Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Immigrant's Vineyard Sparkling Méthode Traditionnelle NV, Central Otago  RRP from $38.00 Roland and Lucienne moved to New Zealand from the Netherlands 1986, ultimately settling in Central Otago’s Alexandra area.  Some years later Lucy studied viticulture in Hawke's Bay and after working in hospitality and retail for many years took the leap of faith and passion and acquired our vineyard. Their first vintage was in 2015 launching Ruru wines under the umbrella company – Immigrant’s Vineyard   The wine:  Made with 100% Pinot Noir fruit this is a very attractive methode traditionelle with a bold leesy autolysis quality with aromas and flavours of fresh oatmeal and apple, fresh grapefruit and white peach. A crunchy texture with plenty of acidity and youthful mouthfeel framing pomaceous and citrus fruits. Nice weight and length, a wine to enjoy through the warmer weeks of summer and very food friendly. Well tinkered with best drinking from day of purchase through 2028+.  The Food:   The default for many with a dry sparkling wine is Mussels or Oysters, salty in food brings out the fruit flavours in wine. Salo, salt lowers the tasters perceptions of acidity.  There’s a great coffee table book called Champagne and Chandeliers (Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hardie Grant) , a page turner with some fantastic menus and matches. Try a soft boiled egg with caviar alongside Champagne, or just keep it super simple with a shallots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ChatGPT has launched a browser  It's only for Mac though. I tried it and was a little underwhelmed. The first two things I tried to get it to do it failed at. I asked it to get headlines from CNN and the NYTimes but those sites are restricted -- which may be a common issue as you start using it for your every day. Publishers and Apps are thinking about their AI access strategies after being burned from giving so much of their content to Google.   I then asked it to draft an email and get it ready in Gmail - but it wasn't any faster than copy and pasting from ChatGPT directly. Not sure there is enough benefit just yet!    The big outage earlier the week shows just how reliant we are on AWS  Oh boy.. that was a day. 14 hours of downtime with spotty services as different Amazon web services were online and offline. It turned out to be a DNS issue. The ip addresses of the DynamoDB servers were wiped - effectively making them invisible to the internet. It would be like removing all the phone numbers from the phone book - it doesn't make the phone book very useful. Only trouble is that the cloud servers and other AWS services people use rely on that phone book to operate and connect to the internet. It meant they were all taken offline and exposed a bad failure point.   It really showed that some companies don't have adequate failovers, or proper multi-cloud implementations. But, it didn't hurt them - their stock actually popped on the day of the outage and they have ended the week up ~5%.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ridge - (Neon and Sky Open) A psychological thriller set in both Scotland and New Zealand, about a doctor who flies to New Zealand to attend her sister’s wedding, only to arrive and discover her sister has died under mysterious circumstances. Nobody Wants This - (Netflix) A second season of the charming American rom-com starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, about the unlikely romance between an agnostic podcaster and an eligible rabbi.  The Legend of Crocodile Dundee - (TVNZ+, TVNZ1) 40 years after the Australian blockbuster film, this documentary movie looks back at the legacy of the one and only Crocodile Dundee.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Boyega has legendary status for his ability to say that he’s fought with a lightsaber, stood up to the Empire, and been an integral part of a brand-new generation of sci-fi.  John shot to fame as former stormtrooper Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and has since carved out an incredible reputation as an actor, producer, activist and storyteller with real purpose.  This weekend, John is in New Zealand for the Armageddon Expo’s massive 30th anniversary event, and he caught up with Jack Tame ahead of the convention.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the perfect shoulder season meal – not too hearty but not too fresh either, perfect for these interim months between Winter and Summer. Serves: 4-6 Ingredients: Olive oil 6 chicken thigh portions, bone in, skin on 500g red seedless grapes 6 cloves of garlic ¼ cup red wine vinegar ¼ cup stock Sea salt and black pepper Handful of thyme and rosemary Method: Preheat the oven to 200°C on fan bake. In a large roasting dish, drizzle over some olive oil and arrange the chicken skin side up. Arrange the grapes around the chicken and scatter over the garlic and white wine. Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle over a generous amount of oil. Scatter over the rosemary and thyme, cover with foil and then pop into the oven to roast for about 40-45 minutes or so. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden brown and crisp. Serve with salad and crusty bread. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere - (in cinemas) Starring Jeremy Allen White (of The Bear fame). On the cusp of global superstardom, New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past as he records the album "Nebraska" in the early 1980s.  Four Mothers - (in cinemas from October 29 as part of the British & Irish film festival)  An author is saddled with caring for his mother after she suffers a stroke. His plans for a book tour are thrown into disarray when three more elderly women arrive on his doorstep in Dublin.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Saville joins Jack Tame to discuss the latest sports news.  The NPC final, Canterbury vs Otago, who will walk away with the trophy?  Jason Holland has retired as attack coach for the All Blacks, what's next for him?  And the White Ferns exit the cricket world cup following a difficult run in Sri Lanka.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"An amusing story about the lengthy & complex arrangements around an appointment with an oral (dental) surgeon this week. Spoiler alert: My tooth fell out before I got there." Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to share an interesting story about complications at the dentist. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday October 18 2025, the two women leading the fight for justice in the Pike River mine disaster Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse join Jack to discuss the new film telling their story. Jack reflects on his experience in Greymouth in the aftermath of the tragedy.  Tech-xpert Paul Stenhouse shares all the details on ChatGPT's new adults only feature. Chef Nici Wickes raids the pantry and makes good use of her many jars of marmalade with some delightful little marmalade cakes. And, Kevin Milne tells the classic kiwi story of how he met the late Jim Bolger. Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been almost 15 years since the Pike River mining disaster in which 29 men lost their lives.   A new film tells the true story of the tragedy and its aftermath through the eyes of Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse - 2 women at the forefront of the fight for justice.  