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Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

English, Talk, 1 season, 1925 episodes, 1 day, 12 hours, 58 minutes
About
Jack Tame’s crisp perspective, style and enthusiasm makes for refreshing and entertaining Saturday morning radio on Newstalk ZB. News, sport, books, music, gardens and celebrities – what better way to spend your Saturdays?
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Tara Ward: Boiling Point, Feud, The Choir

Boiling Point A new four part British drama that picks up six months after the 2021 movie of the same name, and follows the staff working in a high pressure restaurant (TVNZ+).   Feud  Capote and the Swans: Tom Hollander, Naomi Watts and Chloe Sevigny star in this American drama about writer Truman Capote’s friendships with a group of high society New York women (Neon).   The Choir  An uplifting six part documentary series about the Detroit Youth Choir, as the inner city kids practice for a performance of a lifetime at Carnegie Hall (Disney+).   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20243 minutes, 51 seconds
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Kate Evans: Kiwi author on her research and book 'Feijoa: A Story of Obsession and Belonging'

A highly controversial fruit, feijoas have long held a special place in New Zealand culture.  They’ve become a feature of kiwi iconography, their popularity seeing the flavour crop up in the least expected places.  Kiwi author Kate Evans thinks of herself as the nerdiest of feijoa nerds, travelling the world and researching the fruit.  She’s recently published a book on the subject, ‘Feijoa: A Story of Obsession and Belonging’.  Evans told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame that her obsession started with the fruit tree in her parents’ house, sitting under the tree as a child and eating them by the bucketful.  “I lived overseas for about a decade, and when I was away, I just missed feijoas so much.”  She said that whenever she managed to find one overseas, cutting it open would fill her with an intense nostalgia for home.  “When I moved back to New Zealand in 2014, I was so excited to be here for an entire feijoa season.”  The fruit is so ubiquitous in New Zealand despite not being native, which got Evans wondering how this South American fruit became such a cultural touchstone.  Feijoas originated in South America and were imported over to New Zealand in the early 1900’s, where they were found to grow incredibly well.  “It’s quite easy to grow them, you don’t really have to do much.”  Despite the cultural love for Feijoas, the Colombians might have us beat with their festival dedicated to the fruit.   “They make so many more things with them than we do,” Evans told Tame.  Recipes for some of which, she has included in her book: feijoa mousse, carpaccio, and more, for those desperately searching for a new way to consume their crop.  Learn where you can donate your excess feijoas here. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/202414 minutes, 54 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: MGMT - Loss of Life

The fifth studio album from American rock band MGMT, 'Loss of Life' is the band's label debut on Mom + Pop, coming six years after the release of 'Little Dark Age'. The ten track album shifts between genres, Britpop, acoustic folk, power ballads with an 80's flair. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20246 minutes, 15 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: One Day and Moscow X

One Day by David Nicholls  15th July 1988: Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.  So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?    Moscow X by David McCloskey  A daring CIA operation threatens chaos in the Kremlin - its execution is foiled by a Russian woman with secret loyalties. CIA operatives Sia and Max enter Russia to recruit Vladimir Putin's moneyman. Sia works for a London firm that conceals the wealth of the super-rich. Max's family business in Mexico, a CIA-front since the 1960s, is a farm that breeds high-end racehorses. They pose as a couple, and their targets are Vadim, Putin's private banker, and his wife Anna, who is both a banker and an intelligence officer. As they descend further into a Russian world dripping with luxury and rife with gangland violence, Sia and Max's hope may be Anna, who is playing a game of her own.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20244 minutes, 35 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Free-roaming Tairāwhiti

If you're done seeing the sights of Gisborne and are after something a little more outdoorsy, Tairāwhiti is packed with adventures. Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to run through some of his favourites, including tandem cycling, Tipuna Tours up in Tolaga Bay, and feeding the stingrays down the line at Tatapouri. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/202410 minutes, 15 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: Ignoring after-hours work correspondence

In Australia workers have been given the right to ignore after-hours calls from work, unless it’s in their contract/role requires it or an emergency, following on from some European countries (e.g., France) who have done this.  How likely are we to follow suit in NZ? It's unlikely that it will become law – since 2015 Health and Safety at work act neither Labour nor National govts appear to have been interested in putting in any more regulations.  However, debate may increase in kiwi workplaces surrounding the topic.  There are pros/cons to the discussion – some will feel it’s an example of a “snowflake” generation who do the bare minimum, others will see it as supporting people to switch off from work when they’re done.  Some workplaces say things like “if you receive an email from me after hours feel free to ignore it until it’s your work hours”, which might be a compromise. We do that at Umbrella, it allows some level of autonomy and responsibility on both ends – I can send you an email at 11pm but don’t expect you to respond to it until you’re at work. You do need to be a bit careful about this as there can be an implied pressure to respond, particularly if the person sending the email is your boss. That links into the topic of how “psychologically safe” you feel at work to express your opinion (but that’s a whole other topic!)  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20247 minutes, 42 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Psyllids – Exotic and Native

You may have caught me talking about Psyllids, from time to time. Especially the Tomato-Potato Psyllid.  This is an insect that appeared in New Zealand around 2006 and it makes a mess of the two main hosts: Tomatoes and Potatoes.  The Tomato-Potato Psyllid. Photo / Supplied  As a fanatic tomato grower, I always keep a serious eye out this thing and practice a lot of weed control (Solanum weeds – the overwintering hosts of my crops). I also use regular Neem sprays to stop the Psyllid nymphs (immatures) from developing on my tomatoes.  Like most Psyllids, they are sapsuckers; taking the sweet sugars out of the plant to extract Nitrogen for growth of their bodies. They excrete the sweet materials as “honeydew” which in itself is a great food for other insects, but also birds and certainly black, sooty mould.  Another Exotic Psyllid species came in the late 1990’s and is often found on Syzygium smithii, mostly known as “Monkey apple”, Lilly-Pilly, or the old name Acmena. It is often used to form fast-growing hedges.  Black hedges, especially in the warmer north, due to copious amounts of sooty mould.  Lilly-Pilly is considered a weed in our country, so the psyllid is perhaps helping to suppress this exotic plant somewhat.  But in NZ we have our own, Native species too:  On Pohutukawa and Rata, for instance (Trioza curta), and a species on Pittosporum (Trioza vitreoradiata).  Both these natives suck juices out of the leaves of their host, causing distortions and dimples.  Isn’t that causing some severe stress and damage to these native hosts?  The creation of the dimples is also no doubt under the influence of toxins or enzymes injected by the young, sedentary nymphs. But the astonishing thing is that the actual health of the Pohutukawa, rata or pittosporum is rarely, if ever, severely affected as a result of these psyllids. Mind you, they've been living together now for many millions of years, and the evolutionary processes will have reached a nice balance between the sucker and its host plant.  But when we take a detailed look at this symbiosis, we must ask ourselves the question why the Pohutukawa facilitates the psyllids by creating cosy little dimples?  The answer can be found at a surprising location: the rear end of the larvae. You see, that's where the sweet excrement is being produced.  Pittosporum psyllid being “milked” by a native ant. Photo / Supplied  Native ant species will patrol the psyllids and collect any sugary waste products that may become available, and while doing so, they protect the psyllid nymphs and the leaves they are living on! Indeed, Pohutukawa and rata leaves with psyllids on them are almost always without any chewing damage.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/23/20245 minutes, 54 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Taylors Estate Limestone Coast, Clare Valley Shiraz $20

Taylors Estate Limestone Coast, Clare Valley Shiraz $20    Why I chose it  - Hearty red for the months ahead. - Taylor’s produces some of the best value reds in Australia. - Australian wine sales to China, once their biggest wine market, have ground to a halt, resulting in many bargains if you are prepared to shop around.    What does it taste like?  - Dense, inky red with choc/mocha, cassis, anise/liquorice, vanilla, cigar box and spicy oak. Nicely layered shiraz with obvious cellaring potential.    Why it’s a bargain?  - Terrific quality for less than $20.   Where can you buy it?  - Whisky and More $16.99, The Good Wine Co. $17.99, New World $17.99, Countdown $16.   Food match?  - Hearty stews and casseroles.   Will it keep?  - Yes, good for 5 or 6 years if stored well.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/23/20243 minutes, 48 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: AI's real world consequences and the first private spacecraft's moon landing

We talk a lot about AI and how it might change things, but it's starting to have real world consequences  Tyler Perry, who founded the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Network and is a prolific content creator, has said he's stopping plans to open more sound stages. He was due to add 12 sound stages to his Atlanta complex, but advances by OpenAI's video generator Sora has given him pause.   Sora is an AI model that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions. It's not without its quirks, but there's probably a very good chance that in the time it would take to build 12 sound stages, the model might actually get better. We're seeing advances that quickly!    Tyler Perry: "I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it's able to do. It's shocking to me."  Think of the jobs lost through this - construction workers, stage crew, catering, production assistants...    It did it... the first private spacecraft has landed on the moon  Intuitive Machines' lunar craft successfully landed.   It has some communications issues, but the CEO of the company confirmed the craft is standing upright and transmitting data successfully. Odysseus will now begin a suite of experiments that will hopefully provide data useful for a future mission and help to ensure the safety of humans when they eventually return. The mission is the first American lunar landing in more than 50 years, since the crewed Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/23/20247 minutes, 11 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Zone of Interest and The Eternal Memory

The Zone of Interest   Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes 2023, this historical war drama from filmmaker Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin) centres on the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, who strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.    The Eternal Memory   Chilean couple Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years, but Augusto was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease eight years ago. Both of them fear the day he will no longer recognize her.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/23/20245 minutes, 33 seconds
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Nici Wickes' Plum Paste

Have you got a glut of plums like me? This little condiment - plum paste - is easy to make and it goes so well with all manner of cheeses and meats.    Ingredients:  1.5kg whole fresh plums, washed (count them into the pot, I used 32 plums – see note)  1 ¼ cups water  ½ cup sweet white wine or apple cider vinegar  ¼- ½ tsp ground cloves, depending on your taste  Sugar, white or raw – likely to be about 600-750g    Method:  1. Cook plums with liquids and cloves until very soft and reduced a bit – about 20 minutes. Extract the same number of plum stones as you had plums. Mash or blend the pulp and weigh it. Add half its weight in sugar and return to the stove. Cook on a brisk simmer for 40 minutes or so, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. 2. It’s ready when a teaspoonful is dropped on a cool saucer, left to cool, then a finger dragged through it leaves a clear stripe. Keep cooking until it reaches this stage. 3. Line a swiss roll tin or similar with baking paper or lightly oiled foil. 4. Pour paste into prepared tin and refrigerate overnight. It will be gorgeously glossy. 5. Cut into squares, wrap in baking paper and store in fridge. 6. Eat with cheese or meats.   Note:  If your plums aren’t freestone count them into the pot, so you know how many stones you need to remove once they cook down.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/23/20245 minutes, 37 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Long-lasting music tastes

It’s often believed that the music you listen to when you’re seventeen or eighteen is what sticks with you throughout your entire life.  Kevin Milne recently stumbled across concert programmes from when he was living in London in the 70’s; how much of that has stuck around?  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/23/20246 minutes, 17 seconds
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Jack Tame: First year free deserves to go

I never thought the previous government’s fees-free education policy made sense.  I’m on the record from the get-go. I didn’t think it was a well-designed or considered policy. At an annual cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, the policy was expensive. I felt there were other priorities. The more cynically minded might even suggest that fast-tracking a fees-free education policy was a decision made with an impending election in mind, rather than the stated educational outcomes.   The goals of the policy were to increase access for students from poorer backgrounds, Māori and Pasifika, and to improve educational outcomes. But short of a Scandanavian-style tax system, I actually thought New Zealand’s interest-free student loan scheme is pretty good. It strikes a fair balance and the barriers to access are low. And for every poorer student brought in by fees-free and who otherwise might have missed out on higher education, there were obviously dozens if not hundreds or thousands of middle-class kids who would’ve gone to university anyway, and now enjoyed an additional subsidy.   Instead of a blanket fees-free policy, the previous government could have considered so many alternatives:  - Increasing scholarships for students from poorer backgrounds, or for students from low-decile schools.  - Re-introducing the 10% bulk payment incentive to student loans, whereby anyone who paid off more than $1000 in a voluntary payment, had ten percent of that payment matched by the government.  - Means testing first year fees-free students.  - Making the third year of an undergraduate degree fees-free, so students were incentivised to finish.  - Greater assistance to students with cost-of-living support.  Instead, although they held off making additional study years fees-free, the previous government stuck with their scheme. And the results have been damning.    The total number of fees-free students has been decreasing. From the get-go, overall enrolments fell short of what was promised. Fees-free students have been dropping out. What’s more, the New Zealand Herald revealed over summer that the number of decile 1 first-year students has halved since the scheme began. The number of first year decile 10 students has increased by 40%. So much for improving access for students from poorer backgrounds.   I was surprised National stuck with the scheme during the election campaign. But now at least, the government is moving to change the policy to make the final year fees-free, as per New Zealand First’s election policy.   I note the Tertiary Education Commission acknowledged this week there was no discernible evidence the policy has increased access to low-socio economic groups. The policy has failed in its stated objectives. It’s a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have. It deserves to go. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/23/20244 minutes, 45 seconds
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Ashley Bloomfield: Former Director General of Health on tomorrow's Round the Bays Wellington and the joys of running

Tomorrow marks the 46th year of Round the Bays Wellington, an iconic community event bringing together people of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate physical activity.  Over 10,000 people are expected to take part in one of three distances, Sir Ashley Bloomfield among them.  He’s taking part as a Pause Breathe Smile ambassador, which is a free mental health program for primary and intermediate schools.  Bloomfield is doing the 5.5km event, telling Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame that he’s been taking it easy with his training this week, to ensure that he’ll be able to finish the run.  He said he’s been running in some capacity for his entire life, having run a few marathons and as well as having a group of friends he goes on Saturday morning runs with whenever possible.  “That fellowship kind of aspect of it, spending time with friends and in terms of both physical and mental wellbeing, to me you couldn’t tick many more boxes than that.”  One of the reason’s Bloomfield enjoys running is its accessibility.  “All you really need is a pair of shoes.”   Regular exercise is also known to be a benefit for those in high stakes environments and high stress jobs, both of which Bloomfield was facing in the last few years.  “Being able to kind of decompress, as well as get out and keep active and fit was a lifesaver for me.”  “Literally a lifesaver.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/202411 minutes, 38 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Jennifer Lopez - This Is Me... Now

Jennifer Lopez has dropped her ninth studio album, a sister to her 2003 LP ‘This Is Me... Then’.   The genre crossing ‘This Is Me... Now’ is a confessional, a deeply personal insight into her love life and relationship with Ben Affleck.  Released alongside was a 65-minute short film, ‘This Is Me... Now: A Love Story’, a high gloss blend of genres and styles to match the tone of the album.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20245 minutes, 55 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Anna O and The World's Biggest Cash Machine

Anna O by Matthew Blake   What if your nightmares weren’t really nightmares at all? We spend an average of 33 years of our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we sleep? Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive—and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.” Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O’” case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect—he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own. As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes. Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to discover it. And they’re both in danger from what they find out.  The World's Biggest Cash Machine by Chris Blackhurst  From Chris Blackhurst, the former Editor of the Independent, comes The World's Biggest Cash Machine, a gripping and tightly reported account of how the Glazers, owners of Manchester United, became the most maligned figures in the Premier League, and how they changed the beautiful game forever. Manchester United's supporters span the globe and cross generations. But, with few exceptions, they are united in their anger with the American family who bought their club in 2005, plunging it into record levels of debt. The Glazers' reign has become synonymous with the financialization of football, and has coincided with fan protests and a decline of Manchester United's fortunes on the pitch . . . if not on the balance sheet. But what defines this secretive family, and do these astute businessmen deserve the opprobrium they receive? In this captivating account, informed by interviews with key figures behind the scenes, journalist and commentator Chris Blackhurst charts the gripping story of the world's biggest football club - as well as exploring the wider transformation of the Premier League into a playground for billionaire owners.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20244 minutes, 59 seconds
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Tara Ward: Criminal Record, Strife, The New Look

Criminal Record  In the heart of London, an anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives -- a young woman in the early stages of her career and a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy -- into a fight to correct an old miscarriage of justice (AppleTV+).    Strife  Asher Keddie stars in this Australian drama about a small-time blogger who overcome professional and personal challenges while working towards creating a women-centric website (ThreeNow).    The New Look  This series explores the rise of fashion designer Christian Dior, as he attempts to bring colour and life back to post-war Europe (Apple TV+).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20243 minutes, 58 seconds
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Kate Hall: How to discuss sustainability with your partner

Communication is key to a healthy relationship, but not all conversations are simple to have.   In the changing climate it’s important to be on the same page as your partner when it comes to sustainability, and how you implement it in your lives.   But how do we have this conversation? What needs to be covered?  Kate ‘Ethically Kate’ Hall joined Jack Tame to give a few tips to ensure that you and your partner can be on the same page.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20247 minutes, 54 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: This Is Me... Now: A Love Story, May December

This Is Me... Now: A Love Story  Jennifer Lopez stars in a highly visual and musical reimagining of her publicly scrutinized love life.    May December   Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance, a married couple buckle under the pressure when a Hollywood actress meets them to do research for a film about their past.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20247 minutes, 59 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Good as Gold in Gisborne

"Gazing across the ravishing seascape, Young Nick’s Head and Mahia Peninsula loomed large on the horizon, while directly beneath us, the photogenic allure of Wainui Beach and Okitu Bush casts you under its spell. It’s immediately self-evident why a beach house at Wainui is the epitome of aspirational real estate. What a sweet spot -no wonder the sun wants to be the first to see it. A year on from the damage and despair of a natural disaster, Gisborne and the Tairāwhiti district’s welcome mat is unmistakeably rolled out. Don’t be fooled by the enduring misnomer that the region’s roads are still too tricky to navigate or that visitors aren’t welcome. Nothing could be further from the truth. Gizzy and her surrounds is good to go and would love to see you." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20249 minutes, 31 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Termitical Wood destroyers

As I was cutting firewood for the 2024 winter, I came across some brilliant tunnels in the timber and larger branches.  Drywood Termites.  The adults are ready to fly out, mate and make a new home in decaying wood; their wings are gorgeous, slate grey and rather delicate.  You’ll find them attracted to lights, landing on the windows in the evening or near the front door.  Termites are rather ancient insects. Fossils of termite-like beasts date back some 50 million years, and it looks as if their diet has more or less remained the same during that period of time: wood and cellulose materials. This could give the impression that termites are boring insects, and yes, that is exactly what they are.  No matter how you look at it, boring is the only way to start or accelerate decay in wood, opening up trunks or branches allows entry of fungi and moulds. Our native termites are fond of rotting wood, and as such play an important role in the recycling of woody materials. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and forest fibres to faecal frass.  Kalotermes brouni larva in dead wood. Photo / Supplied Only very recently in the geological history of Kalotermes brouni (our so-called dry-wood termite), humans came on the scene and obligingly built these enormous structures from large quantities of dead, milled wood, known as "houses". Especially in the good old days these houses were made from untreated local timbers.  Lots of myths around our three species of Native Termites but the most important one is that the dry-wood termite really prefers wet timber and untreated timber. I remember in my old house in West Auckland, the bedroom was built from untreated timber; the gutter was leaking; the water soaked the weatherboards and studs, and the termites chewed their tunnels right to the paint-layer!  Spectacular and clever way to control relative humidity in their wooden home!  Prevention of native termite invasion is obvious: Use treated timber and keep it dry.  We do have some invasive termites from Australia. Coptotermes acinaciformis and Coptotermes frenchi are quite a different kettle of fish. They do not require dead or wet wood and will happily excavate in living trees. In the Canberra region, where they are the most economically important termite species, colonies are often found associated with Eucalyptus trees from where they can invade houses.  In contrast with our native termites, these Aussie chisel-beaks are basically a subterranean species. Nests are commonly hidden in amongst the root systems of a living tree and are therefore not easy to detect. But when they shift to another location, or extend their feeding grounds, these termites construct characteristic runways from mud. These earthen tubes usually originate from the soil and enable them to maintain their required humidity.  If you find termites with mud “runways” please contact MPI – 0800 809 966. We don’t want those around!!    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20244 minutes, 44 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Fixing Long or Fixing Short in 2024

Homeowners with a fixed-rate mortgage expiring soon likely perked up when forecasters started suggesting that interest rates could start falling this year. But the Reserve Bank isn't convinced the inflation beast is back in the bag just yet. With conflicting information and no guarantees on when, how far, or how fast interest rates will fall, how can you assess your position and determine the best pathway forward?   Hannah discusses strategies on how to proceed when interest rates are sky high but anticipated to fall, why you should calculate the interest rate differential when you want to fix short-term, and why favourable conditions demand a focused mindset to maximise progress and avoid complacency.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20246 minutes, 44 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Elon Musk's 'Odysseus' is heading for the moon, Google joins Environmental Defense Fund

A private spacecraft is headed to the moon  Launched from Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9, the "Odysseus" will land on the south pole of the moon in search of water. Scientists believe ice exists amongst the rock in both the sunlit and dark sides of the moon, possibly from icy meteorites hitting the moon.   If successful, Odysseus will be the first private craft to land on the moon.  NASA has funded part of this journey though because it's carrying a range of their scientific instruments, including a laser retroreflector which will bounce back laser beams fired from earth and a tool to measure how the landing disturbs and sends up plumes of moon dust.     An eye on methane from space  Google joins the non-profit "Environmental Defense Fund" in launching a program to understand how oil and gas plants are emitting methane, believed to be one of the causes of climate change because it traps heat in the atmosphere. The satellite will orbit the earth 15 times a day. Data will be sent back every few weeks and fed into Google's AI and Earth technology systems for viewing. The group says that if they notice a significant leak, they're not going to specifically notify the plant, but would rely on regulators and governments to use their data as they see fit.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20246 minutes, 55 seconds
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Nici Wickes: One bowl fruit salad cake

It’s that time of the year when the stonefruit season collides with the last of the blueberries so I thought I’d marry them up in this gorgeous cake!    Ingredients:  3 medium eggs  A generous half cup of caster sugar  1/3 cup oil – I used canola!  Pinch salt  1 cup fruit – chopped quite small , I used peaches and nectarines  1/3 cup blueberries  1 1/3 cup self raising flour  1/3 cup yoghurt (can use milk see note)    Method:  Preheat oven to 180 C and line a 20-23cm round cake tin. Note the image depicts a VERY large version of this cake that I make to feed 25 hungry students!  Whisk eggs well in a large bowl then pour in the sugar, salt and oil and whisk some more until well-combined. Add the chopped fruit and blueberries and mix well.  Add in flour and yoghurt and stir until mixed and there are no pockets of flour remaining.  Scrape into prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.  Once cooled, either dust with icing sugar or make a vanilla icing and ice it.    Make it your own:  Use olive oil for a posher version  Used tinned fruit salad and frozen blueberries in the off season  Sour milk with a squeeze of lemon juice if you don’t have yoghurt    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20244 minutes, 19 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Strangers and documentary memories

It’s a small world.  Kevin Milne was in a café on Thursday and by complete chance, happened to run into someone he made a documentary about 45 years ago.  He joined Jack Tame to chat about some of his favourite memories from the making of that doco.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20246 minutes, 27 seconds
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Jack Tame: I've had my AI 'wow' moment

"Saturday Mornings with Jack Tame on Newstalk ZB is a captivating blend of insightful conversations, engaging interviews, and thought-provoking discussions. With Jack Tame at the helm, you can expect a refreshing take on current events, combined with his unique charm and wit.”  But hey... don’t take my word for it. Take Chat GPT’s. That’s what happens if you tell the world’s best-known generative artificial intelligence bot to write a few sentences in order to convince someone to listen to this show. Pretty good, eh?  I’ll be honest though, I was impressed by GPT when it was released, but not totally wowed. It seemed to get a lot of pretty obvious facts wrong, even when correct information was readily available on the internet. And I know these are relatively early stages in AI, but still, you’d think if Wikipedia has the real answer, Chat GPT wouldn’t make it up.  The ‘wow’ moment with AI came for me yesterday. Open AI, the company behind Chat GPT, released a video generating model called Sora.  You write a command, and working off your words, it generates a video clip up to sixty seconds long based on the detail and information you provide it.  The examples released by Open AI are… extraordinary.  Working off just a few lines of text, the model creates hyper-realistic video images. In one, a woman walks down a Neon-lit Tokyo Street, the light bouncing perfectly off the little puddles underneath her black boots. In another, a Victoria crowned pigeon twitches and shifts before the camera. In maybe my favourite example, two tiny pirate ships keen and tilt in the churning, swirling black of a hot coffee.  Are all of the videos perfect? No. With a keen eye, you can notice some little imperfections. But from a visual effects perspective, they are probably more advanced than most movies just a few years ago. And here’s the thing; they were created in just a few seconds.  I don’t profess to fully grasp the true capacity and risk of artificial intelligence. Obviously, it’s going to be disruptive, but sometimes it’s hard to distil the hype. But Open AI’s Sora programme was a wow moment for me. It’s amazing to me that a technology can create something so impressive, so realistic, both out of nothing, and out of everything. And again – in just a few seconds.  And all I could think as I scrolled through the examples —the woolly mammoths lumbering through a snowy meadow, the movie trailer with a space man in a red wool helmet, the aerial shot of waves crashing against the California Coast, a homemade video of people in Nigeria thirty years in the future— all I could think was if this is where the technology is now, just imagine where it’s going to be in five years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/16/20244 minutes, 52 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Brittany Howard - What Now

"With five Grammy® wins and sixteen nominations, Howard follows up her massively acclaimed solo debut Jaime—a 2019 LP that landed on best-of-the-year lists from the likes of Pitchfork, the New York Times, and Rolling Stone – with What Now, drawing an immense and indelible power from endless unpredictability. Over the course of its 12 tracks, Howard brings her singular musicality to a shapeshifting sound encompassing everything from psychedelia and dance music to dream-pop and avant-jazz—a fitting backdrop for an album whose lyrics shift from unbridled outpouring to incisive yet radically idealistic commentary on the state of the human condition. At turns galvanizing, cathartic, and wildly soul-expanding, the result is a monumental step forward for one of the most essential artists of our time." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20246 minutes, 50 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Spy Coast and The Fury

The Spy Coast – Tess Gerritsen  Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement. But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends—all retirees from the CIA—to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives. Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information—and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn. As Jo’s investigation collides with the Martini Club’s maneuvers, Maggie’s hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends—and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau—Maggie might just be able to save the life she’s built.   The Fury – Alex Michaelides  This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that's not quite true. At its heart, it's a love story, isn't it? Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex-movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island. I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time ― it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press sensation: a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind...and a murder. We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse ― a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered. But who am I? My name is Elliot Chase, and I'm going to tell you a story unlike any you've ever heard.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20243 minutes, 57 seconds
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Tara Ward: One Day, Arctic Ascent, Superhot: The Spicy World of Pepper People

One Day After a brief college romance, Emma and Dexter pursue separate dreams, but meet on the same day each year to compare their progress in life and love.   Arctic Ascent The professional adventure rock climber Alex Honnold embarks on a lifelong dream - an epic climbing quest across the remotest and toughest walls and peaks of Greenland.   Superhot: The Spicy World of Pepper People A deep dive into a subculture fueled by spice: from the elite growers who strive to create new superhots to the chili eaters who chase the endorphin rush of consuming them; one chili headsets out on a quest to answer the spiciest of questions.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20246 minutes, 50 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Force of Nature: The Dry 2 and American Underdog

Force of Nature: The Dry 2 Five women head out on a remote hiking retreat but only four return, each telling a different story. Detective Aaron Falk must find out what really happened before time runs out.  American Underdog  The inspirational true story of Kurt Warner, who overcomes years of challenges and setbacks to become a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback. Just when his dreams seem all but out of reach, it's only with the support of his wife, Brenda, and the encouragement of his family, coaches and teammates that Warner perseveres and finds the strength to show the world the champion that he already is.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20248 minutes, 24 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A sizzling stopover in Kuala Lumpur

This week Mike Yardley found himself in the stunning capitol city of Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur. He's got all the details on the sights to see, the best shopping locations, and the tastiest street food. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20248 minutes, 6 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Cervical Smears

Why is cervical screening important?  - In NZ approx. 180 to 190 women get cervical cancer every year.  - Up to 80% have not been screening.  - Cervical screening picks up changes early preventing cancer.    What is the cervix?  - Organ connects the uterus to the vagina.  - Why it’s important:  - Keeps baby inside the uterus while growing during pregnancy.  - The canal through which baby passes at birth.  - Canal sperm can travel up to fertilize eggs to get pregnant.    What does a cervical smear do?  - The smear scrapes some cells from the cervix.  - The cells are looked at under a microscope for any abnormal cells, ones that could cause cancer, so they can be treated.  - It’s traditionally every 3 years.  - The Problem – it’s invasive to do and can be painful and off putting.    What has changed?  - A new screening test has been introduced, which can be done by a simple easy vaginal swab once every 5 years.  - Most changes that lead to cancer in cervix are caused by the HPV virus.  - The swab looks for the HPV strains that lead to cancer and do something about it.  - Swab is much easier. It’s not painful and is only once every five years from age 25.  - Easily accessed through your General Practice or clinic.     One other important thing.  - There is now HPV vaccine to prevent HPV infection.  - Free for all adolescents and girls between 9 and 26.  - This stops you from contracting HPV, thus preventing the cancer altogether. - Talk to your GP or Nurse.    LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20245 minutes, 13 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Giving the mental health and safety of your business a warrant of fitness

The start of a new year is often a good time to check in on how your business is going. Just like we’d take our car in for a WOF, it’s just as important to get a WOF done on the mental health and safety of your business.  Recent court case highlights that workplaces can be held liable for the mental distress and injury their workers suffer.  At its most basic level, mental health and safety at work means making sure that workers aren’t being mentally harmed by the work they’re doing. Mental harm can occur through things such as exposure to traumatic material (e.g., a first responder), having way too much work for one person, or from things like bullying. Workplaces are legally obliged to identify risks to health (including mental health) and take steps to prevent or reduce these risks. This can involve things like providing EAP counselling to staff, training for managers about how to spot signs of distress in their people and support them, through to modifying workflows so it doesn’t all fall on one person.  Some workplaces are really proactive in this area, and others are only just becoming aware of their responsibilities. For this latter group it might be helpful to get some outside support for this from an organisational psychologist. But can also start by actively engaging with staff around their experiences of mental stress and ideas they may have to reduce this. Often the best solutions come out of talking to people at the coalface.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20249 minutes, 11 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Overwatering and pruning back your plants

Dry conditions? Honestly, watering yourself silly is always an expensive exercise (especially in Wellington! Bottles of water are at least a dollar each…).  Protect your soil from evaporation by chucking a heap of mulch in between your plants; I’ve just finished my firewood stash and the smaller branches are chippered into big bags of mulch.  Timing is everything. Water tanks next to the house? Maybe now is a good idea to invest in some tanks, connected to your guttering, just saying…  Raspberries: If you have harvested your spring-fruiting raspberries, they need pruning now. Get down on your hands and knees and prune off all the old “canes”; It’s easy to see which are old, brown canes with yellow old leaves and which ones are the new, fresh ones that will fruit for you next year.  Raspberries also have this habit of producing heaps of runners and canes far, far away from the original bed! Either mow them down of translocate these new runners to a new row. They’ll survive that easily if done now, while the soil is warm.  Add some fertiliser and everybody’s happy for next spring!  Note: autumn raspberries still have a crop to go!!!  Mid-summer is also the time to prune your plums when they have been harvested. I tend to do that now, with the summer heat still here. When you do it in late autumn or winter, the cooler, wetter weather can cause quite a few problems with diseases.  Remember: stonefruit bears its fruit on young wood, but the European plums (such as prunes, Damson, and Greengage) tend to fruit heavily on 3–4-year-old branches. In our garden the Damson and Greengage are our jam work horses, so they can be shortened back to the well-established branches.  Japanese plums tend to fruit on new wood, which means you can’t be as ruthless; Think ahead!!  Vegies to sow/buy/plant: most of the winter crops:  Prepare your patches – compost, dig-over, make friable with a fork  Carrots in really good, stone-free soil. Well-drained and easy to penetrate for the roots (no forks in the carrots); Seed tape!  Swedes and beetroots – again, well-drained soils that don’t stay wet too long (roots can rot in stagnant water  Leeks – yep always a good winter vegetable, start while soil is warm (good germination)  All the Brassicas can be sown or planted now, whatever you like; Caulies, Broccolinis, cabbages etc, etc. Protect from white butterfly larvae (still very prolific in the warm weather) – use “Success” (Yates) or fine netting that doesn’t let the mother whites onto the leaf surface.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/9/20245 minutes, 23 seconds
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Peter Hillary: Adventurer on the Antarctic expedition taking place to try to combat climate change

An incredible team of people are heading off on a unique expedition to see first-hand how daunting the melting sea ice, warming seas, and changing weather patterns will be for Antarctica.  Adventurer Peter Hillary, alongside Graham and Raewyn Henry, will lead 130 participants whose expertise spans science, business, art, and politics on a voyage of enlightenment down south.  Antarctica is not your typical tourist destination, and while most people will never visit, the upcoming expedition is Hillary’s 43rd trip.  “It is an incredible place,” he told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame.  “Kind of unlike anywhere else on earth.”  The objective of the trip is to immerse the participants in the solitude and expanse of the icy landscape and use that as a base for meaningful conversations about what can be done to stabilise climate change.  “We have to connect with these places.” Hillary said.  He told Tame that in the 19th century, Antarctica was rarely visited except by sealers and whalers, who proceeded to devastate the populations of those animals.   “No one saw it and really, no one cared.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/9/202411 minutes, 28 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Identifiers on AI images and Google's Gemini

AI generated images are getting an identifier  Images created by Open AI's DALL-E technology will now come with a new label, a CR in a circle up in the top left corner. That's the mark that’s going to be on images produced by a range of AI companies. The only trouble there is it can pretty easily be cropped out.   Open AI will also be adding metadata to the image file. While it's a nice idea, it's wildly impractical. If you take a screenshot of the image, the metadata disappears. If you post it online, the metadata isn't easily visible, or can even be wiped.  But the same tech actually shows promise for verifying reality. The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) is working with camera companies, and even newsrooms, to embed metadata in real images to verify their authenticity. It will stay as the image is edited and be able to be verified using an online tool with the full history.     You'll be hearing a lot about Gemini  Google's Bard and Duet are being merged under the new name. Gemini will be the name of their large language model and there'll be Pro and Ultra versions. It's part assistant, part chatbot, part search engine — likely the future of Google.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/9/20245 minutes, 9 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The online shopping experience continues to impress

Online shopping is one of life's many conveniences.  It allows people to simplify their shopping experience, and buy things from places or companies they might not be able to access in their day to day life. Kevin Milne told Jack Tame that the experience continues to impress. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/9/20245 minutes, 19 seconds
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Rosa Flanagan: Summer Tabbouleh

Quick, light, fresh and delicious, making it the perfect summer salad for you to share with friends and family. We love to serve this salad alongside our hummus, dukkha yoghurt flatbreads and smoky carrot falafels.   Serves: 6  Time: 20 minutes    Ingredients:  1 cup bulgur wheat   Boiling water   4 spring onion, finely chopped  180g cherry tomatoes, chopped   1 cucumber, chopped   3 stalks celery, finely chopped  1 lemon, zest and juice   2 tbsp pomegranate molasses   ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil   1 tsp sea salt   2 cups flat leaf parsley, chopped   2 cups mint, chopped     Method:  Add the bulgur wheat into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover the bowl with either a plate or a clean tea towel and allow it to sit for 20 minutes. The bulgur wheat will absorb all of the water and expand. If you have any excess water once the 20 minutes is up, just drain the bulgur wheat through a sieve.   While the bulgur wheat is cooking, assemble the other ingredients.   To a large mixing bowl, add the cooked bulgur wheat, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, celery, lemon zest and juice, pomegranate molasses, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. Gently toss everything together.   Add the flat leaf parsley and mint. Gently toss one more time before enjoying.   Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/9/20244 minutes, 9 seconds
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Jack Tame: Artists are brilliant

Of the many, many, many things I’m bad at... perhaps in no department am I more lacking than in artistic talent. I am a truly appalling artist. I have no vision. I have no voice. I can’t sculpt. I can’t mould. I can’t paint. I have the sketching ability of a lesser-developed primate but without the novelty factor. I am a terrible artist.   And so it was curious series of events this summer that led me to find myself with a head torch and overalls, dragging myself through the dank, dark, crawl space below the floorboards of one of New Zealand’s premier art galleries.    My friend, Mike, was preparing for a show. And with his centrepiece installation in mind, he needed volunteers to drag themselves on their knees and their bellies, as he worked to reinforce the gallery floor.    I’ve never really watched an artist at work. But Mike’s work makes him a bit unique. His studied engineering and worked as an engineer, before following his artistic passion to Columbia University. We met in New York. Now he uses his engineering skills and artistic talents to make big, bold, sometimes provocative public works. His most recent big work was a playground in Melbourne’s Southbank featuring huge boulders perched precariously on tiny little trollies. He reverse engineered a rubber compound to look just like the bluestone slabs which pave much of Melbourne’s city. When you look at the playground, you see rocks on wheels on concrete. But it’s all an illusion. A playground which looks dangerous, but isn’t.   I remember Mike explaining to me the initial concept for his new show. I remember him developing it, tweaking it as he went. Watching him prepare meant bearing witness to a man repeatedly solving the kind of problems most of us would never even conceive of.   How do you get a thin sheet of extremely rare, extremely expensive marble from Australia to New Zealand in one piece? How do you suspend hundreds of kilograms of steel in the air in a building with very few structural components? How do you get a giant palm tree through a not-very-giant door?   Mike’s show opened last night.   It features a series of crazy drinking fountain sculptures, with what Mike insisted had to be chilled, filtered water. Room temperature? Puh-lease. There’s a space with a table placed below a continuous drip from the gallery ceiling, some ten metres up. The drip falls down to a yellow dish cloth, which over time leaks a thin stream of water, feeding a plant. It’s very clever.    And the piece de resistance of sorts: In the centre of the gallery is an 8 metre-high real, living palm tree with an NBA regulation basketball hoop. The backboard is a stunning piece of blue marble which looks like the sky. The hoop is entirely functional. You can dunk it, if you’re athletic enough. You can swing from it. At the show’s opening, people took shots and played pickup.    As I studied Mike’s creations, I felt a weird mix of bewilderment, admiration, and envy.    They were brilliant. Fantastic, in the true sense of that word. But not only could I not build any of the works, I simply couldn’t conceive of them in the first place. I’ll tell you what though, for those of us bereft of any artistic skills, it is one of life’s great pleasures to see and appreciate in a friend a talent you admire.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/9/20245 minutes, 41 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: James Arthur – Bitter Sweet Love

Bitter Sweet Love is the fifth studio album from British singer-songwriter James Arthur, the thirteen track album releasing late last month. After a week long race for the top spot, Bitter Sweet Love surpassed the Reytons to take the number one spot on the UK Charts. The album is full of the contradictions surrounding love, Arthur having written the album during some post-tour blues, unsure if he wanted to continue with music. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20246 minutes, 36 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Heiress and The Boys in the Boat

The Heiress - Rachel Hawkins  With unexpected twists and heart-throbbing pacing, it draws you into a captivating mystery set within the claustrophobic Ashby House. The secrets hidden behind its closed doors, along with its notorious and heartless inhabitants, add to the intrigue.    The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown  Told against the backdrop of the Great Depression, The Boys in the Boat is narrative non-fiction of the first order; a personal story full of lyricism and unexpected beauty that rises above the grand sweep of history and captures instead the purest essence of what it means to be alive.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20245 minutes
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Tara Ward: Mr & Mrs Smith, Griselda, and The Greatest Night in Pop

Mr & Mrs Smith   A reboot of the 2005 Hollywood blockbuster sees Donald Glover and Maya Erskine play two spies who are assigned as husband and wife for a secret mission, and end up falling for each other.    Griselda   Sofia Vergara plays a real-life Columbian drug-lord who went on to create one of the most profitable drug cartels in history.    The Greatest Night in Pop    On a January night in 1985, music's biggest stars gather to record "We Are the World." The team goes behind the scenes of the event to see how all of the artists came together to make history.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20244 minutes, 44 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Holdovers and To Catch a Killer

The Holdovers A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school's head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War. To Catch a Killer  A troubled police officer is recruited by the FBI's chief investigator to help profile and track down a disturbed individual terrorizing Baltimore, Maryland.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20247 minutes, 47 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Heartland treats in Mid-Canterbury

"Fanning out from Ashburton and bounded by the Rakaia and Rangitata rivers, Mid-Canterbury is a land of dramatic contrasts. Pancake-flat coastal plains give way to abruptly rising hill country, while large sweeping braided rivers, crystal clear alpine lakes and the serrated glory of the Southern Alps all add to the scenic medley." "It is an understated region ripe for discovery and exploration, particularly when you’re road-tripping the Mainland." Read Mike's full article here.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20249 minutes, 55 seconds
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Kate Hall: What are the new recycling regulations?

