Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudking has been watching COVID-themed heist movie Locked Down, and modern take on Oliver Twist; Twist.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mother’s Day Sticky buns This is one of the simplest and quickest sticky bun recipes I know and the buns are top notch. Makes 9 large buns Topping ½ cup brown sugar 3 big tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons maple syrup Filling 2 tablespoons butter ½ cup brown sugar 3 teaspoons mixed spice 1 cup walnut pieces Dough 3 tablespoons warm water 2 teaspoons instant yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 3 cups plain flour 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup plain yoghurt 1 large egg 100g butter, softened Preheat oven to 190 C. Line a 22x22cm baking tin with baking paper, making sure it comes up the sides. Melt brown sugar, butter and maple syrup and simmer for 1 minute. Pour half of this into the base of the lined tin. Make the dough by stirring the yeast and warm water together and leaving to froth for 5 minutes. While this happens whisk together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together frothy yeast mix, yoghurt and egg and pour this into the dry ingredients. Mix together - you can do this in a beater with a kneading attachment or with a knife - until combined. Add in butter, a tablespoon at a time and keep mixing until it’s incorporated. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to bring together. To assemble buns: Roll out dough to a 20x30 rectangle. Butter with softened butter then sprinkle over sugar, mixed spice and ¾ of the walnuts. Starting from the long side furthest away from you and roll up tightly, bringing it towards you. Use a sharp knife or, my preferred technique, dental floss or thread (see note) to cut into nine equal portions. Place in lined tin, evenly spaced to allow for expansion, cut side down. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove buns from oven and let settle for a few minutes before turning out onto a serving dish or board. Peel off paper to reveal the syrupy buns! To serve, top with remaining brown sugar, maple and butter mixture and sprinkle over remaining walnuts. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne's made a special purchase this week - and he's got a high-profile epidimiologist to thank for his new personal style. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He’s only been in the job three months but once again this week Joe Biden showed why he might actually accomplish more change than any President in decades. Biden spoke out against the big pharmaceutical industry that for so long has weilded massive lobbying power in U.S politics. When it comes to the Covid-19 vaccines, Biden said, intellectual property rights should be waived. If the WTO agrees with Biden, all manner of vaccine producers will be able to take up production to help out the parts of the World that aren’t as lucky as the increasingly-vaccinated US.And yes, you can be cynical about the whole exercise. It’s true that Biden is only making the call now that the US is well into its vaccination programme. A truly moral response might have ensured the likes of Delhi and Mumbai were vaccinated well before Chicago or Miami. But Joe Biden’s first few months in the gig have been far more successful than many of us imagined they could possibly be. He’s been brave, at times. He’s been strategic. He’s picked fights he can win and kept out of the fights he can’t.His massive $US1.9 trillion economic stimulus package has already been enacted and enjoys the support of a majority of Americans. His family and infrastructure plans, which would cost about $US6 trillion, are also really popular. But because Donald Trump didn’t give a toss about the deficit and only a few months ago mailed out checks to the whole country, Biden’s massive spending plans don’t seem so controversial. How’s he going to pay for it? Biden plans to crack down on the big American corporates that have been using offshore tax havens to avoid paying their share. What average American voter could possibly have a problem with that? Despite the rich relationship history of Biden’s foot and Biden’s mouth, in his first three months in the Oval Office he hasn’t made a major gaff. He’s back in the Paris Climate Accord. He’s introduced a no-Twitter policy for his advisors and they’ve managed to keep clear of the culture wars that have consumed so many of his political colleagues over the last few years. He’s walked a careful and delicate line on police brutality and race relations. Some of his gun reform laws, which would impact gun producers rather than gun owners, are particularly cunning.And I reckon there are two other significant reasons fo Biden’s success: The first is the stark contrast with his predecessor. Who could honestly argue that these few months in the U.S haven’t been a whole lot less politically stressful than at any time during Trump’s Presidency? Biden’s reforms sound boring compared to the daily outrage from Trump’s office, but if you look closely, some of them have the potential to signficiantly change American society. The second reason is perhaps even more significant. Biden is governing like a man who doesn’t have to worry about a re-election campaign. Will he run again in four years? Maybe. But probably not. Usually Presidents are at their most powerful in the first half of their first term, before the mid-term elections erode their power in Congress. But any desire to tackle the big stuff is tempered by the fact they want to get a second term. Biden doesn’t look like he has those concerns. Imagine a World where every leader made decisions with the same freedom: Stuff the polls. Stuff the focus groups. One term to make a difference and that’s it. Biden can afford to take risks and push the limits. Who would have thought that a Joe Biden Presidency could feel so incredibly refreshing?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Land and Kiwi documentary James and Isey.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book reiewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keffe.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fruit trees for the smaller garden (and balcony!) With the tinyfication of backyards, sections and driveways there is often no room for a grand-old apple tree, or grapefruit tree, let alone a majestic pear tree or Plum. Which is why many growers designed the dwarf varieties in apples, plums/nectarines/peaches and other types of fruit trees. These trees are grafted on normal rootstock, giving the tree a good spread of roots underground; but it is the dwarf varieties that limit their own growth. It keeps them small and dense/compact in growth habit, saving heaps of space. Another way to achieve this is by growing “normal” varieties on dwarfing rootstock. Yes, that rootstock inhibits the normally expansive growth of the fruit tree. Some of these dwarfing rootstocks really limit heights to a few meters only, making it easy to pick the fruit at harvest. Oh, by the way: the fruit is normal size! We often had “Flying Dragon” rootstock under our lemons and mandarins – that’s been around for ages! The two methods described allow you to have a dwarf tree on your balcony too! The grafted trees can easily sustain themselves in large pots (think half wine-barrel size) as long as they are planted in good quality container mixes. I think it pays to add some mineral soil (loam) in there, amongst all the good, dark organic matter (compost). The mineral soil gives the mix a better structure. One thing to look out for is regular watering, as potted or containerised plants/trees are much more prone to drying out. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a “normal” tree that you can restrict in growth when you plant it in the garden, without having to prune the living daylights out of it twice a year? Well you can! “Bonsai it” If you can restrict the roots of a tree, it will become dwarfed – think of how Chinese and Japanese garden masters have been doing “bonsai” for thousands of years! (they prune the roots every year or so and re-plant their babies back into the mix). We now have bags that restrict root growth (“root control bags”). Plant your fruit tree in such a bag and dig the whole lot (Bag, mix, and tree) in your garden. You basically treat it like a normal tree in terms of watering, fertilisers etc. It’ll grow and produce fruits, but it will stay a lot smaller! Remember to utterly prepare your soil before planting any tree. Make sure the planting hole doesn’t run full of water that gets stagnant – it will rot your roots. Make it therefore well-draining, perhaps raise it slightly above the ground level. Good soil mix with some loam and lots of organic matter will support your tree for a long time. NEXT WEEK we carry on with these space saving ideas. We might even achieve a three-apple-varieties-in-one-pot system for the 16th floor.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richly blessed with world-beating nature trails, my first dose of outdoorsy soft adventure was on New Plymouth’s universally feted Coastal Walkway, the envy of many a New Zealand town. It was the perfect balmy autumn’s evening, and the shoreline trail was a hot ticket, with hundreds of folk lustily embracing a twilight stroll, as the slanting light of day’s end gilds the shoreline.The award-winning path which skims the Tasman Sea for 13km, not only offers celestial coastal vistas and world-class surf breaks, but is crowned with some compellingly large works of art. Keep walking north of the city to encounter the dramatic wave-like Te Rewa Rewa Bridge (freshly repainted), while Len Lye’s iconic breeze-bending kinetic sculpture, the Wind Wand, remains a much-adored city landmark.A botanical oasis at any time of year is the time-honoured sanctuary of Pukekura Park. Previously, I’ve savoured the city’s annual illuminated extravaganza, the TSB Festival of Lights, which transforms the park into a spangled wonderland. Transcending the summer holidays, Pukekura Park comes alive after dark with theatrical lighting installations and ingenious artworks.But regardless of the time of year, this inner-city paradise boasts exquisitely landscaped gardens, the lustrous Fountain Lake and a staggering variety of native and exotic plant collections. Change it up with an anecdote-rich guided tour to ensure you don’t miss the park’s star specimens and hidden gems, like the 2000 year old Puriri tree, the oldest hospital still standing in New Zealand, and a major film location for Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai.Ever since our pioneering days, Taranaki has been nicknamed the Garden of New Zealand and I revelled in some of the region’s botanical stars, including Tūpare. Nearly 80 years old, the restored Chapman-Taylor Arts & Crafts homestead and garden is a stately sight to behold. Sculpted from a hillside overlooking the Waiwhakaiho River, walk the winding paths cut into the hillside for sigh-inducing vistas and intimate garden rooms.Grand coniferous trees such as dawn redwoods, kauri, rimu and giant redwoods set the framework for the garden. They are supported by beautiful deciduous specimens such as the dove trees, tulip trees and liquidambars – the autumn show at Tūpare is very special. Smaller trees, typically maples and magnolias, are favoured alongside rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and hydrangeas, all carefully planted by Sir Russell Matthews in 1932.Further afield, in the shadow of Taranaki Maunga, Hollard Gardens is a botanical bucket-lister, a Garden of National Significance that was established in 1927 by Bernie and Rose Hollard, now in public ownership. Bernie believed that the best plants were the ones worth waiting for. The plant that he bred and was well known for was the Rhododendron Kaponga which took 12 years to flower.The gardens remain an abiding legacy of almost a lifetime of tireless work by a private individual. It is a quintessential woodland garden, a joy to leisurely free-roam. Head gardener, Shannon, led me around its finest features, from the mature and intimate Old Garden to the buzzing diversity of the New Gardens. Hollard has recently been accentuated by the wonderfully popular family corner, complete with playground, free barbeques and kitchenette.Just east of Eltham, I ventured to the barnstorming conservation success story at Lake Rotokare. Home to the Lake Rotokare Scenic Reserve, this sublime 230 hectare predator-free environment is a cradle of native and endangered flora and fauna. It is the largest lake and wetland protected by a ring fence, which was constructed in 2008. (Rotokare translates as “rippling water.”) Alongside the8km long fence, their pest-trapping programme has eradicated 12 million mammals, allowing 9 threatened species to be reintroduced to the sanctuary.They include the North Island brown kiwi, North Island saddleback, North Island...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reuse, Reduce, Rethink, Recycle. Recycle is at the bottom of the chain as there are much better ways for cutting down on waste. But when we do recycle then let’s do it well. Different councils have slightly different rules. Often smaller councils don’t have the infrastructure to handle some products. In the bottom of South Island, they find it’s not worth shipping glass all the way to Auckland. Unless they pay the extra, it is use as aggregate in roading material or capping dumps. It can even be ground right to back to sand. Same with the tetra pack family of containers, only big councils have the gear to recycle these which are then sent overseas to be processed. What do we recycle easily? Plastic bottles, containers, and clear food containers 1 to 7. 1: PET plastics, soft drink bottles the most famous. These are recycled in NZ. The clear ones can be made in to anything. Coloured ones are less useful. They can be made into clothing , polyester etc. 2: HDPE, bathroom and laundry products. Slightly cloudy variety, often in milk bottles, is the most valuable. As soon as colour is added then these have more limited use. Ecostore uses recycled and carbon capture sugar based HDPE for its range. 3-7: Less wanted, often baled and exported or even sent to landfill for PVC and 7’s All bio plastics, unless going to a specialist collection, goes to landfill. Soft plastic This can only be recycled at soft plastic recycling stores, never in the recycling bin. Auto equipment means plastic bags gets wrapped around gear and workers have to go in with angle grinders to fix this every day. Aluminium and glass Can be recycled infinite times because they are pure elements, aluminium and silica. Steel cans are also fine. Paper Products like mail, newspaper and magazines, paper and cardboard packaging and egg cartons. Keep these out of your recycling Plastic bags, food and garden waste, hazardous waste and chemicals , polystyrene trays and packaging, coffee cups, batteries, nappies, clothing window glass, mirrors or light bulbs, cookware, electrical items, building waste and off course medical waste. You need to think of the workers and machines that are sorting this stuff. Stuff you have sorted already into plastic bags, and put the whole thing in the bin will go straight to landfill because no one wants to puts their hands into these. Washing containers is important. Make sure they’re empty of liquid or residue. Rinsed out but not spotless - just clean enough for optical sorters so they know which type of plastic it is. Pizza boxes: a bit of grease is okay, a few crumbs is alright - but masses of cheese no good. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dozens of patients who spend at least 12 hours a week hooked up to a life-saving machine are devastated Greenlane Hospital's renal unit is closing.For them it's a "safe haven" and a lifeline.Instead, the majority of these dialysis patients say they will have to travel further to Kereru Kidney Centre in Glen Innes - a $7 million Auckland District Health Board 12-year project opening later in the year.While the DHB says the Greenlane clinical centre is no longer fit for purpose, many patients spoken to by the Herald were heartbroken, with one saying "it sucks, for me time is precious".Patients who need dialysis treatment have entered the end stage of kidney disease and nearly all their kidney function is lost.A letter to the DHB, signed by 35 patients and seen by the Herald, said: "We have no issues with building more dialysis capacity but this is NOT achieving that, at HUGE cost."Greenlane unit needs to be kept operating as it also offers good dialysis plus proximity for the people who rely on its services."Auckland DHB director of adult medical, Barry Snow, told the Herald it was a priority for the DHB that the people in the Auckland central catchment had access to dialysis care that was close to home and in a unit that was fit for purpose."We are replacing the Greenlane Clinical Centre dialysis unit as it is no longer fit for purpose and we have been told by our patients that they wanted their care closer to home."The Herald was told by a source the decision to open Kereru Kidney Centre was based on a 2011 survey which showed 25 out of 38 patients lived closer to Glen Innes but that was no longer the case. Now, 10 years later, the majority of patients live closer to Greenlane.When the Herald put this to Snow he said: "We've positioned the new unit where there is higher need. Our mapping shows that the majority of Greenlane patients live within a short drive of Glen Innes, and the majority of those who don't, live within a short drive to Pt Chevalier."In response to patient concerns about potentially waiting longer due to capacity, Snow said the DHB was not expecting this."There will be one patient to one machine on each shift, the time available on each machine will be same and the staff-to-patient ratio will remain the same."Patients who used Greenlane would also have the option of using Carrington dialysis unit in Pt Chevalier.Nora van Der Schrieck, chief executive of Kidney Society Auckland, said she really felt for these Greenlane patients because it would affect them the most."Some patients won't get the benefit that others will and I can understand it because my own husband was on dialysis for many years and I know what it means to be shifted around and to have things change when you are doing well the way things are."When they move they are likely to come across different staff so it's a big, big change, so I absolutely sympathise with them."But she credited the DHB, saying it had done "a superb job"."The project had involved more consultation with patients than I have seen with any other DHB."It's unclear what would happen to the Greenlane unit.Snow said the DHB understood that a change in location was an adjustment for many patients and it sympathised with them."We will be providing support to help them on this transition."Meanwhile, dialysis care across New Zealand continues to be a "postcode lottery".For example, Whanganui dialysis patients have to travel 75km to Palmerston North at least three times a week to be hooked up to a machine for hours on end.Our resident doctor Dr Bryan Betty has been giving Jack the lowdown on kidney disease.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About a year ago, internationally renowned fashion blogger Garance Dore’s travels suddenly stopped. Nothing unusual about that, except the French-born and usually US-based writer happened to be in New Zealand at the time. Garance is a photographer, illustrator and author, who’s worked with everyone who is anyone in the fashion world. The New York Times once described her as the "guardian of all style". She’s loved her new pace of life here so much that she’s stayed - and is about to do a show at the Auckland Writers’ festival. She's been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First there were Lime Scooters, now there are Lime Mopeds After a successful launch in Washington DC, Lime is starting the rollout of electric mopeds in New York City. They are bright green, parked on the street, and ready to ride with just a click of an app. They work just like a Lime Scooter charging an unlock fee plus a ride per minute fee. There is a helmet locked in the back for riders to wear - and you need to submit a photo of yourself wearing the helmet before you can start. When you sign up for the service you also need to take a rider safety course and submit your drivers license for verification. Electric mopeds are already super popular in NYC. They launched a couple of years ago by a startup called Revel. Lime will be the second provider. Microsoft Word is changing its default font But to what.. you can help decide. Calibri took over from Times New Roman in 2007 but now it's time for something new. Microsoft has commissioned five new fonts - which are available now in Office 365 for you to try. So will it be an industrial style typeface, a serif, a sans-serif, something more contemporary, or traditional? The default won't change until the launch of Office 2022. Amazon is crushing it What pandemic? They just released their Q1 results and they're 44% up on last year with net-sales. Profits have gone from $2.5 billion this time last year, to $8.1 billion in Q1 of this year. Amazon Prime has 200 million members. My Robinhood stocks app has Amazon as a 96% buy rating, 4% hold. That would suggest analysts think there is a LOT more potential for growth yet. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amazon's profits more than tripled in the first quarter of 2021, as the pandemic continued to boost its online retail, cloud and advertising businesses.The tech giant on Thursday reported a whopping $8.1 billion in quarterly net income, up 224% from the same period in the prior year, crushing Wall Street analysts' prediction of $4.98 billion. Earnings hit $15.79 per diluted share.Total net sales from the quarter grew 44% from the year-ago period to $108.5 billion, also beating the $104.5 billion analysts had projected.Amazon (AMZN) shares spiked as much as 4% in after-hours trading."Amazon has the almost perfect business for the world right now," James Harris, global chief strategy officer at Mindshare Worldwide, said in an email following the report. "The world's leading e-commerce platform, a growing cloud business and a smaller but growing advertising capability all working in unison. It's a compelling offer."The company's cloud unit and biggest money maker, Amazon Web Services, posted net sales of $13.5 billion during the quarter, up 32% year-over-year. That's an acceleration in growth from the prior quarter as more companies adopt the technology to help manage hybrid workforces.Among the other highlights from the quarter: Amazon now has more than 200 million paid Prime subscribers and streaming hours on Prime Video are up more than 70% year-over-year.Despite a tough year-over-year comparison because of the surge in demand the pandemic caused in 2020, Amazon still expects net sales between $110 and $116 billion, up 24% to 30% from the same period in the prior year, during the second quarter of 2021. That's assuming that its annual Prime Day event occurs during the quarter as normal.On Wednesday, the day