In the disaster, Anna lost her husband Milton. Sonya lost her son Ben, while another of her sons, Daniel, was one of just two survivors.  The pair joined Jack Tame this morning to discuss the disaster and the film's release.  Pike River will be in cinemas from the 30th of October 2025. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Dawning is a collaborative album from Icelandic composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds, and the late Irish singer-songwriter Talos.  The album blends the two musician's iconic styles to take listeners on a journey of raw emotion and evasive hope, and serves as a reminder of the legacy left by Talos.  All the artwork was made by Talos himself.  James Irwin joined Jack Tame to review the album.  LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Iconic. Few world landmarks exemplify the full meaning of that word quite like the Taj Mahal. I’ve just enjoyed freshly communing with the wondrous masterpiece in Agra, as part of a private tour of Classic India with Wendy Wu Tours. Four hours drive from New Delhi, Agra is rough and ready in places, much like the driving standards on India’s roads. As my delightful Wendy Wu Tours driver Mr Singh observed, “There are three golden rules when driving in India. You need a good horn, good brakes and good luck.” Before savouring the gleaming Taj, my Wendy Wu Tours guide Nadeem led us on an enlightening tour around Agra Fort. En-route, we passed a decrepit sandstone building that Nadeem remarked had become nicknamed the “Monkey House” by locals. Apparently a vast tribe of 200 Rhesus macaques inhabit the crumbling building, running riot on the adjoining road when they head out to find food. Agra Fort is a marvel, a mighty red sandstone fortress overlooking the Yamuna River. It was established by the Mughal emperor Akbar in the 16th century, who was a descendant of Genghis Khan. The sprawling fort served as a military base and a royal residence, as well as the seat of government when Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire. The complex is a delight to explore, radiantly reflecting the architectural grandeur of the Mughal reign – a fusion of Persian and Indian design flourishes. Highlights include the Pearl Mosque, constructed by Shah Jahan. This tranquil and perfectly proportioned structure is made entirely of white marble. The splendid Palace of Mirrors (Sheesh Mahal), had its walls and ceilings inlaid with thousands of small mirrors. The fort also served as a prison and Nadeem led us to gaze at where Shah Jahān sadly spent the last eight years of life, in his gilded cage. Aurangzeb, his son and successor as emperor, incarcerated him there in 1658. At least Jahan could gaze across to his finest triumph, his sublime Taj Mahal, rising proudly on the horizon, around the river bend. Another headline sight at Agra Fort is the Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah in Agra, India. Nicknamed the baby Taj, it’s considered a precursor to the Taj Mahal. It was built 30 years earlier, for the father of the Mughal Empress Nur Jahan. The alarm clock was set for an early wake-up the following morning, to witness the Taj Mahal at sunrise. The last time I visited the Taj fourteen years ago, we timed it for sunset – but the crowd crush detracted from the experience. Wendy Wu Tours strongly recommended a sunrise visit – and they weren’t wrong. There were barely a hundred people on site for the dawn of a new day and the absence of crowds enhances the encounter immeasurably. (Nor will you battling extreme heat.) After duly posing for photos on the marble bench immortalised by Princess Diana’s visit, it was positively soothing to size up this colossal marble mausoleum from every angle and vantage point, as a yolky sunrise stamped its presence on proceedings. I felt lost in awe-inspired reflection in the ornamental gardens. Built as a memorial by Shah Jahan for his third wife, who died giving birth to their 14th child, it is arguably the world’s greatest monument to love. The emperor was apparently so heartbroken by her death, his hair turned grey overnight. Construction of the monument began within 12 months, with the bulk of the building taking 8 years to complete. 20,000 people from India and Central Asia worked on the building, while specialists from Europe were brought in to produce the exquisite marble screens and inlay work. Much of the gold and precious stones were later looted by British soldiers. Following his death, Shah Jahan was buried here, alongside his third wife. There are so many touches to his masterpiece to admire. Look closely and you’ll notice that the four soaring minarets are all subtly tilted away from the main building, so that they won’t fall on it, in the event of a major earthquake. I love how the building was purposefully positioned pointing north, so that it is bathed in maximum sunlight from dawn to dusk, heightening the creamy lustre of the marble. And nothing detracts in the background. Built on a raised platform with its back to the river, the backdrop is only sky – a masterstroke in design, which adds to its timeless enchantment. It was striking how serious they are taking the threat of air pollution around the Taj mahal, with an enormous perimeter area, clamping down on vehicle use and the forced closure of factories in proximity to the monument. Previously, the Taj Mahal has been spruced up with an ancient face-pack recipe known as multani mitti. This blend of soil, cereal, milk and lime beautifies the skin. I must try it. They’re very proud of all things Mughal in Agra so why not tuck into some Mughlai cuisine? This rich, meaty and aromatic culinary style blends Indian flavours with Persian, Turkish, and Central Asian influences. It is known for its creamy, rich gravies, elaborate dishes, and the liberal use

A few things to look for in October:  Passionvine Hoppers do a bit of damage from late October/Early November till March-April  These are the problematic insects that are common in the north (and for the past few years, also around Christchurch – they’re spreading South!  Adult passionvine hoppers plus one nearly-mature fluffybum Most of the damage is cased when the bugs are growing bigger and older (later in spring); by then these insects can jump away from insecticides applied; they clever enough to avoid being immersed.  CONTROL and PREVENTION:  Keep an eye on the new fluffy bums hatching in your garden right now!!! Those tiny nymphs often congregate in large flocks at the ends of new growth; they are still very feeble in their movement and won’t be able to escape a cloud of fly-spray aimed at them on a wind-still morning  Spray these young Passionvine Hoppers in October with a good dose of fly-spray; your only chance to hit them before they become troublesome. Slugs and Snails are a real pest in the garden at this time of the year; moisture and new plant growth encourages them  Control measures that work:   Weed control will expose them to predators (thrushes)  Using Bait pellets in a pottle, dug into soil: take-away container with lid on and bait inside; holes cut in the side of the container let slugs and snails in; but not dogs and cats Alternative version is to use some off-cuts (15-30 cm long) of plastic waste-pipe, diameter 50 to 75 mm, which allows access to slugs and snails, but not to birds.  Put some bait in the pipes and anchor them down with a heavy brick  Encourage Carabid beetles (Ground beetles): they often feed on slugs and snail juveniles and eggs Slug and Snail bait station And then there are Mites, especially Two-Spotted SPIDER MITES  Tiny, eight-legged ACARI that love to suck the fluids out of the leaves of your plants in spring, summer and autumn.  