Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

February Jobs in the Garden Raspberries: If you have spring-fruiting raspberries – they need pruning now. All fruit is picked and now’s the time to crawl on hands and knees and prune off all the old “canes”. It’s easy to see which are old, brown canes with yellow old leaves and which ones are the new, fresh ones that will fruit for you next year. Raspberries also have this habit of producing heaps of runners and canes far, far away from the original bed! Either mow them down of translocate these new runners to a new row. They’ll survive that easily if done now, while the soil is warm. Some fertiliser and everybody happy for next spring. But be careful, autumn raspberries still have a crop to go! Mid-summer is also the time to prune your plums when they have been harvested. I tend to do that now, with the summer heat still here. When you do it in late autumn or winter, the cooler, wetter weather can cause quite a few problems with diseases. Stonefruit bears its fruit on young wood, but the European plums (such as prunes, Damson and Greengage) tend to fruit heavily on 3-4 year old branches. In our garden the Damson and Greengage are our jam work horses, so they can be shortened back to the well-established branches. Japanese plums tend to fruit on new wood, which means you can’t be as ruthless.Vegies to plant: Carrots: Plant them in really good, stone-free soil. Well-drained and easy to penetrate for the roots.Swedes and beetroot: In well-drained soils that don’t stay wet too long (roots can rot in stagnant water). Leeks: Always a good winter vegetable. Start while soil is warm to help germination. Brassicas: These can allbe sown or planted now; cauli, broccolini, cabbages etc. Protect them from white butterfly larvae which are still very prolific in the warm weather. Use Yates “success” or fine netting that doesn’t let the mother whites onto the leaf surface.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has some tips for funding fun with your partner. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been travelling the Haast Pass Highway.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Shiver by Allie Reynolds and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album by Aussie alt-rock group The Rubens.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Usually, the Director of the FBI isn’t a household name, especially in New Zealand. That is, until James Comey came along, and was inserted into the middle of Donald Trump’s political pantomime. In his role as the head of the FBI, Comey oversaw investigations into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. He was then sacked. James Comey’s written a new book "Saving Justice" and has been talking to Jack Tame.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trial in the Outback: in this documentary mini-series narrated by Sam Neill, Linda Chamberlain tells her own story about the death of her daughter and the trials and imprisonment that followed (starts TVNZ 1, Sunday, 8.30pm) CB Strike: a new season of the British drama about war veteran turned private detective Cormoran Strike, who solves brutal murders with the help of his trusted assistant Robin Ellacott (Neon). Framing Britney Spears: the documentary everyone’s talking about. This New York Times doco looks at the career of American entertainer Britney Spears, her celebrity and popularity within American culture, and the conservatorship that she has been living under since 2008 which sparked the fan-driven #FreeBritney movement (ThreeNow). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne's been on his first ever international tourist-free trip in the South Island, and thinks all Kiwis should be following suit. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sushi sandwiches These little sushi sandwiches are easier to make than regular sushi and they’re popular with adults and kids alike. Makes 8-10 1 cup sushi (short grain) rice or use short grain brown rice 1 tsp salt 105g tin salmon 2 tablespoons mayonnaise Salt & pepper ½ avocado ½ red capsicum 1 packet seaweed snacks (small sheets of seaweed) 2 tablespoons sesame seeds 4 tablespoons tamari sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil Squeeze of lime or lemon juice To cook rice: rinse rice a few times then allow to soak for 15 minutes before draining and transferring to a saucepan and covering in twice as much water as rice (ie. 2 cups) and adding salt. Cover and bring to boil then simmer for 12 minutes, turn heat off and leave to steam for 10 minutes while you prepare fillings. Cool. Fillings: Mix salmon with mayonnaise. Slice avocado and capsicum into thin slices. Assemble: Wet hands and take 1-2 tablespoons of rice, shape into a sausage shape, cover with seaweed and wrap, leaving one side unwrapped. Make a groove in the top of the exposed rice and add your choice of filling; salmon/mayo, capsicum or avocado. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Trust me, you’ll get better with each one and keeping your hands wet really helps. Mix tamari, sesame oil and citrus juice together in a small container to pop in with the sushi sandwiches. Note: Cook the rice the night before for a quick assemble in the morning.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching The Little Things, Boss Level, and News of the World.