before the earnings report, Amazon announced it would spend $1 billion to raise wages for more than 500,000 hourly workers by as much as $3 an hour as it continues its hiring push that has elevated its global workforce beyond 1.3 million people globally. The company will not, however, increase its $15 per hour minimum wage.Earlier in the first quarter, Amazon faced a landmark union drive at a warehouse in Alabama that drew intense scrutiny to its labor practices. Despite popular support from celebrities and even US President Joe Biden, the union vote was unsuccessful.The latter part of this year will bring a major leadership shakeup at the company, as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos steps down from his role as chief executive, to be replaced by current Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy, and the cloud unit gets a new leader.Today, a share in the company costs about $US3,500. Back in 1998, when they were just $US18, a man called Colin Bryar joined Amazon in the Senior Leadership Team, becoming Jeff Bezos’ “Chief of Staff” aka “Jeff’s shadow”. After 12 years, he left Amazon, and with colleague Bill Carr set up business coaching company Working Backwards. They’ve now written a book of the same name, and Colin's been speaking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Screen Queen Tara Ward has some TV picks for your weekend. Life in Colour with David Attenborough: Using the latest camera technology, David Attenborough’s latest nature documentary reveals the extraordinary ways in which animals use colour: to win a mate, to fight off rivals and to warn enemies (Netflix). Waiata / Anthems: A new short documentary series about iconic musical artists from Aotearoa who translate and record their songs in te reo Māori, sharing untold stories of fear and discovery along the way. Featuring Drax Project, Katchafire’s Logan Bell, Bic Runga, Che Fu, MELODOWNZ, Annie Crummer, Hollie Smith and Don McGlashan, each episode tracks the artists path through the origin of the song to its translation and meaning, exploring how it came to be. Each episode ends with a powerful live performance. (TVNZ OnDemand) RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under: Start your engines Aotearoa and may the best queen win! 10 queens from across Australia and New Zealand with the most charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent have been selected to compete in the first ever RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under (TVNZ 2 & TVNZ OnDemand, from Saturday) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne's spent a bit of time at the panel beater recently - and he reckons a good proportion of car accidents are caused by drivers who're using their phones. The fines have been upped this week, but could they go higher?LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m broadcasting to you from Wellington this morning. I was here celebrating with my colleagues last night for the Press Gallery’s 150th anniversary celebration. I was very well-behaved but I’m not totally sure that can be said of all of my colleagues.I was listening to Tix Roxburgh on talkback a couple of weeks ago. The subject was the National Party leadership, and a lovely caller rang up and offered up Tim a suggestion for who might make a good adversary for Jacinda Ardern in the next election. She was clearly a listener of fine taste and significant intelligence, and Tim handled her suggestion with perfect broadcasting poise. If you want to beat Jacinda Ardern, she said, there’s only one person for it. Jack Tame.I must admit, I felt a little flattered. Although, ruefully I note the suggestion hasn’t had a great deal of pick up or support, either on talkback or amongst my drunken colleagues at the Press Gallery bash.Nonetheless, in light of the National Party’s review into its devastating election loss, and in light of Judith Collins’ hard turn towards lazy race-baiting this week.I’m going to close my eyes and pretend that caller was right; imagine myself as leader of the National Party and offer a little advice to my colleagues as we make our way forward.First of all, forget the anti-Maori separatist stuff. As tempting as it when you’re seeking relevancy and frantically clutching at thin air... don’t fall for that tired race-baiting messaging. It’s lazy. It’s cheap. It’s desperate. You lost the last election because you lost the middle. You lost moderate voters. They aren’t the kind of people who are going to immediately switch back if you take extreme positions on anything. Second of all, focus on a consistent, coherent message. In the lead up to the election last year, it was sometimes impossible to know where the National Party stood on the pandemic response. Should we open up or close down our borders? Lockdowns or no lockdowns? It’s similar with other issues now. Take some of those Maori issues - National will run in the Maori seats but opposes the legislation around Maori local boards. National established Whanau Ora but calls a Maori Health Agency a separatist institution. It’s inconsistent. It’s incoherent. People have got to know what you stand for.I’ve got to say over the last six months, I think a couple of National MPs have excelled in this area. For me, Chris Bishop has probably been the standout National MP. His efforts on the Covid portfolio have been constructive. His criticisms have been reasonable. Above all... his messaging is largely coherent. His colleagues would do well to follow his lead.My third and final piece of advice is just wait. Hold your horses. Exercise a little patience and a little discipline. You don’t need to be at 40% in the polls right now. You don’t need to be concerned with leadership. What you need is for your MPs to go away and work on policy, and wait for Labour to make mistakes.This government hasn’t yet demonstrated the capacity to deliver on its promises. There will be scandals and failures. There will be opportunities.These are not exciting or sexy recommendations. But if you can show you are a cohesive and disciplined centrist party, with a coherent message, and not one that barks at every car or desperately says inflammatory things to try get in the headlines. I think you will be well-positioned to contest the next election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Churchill and Son by Josh Ireland, and The Castaways by Lucy Clarke.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

British indie-pop band London Grammar are planning to play Vector Arena in March next year. If you want to take a listen and get on board the hype around a real-life international act playing at Vector, their new album is California Hil, and our music reviewer Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been talking about caring for your parents - and the impact that can have on your other relationships. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike Yardley has been sharing his tips for the best way to go free-roaming South Taranaki. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The IRD's sent a warning shot to influencers - you could be liable to pay tax on your freebies. Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been looking into who might be at risk. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winter crops need planting There’s still some warmth in soil so it’s a good time to get planting. If you are in south, maybe get some punnets, rather than sowing seed. Brassicas do well in winter: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, (Chinese cabbage for stir-fries) Brussels sprouts (but hurry!); these crops will stay “cool” and can be harvested during winter. Fabiaceae – a science word for beans and peas… Peas are good to grow now – harvest them when your conditions have allowed them to set fecund pods.Broadbeans are an acquired taste (I think) but autumn planting will allow them to be ripe in spring. Spinach (the real spinach, as discussed a few weeks ago) and silverbeet are also good to plant right now. But my favourite winter crop (and one that goes on to well into Summer 2022!!) is the “Perpetual Spinach” that looks like a silverbeet but is a lot milder and not so crunchie. This goes well into my favourite rice dishes (in the oven): Cook your rice; fry onion and mince (or bacon – or shrimps – or bits of steak) mix it into your rice. Then chop up raw perpetual spinach a dash of sweet chilli sauce, and work it all in a large ceramic pot (covered with lid) with parmesan cheese; whack in the oven at 180 degrees for an hour, while you open a beer or two. Beetroot is another one that will grow slowly in winter without bolting - plant them now. And because I still cannot let go of summer “greens”, I will continue planting a 6-pack (or 9-pack) of Cos lettuce in a sheltered place every now and then, to keep supply going. The same goes for Coriander. To be frank: this brilliant stir-fry green doesn’t really like our Canterbury heat at all (it bolts like the proverbial), but grows well in cooler temperatures. I always get a flurry of queries when mentioning asparagus. If you are really committed to growing asparagus then perhaps now is a good time to start working on a permanent asparagus bed – honestly: a few days’ work will get you at least 20 years of crop and the joy of cutting asparagus every spring. Select a suitable site: in sunny position on great soil. If you haven’t got great soil, raise the bed (at least 30 cm) and fill with weed-free topsoil, mixed with organic matter (compost). Begin the project now and get your plants (roots) when they show up in shops in July. Weed-free is the key and so is “well-drained”. Start work now and I’ll give you a picture that you can look forward to for decades. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apple's launched a brand new product: AirTag If you lose things, or want some added peace of mind, then Apple's AirTag is for you. It's a small tracking device you can attach to your things so if they get lost you can locate them. You can use the FindMy app to make it play a sound, or you can use your phone to direct you to the Tag. The Tag sends out a beacon via bluetooth and an arrow appears on your phone directing you to the object. The magic feature though is when the item is far away from you, outside of bluetooth range. If someone else's iPhone detects the beacon, it'll use their connection to send you the location. So imagine you leave your backpack at a bar, then a patron's iPhone would anonymously connect to the Tag and you can see your bag's location on a map. The battery should last about a year and is user replaceable. Of course it wouldn't be an Apple product if you didn't need to buy an accessory! There is no way to attach it to something without an accessory - it doesn't have a loop. Could someone use an AirTag to track you? Yes, but there are safeguards built in. If your iPhone detects that an AirTag is moving with you it will send you an alert.. but that doesn't help Android users. From the mockup of the app, you'll be able to make that AirTag play a sound to help you locate it. If it's been away from its owner for three days, it'll start making a sound on its own. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tara Ward's got some TV picks for your weekend. Mare of Easttown: Kate Winslet stars in this gritty drama about a detective from Pennsylvania who tries her best to prevent her life from falling apart while investigating a mysterious murder (Neon). Creamerie: A darkly funny dystopian New Zealand series set eight years after a plague has killed all men, and where three women who run a dairy farm accidentally run over the last surviving male human on the planet (TVNZ OnDemand). Starstruck: The brand new six-part romcom created, written by and starring Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian, writer and actor Rose Matafeo kicks off this week on TVNZ. Starstruck follows Jessie (Rose Matafeo), a millennial living in East London juggling two dead end jobs when she discovers the complications of accidentally sleeping with a famous film star (from Wednesday 28 April, TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comedian Chris Parker spent 2020 getting famous in the most 2020 way possible: making vidoes about life in lockdown and posting them to instagram. Specifically he learned to felt, made characters like Ashley Bloomfield, and pulled them together into a hat .. while tens of thousands of people watched along online. The hat was later sold to the Auckland museum. But it wasn’t all felting and Covid. On his Instagram page he perfectly captured the weird and wonderful about last year, with viral sketches about modern life from pay wave to why everyone suddenly owns a cavoodle. He’s created a show around his felting "This is how I felt" and it’s part of this year’s Comedy Festival. Chris has been in studio with Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GORGEOUS GREEK SWEET CHEESE PIES This recipe is inspired by the Greek tradition of using soft, fresh cheeses in sweet pastries – in fact it was the way I started every morning when I travelled in Crete, along with a puddle of very strong coffee. Bliss. These are perfect for brunch, dessert or for party nibbles. Makes 6 small pastries 3 sheets filo pastry 100g feta 50g cream cheese 3 Tb caster sugar 1/2 egg, beaten lightly 30g butter, melted 2 TB Honey Zest from one lemon or orange Heat oven to 180 C. Mix together the feta, cream cheese, caster sugar and egg in a food processor. Pulse until just blended but still with little lumps of feta as these provide creamy, salty bursts of flavour in the end result. Cut each sheet of filo down the middle, lengthwise, so that you have rectangles with the short edges at the top and bottom. Assemble the parcels one at a time by brushing the pastry with butter then dolloping two tablespoons of the cheese mixture onto the pastry, then rolling/folding the parcel, tucking in the edges, until you have a snug parcel. Place on a tray. Brush the top with butter. Work quickly if you can, as filo dries out when left exposed to the air for too long. Bake the parcels for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Serve drizzled in warmed honey. Eat warm. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Eddie Izzard's war thriller Six Minutes to Midnight and Netflix movie Stowaway.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne's been watching coverage of Prince Philip's funeral, and he's unimpressed at the attempts to lip read Princes Harry and William's reunion. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was the 81st minute. A dewy-looking night in the ‘Tron and the Chiefs were behind by one point. They had posession at about halfway. The Hurricanes defended desperately. Penalty Chiefs. One last play. One last kick. 45 metres. A game of Super Rugby to be decided by Damien McKenzie’s boot. If you were watching last night or listening to Nige... you’ll know what happened next. McKenzie did his trade mark little set up. He leaned forward, gave that slow turned-up little grin. He stepped up, and he slotted it. You didn’t need to wait for touch judges to lift their flags... the crowd told you everything you needed to know. Damien McKenzie slotted it. The Chiefs, at home, were victorious.It’s hard to keep up, but by my count it was at least the fourth or fifth time in the last few weeks where a Super Rugby game was decided in the last seconds of the game. A fortnight ago we had two golden-point deciders in one weekend, including another Damien McKenzie clutch play. Last weekend, the Crusaders went down to the Chiefs in the narrowest fashion – it was anyone’s game until the final whistle. Maybe with one or two exceptions, you feel at this stage of the competition that almost any of the five teams could quite reasonably be expected to beat any of the other five teams.And I just want to pause and acknowledge how refreshing that is. I often start my show on Saturday mornings by having a big whinge or a bleat about something, and we in the media spend heaps of time beating up on aspects of professional sport. So here I am. Mr Positivity. I think Super Rugby Aotearoa is once again proving itself to be a really refreshing, engaging, and exciting competition. The contests are tight. It’s stylish, attractive rugby... and best of all... there are only two games every weekend!It makes an interesting little study in contrast to consider Super Rugby Aotearoa competition and this week’s disastrous proposed Super League for European Football. Sometimes the best product, at least from a fan’s perspective, is not the format or competition that is going to make the most money.Who knows what we’ll go back to at the end of the pandemic. It’s great to think we might have a proper Pacific team, but there will be all sorts of financial incentives I’m sure to have teams jetting off everywhere. Beats me what the future of the game is in Australia.But as the Rugby Players Union and New Zealand Rugby continue to duke it out over the proposed Silver Lake private equity deal, I just think there are some basic lessons from Super Rugby Aotearoa that are worth keeping in mind in the future. For starters, less is more! I don’t want to be bombarded by games and teams with players I’ve never heard of. The Super Rugby Aotearoa format actually makes for a better competition than any other Super Rugby competition in years. You feel connected to the teams. It mightn’t be worth nearly as much money. But as a fan, come kickoff, I for one feel much more inclined to turn on the TV.Last night after Damien McKenzie slotted the winner, he was swamped by his teammates, and his captain Brad Webber was interviewed on the sideline about the last second win. “We’ve gotta stop doing that.” He said, smiling. “It’s not good for my heart!” he said. Maybe not. But it’s gotta be good for the game.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listen to The Offspring’s first album in over a decade: Let the Bad times Roll.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting rid of E-waste Oh, we love our phone and laptops, our toasters, blenders, vacuums, hairdryers, smoke detectors and everything that plugs in. We couldn’t live life without them! They unfortunately aren’t necessarily made to last a long time, and at the end of their lives they are all e-waste - you can’t put any of these in your recycling and shouldn’t put them in your normal rubbish. This is obvious with the larger items like TVs and washing machines , but smaller items need careful disposal as well. We are looking at around 80,000 tonnes of e-waste generated each year and only about two percent is recycled. This is one of the highest per capita amounts in the world. Also New Zealand is one of the only countries in the OEDC without a national e-waste scheme. The Ministry for the Environment has an initiative to create a product stewardship process for electronic waste, with results expected later this year. The insides of electronics are full of toxic materials. A Cathode Ray tube TV or monitor may contain up to 3kg of lead. With the rise of technology, we are seeing more fires from Lithium-Ion batteries. When these get compacted in the rubbish or recycling truck, the casing breaks, and the battery mixes with whatever else is in the truck. The same thing can happen with car parts or gas canisters from barbeques. This puts everyone including the fire service in danger. But electronics are also full of treasure, the rare metals that products and the new generation batteries need. Specialty recyclers are growing their capacity to take electronic waste in New Zealand. There are lots of places that are eager to get your computer or TV screen, refurbish it, and pass it on to a small business, school, or charity in need. They help keep these materials out of landfill, which also lessens the demand for new rare earth materials. Items that can no longer be re-used are dismantled by recycling technicians. The components are separated and graded as either general scrap metals or e-scrap. All e-scrap is exported under Environmental Protection Agency permits to facilities in Asia and Europe to be return into base elements to be used again. The other way to look at this issue is through product guardianship. In a circular economy there is no waste. So products are designed so that the manufacturers will welcome them back for the valuable components inside. This philosophy would completely change how we design our products. Some European countries are looking at only ever renting out large appliances, then the companies know they will take them back and make sure they are useful when they return. Auckland-based company Computer Recycling is hosting 30+ e-waste drop-off days around the city in 2021, providing opportunities for locals to divert their e-waste from ending up in local landfills including one today (Saturday 17 April). Computer Recyclingis working with neighbourhood group to facilitate over 30 of these collection days – dubbed “CR E-days”. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Crocodile Hunter by Gerald Seymour and Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been playing tourist in Auckland. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lawns and their problems Autumn time is a great time to work on “lawns”. This is the best time to “sow” a new lawn, after totally spraying the old grasses and weeds, leaving nothing but a bare soil. Of course you can also get yourself a series of rolled-up turf mats (ready-lawn) or, as I noticed some school principals prefer, create an “all weather” playing field from artificial grass. Spare me! My definition of a lawn is a place where you can walk from one end of the garden to the other – a pathway, low growing and easy to maintain. It can have flowers and lots of perennials; the kids can play there and birds graze the grubs from under the roots. It certainly should not be a monoculture of grass plants – trimmed to an inch of their life and meticulously cut along the edges... You’ve got it: I really am not impressed with lawns: few ecosystem services and very low biodiversity. I prefer a prairie, where different plants come to flowering fruition – a meadow of wild flowers with lots of perennials, carrying pollen and nectar and fibre for nests plus seeds for any animal that desires those seeds. There will be toadstools and puffballs, mycorrhizal fungi and mosses. Now, look at that list! Most people ask me how to destroy those elements in their lawn! Monocultures are usually not very resilient – you’d struggle to keep such a monoculture going in Nature! Nature prefers a Biodiverse make up – it thrives on diversity. Perennials are plants that survive year after year – that makes sense in terms of “investment”; grasses are perennials too. Flowers feed a lot of organisms and they also create organic matter, made from carbon that came out of the air, that will enrich the soil. The thatch is therefore not a problem but a God-send. Mosses grow as the pH lowers. They are miniature forests in which an enormous range of caterpillars, millipedes, beetles and flies as well as mites and predators, parasites and other beneficial critters do their brilliant jobs. Moss in lawns is not really a “problem”. The toadstools, puffballs and fungi indicate there’s a job to do to convert dead organic matter into deposits of slow-release fertilisers in the soil. Those circles of mushrooms in your lawn tell you there are still a lot of dead old roots down below that need to be composted in situ! Many lawn-owners ring me to ask how to exterminate those fungi! The amount of selective weed-killers sprayed on lawns appears to be quite alarming too. The good news is: Now is also the best time to sow a complete wildflower meadow at your place. When it is a few months old, you can literally mow a pathway through your prairie, allowing you to walk from one end to the other. And design it exactly like nature would, with the flowing tracks of animals (not in a straight line). Try it – You’ll like it! LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob Campbell has a Sav recommendation for the weekend, the Stoneleigh 2020 Latitude Sauvignon Blanc $19.99.