Tetranychus urticae is a cosmopolitan species of mite that causes heaps of damage. Control is not very difficult: there are some good miticides (note: miticides, not insecticides) on the market that will deal to most outbreaks. However, mites are known for becoming quite tolerant of chemical compounds. Mineral oils and the so-called fatty acids are also effective on spidermites, as is a couple of repeat sprays of Neem oil. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people think about money in terms of days. Wealthy people think about money in decades. Here's how to think about money differently: Based on this calculator.  Ed McKnight joined Jack Tame to look at how Kiwis view their money, and why we should start counting decades, not days. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ChatGPT is getting an Adults-Only mode From December, verified adults, will be able to chat with AI in a much more adult way.   To be verified you'll need to upload your ID and go through a verification process. Now, how often that verification is rechecked is yet to be know. Could you sign up for an account, then share your credentials? Do you need to scan your face before each session? Unclear.  The company has a principle that they should "treat adult users like adults" -- which means letting them have more 'freedom' to chat about a wider range of topics. That also means removing some of the restrictions around mental health topics.   Why does this matter? Some crazy stats from a resume.org survey of 1000:  25% of Gen Z describe AI bots as their therapist or coach, a friend, or coworker  34% admit to confiding in AI chatbots about things they’ve never told another person  16% say they frequently discuss personal topics such as mental health or relationships with AI, while 33% say they do so occasionally.  Spotify found to be working on a ‘SongDNA’ feature The feature lets folks meet those behind the music - the writers, collaborators, vocalists, engineers, lyricists, producers, composers, and others who worked on a given track or album - and discover more of their work more easily. Tidal has had an interactive credits feature for some time.  Spotify hasn't announced the feature yet, but a reverse engineer found it in their app code.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Iris Affair - (TVNZ+) A new British thriller, created by Neil Cross (Luther) and starring Tom Hollander, about a genius who goes on the run with a secret code and must work out what technology it could awaken before she is caught.    Murdaugh: Death in the Family - (Disney+) Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke star in this true-crime drama series about a prominent South Carolina family involved in several mysterious deaths.    The Diplomat - (Netflix) A new season of the very bingeable thriller that sees Keri Russell play a reluctant American career diplomat who is made ambassador to the UK.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I flew to Greymouth the morning after Pike River first blew.   I was there, in and out, for several weeks. I keenly remember those first few days of waiting. Of hope. Checking our phones. Checking our phones. Checking our phones.  It’s a cliche, I know. But time moves so slowly when you’re watching a clock. I remember the calculations. How much air? Water? Food? I remember the international media pouring into Greymouth. I remember the despair on the Wednesday afternoon when the families were called in for an update. The mine had blown again. The men were all dead.   One of the great privileges of being a journalist is that you get to meet lots of interesting people and experience lots of different things. I’ve certainly had more than my share of pinch-myself moments over the years. But for all the elections and Olympics and Donald Trump rallies I’ve been lucky to attend one the most memorable afternoons of my life was the afternoon of the Pike River memorial.  You might recall it. It was less than a fortnight after the men went missing... a big public event at a racecourse just out of town. But instead of going, I decided to stay the afternoon in Greymouth.   And I’ve never experienced anything like it.   It. Was. Empty.   Not a car. Not an open shop. Not a soul. You could walk down the painted line in the middle of the road. There was no one. Everyone was gone because a piece of everyone was gone. The loss was absolute.  It still seems a bit surreal. Mining has never been the safest industry, and the Coast has more than its share of tragic history hidden in its magnificent bush-covered valleys, but that almost every player on a rugby pitch could go in for a shift and never come home – in modern New Zealand – is still shocking to me.   I watched Pike River the film this week. I found it very affecting. It’s interesting to note the director Rob Sarkies also directed Out of the Blue, the film about Aramoana. He waited 16 years after the massacre to make and release that film. He’s waited almost as long for Pike River. He’s really got a knack for sensitively telling some of the most painful-but-important New Zealand stories.   But there’s a big and obvious difference between Out of the Blue and Pike River.  The Pike River story still isn’t over. Police and the Crown Solicitor are still deciding whether to lay criminal charges.  After all of those days waiting to see if their boys might have somehow survived, all of those weeks and then months and then years to see if the mine could be re-entered, if they could recover the remains of their loved ones... The families of the Pike 29 are still waiting.   The media left town. In a way, the World moved on. But you get the sense, after 15 years, that a little part of Greymouth is still hollowed out. Still waiting for justice.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Little marmalade cakes   These light and buttery cakes are perfect using up marmalade. Quick and easy the marmalade flavour is perfect incorporated into a cake.   Makes 12   Ingredients: 170g butter, softened, plus more for greasing muffin tins  1 cup sugar  2 large eggs  2 cups plain flour  1 tbsp marmalade   1 cup milk stirred with 1 tbsp lemon juice  1 tsp baking soda    Topping  ½ cup brown sugar   ¼ cup marmalade   1 tbsp orange juice     Method Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease 12-hole muffin tin. Line each with small squares of baking paper.   Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and continue beating until well-combined. Don’t worry if it curdles.   Sift in flour and add in marmalade and beat gently until just combined.   In a cup combine milk and lemon juice and wait until is curdles – about 30 seconds. Stir in baking soda and add to cake batter. Mix until just combined.   Fill each hole to two-thirds with the batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes until light brown and spring back to the touch.   Make topping by melting brown sugar with marmalade and orange juice.  As soon as the muffins are cooled to warm, gently loosen from muffin holes and then spoon over glaze.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cillian Murphy and Tracey Ullman are the stars of new Netflix movie 'Steve', adapted from a book written by Max Porter.  And Kiera Knightley stars with Guy Pearce and Hannah Waddingham in another book adaptation.  