Ana Samways

Auckland

Columnist at New Zealand Herald

Producer at Three

Writer at Sideswiped

Just a girl in a skirt on a power trip.

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Articles

Sideswiped: Feeling the Pinch

1 month ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

There are 156,000 New Zealanders looking for work. I am one of them. There is a fair bit of whakamā around this, especially when you were doing lush things for linear TV and your own long running column. I’d love to be a trad wife but I still need to earn enough coin to pay the struggling Australian banks my Auckland-sized mortgage. But this is not a pity party, I have some work copywriting for a large corporate client, but I need more hours.
Sideswipe: Prone and out of Wonder

1 month ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

Dogshit - very poor qualityBullshit - not trueHorseshit - nonsenseApeshit - rambunctiousBatshit - insaneChickenshit - cowardRatshit - poor qualityNo shit - obviouslyHoly shit - mindfblowingHot shit - very goodDipshit - dumbassTough shit - take it or leave itJack shit - nothingThe shit - perfectionHusband decided to mark wife’s birthday with an evening out in Blackpool, Lancashire.
Sideswiped

1 month ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

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Sideswipe: Wooing the lady vote

1 month ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

Hey National. This is not second term winning behaviour. It’s fuel for another bra burning. Remember the votes you drained from yourselves with ACT’s Treaty Bill? This will be the same. Soon you will only have middle-aged white blokes and landlords.
Sideswiped

1 month ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

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Sideswipe: Who wants to be a Trillionaire?

2 months ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

Cost Of Living Crisis Dinner: Treat the whanau to empty calories, delicious emulsifiers and nitrites. Liar, liar coalition on fire: @MusicalChairs14 explains why this ACT ad is bullshit… “The average weighted interest rate on NZ mortgages in October 2023 was 5.61%. It is now around 6.1%. Kiwis with mortgages are currently paying over $436m per week in interest. It was $381m in October 2023.”I don’t know about your hood, but For Sale signs are popping up all around ours.
Sideswiped

2 months ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

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Sideswiped: Take a long hot bath

2 months ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

Laconic and understated, this short spot is the West Coast’s "Find Your Cool" Campaign — part of the much maligned "Everyone Must Go" initiative, aiming to attract Australian visitors to the West Coast of New Zealand. Cue massive eyeroll. The filter, which was made available via CapCut allowed users to toggle between their current appearance and a digitally inflated version of themselves, with many pairing the effect with the song Anxiety by Doechii.
Sideswiped

2 months ago | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

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Sideswipe: Still Waiting

Mar 24, 2025 | sideswipedthesequel.substack.com | Ana Samways

No lived experience of poverty? No worries. Thrice married, 77 year-old former ACT leader Richard Prebble reckons our kids don’t need free food because more of them are fat than hungry. “…one in 10 children” is obese,” he offers, adding…”Only the loony left could think free food is the answer to obesity.”This is quickly followed up with the some-of-my-best-friends-are-poor qualifier. "I live in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in New Zealand.