New recycling rules have come into place as district and city councils across the country standardise what can and cannot be recycled.  Kate ‘Ethically Kate’ Hall joined Jack Tame to run through these regulations and give an insight into whether recycling is as helpful as we think it is.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/20249 minutes, 4 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Vigilance and early action

Had a great “break” around Christmas? No doubt a fabulous, lazy time with whanau and grand kids.  The problem is: often some pests and diseases sneak into the system without you knowing!  Codling moths in your apples  After flowering, when the apples set fruit (the tiniest fruits that grow into apples!), this is the time when codling moth adults lay their eggs. During the X-mas growth the caterpillars will tunnel into your “codlings” (small fruits in old-fashioned English language!) and your task will be to try and get them out of those fruits. Good luck with that!  Photo / Supplied Prevention is quite simple and effective:  After flowering, spray your apples with Madex 2 (or Madex 3 if you need to use a lot); it’s organic and safe and contains the infectious particles of a virus that only kills codling moth.  Spray every two weeks until Christmas and no caterpillars will enter your fruit!  Green Vegetable Bug (Stink bug)  They are slowly increasing in your garden right now; Adults are green, juveniles are black with reddish spots  They suck juices out of a long list of crops, causing plants to reduce in vigour.  Scouting is the term for your warfare: go out early in the morning and later in afternoon/evening to intercept these sap-suckers.  Photo / Supplied Squash them till they smell somewhat like coriander and drop their bodies under the host plants they are feeding on. In no time you’ll find a lot of live bugs drop to the ground as well (that smell is a warning smell that makes them jump and lie-down very quietly). Knock them all off (the warning smell gets stronger and more bugs will jump!!)  In no time you will have reduced the population to a fraction of what was there.  Powdery Mildew Fungus lurking around the garden already!  You might not see it just yet, but it surely is on your crops (Gherkins, courgettes, melons, cucumber and later apple and other fruit too)  The infection started in late November and early December, when you were doing the Christmas shopping!!! If only you could have sprayed your susceptible plants then !!! You would have certainly reduced the trouble that you’ll face in a month or so.  Photo / Supplied Copper and sulphur mixes (Nature’s Way Fungus Spray) are simple organic fungicides that will knock the mildew back; you can also use some hard-core fungicides if you like, but the idea is to be as early as possible! Have a look at the brilliant story in a recent NZ Gardener by Keith Hammett  Oh, by the way… those yellow-and-black ladybird beetles on the mildew-infested leaves are not a great help at all: they actually eat the mildew and spread it around your garden!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/20247 minutes
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Bob Campbell: Wine expert's pick of the week - Askerne 2022 Viognier

BOB'S BEST BUYS Wine: Askerne 2022 Viognier, Hawke’s Bay $26.90  Why I chose it:  - One of the best examples of NZ Viognier I’ve tasted.  - Often blended with Syrah to give greater complexity and a silkier texture.  - Delicious wine from a challenging vintage.  What does it taste like?  - “Ripe, almost luscious wine with tree fruit/apricot/nectarine, vanilla and musk-like flavours underpinned by a core of sweet fruit that helps make the wine very accessible now.”  Why it’s a bargain:  - Aristocratic wine at a working-class price.  Where can you buy it?  - Wines of NZ $22.49 New Zealand  - First Glass Wines and Spirits, Auckland $22.99  - Advintage, Hawke’s Bay $23.99  - Vino Fino (NZ) Christchurch.  Food match?  - Apple Tart  Will it keep?  - Drink up    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/20243 minutes, 17 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: UMG removes audio from TikTok and Mark Zuckerberg's getting praised by Wall Street

Top artists have vanished from TikTok  Superstars Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and Olivia Rodrigo's music has been removed from TikTok because their record label and TikTok can't agree on what to pay. Universal Music Group says TikTok is paying a fraction of the price of other social media sites. It's tricky though, because TikTok has been the source of many #1 hits recently as clips go viral, and that means streams on Spotify, downloads on iTunes, and concert tickets.    UMG: "TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music".  TikTok's position: "It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters".    Mark Zuckerberg got slammed on the Hill, but praised on Wall St  They announced their 2023 & Q4 results and stock prices shot up 12% in after-hours trading. Investors are loving the new margins, the dividend, and buybacks. Revenues increased by 16% but its profits increased by 69%. The “year of efficiency” has doubled their operating margins from 20% to 41%. For the very first time too, they'll pay a dividend and signaled that they'll pay it regularly. Meta now has 22% fewer staff compared to last year, and Wall St doesn't seem to care it cost $1b to make those changes. The losses on the Metaverse —building the Oculus headset and supporting platform— increased to $16b for 2023.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/20243 minutes, 57 seconds
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Russell Howard: British Comedian on his upcoming NZ tour 'Wonderbox'

Comedian Russell Howard is returning to New Zealand for his sell-out tour- a very different version of New Zealand when compared to his previous visit, where he was granted exemption to pass through the borders during the Covid-19 pandemic.  “Last time we came, the army were there. They greeted us by saying- you know you’ll be staying at a hotel for two weeks. We’ll ask about your mental health, you have to lie. I told them I’ll be fine, there’s no way I could tell the truth,” the comedian told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame.   With the restrictions safely out of the way this time, Howard’s free to wander around New Zealand again, and potentially source some joke material from the local shops - he says he was particularly fascinated with what he saw in Auckland’s CBD.  “We were in Ponsonby, and it was funny because they were clearly coming up with names that have no relevance whatsoever to what they’re selling. There was a place called the Stolen Girlfriends Club - they sell clothes! There’s a cinema called the Silky Otter, my interest was piqued because you’re looking at all these. Is the Women’s Bookshop all female authors? No!”  Howard explained that seeing the picturesque images designed to appeal to travelers were less fascinating than observing the nation first-hand and building jokes from what he sees. To him, the standard mountainscapes were less compelling than spotting a restaurant that sounded like a ‘really specific Google search’, as he described Auckland’s Monsoon Poon.   He’s used to taking comedic material out of his observations, as his standup specials, TV projects and TikTok videos show off his takes on the state of the world as we ping-pong from one crisis to the next- from controversial presidential administrations, economic downturns, pandemics, climate change, to a possible expanding war.  “The audience is your master, your jury. There’s a great quote from Stephen Fry about the peculiarity of comedy. Comedy is so intangible, it’s surreal.”  He promised his current tour will bring his signature energy to Kiwi audiences. As he explained to Jack Tame, New Zealand has a ‘gentle, lovely’ atmosphere with plenty of entertaining aspects that could sound absurd when played back to an international audience.  “For instance, Rotorua calls itself Rotovegas, despite the fact that it doesn’t have a casino. That is innately funny, I love the idea of some American tourists wondering where the casino is and people from Rotorua going - there isn’t one,” he told Newstalk ZB.   Howard’s standup tours have sold thousands of tickets to people all over the world, from the US, to the UK, to Europe, to Australia - allowing him to show off his jokes to different audiences and tastes.  “I’ve got a load of stuff, it’s the final version before I record it for a special, so it’s as tight as a drum. I’m just putting it through New Zealand and Australia, to see if that works, to see what doesn’t work here.”  His comedy manages to work 80 percent of the time, as he claims. Audiences clearly agree, as demonstrated by the high-ticket sales and millions - sometimes hundreds of millions - watching his social media content and ‘The Russell Howard Hour’ on television or YouTube. Celebrity appearances and connections bring in the viewers, but Howard holds his own and brings his comedic chops wherever he appears.  “You have to figure out the right version of it. I don’t know the lay of the land, so I look forward to going to gigs and asking people how they feel.”  He’s taking in New Zealand in February and observing our nation’s cities and stories - and he expects to discuss our response to the crisis in the Red Sea, our politics and our other ‘interesting’ aspects. As he told Jack Tame, he’ll never know when an off-the-cuff observation turns into a joke, or standup special, or tour highlight.  LISTEN ABOVE   Tour Dates Wellington 3rd February 2024, Michael Fowler Centre  Palmerston North  4th February 2024, Regent On Broadway  Whanganui  5th February 2024, Royal Whanganui Opera House  Tauranga  7th February 2024, Mercury Baypark Arena  Hamilton  8th February 2024, Globox Arena  Auckland  9th February 2024, Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre  Auckland  10th February 2024, Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre  Hawke's Bay  11th February 2024, Toitoi Opera House See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/202417 minutes, 8 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Strawberry Poppyseed Cake

End of season strawberries are so jammy and sweet, they’re perfect for baking with.   Makes one 20cm cake.     Ingredients:  55g butter, softened   2/3 cup caster sugar + 1 tbsp   2 tsps pure vanilla extract   1 large egg   1 cup plain flour   ½ tsp baking powder   ½ tsp baking soda   3 tbsps poppy seeds   1/2 tsp lemon zest   1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt or sour cream   140g fresh strawberries, quartered   Yoghurt or whipped cream to serve     Method  1. Preheat oven to 180 C fan bake with rack in middle. Grease and line a 20cm springform tin. 2. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and egg. 3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and poppy seeds and add these into the mix in two batches, beating on low and alternating with yoghurt. Stir in zest and half the strawberries until just combined. Spoon batter into prepared cake tin. Arrange remaining strawberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining one tablespoon of sugar. 4. Bake 35 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes before ‘springing the tin’ and allow to cool completely before transferring to a serving plate.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/20246 minutes, 28 seconds
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Kevin Milne: How do we react to the possibility of catastrophic earthquakes?

The Government is being warned of the country’s vulnerability to more frequent severe weather, and the possibility of catastrophic earthquakes that could cripple the country.  These earthquakes could occur in the near future, or even within the next few days.  The news is hardly reassuring, and Kevin Milne is wondering just how he’s supposed to react.  Should he try refund his concert tickets? How would an earthquake affect the pitch for Sunday’s cricket test?   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/20244 minutes, 31 seconds
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Jack Tame: We should celebrate more milestones

The big news from my summer this year, is that I got married last weekend.  Well, technically actually that’s not correct. My wife, Mava, and I were legally married back in May. But last weekend we had a little wedding. The white dress, the tux, the families in from different parts of the country and the World, the hair, the pocket squares, the petit fours, the rings, the champagne, the stress.    Mava chose to enter to a beautiful song by Bon Iver. I chose to enter to – who else? -  Kanye West. I’m not gonna bore you with all the details in the World except to say it was so good. So good. So special. The stress of the lead up melted away. Mava and I felt present. And more than anything, we felt incredibly loved.    And although truthfully I’m feeling a bit emotionally depleted, I’ve found myself this week reflecting on a couple of things about our day.  There are two vital elements in a wedding. One is obviously that you make a profound commitment to someone else. You solidify and formalise the bond and the relationship between the two of you.   The other is that you do it in a room full of people who are important to you.   I know this is a bit of a cliche, but one of those things... I really want to do again.   Modern life is tricky. We’re all on different orbits. In different countries. Different cities. Kids, jobs, career trajectories: we’re all at different ages and stages of life. But what a privilege it is, a *rare* privilege, to pull the handbrake of push the big red button, and get all of those planets to line up together, if only for a night. How amazing it is to look around a room, to recognise all the faces beaming back at you, and know that you and each of those people have a special connection.   Culturally, I reckon we can sometimes be a bit lousy at celebrating milestones. Getting married has made me determined to do better, to have more parties, to break the glass and hit the red button again.  The morning after our celebration, I woke before dawn. I was exhausted, running on fumes, but still buzzing. Before my wife stirred, I kissed her on the cheek, walked down to the beach and slipped into the water. I lay, floating on my back, bobbing in the tide, processing everything.   I felt so warm. So content. So lucky. So loved. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/2/20244 minutes, 8 seconds
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Tara Canton: Kiwi actress on landing her role in TVNZ's 'After The Party'

Tara Canton is the definition of talented.   Starting out in theatre, she was a triple threat taking up roles in the Sound of Music and Annie.   But before she even graduated at Wellington’s Toi Whakaari, she landed the role in TVNZ’S 'After the Party', working alongside well-respected Kiwi actress, Robyn Malcom.  "I've always been interested in performing in arts,” Canton told Newstalk ZB’s Wilhelmina Shrimpton.  "I have an older sister Allegra, and she did musical theater, and dancing ,and all that growing up. So I kind of followed suit just, just, because I looked up to her and stuff.”  She started her performing career with stage and musical theatre, and through Toi Whakaari was introduced to the world of screen acting.  “When I booked this role, it was my first every self-tape that I’d done,” she said.  “I had never done anything remotely like, professional in terms of screen work.”  When it comes to working with Robyn Malcom, Canton said that she was a like a sponge, soaking up the experience.  “She made it so easy to talk to her.”  “I was trying to remember as much as I could.”  After The Party features some darker themes and serious elements, one of which relates directly to Canton’s character’s father.  “I really wanted to do the character of Grace justice,” she told Shrimpton.  “Definitely a bit of a scary first role.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/27/202416 minutes, 27 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Green Day - Saviors

Their fourteenth studio album, Green day is back with 'Saviors'.  A fifteen track punk-rock album that slots seamlessly into their discography and is, in their own words, an insight into the band's collective consciousness.  "Saviors is an invitation into Green Day’s brain, their collective spirit as a band, and an understanding of friendship, culture and legacy of the last 30 plus years." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/27/20247 minutes, 22 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Search Party and The Woman on the Ledge

The Search Party by Hannah Richell   A spellbinding locked-room mystery about a glamping trip gone horribly wrong when a powerful storm leaves the participants stranded and forced to confront long-held secrets and a shocking disappearance. Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race with their twelve-year-old son to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. Eager for a dry run ahead of their opening, they invite three old university friends and their families for a long-needed reunion. But the festivities soon go awry as tensions arise between the children (and subsequently their parents), explosive secrets come to light, and a sudden storm moves in, cutting them off from help as one in the group disappears. Moving between the police investigation, a hospital room, and the catastrophic weekend, The Search Party is a propulsive and twisty destination thriller about the tenuous bonds of friendship and the lengths parents will go to protect their children—perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.    The Woman on the Ledge by Ruth Mancini   A woman falls to her death from a London bank's twenty-fifth-floor roof terrace. You're arrested for her murder. You tell the police that you only met the victim the previous night at your office party. She was threatening to jump from the roof, but you talked her down. You've got nothing to do with this tragedy. You're clearly being framed. So why do the police keep picking holes in your story? And why doesn't your lawyer seem to believe you? It soon becomes obvious that you're keeping secrets. But who are you trying to protect? And why?    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/27/20246 minutes, 24 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A high country escape to Lake Heron Station

"Deep in the golden heart of the Ashburton District, the mountains rise up to meet you. Two hours drive from Christchurch, I turned off the inland scenic highway at Mount Somers, bound for Lake Heron Station. The sealed road ends by the historic Hakatere buildings, but the sense of heritage in these parts is rich. Turning off at Hakatere onto the graded gravel road to the lake, I’m rolling through a wide open basin of golden tussock and matagouri, bracketed by high, glaciated mountain ranges.   Lake Heron Station is a magnificent high country merino station that’s been a going concern for the Todhunter family since 1917." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20246 minutes, 24 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Umbrella Wellbeing Psychologist on beginning the year with oomph

Psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland joined Wilhelmina Shrimpton for a chat about beginning the year with oomph.  Top tips include:  -Daily scheduled activity -Mapping your activities to match your personal energy flow -Learning how to mentally switch off from work    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20249 minutes, 4 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Watering the Botany

After a great summer with scorching temps on the Port Hills, the plants started to suffer a wee bit – away from home for a week or more makes most gardeners a bit anxious. Plants dried out very quickly.  How to Water?  Never been a fan of sprinklers. I try to keep my leaves dry as much as possible; wet leaves often give fungal spores the opportunity to settle on the plant, causing leaf-spots, rots, downy mildew, and powdery mildew.  Try to water the root zone of a plant, by depositing the water —gently— on the soil. A fierce jet of water can clog the porosity of the soil (not so good either!), so a nice shower-setting of your hose handpiece is perfect.  Evening or Morning?  It doesn’t really matter a lot, I think. The water cools the soil remarkably and, in the morning, (when it’s cooler) most of the water will actually penetrate the soil. In the evening (with warmer temperatures) a proportion of the water will evaporate, become a “cloud” of H2O gas and meet its mates, somewhere high up in the sky. In other words, it doesn’t do the plants much good.  But watering in the middle of the day makes a huge percentage of the water disappear into the stratosphere.  In my tunnel house (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Capsicums) I prefer an evening watering to moisten the soil…. Followed by a liquid fertiliser (seafood Soup / Seaweed Tea) a few hours later when the soil is cooler, and the plants are in the mood for a liquid “meal”  Established shrubs and trees?  Most Nature Nerds that go walking will see in dry summers how established trees show severe signs of dehydration or wilting. Even without any rain those leaves will often look a lot better in the evening. Wilting is simply a strategy to shut off the leaves’ stomata to save the moisture escaping from these openings in the heat of the day.  This wilting can go on for weeks, sometimes.  A thoroughly good soak (hours and hours of watering) can re-set the water deficit in the soil. This deep watering is far more beneficial to soil and shrubs/trees than daily “piddle-waterings”  Over-watering?  As mentioned, a few months ago: to get trees and shrubs acclimatised to the drought, don’t “Over-Water” them. Let the search for water by getting the roots to grow deeper and further away from the main trunk/stem. Build Resilience!!  I reckon that UNDER-WATERING is a great way to train your perennials.  Regular droughts? Which plants are suited for water-stressed areas?  Think Mediterranean species that often don’t get much during the 5 months of summer in Spain and Morocco and Italia. Often plants with blue-ish or white-ish colours or with thick hairs on the leaves (that stop water loss). Euphorbias, Echiums, Watsonias, cacti, succulents, phlomis, Jerusalem sage, rosemary, lambs ear, etc etc.  Plants that can NEVER dry out.  Ferns have got a different vascular system in their stems and fronds; these bundles are not as strong and lignine-supported as other “Vascular plants”; So when a fern gets too dry, its bundles simply shrivel up and irreversibly collapse.  I warned you!!   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20243 minutes, 39 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple's forced to allow outside apps and explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift

Apple is being forced to allow apps from outside it's App Store  The EU's Digital Markets Act is coming into effect in March and it will see monumental changes to Apple's iPhone business. For the first time apps from outside of its App Store will be allowed to be installed on the phone, either directly, or via a third-party-created app store of their own. It's huge because Apple charges up to 30% of an App's direct revenue to be distributed in their store and have strict guidelines on what apps can and cannot do. These new rules allow for more freedom than ever. These new DMA rules will also force Apple to allow for web browsers to be powered by technology other than their proprietary "WebKit". For New Zealanders it won't mean much but it may give more ammunition for other governments to propose similar legislation.    Explicit Taylor Swift images are going viral, but they're deepfakes  Don't believe what you're seeing. The realistic pornographic images are likely generated by AI technology which makes creating them as easy as typing "prompts" or instructions - no photoshop skills necessary. A single instance of one image on X (formally Twitter) was viewed 47 million times before the account was taken down. In the US there aren't federal regulations around AI imagery, and no states have laws against creation or sharing of non-consensual deepfake photography.  Taylor Swift's is one of America's sweethearts and this is shining a light on a very real issue because these types of images can be created for almost anyone.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20248 minutes, 3 seconds
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Tara Ward: Masters of the Air and Black Coast Vanishings

Masters of the Air   A new military drama from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, based on a true story from in World War II about ten American airmen who risked their lives against unrelenting German fighters (AppleTV+).    Black Coast Vanishings  A new New Zealand true-crime documentary series about the mysterious disappearances of six people from the small coastal community of Piha (Three and ThreeNow, from Sunday 28 January).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20243 minutes, 55 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Priscilla and Lift

Priscilla When teenager Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who's already a meteoric rock 'n' roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, and a gentle best friend.     Lift  A master thief is wooed by his ex-girlfriend and the FBI to pull off an impossible heist with his international crew on a 777 passenger flight from London to Zurich.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20247 minutes, 44 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Winnie the Pooh

It’s a very special anniversary for one of childhood’s most beloved figures: Winnie the Pooh.  This month marks one hundred years since AA Milne introduced the beloved character to the world in a poem called ‘Teddy Bear.’  Kevin Milne joined Wilhelmina Shrimpton to celebrate the occasion.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20246 minutes, 21 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Plum and Vanilla Cake

At this time of year the plum trees are dripping with fruit! It’s time to make the annual supply of plum sauce and plum chutneys but it’s also time to bake this beautiful cake!  Ingredients  3/4 cup sugar  180g butter, softened  1 tbsp vanilla extract  2 medium eggs  ½ cup plain flour  ½ cup ground almonds  1 tsp baking powder  6 plums, halved and de-stoned  Method  1. Heat oven 180 C. Grease a springform tin.  2. Cream the sugar and butter until pale, light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Stir in flour, almonds and baking powder until combined.  3. Spoon the batter into a springform tin. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.  4. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let it sit for 5 minutes then remove the sides and cool completely.  5. Serve plain or with whipped cream and custard.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20246 minutes, 32 seconds
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Wilhelmina Shrimpton: Timing really is everything

I want to talk about timing, because it really is everything.   It can be the difference between whether you say or do something, and it can be the difference between whether you don’t.  It can shape opinion, and it can morph public perception.  The timing of an announcement or an incident can also dictate how it’s received.   I think we’ve well and truly seen the importance of timing when it comes to our politicians and their mental health struggles.   I know that Francesca Rudkin spoke about this on last week’s show following the shoplifting allegations against Golriz Gharahman, but the headline is back in the spotlight after former Labour Minister Kiri Allan opened up about her mental health struggles after allegedly drink-driving and crashing her car last year.   Like Golriz, she resigned from her role, and like Golriz, she’s due to have her day in court after being charged over the incident.   In her first interview since the crash Allan says she’d returned to work to deal with a change in Labour’s policies after a ‘mental health break’ … and admits she got to a point where she “decided she wanted to take her life” the night of the incident.   Now before I continue, I think it’s important to remind everyone that both Golriz Gharahman and Kiri Allan have said that their mental health struggles are not an excuse but an explanation for what happened.   Even so, they both faced a mound of criticism that mental health had been used to try and manage the PR disasters.   There are of course a lot of similarities between the former politicians’ stories, and while I applaud them for openly sharing their struggles, I wonder whether the timing of that was what threw many Kiwis.   Perhaps if they’d laid that bare when they entered politics, or when the first signs of trouble began to emerge, then many may have been more willing to accept the explanation. Or perhaps, by speaking openly about it earlier on, then the incidents may not have even happened and they’d still be sitting in the beehive right now.   I realise that’s all very well in theory but in practice it seems to have become increasingly obvious that as a government, and also as a society, we haven’t created an environment where people feel comfortable enough to come forward without judgment.   This was evident in a LinkedIn post I read last week after Golriz’s shoplifting allegations emerged, which stated that people with mental health struggles shouldn't bother getting into politics or positions with a public profile.   Not only is that discriminatory and completely unfair, it also doesn’t bode well for democracy, swiftly eliminating 31% of Kiwis who in the latest New Zealand Health Survey said they live with moderate to very high levels of psychological distress.   My fear is that although we’re seeing an increase in conversation and campaigns about mental health, that isn’t translating into an understanding or acceptance of the issue.   Kiri Allan said in her latest interview that if she looked at how her mental health may have impacted the way she operated, that it was her responsibility to manage that aspect of her life, and that she didn’t do that well.   She’s right. But there’s also some responsibility on our friends, colleagues and employers too.   And to bring it back to timing, maybe if we walked the talk we saw in all of those mental health campaigns then it would never be an awkward time to speak out.   Both Kiri Allan and Golriz Gharahman are now paying the price for their mistakes - as they should.   Both have valuable lessons to learn. But so do we. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/26/20244 minutes, 2 seconds
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Amanda Palmer: Award winning musician on living in New Zealand for two years, her upcoming tour, and new music

Award winning musician, Author, ted talker, Amanda Palmer is adventurous, creative, and a real go-getter.    She was one of the great minds behind music duo “The Dresden Dolls” and won Artist of the Year at the 2006 Boston Music Awards.    Amanda has a soft spot for New Zealand, spending nearly two years on Waiheke and in Hawkes Bay with her son during the Covid pandemic.   Now she’s returning with a tour and new music, honouring her time as an accidental Kiwi, and joining Francesca Rudkin to chat about it.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/202415 minutes, 51 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Erny Belle - Not Your Cupid

Home-grown in Aōtearoa, Erny Belle released her debut album in 2022. 'Venus is Home' is flavoured with the sounds of alt-folk, country, and Pacific-pop and is an ode to her connection with her grandmother and growing up in rural Aōtearoa. Her latest album 'Not Your Cupid' expands upon its predecessor, adding new influences.  The album is less narrative and more focused on imaginings, the throughline a little more cryptic and intuitive.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/20247 minutes, 49 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Dinner Party and Dark Arena: A Frenchman Thriller

The Dinner Party by Rebecca Heath    The new exciting thriller by Rebecca Heath, author of THE SUMMER PARTY. A dark and twisty domestic thriller set in a seemingly idyllic suburban neighbourhood, where family secrets are best kept buried...     Dark Arena: A Frenchman Thriller by Jack Beaumont  When a DGSE agent is brutally murdered in front of his family, the 'Company' swings into action, determined to track down the killers. Meanwhile, operative Alec de Payns is turning a Russian intelligence officer by blackmail. His team must establish who is posting classified material against the Kremlin to embassies all over Europe. The clues lead to a secret meeting of businessmen, terrorists and mercenaries on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean, which Alec must infiltrate. What he discovers there will set Europe on course for catastrophe. Can de Payns and his team establish who is setting up an assassination? Who is the target? And will they be able to stop it?    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/20246 minutes, 19 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Encounters in Glacier Country

"South Westland’s natural splendour seems to grow in awe-inspiring intensity the further south you go. There’s a fairytale quality to the sense of escapism, as you drive through those long and leafy highway glades, where the forest canopy drapes across the road. I wended my way to Whataroa, where nesting is the star attraction. Just out of Whataroa, the rare white heron/kōtuku nest at the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve from September to March." "Just 25 minutes south from Whataroa, Ōkārito is an irresistibly laidback hamlet, like a world unto itself. On arrival, you’re rewarded with stunning panoramic views of the towering jaws of the Southern Alps, the roar of the ocean, the magnificent lagoon, striking sea cliffs and vast, lush forest in this heart-stealing eco-wonderland." "The twin glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox are revered as being two of the most accessible glaciers in the world, plunging down from the Southern Alps, wrapped in rainforest, almost to sea level. Descending from 3000 metres, Franz Josef Glacier terminates just 240 metres above sea level, and just 19km from the coast. The terminal face of Fox, which is the longest of the West Coast glaciers, is only 12km from the Tasman Sea. It’s what makes Franz Josef and Fox so exceptional – you’d struggle to find many glaciers so close to the ocean." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/20245 minutes, 15 seconds
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Kate Hall: Eating only New Zealand made food

This year Kate Hall is embarking on a challenge.  She’s aiming to only purchase local and New Zealand made food when doing her grocery shopping.  Kate joined Francesca Rudkin to chat about why she’s embarking on this challenge, and the difficulties she thinks she’ll face along the way.  Read her blog explaining the challenge here.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/20248 minutes, 38 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: The importance of yearly check-ups

Why bother with a yearly check-up?  - Prevention is better than cures.  - There are many things that we may not be aware of that we can do something about.  - In many cases it’s not about now but about the future.   - Three main areas to think about: checking for cardiovascular risk factors, early detection cancer, and prevention of disease.     What things will your GP check for?  - They’ll check for the ‘hidden’ issues.  - Physical: look at blood pressure and weight in particular. Both can cause heart disease.  - Run some routine blood tests, in particular checking blood sugar for diabetes and cholesterol.     Why are these important?  - Rising blood pressure, sugars rising in the blood stream, and fats in the blood stream are silent. We don’t know they’re happening.  - Blood pressure and cholesterol left untreated can lead to heart disease and strokes down the track.  - Elevated sugars can give us a warning that we are headed for diabetes, which is treatable with changes to diet, exercise, and weight loss.     What else do we need to think about?  - Cancer screenings:  - Mammograms for early breast cancer from age 45.  - Bowel screening from the age of 60 for bowel cancer.  - Cervical screening for cervical cancer from age 25.  - In men, think about a blood test for prostate cancer from the age of 50.  - If we detect cancer early enough, we can cure it – that simple!     Any other issues?  - Being up to date with immunisations.  - For children we need to think about all those diseases we prevent with immunisation. Measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, hepatitis, pneumonia, tetanus, and meningitis are all killers, and we need to make sure our children are protected.  -For adults: a yearly flu injection, shingle vaccine at the age of 65, being up to date with Covid boosters, and discussing pneumococcal vaccine for pneumonia over the age of 65.  -These are all important in preventing disease.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/19/20245 minutes, 10 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: AI fingerprint analysis and the continuing tech layoffs

Some new research suggests our fingerprints may not be as unique as we thought they are.  The common thesis has always been that each of our fingerprints is unique, but researchers from Columbia University have run AI over 60,000 fingerprints and found that it's possible to detect when two fingerprints belong to the same person with 75-90% accuracy.  Here's the scary part - they don't know how AI is doing it, but it doesn't seem to be using the markers that forensics experts have been using for decades. It seems there is something about the curvature and the angle of the swirls in the centre that are common enough on each of our fingerprints to identify us. There are still lots of questions, like is it to do with how the samples are collected? Or do these markers change over time?    The tech layoffs continue  Google has started 2024 with another round of layoffs impacting over a thousand employees and their CEO Sundar Pichai says to brace for more. Google is actively working to cut out layers of middle management to "simplify execution", but also focusing its investments in its core areas - which has seen funding reallocated from elsewhere.   The tech sector has laid off nearly 8,000 workers so far this year, according to layoffs.fyi. Folks from Amazon, Discord, Instagram and many startups.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/19/20244 minutes, 8 seconds
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Tara Ward: True Detective: Night Country, Boy Swallows Universe, Death and Other Details

True Detective: Night Country The acclaimed HBO detective series is back, this time starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis (professional boxer turned actor) and set in chilling small town Alaska (Neon). Boy Swallows Universe  Bryan Brown stars in this Australian drama based on the bestselling book of the same name, about a young boy from Brisbane who must navigate the criminal world (Netflix).Death and Other Details Fans of an Agatha Christie mystery will enjoy this new series about a detective trying to solve a murder on a Mediterranean ocean liner where every passenger seems to be hiding something (Disney+).   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/19/20246 minutes, 12 seconds
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Chris Schulz: The Iron Claw and Bitconned

The Iron Claw The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who make history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.   Bitconned In this true-crime documentary, three guys exploit the freewheeling cryptocurrency market to scam millions from investors and bankroll lavish lifestyles.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/19/20246 minutes, 56 seconds
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Nici Wickes: BBQ Tacos

Whip up these beef tacos in a minute on the BBQ and you’ve got yourself a feast!  Makes 10-12 tacos    Ingredients:  1 piece rump steak, sliced into thin strips  1 red capsicum, sliced thinly  1 onion, sliced thinly  2 cloves garlic, minced with some salt  2 tsps. cumin seeds  1 tsp chilli flakes  ½ tsp dried oregano  2 tbsps. olive oil  Juice from a lemon or lime  To serve:  10-12 tortilla  ½ cup guacamole  Shredded lettuce  Crumbled feta  Salsa – I use La Morena available in supermarkets    Method:   1. Marinate the beef strips in all of the main ingredients for at least 15 minutes. 2. While the meat marinates, warm the tortilla on the BBQ or in a pan, keeping them warm wrapped in a tea towel. Set out a build your own platter with tortilla, lettuce, guacamole, feta and salsa. 3. Cook the beef and vegetable mix on a hot BBQ plate or in a pan (do it in batches so it doesn’t stew) until the beef is just cooked. Serve alongside the platter and diners can build their own taco!   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/19/20247 minutes, 25 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Omens for what 2024 has in store

2024 is still in its early days but nearly three weeks into January, Kevin Milne is starting to get a sense of what the year has in store for him.  He told Francesca Rudkin that this is the time of year where you have to look for omens, and with a speeding ticket and an insurance refund it’s already looking like a mixed bag.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/19/20244 minutes, 29 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Are we too hard on politicians?

This week I found myself wondering if we’re too hard on politicians? Is there enough support for those who choose to go into public service? And why do we forget they’re human too?   When we see some of politics’ most passionate, talented, hard-working participants, some touted as potential leaders, hit mental health road bumps which often derail their careers, you’ve got to wonder if it’s worth it.    This time last year our then Prime Minister called a press conference and announced she didn’t have enough energy in the tank to do the job well and was resigning. She wanted to spend more time with her family.   It was a shock, but not surprising. It had been a brutal, unprecedented 5 years at the top for Ardern, and would have taken a toll on any leader.    This January we have another surprising resignation of a high-profile politician, for quite different reasons. In the case of Greens MP Golriz Ghahraman it was due to allegations of shoplifting, for which she has now been charged.   Ghahraman did not offer an excuse —and rightly so, as there’s no excuse for illegal behaviour— but she did try and offer an explanation. An extreme stress response to her work and unrecognised trauma contributed to her irrational behaviour – basically, it was down to her mental health.   As I know from hosting Summer Mornings this week, some of you feel empathy for Ghahraman, appreciate her hard work, and wish her the best in dealing with her issues. Some of you believe that mental health is just a convenient excuse.   I think it’s both. We need to differentiate between a person’s mental health crisis, which deserves our compassion, and their actions, which can be inexcusable. It is possible to hold both thoughts at the same time.  What we don’t want though is for the mental health ‘excuse’ to become an easy PR solution to a problem, because it’s really important people —from all walks of life— share their stories to destigmatise mental health issues.  What intrigued me this week was when Ghahraman’s Green Party colleagues and former members of Parliament spoke out about the stress, violent and sexual threats, and the challenges of being a politician, but especially a female politician.   Abuse has always been a part of being a politician. Talk to any politician and they will tell you about some of the crazy abuse they have received over the years, but you get the sense from those in the business now that it’s worse.   Why do people feel they have the right to abuse and threaten politicians?   If you don’t like their policies, don’t vote for them. There is never any rationale or excuse for sexual or violent threats. We must differentiate between the person and the politics, and at the same time offer better support for those who decide to enter public service.   This needs to come from both the party and Parliamentary Services. The last thing we want is for our politicians to become unreachable and untouchable due to a fear of the public, or for good, capable people to decide to avoid public service altogether.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/19/20243 minutes, 18 seconds
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Jack Tame: The Christmas Reset

It was left to my wife to break the bad news.  Our boy was sitting patiently in the back of the car and as we made our way across town, she gently asked him about the letter which we’d just discovered he’d written to Santa.  “When did you write it?” She asked.  “A couple of weeks ago. I didn’t tell you, cos it was going straight to Santa.”  “Fair call. Good thinking. Who helped you do it?”   “My Kaiako... my teacher.”  “And... um... What did you ask for?”  “Oh, nothing major,” he said. “The standard. A Rubik’s cube. Some stuff for his Beyblade spinning tops. Oh, and you know... a dog.”  “A dog?” Asked mum.  “Two dogs,” replied our boy. “So, they’ll always have someone to play with even when I’m at school.”  Nothing stokes the magic of Christmas like watching it through kids’ eyes. Nothing kills your dream of two new pet dogs like Mum gently explaining that Santa called her on the phone from an unknown number to double-check the pets would be ok... and unfortunately, our family just isn’t in a position where we can have two new dogs, this year.   What am I looking forward to this Christmas? I’m looking forward to watching his face when we finally let him loose on the non-canine gifts sitting there, tantalising and mysterious, under the Christmas tree.   I’m looking forward to cracking the click-clack Tupperware and hoeing into my mum’s Christmas baking. I’m looking forward to knocking around on guitars, cold drinks in the summer twilight, and turning off all of the notifications on my phone.   I’m looking forward to meeting my new nephew, baby Freddie, for the first time. I’m looking forward to playing with his older brother and sister, who are at the age where all they want to do is a bit of rough and tumble. We’ll play Jonah – an old favourite where I crouch on one side of the lounge, and they try to run past me and score an imaginary try on the couch, only for me to pick them up and tackle them to the carpet. My nephew will no doubt ask me to string him like a pig... holding him from the ankles and dangling him upside down. A great way to wind up a four-year-old just before bed.  This is our last show morning for 20203. It’s been a year. For me, 2023 started for me with a 2000km road trip across South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Mozambique, and is ending in Nelson. We’ve had an election. Natural disasters. Wars. World Cups. Somewhere in there, I asked my partner to marry me.   For me, this time of year is when we bank all of that. A time to exhale. To reconnect, reset, recharge and go again. And for all the peripheral stress, nothing else comes close.   Dogs or no dogs, I love Christmas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20233 minutes, 54 seconds
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Jack Tame: The Christmas Reset

It was left to my wife to break the bad news.  Our boy was sitting patiently in the back of the car and as we made our way across town, she gently asked him about the letter which we’d just discovered he’d written to Santa.  “When did you write it?” She asked.  “A couple of weeks ago. I didn’t tell you, cos it was going straight to Santa.”  “Fair call. Good thinking. Who helped you do it?”   “My Kaiako... my teacher.”  “And... um... What did you ask for?”  “Oh, nothing major,” he said. “The standard. A Rubik’s cube. Some stuff for his Beyblade spinning tops. Oh, and you know... a dog.”  “A dog?” Asked mum.  “Two dogs,” replied our boy. “So, they’ll always have someone to play with even when I’m at school.”  Nothing stokes the magic of Christmas like watching it through kids’ eyes. Nothing kills your dream of two new pet dogs like Mum gently explaining that Santa called her on the phone from an unknown number to double-check the pets would be ok... and unfortunately, our family just isn’t in a position where we can have two new dogs, this year.   What am I looking forward to this Christmas? I’m looking forward to watching his face when we finally let him loose on the non-canine gifts sitting there, tantalising and mysterious, under the Christmas tree.   I’m looking forward to cracking the click-clack Tupperware and hoeing into my mum’s Christmas baking. I’m looking forward to knocking around on guitars, cold drinks in the summer twilight, and turning off all of the notifications on my phone.   I’m looking forward to meeting my new nephew, baby Freddie, for the first time. I’m looking forward to playing with his older brother and sister, who are at the age where all they want to do is a bit of rough and tumble. We’ll play Jonah – an old favourite where I crouch on one side of the lounge, and they try to run past me and score an imaginary try on the couch, only for me to pick them up and tackle them to the carpet. My nephew will no doubt ask me to string him like a pig... holding him from the ankles and dangling him upside down. A great way to wind up a four-year-old just before bed.  This is our last show morning for 20203. It’s been a year. For me, 2023 started for me with a 2000km road trip across South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Mozambique, and is ending in Nelson. We’ve had an election. Natural disasters. Wars. World Cups. Somewhere in there, I asked my partner to marry me.   For me, this time of year is when we bank all of that. A time to exhale. To reconnect, reset, recharge and go again. And for all the peripheral stress, nothing else comes close.   Dogs or no dogs, I love Christmas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20233 minutes, 54 seconds
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Lorin Clarke on her memoir 'Would that be funny?' and growing up with John Clarke

In her own right, Lorin Clarke, the daughter of New Zealand Comedian legend John Clarke, is as talented as it comes.   Following in her father’s footsteps, Lorin expressed her creative side through writing and producing children's TV, film, and books, as well as podcasts and columns for the ABC.  She’s told the story of what it was like growing up with John as a father in her memoir ‘Would that be Funny? Growing Up with John Clarke’.   Lorin joined Jack Tame to chat about the memoir, which was released in August this year.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/202314 minutes, 8 seconds
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Lorin Clarke on her memoir 'Would that be funny?' and growing up with John Clarke

In her own right, Lorin Clarke, the daughter of New Zealand Comedian legend John Clarke, is as talented as it comes.   Following in her father’s footsteps, Lorin expressed her creative side through writing and producing children's TV, film, and books, as well as podcasts and columns for the ABC.  She’s told the story of what it was like growing up with John as a father in her memoir ‘Would that be Funny? Growing Up with John Clarke’.   Lorin joined Jack Tame to chat about the memoir, which was released in August this year.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/202314 minutes, 8 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Samara Joy - A Joyful Holiday

Two time Grammy Award Winner Samara Joy has released her first Christmas Album! The album features six songs total, four of them completely new: - Warm in December- Twinkle Twinkle Little Me- The Christmas Song- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- O Holy Night (feat. The McLendon Family)- The Christmas Song (Live) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20235 minutes, 44 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Samara Joy - A Joyful Holiday

Two time Grammy Award Winner Samara Joy has released her first Christmas Album! The album features six songs total, four of them completely new: - Warm in December- Twinkle Twinkle Little Me- The Christmas Song- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- O Holy Night (feat. The McLendon Family)- The Christmas Song (Live) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20235 minutes, 44 seconds
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Catherine Raynes' favourite books of 2023

Fiction:  The Secret Hours – Mick Heron  A gripping spy thriller from the bestselling author of Slow Horses, about a disastrous MI5 mission in Cold War Berlin—an absolute must-read for Slough House fans. Learned by Heart –Emma Donaghue  Eliza and Lister have never been this wide-awake in their lives, and the Slope, with its curtains drawn wide, is bright with starlight. They talk in whispers, not to disturb the maids who lie sleeping on the other side of the box room. The question Eliza’s been needing to ask swells like a great berry in her mouth, and all at once she’s not scared to let it out, not scared at all, not scared of anything . . . Tom Lake – Anne Patchett   This is a story about Peter Duke who went on to be a famous actor.This is a story about falling in love with Peter Duke who wasn't famous at all.It's about falling so wildly in love with him – the way one will at twenty-four – that it felt like jumping off a roof at midnight.There was no way to foresee the mess it would come to in the end.   Non Fiction:   Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World – John Vaillant   In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada's oil industry and America's biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration--the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina--John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world. Fire has been a partner in our evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains. Fire has enabled us to cook our food, defend and heat our homes, and power the machines that drive our titanic economy. Yet this volatile energy source has always threatened to elude our control, and in our new age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in previously unimaginable ways. The Wager – David Grann  On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Twat Files: A hilarious sort-of memoir of mistakes, mishaps and mess-ups – Dawn French   When I was younger I wanted to be an interesting, sophisticated, semi-heroic, multi-layered person. BUT. That kind of perfect is impossible. Being an actual twat is much more the real me. Sorry to boast, but I am a champion twat. In The Twat Files I will tell you about all the times I've been a total and utter twat. The moments where I've misunderstood stuff and messed up. My hope is that these stories might fire up yer engines to remind you of just what a massive twat you also are. Let's celebrate and revel in this most delightful of traits together. That would be perfectly twatty. The Woman In Me – Britney Spears   The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20235 minutes, 24 seconds
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Catherine Raynes' favourite books of 2023

Fiction:  The Secret Hours – Mick Heron  A gripping spy thriller from the bestselling author of Slow Horses, about a disastrous MI5 mission in Cold War Berlin—an absolute must-read for Slough House fans. Learned by Heart –Emma Donaghue  Eliza and Lister have never been this wide-awake in their lives, and the Slope, with its curtains drawn wide, is bright with starlight. They talk in whispers, not to disturb the maids who lie sleeping on the other side of the box room. The question Eliza’s been needing to ask swells like a great berry in her mouth, and all at once she’s not scared to let it out, not scared at all, not scared of anything . . . Tom Lake – Anne Patchett   This is a story about Peter Duke who went on to be a famous actor.This is a story about falling in love with Peter Duke who wasn't famous at all.It's about falling so wildly in love with him – the way one will at twenty-four – that it felt like jumping off a roof at midnight.There was no way to foresee the mess it would come to in the end.   Non Fiction:   Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World – John Vaillant   In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada's oil industry and America's biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration--the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina--John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world. Fire has been a partner in our evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains. Fire has enabled us to cook our food, defend and heat our homes, and power the machines that drive our titanic economy. Yet this volatile energy source has always threatened to elude our control, and in our new age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in previously unimaginable ways. The Wager – David Grann  On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Twat Files: A hilarious sort-of memoir of mistakes, mishaps and mess-ups – Dawn French   When I was younger I wanted to be an interesting, sophisticated, semi-heroic, multi-layered person. BUT. That kind of perfect is impossible. Being an actual twat is much more the real me. Sorry to boast, but I am a champion twat. In The Twat Files I will tell you about all the times I've been a total and utter twat. The moments where I've misunderstood stuff and messed up. My hope is that these stories might fire up yer engines to remind you of just what a massive twat you also are. Let's celebrate and revel in this most delightful of traits together. That would be perfectly twatty. The Woman In Me – Britney Spears   The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20235 minutes, 24 seconds
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Mike Yardley: South Westland's World Heritage wilderness

"One of my favourite Kiwi road trips can be mistaken as an unsung feeder route in South Westland, stitching the West Coast’s Glacier Country to the glittery allure of Wanaka and Queenstown. Rushing is the problem. Anyone who races through the ravishing Haast Pass Highway is unwittingly short-changing themselves. Set aside the time to devour its epic glories. As the last mountain pass to be constructed over the Southern Alps and only fully chip-sealed in 1995, this 140km-long panoramic alpine pass still exudes a “final frontier” sense of escapism as it threads its way through South Westland’s primeval forests. The route had long been used by Māori warriors and greenstone (pounamu) gatherers, as they traversed the Main Divide." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20239 minutes, 30 seconds
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Mike Yardley: South Westland's World Heritage wilderness

"One of my favourite Kiwi road trips can be mistaken as an unsung feeder route in South Westland, stitching the West Coast’s Glacier Country to the glittery allure of Wanaka and Queenstown. Rushing is the problem. Anyone who races through the ravishing Haast Pass Highway is unwittingly short-changing themselves. Set aside the time to devour its epic glories. As the last mountain pass to be constructed over the Southern Alps and only fully chip-sealed in 1995, this 140km-long panoramic alpine pass still exudes a “final frontier” sense of escapism as it threads its way through South Westland’s primeval forests. The route had long been used by Māori warriors and greenstone (pounamu) gatherers, as they traversed the Main Divide." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20239 minutes, 30 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Are you drinking too much at Christmas?