Francesca Rudkin joined Jack Tame to give a rundown of the two movies, including their highs and lows. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger passed away this week. He served from 1990-1997 and secured National's largest ever victory in the 1990 election.  Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to share his personal experiences with Jim Bolger, who he once met at a café on the Kapiti coast.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Raised at the bottom of the world, Sam Cullen is on his way up.  The Invercargill-born musician is rising in the music world, having already performed on the main stage at Rhythm & Vines, as well as playing on some of the coolest stages around the country.  He’s been working quietly behind the scenes on his self-titled debut album, which is set to release soon.  Some of the songs on the album, he revealed to Jack Tame, are about five or six years old.  “It’s kind of been less of a, I’m going to sit down and write an album,” Cullen said.  “But the last five years of my life, these are like, the best songs I’ve written and haven’t released yet.”  Only being 25 years old, this means the songs were written throughout the early days of his adulthood – resulting in themes of coming of age and entering adulthood weaving throughout the album.  “I’m pretty proud of it and excited to have it out.”  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A couple of interesting quotes came to light this week – one from the late Jane Goodall and the other from Queen Camilla.   Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about the two quotes and his thoughts on them.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fifth solo studio album from American musician Jeff Tweedy, Twilight Override is packed full.  It’s a triple album, with a total of 30 tracks, created with the intention of overwhelming the ‘ennui’ that was being squeezed into his life with his own creative works.  He’s credited the prolific output to his belief that creativity “eats darkness”.  James Irwin joined Jack Tame to review the album.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China by Jung Chang   Jung Chang’s Wild Swans was a book that defined a generation – the story of ‘three daughters of China’: Jung, her mother and her grandmother and their lives during a century of revolution. Fly, Wild Swans is, quite simply, what happened next.  Jung Chang arrived in the UK in 1978 aged 26, part of a Chinese scholarship programme for study abroad. Finding herself in the London of punk, political protests and Ziggy Stardust, she felt as if she’d landed on the moon. She and her fellow students had all grown up in complete isolation from the west, living in fear as to what might happen if they broke any of the strict rules imposed upon them by their government. It was an invaluable opportunity but came at a cost of long-term separation from her mother and family in China. As Jung began to adjust to life in the West, she warmed to the fashion scene, rebelled and thrived. Her studies took off and she became the first person from the People’s Republic of China to be awarded a doctorate from a British university. Fly, Wild Swans is, in many ways, Jung’s love letter to her mother set against China’s development from the relative freedoms of the late-1970s and untrammelled capitalism of the 1990s to the current authoritarian repressive rule of Xi-Jinping. With vivid flashbacks to her family’s experience in communist China, the book offers an extraordinary account of Jung’s research into the genocidal regime of Mao Tse-Tung, the many fictions she uncovered and the political consequences of publishing her subsequent biography.   As Jung becomes a successful academic and writer in the West, Fly, Wild Swans demonstrates how much she relies on her mother still living in China and the painful years in which politics has prevented them meeting.  Through the arc of their respective lives, she gives an immersive, deeply moving and unforgettable account of what it is like to live in a communist dictatorship and the threats modern China poses to the international world order. It is family history at its best.    Circle of Days by Ken Follett   A FLINT MINER WITH A GIFT  Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his stone at the Midsummer Rite, and to find Neen, the girl he loves. Her family lives in prosperity and offers Seft an escape from his brutish father and brothers, within their herder community.  A PRIESTESS WHO BELIEVES THE IMPOSSIBLE  Joia, Neen's sister, is a priestess with a vision and an unmatched ability to lead. As a child, she watches the Midsummer ceremony, enthralled, and dreams of a miraculous new monument, raised from the biggest stones in the world. But trouble is brewing among the hills and woodlands of the Great Plain.  A MONUMENT THAT WILL DEFINE A CIVILISATION  Joia's vision of a great stone circle, assembled by the divided tribes of the Plain, will inspire Seft and become their life's work. But as drought ravages the earth, mistrust grows between the herders, farmers and woodlanders - and an act of savage violence leads to open warfare . . .  Truly ambitious in scope, Circle of Days invites you to join master storyteller Ken Follett in exploring one of the greatest mysteries of our age: Stonehenge.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"For even the most intrepid of travellers, India can be a sensory assault – confronting and riveting in equal measure. If you’re a first-timer to the subcontinent, the Golden Triangle which threads together New Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur offers the best crash-course in getting to grips with India. I first tripped around the Golden Triangle fourteen years ago and I’ve recently completed a return visit with Wendy Wu Tours. It was fascinating to discover the remarkable changes and dramatic swing in living standards, while many aspects to the allure of the Golden Triangle remained unchanged." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll know that we’ve just had Mental Health Awareness Week. It’s a great initiative by the Mental Health Foundation to normalise talking and thinking about mental health!   Pop quiz – how many Kiwi adults do you think will, in their lifetime, experience a major mental health problem?   According to Ministry of Health, it’s 47% of us.   But data from the Dunedin Longitudinal Study suggests this figure might be closer to 80%. So that means most of us will experience some mental health problems in our lifetime – that shows it’s pretty normal!   This year, Mental Health Awareness Week’s theme is Top Up Together – focusing on how to “top up” your mental health with others, which can help protect us against developing mental health problems.  To top up our mental health we can use the 5 ways to wellbeing: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, and Give. I wanted to share some of my tips to top-up in each of the 5 areas:   Connect – very 3rd Thursday of the month me and a bunch of friends get together for “Thirsty Thursday” at our local. Some of us have a beer, some have a soft drink – it doesn’t matter. Sometimes there are 6 of us sometimes 16 – whoever can make it, makes it. We talk about everything from how to cook brisket to the state of cricket in NZ to what makes a “good” or “bad” person.   