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Microsoft's Edge browser is rolling out a kids edition If you share your laptop or desktop with a younger family member, now you can force the browser into a kids mode so they can only visit approved sites. The Windows version locks the browser so it's the only thing the kid can access. It comes with an 'allowed' list of 70 popular kids sites which you can modify. If they try to visit a site not on the list, the adult can approve that site with their password. It also forces kids into a safer version of Bing search. Netflix has made kids updates too It's trying to make the experience more visual - coz not all kids can read! The interface adds additional images of characters around the show art to help kids better identify what they want to watch. Spotify introduces the 'Car Thing' It's called a thing because it's a new kind of device.. it's a car screen or a car interface designed for cars that don't have the latest and greatest in connectivity options. Basically you connect it to your phone through Bluetooth - that's how it connects to the internet - then connect your phone to your car using Bluetooth or an auxiliary cable. The idea is your can put your phone away and just use this Spotify Car Thing to control your music. It's got a giant knob on the right hand side, and four physical buttons on the top to preset your favorite playlists, albums or podcast. It's got a dedicated mute button too. It responds to your voice too, using "Hey Spotify". What is the purpose? I guess it means you can keep your eyes on the road with voice functions dedicated to Spotify. It's not super elegant though as you need to plug the Car Thing into 12V of power. Otherwise, mounting your phone is kind of the same thing.. which might be why it's launching as a free device, because it really just makes Spotify more prominent in your car. It's US only at the moment. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nevers: HBO’s new sci-fi fantasy series is an epic tale following a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world (Neon). Earth Moods: a new documentary/travel/nature series from National Geographic that promises a visual and soundscape experience. Five unique episodes capture a vast array of colorful and calming corners of the world, from blue glaciers and arid deserts to lush rainforests and pulsating metropolises, paired with an inspiring soundtrack. Slow TV fans will love this. (Disney+). Younger: The final season of the comedy-drama about Liza, a 40-year old suddenly single mother who tries to get back into the working world only to find it’s nearly impossible to start again at her age, and pretends to be in her 20s to kickstart a new career (Neon). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid has done nothing to slow comic Eddie Izzard down. She - yes she does sometimes go by she - has just finished 31 remote marathons and performing 31 remote stand up gigs in 31 days for charity. She's also co-written and produced a new war thriller, Six Minutes to Midnight, based on the true story of German schoolgirls living in Eddie’s hometown on the south-coast of England. Eddie has been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quince and space cakeQuince fruit are a wonderful autumn gift. Making quince paste or jelly is one use for them but poaching them to use in this cake is another and it’s simply gorgeous! 2-3 medium-sized quince ½ cup caster sugar 3 cups water Cake batter 6 big tbsps golden syrup or maple syrup 125g butter ½ cup brown sugar 1 ½ cups + 1 tbsp self-raising flour 1 tsp cinnamon ½ each ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground allspice 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 medium eggs 240ml poaching syrup from the quinces 1. Poach the quince: peel and halve fruit and put in saucepan with the sugar. Cover with water and bring to a boil briefly before reducing heat to a simmer and cooking for 40 minutes, or until flesh is softened. Remove the pan from the heat and let the quinces cool a little in their syrup then take them out. When cool enough to handle use a spoon to scoop out the core and cut each half into 3 pieces. Reserve cooking liquid. 2. Heat oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 22cm round cake tin. Arrange quince in the base of the cake tin. 3. In a saucepan melt together golden syrup, butter and brown sugar. When the mixture starts to bubble, remove from the heat. 4. Sieve flour, spices and bicarb into a big bowl. Make a well in dry ingredients and break in the eggs. Whisk lightly with a fork then pour in a scant one cup of the quince cooking syrup and beat gently to mix. Pour in butter and golden syrup mixture and stir to combine. It will be thinner than a regular cake batter. 5. Pour into prepared tin, over quinces and bake for 40-45 minutes until springy to the touch then remove from the oven and leave to cool before turning out and removing the paper. 6. Serve in thick slices with crème fraiche, whipped cream or plain yoghurt. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching biographical film The United States v Billie Holiday, and Thunder Force. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne has been putting his hand into the dog poo bin in at the dog park.He's been on the phone to Jack Tame, to explain why. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwis should be angry about the lack of checks on border testingThis weekend marks a milestone of sorts. Australia, we’re coming at'cha! I’m excited to visit my family over there. My brother and I are really close and it’s been almost 18 months since I saw my grandma. She’s 94 as of last weekend. She’s vaccinated. From the way she’s been talking, she’s in a fearsome vein of gin-rummy form that I’m hoping to end before long. I know for others, this bubble is even an more critical and urgent development. But in a way, we’re lucky this thing is even happening. Not because logistically it’s too difficult – the Australian government has had a bubble up and running for months, now. But because once again, our border defences have been exposed as significantly more vulnerable than we’ve been led to believe. It’s outrageous that at this stage of the response, a border worker could contract the virus and come to work having apparently not been tested for Covid-19 for more than five months. It’s flabbergasting. It’s utterly unacceptable. To be honest, I’m surprised there isn’t more anger. Just imagine how different our Saturday morning might have been if the worker had passed on the virus to just a few more people and we had a wider outbreak. Forget the trans-Tasman bubble, it’s quite possible that we could have all been in lockdown this morning. If this were another country, I could understand why we didn’t have the checks and balances in place to give us