‘Tis the season to eat, drink, and be merry. Emphasis on drink. Increased alcohol consumption can be a problem at this time of year, especially as people are under increased amounts of stress and pressure. This can sometimes contribute to problem drinking, as people increasingly use alcohol or other drugs as a way to cope. At Christmas, drinking becomes even more socially acceptable, and workplaces have a role in this, often via work Christmas functions which give people the license to drink as part of unwinding from work.  It’s useful to think about whether alcohol will have a role in workplace functions in the future. Lots of workplaces are reducing their emphasis on alcohol as part of their functions e.g., having outdoor picnics or doing activities where alcohol use isn’t the core thing or choosing a venue for a Christmas party that doesn’t serve alcohol.  On a personal front there are some danger signs to look out for:  - Increased tolerance: At first, 2 drinks was enough to relax, then it was 3, now it’s 4. The more you drink, the more your body adapts, so that the same amount has less effect.  - It’s hard to stop or cut back. - Problems with others: are you “that person” at the office Christmas party or social function?  - Life feels smaller: Sometimes, we stop doing things that matter, or only do them if we can do them while drinking. This starts to limit your life and can lead to giving up hobbies or even people that you used to enjoy.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20238 minutes, 46 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Are you drinking too much at Christmas?

‘Tis the season to eat, drink, and be merry. Emphasis on drink. Increased alcohol consumption can be a problem at this time of year, especially as people are under increased amounts of stress and pressure. This can sometimes contribute to problem drinking, as people increasingly use alcohol or other drugs as a way to cope. At Christmas, drinking becomes even more socially acceptable, and workplaces have a role in this, often via work Christmas functions which give people the license to drink as part of unwinding from work.  It’s useful to think about whether alcohol will have a role in workplace functions in the future. Lots of workplaces are reducing their emphasis on alcohol as part of their functions e.g., having outdoor picnics or doing activities where alcohol use isn’t the core thing or choosing a venue for a Christmas party that doesn’t serve alcohol.  On a personal front there are some danger signs to look out for:  - Increased tolerance: At first, 2 drinks was enough to relax, then it was 3, now it’s 4. The more you drink, the more your body adapts, so that the same amount has less effect.  - It’s hard to stop or cut back. - Problems with others: are you “that person” at the office Christmas party or social function?  - Life feels smaller: Sometimes, we stop doing things that matter, or only do them if we can do them while drinking. This starts to limit your life and can lead to giving up hobbies or even people that you used to enjoy.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20238 minutes, 46 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Holiday highlights for Nature Nerds

I have always loved travel, especially to great Natural Environments. We all have favourite destinations and I have been extremely lucky touring the world while filming for Discovery Channel and Animal Planet – But in New Zealand alone, there are plenty of places that are inspirational when you want to have a break for all sorts of reasons: Gardening Botanic gardens in Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch, Otari (Wellington), Dunedin, Queens Park Invercargill, Napier and Waikereru (Just outside Gisborne). Most have their own botanical highlights: local plants, or a series of trees and shrubs from around the world – others focus on botanists and their historical discoveries. Otari/Wilton Bush: New Zealand’s only public botanic garden dedicated solely to native plants – all because of a vision by Leonard Cocaine. Waikereru – Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander plants from Cook’s Endeavour. If you want to get some inspiration for your garden, go and visit some of those places mentioned above. This is gardening on a huge scale. At the same time you’ll find out what grows well in your region and often keep up on the latest plant releases. Stunning Natural Parks Mount Taranaki – great tracks in the National park: The Puffer Track going up steeply and showing you the spectacular botany as you climb higher and higher, ending up on the Round-the-Mountain track. You may have heard about the famous cloud forests (Moist air going upwards in Mountainous Tropical areas) – well, if you park your car at the lower end of the North Egmont carpark (down from the visitor centre) you can access the Connett loop track, which goes through New Zealand’s cloud forest. This is the real deal in Aotearoa. The Lewis Pass (right at the top) has a fabulous, high altitude walk around wetlands (tarns) with orchids flowering and constantly on the edge of the tree-line: shrunken alpine versions of trees you might know from lower altitudes. If you like Lichens, this is the walk to make. Great insect life all over the place, especially in late spring and summer. (Alpine stone weta!) Further south, try to spend some time in the Catlins. Sealions, Southern rata flowering, deserted beaches and extraordinary forests in pristine landscapes. This is where you immediately get the definition of Biodiversity. This is the very first time in my life that I have mentioned the Catlins on the wireless – it should remain a secret place for ever and ever (ake ake). Milford track too long for you? I have a perfect alternative: Start the Routeburn track on SH 94 (the Milford Road, an hour north of Te Anau) and get to Key Summit. Pick a good weather day and get to the top: Alpine views, wetlands with magical wetland plants (a few Sundew species – Drosera); these plants eat insects – extraordinary! Key summit is the Natural History of Lord of the Rings. Oh yes… rock wrens !!! Ecological “Islands” These are bits of our Landscape that have been made predator-free. That allows the presence of pretty rare birds, lizards, aquatic critters and insects, to name but a few groups under pressure. Zealandia (Wellington) is a mere 20 minutes from down town. Predator proof fence keeps the nasties out; kaka,Tuatara, falcons, kiwi, tieke hihi etc etc. The noise can be deafening. Maungatautari near Cambridge, south of Hamilton is an impressive breeding ground for western brown kiwi: “kohanga kiwi”. After releasing some of these birds there, the numbers increased dramatically. Now these birds can be translocated to other sites with effective pest control. Good numbers of other endangered birds and bats. Brook Waimarama near Nelson where the predator-proof fence keeps the locals safe. It’s a great valley with aquatic habitats and my favourite giant carnivorous snails (Powelliphanta) Orokonui EcoSanctuary North of Dunedin city. One of the few places where you can see the large Otago skink, sunning itself on warm rocks in the sun. With Kaka, Tui and Bellbird sipping nectar from native flowers and additional sugar water dispensers, the sounds are reminiscent of the concept of a cacophony This is what New Zealand sounded like when Maori arrived! Tawharanui Open Sanctuary is probably the most “summer Holiday destination”: North of Auckland on the Coast, not far from Goat Island. Kiwi, Takahe, brown teal, Kaka and bellbird, tui and some stunning (albeit small) areas with original forests. Puriri trees with puriri moth holes in the trunks, beaches with dotterels and rocky sea-shore sites with amazing marine rockpools with endemic Nudibrancs and endemic fishes. It’s the place where we take teachers for the school holidays with the Blake Inspire sessions: Nature Nerd teachers, ready to teach Nature Nerd Kids! Finally: My environmental “home” in Aotearoa: Wingspan in Rotorua. This is the place where you can interact with falcons, harriers and owls, and learn about the people that rescue these raptors and teach them to fly and hunt for prey, using ancient falconry techniques and traditional methods in ornithology, language and culture.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Holiday highlights for Nature Nerds

I have always loved travel, especially to great Natural Environments. We all have favourite destinations and I have been extremely lucky touring the world while filming for Discovery Channel and Animal Planet – But in New Zealand alone, there are plenty of places that are inspirational when you want to have a break for all sorts of reasons: Gardening Botanic gardens in Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch, Otari (Wellington), Dunedin, Queens Park Invercargill, Napier and Waikereru (Just outside Gisborne). Most have their own botanical highlights: local plants, or a series of trees and shrubs from around the world – others focus on botanists and their historical discoveries. Otari/Wilton Bush: New Zealand’s only public botanic garden dedicated solely to native plants – all because of a vision by Leonard Cocaine. Waikereru – Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander plants from Cook’s Endeavour. If you want to get some inspiration for your garden, go and visit some of those places mentioned above. This is gardening on a huge scale. At the same time you’ll find out what grows well in your region and often keep up on the latest plant releases. Stunning Natural Parks Mount Taranaki – great tracks in the National park: The Puffer Track going up steeply and showing you the spectacular botany as you climb higher and higher, ending up on the Round-the-Mountain track. You may have heard about the famous cloud forests (Moist air going upwards in Mountainous Tropical areas) – well, if you park your car at the lower end of the North Egmont carpark (down from the visitor centre) you can access the Connett loop track, which goes through New Zealand’s cloud forest. This is the real deal in Aotearoa. The Lewis Pass (right at the top) has a fabulous, high altitude walk around wetlands (tarns) with orchids flowering and constantly on the edge of the tree-line: shrunken alpine versions of trees you might know from lower altitudes. If you like Lichens, this is the walk to make. Great insect life all over the place, especially in late spring and summer. (Alpine stone weta!) Further south, try to spend some time in the Catlins. Sealions, Southern rata flowering, deserted beaches and extraordinary forests in pristine landscapes. This is where you immediately get the definition of Biodiversity. This is the very first time in my life that I have mentioned the Catlins on the wireless – it should remain a secret place for ever and ever (ake ake). Milford track too long for you? I have a perfect alternative: Start the Routeburn track on SH 94 (the Milford Road, an hour north of Te Anau) and get to Key Summit. Pick a good weather day and get to the top: Alpine views, wetlands with magical wetland plants (a few Sundew species – Drosera); these plants eat insects – extraordinary! Key summit is the Natural History of Lord of the Rings. Oh yes… rock wrens !!! Ecological “Islands” These are bits of our Landscape that have been made predator-free. That allows the presence of pretty rare birds, lizards, aquatic critters and insects, to name but a few groups under pressure. Zealandia (Wellington) is a mere 20 minutes from down town. Predator proof fence keeps the nasties out; kaka,Tuatara, falcons, kiwi, tieke hihi etc etc. The noise can be deafening. Maungatautari near Cambridge, south of Hamilton is an impressive breeding ground for western brown kiwi: “kohanga kiwi”. After releasing some of these birds there, the numbers increased dramatically. Now these birds can be translocated to other sites with effective pest control. Good numbers of other endangered birds and bats. Brook Waimarama near Nelson where the predator-proof fence keeps the locals safe. It’s a great valley with aquatic habitats and my favourite giant carnivorous snails (Powelliphanta) Orokonui EcoSanctuary North of Dunedin city. One of the few places where you can see the large Otago skink, sunning itself on warm rocks in the sun. With Kaka, Tui and Bellbird sipping nectar from native flowers and additional sugar water dispensers, the sounds are reminiscent of the concept of a cacophony This is what New Zealand sounded like when Maori arrived! Tawharanui Open Sanctuary is probably the most “summer Holiday destination”: North of Auckland on the Coast, not far from Goat Island. Kiwi, Takahe, brown teal, Kaka and bellbird, tui and some stunning (albeit small) areas with original forests. Puriri trees with puriri moth holes in the trunks, beaches with dotterels and rocky sea-shore sites with amazing marine rockpools with endemic Nudibrancs and endemic fishes. It’s the place where we take teachers for the school holidays with the Blake Inspire sessions: Nature Nerd teachers, ready to teach Nature Nerd Kids! Finally: My environmental “home” in Aotearoa: Wingspan in Rotorua. This is the place where you can interact with falcons, harriers and owls, and learn about the people that rescue these raptors and teach them to fly and hunt for prey, using ancient falconry techniques and traditional methods in ornithology, language and culture.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Bob Campbell: 2023 Giesen Uncharted Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $20.99

Wine: 2023 Giesen Uncharted Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $20.99  Why I chose it:  - I wanted to choose a wine that would put a smile on the face of the largest number of people as a sort of Christmas present to listeners who enjoy wine.  - Sauvignon Blanc is our biggest selling wine both locally and overseas. - Giesen is a large, quality conscious producer of Sauvignon Blanc. - I recently tasted this wine in a blind line-up and it performed very well. - NZ makes the world’s best SB according to many top wine critics (We make 25% of the world’s SB). What does it taste like?  - “Sweet acid” sounds like a contradiction in terms but to me it describes an important component of this wine perfectly. Gentle sauvignon with good intensity of passionfruit, guava, grapefruit flavours with a gooseberry undercurrent.  Why it’s a bargain: $20.99 is an average price for Sauvignon Blanc but this is a well-above average quality wine. Where can you buy it?  - New World $17.99 (check the vintage, wait for 2023) - Glengarry Wines in Auckland (2022) $18.99 - Vineonline $17.99  Food match?  - Most seafoods, great with clams/cockles  Will it keep?  - Drink up    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20234 minutes, 39 seconds
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Bob Campbell: 2023 Giesen Uncharted Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $20.99

Wine: 2023 Giesen Uncharted Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $20.99  Why I chose it:  - I wanted to choose a wine that would put a smile on the face of the largest number of people as a sort of Christmas present to listeners who enjoy wine.  - Sauvignon Blanc is our biggest selling wine both locally and overseas. - Giesen is a large, quality conscious producer of Sauvignon Blanc. - I recently tasted this wine in a blind line-up and it performed very well. - NZ makes the world’s best SB according to many top wine critics (We make 25% of the world’s SB). What does it taste like?  - “Sweet acid” sounds like a contradiction in terms but to me it describes an important component of this wine perfectly. Gentle sauvignon with good intensity of passionfruit, guava, grapefruit flavours with a gooseberry undercurrent.  Why it’s a bargain: $20.99 is an average price for Sauvignon Blanc but this is a well-above average quality wine. Where can you buy it?  - New World $17.99 (check the vintage, wait for 2023) - Glengarry Wines in Auckland (2022) $18.99 - Vineonline $17.99  Food match?  - Most seafoods, great with clams/cockles  Will it keep?  - Drink up    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20234 minutes, 39 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: A new way to save your passwords

Passkeys are the reverse password you never need to remember.  Instead of having your username and password stored on the server and it letting you in if you can make it match, the passkeys instead rely on your device to unlock a secret key, and only if the keys match mathematically, will the authentication be granted.    The benefits:   You can't be tricked! The website/app is coming to you clearly identifying itself and providing their version of the 'key'. Your private key will only work with its corresponding key held by the true website.  It's more secure! You need to prove you are you (using biometrics such as a fingerprint or face scan on your phone or a device) and will need to actually have the device on you to first unlock your private key and it never leaves your device. If the server is hacked, then it's basically useless information.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20235 minutes, 54 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: A new way to save your passwords

Passkeys are the reverse password you never need to remember.  Instead of having your username and password stored on the server and it letting you in if you can make it match, the passkeys instead rely on your device to unlock a secret key, and only if the keys match mathematically, will the authentication be granted.    The benefits:   You can't be tricked! The website/app is coming to you clearly identifying itself and providing their version of the 'key'. Your private key will only work with its corresponding key held by the true website.  It's more secure! You need to prove you are you (using biometrics such as a fingerprint or face scan on your phone or a device) and will need to actually have the device on you to first unlock your private key and it never leaves your device. If the server is hacked, then it's basically useless information.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20235 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: Vigil, Fool Me Once, The Tourist

Vigil  A new season of the British crime drama that starred Suranne Jones as a detective solving a murder on a submarine - this time, however, she’s investigating a murder on land (TVNZ+, Boxing Day).    Fool Me Once  An eight-part British thriller based on the book by Harlan Coben about a woman recovering from the murder of her husband, when she unexpectedly sees him again and starts to uncover an unlikely conspiracy (Netflix, New Year’s Day).    The Tourist  Jamie Dornan returns for another game of cat-and-mouse in this thriller about a man who has no memory of who he is and why somebody is trying to kill him (TVNZ+, 2 January).  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20234 minutes, 55 seconds
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Tara Ward: Vigil, Fool Me Once, The Tourist

Vigil  A new season of the British crime drama that starred Suranne Jones as a detective solving a murder on a submarine - this time, however, she’s investigating a murder on land (TVNZ+, Boxing Day).    Fool Me Once  An eight-part British thriller based on the book by Harlan Coben about a woman recovering from the murder of her husband, when she unexpectedly sees him again and starts to uncover an unlikely conspiracy (Netflix, New Year’s Day).    The Tourist  Jamie Dornan returns for another game of cat-and-mouse in this thriller about a man who has no memory of who he is and why somebody is trying to kill him (TVNZ+, 2 January).  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20234 minutes, 55 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Failsafe Christmas Pavlova

I stand by this recipe as the one and only (controversial!) as it turns out a gorgeous pav every time – crisp outer shell and marshmallow inside.  Makes one large or 6-8 small individual pavs.     Ingredients:  - 5 medium egg whites  - 280g caster sugar  - 1 tbsp cornflour  - 1 tsp white vinegar    Method:   1. Heat your oven to 160 C fan bake and line an oven tray with baking paper. 2. With an electric beater on medium-high, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks begin to form. Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking well between each addition. I scrape down the sides a few times to make sure that all of the sugar is incorporated. Allow 12-15 minutes for this - it should be thick and shiny. Add in cornflour and vinegar and beat the meringue for 20-30 seconds more. 3. Reduce oven temperature to 100 C. 4. Pile up on lined tray, smoothing edges with the back of a wet spoon. 5. Bake for 1.5-2hrs hours (or until pav easily pulls away from the paper and the base is crispy) then turn oven off and allow to cool completely without disturbance. 6. Dressing your pav: Whipped cream or a combination of cream and mascarpone is a good base then add any toppings you wish to suit the season.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20236 minutes, 9 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Failsafe Christmas Pavlova

I stand by this recipe as the one and only (controversial!) as it turns out a gorgeous pav every time – crisp outer shell and marshmallow inside.  Makes one large or 6-8 small individual pavs.     Ingredients:  - 5 medium egg whites  - 280g caster sugar  - 1 tbsp cornflour  - 1 tsp white vinegar    Method:   1. Heat your oven to 160 C fan bake and line an oven tray with baking paper. 2. With an electric beater on medium-high, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks begin to form. Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking well between each addition. I scrape down the sides a few times to make sure that all of the sugar is incorporated. Allow 12-15 minutes for this - it should be thick and shiny. Add in cornflour and vinegar and beat the meringue for 20-30 seconds more. 3. Reduce oven temperature to 100 C. 4. Pile up on lined tray, smoothing edges with the back of a wet spoon. 5. Bake for 1.5-2hrs hours (or until pav easily pulls away from the paper and the base is crispy) then turn oven off and allow to cool completely without disturbance. 6. Dressing your pav: Whipped cream or a combination of cream and mascarpone is a good base then add any toppings you wish to suit the season.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20236 minutes, 9 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Previewing films released over the festive period, The Boys in the Boat, One Life, Ferrari

The Boys in the Boat During the height of the Great Depression, members of the rowing team at the University of Washington get thrust into the spotlight as they compete for gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.   One Life The story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of Central European children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II. Ferrari During the summer of 1957, bankruptcy looms over the company that Enzo Ferrari and his wife built 10 years earlier. He decides to roll the dice and wager it all on the iconic Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20238 minutes, 29 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Previewing films released over the festive period, The Boys in the Boat, One Life, Ferrari

The Boys in the Boat During the height of the Great Depression, members of the rowing team at the University of Washington get thrust into the spotlight as they compete for gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.   One Life The story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of Central European children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II. Ferrari During the summer of 1957, bankruptcy looms over the company that Enzo Ferrari and his wife built 10 years earlier. He decides to roll the dice and wager it all on the iconic Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20238 minutes, 29 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Christmas traditions

It’s the little things that matter.  This week Kevin Milne has been thinking about the little traditions that families observe at Christmas.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20237 minutes, 14 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Christmas traditions

It’s the little things that matter.  This week Kevin Milne has been thinking about the little traditions that families observe at Christmas.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/15/20237 minutes, 14 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Tate McRae - Think Later

Think Later is the second studio album released by Canadian singer Tate McRae, following from her debut album i used to think i could fly.  McRae said in an interview with Rolling Stone that the last year has been driven more by her intuition, and she hopes fans can feel that in the music as it covers themes of falling in love and the raw emotions that come with. The album has a total of fourteen songs with two pre-release singles: exes and greedy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20235 minutes, 16 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Prima Facie and Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond

Prima Facie - Suzie Miller Tessa is a thoroughbred. A young, brilliant barrister from a working-class background now at the top of her game: defending, cross-examining and lighting up the shadows of doubt in any case. The law is a game and she is its most talented player. One sickening night, though, Tessa finds herself in a position countless women - one in three - have been in before her. And she's faced with a gut-wrenching, life-changing decision. Will she take the stand to testify about her rape, with the full awareness that the system has not been built to protect her?   Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond - Henry Winkler Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as "The Fonz" in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely-regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it's simply not the case, he's really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you. Since the glorious era of Happy Days fame, Henry has endeared himself to a new generation with roles in such adored shows as Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and Barry, where he's been revealed as an actor with immense depth and pathos, a departure from the period of his life when he was so distinctly typecast as The Fonz, he could hardly find work. Filled with profound heart, charm, and self-deprecating humor, Being Henry is a memoir about so much more than a life in Hollywood and the curse of stardom. It is a meaningful testament to the power of sharing truth and kindness and of finding fulfillment within yourself.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20235 minutes, 45 seconds
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Lauren Parsons: Balancing productivity and wellbeing

In our modern society there are two qualities which we’re always told to value that are seemingly at odds with each other: productivity and wellbeing.   Lauren Parsons has spent her career working out how best to balance them.   In her book, ‘Thriving leaders, thriving teams’ Lauren hits on the keys to shaping a positive energised workplace culture.   Lauren’s just earned herself the ‘Keynote speaker of the year award’ and ‘Educator of the Year’ for 2023.   Lauren Parsons joined Jack Tame to discuss her work.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/202314 minutes, 11 seconds
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Mike Yardley: The Rees, Queenstown

"It was recently crowned New Zealand’s leading hotel at the 30th Annual World Travel Awards, beating out 11 other big-name hotels in Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown. So what is all the fuss about? Does it really live up to all the hype? Channelling my inner-Curious George, I zipped to Queenstown to sample the supreme comforts of The Rees Hotel." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20238 minutes, 1 second
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Hannah McQueen: Financial progress shouldn't wait for perfect conditions

One of Hannah's key lessons (and an important point we make to all of their clients) is that financial progress shouldn't wait for perfect conditions. When life gets uncertain and throws a curveball, that’s the exact time financial opportunities tend to reveal themselves - ironically, at the least opportune moment. After the year that's been, we can probably all relate to that feeling!   So the question becomes: If financial opportunity presented itself, would you see it for what it is, or would it simply pass you by? Our experience with clients would suggest the latter. So in the current climate where the high cost of living does not want to budge, where interest rates remain painfully high and many of us are due to refix if we haven't already, why is Hannah so optimistic? What are the opportunities she's seeing on the horizon and how do we see it for what it is and take advantage of it?  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20234 minutes, 37 seconds
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Tara Ward: Beef, Happy Valley, Jury Duty

Beef  The dark comedy about two Americans who begin to obsess over a road rage incident and let it slowly consume their everyday lives (Netflix).    Happy Valley  The third and final season of the superb British drama featuring Sarah Lancashire as police officer Catherine Cawood (TVNZ+).    Jury Duty  The unique documentary-style comedy series that shares the inner workings of an American jury trial through the eyes of one unknowing juror (Amazon Prime Video).      LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20235 minutes, 54 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Dicks: The Musical and Next Goal Wins

Dicks: The Musical  Two self-obsessed businessmen discover they're long-lost identical twins and come together to plot the reunion of their eccentric, divorced parents.    Next Goal Wins   With the 2014 World Cup qualifiers approaching, down-on-his-luck coach Thomas Rongen tries to turn the American Samoa soccer team into winners.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/8/20238 minutes, 13 seconds
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Kate Hall: Tackling sustainability when it comes to food at Christmas

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year for many, but it's also the most wasteful.  Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall has a few tips for making sustainable choices this holiday season: -Shop local, buy from small vendors at Christmas or farmers markets -Consider making food the present or focus to reduce pointless gifts -Serve less meat, or pick meat that is sustainable sourced (e.g. Premium Game, the only wild meat hunted in NZ) -BYO takeaway containers to your Holiday events to reduce food waste -Use reusables instead of single use for your cutlery, dishes, etc. -Gift your leftovers to local food pantries or community groups LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/8/20239 minutes, 38 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Parasites are everywhere

Parasites… Bodies everywhere!!!  This is the time to take a good look at the small critters in your garden. You may go on holiday and need someone to control the “pests” on your plants, crops and fruit trees. We are talking predators, but especially parasitoids.  The concept of parasitism is not always easy to grasp for non-entomologically inclined people. For starters you’ll need a good set of eyes and in some cases a decent magnifying glass or even a small microscope, to get the picture.  So – what is it all about and how do you look for evidence of these clever critters?  Parasites are organisms that take advantage of a host, by living off them or even inside them. Usually, parasites don’t necessarily kill their hosts directly (think: headlice, tapeworm, ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, scabies, etc).  Parasitoids, however, tend to be fatal to our plant pests and other small creatures that live in our garden environment. The reason is simple: the larval stages of the parasitoids develop inside the host, and this causes internal destruction (remember Alien?).  Most parasitoids are members of the wasp order, but they don’t really look like the common and German wasps. Parasitic wasps are often quite small and reminiscent of winged ants. Their size and insignificant black and brown colouring makes them hard to detect and identify as a “goodie”, so it may be more advantageous to keep an eye out for the, shall we say, results of their efforts.  On cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli and such crops, the caterpillars of white butterflies cause many chewing holes. Small, 2-3 mm parasitoids (Cotesia glomerata) lay a number of eggs inside the living caterpillars; these eggs hatch into hungry grubs that take very little time to completely clean out the fluids, meat and musculature inside the hapless larva.  When the grubs emerge from the dying host, they spin silken cocoons inside which they pupate. These creamy-white cocoons are a dead give-away for the presence of useful parasites in the cabbage patch.  Of course, the message is obvious: don’t spray insecticides, as you’ll certainly kill the small black wasps that come out of those white cocoons!  Parasitoids tend to be specialised in their job. There’s another species of small, black wasp (Pteromalus puparum) that likes to lay its eggs inside the chrysalis of the white butterfly. Evidence of this bodysnatching is the perfectly round emergence holes in the skin of an otherwise empty pupal case: the parasitoids will have left the cramped conditions inside that host already and are looking for more victims.  Sometimes parasitoids species aim for an even smaller abode: imagine completing your entire life cycle inside an aphid. Yet there are tiny parasitic wasps that do just that. The adult wasps may be the size of flying dust, but the clobbered aphid is very easy to spot.  Parasitised aphids are generally referred to as “mummies”: slightly bloated and discoloured with a parchment texture, they truly stand out from the crowd. Check out your roses, swan plants or any other aphid-infested plant for that matter.  Mummies means parasitism is lending a helping hand in your garden and insecticides would do more damage than good.  There are even parasitoids that develop inside the eggs of their host insects: A good example is the famous Trissolcus basalis wasp that hunts for the beautifully arranged egg clusters of our stinky green vegetable bug.  When she has found such an omelette of opportunity, the female Trissolcus will lay one egg in just about every green vegetable bug egg in the cluster.  She then wipes her abdomen over the finished job, to lay down a chemical scent or marker that will deter other Trissolcus females parasitising the same cluster of eggs, which makes sense: the space inside a green vegetable bug egg is just enough for the development of one parasitoids, not two.  This, indeed, is a small world!  To keep it ticking over in your garden:  -Don’t spray insecticides.  -Attract parasitoids by planting flowering plants with nectar for the adults.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/8/20235 minutes, 41 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Threads is getting set for its European debut

It's coming December 14th. Threads has been slowly launching features: it now has hashtags (and even emoji hashtags), a web app, polls, an edit button, the ability to view a 'for you' feed and most recent threads, and they're testing "trending hashtags" in Australia. Threads is reportedly struggling with some stats, indicating it's down 80% from its launch peak.  Threads almost wasn't called Threads. "Epigram" was a popular name internally at Meta. The project's codename was "Textagram".  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/8/20235 minutes, 5 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Beef fillet with mustard tarragon crème

A beef fillet is as impressive as it is easy to cook and serve for a crowd. Get your butcher to prepare the eye fillet, removing silver skin and tying with kitchen string at 5cm intervals. This is for even cooking and ease of slicing.  Serves 10-12    Ingredients  2-2.3kg beef eye fillet  2 tablespoons olive oil  2 teaspoons sea salt  4 tablespoons each fresh thyme and rosemary leaves  1 teaspoon chilli flakes  3 teaspoons cracked black pepper  1 whole garlic bulb, broken into cloves  500g vine tomatoes  1/3 cup store-bought    Mustard tarragon crème  ½ cup crème fraiche or sour cream  2 tablespoons hot mustard  Small handful fresh tarragon leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried  ¼ cup olive oil  ½ teaspoon sea salt    Method   1. Allow beef fillet to come to near-room temperature before cooking. Rub with oil then sprinkle liberally with salt. 2. Preheat oven to 200 C and place a large shallow roasting dish in to preheat. 3. Place fillet in the hot oven dish and sear on stove top until browned on all sides. Add garlic cloves and tomatoes to the dish before putting in the oven for 30 minutes. 4. Chop fresh herbs on a large chopping board and add chilli flakes and pepper. Remove beef fillet and use tongs to roll hot fillet in herbs and pepper before returning to the oven. Keep checking every 5 minutes for doneness - when cooked to medium-rare it ought to have tightened somewhat but still have some give in it when poked with your finger. Remove fillet, cover with foil then a folded tea towel and rest for 20 minutes before slicing. 5. Make the crème by whisking all ingredients together to a smooth sauce. 6. Serve beef drizzled with pan juices and with oven roasted tomatoes and garlic with mustard crème and pesto.   Nici’s Note: When cooking beef to perfection I use the rule of roasting for approx. 12 minutes per 500g for medium rare or 16 minutes for medium. Whole beef fillet can be cooked a day out and then warmed through in a 160 C oven for 20 minutes, before slicing.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/8/20237 minutes
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Kevin Milne: Lifelong Friendships

This week Kevin Milne has been celebrating loyal friendships.  His brother Brian was filled in a car crash when he was 23 years old, and Friday marked his 80th birthday.  Kevin was joined by friends of his brother who have never forgotten him or them.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/8/20236 minutes, 17 seconds
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Jack Tame: New experiences

New experiences make you feel young.  At least, that’s what I told myself as I slipped into a gown, folded my pants and shirt into a plastic container, and followed the technician through the big double doors.  It took me almost 37 years to get my first MRI. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but even though I’m pretty good with claustrophobia and that kind of thing, I still felt a little blush of nerves, the hesitation of the unknown, as the giant machine shifted me into position.  The technicians had advised me not to move. So of course, just as soon as the machine began scanning my insides, whirring and beeping around me, I developed an itch right on the tip of my nose.  I breathed through it as best I could and by the time, I was ready to be extracted, 40 minutes later, I swear I was almost about to doze off.  If new experiences make you feel young, my MRI results did not. Reasonably advanced arthritis. Various tears and bits of damage to body parts with long names. A bone spur steadily nibbling away at the already-reduced cartilage in my hip. Not the end of the World, but also not the kind of ailments that will ever improve. The pain I have been feeling in my left hip isn’t going away. When it comes to the sports I love to play, there are some tough decisions that lay ahead.  The next morning, I went to the optometrist. The news didn’t get much better. I swear I was reading every line on the chart, and he was saying, ‘Good.... good... good!”  But then after he’d trialled me with various exercises, the optometrist turned his chair towards me and explained it was time to consider reading glasses. Again, hardly the end of the World. But a first for me.  ‘Really?’ I asked. Surely, I thought, he’s just trying to swindle me for a fancy pair of designer specs.  “There’s been a decline since your last check.” He said.  “Not a massive decline, but a decline.”  He showed me again what it felt like with corrective lenses over my eyes. The letters on the chart were clearer.  I thanked him, limped out and squinted at the sales rack to try and work out if any of the glasses there would suit my face.  Yesterday morning, I woke up to a text on the family group chat. Overnight, my sister had had her baby. A boy. Her third. Fit and healthy and doing well. I had that primal response. A photo of a child, hours old, whom I’ve never met, and whom I already love so much.  It’s funny, one minute you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. And then you realise you don’t. The thing that makes this tolerable is knowing that at least someone else does. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/8/20234 minutes, 1 second
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Estelle Clifford: Drax Project - Upside

Kiwi R&B band Drax Project has finally released their second studio album 'Upside'. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20236 minutes, 29 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Good Material and The Edge

Good Material - Dolly Alberton   Andy's story wasn't meant to turn out this way. Living out of a suitcase in his best friends' spare room, waiting for his career as a stand-up comedian to finally take off, he struggles to process the life-ruining end of his relationship with the only woman he's ever truly loved.  As he tries to solve the seemingly unsolvable mystery of his broken relationship, he contends with career catastrophe, social media paranoia, a rapidly dwindling friendship group and the growing suspicion that, at 35, he really should have figured this all out by now.  Andy has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend's side of the story.    The Edge - David Baldacci  When CIA operative Jenny Sikwell is murdered in rural Maine, government officials have immediate concerns over national security. Her laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, endanger the lives of countless operatives. In need of someone who can solve the murder quickly and retrieve the missing information, the U.S. government knows just the chameleon they can call on.   Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine spent his time in the military preparing to take on any scenario, followed by his short-lived business career chasing shadows in the deepest halls of power, so his analytical mind makes him particularly well-suited for complex, high-stakes tasks. Taking down the world’s largest financial conspiracy proved his value, and in comparison, this case looks straightforward. Except small towns hold secrets and Devine finds himself an outsider again.   Devine must ingratiate himself with locals who have trusted each other their whole lives, and who distrust outsiders just as much. Dak, Jenny’s brother, who’s working to revitalize the town. Earl, the retired lobsterman who found Jenny’s body. And Alex, Jenny’s sister with a dark past of her own. As Devine gets to know the residents of Potter, Maine, answers seem to appear and then transform into more questions. There’s a long history of secrets and those who will stop at nothing to keep them from being exposed. Leaving Devine with no idea who he can trust... and who wants him dead.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20233 minutes, 20 seconds
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Ashleigh Hoeta on her journey to breaking the equipped powerlifting record

In 2020 Ashleigh Hoeta felt numbness in her leg, her face drooping and was rushed to hospital to find she’d suffered a stroke.  She had to teach herself how to walk again, move her legs and fingers, all while raising two children.   Not only that, in October this year, her father passed away after a long battle with emphysema. Now, Ashleigh has just become the first woman to bench 317.5kg in equipped powerlifting, breaking the world record. She’s one of the top women arm wrestlers and an ex international gymnast.  Ashleigh Hoeta joined Jack Tame to discuss her journey and breaking the world record. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/202315 minutes, 41 seconds
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Tara Ward: Scrublands, Artful Dodger, Slow Horses

Scrublands An Australian crime drama about a journalist investigating a murder in a small rural town (ThreeNow).    Artful Dodger This spinoff of the Oliver Twist story sees the Artful Dodger sent to 1850s Australia to carry on his dodgy behaviour (Disney+).    Slow Horses A new season of the delightful spy thriller that sees Gary Oldman play the boss of a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents (AppleTV+).   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20234 minutes, 56 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Napoleon and The Old Oak

Napoleon A look at the military commander's origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine.   The Old Oak A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise in the town when Syrian refugees are placed in the empty houses in the community.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20236 minutes, 52 seconds
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Mike Yardley: South Dakota's tourist trail

"Rising up from the western South Dakota plains, just over the Wyoming state line, the Black Hills region beckons like an emerald isle in a sea of prairie. These ponderosa-covered mountains, slashed by creek-carved canyons and softened by alpine meadows have a majesty all their own. But this picturesque pocket of South Dakota also serves up a head swirl of landmark sights and experiences, which makes this region a runaway highlight of any American West road-trip." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/202310 minutes, 45 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: Neurodiversity and ASD in the workplace

A few weeks ago we discussed ADHD in the workplace and how this is beginning to show up a lot in recent times. Following on from that, we are seeing a lot more people in the workplace with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). Together ASD, ADHD and Learning Disabilities are sometimes referred to as “neurodiversity”. ASD now the term used for what used to be call Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. A stereotype would be Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rainman but really important to note that the difficulties are experienced on a spectrum. We're now seeing more adults diagnosed in adulthood for much the same reasons as ADHD (i.e., missed during childhood, not enough services out there, have had a child diagnosed with ASD and now wondering about it for themselves). The main difficulties for people with ASD in the workplace are around social relationships, a strong need for routine and sameness, and sensory hypersensitivity (e.g., very sensitive hearing). There are other symptoms which include very strong “obsessional” interest in specific topics (e.g., being an expert on the French revolution) and some unusual behaviours (e.g., handflapping when distressed).  People with ASD report not having the natural understanding of how social relationships work. They might find it hard to keep eye contact and have difficulty balancing conversations (e.g., they talk too much about themselves and not ask anything of the other person or barely participate in a conversation, might take things very literally). Expressing their emotions might be difficult because of the difficulties in social interactions. Hypersensitivity might make working in certain environments very difficult.   What can be done to help? Recognition and understanding always hugely important for both the employee and employer. Work out together what can be done to the work environment to reduce stress. It may also, with permission of the individual, be useful to educate the wider team about ASD. Work out best ways of communicating with the person. It may also be useful to get a professional assessment to help guide employee and employers in what steps to take.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20236 minutes, 35 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Growing tomatoes

Growing tomatoes is one of the big hobbies of New Zealanders, especially males! It’s great to have a go at these fruit – there are many many varieties too and everybody has their favourite ones. But there are some problems that can occur, whether you’re raising them in an open garden bed, or in a tunnel house Tomato – (potato) thrips are a nuisance; they got here a few decades ago and will attack Solanaceous plants (potatoes, tomatoes, nightshades, poroporo, and such weeds) Tomato thrips adults and nymphs I used to get heaps of them when growing tomatoes in Auckland, but in CHC they seem to be prevalent only in autumn (takes longer to develop plague proportions); My best preventative action is to pull Solanum weeds out everywhere. It prevents them from settling on these hosts and survive during winter. When you have a hassle: spray the plants with oil (Conqueror Oil or Neem Oil) on a regular basis (every 10 days or so); aim for the newer leaves/growth on the tomato plants. Sprays with insecticides need to commence well before you see the first psyllids; it keeps their populations down too. I generally don’t grow potatoes (only the early season varieties of potatoes (before Xmas) Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes has always been translated as a deficiency of calcium. Apparently that is a myth in itself; it has more to do with the inability of the plant to transport calcium through the plant. Gibberellins appear to be playing an important role in that job and most NZ soils are not deficient in calcium; so: try some fertilisers with gibberellic acid (Seafood Soup/Seaweed Tea!) Often the first tomatoes of the season show some Blossom End Rot. With settling temps and regular fertilisation/watering these symptoms often disappear. Early Blight and Late Blight on stems and leaves can move pretty quickly through the plants. Here comes the watering again!!! Only water the soil (NOT the leaves); remove the lower leaves as soon as practicable, so they don’t drag on the moist soil and get infected. Underwatering also helps in this matter: keep the area drier; make sure the wind/air movement can dry the plants and stems quickly. If you have persistent hassles with blight: keep a regular fungicide treatment going Passionvine hoppers (Scolypopa australis) I call them fluffy bums – as their “nylon-filament tails” are prominent features (of course these tails are made from fine waxy material!) Photo / Supplied They suck sap from a wide variety of host plants, often climbers (Wisteria, Passionfruit vines) and Perennials (salvia, Hydrangeas, Camellia, you name it!!) Sap-sucking is their big impact on garden plants – sometimes they debilitate their host, pooping honeydew all over the place and that creates a deposit of sooty mould, like with some many sap-sucking insects in the garden Slowly they grow larger and larger shedding skins along their journey (moulting), until they reach adulthood in summer: Moth-like insects with delta-shaped wings, showing prominent vein-markings; they, too, suck plant sap These insects have the ability to jump quickly and far and the adult passionvine hoppers also flick and fly very smartly… avoiding the insecticides you may want to spray at them!! They are impossible to spray with insecticides. But the fluffy bums might still be reduced in numbers in spring, when they are still young: On a wind-still morning, grab an aerosol can with simple fly spray and create an insecticidal mist around those densely-packed groupings of young and impressionable fluffybums; they may try to “jump away from danger”, but won’t be able to succeed. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/1/20234 minutes, 45 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: The truth behind 'old wives tales'

Dr Bryan Betty joined Jack Tame to chat about the truth behind some 'old wives tales': Whether you’ll get a cold if you go outside with wet hair.  If you’ll get arthritis if you crack your knuckles.  Whether you should chew your food 30 times before swallowing.  If you’ll get square eyes watching too much television.  If eating Carrots will give you better eyesight.  Is the five second rule for dropped food accurate? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/1/20233 minutes, 5 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Google's deleting inactive accounts and Happy Birthday Chat GPT!