Be Active – try and make this an everyday habit. I go for a 45min walk every morning at 6am. It’s now so much of a habit that I need to do it otherwise I really notice it   Take Notice – I’ve just sparked up my mindfulness practice again   Keep Learning – I’ll use my lovely wife as an example here – she’s halfway through an online Te Reo course – she’s doing this together with others   Give – give time, or social support, or resources to help others – can be volunteering at your local soup kitchen or coaching your kid’s sports team or helping replant native bush. In a few weeks time I’ll be helping out at the St Michael’s church fair in Kelburn – giving some stuff and helping run the white elephant stall. Lots of research shows that the act of giving is just as helpful to the “giver” as to those receiving the help   The challenge for listeners – how can you top up your mental health together with others. And check out www.mhaw.nz for more tips!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 11 October 2025, rising Kiwi musician Sam Cullen joins Jack in studio for a live performance and to chat about the upcoming release of his debut album.  Jack considers the lack of rules around treatment of referees in football.  Tara Ward shares details on the brand-new series of The Celebrity Traitors UK, starring Stephen Fry, Alan Carr, and Celia Imrie.  If you're considering your first trip to India, Mike Yardley has his top tips on navigating the sensory contrast.  And Dougal Sutherland discusses Mental Health Awareness Week.  Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Motor neurone disease is a devasting condition that’s recently come to prominence in the media with the diagnosis of former English rugby captain Lewis Moody. Another famous person who suffered from the condition was Stephen Hawkins.      What is motor neurone disease?   It’s a progressive nerve disease.   It damages and kills nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain that control muscle movement in the body.   The damaged nerve cells mean the brain can no longer signal muscles in the body.  Muscles slowly lose the ability to function.       Why does it occur?   The exact cause is not fully understood.   It’s thought that up to 10% of cases are inherited and related to a patient’s genes, while 90% are random with no clear genetic cause.   Several things may be important:   Abnormal accumulation protein in the nerve cells, destroying them.   A possible inflammatory or immune system malfunction.   Possible environmental factors like exposure to heavy metals or pesticides, however there’s no clear evidence.       What are the symptoms?   It's difficult to diagnose initially with subtle changes: clumsiness in hands, slurred speech, tiredness.   As time goes on, the main issue is weakness in the arms, legs, and hands – the person gradually losing the ability to use them.   Speech and swallowing become difficult.   Breathing problems as the muscles around lungs weaken.   There can be mood swings.       Can it be treated?   Unfortunately, it is incurable.   On average, patients live 2 to 5 years.   Stephen Hawkins was an example of someone who actually lived with it for much longer – he was diagnosed at age 22 and lived to 76, which is very unusual.   There are some experimental drugs that may slow progression that are being looked at.   However, most treatment is supportive – trying to improve the person’s quality of life.     LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Codling moths are a pain in the backside for people that grow apples. A week or so after flowering, the fertilised, tiny apples (known in the UK as “codlings”) are the perfect target for the moths to lay eggs in.  The caterpillars emerge from the eggs and tunnel into the developing fruit, causing ugly tunnels, often with fungal infection, brown decay, and “frass” sticking out of the hole. Once these caterpillars are inside, you won’t get them out and the fruit will be rather awful as it develops.  In the old days we used to regularly spray pretty nasty insecticides on our apples: Carbaryl, Organophosphates, etc. Not nice!  The moths are quite pretty: golden colours, about a centimetre in size, flying around the orchard when the flowering has just finished.  The caterpillars exit the fruit when full grown – they descend down the stem/trunk and pupate in loose bark or further down in the soil.  A second Generation develops in summer, especially in the northern parts of NZ.  Second generation moths can be detected by using a Codling Moth pheromone trap, which indicates exactly when the moths are flying again, looking for mid-summer sized apples to lay their eggs on.  Those sticky pheromone traps will trap some of the moths, but not in sufficient quantities to significantly reduce their numbers in your home “orchard”.  To really get rid of the majority of codling moths you better use a specific virus that knocks the caterpillars out before they take their second bite of the apple. This virus only targets codling moths and no other insects. That Virus is called MADEX 3, and the active viral particles are a Granulosis Virus. Excellent and safe to use, unless you look like a codling moth caterpillar!  A couple of stockists of Madex 3 who focus on the DIY online business are: Good to Grow and NZ YUZU. Commercial distributers who purchase somewhere nationally but may not stock Madex at every branch are: Farmlands, PGG Wrightson, Fruit fed Supplies, Horti centre, etc.  This is a commercial product, used by apple growers – it covers large orchards and is very effective indeed. It is also quite pricey (around $180 for 100 ml) but if you put it in the freezer and only use what you need, it’ll last for many, many years. Share it with your neighbours to cut costs, follow the instructions, but KEEP IT IN THE FREEZER AFTER USE.  It’ll be time to use it in the next week or so!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apps have arrived inside ChatGPT   Another big moment in the company's offerings – this is where ChatGPT has gone from a tool to a platform. Now inside ChatGPT you can ask it to directly ask an app to do something. So, you can ask Spotify to create a playlist for you that is 150bpm for a 45 minute run. Or you can ask it to research hotels in Paris on Booking.com, and it'll return real results you can then book with a click.   You don't need to search through those sites or apps, ChatGPT becomes the interface for that. The apps at launch are selected by OpenAI and more will be added over time  including retailer Target, restaurant booking app OpenTable, and Uber. They’ll also be adding them for the EU users "soon".   Travel and personal assistant type use cases seem to be the top priority for this launch.      Amazon is launching a prescription vending machine   It owns a doctors clinic network in the USA called One Medical, and inside those locations will be a vending machine for commonly prescribed medicines, dispensed by Amazon Pharmacy. It'll debut in Los Angeles starting in December.   How it works: after the patient visits the doctor, they can choose to send their prescription to the vending machine. You then login to your app, scan it, and away you go. It'll have commonly prescribed medications including antibiotics, inhalers, and blood pressure medications, with each location's inventory selected based on needs (I smell some AI here!). Controlled substances and medications requiring refrigeration are not available via the vending machine.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Victoria Beckham  Step into Victoria Beckham's London atelier, as the Spice Girl-turned-powerhouse designer opens up about her life while preparing for Paris Fashion Week (Netflix).    