call-it-that London/New York “scene” with their two 2025 albums Basspunk 2 and Forever, Bassvictim’s Ike Clatman and Maria Monrow have had an open messiness to their image that lands somewhere between Pete Doherty with Kate Moss and the Instagram stories of that highschool couple you’re sort of worried about. Although

+4 Charli XCX’s new film The Moment is both a cringe-fest and a beautiful commentary on modern pop music, set to bratty beats we know and love. While the British popstar isn’t the greatest actress of all time, her ability to tap into emotions on a dime is admirable, and within the context of the film, she

1/5 The fourth season of Netflix’s Bridgerton takes us beyond the surface-level luxury of the Ton and into the servant’s quarters, showing us the Cinderella-esque Sophie Baek and her blossoming romance with one Benedict Bridgerton. While this author is unable to fault the season’s main event, the short and sudden side plots do have her

-4/5 If you’ve had any internet access in the last few months, you would have heard of the mega-hit TV show Heated Rivalry. What you might not have heard about it, is that it’s pretty much total slop that turns a blind eye to the struggles of queer people internationally and deliberately excludes complex narratives in the name

Rating: +2 “Come Undone” reads every poster for director Emerald Fennell’s latest venture, a film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, “Wuthering Heights”. But this tagline begs the question, “will I, really come undone?”. What starts off as a beautiful love story between two children in the English countryside and progresses to a deep-rooted tension between two of the

Southern Gothic meeting dream-pop meeting drone has landed in Auckland. Ethel Cain enchanted Auckland Town Hall on the two sexiest days of February 2026 – Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day. As an attendee of night one, it feels good to say: “if you weren’t there you really missed out.” Raised

It’s a warm Auckland Wednesday, and Spark Arena is buzzing with excitement, and the smell of Ariana Grande perfume. The Auckland-born singer Lorde (29) played the iconic New Zealand venue, Spark Arena, in front of 13,000 of her fans, dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and her signature black curls. As

ROLLING “STONED” REVIEWS – by Kyuss Maxwell In our typically surreal antics Nexus found a random stoner at the skatepark who was willing to review his fave underground local bands for a few strong beers. We’re talking underground UNDERGROUND. Rise the Wicked are cruising with 102 monthly listeners, Indicator dogs

I’ll just come right out and say it. If there were no extra financial support for education, I would not be attending university right now. Many tauira don’t have the luxury of a safety net or financial stability. Many come from homes that don’t have an extra $20 to spare. Back in the dark ages, in

Tauira Māori on campus Māne (Monday) Tūrei (Tuesday) Wenerei (Wednesday) Hoki atu ki tō kāinga – Just go home Nā Elyse Rahiri Only a quarter of the way through the year and already most of us are feeling a bit pau te hau. Getting back into the swing of study can be overwhelming and even worse if you have people pleasing tendencies, don’t say

Tauira Māori on campus Tūrei (Tuesday) Wenerei (Wednesday) Taite (Thursday) Te Waiora – Rā Hākinakina | Gate 2b – 4:30 pm Reo Māori Phrases of the Week Kia ora koutou! Here are some useful everyday Reo Māori phrases to help you talk about holidays, whānau, and what you’ve been up to. COLUMN I tōku whānau tokorua ōku kuia, noho tahi ai. Arā, ko tōku kuia a toto nei, me te kuia o tōku ngākau. Ko te rongo o te aroha, kāore i rerekē. He tirohanga Māori tēnei. Ahakoa te momo aroha,

By now you’ve probably heard we’ve got a new name. We’re still WSU, but now we also carry our ingoa Māori, Te Awa Kōtui. This didn’t happen overnight. WSU has been working towards an ingoa Māori that truly reflects us and our tauira for a long time, across multiple boards. I also want to acknowledge the presidents, vice presidents, VP Māori, and life members who contributed

Kia ora, my name is Anaia Rua, and I am from Ngāi Tūhoe & Ngāti Awa. In the following piece, I reflect on the profound connection shared between Aotearoa and our relatives from Hawai’i during the “He Kura Tūroa” wānanga. He Kura Tūroa: Relatives Across the Pacific He ahurea te taiao, he taiao te ahurea. The environment is the culture, the culture is the

A question I heard recently has been sitting with me: can tikanga evolve in a modern world? It came up during a kōrero between a group of tauira, and it sparked a lot of reflection for me about what I’ve been taught and how I understand tikanga today. For many people, tikanga is

There’s a strong Māori presence on campus and plenty happening this week, from Cultural Hour to weekly wānanga and study spaces. If you want to meet other tauira, build your reo, or spend time in a Māori space between classes, there are kaupapa running across campus. Keep an eye on… Te whakahiapo – Maori law students association – @te_whakahiapo