Google is starting to delete inactive accounts  Accounts which have been created but never used are first on the chopping block. They'll start being deleted today. Then accounts that haven't been active in more than two years. To keep an account active you'll need to log into it, and then it'd be best to complete an action like send an email, watch a YouTube video or add a contact.     Happy Birthday ChatGPT!  It was a year ago that ChatGPT burst onto the scene.  It moved AI from something that was magic in the background —like Spotify's weekly personalized playlists, or Netfix recommending what to watch next— to a product people could directly interact with and put generative capabilities into the hands of everyone. It's now used by 100 million people a week. Businesses now are looking at ways to integrate and use it in their workflows, and it's made the creation of chatbots easier by giving it source documents and fewer pre-defined steps.  According to Pitch Deck, more than $21 billion has been invested in generative AI startups so far this year.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/1/20233 minutes, 5 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Strawberry Shortcake

Rich, buttery, and simply gorgeous. The combo of strawberry, rhubarb and vanilla in this shortcake is so, so good.  Makes 1 x Swiss roll tin    Ingredients:  2 regular chips of strawberries, chipped and chopped  2 cups chopped rhubarb, cut into 2 cm lengths  2 tbsps. sugar  Zest of half a lemon  2 tablespoons vanilla extract  225g butter  1 cup sugar + 1 tbsp  2 large eggs  2 ½ cups flour  2 tsps. baking powder  Whipped cream to serve    Method:  1. Set the oven at 180 C. Line a Swiss roll tin with baking paper. 2. In a bowl toss strawberries and chopped rhubarb with first measure of sugar, lemon juice and vanilla and leave to sit while you make the shortcake dough. 3. Make the shortcake: Cream the butter and sugar (reserve the 1 tbsp sugar measure) until light and creamy, then beat in eggs. Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder, mix well and chill for 15 minutes. 4. You won't be able to roll this mixture (it’s too buttery) so with floured hands gently flatten half of the mixture into the lined tin. 5. Spread the fruit over the base then cover with the other half of the shortcake – you can crumble it over as it will spread as it cooks - and cook for 40-45 minutes hour until golden brown. 6. Sprinkle with extra 1 tbsp. sugar to serve. 7. Serve warm or cooled slices with whipped cream.   Make it yours:  - Use blueberries in place of rhubarb. - Add lemon zest or a decent pinch of cinnamon to the pastry. - Sprinkle top with chopped hazelnuts midway through baking.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/1/20236 minutes
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Kevin Milne: The good and the bad of Marriage

Kevin went to a function with his wife this past Wednesday. He may have been oblivious to the state of the shirt he was wearing, but his wife was not. The events that followed, in Kevin's words, perfectly illustrates some of the good and bad things about marriage. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/1/20235 minutes, 3 seconds
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Jack Tame: Crocs are back in fashion

Fashion.  It’s not a subject I can profess to knowing an awful lot about, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned about the ebbs and flows of what’s hot and what’s not, it’s that you can never rule anything out.  No matter how unfashionable something is, no matter how objectively horrible it looks, at some point it will be in.  It’s easy to forget, once upon a time codpieces were the height of sophistication and taste. It happened with sneans, sneakers and jeans. And even though it would seem very unusual by today’s standards to see a group of young men loping around with their pants halfway down their thighs and their underwear sticking out, low-riding was until recently very fashionable and sadly given the cyclical nature of fashion, it’ll probably be fashionable again.  This brings me to Crocs. I’m hardly the first person to notice the popularity of the plastic-y modern clog. But I’ve been struck by the way in which Crocs have crossed from being a sort of ironic haha-I’m-wearing-ugly-shoes option for middle aged people who wanted to wind up their teenagers, to a shoe which is actually cool, cool. Crocs have been worn by popstars and Hollywood heartthrobs. For several years now they’ve been the boot of choice for the likes of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and fashionistas at openings in fancy art galleries.  Nowhere is this more obvious than with kids. I was standing at the bottom of a large and slightly intimidating slide at a West Auckland playground last weekend, waiting for my stepson to come on down. And kid after kid after kid whipped off a pair of Crocs and threw the shoes to the bottom of the slide, least the rubbery soles stunt their momentum on the way down.  The way kids wear them, of course, is with Jibbitz. Jibbitz are little charms that you can attach to a pair of Crocs in much the same way as you might wear a charm on a charm bracelet. It’s a way for kids to further personalise their Crocs and distinguish their pair from everyone else’s. Fashions come and go but one thing that has never changed in the schoolyard: shoes are still the ultimate status symbol.  But of course, as is the danger with in-demand fashions, there are inevitably downsides to the popularity. At least one New Zealand school has introduced a complete Crocs ban. Several others are banning the Jibbitz charms as kids argue over them.  There’s always the risk you might push a trend too far and get caught out as the fashion tides change. Ugly is trendy, I get that. But I must confess to wondering how far the concept reaches after being confronted this week by an ad for a Croc accessory I’d never seen before.  Croc Nuts. The perfect solution for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life, this Christmas. For those who are familiar with Truck Nutz, it’s more or less the same concept. A pair of gleaming metallic testicles which you can clip to the back of your Crocs to swing around in the breeze as you go about your business.  Taste may be in the eye of the beholder. But let this serve as a reminder to all of us: in fashion, you can never rule anything out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/1/20234 minutes, 46 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Road-tripping Southern Montana

Southern Montana is the Wild West of dreams and the Hollywood big screen, sprawling over a rugged and serene landscape. After taking in the manifold treats of Wyoming, a dabble with Montana’s big-skies and rock-star good looks is an essential addition to an American West road-trip. Part rough-and-tumble Rocky Mountains and part expansive prairie, the state doesn’t boast any major cities – they are more like overgrown cow towns. Main Street Red Lodge: Credit Mike Yardley But if you’re in need of an urban fix, your best bet is Billings, the state’s most populous city – about the size of Hamilton. Nicknamed the Magic City, the moniker came about from Billings’ expansive growth in the golden age of railroads, steamboats and cattle barons. The city is a springboard for historical explorations and outdoorsy adventure. First impressions count and what captured my attention on arrival in Billings is how the city is dramatically cradled by magnificent sandstone cliffs known as the Rimrocks. Deposited by an ancient inland seaway and slowly carved over millions of years by the Yellowstone River, these scenic "rimrocks" backdrop the northern edge of town. Rim Rock by Kayak, Billings I struck out on the trails at Swords Park which offers enormous views from the rimrocks. Just keep an eye out for the rattlesnakes! Zimmerman Park and Phipps Park offer fabulous walking trails too, while if you’d rather take to the water to admire the rimrocks, hire a kayak for a dreamy float at sunset on the Yellowstone River. Immerse yourself in nature’s splendour! History also adorns Pompeys Pillar, a striking sandstone monolith just of town. It’s where William Clark carved his name into the stone in July 1806 before continuing his famous expedition west with Meriwether Lewis. If you’re up for a culture fix, there’s a good clutch of museums in Billings. I particularly enjoyed the Western Heritage Center, housed in the city’s old library, proudly preserving the stories and history of the Yellowstone River Valley and Northern High Plains. Don’t let the city’s brightly illuminated, flame-throwing oil refineries symbolise your sense of nightlife in Billings. Bar-hopping the craft breweries is where the city excels, come nightfall. Angry Hanks Brewing Clustered in the downtown district, hop-scotch your way from Angry Hanks and Thirsty Street Brewing Company to Uberbrew and Montana Brewing Company. Right next door on Montana Ave, Hooligan’s Sports Bar will top off your all-American night out on the town. Montana Ave, which has been transformed into a very hip strip of hospitality, parallels the railroad that gave the city life in the 19th century. For the kids and kids at heart, the only thing better than a binge at the Caramel Cookie Waffles bakery is to get your fill at the gourmet ice cream store, Big Dipper. In the blazing Montana sunshine, this place is like a refuge! I highly recommend a scoop of Banana Cream Pie and tangerine sorbet. A block away, The Burger Dive dishes up creations like I’m Your Huckleberry burgers, which have been honoured by the World Food Championships. Their garlic-drenched fries will linger long in your memories – if not on your breath. Caramel Cookie Waffles, Billings But it’s that angus burger topped with smooth goat cheese, bacon, a fresh cut onion ring and huckleberry and chili barbeque sauce, that really hit the spot. Few tastes carry such revered status as the huckleberry does in the American West. They grow wild across Montana, resembling large dark blueberries and Native Americans still use them as a traditional medicine – packed with antioxidants. They certainly taste great in a burger! Where to stay? In the heart of town, the Northern Hotel is the grand dame, first built in 1940, but extensively refreshed a decade ago. You’ll enjoy swish accommodations with all of the creature comforts, plus the on-site dining is superb. Enjoy a classic but upscale breakfast at Bernie’s Diner. To the west of Billings, Red Lodge is a small-town gem that will charm your pants off, edging the Yellowstone River. This sweet little town is nestled in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains and lassoed by Custer National Forest. The main street, flanked by evocative old stone buildings, brims with enticements, from western-wear stores and antique shops to art galleries and great hospo options. You’ll love the gift store, Montana CC Legends, which is loaded with trinkets, treasures and impressive local art. Sweet-tooths must not miss one of the best confectionary stores I have seen in a long time – Montana Candy Emporium. Think the Remarkables Sweet Shop on a gigantic scale. This Red Lodge institution has been a mainstay for decades, housed in a nostalgic building, overspilling with nostalgic candy. Montana Candy Emporium. Credit Mike Yardley The handmade chocolate treats at the counter are sinfully good, but being in Montana, it would be rude not to stock up on huckleberry candy. I loaded up on gob fills of huckleberry sour balls for road-trip sustenance. Relax in the garden at Red Lodge Ales, share a massive margarita and pizza with at Bogart’s, grab a burger at Red Box Car or wind down with a steak and whiskey cocktail at The Pollard Hotel. Red Lodge is the quintessential place where you’ll just want to kick-back, to shop, nosh and linger. Just out of town, treat yourself to an exhilarating drive on the Beartooth Highway, a 64-mile stretch of U.S. 212 from Red Lodge to Cooke City. Dubbed the most beautiful roadway in America, this jaw-dropping drive climbs to an astounding 11,000 feet above sea level. That’s nearly as high as the summit of Aoraki/Mt. Cook. Completed nearly 90 years ago, its stature as a bucket-list drive has not dimmed – and it certainly lives up to its hype as the ultimate high-country route. Heading out of Red Lodge, I felt transported to Heidi’s Switzerland, with lodgepole pine forests and lush meadows rolling down to meet the road. Before long, the ascent became stark and dramatic, thrusting you up higher and higher into the grip of the Beartooth Mountains. The sprawling range features 20 peaks higher than Aoraki. Mile upon mile of switchbacks serves up epic views across the sweeping snow-clad tundra and bejewelled glacial tarns of the Hellroaring and Silver Run plateaus. You end being higher on that highway, than the snow line on the plateaus, across the valley. At Vista Point, the plummeting views staring down into the jaws of the Rock Creek canyon is another highlight. Just pass the highway summit, the “Bear’s Tooth” comes into view – a narrow pyramidal spire of rock, carved by glaciation, that became the namesake of the Beartooth Mountains. It’s a cranking drive, if not a little vertigo-inducing! (Beartooth Highway is only open from about May to mid-October, depending on snow. They’ve had some late, unseasonal snow dumps in June and even July, in recent years, so check ahead that the road is open.) Beartooth Highway To the left of Billings, the plains of eastern Montana stretch out like a pancake, offering a more subtle beauty than the gnarly mountains to the west. A land of rolling hills, dusty bluffs and badlands, and the occasional rock-walled canyon, this is classic cattle and wheat country. Temperatures can be extreme; hot in the summer under a blazing sun, and brutally cold in the winter. Just over an hour southeast of Billings, I drove to Little Bighorn Valley. A sequence of low-slung hills rises above the valley - it is sacred ground because it’s where the Battle of the Little Bighorn took place in 1876, between the US Army and Great Plains Indians. As many as 2,000 Lakota and Cheyenne warriors encircled and routed the US Army, in ferocious defence of their ancestral way of life. Perhaps there is no phrase in the English language that serves as a better metaphor for an untimely demise than "Custer's Last Stand." It was on the Little Bighorn battlefield, 800 acres of dry sloping prairies, that George Armstrong Custer and the soldiers of the 7th US Cavalry Regiment met their end. The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument chronicles the history of this world-famous engagement, offering a coherent look at how the battle developed, where the members of Custer's contingent died on Last Stand Hill, and how it might have looked to the swarming warriors. It’s very easy to traverse the 7km-long battlefield, driving along the ridgelines, to all of key sites. Last Stand Hill at little Big Horn: Credit: Mike Yardley The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Plains Indians, who were led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall and had been inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull. They may have won the battle, but ultimately lost the war. Custer's death galvanised the military. In subsequent months, they tracked down Sioux and Cheyenne warriors and forced them onto reservations in North and South Dakota, ending their independent, nomadic way of life. Within a few short years they were all confined to reservations. Custer's remains were eventually reburied at the US Military Academy at West Point in 1877. Below the battlefield, the adjacent National Cemetery was established in 1879, and it incorporates a self-guided tour to some of the more significant figures buried there. It’s an indelible encounter with the American story. www.greatamericanwest.co.nz Mike Yardley is our resident traveller on Jack Tame Saturday Mornings.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/202310 minutes, 29 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Troy Sivan 'Something To Give Each other' Review

Estelle Clifford joins Jack Tame to talk about Troy Sivan's new album 'Something to give each other'   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20235 minutes, 16 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Reluctant Beatle and Lawrence of Arabia

The Reluctant Beatle "Biography Of George Exploring the Fascinating Life Of The Reluctant Beatle." Step into the world of George Harrison, the quiet and introspective Beatle whose story has long been overshadowed by the charismatic presence of his bandmates.   Lawrence of Arabia by Ranulph Fiennes   The authoritative and illuminating biography of T. E. Lawrence - the man who inspired the iconic film Lawrence of Arabia - from "The World's Greatest Living Explorer" Ranulph Fiennes.Thomas EdwardSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20235 minutes
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Kate Hall: Sustainable Christmas Wrapping

- Most wrapping paper is not recyclable, especially when it's in little pieces.   - What to use instead: reusable wrapping paper, sheets, pillows, glass jars, containers, wrapping paper that you've saved throughout the year. Get crafty or find things from around the house plus second hand shops.   - How to avoid it altogether: gift non-physical things. e.g. acts of service (my husband and I cleaned my parents house!), quality time (dinner voucher), or scrap gifts altogether and focus on the day together.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20238 minutes, 30 seconds
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Bob Cambell: Dashwood 2023 Rosé, Marlborough

Why I chose it:  - How can they do it at this price? I guess the answer is “volume” but this wine is technically very good indeed.  - Rose has become a popular choice in recent years  - 2023 was a good Marlborough vintage  What does it taste like?  - Moderately deep-hued rose (A lot of people prefer paler Rosé but they should remember “the deeper the colour the richer the flavour” in an off-dry style with crushed raspberry and candy floss flavours. Quite intense with a refreshing cut of bright acidity and a lingering finish. A real crowd-pleaser.  Why it’s a bargain:  - It’s very price-friendly  - I gave it a good score at a blind tasting. If I’d had to guess a price it would have been over $20  Where can you buy it?  - Countdown $13 (check the vintage), Blackmarket.co.nz case of six bottles $77.94 (equ. $12.99 + Frt)  Food match?  - I like “pink foods” such as prawns, crayfish or scampi    LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20234 minutes, 6 seconds
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Tara Ward: Faraway Downs, Time and Squid Game: The Challenge

Faraway Downs: Baz Luhrmann takes his 2008 film Australia starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman and reworks it into a six-part TV series, adding new footage and music (Disney+)    Time: A British drama starring Jodie Whittaker and Bella Ramsey about three women who arrive at Carlingford prison on the same day (Neon)  Squid Game: The Challenge:  Inspired by the hit Netflix series, this sees real-life contestants compete in a series of high-stakes children’s games in pursuit of a $4.56 million dollar cash prize (Netflix)    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20236 minutes, 3 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Salmon with quick pickled asparagus

Plate up individual servings of this simple, elegant dish as a starter or set out a platter for people to help themselves.  Serves 4-6  4 thick spears asparagus  1 small carrot, peeled  1 small zucchini  1 tsp sea salt  1 cup white wine vinegar  1/3 cup caster sugar  ½ tsp mustard seeds  3cm piece lemon rind  ½ cup thick Greek yoghurt or crème fraiche  200g-250g smoked salmon – I used hot smoked but cold smoked salmon will work just as well or smoke your own!  4 tablespoons good quality olive oil  Ground black pepper  Sprigs fresh dill  Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard. Use a vegetable peeler to shave very thin strips of the asparagus stem and use a knife to cut the tips into thin slices. Cut the carrot and zucchini into very thin matchsticks. Toss together in a bowl with salt. Heat vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds and lemon rind and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Pour this over the vegetables and gently toss them in the pickling liquid. Cover and set aside until required. Note that you could do this stage up to a few days before the big day, tossing them every now and again. To serve; spoon 1-2 tablespoons of yoghurt or crème fraiche onto each plate (or all of it on the platter) and spread it with the back of a spoon. Top with salmon, dividing it evenly between the plates. Add a decent spoonful of the pickled vegetables to each plate. Just before serving drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with pepper and add springs of fresh dill.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20235 minutes, 51 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Saltburn and The Velveteen Rabbit

Francesca Rudkin reviews Saltburn and new remake of the Velveteen Rabbit on this mornings program with Jack Tame   SALTBURN A student is invited to an eccentric classmate's estate for an exciting summer.   THE VELVETEEN RABBIT When 7-year-old William receives a new favourite toy for Christmas, he discovers a lifelong friend and unlocks a world of magic.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Why Can't Winston Be More Civil?

Why Can’t Winston Be More Civil?  Kevin Milne Joined Jack Tame to talk about the ludicrously of media scrums. Especially when it comes to trying to get anything out of Winston Peters...  “If Winston Doesn’t want to talk, why don’t journalists just pack up and go back to the office?”    LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20237 minutes, 45 seconds
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Jack Tame: It's A Done Deal

We can dispute when the counter should have started – election night or the official results – but I suspect the waiting game will soon be forgotten as the new government is sworn in and the house sits in urgency.  At first blush, I actually think the biggest winner of the three parties is National. Perhaps you’d expect nothing less from the highest-polling party, but there’s no doubt Christopher Luxon and his team were negotiating with a couple of wily, smart operators. And at the conclusion of negotiations, almost all of National’s policies remain on the table. They haven’t had to sacrifice their babies.  Sure, there’s the foreign buyers’ tax. But given the scrutiny over the projected revenue numbers during the election campaign, I’d suggest National was none too bothered to have that policy tossed upon the bonfire. They can blame Winston Peters. Give him the win. And yes, it means a gap in revenue that will need filling, but something tells me National would much prefer that than monthly updates on how much the foreign buyer tax revenue was falling short of projections.  There are some significant visable wins for NZ First: The $1.2B infrastructure fund – ka ching - the various gender and Māori language provisions, and a Covid inquiry. I think Winston Peters is a really good choice for Foreign Minister and Shane Jones is exactly where he wants to be with fisheries and regional development. NZ First will be really pleased.  I think we’ll have to wait before we can properly assess the scale of ACT’s wins. There will be no Treaty referendum, and if it so chooses, it’ll be easy enough for the National Party to drops its support of a treaty principles bill straight after select committee. It’ll be interesting to see whether scrapping the Māori Health Authority, co-governance provisions, and changing various Māori names might take some of the heat out of that issue for the time being.  Compared to NZ First, ACT has certainly taken on less-flashy ministerial positions. And again, we probably won’t be able to assess the true impact of the deal until we see how much regulation David Seymour can cut as the new minister, or how much Brooke van Velden can shake up workplace relations, or exactly what the new Arms Act will look like. In ACT’s coalition deal, it struck me that in many areas there are less concrete commitments, but that perhaps those commitments cover broader areas. The words explore, examine, and consider are sprinkled throughout the document. Listen to this, for example:  In consultation with the relevant Minister, carry out regulation sector reviews, which could include the primary industries, the finance sector, early childhood education, and healthcare occupational licensing, in each case producing an omnibus bill for regulatory reform of laws affecting the sector. Maybe I’m being a bit of a bush lawyer here, but that theoretically has the potential to be enormously consequential. It also has the potential to change basically nothing. They haven’t even agreed with certainty what sectors will be reviewed.  From Christopher Luxon’s perspective, I thought the Deputy Prime Minister split was a pretty elegant solution. But the real test of a coalition is not the detail in the deal, but the behaviour of the parties and the management of relationships when inevitably they disagree. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/24/20235 minutes, 41 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Three Great Wild West Towns in the USA

"After feasting on nature’s splendour in Yellowstone National Park, I was itching for a dabble with the Old West’s frontier spirit." "Cody proudly touts itself as the “Rodeo Capital of the World,” and its colourful downtown brims with cowboy apparel stores, cheap and cheerful steakhouses and effervescent, boot-tapping saloons. I adored Cody and it’s infectious, welcoming ambience." "Located at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains on the Bozeman Trail, cute little Buffalo exudes charm in spades, proudly home to one of the most acclaimed Old West hotels." "Sixty years ago, Deadwood became the only city in the United States to be named a National Historic Landmark." Check out Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/202313 minutes, 50 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and The Killer (1)

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow remains the last hope for his fading lineage. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow becomes alarmed when he's assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, they race against time to ultimately reveal who's a songbird and who's a snake.   The Killer  Solitary, cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, a killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. Yet, the longer he waits, the more he thinks he's losing his mind, if not his cool.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20237 minutes, 49 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and The Killer

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow remains the last hope for his fading lineage. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow becomes alarmed when he's assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, they race against time to ultimately reveal who's a songbird and who's a snake.   The Killer  Solitary, cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, a killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. Yet, the longer he waits, the more he thinks he's losing his mind, if not his cool.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20237 minutes, 49 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Dolly Parton - Rockstar

Country icon Dolly Parton has matched her Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction with the release of her new rock album Rockstar. The 30 track album features both covers of iconic rock songs and a few original compositions, each track featuring an accompaniment from a star studded list. Rockstar is Parton's 49th studio album, and the only one of it's genre that she ever plans to do. "It's thirty songs! Why would I ever need to do another?" LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20237 minutes, 14 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Year of the Locust and The Drowning

The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes   If, like Kane, you're a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again - by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide - and when to shoot. But some places don't play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane's experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a place - a place where violence is the only way to survive. Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West - but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart...   The Drowning by Bryan Brown   The body of a local teenage boy is found on the beach of a sleepy northern New South Wales town. David went for an evening swim and got into trouble . . . at least, that's what it looks like. Three weeks before, Leila, a young backpacker, didn't turn up for her shift at the local cafe. Benny, the owner, isn't worried. It happens - backpackers are always on the move. There'll be another one. One of the locals, Adrian, has been a help to Benny. He's found him a nice little sideline. Not exactly legal. Is that all Adrian is arranging on the coast? He once was a cop but has he gone bad? And in the backblocks outside town, a bikie gang is gearing up for a large consignment from South America. Murder, drugs, liaisons and lies are stirring up this small coastal town.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/20233 minutes, 48 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Barriers men face when it comes to mental health and the ways around them

In the middle of Movember, Dr Dougal Sutherland is joining Jack Tame to chat about the barriers men face to talking about their mental health and a few ways to get around these barriers.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/20237 minutes, 9 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Parallels between running a marathon and achieving financial goals

Hannah McQueen has just returned to New Zealand after running the New York Marathon. While preparing for this event, she identified a few parallels between what it takes to run a marathon and achieving one’s financial goals.    The notes:  - Have a goal.  - Understand your own limitations - not everyone’s a runner and not everyone is naturally inclined to make the best financial decisions (even if they know what they are).    So:  - Get someone who’s got experience/expertise to help you build a plan to achieve that goal.  - This means the plan is tailored to you.  - This means there’s an expert on hand in the event you experience a setback and the plan needs to flex or adapt to a new situation.  - There’s someone to be accountable to (some of us aren’t very good at being accountable to ourselves).    And if you are working with a professional:  - Trust the process - others may have a different plan to you, so don’t compare yourself to others.  - If you feel like you’re not ‘doing enough’ or progress has stalled, trust that your plan has been designed with you and your goals in mind and probably has a few contingencies if things don’t go to plan. You may not see the progress you’re making —or see how it’s helping you get to your end goal— but that doesn’t mean that you’re not 100% on track.  - It will be uncomfortable, especially at first. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/20236 minutes, 4 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Starlink's new competition from Amazon and Microsoft becoming an app on Apple devices

Elon's Starlink has competition from Amazon They're using the rockets from founder Jeff Bezos' other company Blue Origin (along with others) to launch over 3,000 LEO (low earth orbit) satellites, aiming to bring internet to every corner of the earth. They'll be between 590 and 630 kilometres above earth. Amazon's project has successfully launched its first two prototype rockets a month ago, and this week announced they're fully operational and passed all their tests with flying colours. They were able to stream 4K video and do two-way video calls over the network. These satellites have a custom electric propulsion system designed and built in-house by Amazon. They say it's a way to safely maneuverer the satellites in space in an eco-friendly way. They expect to start service by the end of next year, and have half of their constellation operational by July 2026. There are 1000 people working on the project.   Windows is now an app for iPhones, iPads, Macs What a bizarre sentence that is. Microsoft wants you to use Windows on whatever device you have! The Windows app allows business users to connect to virtual PCs, running Windows in the cloud -- combining an array of services already in market (Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, and Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services). They have plans to offer the same service to consumers too.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/20233 minutes, 41 seconds
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Guy Montgomery: Stand-up comedian on comedy and his 2024 tour "50,000,000 Guy Fans Can’t Be Wrong"

The Award-winning Guy Montgomery knows what it takes to be a successful and iconic kiwi comedian in a challenging, small, and competitive industry.   Starting out as a young teenager, trialing jokes and learning to work a room, Guy has grown into a fantastic multi-tasking stand-up comedian, podcaster, and improviser.   He’s making his way round the country with his brand new 2024 standup tour ‘50,000,000 Guy Fans Can’t Be Wrong.’   Montgomery told Jack Tame that the title is based on Elvis’ second greatest hits compilation ‘50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong.’   “I’ve always loved X number of anyone can’t be wrong.” He told Tame.  “I think it’s so misinformed, I like the brazen arrogance of it.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/202316 minutes, 41 seconds
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Nici Wickes: A Winning Christmas Cake

It’s that time of year when we can no longer deny that Christmas will be happening in about 6 weeks! Get at least this fun job ticked off - making the Christmas cake. This recipe makes a neat little cake, perfect for smaller households or as a gift. Makes one small cake (15cmx15cm)   Ingredients: 650g mixed fruit – I used currants, sultanas, raisins, dried apricots 1 tbsp honey 1 grated apple ¼ cup brandy ¾ cup loosely packed brown sugar 1 scant tsp baking powder 1 ¼ cups of flour 150g butter, melted 3 small eggs, beaten Blanched almonds for top (optional)   Method:  1. In a large mixing bowl put the first 4 ingredients (fruit, honey, apple, brandy) and leave overnight. 2. Preheat the oven to 150 C. Prepare a 15x15cm tin with 2 layers of newspaper followed by another 2 layers of baking paper, sides and bottom. 3. Mix the brown sugar into the fruit mix and mix thoroughly. Add the flour and baking powder and give it another good mix. Now add the melted butter and finally the beaten eggs. Make sure all is mixed well - strong arms are needed! 4. Tip this all into your prepared tin and decorate with the almonds – any shape you like but if it’s a gift I'm inclined to shape them into a heart. 5. Place cake tin on a magazine in the middle rack of the oven and bake until a skewer comes out clean - about 1 ¾ - 2 hours. Leave to cool. 6. Wrap cake well in foil and store in a cool place in an airtight container until needed.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/20235 minutes, 51 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Should the Bird of the Year competition be geo-restricted?

The winner of this year's Bird of the Century competition comes as no surprise.   Backed by an international campaign run by British-American comedian John Oliver, the pūteketeke swept the competition with a total of 290,374 votes, decimating its closest competition by over 270,000 votes.  With the intense international involvement weighting the competition, Kevin Milne is wondering whether the Bird of the Year should be geo-restricted for following years.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/20235 minutes, 58 seconds
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Jack Tame: The Christmas Cake Curse

I love Christmas cake.  Not any Christmas cake. Not every Christmas cake. But my mum’s Christmas cake, for whatever reason, gives me so much joy.  It’s not that her cakes are crazy-fancy or anything. She uses store-bought mixed fruit. They’re not iced and there’s no surprising secret ingredient, but for whatever reason Mum has mastered the perfect Christmas fruit cake. They’re moist. They’re dense. They’re heavy. They’re a highlight of a Tame family Christmas.  Perhaps it all just comes down to practice. She used to make ten or twelve every year and give them as gifts. But the moment I get home every summer, Mum has a couple of cakes waiting on the bench, and I carve off big hunks to eat while standing in the kitchen. Sometimes Dad eats it with blue cheese.  But however well Christmas fruit cakes hit my taste buds, they also hit my stomach. Is it a PH thing? I dunno. Maybe the mixed fruit starts to ferment or sour in my gut? It doesn’t happen to anyone else. Not another soul. All I know is there is a direct correlation between my eating mum’s fruit cake and no one wanting to be within a twenty metre radius.  “Oh GOD! What IS that?! Is something dead?”  “Get the children! Ahh!”  “Burn our clothes! Burn our clothes!”  I don’t know exactly what happens, but somewhere deep inside me there is a chemical reaction of sorts. I’m the first to admit... it’s just awful. Putrid. The smell will curl your ears. The moment a bit of cake hits my stomach it’s like that scene from Titanic.  “Are there any survivors?”  Call it the Christmas Cake Curse.  My mum flogs herself with Christmas baking. Mince pies, shortbread, mars bar slice, Russian fudge. It’s too much! We can’t fit all the baking in the cupboards. We’ve had to establish a Tame family Christmas baking spillover zone. And yet for all the abundance, all of that choice, my favourite Christmas treat just happens to be the one that’ll end up peeling the paint off the walls.  Baking is an act of love. Baking, when you know how it affects your son, is an even greater act of love.  But the greatest act of love this summer will be my noble decision to take a piece of fruit cake and politely excuse myself, outside. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/17/20233 minutes, 37 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Michael Franti - Big Big Love

Michael Franti’s new album with Spearhead was released last week.  ‘Big Big Love’ is a seventeen-song album to accompany you through the “highs and lows of life”, as Franti puts it.  In the post announcing its release Franti said the central theme of the album was “togetherness.”  “Togetherness is the central theme in all the songs on this record. How do we get that feeling of togetherness, that feeling of closeness, that we so often overlooked and took for granted, but now has become so important? Not only just in terms of how we interact with each other in our neighborhoods or our personal relationships, but on a worldwide scale. How do we bridge these gaps so that people can feel close to one another again?  There are forces in the world that use our division to achieve their greedy goals, their political aims, or just to divide people because they want to try to take advantage of it. I want to really use my music and my time in my life to bring closeness to people and help them feel like they’re not alone in this world.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/20237 minutes, 5 seconds
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Arthur Brooks: How to live a Happy Life

Happiness is what arguably motivates you to do just about anything,   Arthur Brooks is a Harvard University lecturer American author and public speaker, and he’s just about cracked the code when it comes to living a happy life.   He just about lives and breathes the subject, Arthur’s written in the Atlantic's ‘How to Build a Life’ column, hosted the podcast ‘How to Build a Happy Life’, and now he’s teaming up with Oprah Winfrey to co-write a book.   Arthur Brooks joined Jack Tame to chat about his work.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/202313 minutes, 6 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The Hoity-toity Hall of Fame

Kevin Milne has opinions on culture.  The Hoity-toity Hall of Fame is what Kevin calls the things people are expected to like but simply couldn’t care less about, such as the art of “influential” Kiwi artist Francis Hodgkins.  He’s also wondering if he’s the only one feeling awkward because he's never read a Katherine Mansfield book.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/20238 minutes, 20 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Marvels and Nyad

The Marvels    Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. However, unintended consequences see her shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with two other superheroes to form the Marvels.     Nyad   Sixty-four-year-old marathon swimmer Diana Nyad attempts to become the first person ever to swim from Cuba to Florida.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/20239 minutes, 28 seconds
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Tara Ward: Robbie Williams, The Buccaneers, and 007: Road to a Million

Robbie Williams A four-part documentary series featuring 30 years of never-before-seen archive footage about the British singer’s controversial rise to fame (Netflix).   The Buccaneers This new historical drama set in the 1870s follows a group of wealthy American women as they travel to London for the debutante season (Apple TV+).   007: Road to a Million Succession’s Brian Cox stars as The Controller in this fun British adventure series that sees contestants compete in a series of Bond-inspired challenges around the world to win one million pounds (Prime Video).   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/20234 minutes, 40 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Frozen River and Resurrection Walk

The Frozen River - Ariel Lawhon  Maine, 1789: The Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice. Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As the local midwife and healer, Martha is good at keeping secrets. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, every murder and debacle that unfolds in the town of Hallowell. In that diary she also documented the details of an alleged rape that occurred four months earlier. Now, one of the men accused of that heinous attack has been found dead in the ice.  While Martha is certain she knows what happened the night of the assault, she suspects that the two crimes are linked, and that there is more to both cases than meets the eye. Over the course of one long, hard winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha’s diary lands at the centre of the scandal and threatens to tear both her family and her community apart.    Resurrection Walk - Michael Connelly  Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller enlists the help of his half-brother, Harry Bosch, to prove the innocence of a woman convicted of killing her ex-husband.  Defence attorney Mickey Haller is back, taking the long shot cases, where the chances of winning are one in a million. After getting a wrongfully convicted man out of prison, he is inundated with pleas from incarcerated people claiming innocence. He enlists his half-brother, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, to weed through the letters, knowing most claims will be false.   Bosch pulls a needle from the haystack: a woman in prison for killing her ex-husband, a sheriff’s deputy, but who still maintains her innocence. Bosch reviews the case and sees elements that don’t add up, and a sheriff’s department intent on bringing quick justice in the killing of one of its own.   Now Haller has an uphill battle in court, a David fighting Goliaths to vindicate his client. The path for both lawyer and investigator is fraught with danger from those who don’t want the case reopened and will stop at nothing to keep the Haller-Bosch dream team from finding the truth.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/20235 minutes, 47 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Wild-eyed in Yellowstone National Park

"Over 150 years old, it was an act of incredibly bold foresight to preserve Yellowstone all those years ago, when Americans were so busy “conquering” the West. A fusion of land and water, forest and field, wildlife and geothermal wizardry, it’s a large unspoiled canvas of the American West. Anchored by a huge supervolcano, that last erupted 600,000 years ago, there is no place quite like Yellowstone National Park. Like a colossal kettle on the boil, this wild land of fire and brimstone froths, bubbles and belches at every turn. The supervolcano feeds the world’s largest group of hydrothermal features, from hot springs and geysers to fumaroles and mudpots. It’s like Rotorua writ large." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/20238 minutes, 21 seconds
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Kate Hall: Sustainable sunblock

Summer's almost upon us which means it's time to break out the sunblock. There are a lot of options out there, but what one is best for you and the environment? Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall joined Jack Tame to give a few suggestions and tips on how to pick the best choice. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/10/20238 minutes, 6 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Birds' nests on your property

It’s breeding time for birds!  As a bird nut (and a registered bird bander) I have a nest box for little owls. Further down in the Quarry, my Bird mate Peter and I are looking after other owl boxes and monitoring their success. So far one female on four white eggs.  Photo / Supplied These introduced little owls came from Europe and are well established in the South Island, especially around Christchurch. I love hearing them call at night – it’s so special!  And although you may not realise it: there are likely some other bird species making nests and breeding in dense bushes in your garden  I have noticed so far: 2 blackbird nests, 2 Song thrushes. I’m still looking for a Dunnock nest (hedge sparrows)... Tricky!! And, at neighbours, a swallow nest as well.  Nests under cover. Made from clay, filled with feathers… and underneath an enormous heap of poo – yes it can be seriously messy.  When the chicks are big enough, I’ll band them with some “bling”.  I also suspect a sneaky bellbird (which has become very, very quiet all of a sudden) but haven’t found its nest yet.  Silvereyes will always be at my place (I feed them in winter, so they are used to my garden; the juveniles are real little punks).  Silvereye nestlings. Photo / Supplied Code of Conduct around nests:  If you do stumble across a nest in some shrubbery (while pruning, for instance), have a quick look to see if there are any eggs or young birds in it (It could be an old nest from last year!); if so: back out and conceal the nest as much as possible. Put branches back in their position asap; that gives them privacy from preying eyes of predators (including harriers!).  Most bird species can cope with a bit of disturbance – depends on how far in the brood-cycle they are. Usually when they have young in the nest, parents will keep on feeding them; eggs are a “rather new” investment for the parent birds, and they may sometimes pull the plug on that nest.  Blackbirds (and thrushes) are often quite touchy: I noticed that as soon as the nest has been “discovered” and their privacy is breached, the young will fledge far too early and before they can actually fly away from cats and dogs!  This puts them in a much more vulnerable situation.  During the breeding season (which can go on till late summer for some species! Multiple broods for parent birds if the season is “good”) the young birds sometimes do silly things, like fly clumsily into your windows.  If you find those stunned mullets on the ground, carefully pick them up and put them in a dark card-board box for an hour or so. Out of the light and no interaction; No Feeding; nor Watering, no Handling. Keep them quiet for a while and you’ll be surprised how they recover from such a knock!  If your patient is a rare/endangered bird, please contact a local vet and organise some professional hospital care!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/10/20233 minutes, 30 seconds
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Bryan Betty: How to deal with Long Haul flights

What issues can arise on a long haul flight?  The main complaints tend to be irritating more than anything  Becoming dehydrated – can lead to headaches, dry mouth, dry nose  Not being able to sleep, ankle swelling  Cramped conditions, especially in economy class seats!  More serious: deep vein thrombosis – leg clots due to not moving around.     How do we improve comfort?  Really important to stay hydrated - plenty of fluid.  Wear loose fitting clothes – you want to be comfortable.  Carry lip balm or nasal spray to moisten nasal passages if dry - for comfort.  Don’t drink alcohol or overdrink alcohol – it can worsen dehydration, headache and interfere with sleep.     Are there issues with food and taste?  At 30,000 feet your taste buds don’t’ work as well and food tastes ‘bland’.  Also, your nose can dry out which affects taste.  Airlines tend to produce stronger flavoured food such as curries to compensate.  Up to 30% more sugar and salt in food to add to taste.  Don’t overeat as we tend to bloat as gas forms in abdomen, which can cause abdominal discomfort.      And sleep?  Carry eye shade and ear plugs, and a neck pillow is a really good idea.  Best thing to do is work out the sleep time at your destination before you go and try and sleep at that time on the flight.  Some use melatonin, a ‘sleep hormone’     How do we avoid blood clots?  Two key things – stay hydrated and get up and move around every 3-4 hours to get blood circulating.  Failing that wiggle toes and bend knees in your seat frequently.  Some choose to wear compression of flight stockings which encourage blood to circulate.  They also reduce ankle swelling!  If you have persistent leg swelling, chest pain or SOB in weeks after a long-haul flight – see your GP!    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/10/20235 minutes
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Paul Stenhouse: Could your mobile phone be a thing of the past? Company launches Humane AI Pin

Could your mobile phone be a thing of the past? A new company has launched a product to let you go hands-free.  It's the Humane AI Pin, a voice and gesture activated wearable that can do many of the things your phone can do: send messages, read emails, make calls, get directions, play music, take photos and video, translate to other languages, and more.   It's not always on, it's not listening for a wake word - it's got trust and privacy built in from the beginning. It has a light on the device so others know when it's activated. But it's powered by AI and even in its demo, it got facts wrong. If you can't see a screen or make direct inputs then you need to trust that you're getting and sending what you think you are.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/10/20235 minutes, 19 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Asparagus & Blue Cheese Tart

To celebrate the abundance of asparagus available right now, make this simple tasty tart.  Serve 4-6    Ingredients:  2 bunches (or about 20) medium thickness asparagus spears  1 sheet puff pastry  1 egg, beaten with a fork  150g sour cream or crème fraiche  100g blue cheese, crumbled  2 tablespoons caramelised onion chutney (store-bought is fine)  ½ teaspoon sea salt + decent grind black pepper  Drizzle of olive oil    Method:  Heat oven to 200 C. Trim or snap the tough ends off the asparagus spears. Line a tray with the pastry, twisting and pinching up the edges to form a rim if you need to. Brush the edges with the beaten egg. Whisk together the remaining egg with sour cream (or crème fraiche), ¾ of the blue cheese and onion. Spread this over the pastry. Lay the trimmed asparagus on top, season with salt and pepper and drizzle over olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and cooked on the base too. To serve, grind over some more pepper and crumble over remaining blue cheese.   Make it yours:  You could add chopped, crispy bacon or flakes of smoked salmon to this tart if you fancy it!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/10/20233 minutes, 58 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: 1989 (Taylor's version)

Taylor Swift has re-recorded her 2014 album "1989".The superstar has been re-recording her back catalogue so she can own the rights to her own music rather than her record label. Swift owning her own version would allow her to control what happens to her music and how it is streamed and bought.Music reviewer Estelle Clifford talked to Jack Tame about the album and the story behind the new album.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20235 minutes, 30 seconds
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Books: The Secret, and The Woman in Me

The Secret – Lee Child and Andrew Child   Jack Reacher has returned in yet another novel from Lee and Andrew Child.  ‘The Secret’ is the 28th book in the series and was released only a few months before the second season of the TV show is set to be released in December.  The Woman in Me - Britney Spears  Britney Spears’ hotly anticipated memoir The Woman In Me has finally hit shelves after already topping bestseller charts. It’s Spears’ first official memoir, though she has already written two books with her mother Lynne. She reportedly started writing it shortly after her 13-year conservatorship ended.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20235 minutes, 57 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Jaw-droppers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Flanked by jagged mountain spires scratching at the sky and slashed by the crystal waters of the mighty Snake River, the valley of Jackson Hole sets the stage for some wild Wyoming adventures, where the spirit of the West sings out loud. Early fur trappers used the term “hole” to describe a valley entirely encased by mountains, which perfectly sums up Jackson Hole’s terrain. Thickly forested mountains are carpeted in fir, spruce and Lodgepole pine trees. Lodgepole trunks served as trusty tipi poles for Native Americans. Then there’s the lush alpine meadows and the silvery-gray-green sagebrush flats - all guarded by the Tetons’ towering peaks, that are part of the Rockies. Crossing over into Wyoming from Idaho, the vertigo-inducing Teton Pass, at an elevation of 2500 metres, served up my first eagle’s perspective of Jackson Hole. It’s a mesmerising perspective and searing reminder that this is a land of rugged adventurers and stoic settlers. This sprawling valley not only plays host to hordes of wildlife, but the Grand Teton National Park and the ebullient town of Jackson. As the warm autumn sunshine bathed the bucolic landscape in a soft glow, I was staggered how many road-trippers were out in force, well past the summer peak. But nature’s towering glories, whether you’re magnetised by the ski slopes, the hiking trails or serendipitous wildlife encounters, underpins Jackson Hole’s year-round pulling power. Travel correspondent Mike Yardley talked to Jack Tame on the best things to do in Jackson Hole in Wyoming.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20239 minutes, 17 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: What is ADHD and what workplace support is available?

What is ADHD?  Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder  Symptoms include difficulty focusing attention -often cant’s keep focused on something but sometimes get “hyperfocused” on something and can’t move off it when need to; acting suddenly without thinking (impulsivity); being really disorganised; fidgety, restless, can’t sit still for long; changing jobs a lot, messy and disorganised, misses deadlines, often seen as unreliable; can affect friendships    Why is it an issue in the workplace  Historically ADHD was thought to only exist in children and that they would grow out of it  Now know that about 2/3 of people with ADHD as a child continue to have symptoms and signs as an adult  Lots of people missed being diagnosed in childhood but now realising that they might have it – so lots more people getting diagnosed as adults  Also increasing number of women being diagnosed in adulthood who were likely overlooked during childhood    How to support at work  Recognising it’s ADHD is a good start rather than assuming someone is “lazy” or it’s something to do with their personality  Adjusting work environment to reduce distractions  Figuring out with the person how best they work – sometimes having tight deadlines is really useful as it creates positive pressure to get a job done. A number of journalists have commented to me that they think they have ADHD and news media is a great place for them to work as the content is constantly changing and the deadlines are tight and quick  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20239 minutes, 4 seconds
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Bob Campbell: "Crisp, refreshing with mouth-watering acidity" wine for summer

Wine: Nautilus 2023 Albarino, Marlborough $30  Why I chose it:  - Exciting new (to New Zealand) grape variety with a great future in this part of the world  - Nautilus makes my favourite Albarino  - Great summer wine – crisp, refreshing with mouth-watering acidity  What does it taste like?  - A delicious albarino with classic citrus/mandarin/orange flavours. A kiss of sweetness is perfectly balanced by fruity, mouthwatering acidity that leaves a refreshing finish. Memorable wine that makes perfect summer drinking.  Why it’s a bargain:  - High quality wine at a reasonable price  Where can you buy it?  - Wine Freedom, Otago $24.99; Whiskeyonline, Auckland $25.99; Society Liquor, Wellington $25.99  - More likely to find it at fine wine stores rather than on supermarket shelves  Food match?  - Most seafood, my favourite is scampi seared on the BBQ  Will it keep?  - Drink it up    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20233 minutes, 28 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Preventative action!