Film Club   Two movie enthusiasts, Noa and Evie, share a weekly film club where their unspoken feelings for each other grow. When Noa decides to move away for work, Evie has a limited time to confess her love before potentially losing him forever (ThreeNow).    The Celebrity Traitors UK   As the players fall deeper into the game, a new day brings new suspicions amongst the Faithful. The mission forces the celebrities to communicate in a way no-one expected, and with the murdering hour approaching, the players take their seats at the Round Table. Will the Faithful work as a team to uncover a Traitor, or will the Traitors' power grow stronger? (ThreeNow)    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eleanor the Great   After seventy years with best friend, Eleanor moves to New York City for a fresh start. Making new friends at ninety proves difficult. Longing for connection, she befriends a 19-year-old student.     The Lost Bus   A white-knuckle ride through one of America's wildfires as a wayward school bus driver and a dedicated school teacher battle to save 22 children from the inferno.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an utterly delicious way to make the most of seasonal asparagus. It’s simple, packed full of protein, and just as good for lunch or dinner, as a picnic item or party piece.    Serves 4-6       Ingredients  ¼ cup olive oil    1 onion, thinly sliced    400g (approx. 2 medium-large) potato    5 medium-large eggs, lightly beaten in a large bowl    2 tbsps. rosemary, chopped   1 tsp sea salt + ¼ tsp cracked pepper    1-2 bunches asparagus, tough ends snapped off    ½ cup grated cheddar      Method  Preheat oven to 170 C.    Heat half the oil in a large (23-26cm) ovenproof pan and cook the onions until soft.    Peel potatoes and either slice very thinly or chop roughly and put in a food processor and pulse until chopped into pea-sized pieces (I use the latter method). Don’t overdo it or they will turn to mush.   Whisk the eggs with rosemary, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add sliced/chopped potatoes and toss well to coat. Add in softened onions and stir to combine.    Add remaining oil to the pan then pour in the egg/vegetable mixture. Reduce the heat to low and cook slowly until the edges are cooked – about 10 minutes.    Lay asparagus over the top and top with cheese.    Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle.    Rest for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges or squares and serve either hot or at room temperature with your favourite chutney.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Whites were playing Poland yesterday in the build up for next year’s World Cup. I saw about half of the game. Although we ultimately lost, my main takeaway was that we looked alright. All Whites of old would have faced potential humiliation in a game against Poland – not this team.  But for whatever reason I was also struck by one of the challenges that led to a yellow card in the match, and the way in which the players reacted.  To be clear, it was nothing special. A heavy, clumsy challenge, but one which happens in every top tier football game and probably every Sunday league golden oldies 40+ social game too. The tackle came in. The ref blew his whistle. And in a moment, players from both teams immediately crowded him out.  I don’t get it. I don’t understand why football, of all sports, lets players rush the referee, getting right up in their face to theatrically plead innocence or insist that an opponent should be more harshly sentenced. Sure, the rules state that players can be penalised for dissent, but it happens so rarely. Instead, you see them rush the ref all the time in top level games. Sometimes half a team will run in. It can take minutes to restore order.  I get that sport is emotional, but it’s a curious exercise to compare what football will generally allow players to do to referees with other, more violent sports. In rugby, there’s no way referees would stand for it. There’s a very clear process. If you’ve got a problem, your captain is welcome to bring it to the ref, but if any other players push the line, they risk being penalised. Most players get it pretty quickly.  In American football, if you give much more than a ‘yes sir’ to one of the officials, you’ll be penalised for unsportsmanlike conduct or ejected from the game.  They have trialled similar things in football. They looked at a blue card option in which referees could sin-bin players for dissent. They looked at rules where only captains could approach referees. But so far it hasn’t been adopted in the top leagues with the most money, the most viewers, and the most influence.  Apparently one of the concerns is that cracking down on player treatment of referees will suppress some of the emotion in the game, and emotion makes it fun to watch.   But I dunno. I reckon by being so loosey-goosey and allowing ten or a dozen players to all get up in the ref’s face at once, they’ve ended up incentivising histrionic behaviour. Now, if a player makes a heavy tackle and knows they’re probably in the wrong, they have to go up and scream and yell and stamp their feet at their supposed cruel treatment, because they know the other team will be making just as much of a scene, trying to get them punished. It’s like an arms race – you have to match your opponent’s outrage.   Football is a near-perfect team sport. It’s beautifully simple. The barriers to entry are basically non-existent. The scope for creativity and flare is vast.   But if there is one way the beautiful game might be improved just a bit, it’s the way players treat the referee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A bit of a change in focus for Jeremy Redmore.  While most will know him from the rock band Midnight Youth, Redmore is going through a bit of a creative evolution, turning his attention to children’s music.  But it’s not the sugar-rush pop you might be expecting, the music instead following a —surprisingly emotional— narrative.  Redmore told Jack Tame it all started when he was writing a children’s book about the superpowers that can be found in singing – the way you can find identity and energy through song.  “That was a book about singing, so I had to have a song,” he said.  “I did the song, and I really enjoyed releasing kid’s music.”  It was at that point he started wondering anyone else felt this way about the power of singing, and so he started researching.  “Turns out there’s all this amazing stuff that happens when kids sing and adults sing as well, but especially when people sing in groups.”  “So I had the opportunity to record an album of songs, and I thought, let's make this really intentional.”   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taylor Swift has released her hotly anticipated 12th album 'The Life of a Showgirl'.  It's a shift away from the bleakness of her previous album 'The Tortured Poets Department', Swift describing it as a 'vibrant and lively' project. However while it's a departure from TTPD, it's almost a return to for the pop superstar, filled with upbeat pop and soft rock songs - the album centring around her relationship with her fiancé Travis Kelce.  Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to give his thoughts on the album. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Local body elections are in the works – voting packages sent out and candidates advertising themselves on the streets and social media.  