Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

The Widow by John Grisham  The new incredible legal thriller and first ever who-dunnit from John Grisham. She needs a lawyer. He needs a payday. Simon Latch is a small-town lawyer struggling with debt, gambling issues and an impending divorce.  Last One Out by Jane Harper  He had been here, that was clear from the marks in the dust. And he had been alone. In a dying town, Ro Crowley waits for her son on the evening of his 21st birthday. But Sam never comes home.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to grand gestures, painting your entire city in the one colour is quite something. So much for painting the town red. How about pink? Jaipur beckons as one of India’s most enchanting destinations, where the Old City is harmoniously bathed in the same pink hue. The elegant capital of Rajasthan was painted in pink stucco in 1876 to welcome Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, who was the son of Queen Victoria and later became King Edward VII. Jaipur’s Maharaja chose the colour because pink symbolises hospitality in Rajput culture, and the gesture impressed the Prince so much that he nicknamed the city the "Pink City." The name – and the stucco - has stuck ever since. A year later, a law mandated that all future buildings in the Old City must be painted pink. As I swept into Jaipur on a private holiday Wendy Wu Tours, there’s no denying how that welcoming palette sweetly seduces even the most jaded of travellers. Jaipur effortlessly casts you under its spell, as you delve into its rich history and t

Building on Jack’s love of birds and bird-feeding in his garden – new research shows that listening to birdsong may actually benefit your mental health and improve sadness and depression.  Researchers took people with and without depression and then made them feel sad in the laboratory by playing movie clips. Sidenote – I read another study where they made people feel sad by playing a piece of Russian classical music slowed down to half speed and matched with sad faces! It’s not uncommon in psyc studies to mess around with people’s emotions and then make them feel better.  Then taught people mindfulness breathing or gave them opportunity to listen to birdsong. Both of these treatments led to people feeling happier. Listening to birdsong helped peoples heart rates to return to normal functioning, indicating it was good for the body as well as the mind.  What are the implications of this? Both are helpful at improving people’s mood. Mindfulness requires more effort from a person and learning a sk

When I arrived in New Zealand as an immigrant (in 1978), the Asian Paperwasp arrived here too. I remember I was impressed by the New Zealand obsessions to keep these invaders out of the kiwi ecosystems. A few years later I started working for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Asian (or Chinese) Paperwasp was still being pursued; unfortunately without success. We tried to create some pro-active techniques to stop unwanted critters making it to our wonderful country and every time some new pest arrives, I feel awful and ready to have a crack at a counter offensive.  So – here we are …. With a real “Hornet” (Hornets are a different group of wasps): The yellow-Legged Hornet. Have a look at the pictures of these brutes: they have yellow legs and are way bigger than the wasps we are used to. They are originally from East and South-East Asia (My birth place: Indonesia!!) and rapidly moving all over the place: the rest of Asia, Korea, Japan, Now Europe, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy Belgium and the UK. Almost

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:   Th

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 pho

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 A

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 Snai

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%

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.