Spring: everything wakes up. All sorts of creepy crawlies are gunning for your crops and sometimes we need to be ahead of the game.  Apples have stopped flowering and the smallest beginnings of the fruit are on your trees.  Those tiny fruitlets are known in English as “Codlings”  Hence the name for the moth who’s caterpillars love to invade these codlings: Codling moth  Parents (moths) are now laying eggs on these codlings, so let’s avoid the caterpillars tunnelling into your tiny, developing fruit!  MADEX is the spray to use from now on; every two weeks or so until February.  Madex is a codling moth granulosis virus that will affect the small brutes before they enter the apple. Only works on Codling moth species (Cydia pomonella); and the virus will not harm us either.  Noticed the black sooty mould on your lemon tree leaves? That stuff grows on all sorts of citrus!  That’s a fungus that grows on the excrement of sap-sucking insects, especially scale insects, mealybugs and citrus whitefly.  Those tiny whitefly have really become the bigger pest on citrus, especially north of Christchurch.  Trying to remove the black, sooty mould is literally useless, as the sap-suckers will continue to drop their sweet poos;  So: we need to control those whitefly etc., right now by giving them a weekly dose of Neem Oil. Aim for the top-side of the leaves and the bottom-side of the leaves. The regularity of spraying halts the egg-laying part of the life cycle, simply by killing the susceptible juveniles before they become adults.  Lemon tree borer is another troublesome critter on citrus; this one grows its babies (rather large beetle grubs) in tunnels in branches, twigs and trunks of citrus trees.  The female beetle lays her eggs on freshly-made pruning cuts, so the very first thing we must not do is prune our citrus in spring and summer.  To remove the grub from its tunnel is tricky, but can be achieved with a “hypodermic needle” filled with insecticide. You can literally squirt that stuff into the grub’s tunnel by access in the “toilet hole” from the outside.  That way you won’t cause any extra damage to the branch but still halt the destruction inside the branch  Clever, eh?    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20237 minutes, 8 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: YouTube is cracking down on ad-blockers

YouTube is cracking own on ad-blockers If you have an ad-blocker you'll likely get a warning that using it violates their terms of service. It's been a slow road here - they previously had allowed you to watch one video before blocking you, but no more. The big streamers are doing the same, but with account sharing - everyone is focused on profitability at the moment and are tightening up where they can. Apple really wants you to buy a new laptop They released their new M3 chips on Tuesday and put those into MacBook Pros and the iMac. They referenced multiple times that 'Intel-based' Macs were slow, and that it's a great time to upgrade! They also did their "scary fast" event at a new time - 8pm in the East, 5pm in the West - I imagine hoping to get in front of consumers rather than industry folks.The trouble is that most people don't have a need for these more powerful chips right now.. and the sales reflect that with Q3 of 2023 was down 34% compared to Q3 of last year -- they did $7.6 billion in sales.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20233 minutes, 46 seconds
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Tara Ward: All the Light We Cannot See, The Gilded Age, and Wolf

All the Light We Cannot See: Adapted from the novel by Anthony Doerr, this tells the story of a blind French teenager who crosses paths with a German soldier as they both try and survive the devastation of World War 2. (Netflix)     The Gilded Age: The return of Julian Fellowes’ sumptuous costume drama about a young woman who moves to New York to live with her aunts, and is exposed to an exciting new world on the brink of the modern age (Neon)      Wolf: A British drama where anything goes. Set in an isolated house in the country, a family find themselves the victims of a terrifying psychopath’s cruel games (TVNZ+)    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20235 minutes, 4 seconds
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Sam Low: MasterChef New Zealand winner on his new cookbook

The term ‘MasterChef’ Is not a term to be taken lightly.  Yes, it comes with all the TV star glory but it’s also about incredible talent and skill.   Starting out as a young boy running an Auckland takeaway shop and local dairy, Sam Low has gone from strength to strength making a name for himself in the food industry as an award-winning barista and latte art champion.   He took the crown in last year's MasterChef New Zealand.  Now he’s combined a collection of delicious recipes in his new cookbook - “Modern Chinese”.  Sam Low spoke to Jack Tame about it.     LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/202313 minutes, 55 seconds
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Nici Wikes: New Zealand's Gelato Week returns, showcasing the diversity of the country's industry

NZ Ice Cream & Gelato Week returns in November 2023. Over a week NZ ice cream, gelato and sorbet makers will celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the country’s growing industry and encourage Kiwis to buy and enjoy locally made.  The week kicks off with Ice Cream & Gelato Sundae on Sunday 5 November 2023 – with specials in scoop shops across the country.  NZ Ice Cream & Gelato Week is from Sunday 5 until Sunday 12 November 2023 with ice cream and gelato stores featuring; tastings, competitions and special promotions.   Kiwis can head to www.nzicecreamandgelato.co.nz to vote for their favourite NZ Ice Cream or Gelato maker AND your favourite NZ Scoop Store – and go into the draw to win ice cream & gelato    Affogato!  This is the perfect little sweet treat pick me up; ice cream drowned in espresso coffee and topped with toasted, crushed hazelnuts. Add a shot of liqueur if you fancy. Bellissimo!  Makes 4  ½ cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped  1 cup very strong espresso coffee  4 big scoops good quality ice cream  4 tablespoons amaretto, Kahlúa or other liqueur (optional)  Scoop vanilla ice cream into small, pre-chilled glasses or cups. Pour over ¼ cup hot espresso over the top and top with hazelnuts. Add a shot of liqueur (optional) and serve immediately. Nici’s note: For kids, use decaf coffee or hot chocolate and leave out the liqueur.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20236 minutes, 33 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: ZB's film reviewer on Tom Sainsbury's new horror film

Francesca Rudkin reviews Kiwi comedian Tom Sainsbury's new horror film Loop Track and Till, about the search for justice following the lynching of African American teenager Emmett Till in 1955.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20236 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Kiwi swimming star Lewis Claeburt abandoning Wellington for Auckland

New Zealand's top swimmer, Lewis Clareburt, is having to move to Auckland and find a new coach because he can't get consistent training time at Wellington city council's top pool.  Why?   Because their community pools are "heavily used" by swimmers and other water sports.   Kevin Milne talked to Jack Tame about it.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20237 minutes, 1 second
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Jack Tame: The 2023 election was the "Anyone But Labour" vote

The results are in. Not the final, final results. The super-dooper recounted and not-subject-to-further-legal-challenge results. But as final as results are going to be for a bit longer. And on the numbers released by the Electoral Commission yesterday, I think we can reasonably dub the 2023 General Election the ABL-Vote.  ABL. Anyone. But. Labour.  The left has gone more left. The right has gone more right. Winston Peters and New Zealand First have hoovered up whatever remains, and we wait to see what kind of deal might be struck between the governing parties.  These are the things that stand out to me:  1) Labour’s vote has almost halved on the result three years ago. Maybe it’s the polling or just the general widespread sense of dissatisfaction with the government, but I still think we haven’t paused and considered the scale of that reversal, enough. They received 50% of the party vote in 2020. I get it. It was an extraordinary result for an extraordinary political moment. But in just three years they’ve shed almost half of that support Almost a quarter of all New Zealand voters have left them. And as if that weren’t painful enough for the party’s members, what is there to show for that historic majority government?  2) With just over 38% of the vote, by National’s traditional standards, this is not an impressive election result. It was enough. And it only needed to be enough. But if you take out the 2020 drubbing, this year’s result was the lowest party vote result for National for more than 20 years. But for 2020, the last time they were lower than 39% was the 2002 election.  3) Both the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are celebrating their largest-ever caucuses. A big part of their success is surely the ABL factor. Anyone but Labour. But I also think they ran the two best campaigns of the election. The Greens were super-disciplined. They put out well-constructed policies early in the campaign, soaking up a lot of political discourse before the other parties switched into campaign mode. Te Pāti Māori understood better than any other party except for maybe New Zealand first, how to mobilise their supporters.  4) I think ACT will be a bit disappointed by their final numbers. Of course, the result is great by the party’s traditional standards and winning the Tamaki electorate was a huge boon symbolically, but compared to where they were polling a few months ago, it’s a notable drop.  5) New Zealand First’s result marks a masterful sprint to the electoral finish line for our most experienced and seasoned politician. Winston Peters saw the space opened up by National’s dithering and seized it. The party didn’t confirm its policy platform until well after voting had already opened but their supporters don’t care. New Zealand First might have been largely absent from politicial discourse for most of this parliamentary term, but their result goes to show how important timing and momentum are in a political campaign.  So what happens now? Negotiations will be fascinating. My impression is that David Seymour will be intensely focused on achieving policy concessions. I suspect New Zealand First will be less interested in big, meaty, high-workload Cabinet portfolios, but I could be wrong.  I think the triumphant reaction from the Greens, while understandable at one level, shows they’re completely focused on themselves and are deluded about the constraints of opposition. No one seems to note that a record election result for the party isn’t actually worth that much if you’re languishing in opposition, and the governing parties are pledging to restart oil and gas exploration, delay emissions pricing on farms, and even scrap the Zero Carbon Act.  I think Labour’s totally adrift. And I think the new Prime Minister has his work cut out. The ABL factor will give him a honeymoon glow for a bit, but this is still an incredibly tricky economic and political moment, and if this election has shown us anything it’s how quickly voter sentiment can change. Three’s a crowd and managing relationships between ACT and New Zealand First is potentially complex. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the next government will know they can only trade on being Anyone But Labour for so long.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/3/20236 minutes, 18 seconds
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Greg Page and Jeff Fatt: The original Yellow and Purple Wiggles on the documentary and the history of the Wiggles

They’ve been described as the Beetles for kids.  And now after more than a decade of spreading joy to generations of children, the Wiggles – Anthony, Murray, Greg, and Jeff have reunited on screen to tell how the magic happened.  It wasn’t all upbeat and colourful skivvies, as the film sheds light on some of the struggles they faced as individuals.   Yellow Wiggle Greg Page and Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt joined Jack Tame to chat about the documentary, the history, and the success of the Wiggles.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/202316 minutes, 26 seconds
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Kevin Milne: How can it cost so much to demolish a building?

This week the Wellington City Council committed to complete earthquake strengthening and renovations of Wellington Town Hall, approving an eyewatering $328 million budget.  The reason they’ve committed to this figure is because if they closed the site and demolished the building, it would allegedly cost about the same amount.   Kevin Milne is struggling to wrap his head around this fact.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Ms Information

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour  The cultural phenomenon continues as pop icon Taylor Swift performs hit songs in a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience.   Ms Information  As the nation plunges into pandemic, Gwen Isaac’s observational documentary delves into the trenches with Siouxsie Wiles, the fuchsia-haired microbiologist who emerged as a national hero and a satanic witch in the minds of a divided New Zealand.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20238 minutes, 43 seconds
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Tara Ward: After the Party, Last Stop Larrimah, Hot Potato: Story of the Wiggles

After the Party Robyn Malcolm stars in this New Zealand drama about a woman whose world implodes after she accuses her husband of a sex crime but nobody believes her (TVNZ1 from Sunday, and TVNZ+).     Last Stop Larrimah An HBO true crime documentary series about the Australian outback town of Larrimah, population 11, and the mysterious disappearance of one of the residents that turned everyone else into suspects (Netflix).    Hot Potato: Story of the Wiggles A documentary about the incredible story of The Wiggles, who sang and danced their way into the hearts of millions of people around the globe (Prime Video).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20234 minutes, 27 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Exchange and Lola in the Mirror

The Exchange – John Grisham   What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country? It is now fifteen years later, and Mitch and Abby are living in Manhattan, where Mitch is a partner at the largest law firm in the world. When a mentor in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him far from home, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwide implications—and once again endangers his colleagues, friends, and family. Mitch has become a master at staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there’s nowhere to hide.    Lola in the Mirror – Trent Dalton  A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.  The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20233 minutes, 56 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: The results are in – but what does that mean for our money?

The results are in and it’s looking very likely we’ll have some form of National-led government for at least the next three years. So, what will this actually mean for our finances and the housing market? Will it be the boost some were hoping, or will the impact not be quite as much as people expect?  Hannah McQueen joined Jack Tame to give her insight and answer a few questions about what kiwis should expect. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20234 minutes, 28 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Road trips through Central Idaho

“If you’re sizing up embarking on an epic roadie across the great American West, Idaho is the pitch-perfect launch-pad.”  “With a similar sized population to Christchurch, Boise beats to a leisurely tempo, flanked by golden hills and verdant forest, sliced by the Boise River. It’s a picturesque setting and the compact, leafy city centre exudes good looks and an easy-going grace.”  “Hitting the road, I scooted across Idaho’s central folds on a three-hour drive to Ketchum and Sun Valley. As the soaring Sawtooth Mountains shuffled into view, we passed through gorgeous tourist villages like Hailey and Bellevue.”  Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20238 minutes, 53 seconds
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Kate Hall: Reducing food waste

Kate "Ethically Kate" Hall is back with more sustainability tips! This time she's got her top tips for reducing food waste both on a personal and community level. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20236 minutes, 35 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Cucurbits

Cucurbits: melons, squash, pumpkins, courgettes, zucchini, gherkins and… cucumbers.  A bit “touchy” —don’t like cold spells of weather— cool southerly winds are no good; frost tender.  That’s why it’s best to sow them later in spring (from end of October onwards).  I sow them in medium-sized pots with seed-raising mix (high in organic material); these cucurbits appreciate a good organic feed (compost, sheep’s poo, Seafood Soup – a great liquid fertiliser) on a regular basis.  But what you have to be careful with is too much water when they have germinated: their new roots are very susceptible to rotting in wet potting mix!  A well-draining mix helps to keep the young roots safe from the rots.  Keep your seedling in a nice, warm spot; around 18 degrees or more during the daytime hours and no less than 7 or 8 degrees at night.  Sunlight is important: at least 7 hours per day direct sunlight.  My tunnel house easily gets those numbers (and allows earlier planting and better regulation of watering too!).  I’m not too keen on courgettes (which have a habit of becoming marrows – even worse!); nor am I a pumpkin aficionado. Let’s face it: in Winter there are heaps of pumpkins on the market and they cost bugger-all!  I usually concentrate on Cucumbers, watermelon, and gherkins.  These fruits are usually largely made of moisture – which means that when the flowers develop into fruits, the plants need more water (compared to the seedling stage); It’s the watering (liquid fertiliser!!) that really helps them to expand the fruit to a good size.  Watermelon grows nicely on warm soils – sprawling all over the place; if you want to help them with lovely warm soil, perhaps cover the soil with some black plastic.  Gherkins and Cucumbers are best grown on a trellis or climbing rack. Again: fruit develop best with increased watering / liquid fertiliser. Cucumbers need to be harvested regularly to make the plant set new fruit.  Summer snack: Pickled gherkins? (or watermelon??). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20234 minutes, 45 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: The UK's Online Safety Bill, driverless Ubers, and a supply of PlayStation 5s

The UK's Online Safety Bill has become law  This is hugely controversial and could lead to WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and iMessage shutting down their services in the UK. It's a fight over encryption and internet privacy. The government wants to improve internet safety by forcing these providers to remove harmful content such as child sexual abuse, extreme violence, animal cruelty, terrorism, promotion of illegal weapons or drugs, and more.   They've also outlined new laws for 'cyber-flashing' and "deepfake pornography". But monitoring for this content would mean the tech companies would need to be able to see the content - something they are fiercely against. The government says Ofcom would only ask tech firms to access messages once "feasible technology" had been developed, but we're unclear what that means.    How would you feel if your next Uber didn't have a driver?  If you're living in Phoenix, Arizona it now might not! The future is here if you choose to accept! When you book a ride in the Uber app, you'll be able to select to go driverless.  Waymo will still have their own app - which will allow you to grab a ride in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and soon, Austin. But this partnership with Uber makes it frictionless to try the new service. It won't be any cheaper than a car driven by a human though!     A PlayStation 5 might actually be able to be put under your Christmas Tree  Supply Chain issues have made the PS5 a tough thing to get with some people waiting months for their game console to arrive. Chip shortages have seriously limited the availability for the past three years, making them a rare commodity. Good news is that PlayStation says their supply chain is fixed and they have lots of availability now.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20234 minutes, 8 seconds
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Rosa Flanagan: Toasted Couscous, Herb Oil, Broccoli, and Almonds

Our go to summer salad that you can get creative with! Change up the grain and vegetables dependent on what you have in the fridge or garden. We love serving this with any plant based or animal protein, especially chicken or salmon. If you are GF, we recommend replacing the couscous with millet or brown rice.   Serves: 4-6   Time: 20 minutes   Ingredients  1 cup israeli couscous  Water  2 tbsp cooking oil  1 head broccoli, cut into florets  1/2 tsp sea salt   Herb Oil: 1 cup herbs, roughly chopped  1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil  2 cloves garlic, crushed  1 tsp sea salt  To Serve:  1/2 cup flaked almonds, toasted  1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted  1 cup herbs, roughly chopped   Method:   Add the couscous into a pot and toast over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Then add enough water to just cover the couscous. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.   Heat up the oil in a pan and add the broccoli and sea salt. Allow the broccoli to sit and cook in the oil for a couple of minutes, then give it a toss. Then allow it to sit and cook for another couple of minutes. Once it is nice and crispy, remove the pan from the heat.   For the herb oil, add all of the ingredients to a small blender and blend until a vibrant green oil is formed. Alternatively, you can use a handheld stick blender. Set aside.   In a large bowl, add the cooked couscous, broccoli, almonds and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle over the herb oil and gently toss everything together. Lastly add the herbs and give everything one last final toss before serving.   This salad will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.   Please note if you are wanting to keep it over the 3 days, leave the herbs out and add them just before enjoying. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20235 minutes, 45 seconds
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Jack Tame: Stories are what gives sport its magic

“Historically, the All Blacks haven’t faced too much adversity. But here it is. The team is at odds and ends. The players are being criticised. The coaches and their bosses are being hammered in the press.  Maybe they will falter. Maybe we’re watching the unravelling of a once-mighty team. Maybe Silver Lake has bought a dud.  Or maybe, through whatever changes are necessary, and through the pluck and determination of a unit that can only be truly tested when its back is against the wall, the All Blacks will find a way to rise up.”  Those were the words of famed rugby analyst Jack Tame on a radio station called Newstalk ZB, shortly after the All Blacks had lost a home series to Ireland for the first time.  15 months on, I’ll be honest, my thoughts have been a bit muddled this week.  Yes, I can rationalise that we’ve improved massively since that last encounter with the Springboks back in August. A 28-point deficit? Surely that won’t be repeated. I can rationalise that we’re fit. We’re coming off a slightly longer break. We’ve weathered the Irish storm. Our set piece is a thousand times better than it was, we’ve barely lost a lineout in the tournament and our outside backs are maybe the most exciting in World rugby.  Buuuuuuuuuut, still. South Africa. They’re good.  I feel for Dane Coles missing out. For years he’s defined what a hardy, mischievous hooker should be. I’m not bothered by the locking decision either way - Retallick to start and Whitelock on the bench - except to say that Sam Whitelock is a titan of a leader, and I can’t imagine a Rugby World Cup victory without him playing a massive role, whether off the bench or in the starting 15.  Buuuuuuuuuut, still. South Africa. Gulp.  The Springboks have named a 7-1 split. Seven forwards on the bench. That’s a gamble.  Gambles can backfire.  But if there’s anything… any one thing that can push the All Blacks over the edge… that can propel them to Word Champion status… That can secure a record fourth Rugby World Cup… It’s the story.  It’s that doing so will be the pièce de résistance… the cherry on top of the whole Ian Foster fiasco.  I was not someone who thought Ian Foster was the best man for a job. I’m still not! But I also think he’s been treated woefully over the last few years. And in the midst of a pretty awful situation, I think he acted with dignity and grit.  Finishing up as the coach of the World Champions wouldn’t just be an incredibly satisfying conclusion to his All Blacks career. It’d be a hell of a middle finger to the haters.  And I can never underestimate the power of stories in sport. Stories are what give sport its magic. I want to finish with another quote of mine from last year:  “Maybe it’s lunacy to even ponder a World Cup victory next year. But crazier things have happened in sport.”  “Often the greatest sporting narratives are those in which an athlete or a team overcomes adversity. Victory against all odds.”  I said my thoughts had been a bit muddled this week. My head and my heart in a furious battle. But the closer we get to kick-off, the more clarity I have.  Ultimately, I do know what I think. I think I was right to maintain that sliver of optimism even during trying times. I think the All Blacks will win. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/27/20234 minutes, 31 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: New books by Dawn French and Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Twat Files by Dawn French    Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20235 minutes, 5 seconds
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"Put this album as often as you can": Paige's new album

King Clown is the latest album by 25 year old New Zealand singer Paige. The South Auckland artist debuted the song Aquarian at a show at Auckland's The Cloud during the Women's World Cup.  Simon Gooding, who has also worked with Pink and Neil Finn, is the producer for this album. Billie Eilish has also shared one of Paige's songs. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20234 minutes, 17 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Brews & Bites in Blenheim

- Blenheim might be a byword for grapes, but beverage-making doesn't just stop with wine production.  - What about DNA Brewery?  - And Moa Brewing is under new ownership?  - There's a lot of tasting experiences at Vines Village. ( Gin and whisky and cheese)  - Did you check out Dodson Street Beer Garden?  - Any other tasty bites to add to the bingo card?   For more tips on savouring Blenheim's best brews and bites, Mike's article is on the website.  www.newstalkzb.co.nz/lifestyle/travel/    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20239 minutes, 2 seconds
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Margo Flanagan: Pomegranate + Orange Marinated Strawberries w/ Ice Cream

The perfect light summer dessert. Sweet ripe strawberries, zesty orange, tangy pomegranate molasses, maple syrup and delicate vanilla. If strawberries aren’t in season, in winter we love marinating pears and roasting them. Serve with vanilla ice cream and our sweet and salty crunch. Serves: 4 Time: 30 minutes One punnet of strawberries, sliced Zest and juice of 1 orange 1 tsp pomegranate molasses 2 tsp maple syrup 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract Sweet + Salty Crunch: 1/2 cup nuts of your choice, roasted 2 tbsp maple syrup ½ tsp sea salt To Serve: 8 scoops of plant based or dairy vanilla ice cream Method: Add the sliced strawberries to a medium sized bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Allow the strawberries to marinate for at least 30 minutes, allowing the fruit to infuse the syrup flavours. Meanwhile, make the sweet + salty crunch. In a small bowl, combine your choice of nuts with maple syrup and sea salt. Once marinated, divide the ice cream between bowls and top with the marinated strawberries and sweet + salty crunch    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20235 minutes
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Ruud Kleinpaste: What to do in your garden now El Niño is back

We’ve been warned – a dry spell is coming our way this summer in the form of El Niño. (little Boy!)  We’ve seen this before, of course but I reckon it may need a bit of a reminder:  Temperatures, Rainfall and Wind direction are the key elements of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. El Niño is characterised by more westerly winds, dropping more rain on the west coasts and less rain on the east coast.  It also tends to create warmer summer temperatures in the east, making the drought conditions even trickier for gardeners. The North Island may likely see the worst effects.  Keeping water tanks as full as possible might be a good idea.  Planting drought-tolerant species will certainly ease the stress; so I went on a hunt for species that would be reasonably drought-tolerant. Southern Woods (South of Christchurch) has a good range of trees, shrubs and plants and Chris Smith sent me a few great tips, as well as a list of their best performers during El Niño.  Brachyglottis greyii – Daisy Bush (aka shaggy Ragwort)  Brachyglottis monroi – Monro’s Daisy; evergreen with yellow flowers  Carmichaelia australis – common native broom – an insect magnet  Coprosma acerosa – ground cover for dry/hot/coastal  Coprosma brunnea – wiry ground cover with white to blue fruits; cold tolerant too. Birds and Lizards  Coprosma crassifolia – divaricated shrub with small leaves – North and South Island  Coprosma rugosa – “Needle-leaved Mountain coprosma – nice orange-brown species – stands out!  Coprosma virescens – an orange and green species – another favourite of mine;  Cordyline australis – good old cabbage tree: hardy in wetlands and in drought! Pain for lawnmowers  Corokia cotoneaster - My plant to find native bees on spring flowers – colourful.  Dodonaea viscosa - hopbush or “ake ake”; green version is NZ Native; reddish-brown ex Australia  Elaeocarpus hookerianus known as Pōkākā; can do dry, but also cold  Kanuka – Great flowering tree – a source of nectar for heaps of insects  Melicytus alpinus – porcupine bush; brilliant mountain shrub – grows well at lower levels too  Muehlenbeckia astonii – tough as! However I feel it’s a bit “over-used” in NZ gardens.  Olearia – tree daisies – many types to choose from  Ozothamnus – cottonwood  Pseudopanax crassifolius – Lancewood! The story of Juvenile foliage and adult foliage  Sophora microphylla – Sth Island Kowhai; watch the tui and bellbirds, the silver eyes and the Kereru  Teucrium parvifolium – rather rare shrub endemic to New Zealand and quite at home on eastern  side of our Islands, which indicates tolerance to dry spells  Do a bit of research and see what would look great at your place. When you plant them, ensure you don’t “bury” them too deep and water them in for a few days to allow them to settle in.  Of course, mulching will help (reduce evaporation), and if possible, planting in the cooler seasons  Watering is often tricky: water well periodically rather than every week. If you let these shrubs dry out between waterings, they’ll send their roots in all directions to “look for water”. That sets them up to survive El Niño!  If you are in Canterbury: go and see Chris and the team at Southern Woods – and a Dutch tip:  time it well with their spring sale!!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20233 minutes, 51 seconds
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Bryan Betty: New medications for type 2 diabetes

What is Type 2 diabetes?  Body not able to control sugars – sugars become  in body high  Basically due to the pancreas wearing out over time not producing enough insulin or insulin becoming ineffective.  We are seeing more cases in younger people especially Māori and Pacific.     How big a problem is it and what harm to the body does it cause?  Thought to be approximately 300,000 in NZ living with type 2 diabetes.  Health system cost 2.1 billion year – 0.67% GDP!  Individual cost: increased rates renal failure, heart disease, blindness, leg amputation, if not controlled.     What are the new medications?  Diet, exercise and  weight reduction  central to treatment. Medications are needed such as metformin and insulin.    Now available two new medications:  Jardiance daily tablet: causes us to ‘pee’ sugar out of the body when we urinate.  Trulicity- weekly injection: mimics a hormone that means we feel full and eat less and absorb sugar within body and can lose weight.     Why are they important?  Gives more treatment options in addition to metformin and insulin.    Major differences don’t just lower sugar in body: also protect kidney from damage , and reduce chances of heart disease, and weight reduction: first time ever!  In Higher doses Trulicity the weekly injection:  has been used overseas for weight reduction ( Ozempic, Saxena New Zealand – not funded here) – has been in news  Lead  to worldwide  shortages at times that have affected New Zealand.     What should we do?  Important over age of 40 have regular blood sugar tests to see if developing problem.  Need to review regularly with GP and nurse: diet, exercise in combination with medication is important.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20235 minutes, 40 seconds
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Tech: New Zealand a test case for X's (formally Twitter) plan to charge new users

Social media platform X (formally Twitter) is using New Zealand as a testing ground for a plan to charge new users. The platform's owner Elon Musk plans to charge new users $1 a year to use X.Users can opt out, but that means they won't be able view posts and not post anything. Musk says this is to weed out bots on the platform.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20233 minutes, 27 seconds
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Murder mysteries, thrillers, and rural women

Bodies A crime drama set over four different time periods where  the same dead body keeps turning up in the same place in London across those four time periods (Netflix). The Pigeon Tunnel A new documentary film exploring the life and career of famed spy novelist John le Carré (Apple TV+). Sheperdess  A celebration of rural women where filmmakers visit and interview different women about their lives in rural settings (Sky Open from tomorrow).   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20234 minutes, 19 seconds
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Elliot Smith: ZB rugby commentator on All Blacks' "perfect result" against Argentina

The All Blacks have completed a resounding 44-6 victory over Argentina, propelling themselves into the final to face either England or South Africa.Will Jordan had a standout game scoring three tries with both Jordie Barrett and Shannon Frizell bagging two tries each.  Newstalk ZB's rugby commentator Elliot Smith spoke to Jack Tame about the result and what happens next.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/20/20233 minutes, 16 seconds
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Drax Project's Shaan Singh and Matt Beachen, as well as Charley on their new song 'Disrespect'

Iconic Kiwi band Drax Project has been collaborating with the upcoming Australian pop artist Charley. They've released their new single 'Disrespect,' and Jack Tame has managed to get three of the artists in one interview to discuss the song. Shaan Singh and Matt Beachen from Drax Project and Charley hopped in a call to chat about how it all came together. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/202311 minutes, 57 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Rick Astley - Are We There Yet?

‘Are We There Yet?’ is the new, long awaited album from Rick Astley via BMG. His ninth studio album overall, it’s the third in a row of which Astley has written, recorded, played and produced himself at his home studio in London. Featuring the single ‘Dippin My Feet’, an invigorating twist on his signature style, ‘Are We There Yet?’ is the sound of Rick reflecting and building upon the experiences he’s gone through since the release of 2018’s ‘Beautiful Life’. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20234 minutes, 18 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Armor of Light and Rambling Man: My Life on the Road

The Armour of Light - Ken Follett  The long-awaited sequel to A Column of Fire, The Armor of Light, heralds a new dawn for Kingsbridge, England, where progress clashes with tradition, class struggles push into every part of society, and war in Europe engulfs the entire continent and beyond.  The Spinning Jenny was invented in 1770, and with that, a new era of manufacturing and industry changed lives everywhere within a generation. A world filled with unrest wrestles for control over this new world order: A mother’s husband is killed in a work accident due to negligence; a young woman fights to fund her school for impoverished children; a well-intentioned young man unexpectedly inherits a failing business; one man ruthlessly protects his wealth no matter the cost, all the while war cries are heard from France, as Napoleon sets forth a violent master plan to become emperor of the world. As institutions are challenged and toppled in unprecedented fashion, ripples of change ricochet through our characters’ lives as they are left to reckon with the future and a world they must rebuild from the ashes of war.    Rambling Man: My Life on the Road - Billy Connolly   Being a Rambling Man was what I always wanted to be, to live the way I damn well pleased. I've met the weirdest and most wonderful people who walk the Earth, seen the most bizarre and the most fantastic sights - and I've rarely come across something I couldn't get a laugh at. I don't think I've ever had a bad trip. Well, apart from in the 1970s, but that's a whole other story . . .  In his joyful new book, Billy explores this philosophy and how it has shaped him, and he shares hilarious new stories from his lifetime on the road. From riding his trike down America's famous Route 66, building an igloo on an iceberg in the Arctic, playing elephant polo (badly) in Nepal and crashing his motorbike (more than once), to eating witchetty grubs in Australia, being serenaded by a penguin in New Zealand, and swapping secrets in a traditional Sweat Lodge ritual in Canada, Rambling Man is a truly global adventure with the greatest possible travel companion.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20234 minutes, 14 seconds
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Kate Hall: Sustainable bathroom alternatives

What does a sustainable bathroom look like? Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall has a list of alternatives for common bathroom necessities. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20238 minutes, 53 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Striking out on the Nydia Track

"500 year old giant rimu, tentacular rata vines and red beech anchor the forest, with a supporting cast of lush ferns and ponga. Once over the saddle, it's a steady descent through bush and farmland to reach Nydia Bay, with sporadic glimpses as far as Kenepuru Inlet, whose peninsulas fold into the distance. Indignant-looking cows grazing in paddocks cast me a suspicious glare, as if to say “What an earth are you doing in my paddock?” Finally, the gently lapping waters of the lake soundtracked my the final stretch of the first day’s walk." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20239 minutes, 12 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: My Nemesis - Passionfruit

You started it, Jack! Last week you mentioned that dreaded word: Passionfruit vine.  It’s not that I don’t like passionfruit – I love them.  But after many, many years of trying to grow these vines I have to confess to gangrene thumbs.  Here are some of the conditions and growing tips that I have collected over the past 45 years in Aotearoa – stuff from growers and producers of the vines, so… Grab what you like of these notes:  They need exceptional drainage and full sun.  I have always strived to provide these conditions.  Open, free-draining soils: If you have clay or such heavy soils with tiny particles that clog-up the watering, the ground needs to be raised or drainage improved.  To improve drainage, a large hole can be dug out and drainage gravel and pumice incorporated with good topsoil before back-filling the hole.  Of course, if you simply dig a large hole with the best gravel you are literally constructing an enormous sink, with the plug-hole still in it. So it pays to literally create some kind of pipe or system that takes the excess water away.  If this is all too much work you can plant the passionfruit vine in a large pot with good quality Tub-Mix (Growing mix) and drainage holes in the bottom. Make sure the pot will be slightly raised above the ground so the water can actually leave the bottom of the pot through the holes.  Do not forget to feed and water the plant; plants in large pots can dry out quite quickly.  Instead of a large pot with a good growing mix, you can always build a “raised garden bed”, say 40 cm higher than your current soil level. Once again: make sure the water can drain away effortlessly  Give the passionfruit roots ample space to establish in the raised garden bed or in the large pot. Do not over-water these roots but – on the other hand – don’t let them dry out too much.  In terms of “full sun”: I think that it might be an idea to face the plant a bit more “North-East”, rather than “North-West” (The mid-day to afternoon sun tends to be quite a bit hotter than the morning sun!)  Passionfruit is not keen on harsh winters – it hates the cold winds and frosts as these will stress the plant; couple that with wet, rainy winters days and you can see how these factors will knock the plant around. It also shows you how important good drainage is in winter!  Passionfruit are rapid growers and consequently benefit from 2 to 3 applications of a general slow release fertiliser during the spring and summer growing period. Nitrogen makes lots of new leaves.  If you have a young plant don’t prune them fiercely as they set fruit on the new growth – keep your new growth to actually get that fruit. Once the vine is well-established, you can prune it a bit more heavily, but remember to keep plenty new growth on that vine – get rid of diseased parts of the plant.  Best time to prune is right now, when warmth comes back to your garden and frosts are no longer an issue.  I hear from experts that passionfruit doesn’t last much longer than 5 or 6 years, so plant the next generation before your plant kicks the bucket…  I planted mine every year and got totally sick of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Adobe's AI Experiments and the violence in Gaza spreading online

The violence in Israel & Gaza has spread online  The EU Commissioner has written to TikTok to request they "urgently step up" efforts to combat misinformation and respond "within the next 24 hours" how it is following European law.   TikTok has an especially young audience - children and teens - and therefore has an even stronger obligation to remove violent content and terrorist propaganda.   Meta and X have also been asked to comply with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) law. This requires them to proactively remove illegal content and show they've taken measures to do so.   Meta says they immediately spun up a situation room with Hand Arabic speakers to assist with content moderation. "Our teams are working around the clock to keep our platforms safe, take action on content that violates our policies or local law, and coordinate with third-party fact checkers in the region to limit the spread of misinformation."   X says they've removed content and accounts - but says they haven't been informed of any illegal content they need to remove.    Adobe has showcased its AI experiments  Incredible advances --   They showed how they could remove people from the background of video.   They showed generative fill changing a man's shirt and giving him a tie.  They showed removing reflections from photos.   They also showed videos of being able to translate audio from one language into dozens, while keeping the sound of the original speaker's voice - effectively showing what it would be like if you were speaking another language.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/13/20236 minutes, 42 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Paul Jaboulet 2022 Viognier, France

Wine: Paul Jaboulet 2022 Viognier, France $23.73  Why I chose it:  - It‘s a delicious dry white wine at an attractive price  - If you like NZ Viognier you will love this wine  - Viognier is an aromatic grape variety which means it often has a floral character (in this case “wildflowers”)  - Often blended with Syrah to make it softer and more perfumed.  What does it taste like?  - Ripe, attractive viognier with classic apricot and wildflower flavours supported by subtle citrus characters. Appealing wine that is dry without being austere and has weight without being at all clumsy. Excellent value at this price.  Why it’s a bargain:  - Average price for Viognier in this country is $31 and this is well above average quality  Where can you buy it?  - Vino Fino, Christchurch $22.99  - Vine Online, Auckland $24.99  - Wine Central, Auckland $24.00  Imported by Dhall and Nash  Food match?  - Roast chicken  Will it keep?  - Drink it up    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/13/20233 minutes, 34 seconds
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Tara Ward: Malpractice, Lessons in Chemistry, Special Ops: Lioness

Malpractice: A British medical thriller about a doctor who finds herself embroiled in a medical scandal (TVNZ+ and TVNZ1 from Sunday).   Lessons in Chemistry: Brie Larson stars in this 1950s drama about a woman who dreams of being a scientist but is forced to take a job as the host of a TV cooking show - and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives a lot more than recipes (Apple TV+).   Special Ops: Lioness: This American action thriller follows a young Marine recruited to join the Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organisation from within (Prime Video).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/13/20236 minutes, 27 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Rhubarb, orange, and white chocolate sundaes

The mix of roasted rhubarb, juicy orange and vanilla-scented cream tumbled together with shards of crisp, nutty filo pastry and white chocolate sauce is simply sensational!  Serves 4-6    Ingredients:  1 sheet filo  2 teaspoons butter, melted  2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 4 cm lengths  1 tablespoon caster sugar  70g white chocolate, chopped roughly  2/3 cup cream  1 teaspoon vanilla extract  2 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt, unsweetened  2 oranges, segmented    Method:  Preheat oven to 180 C. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Brush filo sheet with melted butter and sandwich between the lined trays. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until very golden brown. Remove and cool. Break into shards. Toss rhubarb in sugar and, using the same lined tray(s), roast the rhubarb for 15 minutes until softened. Set aside to cool. In a small pot heat a third of the cream to near boiling. Throw in chopped chocolate, cover with a tea towels and leave for 5 minutes before whisking to a smooth sauce. Cool. Whip remaining cream with vanilla to a soft whip consistency. To assemble: Choose small glasses, jars or bowl and layer up rhubarb, the cream mix, shards of filo, orange segments and topping it all off with the white chocolate ganache. Be prepared to be delighted! Nici’s note: Plums (fresh or tinned) in place of the rhubarb are just as good in this recipe so feel free to mix it up! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/13/20236 minutes, 2 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Anatomy of a Fall and In The Land of Saints and Sinners

Anatomy of a Fall   A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.    In The Land of Saints and Sinners  Hoping to leave his dark past behind him, former assassin Finbar Murphy leads a quiet life in a coastal Irish town, far from the political violence that grips the rest of the country. When menacing terrorists show up, Finbar soon discovers that one of them has been abusing a local girl.   Drawn into an increasingly vicious game of cat and mouse, he must choose between exposing his secret identity and defending his friends and neighbors.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/13/20234 minutes, 31 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Stephen Sanchez - Angel Face

Angel Face is Stephen Sanchez’s debut album, filled with a collection of ‘50s and ‘60s style songs that chronicles the life of the fictional Troubadour Sanchez.   It focuses on the love story between the Troubadour Sanchez and Evangeline, who is currently in a love affair with a mobster.  The album brings a fresh take to old fashion blues, ballads, and rock ‘n’ roll.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20236 minutes, 4 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Uproar and The Show Me Shorts Film Festival

Uproar  A 17-year-old is forced to clamber off the fence he has actively sat on all his life to stand up for himself, his whānau, and his future.    The Show Me Shorts Film Festival  Show Me Shorts is Aotearoa New Zealand's leading international short film festival. Our mission is to connect New Zealand audiences with short films and share New Zealand short films with the world.   Screenings in 35 cinemas across New Zealand during 6-29 October 2023.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20236 minutes, 17 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Chasing the stars in Hollywood

"If you’re planning a fling with the entertainment capital of the world, a trip to Tinsel Town tingles with a distinct blend of escapist reality. Beyond the time-honoured staples of the studio tours like Universal and Warner Brothers, a frolic through the Dolby Theatre, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I checked a few other ways you can chase the stars on a visit to Hollywood." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20239 minutes, 30 seconds
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Tara Ward: Beckham, Lupin, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Beckham Featuring never-before-seen footage, this Netflix docuseries follows David Beckham’s rise from humble beginnings to global football stardom (Netflix).    Lupin A new season of the delightful thriller based on the classic French story about Arsène Lupin, the world-famous gentleman thief and master of disguise (Netflix).    The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this Wes Anderson adaption of the Roald Dahl story about a wealthy man who wants to master a new skill in order to cheat at gambling games (Netflix).   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20234 minutes, 36 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Code Red and The Running Grave

Code Red – Vince Flynn  Mitch Rapp hates owing anyone a favor—especially when it’s the world’s most powerful crime lord. But when Damian Losa calls, Mitch is honor-bound to answer.  The Syrian government appears to have created a highly addictive new narcotic that it plans to distribute throughout Europe. It’s a major threat to Losa’s business and he’s determined to send someone to keep him on top by any means necessary. With far more than Damian Losa’s interests at stake, Rapp devises a desperate plan that forces him and his team onto a battlefield where the United States is virtually powerless and allegiances shift almost hourly. Further, if Russia uncovers their plot, it will set off a confrontation between the two countries that could change the course of human history.    The Running Grave – Robert Galbraith   Private Detective Cormoran Strike is contacted by a worried father whose son, Will, has gone to join a religious cult in the depths of the Norfolk countryside.  The Universal Humanitarian Church is, on the surface, a peaceable organization that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface there are deeply sinister undertones, and unexplained deaths. In order to try to rescue Will, Strike's business partner, Robin Ellacott, decides to infiltrate the cult, and she travels to Norfolk to live incognito among its members. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her there or for the toll it will take on her. . .    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20235 minutes, 21 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Quiet quitting

A recent Gallup poll shows that a majority of workers in NZ are not engaged or are “quiet quitting”.  4/10 say they are experiencing high levels of stress, 4/10 looking for new job, with managers playing a key role in determining whether people thrive or disengage at work.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/6/20237 minutes, 11 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Flowers and Pollinators and Water-cleaners and parasitoids

I’ve recently been reading a few books about Bees and Bumblebees; in the past I worked on mosquitoes and beneficial pest controllers, got stung by a Japanese hornet (no, not the “giant murder hornet”, but it was big and it did hurt!) and slowly come to the conclusion that entomology should have been my hobby a lot earlier in life.  There are so many stories!  We know Honeybees and Bumblebees as “pollinators” of flowers, especially our food crops. In this insect group (Hymenoptera) the Honeybees and the four species of Bumbles are all exotic creatures imported as slave labour. Without them our diet would look a lot poorer.  As gardeners we know too well that these pollinators are welcome visitors to our garden: my tomatoes would never fruit without those bumblebees; (the honeybees never get into my tunnel house – tomato is not their gig!).  Every pollinator has its own range of flowers to work on – the reward, of course, is to extract some nectar to feed babies and queens.  This teaches us to create a heap of “wildflowers” under the apples, pears, plums and peaches, near raspberries and strawberries. The diversity of these wildflowers attracts a wide range of pollinators.  It is exactly what you’d need as a TEACHER if you want to do a unit on bumble bees, or a topic for “mini-beasts” in the curriculum; identify what visits which flower.  But these wildflowers also attract other nectar hunters: mosquitoes! Males only – they are the pollinators! They also fertilise the females who then lay eggs on the edge of ponds and water features.  Woah! Hang on for a moment!! I know what you’re saying…  The mosquito wrigglers grow up in the pond/water feature, where they consume the bacterial soup that makes those water habitats so “dirty looking”; Mozzie larvae clean your water!  Water cleaning mosquito wrigglers. Photo / Supplied  Last but not least: the variety of flowers you plant in your garden also attract a variety of pollinating flies, beetles and parasitic wasps. Those flies and beetles give birth to babies (larvae) that are often predators of aphids, mealybugs and scale insects, as well as caterpillars and other plant “pests”.  The Parasitic wasps (pareasitoids) will lay eggs inside their host; these eggs hatch into wasp larvae that will devour your garden “pests” from the inside-out, controlling a heap of damaging insects that give your plants a hard time.  Parasitoid on Fennel. Photo / Supplied.  For every job an insect does certain plant species receive a benefit; everything is connected to everything else…  This why my garden has many different species of flowering plants, spread willy-nilly under fruit trees and near vegetables.  I also make sure there are bumble bee nest boxes near my tomatoes and small bamboo “bug motels” in which some tiny native, parasitic wasps create their home …  The more bio-diversity, the fewer troubles in your quarter acre paradise! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/6/20237 minutes, 37 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: How to cope with the costs from increased mortgage interest rates

Half of mortgages are due to be refixed over the coming 12 months and many of those will be rolling onto much higher interest rates than where they are right now.  While predictions last year were that interest rates would start easing towards the end of this year, it now looks like it won’t happen until mid-next year, if not later. And while the OCR hasn’t shifted since May, banks have continued increasing their interest rates, unnecessarily adding to the pressure.  Yet despite all this —and the extensive media coverage that mortgage interest rates and the cost of living has been getting— people are still not prepared for what they’ll do when their mortgages come up for refixing, and how they’ll cope with this increase in cost.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/6/20235 minutes, 33 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Microsoft teams has been rebuilt, unfortunate time for people named Siri

Her name was Siri, she had to change it   It was annoying enough when colleagues or friends couldn't greet her with "Hey Siri" without setting off their phone's assistant, but the latest changes to iOS has made it even worse. Now you don't need to say the "Hey", which has forced 26-year-old Siri Price to change her name. She now goes by "Siz". She says she loved the name Siri because it means “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”. For Apple, it means “Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface”.    Microsoft Teams is going to be significantly faster  It's been completely rebuilt and is said to be 2x faster than the current version and uses half the memory - which is great news because Teams really dragged down your computer's performance. "Classic Teams" will stick around for a bit, but all new features will be added only to the new Teams moving forward. For those who use new Apple desktops and laptops - it'll also work natively with Apple Silicon. It'll be a slow rollout until December when it'll become the default in Enterprise plans.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/6/20234 minutes, 1 second
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Nici Wickes: Magical Cheesy Toast in Celebration of NZ Cheese month

This snack is a combo of a cheesy cob loaf (you know that thing where you hollow out a cobb loaf and make a fondue in the middle to dip bread into?!) and a Welsh rarebit, that magical cheese toast that’s made with a sauce loaded with cheddar, Worcestershire, mustard and ale. My version is super fast and easy to make and it’s just the thing for a weekend lunch or snack.  Makes 4 toasts    Ingredients  ½ medium-sized onion, diced finely  2 rashers bacon, diced roughly  1 tablespoon butter or oil  4 slices sourdough, lightly toasted (or other quality bread)  4 big tablespoons creme fraiche, sour cream or cream cheese  100g grated good quality cheddar cheese + extra  1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar  Decent grind black pepper  Small handful parsley, chopped fine    Method  Heat oven to 180 C.  Fry the onion and bacon in the butter/oil until onion is softened and bacon has given up its fat.  In a small bowl mix creme fraiche, cheddar, balsamic, pepper and parsley until combined. Mix in onion and bacon. Spoon the mixture onto each toast slice, spreading to the edges. Place on a tray, sprinkle over some extra cheese and bake for 15 minutes until the topping is golden.  Eat while hot!    Make it your own:  Use tinned tuna or salmon in place of bacon and add some capers Stir in a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard instead of balsamic Leave out the bacon and stir in chopped spinach and chives for a vegetarian option Use parmesan for the cheese and basil in place of parsley See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/6/20235 minutes, 19 seconds
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Julian Dennison and James Rolleston: Kiwi actors on their new film 'Uproar'

Julian Dennison and James Rolleston are familiar faces to fans of kiwi films.  The pair started acting young, starring in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy, respectively.   The award-winning actors returned to New Zealand screens October 5th with the highly anticipated local feature film Uproar, a story about connection and finding your place in the world, set during the Springbok protests of 1981.  Dennison plays the protagonist of the film, Josh Waaka, while Rolleston plays his older brother Jamie.  “Jamie and Josh are both Māori and go to a very Pākehā school,” Dennison told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame.   “So, it’s about Josh finding his Māoridom, also finding himself.”  While the outdated fashion might be the first difference viewers notice, it’s not the only part of the film that kiwis might find unfamiliar.  “It was hectic,” Rolleston told Tame. “The things that were happening back then, around the Springbok tour.”  “Before the film, I just knew that there were some marches that didn’t go too well, that kind of thing. I wasn’t too clued up about it.”  “They don’t really teach you at school,” Dennison agreed.  In terms of the characters themselves, Dennison found himself acting from experience.  “I felt like I could relate to him a bit,” he told Tame. “Going to an all-boys school that was predominantly European.”  “That thing of being too brown for school, but also being too white for some cliques outside of school.”  The film is a journey of self-discovery for Josh, not only finding himself beyond where he fits in school, but also within his family and culture.  Both actors are hoping that this film will be an inspiration for people to find those cultural connections, to connect with their Māoridom in a way they hadn’t previously.  “I hope people walk out of there going, “Yeah I’m going to start the journey.””  “You see the Māori ways come up in the film,” Rolleston said. “Which is good for people to see, especially our young people.”   “I feel like this film is going to bring up some good conversations,” Dennison told Tame.   “I think this movie will, you know, cultivate people to talk about this stuff.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/6/202312 minutes, 56 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Why do political parties have colours?