But Kevin Milne has a question: how much weight do the candidates photos hold in securing votes?   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Whether you’re looking for a beachfront break in Southeast Asia or a flavourful side-trip to enrich your adventures, Penang is a getaway that sure hits the sweet spot. Just a few hours drive from Kuala Lumpur, or a one hour flight from Singapore, the island of Penang is pinned to the Malay Peninsula by some seriously impressive bridges, spanning the Strait of Malacca. One of the bridges includes a 17km stretch over the water! "Blending the best of Penang’s allure, I savoured the stirring cuisine and cultural heritage of Georgetown, while basing myself at one of Malaysia’s best beaches. Gracing the northern shores of the island, Batu Ferringhi is Penang's premier beach destination, edged by a vast 7km-long sweep of blonde sand, beloved for its luxury resorts, water sports like jet-skiing and parasailing, and bustling night market." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman   Who's got time to think about murder when there's a wedding to plan?  It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favourite criminal.  But when Elizabeth meets a wedding guest who’s in trouble, kidnap and death are hot on their heels once more. A villain wants access to an uncrackable code, and will stop at nothing to get it. Plunged back into action once more, can the gang solve the puzzle and a murder in time?     Culpability by Bruce Holsinger   When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret that implicates them in the accident.  During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.  Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spring has sprung and it’s the perfect time to pick up a few simple, sustainable habits that connect you to nature.  Kate Hall has a few suggestions that she joined Jack Tame to delve into, including:   Plant and swap: Sow quick wins like salad greens, radishes, and herbs. Share or swap seeds and seedlings with neighbours.   Line-drying: The spring winds are free! Ditch the dryer and line-dry for that “fresh air” scent and big energy savings.   Clean-out & donate: Spring clean time! Sort your wardrobe, kids’ toys, or kitchen gear. Donate or swap rather than binning - it keeps items in circulation.   Eco-picnics: Pack homemade snacks in jars and containers, bring reusable cups and cutlery, and enjoy local parks or beaches waste-free.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 4 October 2025, Jack cracks into the brand-new Taylor Swift album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ with music reviewer Chris Schulz.  Former Midnight Youth rocker Jeremy Redmore joins Jack to discuss his creative evolution and turn towards children's music.  Nici Wickes delivers delicious mushroom cannelloni.   And Francesca Rudkin shares her thoughts on The Rock's latest film role.  Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few weeks after the beginning of Spring is a good time to collect some inspiration for your garden. Check out the local Botanic Garden, take a looksee in open gardens, a visit to the Garden Club, or else a simple walk around the neighbourhood to see what grows well and what goes well.   Thalia Narcissus with white accents (orchid narcissus) and Fritilaria contrasting with green and blue.  Some of our native species stand out in spring:   Pittosporum eugenioides (also known as Tarata) is here just in time for our bees and bumble bees to take advantage of the massive amounts of nectar and sweet dribblings that’s on offer.   Native bees in particular will come and visit.  Amalanchier canadensis (the white flowers) are lovely northern hemisphere trees that end up giving you berries for your sandwiches. They are also known as Canadian Shadbush.   Their white flowers go very well with Chaenomeles (Japanese Quince).  Mind you, the only trouble with Chaenomeles is the fact that their spikes are extremely sharp, making pruning a bit tricky.  Combinations of various plant species allows different colours to be seen from different angles.  Foliage of many plants interact with some flowers. This is what the exact same part of the garden looks like from different angles.    The idea is to combine them to allow contrasts in sun and shade, which means looking in different directions will show new patterns.   Hebe, Euphorbia, and bright yellow Spiraea japonica “Gold Flame”.  When it comes to patterns, some plants create wonderful three-dimensional pieces of art. This Kowhai has dense foliage in random directions.   It is a perfect spot for our birds to build a nest, after flowering has finished…   Nectar feeders will visit regularly so check them out!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ME by Matahiwi Pinot Noir 2024, Wairarapa   RRP from $21.00   This is a complete wine from nose to palate with a generous core of red berry fruits flavours, a decent structure with fine tannins that are easy to dissolve on the palate, and a fresh line of acidity both framing the fruit core.   Crunchy, fresh, fruity, varietal and loaded with flavours of cherry and fruit spice. Low oak, tautness from youthful, polished tannins and BB of acidity.       Food:   I think best enjoyed with a range of aperitif foods like arancini with a little kalamata olive inside. This is also very good with prawn ravioli dressed with a crayfish bisque sauce and cherry tomato. Or a simple Cacio Pepe spaghetti dressed with parmesan cheese and olive oil.       The Vintage:    In the Wairarapa: Rather excellent with a very good flowering and fruit set. Careful vineyard management led to a great harvest and subsequent winemaking meant the measure of winemaker inputs like wood were very judicious and alongside the level of tannins, acidity and fruit make for a love wine to look out for.     LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are iGlasses going to be a thing?    Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is giving up on making a new version of its Apple Vision pro headset in favour of creating glasses, like Meta. Meta's glasses have been more successful than anyone expected and are currently leading the market.   Apple has redirected teams to focus on the glasses approach – the first without a screen are expected to be announced next year, then those with a screen in 2027, giving Meta a massive advantage. Apples glasses will apparently rely on voice interaction and artificial intelligence – two areas that Apple hasn't exactly excelled at in recent years.      Imagine TikTok, but none of the videos are real. That's here.   The Sora app is powered by OpenAI's video generation model of the same name. The videos are wildly realistic – in one example where someone does a backflip on a paddleboard, the physics of it all is perfect. The paddleboard on the water, the impact of the backflip, all looks real.   You can even upload data of yourself, give consent, and you can appear in these artificial videos. They say X-rated videos are impossible to create. Public figures cannot be added unless they have given their consent. The app is currently #1 on the Apple App Store but requires an invite code.     LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Billy Joel: And So It Goes  In this candid portrait, legendary singer-songwriter Billy Joel reveals the symbiosis between his life and art, and explores the love, loss, and personal struggles that forged his character and fuel his songwriting (Neon).    