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
We’re back! Happy September everyone- I hope you’re ready to get on with the rest of the semester and kick ass with the rest of your uni work. I want to use this space for two things, and I’ll start with a little how-to guide on staying on your game
Last week was magnificent. It was epic. It was an absolute dream. It was a legendary tale I’ll tell my kids one day. It was *insert every other good adjective*. Why, you ask? Not because of the Olympics, no. But because of you. Shoutout to the readers who manifested for
A lot has happened in the time between the release of our previous issue and this one. Football didn’t “come home”, Trump is talking about unity, and Daemon Targaryen had an explicit dream about his mum (?). Somehow, only one of these things surprises me (and it isn’t the last
As I was writing this, the waves of Kamala beach were crashing in front of me, and I was torn between abandoning Nexus, and keeping my job (just kidding… kind of!). The water was so clear, and the weather was finally nice and sunny. I could have been swimming that
The people spoke and asked for option one, which unfortunately means that everyone who didn’t pick that has to read my rambles about power-scaling… or do you? I would love to talk to you about how there is no way Gojo could beat Hashirama (bffr), however I have decided that
I have been sitting at my computer for two days with absolutely no progress. I have written so many first sentences and paragraphs, but I can’t seem to finish them! So, I decided to add all of my starters here for two reasons: one, you can decide which piece you
Can we all collectively agree that the red sports house in school was the fucking best? I recently saw a TikTok talking about school sports, and so many people were gassing up the red house. Why? Because we were fucking on something. When I was in primary school in Australia,
This week has simultaneously been the BEST week for Nexus ‘24 and the WORST week for me, and here’s why: The Nexus writing crew is here and ready to go! I was already lucky enough to be working with the most legendary design team, but now we have four absolutely
I have a serious question for all of you. I was watching The Babysitter (2017) last night, and there was the question of who to put in a five-member inter-galactic dream team. I want to know who you guys would choose in a team to fight a star war (hehe),
It doesn’t seem right to be claiming this space as my own. For the past two years, I have worked with Jak, and it feels weird to be succeeding him in the editor’s position. Well, I suppose all there is to do is say thank you. Thanks for being awesome,
Not only do I have no business crashing a lecture for a class I’m not in, I have even less business in a sociology 101 tutorial where the tutor is completely unaware I’m not supposed to be there. But there I sat on a Tuesday afternoon in the first SOCIO101 tutorial of the semester, 2048 open on my
If you haven’t been taught how to make nachos by a school cooking class or your mum by now, I’m disappointed. So I’m going to teach you instead. You will need: Method:
Let me paint you a picture: Once a year, a few hundred titles which have never before been released on vinyl get pressed and distributed globally. Each record gets pressed anywhere between 20,000 to a mere 750 times, globally. Said records are shipped to independent record stores without any knowledge of what they get.
He is a 20-year-old third year that was looking for Miss Right that he could plan his environment around. She is a 19-year-old Nursing student looking for Mr Right now. Was it a love connection? We will let you judge. PSA: Women don’t owe men anything – but they do
Aries – Stop procrastinating, embrace your 15 deadlines and get shit done. Taurus – Happy Birthday, also calm down, invest in a journal. Gemini – They’re not looking at you; they don’t want you; stop being a pick me. Cancer – It’s time to become less insufferable. It’s time for you to shine, I feel big things and more friends coming your way. Leo – Spice
Weekly topic: online literature. THEY’RE STUDYING FANFICTION THIS WEEK. Granted it’s that shitty Harry Styles After one. I’d be interested in doing a census and see if people like this homework more or less than reading through a twenty page scholarly article. There are some people who have Wattpad open in this class but, unlike usual, they’re actually engaging with the lecture. I really like the way