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every Saturday morning I start the show with a little editorial. I give you an opinion on something. I ask for your feedback. And after I finish the piece, the written version lives on the Newstalk ZB website. You know the one! And from there, our digital teams will share a link on social media. But if you just happen to be tuning in from Australia this morning - as I know many listeners do - and you log in to Facebook afterwards, you won’t see a link to this piece. The stoush between Zuckerberg and the Australian government shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. Part of me is torn. I look at this issue from a few different sides. Part of me thinks, actually, we know that people get so much information from Facebook that if they aren’t able to access reliable news sources on Facebook, the information they will be accessing instead is going to be the dregs of the dregs. Part of me thinks I’d feel a bit better about the Australian government’s position and their proposals to make big tech pay for news, if it wasn’t Rupert Murdoch set to profit. And part of me thinks actually this could be good for the sort of stuff that gets published by newsrooms. Perhaps they’ll be a little less incentivised to publish click bait trash in the hope of spreading it across Facebook. Perhaps. Most of all though, I think good-on the Aussies. We know just how damaging some aspects of big tech and the social media platforms have been when it comes to misinformation. We know they’re pulling of triple backflip pirouette nip tucks with a difficult of 100 in order to pay as little tax as possible. Is it not a relief to see a government stand up to them, for a change? One thing you can be sure of in this life is there is no such thing as a free lunch. Reliable news isn’t free. It takes work and resources. And as newsrooms around the World have been hollowed out and undermined, Facebook has grown stronger off their diminished outputs. If you value reliable information and you want an honest picture of the World, Facebook isn’t the place you should be going in the first place. Facebook has hooped people into opinion ghettoes, stoked their fears, contributed to the rise of conspiracy theories, and it’s manipulated the weakest parts of our collective psychologies. It’s made us feel like it’s serving us, when really it’s selling us. I hope the Aussies hold strong. And I hope other countries follow their lead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This time of year, we think about lack of water and extra water bills. Would having your own rainwater tank be wise or affordable? Doing the numbers An average kiwi homes use 150,000 litres a year. There is usually a fixed charge for being in the system then a usage charge for the number of litres you use. In Auckland that’s $190 fixed and about $500 usage. If you got a 5000L tank, this would be refilled every time it rains. Estimate this saving at least half your water use or around $250 per annum. A 5000L tank can be as cheap as $950. Or top of the line fancy slim tank that fits anywhere or maybe an in ground tank, $3500 So in 4-10 years (water prices are only going up) you have paid for it and you are saving that amount of money every year. How to collect rainwater? My favourite way is to a system that collects water for a while, catching pollution and bird dropping sfrom the roof. You then ditch this, and the cleaner water is sent to your tank If you don’t trust the rain water then it can be directed to toilets, washing machines and garden, or just put a water filter in the system. Check your council bylaws about your rights here. I know Auckland city has just made it a lot less bureaucratic to install one. They need the help! Often all they ask for is a backflow prevention device to keep your water out of the common supply. If you are just considering some extra water for your garden then you can go much smaller and simpler and cheaper of course. It'll save your council money too If everyone did this it would considerably lower the city infra structure costs: piped water in and out of your property. That means lower rates for all? You also reduce the stormwater runoff which in storm periods can mean the grey water invades the sewage system and this ends up in our public waterways and beaches.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Environmental Education in 2021 So what is this “environmental education” all about? Most people think of Enviroschools and waste minimization plus vegetable gardening at school. Quite a number of schools have compost bins, worm farms and chickens running around. For more than a dozen years, Project Crimson and Mazda Foundation have planted outdoor classrooms in school grounds – forest type vegetation. Hawkes Bay's Cape to City linked all this to a large landscape project around Cape Kidnappers and 20,000 hectares of surrounding land. It encourages school kids and teachers to do the learning outside, using the environment as a context for education. Putting it into practice I got a request from a Christchurch teacher to help the school create a butterfly garden. Of course they had monarchs in mind. But I had other ideas! There’s this gorgeous deep purple Lycaenid butterfly which is native to Canterbury. We’ve just discovered (via Hamish and Brian Patrick) that it is different from all the other “boulder copper” butterflies and therefore it has no published scientific name, nor has it an appropriate common or Maori name. The species lives on very poor terrain: the gravel and stony outwash of the large braided rives. It has been ousted from Christchurch city simply through the expansion of this man-made habitat, called suburbia. Could we bring the boulder copper butterfly back into the city? The kids and teachers of Burnside Primary had to do a heck of a lot of research. Food plants, sources of nectar, longevity, what do males and females look