Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Let’s be honest, so far as All Blacks tests go, this is a bit of a funny one.     If you were just weighing the odds on paper, I suppose there’s good reason why you might favour Les Bleus.   I hadn’t realised it until this week, but we’re coming off a three-game losing streak against the French, and you’ll remember last year’s first All Blacks test in Dunedin was a nail-biting one-point victory. The All Blacks didn’t scream cohesion. Add to that the fact I still don’t think we have an emphatic answer for who should start at ten, and Tupou Vai’i, surely one of the World’s best locks, is playing blindside flanker!     And yet the French are playing eight debutants and have left a slab of their elite stars back home. If it were any other test nation, I think New Zealand Rugby would have the right to kick up a bit of a fuss about the whole situation. But given the French and their history of spirited unpredictability on the rugby football pitch, it probably makes sense to secure a dominan

Robert Muchamore is behind some of the best novels available to young readers.  His CHERUB series is credited with shaking up young adult literature, with realistic language, unconventionally sophisticated themes, and portrayals of heroes that challenge tradition.  His latest series tackles concepts like corruption, protection rackets, and late-stage capitalist failure, with a twist on the tale of Robin Hood. The ninth book in the series, Robin Hood: Fury, Fire and Frost, was released earlier this month.  Muchamore told Jack Tame he’s always been fascinated by the tale of Robin Hood – this very old story that has been passed on and reimagined over and over again.  “It’s this kind of legend that's been around for so long, and everyone gets to interpret it in their own way.”  His version of the story is a more modern take, set in a contemporary world with a 12/13-year-old Robin Hood that's very similar to most modern children.  That similarity can be something of a challenge though

Lorde has described her fourth album as her rebirth.  ‘Virgin’ is her attempt to make a document that reflected her femininity, which she described as “raw, primal, innocent, elegant, openhearted, spiritual, masc”.  It deals with themes of gender identity, body image, and mental health, a more introspective album than its predecessor ‘Solar Power’.  Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to share her thoughts on the album.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apple in China by Patrick McGee   After struggling to build its products on three continents, Apple was lured by China’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor. Soon it was sending thousands of engineers across the Pacific, training millions of workers, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars to create the world’s most sophisticated supply chain. These capabilities enabled Apple to build the 21st century’s most iconic products—in staggering volume and for enormous profit.  Without explicitly intending to, Apple built an advanced electronics industry within China, only to discover that its massive investments in technology upgrades had inadvertently given Beijing a power that could be weaponized.  In Apple in China, journalist Patrick McGee draws on more than two hundred interviews with former executives and engineers, supplementing their stories with unreported meetings held by Steve Jobs, emails between top executives, and internal memos regarding threats from Chinese com

Parkinson's is one of the most common neurological conditions for those over the age of 60 - Michael J Fox very famously has early onset Parkinson's, and is now a champion for awareness of the disease.     So what is Parkinson's?   A degenerative disease of the nervous system causing movement problems.   Affects 1:100 over the age of 60. Occasionally it’s early onset like with Michael J Fox.  Nerve cells in the brain break down, we lose a chemical messenger called dopamine.  There’s no simple test to diagnose, diagnosis comes from symptoms.       How do you recognise it?   It’s often very slow to develop and initially can be difficult to diagnose.   Everyone’s journey with Parkinson's is different.   It’s common to notice tremors at rest, often on one side. You may notice it gets better when moving or doing something – it can fluctuate.  Over time: Slow movements become difficult, stiff muscles, loss of balance.   Can be associated with

The Dead Cow Gully Backyard Marathon in Queensland is not for the faint of heart.  Billed as a race with no finish line, the Backyard Ultra format has no predefined length or time, but requires runners to complete a 6.7km loop every hour.  Kevin Milne was following the race, and thinks it's a good thing he didn’t manage to get his entry in on time.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Don’t downplay Quito as merely a stepping stone to the rainforest or the Galapagos. It is a superlative destination in its own right. The crowning jewel is Quito’s 17th-century Old Town, a heaving historical quarter so impeccably preserved that it was the first city in the world to be accorded UNESCO World Heritage Status." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although it’s convenient, cloud storage and email inboxes have a bigger carbon footprint than one might think.  To combat this, Kate Hall has been unsubscribing, deleting, and cleaning up her digital clutter.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 28th June 2025, young adult author Robert Muchamore talks to Jack about his new series - Robin Hood: Fury, Fire and Frost - a twist on the classic Robin Hood tales.   Jack reflects on the Venice extravaganza that is the Jeff Bezos wedding.   Francesca Rudkin has two great movie recommendations if you're looking for something to do over the school holidays.   And Estelle Clifford gives us her thoughts on the much-anticipated Lorde album, Virgin: "Raw, angsty, growing as an artist. 10/10"  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.

I’m quite happy to touch on this little trouble inside the house: what is a good spot to grow certain plants?  Julie and I have been struggling to get a few Orchids growing inside. One of them is Phalaenopsis —the Moth Orchid— and another one is Oncidium, especially the “Kandy Dancer” I fell in love with when working in Sri Lanka. Both are a real pain to get going: tried a north-facing window, an eastern aspect, west, and nothing worked to get these plants growing, let alone flowering!!   The Irony is that our daughter just chucked them in a south facing bay windowsill and simply couldn’t stop them flowering!  They get a few seconds of morning sun, are covered in steam (it’s a kitchen bay window), and often get warm ovens heating the site.   Guess what! We tried it too: south bay window in kitchen, etc, etc. Fertilised them with Orchid Food, spoke to them, read stories at night, etc, ect... NOTHING!   Yes, we read the books and reduced the moisture regime, got solid fertiliser, liquid