Ignoring all the politics and policies, there is one key thing that sets the political parties apart: their colour.  Throughout the election campaign politicians have been seen wearing their colours like a uniform, on their ties, their blazers, even their dresses. Kevin Milne wants to know why and how this came to be. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/6/20237 minutes, 8 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Ed Sheeran - Autumn Variations

Ed Sheeran has dropped another album.  Autumn Variations’ fourteen tracks are based around the life situations of Sheeran’s friends, written from their point of view.   The title is a reference to Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, fourteen short musical portraits of the composer’s friends and acquaintances.   The album was released on September 29th, 2023, and had been previewed in concerts and live performances.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20236 minutes, 44 seconds
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Kate Hall: Op-shopping v Ethical Fashion

Sustainability expert Kate Hall joined Jack Tame to chat about op-shopping versus sustainable fasion. Which is better? How does affordability play into it, and what are some of the concerns? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20239 minutes, 21 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Planting for Lepidoptera

This program is increasingly becoming a Community Information Resource that assists our native plants and critters – no apologies here!  We read in the news that the DOC is translocating rare/endangered birds and lizards to keep them safe and increase their populations. Gardeners can do exactly the same thing for our butterflies and moths – we even have a New Zealand Moths and Butterfly Trust that does exactly the same thing, so why not join them and enrich your quarter acre Paradise?  Monarchs are mating and looking for places to lay their eggs. We all know their food plants:  Swan plants (bit boring in my opinion!) can be sown right now – Kings Seeds and other seed merchants have these popular plants in stock; Moths and Butterfly trust also stocks a heap of different seeds for Monarchs. Germination is good at warmer temps, and 21 degrees is recommended.  Fabulous Asclepias species with colourful flowers are also suitable host plants – more my gig!  Prettier relatives of the swan plant. Photo / Supplied  Whatever you sow: aim for heaps of plants and keep some of them in large pots as “spares” for when famine breaks out.  Admiral Butterflies love nettles to lay their eggs on; if you have a safe space you can try the native Ongaonga stinging nettle. Just be careful, they are ferocious (Hence their name Urtica ferox).  Red admirals are keen on that tree nettle (ferox) but will also feed on perennial nettle (dioica).  Yellow admirals tend to go for the smaller nettle species as food for the caterpillars.  I have both admirals in abundance here in the Halswell Quarry. The reds seem to overwinter here too.  Red admiral (left) – Yellow admiral (right). Photo / Supplied  Just be aware that red admirals may not be as common in the Auckland region, so extra food plants might make them be a little more “regularly observed”.  They are plentiful in the south though, the yellow admirals are pretty common right around the motu.  For our Blue Butterflies (commonly known as “Blues”), sow some Trifolium, Medicago or Lotus, as well as lucern, trefoil and clover species. Note how these plants are members of the Fabaceae (they are Legumes!).  Copper butterflies and boulder coppers (in the Genus Lycaena) are absolutely beautiful, mostly orange-coloured insects that fly quite erratically through the landscape, often not too far from their preferred host plant on which the caterpillars feed. By planting the appropriate species of Muehlenbeckia (complexa or australis, not astonii) you'll find the butterflies often “in attendance”.  The Bolder coppers are often characterised by a deep purple-blue reflection on the wing scales. Photo / Supplied Their food plant is Muehlenbeckia axellaris (creeping pohuehue).  More butterfly details can be found of the Moths and Butterflies Trust website: https://nzbutterfly.info/  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/29/20235 minutes, 22 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Urinary Tract Infections

What is a urinary tract infection and who gets them?     -Referred to as a bladder infection or cystitis  -Bacteria gets up into bladder causing the infection  -Sometimes if untreated can go up into the kidneys – more serious infection is called pyelonephritis  -More common in women – most women will get one at some point  -Less common in men – often related to an enlarged prostate as get older     How do you recognise them?  -Burning passing urine  -Increased frequency of urination   -Sudden urgency to pass urine  -Abdominal pain  -Smelly or cloudy urine    -Children can also get urine infections: temperatures, or suddenly bed wetting at night  -Elderly: can be very difficult to diagnose.  May present with confusion or a fall.    -Often the GP or nurse will do urine test or send-off sample to the Lab.     How do we treat them?  -Antibiotics from doctor or nurse  -If its straightforward your pharmacist may be able to give you antibiotics  -Drink plenty of fluids  -You need to see a doctor if you haven’t improved in three days, develop shakes, have a spiking temperature, or increasing pain     Can you Prevent them?  -Stay well hydrated, cranberry juice may help prevent them  -Post-sex voiding urine sometimes advised  -Avoid wearing tight-fitting underwear  -Make sure to wipe after bowel movements, going front to back  -Treating constipation if present, as it puts pressure on the bladder  -They can be recurrent and may need ‘preventive antibiotics.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/29/20235 minutes, 7 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Meta's celebrity themed AIs and Taylor Swift breaking Google

Taylor Swift broke Google Search with cryptic clues about her new album  She's re-releasing 1989, so we're about to get Taylor's Version of Shake It off, Blank Space, Style, and Bad Blood, as well as some previously un-released songs which she's calling "from the vault".   Taylor teased in an Instagram post: "you can tell me when the search is over, if the high was worth the pain". The Swifties figured out that if you Googled Taylor Swift, there were 89 word puzzles giving clues to the names of the tracks. If the puzzles were solved 33 million times (Taylor is 33), then they'd be revealed.   Google was so overwhelmed they had to shut the puzzles down for a bit, but they got them back and the job is done - Taylor has now revealed the track names. Phew!     Facebook's AI play is celebrity themed chatbots  When you use "Meta AI" on Facebook you'll get to interact with themed chatbots that look and sound like celebrities you'll know:  Snoop Dogg will be “Dungeon Master”, who will assist users to play adventure games.  Kylie Jenner will be “Billie”, a “big sis” referred to as a “ride-or-die companion”.  Naomi Osaka will be “Tamika” an anime-obsessed bot.  They want AI to be more about entertainment than fact. Meta says they've put lots of guardrails to steer away from sensitive topics.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/29/20233 minutes, 16 seconds
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Tara Ward: Changing Ends, The Messenger, Maryland

Changing Ends  This British sitcom tells the semi-autobiographical story of comedian Alan Carr’s life growing up in 1980s Northampton (TVNZ+).     The Messenger  An Australian drama about an accidental hero who receives a series of mysterious messages scribbled on a playing card that sets him on a strange journey (TVNZ+).     Maryland  The story of two estranged sisters who have to learn to love each other again after the death of their mother, who they discover was a leading a double life (ThreeNow).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/29/20234 minutes, 55 seconds
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Elliott Smith: Newstalk ZB rugby commentator on the All Blacks v Italy

Scoring at the rate of a try every six minutes, the All Blacks have wiped Italy off the map at the Rugby World Cup in Lyon.  They beat them 96-17, scoring seven tries in both the first and second half of the game.  Newstalk ZB’s voice of rugby, Elliott Smith, told Jack Tame that from the opening try to the full time whistle the All Blacks were relentless and ruthless.   He said it’s hard to judge Italy’s performance when the All Blacks strangled them out of the contest from minute one onwards.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/29/20235 minutes, 38 seconds
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Joel Shadbolt: L.A.B vocalist and guitarist on their Best Single award and new song Casanova

L.A.B vocalist and guitarist Joel Shadbolt has that certain something you can't quite put your finger on.  He’s a combination of pure talent and palpable drive and edge from his vehicle of choice – a Harley-Davidson.  Shadbolt fronted L.A.B as they skyrocketed through the charts with reggae-funk song ‘In the air’ staying in the top 10 for 73 weeks.   Shadbolt told Jack Tame that they’ve had a great week, the band walking away from the Panhead Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards with Best Single.  He said they’re still trying to figure out how to divvy up the prize ring up between the members of the band.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/202312 minutes, 15 seconds
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Jack Tame: The mystery of the missing F-35

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever lost? Car keys? A wedding ring? Your dignity, perhaps?  I’m not really a loser. Well, I’m a loser. But I’m not a loser of things. I’m not a misplacer. At least not yet. Against the odds, I’ve managed to go several years with the same pair of wireless earbuds without any major incident. And but for a very occasional misplaced bikelock key, perhaps my worst-ever losing of something was when I foolishly parked a rental car in a Las Vegas casino’s underground carpark and spent about 2 hours walking the rows trying to listen for the bleep’bleep.  Certainly I’ve never lost anything that comes close to an F-35 jet.  This for me was the stand out story of the week. Not the election campaign or the U.N General Assembly. The mystery of the missing F-35.  It started on Tuesday, when a sheepish young man made a call to 9-11 asking if there had been any reports of a plane crash. He’d ejected, he said, while flying a F-35B Lightening II jet.  Why exactly did he eject? We don’t really know. But he was only a mile from Charleston International Airport – an airport I’ve flown in and out of before – and he ended up parachuting down into someone’s suburban backyard.  This is only a hunch, but if he was the one who hit the eject button, I’m guessing that pilot is feeling just a little sheepish. Because despite his ejection, the plane continued flying. Not just a few miles, but a full hundred kilometres.  The F-35B is the most advanced fighter jet in the U.S military arsenal. It can take off and land vertically. And apparently the jet’s capacity for stealth shouldn’t be underestimated. Because maybe the most extraordinary thing about this whole situation is that it took more than 24 hours to find and report the debris field from the crashed F-35.  To be clear – it didn’t go down on the battlefield. It didn’t go down in the ocean. A $170m fighter jet went down in a field in South Carolina and it took the mightiest military with the most advanced technology more than a day to find it. Forget transponders or radar or GPS, at one point the military was asking the public to call a special hotline with any information. 0800-missing-jet-who-am-I-speaking-with?  You see, this is why I never believe in deep state conspiracies. As seductive as it might be to imagine an all-powerful government pulling the wool over our eyes and manipulating the global order, people always underestimate the incompetence factor.  If America’s military can lose a state-of-the-art fighter jet in their own backyard, what hope do any of the rest of us have for our house keys? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20234 minutes, 10 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Teddy Swims - I've Tried Everything but Therapy (Pt 1)

‘I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1)’ is the debut studio album from American musician Teddy Swims.   The album is a blend of pop, soul, and R&B, featuring ten songs, two of them singles.   His music features various heavy topics, substance abuse, mental health, and in an interview with the NZ Herald Swims admitted that he “made a promise to [himself] that when [the album] does come out, [he] will put [himself] into therapy.”  The title of the album is tongue in cheek reference to that.   “I named it that to buy myself a couple more months of freedom, of being a traumatised little s***.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20236 minutes, 25 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Frolicking in the spring brilliance of Buller

"The brilliance of Buller is ablaze in spring, as the sun-splashed countryside and lush pastures positively vibe with the vivid lime greens of new and verdant growth. Like a frisky spring lamb, I was itching to frolic far and wide, while exploring the wonderful West Coast. Point the car north from Westport and venture over the vast bush-clad heights of the twists and turns of Karamea Bluff, thickly robed in rimu and matai forests."   Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/202310 minutes, 25 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Mental Health Awareness Week and the Five Ways to Wellbeing

Mental Health Awareness Week is upon us, and Dr Dougal Sutherland has five ways to wellbeing to offer, plus some potential work-related activities.    Take Notice – get together a bunch of people at work for daily or weekly mindfulness or yoga sessions – if you’re lucky, work might pay for them.  Give – give time, or money or resources —good example is volunteering: sports coach, church youth group, charity shop, meals on wheels— lots of evidence to show this not only helps the community but also is good for personal wellbeing.  Be Active – schedule in some activity every day —make it like any other meeting in your diary— just do it – might be something you could do with others at work as having a buddy helps with accountability and makes you stick at it.  Connect – really important in this age of hybrid working —virtual connection is good, but nothing beats face to face— is there a way to encourage everyone to be in the office on certain days and then when they are there making connecting with each other a top priority.  Keep Learning – keep going from te wiki o te reo Māori —or learn a new skill at work— do some professional development.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20239 minutes, 36 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Rare Beauties

This is the time for planting. I’ve never been so busy as last week in the vegetable garden – even got to catch up with some serious pruning back-log.  Gardeners can be very useful creatures that support our native and endangered trees, shrubs and climbers. Some of our endemic taonga are literally on the brink of extinction and planting these botanical specimens in appropriate places is like putting your eggs in many baskets.  1) Metrosideros bartlettii is also known as the Bartlett’s Rata; it occurs naturally in the far north of our country. Being a “rata” means it is closely related to pohutukawa and other species of Rata. But this one is pretty unique: its bark is grey-white and feels (and sheds) like tissue paper. The flowers are not red, but white and look just like Pohutukawa or rata in shape  Rare?  Oh yes: just 13 adult trees are left in our country; of the five “genotypes”, just one has been propagated from. Some trees are on private land – not sure about their future safety.  Browsing animal pests (think possums, deer, goats etc) are the main cause of decline. And now we have myrtle rust as well!  Myrtle Rust on Metrosideros. Photo / Supplied  2) Tecomanthe speciosa – the Three Kings Vine – is an absolute stunner of a liane. It is readily available in garden centres and can grow in a wide range of climatological conditions.  As a climber it needs good support from other trees – it also needs lots of space, moisture in the soil, and it prefers to have the roots in the shade.  The plant starts to bloom after 2 or 3 years growing up (patience!) – but will reward you with large, creamy-white tubular flowers in clusters, attracting native birds. Tecomanthe can be grown from seeds or cuttings; it’s frost tender, so plant it in areas that are subtropical.  Rare?  It’s the rarest plant in the world: One vine was discovered on Great Island (Three Kings Group, NW of Cape Reinga) in 1945; Feral Goats (who else?) were the cause of this plant’s decline. That original plant is still there – but struggling, since the eradication of goats have caused huge forest growth, shading that particular specimen.  3) Ngutukākā (also known as Kākābeak). Clianthus maximus and Clianthus puniceus are two species that originally occurred in Northland and the Auckland Region, especially Hauraki Gulf.  Its history in European times involves Captain Cook’s 1769 Nature Nerds Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who “discovered” the plant at Uawa (Tolaga Bay) in Tairāwhiti. The brilliant red flowers were visible from the ship and common on hill sides.  That likely indicates that Maori were keen on Ngutukākā (trading them?) and planted them in many places.  Browsing animals cause havoc (deer, goats – who else? – stock, pigs, hares) but also introduced garden snails and native kowhai moth caterpillars.  On my last trip to Tairāwhiti it was wonderful to see ngutukākā everywhere, especially near schools.  Thank you Graeme Atkins!! This is the modern mahi following on from the Maori History.  As relatives of kowhai (pea Family) these plants can fix Nitrogen from the air and therefore can grow in nutrient-poor soils. They like to grow in light-spots (where trees have fallen over and caused an opening in the canopy) or slip faces.  Seed is viable for a long time. The red flowers are a beacon for tui and bellbird and other nectar feeders. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20235 minutes, 12 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Robert Mondavi 2021 Private Selection Buttery Chardonnay

BOB’S BEST BUYS  Wine: Robert Mondavi 2021 Private Selection Buttery Chardonnay, California $21.99  Why I chose it:  - Popular style  - Buttery character is a by-product of malolactic fermentation  What does it taste like?  - Smooth, soft-textured chardonnay in a “big and buttery” style with spicy oak, vanilla. Mellow wine with a little heat on the finish. A crowd-pleasing style that lives up to its description. Not my kind of chardonnay.  Why it’s a bargain:  - Offers great value if you like the big and buttery style.  Where can you buy it?  - New World $21.99 (on special)   - Whisky and More $20.99 (six-pack $119)  Food match?  - Rich chicken dishes  Will it keep?  - Drink it up See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/22/20234 minutes, 23 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: AI is coming to Windows 11 next week

Goodbye Cortana, hello Co-Pilot.  Co-Pilot will live in the right-side panel of your PC and allow you to connect with data from across Office, the web, and other apps on your computer. There won't be separate apps anymore, just one Co-Pilot to call on. Microsoft wants it to become "your everyday AI companion".   They showed the AI being able to use data from your calendar and email to write text messages. Or, asking Co-Pilot to set your computer to dark mode, arrange your windows, it's going to make your settings panel obsolete.   Microsoft Paint is getting new features, such as layers, background removal, and AI integrations to help you create and manipulate images. Just type what you want the image to be, and the AI will generate it.  The free upgrade will be released on September 26.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/22/20236 minutes, 24 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A new flag before the next Olympics

The responses to a quick-fire question in the Leaders’ Debate has gotten Kevin Milne excited.  Turns out that both Chris Hipkins and Chris Luxon both voted ‘yes’ to change the New Zealand flag.  The last flag referendum was a long, expensive, pointless process, as an estimated $25 million dollars was spent only for the flag to remain the same.  However, Kevin has a plan and wants a new flag before the Olympics rolls around in July.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/22/20235 minutes, 16 seconds
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Tara Ward: Supermodels, Annika, Big Boys

Supermodels   Apple TV+’s new documentary series looks back on the careers of four supermodels - Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington - and how they dominated the modelling world during the 1990s (Apple TV+).     Annika   The return of the Scottish series starring Nicola Walker as a detective working for Glasgow’s marine homicide unit, investigating the unexplained murders that wash up on shore (Neon).    Big Boys  A heartwarming British comedy about two young men who strike up an unlikely friendship when they’re thrown together at university (TVNZ+).    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/22/20234 minutes, 21 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: It Lives Inside and 2nd Chance

It Lives Inside   Desperate to fit in at school, Sam rejects her East Indian culture and family to be like everyone else. However, when a mythological demonic spirit latches onto her former best friend, she must come to terms with her heritage to defeat it.    2nd Chance  Richard Davis invents a concealable bulletproof vest, and shoots himself 196 times over the course of his career to prove its effectiveness.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/22/20237 minutes, 23 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Spring Green Tart

This crustless tart is such a lovely dish to make in spring when mint and parsley are going crazy in the garden. It’s a great way to get some greens into you!  Serves 6    Ingredients  50g butter  1 bunch spring onions, sliced thinly  500g frozen peas  150g ricotta cheese OR use cottage cheese  2 tbsps cream  Small handful each mint leaves and parsley leaves, roughly chopped  2 large eggs  100g parmesan, grated  2 tbsps gluten free flour  ½ tsp sea salt and decent grind of pepper  A little olive oil    Method  Preheat the oven until 190 C. Grease a 23cm springform cake tin and line with baking paper. Gently fry the onions in butter until soft then add the peas and gently cook for five minutes or until they’re thawed. Using a food processor, blend half the onion and pea mixture with ricotta/cottage cheese and cream until quite smooth. Add remaining ricotta/cottage cheese, herbs and eggs and briefly blend until mixed. Transfer to a bowl, add the rest of the onion/peas, half the parmesan cheese, flour and season with salt and pepper. Give it a good stir and pour into the prepared tin. Drizzle a little olive oil on the surface and scatter the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until the top is golden brown, the middle is set and edges are pulling away from the sides, an indication it is cooked. Rest for 10 minutes before removing from the tin and cut into wedges and serve with a salad.   Make it your own:  Replace half the peas with 2 cups shredded raw spinach. Replace peas with chopped asparagus when in season. Add chopped bacon or flaked smoked salmon to the mixture. Crumble over chorizo sausage before baking. Use basil or coriander in place of the parsley. Use sour cream or cream fraiche instead of cream for extra tanginess. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/22/20235 minutes, 22 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows

Black Rainbows is the fourth studio album by English singer and songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae, released on 15 September 2023 by Black Rainbows Music and Thirty Tigers.  The album is a multi-genre mix of the progressive R&B-neo soul sound of her previous works but it also contains rock, jazz, and electronic elements. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/16/20235 minutes, 13 seconds
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Nici Wickes: The Public Office Café (Ngātea, NZ) Cheese scones

A road trip is made by the food stops along the way I reckon and when I called into a café I’d long wanted to visit in Ngātea recently their scones blew me away! They were so darn delicious, moist (or as I like to say ‘damp’) and super cheesy. The owners, Sarah and Simon, kindly shared their recipe and top tips with me.  Makes 6-8 scones    Ingredients:  - 1 ¼ cup tasty cheese, grated  - loosely packed 1 ¼ cup mozzarella, grated  - loosely packed Extra cheese for topping  - 2 ½ cups self-raising flour  - Generous pinch of salt  - 2 cups yoghurt  Method:  Preheat oven to 180 C fan bake. Put all ingredients in a large bowl. Bring the mix together with a large spoon. Once you have a big ball of mix and lots of dry bits on the bottom of the bowl, use your hand to push all of the dry ingredients into a wet ball. Turn out onto a floured bench and shape the mix into a 20x10cm rectangle, about 5cm high (you don’t want the mix to be too flat).  Cut with a sharp knife or dough cutter into 6 large or 8 medium sized scones. Spread out on a baking paper lined tray and top generously with more grated cheese. (See note)  Bake in a preheated (oven must be preheated!) for 15 mins for medium sized and 17mins for large sized. Cool slightly then slice and spread with loads of butter! Notes:  Replace the yoghurt with a can of sprite or soda water (335mls) which gives them a lovely crust Use 2 ½ cups of pizza blend cheese You want some of the topping cheese to spread down the side of the scones on to the tray so you get the really crispy bits on the edges. These scones also freeze well and are excellent to add to lunchboxes. They are good cold but if reheating are best reheated by slicing in half and toasting in the oven for a few mins.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/16/20235 minutes, 20 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Mother-Daughter Murder Night and The Secret Hours

Mother-Daughter Murder Night – Nina Simon  Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door.  The whodunit sees an older, high-powered businesswoman convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter and granddaughter. When the granddaughter discovers a body while kayaking and becomes a suspect, the trio, all fiercely independent, must come together to solve the crime, uncovering all sorts of secrets in the town along the way.      The Secret Hours – Mick Herron  Monochrome is a busted flush - an inquiry into the misdeeds of the intelligence services, established by a vindictive prime minister but rendered toothless by a wily chief spook. For years it has ground away uselessly, interviewing witnesses with nothing to offer, producing a report with nothing to say, while the civil servants at its helm see their careers disappearing into a black hole.  And then the OTIS file falls into their hands...    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/16/20234 minutes, 7 seconds
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Mike Yardley: The sights of Skopje, North Macedonia

"Instantly appealing, Skopje brims with time-honoured charm and some quite recent epic transformations. There’s a distinct sense of quirkiness that adds to its overwhelming good looks. The pint-sized country dodged the ravages of war, after declaring its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991." Read Mike's full article here.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/16/202310 minutes, 7 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Are our doctors overqualified?

In light of the recent medical strikes, Kevin Milne has been thinking about doctors. Are our medical professionals overqualified? Do we make it too hard for many bright motivated students to get into med school?   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/16/20236 minutes, 9 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: The election's impact on financial planning

With tax changes and policy changes promised by differing parties – where should the election feature in your financial plan? Plenty of people have spent the past year holding off on financial decisions, on the expectation that a change in Government would have a material impact on their wealth creation plans – but is that a sound strategy, or a risky one?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The country's first VegElection

This is what I got in my inbox a week or so ago:  As New Zealand prepares to go to the polls, the reputation of the country’s favourite vegetables are at stake in the country’s very first VegElection.  Be a part of history and let your taste buds be heard. Voting closes 30 September 2023. Cast your vote on Yates' website. Everyone who votes goes into the draw to win one of three $500 National Gardening Week hampers containing Kiwis’ favourite vegie seeds and everything to kick start a bountiful summer garden.  Good old Yates!  Imagine asking people what their favourite vegetables are, especially since some of them are quite a pain to grow!  Example: rogue potatoes that pop up everywhere in your garden. The trouble is they are hosts for the Potato-tomato psyllid, a bummer of a creature (exotic!) that always manages to suck the living daylights out of my precious tomatoes!!  For the record: my favourite edibles are Tomatoes, Witlof, Cos Lettuce, asparagus, and Spring Onions.  Asparagus are my only crop that needs constant weeding – it doesn’t want too much “competition” at root level, so I always hack away at little weedlings on a regular basis. I mulch and cut the old asparagus ferns in autumn, add compost and fertile molecules (liquid fertiliser: Seafood Soup) and keep everything nice and clean and gorgeous.  Our reward: first crop of asparagus came out on the last day of August!  To my absolute delight two other crops appeared in the asparagus bed in winter:  Seedling plants of the red Cos lettuce, as well as spring onion seedlings.  Both are doing well in the asparagus bed, no doubt self-sown by the plants in the next door vegetable bed. They literally have all the space they want and grow fabulously with the regular seafood soup applications.  What about the “competition”? - you may well ask.  Asparagus have their roots at least 4 inches below ground level. Spring Onions and Cos lettuce don’t go much deeper than 2 inches – so no major fighting in that department.  Asparagus are thin and lanky and won’t cast a great deal of shade on the Cos and onion; and the little shade caused by lettuce is not going to bother asparagus (which initiates from well below the ground and is above the soil for just a few days!).  All I need to do is keep up the liquid fertiliser molecules so everybody has a feed.  Oh – and by the way: the red Cos is a hardier version of the green Cos lettuce when you get frosts!  Weedy vegetables? Oh yes – and I love them.  Especially since they seem to work together in an ecological fashion  Competition? Nah, collaboration!  Great candidates for the Vegelection … Just before National gardening week on 11 October  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/20234 minutes, 50 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple adopts USB-C and their SOS service now assists drivers

The iPhone 15 is the first to use USB-C   Huge! The European Union voted to approve legislation to require smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers, and other small devices to support USB-C charging by 2024, and Apple has delivered globally. It's part of the EU's goal tackle e-waste, but also allows consumers more options for accessories.  An additional bonus: The USB-C connector allows for direct recording of video to an external drive, allowing the iPhone 15 Pro to be used just like a professional digital film camera on set Pro Res 4K up to 60 frames per second for the first time.    Apple's SOS service now assists drivers  Now extended to roadside assistance in the USA with the AAA - which is a huge help for those who travel to the parts of the US where your provider's cell signal is spotty. They now have you covered for flat tires, breakdowns, etc.  NZ saw its first use of the SOS service just last week to rescue hikers in Canterbury, after first becoming available in May. They found themselves cut off by rising waters near Arthur's Pass.  Interestingly - Apple hasn’t announced what it will cost, they've only said so far that it's free for the first two years.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/20233 minutes, 46 seconds
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Tara Ward: Dear Child, Blue Lights, The Morning Show

Dear Child:   A German psychological thriller about a mysterious woman’s escape from captivity and her links to an unsolved disappearance years earlier (Netflix).     Blue Lights:   This police drama set in Belfast follows new recruits Grace, Annie and Tommy as they learn the ropes win a high-pressure environment (ThreeNow).        The Morning Show:   Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon are back for a new season set in the cutthroat world of an American TV morning news show (AppleTV+).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/20233 minutes, 46 seconds
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Vitale Lafaele: First Samoan Police Commander and speaker on his book 'A Canoe Before the Wind'

Vitale Lafaele has lived a life of challenges, adversity, and bravery.   Arriving in Auckland from Samoa during the 1970s Dawn Raids era, his childhood was characterised by poverty, discrimination, and bullying.   Lafaele told Jack Tame that he would never take back the hard times, and that it taught him a lot about life.  He served for seven years in the New Zealand army and the Police for 30. Lafaele was the first Samoan to gain the command of an area in New Zealand and the first Polynesian to reach the top level in any of Auckland's three metropolitan police districts.   He’s told his extraordinary journey in his book ‘A Canoe Before the Wind’.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/202317 minutes, 19 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: A Haunting in Venice and Blue Beetle

A Haunting in Venice:  In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.    Blue Beetle:  Jaime Reyes suddenly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology called the Scarab. When the Scarab chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he's bestowed with an incredible suit of armor that's capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/20235 minutes, 52 seconds
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Jack Tame: A new high in reality TV casting

Maybe I’m just too close to it, but my sense is that a big slab of the New Zealand public is thoroughly sick of the election campaign already.  People are done. They’re fed up. They’re spent. And for the days of the week in between significant sporting fixtures, they’re dead keen for a different kind of contest that doesn’t seem so negative and bleak.   And this morning, I’ve got the answer. Before I share it though, you’ve got to understand, I’m not usually one to gush about reality TV. It’s not that I’m too cerebral or hoity-toity. It’s not that I spend my evenings annotating James Joyce and listening to Baroque compositions in a leather armchair, it’s certainly not that I don’t own a TV. It’s just that sometimes I find some of the shows a bit formulaic.  This one will be different. On Monday night, a new season of Celebrity Treasure Island begins, and as much as I’m excited about the comedians, and the middle-aged sporting stars, one celebrity contestant in particular marks what I think is an extraordinary new high in reality TV casting.  Competing in the Papura team and raising money for I Am Hope, is none other than Tame Iti.  Yes, that Tame Iti. Tame Iti of the discharging-a-shotgun-at-Waitangi Tame Iti. He of Te Urewera raids. Tame Iti, former member of the NZ Communist Party. Former champion wrestler. Tame Iti, actor, artist. Tame Iti, lifelong Māori rights activist.  This is what makes New Zealand great. Only in New Zealand could a person like Tame Iti, with his extraordinary life and history, be happily cast in a survival reality show alongside the former captain of the Warriors.  To be fair, Celebrity Treasure Island has consistently set the standard for entertaining New Zealand telly. I know there will be some people rolling their eyes but trust me - that’s only because you haven’t seen it. The thing that makes the show so genius is how it has become such a glorious reflection of our culture. The cast is always diverse. They’re always characters. And as much as they each want to compete to win, the programme as a whole never takes itself very seriously. It’s incredible self-aware and self-deprecating. It’s moving. It’s emotional.  If you do decide to do it, to get yourself in the mood, watch Tame Iti’s Ted talk on Youtube. It’s a simple speech called Mana: The Power in Knowing Who You Are. It’s the most moving and affecting Ted talk I’ve ever seen.  So that’s my recommendation for you this week. If you feel like the election campaign has turned into a daily exercise in talking down New Zealand, give Celebrity Treasure Island a crack.  Tame Iti, artist. Tame Iti, activist. Could he soon be Tame Iti, Celebrity Treasure Island champion? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/20234 minutes, 11 seconds
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Elliott Smith: Newstalk ZB's rugby commentator on the pool match between the All Blacks and Namibia

A big win for the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup.  They've beaten Namibia 71 points to 3, while playing in Toulouse this morning.  Newstalk ZB’s Elliott Smith told Jack Tame that as far as the All Blacks are concerned it went virtually as good as it could’ve gone.  That is until the 72nd minute, when Ethan de Groot was red carded for a high hit on Namibian player Adriaan Booysen.  Smith said that de Groot was likely to get a six week ban that could be mitigated down to three, and potentially down to two if he’s eligible for the tackle school ruling.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/15/20236 minutes, 26 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Lovers, Bay of Fires, Alone

The Lovers  A British drama about the relationship between Janet, a supermarket worker who doesn’t care about anything, and Seamus, a self-centred, political broadcaster (Neon).     Bay of Fires  An Australian crime dramedy about a successful CEO who is forced to escape to Tasmania with her children to avoid a murder plot (TVNZ+).     Alone  The most intense and genuine reality adventure series on TV is back, with new seasons on both TVNZ+ and Netflix. Ten individuals try to survive alone in the wilderness for as long as they possibly can, with limited access to survival equipment.     LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20235 minutes, 57 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Olivia Rodrigo - Guts

Guts is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo, released on September 8, 2023, by Geffen Records. Two singles preceded the album's release: the lead single, "Vampire", was released on June 30, 2023. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20235 minutes, 44 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Eye-catching artwork in Rotterdam

"But like an edgy antidote to the chocolate-box gorgeousness of gabled Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ second-biggest city, Rotterdam is a contemporary, design-focused urban masterclass that will soon seduce you." Check out Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20237 minutes, 57 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Normal Rules Don't Apply and Adventures with Emille

Normal Rules Don’t Apply - Kate Atkinson   A dazzling collection of eleven interconnected stories from the bestselling, award-winning author of Shrines of Gaiety and Life After Life which offer the gimlet eye and delightful social critique that have made Atkinson one of the most lauded writers of our time. In this brilliant volume, nothing is quite as it seems.    Adventures with Emille - Victoria Bruce   A mother and daughter's wild journey to rediscover the wonder and restorative power of nature. “I'm here because I want to test the very limits of my own resilience and reassure myself that no matter what's happened to me, I'm not ready to lie down and die.”    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20234 minutes, 40 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Predator Control

I clearly remember Maggie Barry, John Key and Nick Smith, Steven Joyce and Nathan Guy launching Predator-Free NZ in July 2016, 7 years ago!  This was a big gig; and it’s still going.  If you think about it, it’s a huge task and incredibly collaborative, with scientists, DOC and heaps of New Zealand Volunteer trappers. Make no mistake, the army of ordinary kiwis and backyard engineers are really contributing to the reduction of exotic pests in our ecosystems.  I can see the improvements in our biodiversity simply by looking from my window on the Port Hills in Christchurch!  The most important predators we are targeting are mice, rats, stoats, ferrets, weasels, Possums, hedgehogs and – oh yes – feral cats! Add domestic dogs kept off lead in kiwi habitat and you’ve got the line-up we’re aiming for.  I realise this is a little bit more than the original target line-up, but I have my own reasons for including mice, hedgehogs and uncontrolled dogs.  Mice: they’re everywhere and actually (kind-of) do the ecological job of a tree weta.  Mice are predominantly seed and nuts eaters. Walnuts, hazelnuts, etc. Fatty materials allows them to successfully overwinter in your garden.  They also eat a heap of insects and they are important food for rats! (Mice keep rat numbers up)  Simple mouse traps are a great idea around the house – cheap traps, baited with peanut butter or Nutella or hazelnut spread. Shelled walnuts work well too. Contrary to popular belief they don’t really go for cheese! I have them all around my house and even in the ceiling. I set my traps near the wall – that’s where they run to keep “out-of-sight”.  Rats do a lot of damage to birds and lizards. They raid nests and eggs. Most people are not aware that they also go for juicy, large insects (weta and other large, native critters).  Rat traps are a large version of mouse traps and they can be used on their own around the house, or inside a wooden tunnel, which gives the rat some cover and shelter as it explores the smell of the delicious bait in the trap.  Great baits are peanut butter and Nutella, as well as fish and moldy cheese.  One thing that rats are keen on is a trajectory that leaves them unnoticed. Traps near a wall or along a fence line seem to be working best. Make sure you don’t “contaminate” the lure with your bare hands – good idea to wear gloves so the rat doesn’t… well… smell a rat (I mean a human!!).  Stoats are a lot trickier again – they really will avoid open spaces. And they are clever.  You’ll also need a much heavier artillery (trap) than rats, as stoats are able to survive the smack of a rat trap; they also have the ability to escape from these traps by wriggling out.  A “DOC 200” is the heavy duty trap to use here. These metal traps are usually built inside a wooden box with attractive lures (salted rabbit meat or fresh rabbit cuts, eggs, and believe it or not: mayonnaise!). Eggs are often a visual attractant to these mustelids.  I have always been disappointed by the clever stoat’s ability to avoid my traps. I rarely trap these buggers.  Stoats can kill young kiwi (up to 800 gram body-weight) and they are ferocious hunters.  DOC 200 stoat trap. Photo / Supplied  Ferrets are another step up in the predator game – they’ll kill adult kiwi and large prey; you won’t find them in urban areas – they are creatures of the farm and forest edges. They also require some serious knowledge to trap, plus an even heavier gauge of trap.  Just so you know: I am a member of the stoat and ferret conservation society… In the Netherlands!  That’s where they are native and that’s where they are in ecological trouble due to the declining populations – how ironic!  I actually used to have a pet ferret in Holland – wonderful animals!  Possums are the last species I’ll mention in this segment. We have about 70 million of them in our forests and gardens.  They mainly feed on fruits, shoots, and leaves: 21,000 tonnes each night, which is about the same as the weight of the sky tower. They alter the composition of our native forests.  Possums get protein from eating birds (and nestlings).  Possums really need a Timms Trap, baited with apple, cinnamon and such delights. I often use flour and icing sugar mix and smear that on the tree near the trap – it really “lures them in”  Timms Trap. Photo / Supplied  The modern form of the old Timms Trap is the Flipping Timmy. This trap can be attached to a tree trunk, so the possum climbs up and ends up in the trap  Great websites exist on trapping the pests; have a look and join the team of New Zealanders keeping their gardens and local reserves and parks predator free. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: What do we mean when we say “wellbeing”?