like... It covered all parts of the curriculum.PE: They decided to plant a garden full of host plants and nectar supportMaori studies: They contacted local iwi for their view on translocating this taonga back into the city and what would be an appropriate Maori name. Literacy: They sourced all the plants and wrote the script for the invites to local media. Maths: They worked out the number of males versus females. Arts: The butterflies are beautiful – both males and females Last Thursday we did the first translocation from McLeans Island to Burnside Primary School. The kids caught the butterflies by hand and by net, and carefully transported them in flax-woven baskets, line with soft fabric, so that the butterflies could hang on during the bus ride to the new location. We had a Mihi Whakatau in the school hall; a blessing for the taonga in their new place. The butterfly will officially be described by a small group of secondary school students from Burnside High School, together with two entomological taxonomists. That’s a cool job, with genetics, morphology and ecological Science. They’ll publish the new description and name in an international peer-reviewed journal. If we are serious about our Planet and humanity’s future, we need NATURE-LITERATE Kids. We are re-writing the execution of the curriculum.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching period romance Ammonite and Korean-American movie Minari.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little and The Frenchman by Jack Beaumont.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a City Rises —The People’s Story: as the 10 year anniversary of the second Christchurch earthquake approaches, this documentary follows Christchurch’s recovery in the days, months and years following the devastating earthquake (TVNZ 1, Sunday 8.30pm and OnDemand) Coyote: After 32 years of service, Border Patrol agent Ben Clemens finds himself helping people he has always tried to keep out of the United States (TVNZ OnDemand). Men in Kilts: two stars from the time-travelling drama Outlander - Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish - team up in this lively road trip across Scotland, showcasing the very best of the country’s culture, history and traditions (Neon, 16 February). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob Campbell's Best Buy for this week is the 2020 Clearview Coastal Chardonnay, which will set you back around $22.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie director Chloe Zhao has a huge year ahead. She’s the hot pick for the directing Oscar for her new film Nomadland, which stars Frances McDormand. It was first movie to win the top prizes at this year’s Toronto and Venice film festivals. If she did take the Oscar, she’d be only the second woman ever to take best director. On a completely different track, Chloe has also directed new Marvel film, Eternals. As one critic put it ‘Acclaimed festival darling sails into the big-budget arms of Marvel Studios.” She's been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Weezer has a new album out, OK Human, and Estelle Cliffords been taking a listen. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Free-form potato & courgette pie What to do with all those courgettes that keep threatening to turn into marrows? Make this, you’ll love it! Serves 2-4 1-2 potatoes, sliced thinly 2-3 courgettes, sliced thinly 1/3 cup plain flour 1/3 cup grated parmesan 1 tsp sea salt ½ tsp black or white pepper Pinch chilli flakes Big bunch basil leaves Splash of olive oil Heat oven to 190 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.In a big bowl, mix potato, courgette, flour, cheese and salt, pepper and chilli flakes until vegetables are well coated in flour. Drizzle over some oil. Pile half ingredients onto tray in a big circle, top with torn basil leaves (reserve some of scattering over once cooked), then add remaining potato/courgette mixture. Drizzle over bit more oil. It will settle down into itself as it bakes. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and crispy on the edges and potatoes are cooked through. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before scattering with basil leaves then slicing or scooping up portions. It’s also just as great served cold so an leftovers will be welcome. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike Yardley has been taking a mini-break in Murchison. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rumors are flying that Apple is building a car According to reports they've been talking to manufacturers about some kind of partnership. Bloomberg says Kia and Hyundai were in conversation with Apple, but those talks have now paused. These aren't new rumors - they apparently started working on a car in 2015 but have never confirmed or denied that. I don't see the upside for a car manufacturer. Apple is going to want epic control over every detail and you'll be stretched to the limit to produce enough cars to meet demand. Apple isn't known to be very good at sharing either so their partner isn't likely to get access to their tech. Instagram is losing in its battle with TiktokThey have a problem.. they desperately want to be TikTok - the product - but don't want to be featuring TikTok content. That's most of what Reels is right now.. recycled TikToks, complete with the TT watermark on it. Instagram now says that any TikTok watermarked content will be downgraded in their recommendation engine to promote people who are making content natively on Reels. Miss going to a bar? There's an app for that In the USA bars have been closed for about 11 months now and they're dearly missed. People are getting creative in their social distancing time and made an app to transport you to your favourite spot. imissmybar.com allows you to control the sounds of people talking, the ambience of the room, the street noise, the clinks and stirring of the bartender working away.You can flick on some music too.