Texas can force users of porn websites to verify their age   The law was challenged right up to the Supreme Court as they claimed it violated the free-speech rules of the First Amendment. Their argument was that adult viewers might be worried their private information or viewing history could be exposed, which is a deterrent from accessing the material.   The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the law, saying it's working to protect children, and the government has the authority to do that. The Texas Governor, Ken Paxton, calls the widespread access among children to hardcore pornography a public health crisis.   Texas is one of 24 states that have passed age verification laws for online porn, forcing Pornhub to close down in the state.     Salesforce's CEO claims 30-50% of the internal work is now done by AI   That's a staggering statistic from CEO Mark Benioff. Unsure how that's measured, but he says AI is being widely used at the company for software engineering and customer ser

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light  Thomas Cromwell navigates the Tudor court in the aftermath of the execution of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Based on the final book in Hilary Mantel's commanding trilogy (Neon).    Smoke  When an arson investigator begrudgingly teams up with a police detective, their race to stop two arsonists ignites a twisted game of secrets and suspicions (Apple TV+).    Here We Go  In this hilariously unfiltered portrait of family life, the Jessops are the subject of their son Sam's amateur documentary, as they go about their mundane but chaotic lives (TVNZ+).      LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Karate Kid: Legends   After moving to New York City with his mother, kung fu prodigy Li Fong struggles to let go of the past as he tries to fit in with his new classmates. When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition -- but his skills alone aren't enough. With help from Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso, he soon learns to merge two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.     F1: The Movie   In the 1990s, Sonny Hayes was Formula 1's most promising driver until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, the owner of a struggling Formula 1 team convinces Sonny to return to racing and become the best in the world. Driving alongside the team's hotshot rookie, Sonny soon learns that the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I love these little biscuits; they really brighten up even the most dreary day, and kids love making them so it’s a good school holiday activity. I’ve added sesame seeds to mine for texture and taste and I recommend you do too, or use poppy seeds.   Makes 15-18     Ingredients  100g butter, soft   2/3 cup (about 100g) icing sugar   1 cup plain flour   1 heaped tbsp cornflour   3 tbsps. sesame or poppy seeds (optional)   Jam and/or marmalade     Method  Preheat oven to 170 C. Line a tray with baking paper.  Beat butter and icing sugar until pale - I do this for about 5 minutes. Add flours and seeds (if using) and mix well. Roll mixture into balls and place on a tray, making a deep thumb indent into each one. Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven. Spoon a teaspoon of jam or marmalade into the hollows and return to the oven for 8-10 minutes more. Cool on a wire rack.     Why are these worth making?   They’re quick and easy t

$82 million.    As we go to air this morning, that’s a rough estimate for the amount of cash going up in smoke as Jeff Bezos marries his bride at a star-studded Venetian affair.    Eighty-two million. And I thought my wedding was an expensive affair!  Everything’s relative, of course. $82 million represents just a fraction of the total wealth of the world’s third-richest man. To try and appreciate the true magnitude of his $300 billion estimated wealth, I put his finances into a scale that I can better understand. If every Jeff Bezos dollar was one second —so that one minute was $60, and one hour was $3600— depleting Jeff Bezos’ wealth would take more than 11,000 years.    You’re gonna think I have a particular thing for Jeff Bezos. I honestly don’t. I was one of those bagging his fiancée's space flight a few weeks ago, but I swear it’s nothing personal. I would just be so embarrassed to be spending that much money to get married in a place where it would appear a reasonable

A new season of Below Deck has set sail on our screens.  The reality show has been running for over a decade, chronicling the high pressure, high stakes world of super yachts.   Captain Kerry is the man at the helm of this season’s superyacht, sailing the St David in Below Deck Adventure.   Though many reality TV shows are hammed up for entertainment, Kerry told Jack Tame that on Below Deck, it’s all “fair dinkum”.  He says that everything is real, it’s just a much more intense environment than a regular yacht season.  “A season would be three or four months, we’re doing it in six weeks,” Kerry revealed.  “Where a lot of the stress comes into the job is turning the boat over – so when the guests leave, turning it over, getting it ready for the next trip, that’s so much pressure.”  When Kerry runs a yacht off TV, he says he’ll give it three or four days between charters, and each charter is about a week, but on the show, they’re doing nearly three charters a week.  “Boom

Last week Kevin Milne was questioning if New Zealand companies were running out of original ideas when it came to film and television. This week, he’s happy to be proven wrong.  Kevin Milne recently watched ‘Diary of a Junior Doctor’, a local docuseries from Storymaker, and has nothing but praise.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Estelle Clifford is doing things a little bit differently this long weekend. Instead of reviewing a single album, she’s put together a playlist of songs to celebrate some of Aotearoa’s incredible musicians for Matariki.  Matariki Hunga Nui - Kaylee Bell, Troy Kingi & Rob Ruha    Wonderful Life, Georgia Lines   AIE - Fly My Pretties & TAWAZ   Running Amuck - Byllie-jean   The Nine Stars of Matariki - Miss Nicky Says    Ko Wai Koe? - Mokotron   Hiwa I Te Rangi - Loopy Tunes    Purea Nei - Anika Moa    The Way We Love - 1Drop Nation   Kātuarehe - Anna Coddington  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"After revelling in my 4-night cruise in the Galapagos Islands with Viva Expeditions, my dreamscape experience aboard La Pinta concluded with one final port call at Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz Island. Viva Expeditions highly recommends you combine a dreamy cruise with a land-based stay and Santa Cruz Island is the incomparable choice."  Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are kids spending too much time looking at screens? Dougal Sutherland is dipping into the debate over kids’ use of social media and online spaces, and the impact it has on them.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.