certainty that every border worker was being regularly tested for the virus. Unlike other countries where Covid remains in the community, we don’t have to focus as keenly on the daily medical response. We’re not weighed down by debates over schools opening, or the logistics of getting ventilators and PPE to regions where they’re needed most.It’s precisely because we’ve done so well... it’s because we’ve stamped out Covid-19 in the community, that this negligence is so unacceptable.If you make sure the border is as close to perfect as possible, almost of that other Covid-19 stuff management stuff doesn’t matter. Our border protections should be our absolute focus and priority.From what we understand, the Ministry of Health has been relying on an honesty system to record border testing progress. An honesty system, where one little error can cost lives, jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars.In a way, we’re fortunate to have even learnt about the testing error. I don’t expect you to have tuned into the select committee this week where Ashley Bloomfield and top MBIE officials were asked about their response. Labour MPs spent the vast majority of the session deliberately soaking up time and asking rambling softball questions in order to protect their officials. Why? This isn’t a political issue, it’s a public health issue. It’s a public health emergency. If National’s Chris Bishop hadn’t been able to squeeze in the question about the worker’s last testing, who knows if it would ever have come to light. And don’t forget - This is the second time this border issue has come about. The second time it’s been revealed, that despite all the promises, border workers haven’t been tested regularly. In August last year, we were assured workers everyone was getting swabbed, when almost two thirds had never even had a single test. I can’t believe that after that error, the Ministry of Health didn’t establish apply the highest level of scrutiny, possible. I can’t believe they are not micro-managing the shit out of our border.Maybe third time’s a charm. Chris Hipkins has just made the Border Worker Vaccine Register compulsory for frontline workers. Why it wasn’t mandatory beforehand, I don’t understand.Still.. it’ll be good to see those first flights take between here and Australia. Aussie... The Land Down Under. I’d call it The lucky country, but I’m wondering now if that’s us.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album by Demi Lovato. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn and A Million Things by Emily Spurr.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our traveller Mike Yardley's pretty excited about the prospect of some international travel, with this week's announcement of a travel bubble with Australia. But in the meantime, he's been checking out some bites and brews in New Plymouth. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guava Moth It’s an Aussie moth which arrived in NZ 1997 – probably through wind-dispersal. In Australia its main host is a lillipilly – a member of the Myrtle Family, like Manuka, Pohutukawa/Rata as well as guava and feijoa. It’s not a big deal in Australia (kept in check by predators and parasites) but in NZ feijoa as well as citrus, nashi, macadamia, guavas (and plum, peach, loquats) are the main hosts – they are destructive! They are found Northland down to north Waikato/Coromandel at the moment, and they’re heading South. Lifecycle takes about 8 weeks “from egg to egg”. These are laid on developing feijoa fruit; young larvae (tiny caterpillars) tunnel into the fruit (pinhole entrance) and eat the flesh. When full-grown the caterpillars come out and bungy-jump down to the soil to pupate. New moths emerge from these pupae, later in the season. They find each other through pheromone (males are very good at that!) they mate, and new eggs are laid. Main options for control (None of them are very efficient – but it may help): Cover your feijoas with FINE NETTING so that the female moth can’t lay eggs on the skin of the developing fruit. HYGIENE: Remove all the fallen fruit ASAP; infected fruit ripen pre-maturely and drop early (danger!!) Don’t compost them unless you’ve frozen the fallen fruit for at least 24 hrs. Otherwise, plastic bag them and into the rubbish or get chickens or pigs to eat them ASAP. Get a PHEROMONE TRAP (which catches the lusty males) BUT… DON’T RELY On them catching “all” the males – they won’t and you will not find any fewer infected feijoas. The pheromone trap is a TIME INDICATION of when the moths are flying (and hence mating) early in the season. You now know when to put a first spray on the tiny, developing fruit. My guess is to do that about 7-10 days after peak-flight! SPRAYS: Cover the small fruits with either Success (Yates spray that kills mostly caterpillars, especially the small ones) or Neem Oil; I reckon you may need to do that every 10 to 14 days to be partially successful – further research might tell us how successful that would be. Finally: there are (solar powered) light traps on the market that employ UV light to attract and catch moths when on the wing. (they drown in water or oil container underneath the trap) Not happy with that as the by-catch of native moths can be horrendous, especially in summer/autumn. Our native moths (and flies and beetles etc etc) are part of our garden eco-system and are valuable protein for many bird species. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Resident Doctor Bryan Betty has been giving Jack Tame some tips on how to deal with High Blood Pressure. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey has been speaking to Jack Tame about the death of Prince Philip, and how the royals are preparing to farewell him. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi born Jason worked closely with Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace, and was even invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham. He didn't want to use his last name, but has been speaking to Jack Tame about his experiences. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Siri's gender is about to change Ever since Siri was introduced, the default voice for US users has been female. That's about to change in an effort to promote diversity and inclusion. There are two new voices which sound far smoother and natural than the current voice. The big change here though isn't the actual voice, it's the selection of it. In the next version of iOS, when you're setting up a new iPhone you'll be asked to select which voice you want, with no default selected. That's important because a vast majority of people just leave the default settings. This is going to require an active choice. Interestingly, Siri's default voice in the UK has been male - maybe because of the butler culture? Facebook launched its Clubhouse competitor: Hotline Clubhouse is an audio only live streaming service where people can host what are effectively call-in radio shows. People raise their hand, then the host turns on their mic. I don't understand the hype, but I'm clearly alone in that because it's been valued at $1 billion and it's just hitting one year old. Every company is now trying to replicate it and, I must admit I am surprised to say this, but from what I've read Facebook's clone - called Hotline - might actually be better than the original. The big difference - the host can stream their camera or show a presentation, making it feel more formal or conference/panel-like. It also allows people to submit written questions, which the audience can then up-vote to get the attention of the host. The host can then choose to read the question, or invite the person up to the 'stage' to get more involved. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.