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne's on an unusual mailing list .... and it's made him think he might be in the market for a new hobby.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday, the Māori Affairs select committee will consider changes to the laws around Māori wards on local councils, and it seems extremely unlikely at this stage the new proposal won’t be supported and passed into law. If so, it’ll mean any local councils that establish Māori wards won’t be able to scrap them for at least two elections. At just two days, the submission period for the law change was unreasonably short. But given how few people care enough about local body politics to actually vote in local body elections, it seems extraordinary there’s much opposition to the law change, except of course this issue involves something Māori, and the perception for some people that Māori might be getting special treatment.Of course, both of those points are 100% right. The issue does concern Māori, and Māori don’t just deserve special treatment but are contractually guaranteed a form of special treatment under the Treaty. Martin van Beynan wrote a really thoughtful piece last week in which he asserted that New Zealand is in the midst of a period of profound change. At the centre of the change is the role of Māori governance and leadership in New Zealand’s day-to-day affairs. I won’t read you the whole piece, but I think Martin’s absolutely right. Sometimes it can be hard to recognise the significance of a moment when you’re in the middle of it, but chalk up Monday’s select committee hearing as another little sign. We are in a moment of sorts.We’re fortunate, I think, to live in a country that has been relatively assertive in at least trying to acknowledge and correct some of the wrongs of the past. I speak as both a New Zealand and an Australian citizen: when I compare the two, I'm proud that New Zealand is much more mature in recognising the complexity of its own history.The Treaty settlement process is imperfect, but it’s an earnest effort that I think benefits a majority of New Zealanders, Māori, and Pākeha alike. And more and more we are experimenting and embracing forms of Māori sovereignty in miniature. Take Whānau Ora, for example: A programme promoting Māori health solutions for Māori families established by the last National government and supported and funded by the current one. Rangatahi courts work like youth courts in a way, except sessions are held on local marae and follow Māori cultural processes. And honestly, has any Pākeha New Zealander’s life been drastically and disasterously affected by the establishment of Māori seats in parliament? Of course not.I have little doubt the next head of Oranga Tamariki will be Māori, and increasingly those agencies responsible for some of our worst societal problems will seek to find Māori-led solutions for Māori.Of course, there will be scrutiny of this leadership. There should be scrutiny. Māori leadership, like all leadership, deserves scrutiny.But non-Māori have nothing to fear. Māori are not taking over. They are not climbing in our collective bathroom window. Changing the law around Māori wards in local body councils won’t even guarantee that every council will establish the wards. It’ll merely remove an obviously-discriminatory provision.This is a good thing. It speaks to our values. It's a sign of a maturing country.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Foo Fighters have released a new album, Medicine at Midnight. Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has some tips on how to stop a fight before it's even started. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Terminal List by Jack Carr, and Girl A by Abigail Dean. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Planting for autumn I know, I know … it’s still summer. But now is the time to think of autumn onwards. It’s the perfect time to sow a heap of wild-flowers. Honestly, it’s always brilliant to get that major flush of colour when days are getting shorter and temperatures make you reach for the firewood in the wood shed. There are many suppliers of wildflower mixes in NZ: Wildflower World (Tauranga), Kings Seeds (Katikati), Yates, Egmont, Mr Fothergills. Take your pick! They tend contain a wide range of really pretty flower species: Calendula, larkspur, cornflower, eschscholtzia, nigella, poppy, anagalis, cynoglossum, stock, reseda, gypsophila, and cosmos. Some will flower in autumn, some might pop up in early spring. Soil temps of 15 degrees or more are ideal for germination. Wildflower sowing is optimal when you would re-sow lawns – they have similar requirements. Make sure the patch is weed-free as much as possible: then the wildflowers take over and shade the weeds out. Some light cultivation (especially on a hot autumn day) will expose the second-growth weeds – they’ll wilt and die. Water regularly; wild flowers love moisture! Especially in the first 6 weeks. If you want to go for a more “monotone” look, the following flowering plants need sowing in the next few weeks: asters and ageratums, stock, verbena, scabiosa, Californian poppies, marigolds and phlox, dianthus and daisies. What you really do with all these flowers is provide huge patches of pollen and nectar for our pollinators and our Parasitoid Wasps who will do some gratis pest control in your garden. Edibles and Herbs Now is also the time the time to sow your last Coriander and Basil before winter – cooler temps: not much bolting! It’s still good for french beans and carrots. Lettuce, Spinach, perpetual spinach, radishes, spring onions – the usual suspects. And for the winter season… think of cabbage groups (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) in the next month or so. I reckon it pays to really think ahead by a few months for vegie gardens! While you have the warm soil, get the seeds to germinate, so you’re not struggling when it gets cooler. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Medsafe conditionally approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in New Zealand. But there are lots of people who still have conerns about getting the jab. Jack Tame has been clearing these up with Dr Bryan Betty, who's the Medical Director for the College of GPs and on the Covid-19 advisory committee. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos is stepping down from CEO After 27 years, he'll step into the role of Executive Chairman and focusing his time on his charitable funds, space exploration company Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and his other passions - whatever those are. Andy Jassy, the current CEO of AWS, will be the new CEO. Currently AWS is 60% of Amazon's profit. Jassy has been with Amazon since 1997 after completing his MBA. It seems the markets approve of the change because the stock price is up on last week's close. Bezos will still hold around 10% of the company so don't expect him to stop having an interest in what's next for Amazon! Uber's getting into the booze business They've scooped up alcohol delivery platform Drizly which connects liquor stores to delivery people. They'll be folding it into their Uber Eats app. Haven't heard any plans for adding this to their NZ service just yet though. Uber has been more pragmatic lately - in the past year shutting down its flying taxi and autonomous car division and instead focusing on delivery in the present. Microsoft is leaning into the future of remote work It's launching a new platform called Viva - aiming to be the hub for the 'employee experience'. Think of it as an intranet with policies, company information, contact information and more mixed with Microsoft Teams and an internal community. It'll also have a learning hub with resources from LinkedIn Leaning. For managers, it'll also have insights to track employee performance so they can "see if their team is at risk of burnout and provide recommendations like encouraging your team to turn off notifications, set boundaries in their calendar, and set daily priorities to focus on what matters most". It seems like they're trying to breathe new life into their Sharepoint business, while also taking on Facebook Workplace. GameStop has come back to reality It's currently trading at under $60. Eeeek. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some TV picks for the long weekend. Firefly Lane: Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke star in this sentimental drama about the lives of two very different women bonded by a friendship lasting three decades (Netflix) Soulmates: This anthology series takes place 15 years in the future, when science makes a discovery that changes the lives of everyone on the planet - a test to show who your soulmate really is. (Amazon Prime Video, from Monday) Holey Moly: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Holey Moly takes self-proclaimed mini-golf lovers from around the country and puts them head-to-head through an epic obstacle course. In each episode, contestants put their miniature golf -- and physical -- skills to the test and face off in never-before-seen challenges on a supersized miniature golf course (Three, from Monday). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne can't work out how legendary NHS supporter Sir Tom Moore was allowed to get covid. Sir Tom became well known after raising $NZ60 million dollars for the NHS by walking laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday.But this week, he died of covid, and Kevin's wondering how that happened. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summer has well and truly arrived, and Nici Wickes has been celebrating with an epic ice cream sundae. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Kiwi-directed action thrilled Shadow in the Cloud, and new Netflix drama The Dig. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After sitting on their completed album for a whole year, the Foo Fighters have just released their 10th studio album “Medicine at Midnight”. It would have been released in 2020, which was their 25th year as a band, but we all know what happened there. Lead guitarist Chris Shiflett has been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Kiwi-directed action thrilled Shadow in the Cloud, and new Netflix drama The Dig. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the plural of Nissan Leaf?Is it ‘Leaves’? Is it ‘Leafs’? Should we lose the ‘S’ all together and call more than one Leaf, ‘Leaf’? As in, ‘Look at that car yard, filled with Nissan Leaf”.This is something we need to consider, because if you take the time to spot them there are unmistakably more and more Nissan Leafs on our roads, and regardless of how you feel about electric cars, they’re only going to become more abundant.The Nissan Leaf, of course, is basically the Toyota Corolla hatchback of electric cars. It’s far and away the World’s best-selling electric vehicle and I’m not afraid to say I quite like them. They’re not as sleek and sexy as a low-slung Maserati, or nearly as tech’d up as a Tesla, but I reckon they’re not half bad. I’ve driven a few on a few different occasions now, and but for the silence you’d think you were driving any other mid-range petrol hatchback. The Climate Commission’s report makes for a humbling read with massive changes needed in almost every part of our economy. And it spelt out the obvious improvements to be made in transport.Of course, transport extends beyond our domestic vehicle fleet and the car that you drive to work or shuttle the kids around with from school. New Zealand needs to significantly improve its freight and rail infrastructure and public transport systems.But there’s no reason we shouldn’t get behind a smart incentive system for people who choose to drive electric vehicles. The climate commission recommends either a rebate scheme, where you tax cars that pollute more to subsidise electric vehicles, or a straight subsidy scheme, in order to make electric cars more affordable. New Zealand First blocked a rebate scheme for electric vehicles during the last government term, and National called it a ‘Car Tax’ but ongoing resistance is churlish when we clearly need to incentivise people into buying electric cars.A rebate system makes total sense to me. And we can be smart about it: For tradies or people in rural communities, we could look at excluding utes. But if you’re going to buy a 3.5L luxury sedan… maybe you get stung a bit more. If you’re buying an electric car, it’s a bit cheaper.I had a beer with a mate from the Netherlands the other day who was telling me about his government’s subsidy program. The Dutch government gave four thousand Euros in subsidies to people buying electric cars. It proved so popular, the initial $10m Euro pool was sucked up by people buying electric cars in just a few days.I get it. Electric cars aren’t perfect for everyone in every situation. And they’re not environmentally perfect, either. But they’re much cleaner. They’re much cheaper to run. And with every year, electric vehicle technology improves. If you’re scoffing at me, go online and do some research. I challenge you to check out a 30KW Nissan Leaf. The range is about 200KM, maybe a bit more depending on the battery life. The safety rating is excellent. Get one with a body kit and a BOSE stereo set up… honestly… you’ll be surprised at how tasteful they are.It doesn’t matter if I can’t convince you. It’s happening whether you like it or now. Combustion imports will be banned within 15 years and the resale value of petrol cars will diminish much before then. Even General Motors foresees a future without combustion vehicles.So, if you’re in the market for a new ride… it could be time for the switch.Take an EV for a test drive. Don’t get leafed behind. ZING.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous and The Devils you Know by Ben Sanders.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former one-directioner Zayn Malik’s just released his third album ‘Nobody is Listening’. So far, it hasn't done so well on the charts. So is that warranted? Music reviewer Estelle Clifford's been taking a listen. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching singer Sia's new movie Music, Danish drama-comedy Another Round, and World War 2 drama Summerland. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our traveller Mike Yardley has been checking out Glacier Country: South Westland.LISTEN TO HIS TIPS ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watering Techniques After a week with Temps of 37.7 degrees in the afternoon, it got quite hot for us on the Port Hills. Of course other parts on NZ had similar Australasian drifts of wonderful hot air and soil and plants dried out very quickly. How to Water? I’ve never been a fan of sprinklers. I try to keep my leaves dry as much as possible; wet leaves often give fungal spores opportunity to settle on the plant, causing leaf-spots, rots, downy mildew and powdery mildew. Try to water the root zone of a plant, by depositing the water – gently – on the soil. A fierce jet of water can clog the porosity of the soil (not so good either!), so a nice shower-setting of your hose hand-piece is perfect Evening or Morning? It doesn’t really matter a lot, I think. The water cools the soil remarkably and in the morning (when it’s cooler) most of the water will actually penetrate the soil. In the evening (with warmer temperatures) a proportion of the water will evaporate, become a “cloud” of H2O gas and meet its mates, somewhere high up in the sky. In other words it doesn’t do the plants much good. But watering in the middle of the day makes a huge percentage of the water disappear into the stratosphere. Established shrubs and trees? Most Nature Nerds that go walking will see in dry summers how established trees show severe signs of dehydration or wilting. Even without any rain those leaves will often look a lot better in the evening. Wilting is simply a strategy to shut off the leaves’ stomata to save the moisture escaping from these openings in the heat of the day. This wilting can go on for weeks, sometimes. A thoroughly good soak (hours and hours of watering) can re-set the water deficit in the soil. This deep watering is far more beneficial to soil and shrubs/trees than daily “piddle-waterings” Regular droughts? Which plants are suited for water-stressed areas? Think Mediterranean species that often don’t get much during the 5 months of summer in Spain and Morocco and Italia. Often plants with blue-ish or white-ish colours or with thick hairs on the leaves (that stop water loss). Euphorbias, Echiums, Watsonias, cacti, succulents, phlomis, Jerusalem sage, rosemary, lambs ear. Checking SOIL moisture of indoor plants Indoor plants are totally controlled by the owner; when to water? When they start showing signs of wilting. Stick your finger into the potting mix and when plenty of particles stick to your finger, there’s plenty of moisture still in the mix; when your finger emerges totally “clean”: time to water! Plants that can NEVER dry out Ferns have got a different vascular system in their stems and fronds; these bundles are not as strong and lignine-supported as other “Vascular plants”; So when a fern gets too dry, its bundles simply shrivel up and irreversibly collapse. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trading up There's been lots of focus on first home buyers, for obvious reasons. But for most people, your first home is not your dream home. With lots of anecdotes about the $3m house being the new $2m house, moving into the next house bracket might mean taking on an extra $500k or even $1m+ in debt. So what do you need to do if you're thinking about taking on a significant chunk more debt? Hannah McQueen has been giving her tips to Jack Tame, and if you want more detail you can get hold of her at enable.me – financial strategy & coaching.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the internet vs Wall Street You've probably heard of this story. Millions of amateur traders, wanting to teach Wall Street a lesson, have poured money into certain companies to push their stock prices up. That affects traders looking to 'short' the companies. That's when they bet on a stock going down. One of the app based trading platforms has got caught up in the fight. RobinHood sells data on the transactions to the third parties executing the deals, then these Market Makers can then make money off the spread - the difference in pricing during the time between buy and sell orders. It might be just pennies of profit, but when you do that at volume there're serious money to be made.Amazon is ready to distribute vaccines The company sent President Biden a letter on his first day in office offering to help with distribution using its vast delivery network. They're uniquely suited to this task as in New York City, for example, they can deliver you almost anything in less than two hours. They can get packages to a vast majority of the population within two days. They have their own cargo planes, delivery trucks and even physical stores which could be utilized. They also offered to vaccinate all their staff on-site (presumably at their expense) if they could get access to viles. They argue many of their 800,000 employees are front line workers and can't work from home as they're completing work in supermarkets, warehouses and data centres. Facebook's Oversight Board has made its first rulings Of the five cases heard, the board agreed with Facebook on just one. The other four found Facebook had overstepped the mark and would need to reverse the deletion of that content. Each case was reviewed by a group of five randomly selected members, with the final decision approved by the full board. They have less than 90 days to make a decision about reinstating Donald Trump's Facebook access. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Green sun safety With the high temperatures of the past week, we've all been flocking to the beach. But what are the most environmentally-friendly ways to keep sun safe at the beach? First off, stay out of the sun between 10am-4pm, September to April. The beach is wonderful early in the morning or late afternoon. If you’re at the beach outside of these times, sun shades you put up are a good idea. Make sure you get a good one, not a cheap throw away. If you need more protection, you'll be slapping on the sunscreen. But which kind? There are two varieties: chemical and physical. Chemical sunscreen absorbs UV light to prevent it from causing damage. But the chemicals; like oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, octisalate, avobenzone and homosalate, have been identified as being particularly dangerous for eco-systems. There's evidence they have been making coral more susceptible to bleaching, deforming baby coral and degrading its resilience to climate change. Hawaii is now looking at banning these chemicals. They are also proven hormone disrupters that can seep through human and animal skin into other bodily tissue. And it’s not just the environment: Oxybenzone was recently found in 96 per cent of the population by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the US. That’s an alarming statistic when you learn that this chemical can affect a man’s sperm count and contribute to the development of painful endometriosis in women. So you might like to consider physical sunscreen, which sits on top of the skin, using the minerals titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. The Cancer Society says whether it’s a chemical or physical sunscreen, check the sunscreen you’re using does the job it’s meant to do. It needs to be broad-spectrum (which protects from UVA and UVB rays), water-resistant, SPF30+ and meet the Australia-New Zealand standard. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some picks for this weekend. It’s a Sin: Five 18-year-olds move to London in 1981, where they all meet and form a gang and move into a flat together. They begin exploring their identities and become who they truly are, but a distant disease threatens their future (TVNZ OnDemand). Critical: Inside a major trauma centre, top surgeons work to save the critically injured and seriously ill in this British drama from Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio. Shot in real time, in a world where every second counts, life and death sits on a knife's edge (TVNZ OnDemand). Blown Away: a new series of the gentle reality show about glassmakers competing to blow away the competition (Netflix) LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2020 took Aussie-born actor Simon Baker from a life in Hollywood, where he’s best known for his starring role in TV series The Mentalist, to laying low with his family at his second home on Sydney’s Bronte Beach. The move also meant he took a break from the US, coming home to star in Higher Ground which a movie that’s being described as an Aussie version of a Western. He plays Travis, a former cop who left the Northern Territory after his superiors covered up a massacre of Aboriginal people that left all but a little boy dead. He's been speaking to Jack Tame about the impact the movie had on him as an Australian. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Portuguese Piri Piri Chicken Few countries do BBQ better than the Portuguese with their frango piri piri, chicken cooked over the coals with a spicy lemony sauce to go with it is just the best! Seves 4-6 1.5 kg whole butterflied chicken 1 bunch thyme 2 lemons, halved 4 potatoes, boiled and cut into wedges Piri piri marinade 100g melted butter 3 red chillies, seeds discard and roughly chopped 4 garlic cloves, crushed with 1 tsp salt 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 bay leaf ½ cup olive oil To make the piri piri marinade, simmer the ingredients together in a small pot or pan. Allow to cool.at chicken dry with paper towel. Score breasts and thighs with a sharp knife. Rub marinade all over and into the cuts and place in a large shallow dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight if you can, removing from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. If you can’t do this stage, not to worry! Heat barbecue to high. Place the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until well browned – about 10-15 minutes – before turning over and cooking for a further 15 minutes. Transfer to a roasting dish and add in the potatoes. If you BBQ has a hood, turn heat to medium and lower hood and cook for 30 minutes, basting with a bunch of thyme dipped in the marinade every now and again. Alternatively, transfer chicken and potatoes to an oven heated to 180 C and roast for 30 minutes. It’s cooked when the drum sticks can easily be teased from the carcass. Rest, breast side down, for 15 minutes before chopping up to serve. Cook lemons on BBQ until browned on cut side. Simmer excess marinade for 5-10 minutes. To serve, squeeze lemon juice over chicken and potatoes and pour marinade into small bowl to serve on the side as it’s great for dipping! LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With some schools back next week, Kevin Milne's been thinking about sending his kids to school for the first time. Forget the kids, they'll be fine, he's got some tips for parents. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few years ago, I asked my Grandad about his impressions from when he first set foot in New Zealand. It was the mid-1960s. He’d sailed from the U.K with his wife and two boys on an Italian liner, when they drew up and docked in Auckland. Together, the Tame family went for a look up Queen Street. ‘It was horrible!’ said my Grandad. ‘Just awful. We couldn’t wait to get out of the place.’ His midlands accent added an additional level of disgust at the state of Queen Street, back then. And needless to say it was all he could do to get on a train and make his way to the South Island. Queen Street must have been really bad. He’s held onto a grudge for almost sixty years and as far as I know, he’s never been back since.But to be fair to my Grandad, when was the last time you heard someone gushing with compliments for Queen Street? When was the last time you heard someone say, ‘Queen Street’s amazing! It has all the buzz and intrigue of a street befitting the centre of our biggest city!’.The Herald is reporting this morning that Auckland Transport is drawing up plans that will effectively ban cars from Queen Street. There will be a section where buses can travel north and south, but that’ll be it. After a controversial programme which removed two lanes of traffic from Queen Street last year, the authorities want to remove the two lanes of traffic that remain. Queen Street looks set to be pedestrianised.And I for one think the idea is worth exploring. I can understand why some retailers are concerned about change, but at the moment there’s nowhere easy for shoppers to park and the cars on Queen Street are already travelling at a pretty low speeds. I’d assert that most people shopping on Queen Street don’t arrive by car, as it is. And with the Central Rail Link, buses, and rental scooters, there are plenty of other ways to get in to the city. I did an interview a few years back with the chief urban planner in New York. It made a massive impact on me at the time. He talked about revitalising some of Manhattan’s most tired neighbourhoods after 9/11. The key to a good city, he said, is to consider everything from the pedestrian’s perspective. No great city has been designed around cars. Good urban space always puts pedestrians first. And if you build good public space, and nurture good public space, human beings will always use it.To be clear... I’m not suggesting we turn Auckland into an entirely car-free city. But I think the Queen Street idea has merit. As my grandad would probably say... isn’t it worth a crack? After all, it’s not like Queen Street could get much worse. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.