Album review Bri Louise Pōneke based, Bri Louise, brings a calm gentleness to this Album; you can hear the smile in her voice and the love she has for those she sings about. With smooth jazz and R ‘n’ B notes, the Album was recorded live, with a ~20-piece support band/choir, giving it
The Beths – gig Review We’re in an old church-turned-music-venue, you can feel the lingering evangelical spirit whipping up the crowd into a holy fervour, worshiping the divine power that is The Beths. It’s hot as hell, packed to bursting with students and mid-30s day-one fans alike. My friends and I manage to push almost
Ingredients 1 cup lukewarm water 1 tablespoon of sugar 2 teaspoons active dry yeast 2 tablespoons olive oil (it wont explode if u use vegetable oil but it wont be as flavorful) 2 ½ – 3 cups standard four (for this recipe I eyeball it but its usually around 350gr) 1 teaspoon of salt Fresh rosemary Cherry tomatoes
As a third-year History major, I know fuck all about media. I took the subject in high school, but that was four years ago and I’m pretty certain we just watched movies. So, when I walked into a MEDIA100 tutorial at 2pm a few Fridays ago, I had absolutely no idea what
No: Logically, I can see why this would be an ideal option. However, the main thing that must be understood when it comes to an official language in New Zealand is that they are often made that way out of necessity. Te reo was banned from being spoke and by the 80s less than 20% of Māori considered te reo to be their native
Capricorn: – Capricorn of the month: Sophia Laforteza – We’re all in this together. Get your ass in gear and fix your sleep schedule. Your parents are worried. Aquarius: – Aquarius of the month: the Weekend – You’re a bad actor and a bad liar. No one is falling for it. Give it up while you’re ahead.
by Toby Brockelbank and Mykhaylo Tevkun Who are you and what’s your favourite skate trick?My name is Mykhaylo Tevkun—people call me Mike T. I’m the founder of Association Skateboarding Ukraine (@skateukraine), where I’ve been leading the charge for over a decade. I’ve got more than 20 years of experience as
Hind Rajab was five years old when she, after witnessing the killings of six of her family members, was herself murdered by members of the IDF on the 24th of January 2024. This – if anything – should have been the line; Hind’s story should have inspired some sort of
Swipe. Next reel. Swipe. Next Tik Tok. Again. Again. Again. Again. It never ends. The algorithm feeds you more. It gives you what you want. It gives you what you don’t want but can’t help but watch. It chooses, out of a million billion videos, what you watch next. And
This issue contains plenty of discussion on crime itself, its social and political foundation, and even its distortion into entertainment, but very little on its consequences. Aotearoa has 18 prisons. Under a Labour Government, our prison population dropped more than 25%, however under our right-wing coalition, has exceeded 10,000 inmates
Ever since I could remember, I’ve been a writer. It’s been in my blood since the first day I picked up a pen and discovered I could create whatever I wanted out of nothing but the ink, a random piece of paper, and whatever my imagination could possibly think to
The True Crime Fascination Morbid curiosity. On some level, we’re all guilty of it. You drive past a car crash and you’re watching to see if you can catch a glimpse of anything, you see a taped off crime scene swarming with cops and you walk a little slower past
Noah: A few mates making documentaries on things we’re interested in. Noah: Louis and I met at uni. Gryffin’s my cousin. Louis: We were all helping out at 95bFM and John Campbell came in one evening to give a talk. He told everyone off for only speaking with pundits, politicians
Let’s be honest: fan fiction is the internet’s wild, untamed jungle—a place where Harry Potter can fall in love with Draco Malfoy, Sherlock Holmes can solve crimes with Pikachu, and absolutely no one is safe from an unexpected vampire transformation or being human trafficked by their mother to a boyband.