It’s important to know what you mean so you’re clear on what you’re aiming for.  Wellbeing could be defined in at least one of 3 ways:  Feeling good, happy, satisfied with life (sometimes called hedonic wellbeing)  Having meaning & purpose in life, leading a fulfilling life, accepting who you are (eudaimonic wellbeing)  Leading a life full of rich & varied experiences – doesn’t mean you will necessarily feel positive in the moment but leads to longer term broader view of life incorporating different perspectives    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20236 minutes, 25 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Microsoft's AI, Google's Mountain View visiting centre, and heated BMW seats

Microsoft wants you to use its AI so badly, it'll cover you if you get sued  Copyright, and infringing it, is one of the biggest concerns many corporates have about diving into the AI game. There are so many open questions that they're not prepared just yet to take the risk. It's a huge departure from most 'terms and conditions' of services, where companies  do almost everything they can to distance themselves from the user. They don't want to be held liable! But Microsoft says if you use the filters and guardrails they've implemented, then they'll back you. That's quite the commitment, especially as Microsoft and OpenAI are already being sued for allegedly recreating licensed code without crediting the engineers.     If you're a Google fan, you'll soon be able to visit the Mountain View campus  Add this to your San Franciso travel itinerary. Google is turning 25, and to celebrate they're opening a visitor center on its famous campus in Silicon Valley. Like any good American tourist attraction there'll be a store, where you can explore and purchase Google products - like their phones, tablets and laptops. There'll also be a community space for events, a cafe and public art.      BMW is pulling the handbrake on its heated seat subscription  Ahead of its US launch, BMW has shelved plans to offer this service in your brand-new car on a subscription plan for $18 a month! It actually launched in some places, including NZ. It seems buyers weren't impressed - a BMW board member says: "People feel that they paid double – which was actually not true, but perception is reality, I always say. So that was the reason we stopped that.” Typically these types of features are available as 'upgrades' when you order your car for hundreds or sometimes thousands of additional dollars.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20236 minutes, 13 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Gallstones

What are gallstones?  Gall bladder: sits under the liver.  Stores and concentrates bile: fluid made in liver which helps digest fats.  This bile clumps together to form ‘stones’: From sand to small pebbles.     Who is at risk?  10% New Zealanders have gallstones, 80% have no symptoms.  Most at risk:   Women are twice as likely as men.  Ages 20 to 60.   If you’re carrying too much weight, have a family history of them, have diabetes, or experience rapid weight loss.     What are the symptoms?  80% have no symptoms.       Can be severe pain, ‘colic’ - often pain in the right upper abdomen, through to your back between shoulder blades.  Often after eating a large, fatty meal.  They can cause nausea, vomiting, and indigestion. May mimic a heart attack.  If it’s more severe it becomes infected or inflamed: fever, sweats, jaundice – turning yellow.     How do we diagnose?  History and exam, blood tests.  The doctor will order an ultrasound to look for stones, sometimes an MRI scan.     What do we do about them?  Avoid fatty foods, drink plenty of fluids, slow weight reduction - not rapid.  May need surgery ‘laparoscopic’ keyhole surgery to remove the gallbladder.  We don’t need the gallbladder – get by very well without it.  Often see ads for remedies such as lemon juice or large amounts of oil. These don’t work! No evidence at all!  If you have pain in abdomen – see your GP.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20235 minutes, 17 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3   Members of the Portokalos family reunite in Greece for a hilarious and heart-warming trip full of love, twists and turns. The family gather in Athens after the passing of Gus, honouring his final wish that they visit his birthplace, reconnect with his old friends, and discover their family roots.    Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre   Elite spy Orson Fortune must track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology wielded by billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds. Reluctantly teamed up with some of the world's best operatives, Fortune and his crew recruit Hollywood's biggest movie star, Danny Francesco, to help them on their globe-trotting mission to save the world.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/8/20236 minutes, 35 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Buttery mussel and sake buns

BBQ mussels are just the best! When they pop open their shells on the grill you can sneak all manner of interesting flavours into them – in this recipe it’s butter, soy sauce and a splash of sake that gives them that authentic Japanese BBQ house taste. Once cooked, pluck ‘em out of the shells, tuck them into a small soft bun, or pop them on a mound of rice, with shredded cabbage and plenty of sesame dressing and eat. I guarantee you’ll be in heaven!  Makes 8-12 sliders    Ingredients:  16-24 mussels in shells  1 lemon, halved  8-12 sliders or small soft white rolls  50g butter, softened  ¼ cup tamari soy sauce  ¼ cup sake  ½ cup store bought sesame salad dressing  2 cups finely shredded cabbage    Method:  Give mussels a quick scrub and remove hairy beards by gripping firmly and pulling towards the rounded tip of the shell.  Place mussels on grill plate of BBQ and cook until the shells begin to pop open. Place lemon cut side down to grill also.  As each mussel pops open, sneak a small knob of butter into each, as well as a teaspoon of tamari soy sauce. Allow to cook for a few minutes then douse in sake and toss on the grill. Remove from grill.  Liberally butter tops of each bun and grill each until butter is foamy and tops have turned golden – watch them as they like go from golden to burnt rather quickly!  TO SERVE: Set all ingredients out on a board for diners to build their own buns stuffed with mussels and cabbage and drizzled in sesame dressing and a squeeze of warm lemon juice.  MAKE IT YOUR OWN:  Add in a little slice of daikon radish into each bun for extra crunch Flag the buns and serve with little bowls of slaw and rice Use softened butter blended with lemongrass and lime leaves instead of sake for a Thai-inspired flavour Make it Spanish with olive oil in place of butter and a thin slice of chorizo tucked into each mussel No mussels? Make little foil parcels of using snapper instead, cooking them on the bbq for about 10-15 minutes See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/8/20235 minutes, 40 seconds
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Elliott Smith: Newstalk ZB Rugby Correspondent on the All Blacks loss to France

This morning watched the first Rugby World Cup match of 2023 play out, the All Blacks versing France at Stade de France.  France beat the All Blacks 27-13, ending their run of 31 straight wins in the pool stage.  Newstalk ZB’s rugby correspondent Elliott Smith told Jack Tame that it was a real testament to their game management.   He said that in the first half it seemed like the All Blacks had all the momentum, but the French never let them in in that second half.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/8/20234 minutes, 8 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Foley - Crowd Pleaser

Auckland based pop-duo Foley have finally released their highly anticipated album ‘Crowd Pleaser.’ They released their EP ‘Crowd Pleaser Pt. 1’ in February of 2023, with the full album releasing on August 25th, six months later.   The duo have over 100k monthly listeners on Spotify.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20236 minutes, 43 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Bites and sights in Sofia, Bulgaria

This week Mike Yardley went adventuring through the beautiful Sofia, capital of Bulgaria.   Read Mike’s full article here.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20234 minutes, 18 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Cinderella Boys and Masters of Death

Cinderella Boys - Leo McKinstry   The remarkable story of the unsung RAF wing who rescued Britain from Hitler's U-boats and made Allied victory possible.  The transformation of Coastal Command from a ramshackle outfit into a vast, formidable organisation provided one of the turning points of the war, keeping Britain in the war and opening the way to D-Day in 1944. But they never received the credit they deserved.  Based on a wealth of new sources, including from diaries, log books, official records, archives and interviews, Leo McKinstry shines a new light the courageous pilots, ingenious scientists and political risktakers - many of them outsiders - who defended the freezing Atlantic from Nazi rule.    Masters of Death - Olivie Blake  Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the house has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on.  Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death. When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with her ghost-infested mansion, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few high-functioning creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20234 minutes, 55 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Buds and flowering trees

Buds and flowering trees – it sometimes feels like Spring, but don’t be fooled for another 4 weeks mistakes can be made!  Spring —by the way— starts 23rd of September at eleven minutes to seven in the evening. ;-)  Yet slowly —very slowly— the soil starts to warm up a bit and that is a condition that requires us to plant our new crops and ornamentals.  First of all, the soils are still quite moist and that is a positive reason to plant anything that lives long: shrubs, trees, fruit-bearing vines, and flowering, perennial beauties.  Reason is: the planted trees/shrub etc will not need to “sulk” for a long time – it will ‘wake up’ from its winter slumber relatively quickly to start the growth.   And there little need to water these new plants.  Because the soil is slowly warming up, the fertiliser you apply will be absorbed relatively quickly – the N-P-K won’t dissolve into the deeper soils where it might get “lost”.  The same arguments will go for your food crops:  Peas, Broadbeans, Cos lettuce, and spring onions will almost immediately germinate or adapt after planting, giving you the first spring crops of fresh vegetables. Oh, and Carrots, Cauliflowers, and spinach are also on the “NOW” list.  For those of you that like “new Potatoes” for Christmas: start chitting and plant your spuds as seed potatoes; Jersey Bennes and such early varieties are probably the best to use before Christmas.  That’s all I do this year so I don’t play Russian roulette with solanum pests such as Psyllids, later in the season (AND I WANT TO PROTECT MY MAIN TUNNELHOUSE CROP: TOMATOES!).  That brings me to SOWING the tomato varieties for 2023-24. If you do that now, (like inside in a relatively warm room with plenty of light) you’ll find they will germinate quickly, so that you can start “hardening” them off by placing them outside in sheltered areas during the day (take them inside again when the evening coolness comes along after 5 pm).  Just get them used to the spring conditions slowly.  Mine will go into the tunnel house to provide me with tomatoes from Early December till well into autumn. You can also grow them under “cloches” to help them along during the cooler spring nights. Cloches are miniature glass houses that hold just one plant. They literally reduce the difference between warm day temperatures and cool nights.  My fabulous, rich and well-drained bed for Strawberries is ready to be planted. Last year’s crop has been disastrous, probably because I really didn’t have the time to weed well; and I left too many old runners in that bed, which didn’t provide me with too many strawberries.  Cama Rosa is my pick of the strawberries and a fine netting will need to be placed on top, so that the birds are not able to access them later this spring.  Don’t forget to use some liquid fertiliser (Seafood Soup and Seaweed Tea!!) to give your plants the boost they need! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20235 minutes, 53 seconds
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Kate Hall: NZ Fashion Week - Sustainability in Fashion

Kate Hall’s been at NZ Fashion Week this week and attended around twenty shows. She decided to share her perspective and thoughts as a sustainable fashion enthusiast:   + Kiri Nathan opened (first Māori designer to open with a solo show - incredible representation & move for NZ Fashion).  + I’m reminded of the over consumption of fashion: attendees arriving in new outfits (some wearing multiple new outfits a day), outfit after outfit coming down the runway - new seasons.  + Excited to see The Graduate show include a lot of repurposed materials and styles.  + Slow conscious collection of 3 sustainable designers - though far less attendance at this one!  + Diversity of models - not as progressive as I expected it would be in 2023.  + Feels incredibly strange to have a fashion week that doesn't mention the makers as predominantly - only a few shows actually had storytelling & meaning in their shows.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20239 minutes, 38 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Paritua 2020 Stone Paddock Scarlet

Paritua 2020 Stone Paddock Scarlet, Hawke’s Bay $24.99  Why I chose it:  - Terrific red at a modest price  - Demonstrates the value of mechanical sorting  - Terrific wine from an excellent vintage.  - Potential to develop well with bottle age.  - A blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc.  What does it taste like?  - Intense, almost chewy red with cassis, dark berry, dark chocolate, dried herbs, cedar, vanilla and nutty oak. Good cellaring potential - needs time to mellow.  Why it’s a bargain:  - Great wine at a great price  Where can you buy it?  - Vino Fino (Chch) $20.99   - Advintage, Hawke’s Bay $23.99   - Regional Wines, Wellington $24.99  Food match?   - Fillet steak, most red meat dishes.  Will it keep?  - Yes. 5-10 years, possibly more if stored well See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20233 minutes, 6 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: EU Microsoft Office bundles, Australia backtracks online age verification

Microsoft's Office bundle in the EU will look different to the rest of the world  It'll be missing Teams thanks to an anti-competitive complaint by competitor Slack, made to the European Commission.  Microsoft is taking the proactive step of offering a bundle —that's cheaper than the current one— that doesn't include Teams. It'll be €2 less per month or €24 per year, which still makes it a more expensive option to get Office and Slack together.  They'll also offer Teams as a standalone product for €5 per month.   The Commission is still actively investigating Microsoft, so this may not be the only change we see.    Australia has backtracked from forcing age verification on adult websites   The options all proved to have a mix of privacy, security, effectiveness and implementation challenges. The Minister will now work with the industry to educate parents on how to access filtering services and limit children's access to adult content — so effectively, putting the problem back for parents to solve.     Want to feel old? Gen Z apparently doesn't know how to dial phone numbers with letters in them!  ZB's sister station ZM had to show a video on their Instagram about how to dial the 0800 number with words! Were they joking? I don't know!    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20233 minutes, 57 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, Starstruck

The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies  An unpredictable thriller that tells the story of two women who have nothing in common - apart from the same conman, who is trying to destroy them both (TVNZ+).    Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones  Author Dan Buetter travels around the world to visit five unique communities where people live long and exuberant lives, and to discover their secrets to long living (Netflix).    Starstruck   The third season of the brilliant rom-com series written by Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden lands on our screens (TVNZ1, Saturday at 8.30pm and TVNZ+).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20235 minutes, 47 seconds
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Dallas Tamaira: Fat Freddy's Drop frontman on his solo work 'Stormy'

Dallas Tamaira's been the frontman of the genre-bending seven-piece band Fat Freddy’s Drop for more than 20 years.   During the pandemic and unable to tour with his band, Dallas hit a new phase of personal creativity.   With nothing to do but write and create, Dallas began working on brand new solo music.  'Stormy' which was released only yesterday, and today he joined Jack Tame to chat about his new creation.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/202314 minutes, 32 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Lemon Ice Cream and the NZ Ice Cream and Gelato Awards

Nici Wickes MC'd the NZ Ice Cream and Gelato Awards last night, where medals and trophies were awarded to the best of the best ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen desserts in NZ. She joined Jack Tame to run through some of the highlights, plus, she has a very easy, no churn needed, ice cream recipe to share.    River Cafe’s Lemon Ice Cream  This is the incredibly delicious ice cream from the esteemed River Cafe in London. It’s a magic alchemy of just a few ingredients and no ice cream churn is needed. Try it, you’ll love it!  Makes 4 small portions  Ingredients:  Zest of 1 lemon  1/3 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)  135g (about 2/3 cup) caster sugar  ½ tsp sea salt  300mls cream  Method:  In a bowl stir together the lemon juice and zest, sugar and salt. Drizzle in the cream whilst still stirring gently. The mixture will immediately thicken a bit – like magic! – as you keep gently stirring. If it doesn’t thicken at all, add a bit more lemon juice.  Pour into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours. No stirring needed.  Serve in little scoops, on it’s own. Divine! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20237 minutes, 47 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Scrapper and The Equalizer 3

Scrapper  Living alone in her London flat, 12-year-old Georgie must confront reality when her estranged father, Jason, shows up out of nowhere. Uninterested in a sudden new parental figure, she remains stubbornly resistant to his efforts. As they both adjust to their new circumstances, Georgie and Jason soon find that they still have a lot of growing up to do.  The Equalizer 3  Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall finds solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Now living in Southern Italy, he soon discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall becomes their protector by taking on the mafia.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20235 minutes, 31 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Who knew an ad could be so fun?

This week Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about a ridiculously hilarious commercial he saw recently. Who knew an ad about free bowel screenings could be so fun?  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/1/20234 minutes, 41 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Birdy - Portraits

‘Portraits’ is the fifth studio album released by English singer-songwriter Birdy, and takes influence from the sounds of 80’s pop music. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/26/20236 minutes, 39 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: When One of Us Hurts and Lady Tans Circle of Women

When One of Us Hurts by Monica Vuu  The small coastal town has its own ways of dealing with the evil, the foolish, the misled, and it holds tightly to them. But the seams start to split after two deaths occur on the same tragic night: a baby abandoned at the foot of a lighthouse, and a drunken teenager drowned in the storming sea.    Lady Tans Circle of Women by Lisa See   From a young age, Yunxian learns about women's illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other's joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.  But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/26/20234 minutes, 6 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Breezing through Bucharest

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his adventures through the beautiful Bucharest, capital of Romania. Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/26/20239 minutes, 10 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: Keeping mentally well in winter

A lot of us get “the blues” during winter or feel a little down – for some people this is a more serious disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder where periods of depression are strongly linked to winter seasons – although interestingly there must be more to it than simply levels of light/winter weather as it’s not so common in people living in polar regions.  Tips for keeping mentally well over winter:  Keep doing the basics:  Try and get some daylight each day, especially if you’re leaving for work in the dark and coming home in the dark  Keep up your exercise  Keep your sleep in good patterns  Kiwis are pretty oriented towards the outdoors and getting out and about, which is more difficult in winter. Maybe rather than trying to fight the winter weather, learn to embrace it – like the Danish concept of “Hygge” where they relish and make the most of winter – think sitting inside toasting marshmallows, having people over for candlelit dinners inside after cooking up a big winter feast, cosying up with a good book on a rainy afternoon etc.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/26/20235 minutes, 27 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Sand Scarab Beetles

Spent a week in one of my favourite regions: Tairawhiti… Wainui, Tolaga Bay, Mangatuna and Tokomaru Bay.  The school kids love muckin’ around on beaches, despite all that hideous slash everywhere.  Looking for bugs, of course.  At Tolaga Bay they found heaps of rather large black scarab beetles, known in the trade as Pericoptus truncatus, or “sand scarab”; moving across the sandy, grassy play area during the day.  Captured specimens were digging down into the sand provided in the containers.  This was my opportunity to raise the fact that this beetle is related to some rather famous species from the more tropical regions of the world: The “Rhinoceros beetles”.  The male sand scarabs actually have a rudimentary “horn” on their head to shows the species “affinities”.  Our sand scarabs live on beaches and dunes and are adapted to moving about the sand habitat. The larvae (grubs) are able to actually migrate from the beaches to inland habitats over reasonably long distances; it is presumed they are needing a certain amount or percentage of moisture in the sand.  The grubs are “massive” (6 cm long or more), creamy-white, with distinct round stomata (breathing-hole) patches on the side of their bodies.  Their larval food is the decaying woody mass of driftwood on beaches and the roots of grasses in dune vegetation.  The adult beetles are sturdy insects that can dig into the sand really fast. During the day they will hide in the sand (sometimes at considerable depth: a meter or so deep!), but at night they surface again to go hooning in the dunes and on the beach – they are very noisy flyers and that no doubt helps with locating potential partners.  The front legs of these beetles have specially-adapted claws that allow them to dig efficiently.  The beetles and the larvae themselves are often coated with populations of mites on their skin. These have always thought to be parasitic mites, but there are suggestions that these tiny critters might actually be feeding on other mites and nematodes, associated with the sand scarabs.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20234 minutes, 41 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Does it still make sense to buy a home?

Data shows that mortgage payments are much higher than paying rent – but does that mean it’s not worth owning a home? What are the implications of not owning? What should you be doing with that ‘spare’ money if you opt to rent instead?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20235 minutes, 22 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Meta's coding AI and Trump's return to X

Meta's launched AI to produce code  Their new "Code Llama" can create working code from natural language prompts, and also debug and explain code pasted into it. So in what is a bizarre turn of events, Meta software engineers have created AI to take their job… or at least parts of it.   Meta says this allows its staff to focus on the "most human-centric aspects of their job, rather than repetitive tasks". But they don't go so far as to say what those human aspects are.  Microsoft's Github Copilot has similar features but is currently being sued for copyright because the AI can reproduce proprietary code.     Donald Trump is back on Twitter/X  Back to post an image with his mug shot from his booking in Atlanta, with the words "Election Interference, never surrender" and just a link to his website to fundraise.  Trump was banned indefinitely, until Elon bought Twitter and gave him his account back.   His return is not a surprise though. According to reports earlier this year, his exclusivity deal with his own Truth Social was due to expire in June and sources said he was eager to get back to Twitter. This post could be the first of many to come.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20233 minutes, 58 seconds
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Tara Ward: Kin, Who is Erin Carter?, At Home with the Fury's

Kin A gritty Irish drama about a small Dublin crime family who take on a gangland war with a powerful international drug cartel after a young boy is killed (TVNZ+).     Who is Erin Carter? A British schoolteacher living in Spain finds herself entangled in a supermarket robbery and must fight to clear her name after she is recognised by one of the criminals (Netflix).    At Home with the Fury’s Netflix’s new reality series follows the lives of controversial boxer Tyson Fury and his family.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20234 minutes, 36 seconds
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Owen Wright: Australian surfing legend on his new memoir 'Against the Water'

Australian surfing legend Owen Wright ranked 5th in the world, earned a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games and was the first surfer to get to two perfect scores in one event. In 2015, he wiped out at the Bnzai Pipeline in Hawaii and suffered a major brain injury, resulting in him needing to relearn how to walk, talk, and surf once more. In early August he released his memoir ‘Against the Water’ chronicling his journey and experiences. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/202316 minutes, 27 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Apple Pie

This pie is so perfect as a quick dessert that will thrill anyone lucky enough to be sharing dinner with you, especially served warm with vanilla ice cream and softly whipped cream.  Serves 2-4    Ingredients: 1 sheet store-bought puff pastry  1 small egg, lightly beaten  1 teaspoon sugar for sprinkling on top  Filling  2 tablespoons cornflour  2 big tablespoons brown sugar  1 teaspoon mixed spice (or just cinnamon will do)  ¼ teaspoon nutmeg  2 granny smith apples, peeled and roughly chopped into small pieces  ¼ cup sultanas  ¼ cup toasted walnut pieces  Ice cream and whipped cream to serve    Method: Heat oven to 180 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.  Halve the sheet of pastry and roll it out slightly thinner than it comes. I always do this with store-bought pastry as it tends towards being too thick straight out of the packet. Place one piece on the prepared tray and brush the edges with a lightly beaten egg.  In a bowl mix the filling ingredients together, tossing it all together to combine. The cornflour will help to thicken the juices once it starts to cook. Pile this filling up on the pastry leaving a 2cm border free of filling. Lay pastry lid over the filling (you may have to stretch it a little to cover) and press to seal it to the base. Make a few cuts in the top to let the air out, brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 40 minutes or until lovely and golden brown on top and crisp on the bottom.  Serve warm with ice cream and cream    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20234 minutes, 56 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Pacific Mother and Sound of Freedom

Pacific Mother In Pacific Mother we see that when women are supported emotionally, physically and culturally, they are more likely to have a positive birth experience. Whether it's in hospital or at home, on land or in the water. “Collaboration” has been key for our Pacific Mother film.    Sound of Freedom After rescuing a boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy's sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20236 minutes, 22 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Having a passion

Today Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about having passions, specifically a passion for your job. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20235 minutes, 3 seconds
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Jack Tame: The tui are back for spring

I had this amazing little moment one afternoon this week, when for the first time this winter... I threw open the doors of my deck, sprawled out on the couch nearby, and basked in the sunshine as it spilled through onto my face and neck.  Isn’t it amazing what a difference a few days of sunshine can make?  My God.  I know that there are parts of the country that have had it a whole lot sunnier than Auckland these last few months but I cannot recall a winter in my part of the World that has felt so wet and so grim.  The sunshine brought with it the first blossom of Spring.  I’ve got a Taiwan cherry tree in my backyard, and it’s been heavy with red and pink flowers.  And as much as I love the blossom, the tūi loved them more.  They’re always darting in and out at my place, hopping between branches of the different trees, calling out to their mates before hustling off for the next feed.  And tūi really do hustle, don’t you think? They don’t really glide as such. And even when they’re parked up, they always seem have a bit of a boisterous temperament.  Tūi are so beautiful. I love how understated and yet sophisticated their colours are, the black and green, and bronze, with that extraordinary irredescent shimmer, as though every feather has been lightly glazed. Tūi almost twinkle.  Some of the tūi who turn up at my place are perfectly turned out. Some have that slightly shabby appearance, as though they’ve gone to sleep with wet hair and forgot to check the mirror in the morning.  I’ve never heard them sing so much in my backyard as they have been these last few days. There was barely an instance when I looked up at that cherry tree and didn’t see a tūi drinking in the blossom, and calling out to his or her tūi mates.  Is this middle age? I dunno. But I’m at the age and stage where I get it. I get it. I get the native birds thing in a really big way. Lying on the couch in the sunshine, watching the tūi drink and sing out to the neighbourhood just made me feel so content.  ‘What can I do to steal a few more of these moments?’ I wondered.  I can’t do anything about the weather. I can’t compel the sun to shine.  I picked up my phone and googled three words. Predator. Free. NZ.  My brand new rat trap arrived the next morning. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/25/20233 minutes, 32 seconds
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Estelle Cliffords: Kelsea Ballerini - Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good)

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good) is an extended version of the second EP from American country-pop artist Kelsea Ballerini. The EP was initially released on the 14th of February 2023, and the extended version was released on the 11th of August 2023. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20236 minutes, 9 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Keeper of Hidden Books and Tom Lake

The Keeper of Hidden Books - Madeline Martin  From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London comes a heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw. All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving. With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto. But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families – and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left - literature.    Tom Lake - Ann Patchett  In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20234 minutes, 29 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A bite out of Transylvania

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his recent visit to Transylvania. Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20237 minutes, 51 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Invasive species and native plants

Always interesting! Gardeners love a wide range of plants; often species that are exotic, colourful and bright.  But a number of them are pretty invasive and “weedy.” We all know weeds – they grow where we don’t want them to grow.  Invasive species have often a larger impact on our planet, our natural gardens, forests, ecosystems and alpine vegetation. It all comes down to interfering with our native systems, pushing out our native critters, plants, and landscapes.  They change our Native systems to Exotic systems – Nice curricular exercise for schools: definitions of Native, Endemic, Exotic, Introduced, etc etc  Examples:  Darwin’s Barberry  One of the dirty dozen weeds (a Maggie Barry project when she was Minister for Conservation). Prickles and impossible for humans to get through. Seeds like an idiot and takes over native forests; hard to control and nobody benefits from flowers/nectar, apart from some pollinators. You can see why New Zealand Gardeners like the look of them!  Moth catching plant: Araujia  An exotic climber that smothers our native trees and shrubs. A pain in the butt in areas where we are trying to restore native vegetation. The seed pods have zillions of fluffy seeds in them that are dispersed on the wind in all directions. The stems and pods ooze a white, toxic sap (the same stuff that comes out of swan plants!) which allows Monarch Butterfly caterpillars to eat the plant. Some monarch aficionados use that horrid vine as “spare food.”  But there’s a real weird behaviour to these plants: the white flowers attract these insects with their nectar, and as the butterfly sticks its tongue into the flower it gets trapped. This is followed by distressed movements and flapping of the wings, which pollinates the flower;  The butterfly eventually dies, stuck on the flower…  A monarch butterfly stuck in Araujia. Please get rid of these horrible exotic climbers – they don’t belong here; they are exotic pests!  There are many plant species that catch insects to get some food: Sundews (alpine areas and around wetlands) love to get flies with their sticky leaves – it provides them with Nitrogen and proteins.  Venus flytraps also eat bugs… Kids love to observe them and hope a fly will land on the trigger hairs. I have no problem with technologies like that – that’s ecological life, especially in Aotearoa!  Parapara plant  Here we have a native species that is not terribly common; it occurs in Northern habitats, especially off-shore islands and coastal forests. It looks really lovely with large, almost tropical leaves.  Native to NZ and some other areas in the Pacific.  Small white flowers and copious amounts of long, sticky seed pods. And with sticky I mean super-glue! It holds insects small and large as well as small birds: silvereyes, grey warbler, fantails and even ruru (all going for the stuck insects, of course).  This is New Zealand’s method of “Seed Dispersal.”  The trapped bird often succumbs to this sticky situation, and falls down on the ground with seeds attached; the seeds use the decaying bird body as their first meal of fertiliser to germinate and grow up.  One of the reasons the Parapara plant is becoming “rare-ish” is because some folk believe that this plant is evil and therefore pull it out… (and many folk believe it is not a Native – well… it is!!).  If you want to save your birds in the garden: take the seeds off before they develop their sticky skin.  If you find birds that are stuck: don’t pull them off the seeds, but take them, branch and all, to a Bird Rescue place or a vet near you – they have the gear and correct shampoos to give those birds a chance to survive!  And please make a donation to the wonderful work they do.  More information can be found on the BirdCare Aotearoa website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20236 minutes, 23 seconds
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Kate Hall: Composting systems

- Bokashi: fermenting system, takes meat and high concentrations of citrus, cheap to make and transport easily.  - Cold Compost: microorganisms break things down (worms, bugs etc too).  - Hot Compost: more deliberate balance of materials that isn't added to over time (made and then left for 3-6 months), takes garden clippings, branches, hard things, gets up to 65/70 degrees.  - Worm Farm: worms do the work, can't put in strongly acidic foods, meat, dairy etc.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20239 minutes, 23 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Heartburn

What is it?  Burning sensation in the lower chest. Sometimes with a sour/bitter taste in mouth - often after big meal or lying Very mild to severe. Can cause you to cough or your voice to become hoarse. Lasts minutes or sometimes hours.    What causes it?  Stomach full of acid to digest food. Valve at top of stomach – may be weak and not fully The acid in the stomach escapes into oesophagus (tube from the mouth to stomach) and causes a burning sensation.     Can things make it worse?  Yes - smoking, alcohol, coffee, citrus fruits which are acidic, tomato, chocolate, spicy foods - the list goes on! Lying down after eating, being overweight, and some medicines.    How do you diagnose and treat it?  Often a careful history will give you the answer. Can be serious sometimes and need further investigation: endoscope -  camera in into the stomach to look for ulcers or ‘burning’ oesophagus. Sometimes do a test for a bacteria pylori which can make it worse Treat with ‘antacids’ which neutralise acid, or medication which stops acid in the  stomach, or if we have the bacteria, antibiotics. Can help prevent: being careful what you eat, not eating big meals before bed, losing weight, stop smoking, reduce alcohol. If have symptoms see your doctor!   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/20235 minutes, 33 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Typing in passwords and the launch of X Pro

Typing in your password - it's not as safe as you might think  With the help of AI, the researchers could effectively create a unique identifier for how you strike each key, and use that to figure out what you're typing. Each key has an ever-so-slightly different sound based on how we type and where the key is pressed.  In their experiment, they only needed the key to be pressed 25 times to create the link. To build this, they need to know what you initially typed as you typed it - which could be done via Zoom chat messages or filling in a form. Once they have that, they just need to listen to your type and they could gather passwords, private messages... anything that you type.  How do you get around that? A password manager that automatically copies in the password is a great way! Or having music, key stroke simulators, or white noise.    X has relaunched Tweetdeck as X Pro  And you guessed it… you now need to pay for it. I'm not surprised. I always thought Twitter should have done this and I think pre-Elon Musk, many social media managers and journalists would have been happy to.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/20234 minutes, 17 seconds
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Tara Ward: Fifteen-Love, Waco: The Aftermath, Men in Kilts

Fifteen-Love A British sports drama starring Aidan Turner (Poldark) about an elite tennis player who makes a shocking allegation against her former coach (TVNZ+).    Waco: The Aftermath An American drama about the aftermath of the disastrous 1993 standoff at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas (Neon).    Men in Kilts Two Scottish stars of time-travelling drama Outlander return for a second season of their travel show - and this time, they’re travelling around New Zealand (Neon).    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/20234 minutes, 3 seconds
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Al Brown releases 'Eat Up Eat Up New Zealand: The Bach Edition'

Iconic kiwi chef Al Brown is well known for his beloved restaurants Depot and Federal Delicatessen, as well as his Best Ugly Bagel shops. He’s published a number of cookbooks and has recently released a ‘Bach Edition’ of his recipe book ‘Eat Up New Zealand,’ featuring more than 150 recipes and on-location photos from around the country. Al Brown joined Jack Tame to chat about his new book and the stories and recipes within. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/202314 minutes, 52 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Tangerine Cake

Makes one loaf tin cake and is simply gorgeous!    Ingredients: 3/4 cup raw sugar  Rind of 2 tangerine – avoid the white pith  Flesh of one tangerine  2 medium eggs  ½ cup rice bran oil  ½ tsp salt  ½ cup thick natural yoghurt  1 ½ cups plain flour  2 tsps baking powder  Method: Preheat oven to 180 C, on fan bake. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.  In the bowl of a food processor, blend the sugar and citrus rind until the rind is chopped very small. Add the tangerine flesh. Blend until smooth.  In a mixing bowl beat the egg and sugar/citrus mix together until it is thick & creamy. Add the oil and salt and continue beating until mixed.  Stir through the yoghurt. Fold in flour and baking powder and combine until just mixed (over-mixing will produce a tougher, drier cake).  Scrape the batter into the tin, smooth the top if need be for a better looking loaf cake at the end.  Bake for 35-45mins, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave for 10 minutes to cool before turning out of tin.  Ice with vanilla and citrus zest frosting, or not.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/20235 minutes, 51 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Kandahar and Monolith

Kandahar An undercover CIA operative gets stuck in hostile territory in Afghanistan after his mission is exposed. Accompanied by his translator, he must fight enemy combatants as he tries to reach an extraction point in Kandahar.    Monolith A headstrong journalist's investigative podcast uncovers a strange artefact, an alien conspiracy, and the lies at the heart of her own story.     LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/20237 minutes, 12 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Why should the dogs be put down?

A Northland man was recently charged when his pet dog was caught picking up a kiwi chick and running off with it. The chick was killed, and as a result the owner was fined and the dog was put down. Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about his first reaction and thoughts about the situation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/20236 minutes, 8 seconds
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Jack Tame: Football's popularity is rising

The hosts on Fox Sport Australia were bamboozled by a question earlier this week.  What’s the biggest winter sport in Australia?  Is it Rugby League and the excellent entertainment of the NRL? Is it Aussie Rules? Or could it now, be football?  Sadly, it goes without saying that it isn’t rugby, and I’d suggest that even when the Rugby World Cup kicks off, only so many Australians will even realise it’s on.  At a time when all sorts of different things are vying for our attention, the Matildas’ semi-final in the FIFA World Cup obliterated TV ratings records. In Australia, it was the most-watched TV event in more than two decades.  The key with football is the low barrier to entry. Grassroots participation isn’t totally dominated by one gender. You don’t need money to have a kick around with your friends. And you can explain the key rules in just a few sentences: Your team has to get the ball in the goal and stop the other team from getting it in yours. Only the goalies can use their hands. You can challenge the ball, but you can’t tackle people.  That’s it. Sure, there’s an offside rule and passback restrictions but the basic rules are stunningly, beautifully simple. And even the way they’re enforced allows the game to flow. No one agonises over taking a throw-in from the exact mark.  I don’t want to pick on rugby, but the contrasts are stark. I’ve watched, played, and loved rugby all of my life. But there are still infringements at the breakdown that leave me totally confused. Sometimes even the commentators don’t understand what’s happened.  Football’s making a play at the moment into markets where historically it’s been a bit of a second-tier sport. At the same time as its recording record ratings in Australia, arguably the greatest footballer of all time has chosen to eschew the Saudi clubs to play in the United States. The average ticket to Lionel Messi’s first game for Inter Miami was selling only for $NZ 1200. The crowd included Serena Williams, LeBron James, the Beckham family, and Kim Kardashian. It was more than a football match – it was a cultural event.  It’s fair enough to expect that when the World Cup hype has died down a bit, the buzz around football in Australia will die back a bit, too.  Personally, I think it’s only a matter of time. It won’t happen overnight. Rugby, rugby league, and netball, will all still hold a special place in New Zealand. Basketball will continue to go from strength to strength.  But fast-forward a few decades from now. I reckon football will be the most-played sport, the most-followed sport, the most popular sport in New Zealand, too. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/18/20234 minutes, 23 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Blur - The Ballad of Darren

The Ballad of Darren is the ninth studio album by English rock band Blur. It was released on 21 July 2023 by Parlophone and Warner Records.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/12/20235 minutes, 26 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Collector and After I Do

The Collector - Daniel Silvia  The Collector is a 2023 novel by Daniel Silva in the author's Gabriel Allon series. The book debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list. The book's premise is the current location of Vermeer's The Concert, which has been missing since the painting was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.    After I Do - Taylor Jenkins Reid  From the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, comes a breath-taking novel about modern marriage, the depth of family ties, and the year that one remarkable heroine spends exploring both.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/12/20233 minutes, 57 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Montenegro and Mostar

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his adventures in Montenegro and Mostar. Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/12/202311 minutes, 55 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: In office or working from home?

Zoom is ordering people back to work in the office. Is this a good thing and how does your office affect your wellbeing and productivity?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/12/20238 minutes, 28 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Awatere River 2023 Pinot Gris

BOB’S BEST BUYS  Wine: Awatere River 2023 Pinot Gris, Marlborough $25  Why I chose it:  - 2023 was a good vintage in Marlborough  - Pinot Gris is 4th most planted grape variety – growing in popularity  - If someone wants a white wine but is not sure what variety, pour them a pinot gris. Good all-rounder.  - Delicious thirst-quencher for Spring and Summer months ahead  What does it taste like?  - Off-dry pinot gris with succulent tree fruit/pear and nectarine flavours. An initial hint of sweetness is perfectly balanced by gentle, fruity acidity. Smooth-textured wine with a deliciously lingering finish.  Why is it a bargain:  - One of the best 2023’s I’ve tasted. At a moderate price.  Where can you buy it?  - Best price Countdown $19.99 (check the vintage), just released  Food match?  - My favorites are crayfish, prawns or shrimps  Will it keep?  - Good for the next 2-3 years although it is drinking well now.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20234 minutes, 46 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Insulating your greenhouse

I have a tunnel house (for edibles) and Julie has a glasshouse (for her ornamentals) – she’s a fancy one!  Despite these forms of “protection from frost” they can get to low temperatures on cold winters morning. We’ve seen 1.5 degrees a few times.  Is there a way to add some extra insulation to these buildings that would keep the temps a bit higher?  As per usual: my local Botanic Garden has delivered some answers (see pictures); the “Curators Garden”, an edible garden next to the Curators House restaurant, here in Christchurch, always investigates new ideas and technologies.  (No doubt your local Botanic Garden will have some great ideas as well!)  Wouldn’t it be great to have a temporary layer of insulation for just the winter months – stuff you can remove when spring starts?  I love the idea of having old, recycled plastic drink bottles assembled vertically on a long bamboo pole. Each pole can be removed in its entirety and stored for re-use next winter.   Honey-comb plastic screwed between two pieces of wood to tighten them up. It’s almost a double-glazing system made from plastic. It lets sun through and blocks the cold.  It, too, can be removed in its entirety for storage during spring and summer  Bottles stacked horizontally and filled with water are probably more efficient at insulating the air inside the glasshouse.  These is old Bubble-wrap that can be used on vertical walls and Perspex sheets that can be fixed to the ceiling on the inside of the glasshouse too.  By “retro-fitting” double glazing you don’t lose any space inside, really, but keep the cold from coming in to slow all growth See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20235 minutes, 29 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Facebook is good for wellbeing?

Wait a minute... Facebook is good for wellbeing?   A new study by the Oxford Institute of Technology suggests the opposite of what we typically hear – researchers say that after analyzing data from nearly a million people across 72 countries over 12 years that the claims are more speculative than conclusive. This isn't saying that harm doesn't exist... but on balance, the use of Facebook is "possibly related to positive wellbeing." The results showed the association between using Facebook and wellbeing was slightly more positive for males as well as for younger people. The study looked at high-quality country-wide well-being data, and compared that with Facebook data with the uptake of their platform.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20234 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: Far North, Painkiller, Winning Time

Far North  This New Zealand drama stars Temuera Morrison and Robyn Malcolm and tells the bizarre true story of an international drugs smuggling ring foiled by two unlikely Northland locals (Mondays on Three, and ThreeNow).   Painkiller   Matthew Broderick stars in this drama about America’s opioid epidemic that follows both the perpetrators and victims, and an investigator seeking the truth (Netflix).     Winning Time   A second season of the sports drama about the rise of the LA Lakers in the 1970s and 1980s (Neon).    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Balu Brigada: Kiwi music duo on their career and upcoming NZ tour

Auckland brothers Henry and Pierre Beasley started out as young musicians, trying to pass as 18-year-olds so they could perform in bars. Now they make up the duo Balu Brigada, and after scoring themselves a record deal with Alantic record they spread their wings to New York City.    Since then they’ve earned themselves the #1 fastest breaking New Zealand/Australian artist spot on Spotify and have been applauded by outlets such as Rolling Stone, i-D, and People Magazine.  The pair are returning to New Zealand to give kiwi audiences a taste of their genre-bending music with their August tour. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/202316 minutes, 38 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Steak & Kidney Casserole with Dumplings

Casseroles, stews, braises – they’re all so absolutely hearty and can be really affordable if you know how to shop for different cuts of meat.  Serves 4    Ingredients: 350g beef steak, either chuck, cross-cut blade or rump  100g (about one) sheep kidney, halved, membranes and fatty nodules (white bits) removed  2 tbsps plain flour  2 tbsps cooking oil  1 large onion, diced  ½ tsp salt  Decent grind of black pepper  2 large carrots, diced  Dash of Worcestershire or soy sauce  1 bay leaf  200-250mls stock or water    Method: Cut beef into large bite size pieces and kidneys a little smaller. Dust meat in flour. Heat oil in a medium-size, heavy based saucepan and brown the onions. Add the floured meat and don’t disturb until some pieces (the ones on the bottom) are well browned. Season with salt and pepper, add carrots, a dash of either Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce, bay leaf and pour in enough stock or water to almost cover the meat. Put the lid on and bring to a simmer and cook gently over a low-medium heat until the meat is tender - approx 1.5 hours – or transfer to a casserole dish, cover tightly with foil and pop it in an oven at 170 C to cook for 1.5 hours. Cool overnight.   DUMPLINGS    Ingredients: 1 cup plain flour  50g butter  1 tsp baking powder  ¼ tsp salt  3 tb finely chopped parsley  ½ cup milk (approx.)    Method: Rub butter into dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, salt - until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add chopped parsley and then mix in the milk bit by bit until you have a soft dough. Flour your hands and gently pinch tablespoonful sized balls of the dough, rolling each gently into a ball and dropping onto the simmering stew. Work quickly until all have been added. Replace the lid and cook for 10 minutes until the dumplings are light and fluffy and cooked through (check one by breaking it open).   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20235 minutes, 40 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Gran Turismo and Asteroid City

Gran Turismo A player wins a series of Nissan-sponsored video game competitions through his gaming skills and becomes a real-life professional race car driver.   Asteroid City World-changing events spectacularly disrupt the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in an American desert town circa 1955.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20236 minutes, 38 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Meeting up with old mates

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about the old mates he met up with this week. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20236 minutes, 51 seconds
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Jack Tame: Ruling out NZ First now would martyr Winston Peters

There was an air of inevitability around the polls this week. It pays to be restrained in putting too much weight into any one poll, but the trends are what matter and the trends are suggesting Winston Peters and New Zealand First might break 5% and make it back to parliament.  All manner of pundits have come out and suggested that Christopher Luxon should make a call and do what he’s refused to do in the race so far, follow in John Key’s footsteps and rule out working with New Zealand First after the election.  I think Luxon’s best opportunity has passed. Back in May, I wrote that the National leader was strategically well-positioned to rule out Peters, so long as he managed the process as delicately as might be possible. He’d need to be respectful and deferential to New Zealand First’s supporters, explaining that it was less about the party’s leader and more about forming a simple, clean, two-party coalition to counteract what he continues to describe as a potential ‘coalition of chaos’ on the other side.  Given Winston Peters’ and David Seymour’s open distain for each other, the ‘coalition of chaos’ barb is now much better suited to the centre-right block.  Think about the reaction if Christopher Luxon ruled out working with New Zealand First, today. It’s not impossible it would have the desired effect from National’s perspective, but it comes with much greater risk than when New Zealand First was polling at 3%.  “Why have you ruled them out now, when you’ve been asked so many times over the last few months?”  “... Ahhh... because for the first time it actually looks like he’s gonna’ get in?”  It would martyr Winston Peters. It would play into the narrative that the major parties were colluding to exclude him and New Zealand First from parliament. It would breathe oxygen into his campaign and potentially galvanise his support base.  If Luxon had ruled out New Zealand First while they were polling at 3%, it wouldn’t have mattered if none of those 3% changed their minds and the vote was essentially wasted. But it potentially would have stopped new supporters from coming across in the subsequent months and deciding to back Winston Peters.  Now the party’s hitting 5%, and it’s a totally different equation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/11/20233 minutes, 52 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: John Farnham: Finding the Voice, The Beanie Bubble

John Farnham: Finding the Voice The story of an Australian musical icon, following John Farnham from his humble beginnings in the Melbourne suburbs to record-breaking pop success.    The Beanie Bubble (Apple +)   The unbelievable tale of one of America's most fascinating phenomena -- Beanie Babies. Flashing back to the '90s and early 2000s, an in-depth look at how the era-defining zeitgeist came to be.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20238 minutes, 29 seconds
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Jack Tame: Kiwis stepped up for the FIFA Women's World Cup

For all the angst heading into the tournament, Kiwis have absolutely stepped up for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous for the tournament’s local organisers as kick-off neared. There wasn’t really much buzz. No real sense of occasion. And I worried that for what is a massive tournament in the context of global sport – arguably the biggest tournament ever hosted on New Zealand soil – we might show ourselves to be a bit miserable. Don’t forget, just days before it officially began, FIFA’s boss Gianni Infantino paused a press conference, picked out the New Zealand media in attendance, and made a direct plea down the camera barrels for their audiences to get out and actually buy tickets. To the best of my knowledge, he didn’t feel that was necessary with the Australians. The nature of the tournament meant that some of the pool games were the likeliest to have small audiences. It’s an exciting time because there are games almost every day, but if we’re honest, Zambia vs Costa Rica is unlikely in this part of the World to drum up the same kind of enthusiasm as it might elsewhere. Once you get to the knockout stages, the drama is greater, the games are closer, and it’s reasonable to expect the crowds are consistently big. But get this. Of the twenty-four pool games played in New Zealand, the average crowd was more than 21,000 fans. More than half a million total fans. That’s fantastic. For the big games we’ve had record numbers in attendance. But even Zambia vs Costa Rica drew more than 8000 people to Waikato Stadium. And anyone who has attended a game will attest to how much fun it’s been. I live within walking distance of Eden Park. Fans are constantly making their way to the stadium with flags and face paint and jerseys for their respective countries. It feels properly global in a way that few events here ever do. We should thank the Football Ferns for their part in this. That opening night was thrilling. Although they didn’t progress to the knock-out stages, they played a major role in igniting our collective excitement. But it’s funny, I went back and looked at that Gianni Infantino press conference, where he effectively begged Kiwis to go out and buy football tickets. He said one extra thing I hadn’t noticed at the time.   “Do the right thing.” He needn’t have. My experience at the FIFA World Cup is that fans haven’t attended out of charity. They haven’t attended out of a sense of duty to try and promote the women’s game. They’ve attended because it’s been really exciting, skillful, high-drama football. We might have left the ticket-buying to the last minute, but there’s no doubt New Zealanders have wanted to be there. Now, we’re at the knockout stages. Some of the biggest names in World football are struggling or have already been knocked out. The tournament feels like it’s anyone’s. And I for one, don’t want it to end.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20234 minutes, 19 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Tom Jones, Welsh music legend

A couple weeks ago Kevin Milne’s wife saw Welsh music legend Tom Jones in concert in London, and he told Jack Tame that she thought that for an 83-year-old, he was amazing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20234 minutes, 24 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time

The Loveliest Time is Carly Rae Jepsen’s seventh studio album, and a companion piece to her fifth studio album, The Loneliest Time. The artist refers to the album as a “B-side in every sense of the word,” featuring songs created during the same time period and era of The Loneliest Time, that she had “always intended to put out.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20236 minutes, 49 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The New Wife and None of This Is True

The New Wife by JP Delaney My darling son, Sam, is marrying his childhood sweetheart and I couldn't be prouder of the man he's grown into. Walking out on his abusive father all those years ago was the best thing I ever did. And today he stands, tall and handsome, saying 'I do' to my dream daughter-in-law. If I hadn't pushed them together all those years ago, he might never have found a girl as perfect as Lauren. It's true what they say, mother always knows best.    None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell  Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home. But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat. Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20234 minutes, 2 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Tripping through Tirana, Albania.

