Catherine Jeffcoat

We need to talk about racism – and if not now, when?

Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice! How many of you heard that reproach growing up. Sullen teenagers, you tried to stick up for your rights, object when some injustice was being forced upon you, or just emit a barbaric yawp when you felt your opinion or feelings weren’t being heard. But theContinue reading “We need to talk about racism – and if not now, when?”

Call to climate action

Yes, it is possible to forget fear and take real action against climate change – opinion piece for Stuff

Why I’m happy to go back to work

We all know that feeling. It starts maybe on the Saturday afternoon or the Sunday morning at the end of a holiday. At an unfeasibly early hour on Monday, the alarm is going to go off, summoning us back to our routine, which probably involves hours at a desk. And no matter what your job,Continue reading “Why I’m happy to go back to work”

The hairy-legged movie watcher

Sounds like Eight-Legged Freaks, right? Don’t worry, no spiders here. Over New Year’s I was hanging out with my three favourite movie buddies, and we were comparing notes on how many movies we had watched. I must be a rank amateur because I couldn’t count them up. So I’ve just started using Letterboxd to logContinue reading “The hairy-legged movie watcher”

Is New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child?

I worked with Andrew Becroft, Children’s Commissioner, and staff members at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, to bring this chapter together.