We're passing on the pints – but just how sober are we?
You've heard the stories, the hospitality sector in crisis, nobody's drinking anymore, on one hand hurrah, the world capital of binge drinking is growing up. On the other, oh dear. Nobody knows how to socialise anymore, Gen Z is condemned to pass through life listless singletons melting their brains with AI slop, rather than ethanol. The narratives are seductive, they probably reinforce our own individual biases to some degree - but what does the data tell us about how New Zealanders in this year 2026 are intoxicating themselves. The Spinoff's Henry Oliver, who writes The Bulletin, has broken…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.