Sarah: Semi-retired cosplayer The first time I ever cosplayed it was 2019, and I still cared about the MCU. I walked into Tauranga Armageddon in an incredibly hodgepodge crimson coat and bodice knowing full well that the cheap curtain fabric wasn’t particularly accurate to the Scarlet Witch costume I had tried
By Maya Trotman Nearly every evening I would be sitting on the couch with a heat pack on my stomach holding painkillers with a glass of water ready. One evening, the worst pain of my life arrived. I was in the bathroom, scared, because now I knew this wasn’t normal,
Prescription Abuse and The Pharmaceutical Black Market Unlike most of our writers who spend their time writing on Substack or Wattpad, turns out someone had a friend outside of our writer’s room. Some friends have different struggles to you, and some struggles have more stigma, consequences, and are harder, if
Destigmatising Desire and Navigating Consent Sexuality is a vast, colourful spectrum, and kinks, unconventional sexual interests or practices are a vibrant part of it. Yet, despite growing conversations about sex-positivity, many kinks remain shrouded in stigma, misunderstanding, or shame. Destigmatising kinks is not just about making sex more fun; it’s
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
Rating: 3/5 The Long Game by Rachel Reid is a deeply emotional and satisfying sequel that proves you too, can make it out of situationship territory. Reid takes the chemistry, humour, and devotion that made Heated Rivalry beloved and pushes the relationship into more complex territory, exploring the toll of secrecy, mental health struggles, and the
Rating: 2/5 Based on a series of books by Elle Kennedy, Off Campus is Prime’s newest sultry, hockey romance show that is guaranteed to fill the Heated Rivalry-shaped-hole in your heart. The show follows the unexpected romance between music major Hannah Wells and hockey captain Garrett Graham, weaving an entertaining web of friendship,
Rating: 5/5 I initially considered and was asked whether I wanted to review this game as part of my Revealing Reviews column. Truth be told, there is nothing more satirical I can write than the actual game itself. A sequel to the original Tomodachi Life game released by Nintendo in 2013, is
Rating: 1/5 Directed by Gore Verbinski, the 2016 movie A Cure For Wellness is arguably one of the more fucked up things I’ve ever seen, and that’s coming from a horror/thriller fanatic. The story follows Lockhart, a young businessman, who is sent to retrieve a CEO from a wellness retreat set inside a castle in the Swiss Alps. Lockhart’s task proves
Rating: -1/5 Brace yourselfs, spell check is OFF, Dignity is GONE and im Disylesic AF (hopefully someone makes it readable). so i picked up this book called Hairy Maclary from Donaldsons Dairy and straight away I knew I was in for something off We start with this scruffy little lad, Hairy Maclary (already sounds like a bloke
Rating: 4/5 Did anyone else do this constantly as a kid? And when is everyone going to admit that we – yes we, I know I’m not alone in this – still do so?? There are only two types of people in this world: people who pretend they’re manipulating the elements (or actually do… I believe you),
Rating: 3/5 Highly recommend. I find myself doing this all the time, and I have done so since I was a kid. Not only is it an imagination exercise, but it can be grounding and help you get to know yourself just a bit better! And let’s be real, who doesn’t like pretending to be
Rating: 5/5 Hamilton gardens are free! Wes free, and while you kinda need a car to get there, it is a pretty good spot to wander around pretending your degree still has a ROI. When people ask “what’s there to do in Hamilton” I often say the gardens are nice, having only been there twice
Rating: 2/5 As a girly with, now, thirteen tattoos, I have been in tattoo studios of all sorts. I have had tattoos done by apprentices, senior artists, drunk artists looking for a bit of fun, pop up market artists, and – as of recently – a very posh, incredibly professional, and extra expensive studio in Auckland
Rating: -3/5 Yung Lean’s new song is trite shit. Fantano was right. I knew this for sure when, lashed by the sun and staving off offerings of gear, I watched him & Bladee project themselves in AI Generated Dragonball Z style form at Laneway. Now, I can’t blame Lean for trying to divorce himself from shit he was making when
Rating: 5/5 William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy is a cautionary tale about what happens when a corporation is left dangerously unregulated. Set in the distant east, the book navigates the story of the British East India Company, a trading corporation accountable to only its shareholders, as it rises to overthrow one of the
Rating: 3/5 Pretty Lethal, the action thriller starring Uma Therman and Maddie Ziegler is pretty damn lethal to the eyes. The plot has great potential – five ballerinas travel to Istanbul but TRAGICALLY ARE TRAPPED IN A SCARY HOTEL. I’m sure you can see where this is going: 1. Someone important dies 2. The ballerinas freak out 3. All five
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