The Twelve  Respected barrister Brett Colby returns to the courtroom to face a new murder trial and a new line-up of jurors. The defendant reveals a personal connection to Colby's past, and emotions are heightened as they struggle to reach their verdict (TVNZ+).     Dark Winds  Two Navajo police officers join hands to look for clues and uncover the secrets behind a brutal double murder while battling their own demons and beliefs (Netflix).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Smashing Machine   MMA fighter Mark Kerr reaches the peak of his career but faces personal hardships along the way.     The Teacher Who Promised the Sea   The buried memories of the Spanish Civil War become unearthed as a woman searches for the remains of her grandfather's father and discovers the story of an idealistic young teacher from Tarragona.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In celebration of Vegetarian Month, this dish of cannelloni filled with mushrooms, tomato, spinach, and lentils and covered with a creamy cheese sauce is divine!   Serves one     Ingredients  2 tbsp olive oil   1 small onion, diced   1 large portobello mushroom, chopped roughly   ½ can crushed tomatoes   ½ teaspoon dried thyme   ½ can lentils, drained   1 cup shredded spinach   4 cannelloni pasta tubes   Topping   1/3 cup crème fraiche   1/3 cup liquid stock or water   1/3 cup grated cheese   Salt and pepper to season     Method  Heat oven to 180 C. Grease a small oven-proof dish that will fit the pasta tubes snugly.   Make the filling by heating the oil in a pan and cooking onions and mushroom for 3-4 minutes until softened a bit. Pour in tomatoes and thyme and heat until it simmers. Add in lentils and spinach and cook, covered, until the spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat.   Take each pasta tube and stamp it into the filling repeatedly until the tube fills with the filling. Fill from both ends if you like. Lay filled tubes into the prepared dish.   Loosen the leftover filling with a splash or two of water and pour this in and around the cannelloni.   Whisk the creme fraiche, stock, and half the cheese together. Season. Pour over the pasta.   Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle remaining cheese on top and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until it’s golden and bubbling and the pasta is tender.   Serve with a simple salad.     Other filling ideas:   Spinach, ricotta, and chilli flakes   Mashed pumpkin, parmesan, and caramelised onion    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Mangle-Munching Forest there’s a Nickle-Nackle tree, growing Nickle-Nackle berries that are red as red can be. I’ll be very careful so as not to give up the end, but would you believe it’s been fifty years since first those words were penned?  That first sentence I read you is from Lynley Dodd’s Nickle-Nackle Tree. It’s a kid’s counting book that’s a bit of a Dr Seuss-ian take on New Zealand birds. And it was first published in 1976, five decades ago next year.   Truthfully, I don’t think I’ve opened The Nickle-Nackle Tree since it was read to me as a kid. But after our newborn son was gifted a copy, it didn’t take long to commit most of the Nickle-Nackle Tree to memory. My son can’t crawl or speak or catch himself when he topples over, but he can put out his fat little hand and turn the pages as we read.   Lynley Dodd enjoys a bit of market dominance at our place. We’ve got heaps of kid’s books, but there’s just something about the language of her stories that gives them that extra degree… that extra edge. Whether it’s Slinky Malinky or Zachary Quack or a Dragon in a Wagon, her rhyming is technically flawless. The cadence has a perfect, musical quality. If you’ve ever written a poem and tried to perform it aloud, you might appreciate it – that flow is much harder to achieve than you might think.   Lynley Dodd’s books use such rich language: jumbly! Rapscallion! Skedaddled! And I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know this until my son was born, but she illustrates her books herself, and she does a beautiful job.  Of all her work, of course, Hairy Maclary is top of the pops. It’s amazing to me how those stories connect with different children. When my friends in New York had a kid a few years ago, I sent them the complete Hairy Maclary, expecting that it’d be discarded soon enough for plastic monster trucks and iPads and big city things. Truthfully, I thought it might be a bit quaint for them or perhaps lost in translation. After all, America doesn’t have dairies! But my friends and their son loved it. And I mean really loved it. Today, their book has that wonderful, taped up, slightly tatty quality of having been read hundreds of times.  And that’s the thing about children’s books. They’re designed to be read aloud, and they’re designed to be re-read and re-read and re-read again. It takes a special kind of genius to write a re-readable story that’s still fun for its reader to say aloud. That doesn’t drive its reader mad!  And think about the impact someone like Lynley Dodd has had. The countless moments of joy she’s sparked. Is there anyone in New Zealand who couldn’t finish this sentence: Hercules Morse, as big as a …?  Of course not.  I reckon children’s storybooks are an art form for which a lot of people grossly underestimate just how talented you need to be in order to absolutely nail it. You know what I mean? It’s the sort of thing that seems easy enough but is far more complex than most of us imagine. And I say art form, because finding a blissful blend of story, language, and images, something that delights children and adults, really is an art form. It’s taken becoming a parent for me to properly appreciate just how talented the best of the best really are.  And if the current reading habits in our household are anything to go by… I’d put Dame Lynley Dodd right up there. Five decades since she started publishing, her books haven’t lost any of their magic. They delight my son today as much as they delighted me when I was a kid. They haven’t lost a scintilla of relevance or appeal.   Funny eh… how quality stands the test of time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stewart Copeland’s drumming helped define a generation.   As one third of The Police, he played at some of the biggest venues not only in New Zealand, but in the world.   He went on to work extensively in composing for film and TV.   And now, 18 years since his last visit to New Zealand, Copeland is returning for a very special spoken word tour - ‘Have I Said Too Much? The Police, Hollywood, And Other Adventures’.   He told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame this type of show is a bit more of an intellectual exercise than playing the drums.  “Actually having to form sentences and so on, is a little more challenging,” Copeland said.  “Fortunately in my 70-something years, I’ve had a couple of adventures, which are fun to talk about.”   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mariah Carey is back – and it’s not for Christmas.  ‘Here For It All’ is the sixteenth studio album from the American superstar and her first album since the release of 2018’s ‘Caution’.   The album blends pop, R&B, gospel, and hip-hop, celebrating and building on every era of Carey’s iconic career.  Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to give his thoughts on the album.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.