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his recent visit to Tirana, Albania.  Read more about Mike's trip here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20237 minutes, 46 seconds
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Kate Hall: Protecting and Preserving New Zealand's Unique Biodiversity

NZ is renowned for its amazing landscape, unique wildlife & diverse ecosystems, but we have a huge issue with invasive species & habitat loss.  I enjoy our native birdlife in my area, so I signed up to be a volunteer with Forest & Bird to help reduce invasive species (hedgehogs, rats, possums) by baiting & trapping - fun anecdote to talk about my experience in handing over custody of a 'baiting line' from a man who has done it for over a decade!  What everyone can do to help: give wildlife space, clean your shoes, check your gear when entering/leaving sanctuaries, plant natives in your garden, volunteer or donate.  It’s conservation week 14th - 20th August so this is a great time for people to know these tips and get sorted/plan for action during that week.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20239 minutes, 53 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Green Manure

Green Manure? Don’t take that too literally – New Zealanders call fertiliser “manure.”  Nature doesn’t like “bare soil”, so even in winter it will sprout seeds into plants, so why not make those plants desirable ones!  We usually harvest our food crops in autumn, leaving behind a heck of a lot of soil, ready to be colonised by weeds.  I realise we’re in mid-winter right now, but even at this time we can sow some plants that are experts at helping your garden become a lot more fertile in spring.  The technique is quite simple:  Green Manure crops literally extract some of the nutrients from the winter soil and store that in the stems (cells) and in the roots of the plant;  Some green manure crops (the Legumes) have colonies of collaborative bacteria on board (in the roots) that can harvest Nitrogen from the air and store that in the root nodules too.  Seeing the amount of Nitrogen in the air is 78%, we might as well use that stuff: Nitrogen (N) is essential for Leaf-growth – it literally creates the green matter that carries out Photosynthesis.  Just a quick Science reminder: Photosynthesis is essential to keep us humans alive: the leaves of plants change Carbon-dioxide into Oxygen with the help of energy from the sun. We inhale that Oxygen and the exhale Carbon Dioxide  The green plants basically do the opposite of how we breathe and keep everything in balance…  Legumes that we can use (even right now) are clovers, lupins, beans, peas and fenugreek. Sow them in the fallow, and weed-free soil.  The good thing is that they have a habit of quickly germinating and covering the soil before weed seeds come along  These leguminose Nitrogen fixers are pretty efficient in grabbing the goodies from the air.  Don’t let them go to seed as that will reduce the amount of N you can dig into your garden bed. Besides, seeds would create a weedy spring and summer, so avoid that.  A good bed of Blue Lupins really covers the soil and prevents weeds germinating.  Crimson Clover is one of those magnificently beautiful Legumes that also attracts pollinators. Generally speaking, the best time to dig your green manure into the soil is when it is flowering.  In Sandy soils the Green manure works extra hard against loosing organic materials; Sand is notorious for loosing compostables quickly!  In “Hard soils” the Green manure softens the soils by providing better soil structure.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20236 minutes, 13 seconds
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Nadine Higgins: Financial Advisor and Coach on financial sabotage

There is a myriad of troubling economic factors prevalent at the moment —inflation, high interest rates, unemployment— that could knock your financial progress off course. But sometimes it’s an inside hit-job – i.e., what’s sabotaging your financial progress more than anything is you. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20236 minutes, 3 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Turning off Tiktok's algorithm and Google offers $99 hotel rooms

Those in the EU will be able to turn off TikTok's famous algorithm  This is in response to the EU's Digital Services Act which forces 19 companies to strict regulations regarding algorithms and AI, allows users to opt out of targeting of content or ads, and gives ways to for users to flag illegal content and for platforms to take actions. Basically, they need to be more proactive and transparent than other companies because of their influence as a leader in their space as a "very large online platform" VLOP or a "very large online search engine" VLOSE.   Users between 13 and 17 will not be able to be served personalize ads.  If you switch off the algorithm, what will TikTok in the EU look like? It'll have popular videos in the area you live, and around the world.   Expect announcements and changes from the other 18 companies before the august 28 deadline.   Google is tempting staff back to the office with $99 hotel rooms. So you can avoid the commute!  There's a hotel on their Bay View campus, and for a limited time Google will let employees you stay there for $99 a night. The marketing materials say it'll "help users transition to the hybrid workplace". "Just imagine no commute to the office in the morning and instead, you could have an extra hour of sleep and less friction". Yeah... imagine! Google says they regularly offer deals so folks can enjoy the campus amenities.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20234 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Fisk, The Traitors

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart:   Sigourney Weaver and New Zealand’s own Frankie Adams star in this Australian drama about a young girl who goes to live with her grandmother after her parent’s death in a mysterious fire (Prime Video). Fisk:  An Australian comedy about high-end lawyer Helen Tudor-Fisk, who is forced to take a job at a shambolic suburban law firm after a humiliating marriage breakdown and a career implosion (Netflix).      The Traitors:   The murder-mystery reality format that’s taken the world by storm finally reaches New Zealand, hosted by Paul Henry and featuring a cast of celebrities and “everyday” New Zealanders (Three, from Monday).    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20234 minutes, 45 seconds
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Tiki Taane: Tiki Taane In Session With CSO

Tiki Taane is a man of many talents; a music experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer.      Tiki’s now putting on his director’s hat for a documentary, giving a behind the scenes perk at his sold out concert with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.   The documentary's already won film festival awards across the world and will be released in New Zealand next Friday.   Tiki Taane joined Jack Tame to chat about it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/202313 minutes, 17 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Chocolate Coffee Cheesecake

Chocolate, coffee, cheesecake. Say no more. Makes one 22cm cheesecake.    Ingredients: Mocha sauce  100mls cream  150g dark chocolate, chopped  3 tsps ground espresso or instant coffee  Cheesecake  500g full fat cream cheese  ¾ cup caster sugar  3 large eggs  1 tablespoons vanilla extract  1 heaped tablespoon plain flour  A decent pinch of sea salt  250mls cream    Method: Preheat oven 220 C. Line a 22cm cake tin with baking paper, making sure it comes up the sides.  Make the espresso/chocolate sauce (to swirl) by heating cream in a small saucepan until it nearly comes to a boil. Remove from heat, add chopped chocolate, cover with a tea towel and leave for 10 minutes. Whisk in espresso powder and continue whisking until you have a smooth sauce. Keep warm and set aside.  Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Add in vanilla and eggs one at a time and beat for 20 seconds between each. Add flour and salt and beat until combined then pour in the cream and mix until combined. Scrape into prepared tin.  Swirl in espresso/chocolate sauce; using a teaspoon take spoonfuls of the sauce and dig it/drop it deep into the cheesecake mix. Then with the handle end of the spoon, drag it through the sauce to form a swirl, repeat in whatever patterns take your fancy - you may not use all of the sauce.  Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes until the top is very dark brown and the middle 5cm is still wobbly. It will fall and firm up as it cools.  Chill completely (at least 3 hours or overnight) before removing from tin.  Serve with softly whipped cream and any extra mocha sauce you have.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20238 minutes, 25 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Barbie soundtrack

After much anticipation, the Barbie soundtrack has finally been released. The album, which was announced several months ago, features a star-studded lineup of artists, including Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Lizzo, and Dua Lipa. However, the one powerhouse that the team behind the compilation wanted more than any other was Nicki Minaj.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20235 minutes, 35 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Scarlet Papers, The Ambassador

The Scarlet Papers – Matthew Richardson   VIENNA, 1946: A brilliant German scientist snatched from the ruins of Nazi Europe. MOSCOW, 1964: A US diplomat caught in a clandestine love affair as the Cold War rages. RIGA, 1992: A Russian archivist selling secrets that will change the twentieth century forever. LONDON, THE PRESENT DAY: A British academic on the run with the chance to solve one of history's greatest mysteries.  Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world are bound by a single manuscript. A document feared and whispered about in capitals across the globe. In its pages, history will be rewritten. It is only ever known as . . .  THE SCARLET PAPERS The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.    The Ambassador – Joseph P Kennedy   Through meticulous research and many newly available sources, Ronald confirms in impressive detail what has long been believed by many: that Kennedy was a Fascist sympathizer and an anti-Semite whose only loyalty was to his family's advancement. She also reveals the ambitions of the Kennedy dynasty during this period abroad, as they sought to enter the world of high society London and establish themselves as America’s first family. Thorough and utterly readable, The Ambassador explores a darker side of the Kennedy patriarch in an account sure to generate attention and controversy.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20235 minutes
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Mike Yardley: Spirit of Sarajevo

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/202310 minutes, 34 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: Is the way we work bad for our mental health?

Dougal Sutherland, Clinical Psychologist from Umbrella Wellbeing, joined Jack Tame to talk about whether the way we work is mentally harming us. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20237 minutes, 14 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Acne

What is acne?  Very common. Affects hair follicles. Follicles have glands which secrete oily fluid, they can become blocked and cause inflammation and pimples. Typically whiteheads, blackheads or pustules, face, neck, back and chest. Can cause scarring if not treated, pigmented skin, and can sometimes have severe psychological affects. Who gets it?  85% of 16 to 18 year olds are affected. However the reality is any age can in fact get acne. Younger children and adults of any age. I often see older patients with persistent acne. And what causes it?  Combination of factors not fully understood can cause acne. Family, hormones around puberty, bacteria on the skin. Flares can be provoked: drugs such as steroids, occlusive cosmetics, high humidity, some foods; for instance diary. What’s the treatment?  Depends on the severity Mild: Topical anti-acne agents from chemist, combined oral contraceptive, antiseptic washes Moderate: We look at antibiotics often up to 6 months. Something called Doxycycline or erythromycin. Relatively new – low dose isotretinoin vitamin A derivative. Effective but careful side-effects – can’t use in pregnancy, watch mood. Severe: extensive skin lesions, fever skin infection,   may need specialist dermatologist   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20235 minutes, 3 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: ChatGPT and Microsoft teams is under a microscope

ChatGPT can't figure out if something has been created by ChatGPT  OpenAI had a tool which people could paste in text and it would tell you if it was AI generated or not... except that it often said things that were written by AI when they weren't. So OpenAI has decided to shut that shown. As the technology gets better, that task is only going to get more difficult, especially if there isn't a way to watermark the text. I'm sure teachers will be thrilled!   The new agreement between the US Government and the leading AI companies we talked about last week which would make identifying AI content more obvious clearly has some work to go.   Microsoft Teams is under the microscope in the EU  It's all about how Teams is made available to folks - which is through an Office 365 subscription, and even force installing it for folks using Office. Windows 11 was deeply integrated with Teams chat, which Microsoft has now disabled. Slack first raised this to the European Commission when the pandemic saw a massive rise in usage. Slack is a standalone paid product and Slack doesn't feel it's fair to for Microsoft to give it away for free as part of the Office bundle. The European Commission is going to launch a review, to see if Microsoft has breached competition rules.  Microsoft has had troubles in the EU in the past with their bundling of the Windows Media Player with Windows XP and Internet Explorer on Windows 7.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20234 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: Lincoln Lawyer, Angel City, Five Star Chefs

Lincoln Lawyer: A new season of the American drama about an idealistic lawyer who runs his practice out of the back of his Lincoln Town car (Netflix).      Angel City: An HBO docuseries that goes behind the scenes of the groundbreaking Los Angeles-based professional women’s soccer team, Angel City Football Club (Neon).      Five Star Chefs: A reality series that sees seven professional chefs compete to bring their fine-dining concept to London’s luxurious Langham Hotel (Netflix).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20234 minutes, 7 seconds
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Spencer Frost: Corners of the Earth

Australian filmmakers Spencer Frost and Guy Williment spent years planning the trip of the lifetime to Kamchatka, in Far East Russia. The pair wanted to search for a wave no one else in the world had surfed and roped in a couple of Aussie surfing pros to make a documentary.   They stepped off their first flight in Dubai in February of 2022, to find that Russia had invaded Ukraine, and were faced with the choice of whether to go on or head home.  They chose to continue on. What followed was an incredible story of humanity, unimaginable scenery and of course, some of the best waves in the world.  Their documentary Corners of the Earth is touring New Zealand from today in cinemas all over the country.   Spencer Frost joined Jack Tame to chat about the documentary, and what it was like to film it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/202315 minutes, 48 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Trinity Rodman, US Football Star

This week Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about U.S. football star, Trinity Rodman and how at 21 she’s made it to the top without her outrageous father, Dennis.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20237 minutes, 40 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Pittos and Hedges

You can count on Jack – After 36 years of being blissfully unaware of the art of gardening, the questions suddenly start… Buying a house with wilderness helps. But the coolest thing is that those questions are inspiring enough to make me look up all sorts of things, related to those topics. In MediaLand it’s called “research”. Privacy, Height-restrictions of trellises and fences, useful hedge species and easy maintenance are important facets of the design – I just added “Natives” and researched the Genus Pittosporum. Pittosporum means “sticky seeds” Wow! 200 species – many in New Zealand; lots of different varieties within the best garden species. And often the flowers of this genus produce nice scents during the hours of darkness – obviously pollinated by nocturnal insects. Everybody grows P. tenuifolium (kohuhu) – it could well be the most popular plant for hedges; small-ish leaves in various colours and hardy from coast to Highlands. Pittosporum eugenioides (tawapou) or Lemonwood is another frequent planter: can grow pretty tall (10 meters or so) with dense foliage of large leaves – see if that Council of yours can stop that growth! But then there are some really spectacular species that are quite stunning, native and elegant. P. obcordatum is a rather rare tree in the wilds of New Zealand, with reddish-bronze twigs and a rather “woolly” look. It is now cultivated (seeds and cuttings) for the NZ garden market. Honestly it is a great wild hedge and grows in just-about any condition. I’ve seen it near Kaitaia, on Banks Peninsula and near Invercargil; This hedge rocks and the less you clip it, the wilder it looks! Pittosporum turneri looks a bit like obcordatum, but seems to be a bit “leaner” and “thinner” and it has a distinct grey or silver colour; can stand growing in shady areas, which can be useful. Pittosporum umbellatum is another native from our country. Mostly in the North Island. It has dense foliage with outstanding pinky-white, sometimes cream-coloured inflorescences. (that is a fancy botanical word for “flowers”). The flowers hang in so-called “umbels” – hence the species name umbellatum. Easy to grow from seed. The trees are pretty hardy in windy conditions. Finally I can recommend a species called Pittosporum crassicaule; a small and tight species of just half a meter or so that grows very slowly; It has that alpine-plant look with firm twiglets and a feeling of densely interlacing branches, known from divaricating plants. P. crassicaule has very interesting black flowers that smell beautifully at night. I reckon it’s not a plant for “privacy” as Jack requested, but it would make a brilliant low hedge around an alpine garden Have a look at specialist growers of our pretty Pittosporum species – you’ll be surprised.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20237 minutes, 40 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Cheat’s Chowder

This is my ‘cheat’s chowder’ in the sense it’s super cheap to make but full of yumminess all the same. I’m a true seafood lover so I couldn’t be more delighted that in September I’ll be heading off to cook at not one but TWO seafood festivals! Ahead of these festivals I’ve been working on some seafood recipes that use sustainable seafood and I’ve been testing different chowder recipes - it’s such a great filling lunch or dinner and not too expensive to make if you know how. Makes 2 servings  Ingredients: 8-10 mussels 1/3 cup white wine 2 tbsps olive oil 1 tbsps butter 1 medium onion, finely diced 1 stalk celery, diced 1 carrot, peeled and diced 1 large potato, peeled and 2-cm diced 3 cups fish or vegetable stock 100mls cream Zest from a half a lemon 140g salmon, skin removed, cut into chunks Small handful parsley to garnish Crusty bread to serve   Method: Give mussels a quick scrub then pile them into a large pot with wine. Bring to a simmer, cover and steam for 2-3 minutes or until mussel shells spring open. Remove from heat and tip mussels and liquor into large bowl to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the beards and discard. Remove mussel meat and chop roughly or blend in a food processor for a smoother chowder. Leave one or two in the shell if you want to be fancy and use it to garnish. Heat oil and butter in saucepan and sauté onion until beginning to soften. Add celery and carrot and cook, covered, until softened – about 10 minutes. Pour in reserved mussel/wine liquor and stock and add the cubed potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are soft, another 10 minutes I’d say. Just before serving pour in the cream and add lemon zest, salmon and put the mussels back in. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1-2 minutes only or until fish is just cooked. Taste and add salt if required and a decent grind of black pepper. Serve garnished with parsley and with buttered bread.    Nici’s note: Any fish or shellfish can be used - try cockles and/or pipis and add calamari instead of salmon if you prefer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20236 minutes, 36 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Barbie and Oppenheimer

Barbie   Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.    Oppenheimer  During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world's first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20236 minutes, 48 seconds
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Jack Tame: It really puts our other problems in perspective

Have you ever been to the Hanmer hotpools? They were my first hotpool experience. North Canterbury. And they hold a bit of a special place in my heart.  What about Polynesian Spa in Rotorua? Think about how it feels to walk into the hot pools. You dip a toe or a foot, you kind of brace yourself as you wait to adjust to the heat. And then, how you ease yourself in. How you move slowly, you find a spot to sit down and slip beneath the warm water. They gently do their thing, easing and relaxing your muscles. For some people the warm water gets a bit much. Maybe it’s my ice-cold heart, but I can only last so long in those hot pools before I start sweating, and I need to jump out and refresh. The hot pools at Polynesian Spa range from 36C to 42C. Hanmer is similar. And so is the ocean, off Miami. Yeah... the ocean. Preliminary data this week recorded the ocean temperature off Florida as a little over 38C. That’s a full 10C warming than the ocean temperature in Fiji in the heart of summer.  No wonder the U.N. Secretary General says we’ve reached a Global Boiling Point. That does sound bad. I’m sure there will still be many people who dismiss the words as alarmist or hyperbole, but those affected by the extreme weather in the northern summer this month might beg to differ.  July was certainly the hottest month globally since records began. Climate scientists reckon it was probably also the hottest month in the history of human civilisation. 100-to-120 thousand years.  Wildfires in North America, heatwaves across Europe. How crazy were the pictures from Rhodes in Greece? This week saw the largest evacuation in the country’s modern history. I think my favourite – if that’s the right word – extreme weather event of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, was the insane hailstorm which struck Northern Itay, just outside of Milan. The region had been sweltering in an oppressive heatwave, when black skies brought with them hailstones as large as tennis balls. As they started to melt in the warm air, the little cobbled Italian village streets were turned into rivers of melting ice. It was crazy. Anyway.  I don’t know about you, but much of the time I find I subconsciously put the climate issue to the back of my mind. Or if not the back, at least the side. I make a few measly sacrifices. I ride my bike. I try to limit how much meat I consume. But honestly, a lot of the time life just gets in the way and a lot of my thoughts are consumed by other things. But then a week like this will snap me back at attention. The hottest month in human civilisation. I don’t mean to dismiss inflation or crime, the state of our education system, or the Football Ferns’ chances of making the playoffs. But you’ve gotta say, it really puts our other problems in perspective.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/28/20235 minutes, 10 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Rita Ora - You & I

'You & I' is Rita Ora's third album, coming after the release of Phoenix in 2018. She says the album is inspired by her connections with her friends and family, and is a 'personal letter to fans.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20236 minutes, 16 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Bad Summer People and Wavewalker

Bad Summer People – Emma Rosenblum  None of them would claim to be a good person, but who among them is capable of murder?  The families on the island have been vacationing here for years; the Weinsteins, the Metzners, the Grobels - and unlucky in love Rachel Woolf. Outsiders aren't welcome. That is except for Robert, the handsome new tennis coach, who some people are going out of their way to make very welcome... But the problem when everyone knows everyone is that secrets can't stay secret forever. And when a body is found face-down beneath the boardwalk, they realise that maybe one of them is worse than they thought...    Wavewalker – Suzanne Heywood   Aged just seven, Suzanne Heywood set sail with her family on a three-year voyage around the world. What followed turned instead into a decade-long way of life, through storms, shipwrecks, reefs and isolation, with little formal schooling.  Suzanne fought her parents, longing to return to England and to education and stability. This memoir covers her astonishing upbringing, a survival story of a child in dire circumstances deprived of safety, friendships, schooling, occasionally drinking water… At eighteen, through resolve and resilience, Suzanne earned a place at Oxford university and returned to the UK.  From the bestselling author of What Does Jeremy Think?, Wavewalker is the incredible true story of how the adventure of a lifetime became one child’s worst nightmare – and how determination helped her escape.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Grit and sparkle in Belgrade, Serbia

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his recent visit to Belgrade in Serbia. Read Mike's article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20238 minutes, 30 seconds
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Kate Hall: Simple sustainable travel trips

+ Travel slowly - and as locally as possible (if you're not going on a Europe trip like your friends, don't be sad! Celebrate your reduced carbon footprint and enjoy yourself just as much in NZ)  + Water bottle filter (Water-to-go bottle you can get in NZ to purify & reduce plastic water bottles)  + Taking reusables & storing/keeping food waste  + Choosing locally owned hospitality to support  + Considering what activities you're doing (no photos with sedated tigers!)  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20237 minutes, 29 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Looking after our birds

This weekend I am in Taupo – basically to celebrate a Company that has been trapping vermin and exotic pests to create predator-free forests and landscapes. EPRO is their name and they have been doing it for 25 Years – worthy of serious congratulations! They literally provide long-term strategies for ecological restoration. Many of our Native taonga (but especially birds) are in trouble; Often stories in the news – such as the famous Miami Kiwi: Paora was the kiwi that became famous for all the wrong reasons; but not because it was predated by exotic mammals. For some reason we got upset because humans were touching the bird and stressing it far too much. The irony is that around the same time, a kiwi was found, Mauled to death by a dog in Ohope (Whakatane). Yes, a Dog! And the dead kiwi was found behind Ohope Beach school, not just a forest in the middle of nowhere. That bird was also one of the important ancestors for the next generation of kiwi in that area! A set-back for the Whakatane Kiwi Trust. Not many people realise that dogs are the biggest threat to kiwi in habitat around human settlements.   Kiwi smell is very attractive to dogs… and dogs will have a go (yes, Ma’am: even your tiny lap dog will chase that bird!) They may not necessarily want to eat or bite the bird, but just a paw on the back of the kiwi can cause serious crushing troubles; Kiwi have no sternum (breastbone) for the simple reason they don’t have wings and don’t need a sternum to attach flight muscles to. That makes them very vulnerable to crushing from dog bites and pressure from above. They literally bleed to death internally. So EPRO can control stoats and ferrets and rats and feral cats, but when Homo sapiens goes for a walk in the forest with an UN-leashed dog, kiwi are often the victims. And please don’t tell me your little cute Roly will not harm anything …. A totally different way to look after our native birds, is by supporting the science that’s going on throughout the Motu: We are currently banding Harriers (Harrier-Hawks)… or “Large Piwakawaka” as I call them… These birds are banded in Canterbury and Marlborough: a small metal band on one leg, (the usual DOC band with small numbers on them), and a larger brightly coloured band with large, three digit numbers on them, that can be read through binoculars from quite far away, when the bird is sitting on a fence post or feasting on road kill. We are hoping to confirm that these harriers are doing some migrating in autumn and spring (towards the North and South, respectively). If you find a banded bird, record the date and location and report to DOC: www.doc.govt.nz/non-gamebird-band-report-form If the bird is injured, please take it to the nearest Wildlife hospital   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20235 minutes, 11 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Jules Taylor 2023 Sauvignon Blanc

BOB’S BEST BUYS  Wine: Jules Taylor 2023 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $26.99  Why I chose it:  - From the very good 2023 vintage  - Jules Taylor is a consistently good SB producer  - Stock up for summer  - I’m a big fan of Marlborough SB  What does it taste like?  - Ripe yet tangy sauvignon with passion fruit, guava, lime zest, gooseberry and red capsicum flavours. Reasonably concentrated, vibrant wine with punchy varietal characters. Impressive wine with purity and power.  Why it’s a bargain:  - It’s a very good wine at a fair price.  - Recently released – price may drop in another month or two when it gets wider distribution. Where can you buy it?  - Glengarry in Auckland $26.99. Keep an eye out at your local supermarket but make sure you get the 2023 vintage.  Food match?  - I like it with smoked salmon. Good match with Feta cheese.  Will it keep?  - Good for 3-4 years but probably not a lot to gain from keeping it.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20233 minutes, 46 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Spotting AI content and the UK's Online Safety Bill

The leading AI companies have agreed to a series of safeguards as the technology increases in sophistication   Meta, OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others have pledged to work within a framework designed in collaboration with the US government. This is a voluntary effort, there aren't any penalties if they break the pact.  Broadly, the rules are designed to make it easier for folks to spot AI content - which is certainly important as the US heads into the Presidential election season nearly next year.  The companies agreed to:  Security testing of their AI systems by internal and external experts before their release. Ensuring people are able to identify AI generated content through watermarks. Publicly reporting AI capabilities and limitations on a regular basis. Researching the risks such as bias, discrimination and the invasion of privacy.   In the UK, the future of encryption is being tested  The new Online Safety bill would allow Ofcom - the UK's communications regulator - to be able to request tech companies to scan encrypted use data for child exploitation and counter-terrorism threats. It's interesting that they're seeking to give this power to a regulator, and not the courts as is common for things like search warrants and detailed data collection about someone.   Those supporting the bill say it's needed to tackle "record levels" of child abuse hidden away from view. But privacy advocates say it's a step too far. The tech companies agree - with Meta saying they'd pull WhatsApp from the UK. Apple says they'd pull FaceTime and iMessage. They don't want to create a backdoor to their global platform for a specific country, and broadly don't believe in breaking encryption.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20235 minutes, 15 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Bear, Totally Completely Fine, The Deepest Breath

The Bear: Season two of the show about a young chef trained in the fine dining world who comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop after a heartbreaking death in his family (Disney+)    Totally Completely Fine: Thomasin McKenzie stars in this Australian comedy-drama about a troubled young woman named Vivian, who inherits a cliffside property in Sydney only to discover her new backyard is a popular suicide spot (TVNZ+)   The Deepest Breath: Netflix doco about a free diver who trains to break a world record with the help of an expert safety diver. This film follows the paths they took to meet at the pinnacle of the free diving world, documenting the rewards and risks of chasing a dream through ocean depths.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20234 minutes, 58 seconds
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Tracy Edwards: Skipper of the first all female team in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race on her career

Tracy Edwards was the first woman to skipper an all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989.  The Brit was up against none-other than one of our very own in that race – Sir Peter Blake and the New Zealand crew.   But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Tracy to get there, she was expelled from school and found herself in the sailing world by sheer luck and determination.   Tracy happens to be coming to Auckland later this year as part of The Ocean Race – to mark the 50th anniversary of the original Whitbread event.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/21/202313 minutes, 14 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Marmalade Steamed Pudding

Steamed puddings are traditionally an inexpensive and if I’m honest, slightly stodgy, pudding option. Not this one. It’s light, buttery and even marmalade-haters will love this!    Ingredients: ½ cup orange marmalade - can use any really ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup orange juice 125g butter 3 eggs, separated 1 cup plain flour 2 tsps baking powder Zest of 1 orange ¼ cup sultanas Custard and cream to serve   Method Butter a 3-cup heat proof pudding bowl well. Spoon the marmalade into the base. Dissolve brown sugar in the orange juice. Cream the butter and egg yolks then add the juice/sugar mix and continue beating. Mix in flour, baking powder, zest and sultanas. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks and gently fold into pudding mixture. Scrape into pudding basin, over marmalade. Cover tightly with 2 layers of foil and tie so that it is well sealed. Place in a large saucepan and pour in boiling water to come about half way up the bowl. Cover, bring to a simmer and steam for 1 hour. Remove pudding, cool for 5 minutes and un-mold onto a plate. Serve warm with custard and whipped cream. Tips  For an even more gourmet version, heat up another quarter cup of marmalade with a little orange juice and Grand Marnier and pour over pudding when serving.  A piece of old stocking is perfect for securing the foil as it stretches so you can get it nicely tight.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/21/20235 minutes, 24 seconds
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Chris Schulz: Reality and Talk to Me

Reality   A former American intelligence specialist is given the longest sentence for the unauthorized release of government information to the media about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections via an email operation. Features one of the actors of the moment, Sydney Sweeney.    Talk to Me When a group of friends discovers how to conjure spirits by using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill -- until one of them unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/21/20236 minutes, 33 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Cold, hard cash

This week Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about cold, hard cash and how close we are to a cashless society. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/21/20235 minutes, 21 seconds
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Jack Tame: As fans, we never know

Amidst all of the amazing sporting action we’re being treated to at the moment, I’ve been mad for the Tour de France. I was sucked in by the Netflix series following last year’s competition, and I’ve keenly prioritised watching the highlights over the last few weeks of racing. The Tour is almost over and the final result is essentially a foregone conclusion. Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard is about to back up his win last year and ride to glory along the Parisian streets. For most of the tour, the racing has been incredibly close. Vingegaard and his arch rival, former Tour champion Tadej Pogacar have been duking it out, blow for blow. Their teams have been heroically positioning them for the gnarliest climbs, and towards the end of these  gut-busting stages, they’ve been taking turns attacking and trying to out-sprint each other, high on alpine passes. But the Tour took a turn in the individual time trial, a really short race – just 22kms - in which riders race solo. After two weeks of utterly brutal racing, in which you’d expect all of the riders to be wrecked, Vingegaard blasted away his competition so comprehensively, that he admitted even he was surprised by the stats on his power-meter. Against the best riders in the World, in a race lasting only a fraction of the time of previous stages, he beat Pogacar, his next closest competitor, by more than a 1’30”. ‘How did he do that?’ I found myself wondering in awe as I watched the race. Seriously. How... did he do that? It is a decade now since Lance Armstrong finally came clean. A decade since he sat on the couch with Oprah and admitted he was a cheat. In the time since, riders in the Tour de France have performed differently. For starters, most of them have bad days, which didn’t used to happen. But the subject of doping hangs about the Tour de France like a mist in the Pyrenees. To most of us mere mortals, they all seem extraordinary. How anyone can put their body through so much pain, day after day, is superhuman. And as much as I love the competition, I can’t help but find myself pausing and reflecting a little more on the word. The impact of doping is multi-faceted. The riders who are clean, who were literally in primary school when Lance Armstrong competed in his last Tour de France, are constantly forced to justify themselves and their performances. They know there’s little they can do to convince the sceptics. Jonas Vingegaard says he’s been tested four times in the last two days. He’s being filmed the whole time he’s off the bike for two different documentary series. He’s not failed a test, and the mere logistics of doping would make it impossible for him and his team. He’s asked repeatedly about doping, and he’s emphatic. “I wouldn’t take anything I wouldn’t give to my daughter.” I hope he’s right. His team has pointed out that unlike his main rival, he hasn’t competed in other gruelling competitions so far this season. His preparation was solely focused on the big kahuna. It’s entirely predictable that as the Tour continued, he’d slowly grind down the more exhausted riders. But a real tragedy of doping is that as fans, we never know. Given the history, we can never be 100% certain of anyone in the Tour de France. And as much as you can suspend reality a bit and soak up the day-to-day racing, any especially notable performance and those invasive thoughts come crashing back. Superhuman? Or superhuman?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/21/20235 minutes, 30 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Alayna - Self Portrait of Woman Unravelling

Kiwi musician Alayna has released her debut album titled ‘Self Portrait of Woman Unravelling.’ The album features elements of pop, R&B, soul, and folk, and encapsulates her journey and efforts in understanding herself as a person and an artist. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20236 minutes, 40 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Guest and Night Will Find You

The Guest, Emma Cline   Summer is coming to a close on the East End of Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome. A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she’s been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city. With few resources and a waterlogged phone, but gifted with an ability to navigate the desires of others, Alex stays on Long Island and drifts like a ghost through the hedged lanes, gated driveways, and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world that is, at first, closed to her. Propelled by desperation and a mutable sense of morality, she spends the week leading up to Labor Day moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake. Taut, propulsive, and impossible to look away from, Emma Cline’s The Guest is a spellbinding literary achievement.    Night Will Find You, Julia Heaberlin Vivvy Bouchet, daughter of a known psychic, was ten when she saved a boy’s life by making an impossible prediction. Now she’s an astrophysicist in Texas, devoted to science, but the boy she saved has become a cop who continues to believe she can see things no one else can. When he begs for help on the high-profile cold case of a kidnapped girl, Vivvy steps back into the ocean of voices that once nearly drowned her. She is forced to team up with detective Jesse Sharp, a skeptic of anything but fact. When Vivvy becomes the target of a conspiracy theorist podcaster, she fights back with both her scientific mind and her inexplicable gifts, hoping to lure a kidnapper, find a child who haunts her, and lay some of her own ghosts to rest. Sharply relevant, Julia Heaberlin's Night Will Find You explores the mysterious nature of belief—in psychic power, in science, in conspiracies, in a higher power—and the delicate dance between scientific truth and the things we can’t explain.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Return to Hong Kong

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his recent trip to Hong Kong. Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20239 minutes, 33 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: The importance of mentally disconnecting after work

Being unable to mentally disconnect from your work once your day is over can be a major problem, resulting in higher levels of stress, poor sleep, and even relationship issues. Dr Dougal Sutherland joined Jack Tame to talk about the importance of disconnecting and reconnecting each day, and how to achieve it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20237 minutes, 10 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Hibernating (Overwintering) in unexpected places

Insect life cycles vary from species to species. It all depends on where they live and what the temperatures are in summer, and in winter Many “overwinter” as eggs – which is easy: no eating needed, no movement needed… which is handy as temperatures are low in winter and insect movement can only happen when temps are comfortable.  Remember: they are cold-blooded, so rely on external temperatures to get energy for movement. So, cold conditions means not much movement. Examples: aphids (on host plants); Cicadas inside the twigs (where Mum laid her eggs); Black Field Crickets (underground); Praying mantis (in cool egg cases stuck to our house). Other species decided a long time ago, that overwintering as pupae or chrysalis is the way to go Similar advantages: no movement no eating and slow development into adult life-stage. Examples: some moths (Gum emperor moths and silk moths) Some moth species literally slow down during the winter as “stunned” adult moths and hibernate – not moving at all.   Moth Chrysalis. Social species, such as Vespid wasps (German wasp/common wasp) and Paper wasps (Polistes species) play a totally different game: they hibernate as adult females, fertilised and all. We call them Queens.   Queen wasp Hibernating in wood. Just before autumn turns into winter, the surviving fertile females from a colony mate with the males (drones) and, after a feed (often of carbo-hydrates … sugars!) they will look for a suitable place to hibernate. Anything will do, really, as long as it’s out of the severe frost and preferably dark and safe Of course, in spring when temperatures become a little more agreeable, the queens will leave the hibernation spot and try locate some sustenance in the form of early-flowering plants with nectar. This will start the early-season cycle off. Finding a nest site and starting a brand-new nest is the very first priority. But before it gets that far, we’re stuck with them in winter and often on or near the house. Look for hibernating queens in window cavities, in the grouting of bricks, indeed: any nook or cranny will do. But as I found out a week or so ago: stored and stacked firewood is one of the best places for the queen wasps. As soon as you fill the basket near the Ultra-Low Emissions Burner, the blighters believe that spring has sprung and it’s time to move on to the next phase of the wasp life-cycle. Yep they fly around inside the lounge, trying to get out through the window… if they haven’t stung you already when you lifted up the firewood to transport it inside, that is!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20235 minutes, 18 seconds
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Nadine Higgins: Quitting jobs without another lined up

The NY Times has declared The Great Resignation over... but people quitting their jobs without another one to go to is still a very common occurrence (often *cough* at a particular time of their lives).   Not only do we see it often – but we see how it can often go wrong, and there are definitely things you can do to stop it being a source of relationship friction, financial stress and a recipe for a crisis of confidence.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20235 minutes, 49 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: SAG joins the writer's strike, AI a key issue

The Actors have joined the Writers in striking - and again AI is a key issue  160,000 performers stopped work at midnight - no more publicity tours, events, filming and more for the biggest names in Hollywood. People have been asking why Barbie has been going so big on their marketing so early, might just be because that will now grind to a halt. At the center of the strike - Actors want more profit sharing in the global success of their shows and want to protect their craft from AI.  The Union's negotiator said studios had asked for the ability to scan the faces of background artists, pay them for a day's work, then be able to own and use their likeness "for the rest of eternity, in any project they want, with no consent and no compensation".   The Studios negotiator disagrees with the characterization and says the proposal only permits a company to use the digital replica of a background actor in the motion picture for which the background actor is employed. Any other use requires the background actor’s consent and bargaining for the use, subject to a minimum payment.  Either way - there is concern from the actors about how their work is valued, and how to protect their most important IP: their body!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20235 minutes, 17 seconds
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Tara Ward: Full Circle, Creamerie, Quarterback

Full Circle: Steven Soderbergh directs and Claire Dane stars in this thriller that follows a fallout from a botched kidnapping, and the secrets that are exposed that connect multiple characters across New York City (Neon).       Creamerie: A second season of the dark New Zealand comedy about three dairy farmers living in a dystopian world where a deadly virus has wiped out 99% of all men (TVNZ+).     Quarterback: In the tradition of Drive to Survive and Point Break, this sports docu-series follows three quarterbacks in the American NFL as they experience highs and lows on their way to the Super Bowl (Netflix).   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20234 minutes, 35 seconds
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Chris Fletcher: What it's like to be a Master Distiller at Jack Daniels

Chris Fletcher is one of only a handful of people to hold the title of Master Distiller at Jack Daniels in his 155-year history. He carried on the family tradition, following in the footsteps of his grandfather who also held the role, and is responsible for the whiskey’s overall quality from “grain to glass”. Jack Tame managed to catch up with Chris Fletcher this morning, to have a chat about what it’s like to have the job. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/202312 minutes, 6 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Doctors appointments and alcohol intakes

Should we really tell the truth when the doctor asks, “What’s your alcohol intake?” After all, don’t they double it anyway because it’s assumed we all lie?  Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame this week to tell a story about what he discovered in a specialist report. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20235 minutes, 56 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Matariki Watercress Pesto

Matariki is a time to celebrate all things Aotearoa; relax, think, and kōrero about what the coming year can bring. It’s best to do this around a tableful of food I find : )  It’s a great opportunity to focus on ingredients that are locally grown and I just love this peppery pesto made with watercress and NZ-grown pine nuts.    Ingredients A few big handfuls fresh watercress, washed  ¼ cup pine nuts – use Pinoli which are grown in NZ!  30-50g grated parmesan  Juice from one lemon  ¼ teaspoon sea salt  ¼- ½ cup olive oil    Method Use a food processor to blend together watercress, pine nuts, parmesan, lemon juice and salt. Drizzle in the olive oil until you have a chunky sauce consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning. Use this on grilled mussels, lamb chops, stirred through pasta or on a beautiful baked kūmara!   Notes:  Can sub pine nuts for almonds or walnuts.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20235 minutes, 20 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One & Robots

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission -- not even the lives of those he cares about most.    Robots on Apple TV +  Charles is a womanizer while Elaine is a gold digger. The duo learn humanity when forced to team up and pursue robot doubles of themselves. Starring Jack Whitehall and Shailene Woodley.     LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20235 minutes, 59 seconds
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Jack Tame: Sometimes you have to make unpopular calls

I was driving about some of the outskirts of Nelson this week and it took me a bit of time to notice it. Since my last visit to the region earlier this year, several of the large billboards that had been hammered up on the sides of the road to protest the Three Waters reforms have been removed and not obviously replaced. I don’t know if it’s a Nelson thing or if the billboards have just been moved to another location, or if their removal is symptomatic of something greater nationwide. But at the very least, it’s been my observation that much of the anger around Three Waters has dissipated since Kieran McAnulty took over the portfolio and the government reset the plan. I’m not saying Three Waters isn’t still contentious. There are still public meetings and roadshows and Facebook groups spilling with fury. I’m just saying it’s not nearly as contentious as it was 12 months ago. And even though the new ten-entity plan doesn’t make anything like the financial savings that were initially promised, the government has correctly bet that it can push ahead with a version of Three Waters without it being the single issue that costs it the election. In six years, I can think of few other significant reforms in which Labour has pursued a vision over short-term political popularity. Auckland’s Light Rail project might make the cut, except –like Three Waters– I suspect the project is probably more popular and less contentious than some of the pushback would have us believe. The nature of political leadership is that sometimes you have to make unpopular calls for the greater good. As much as voters have a collective wisdom, they’re also human. They’re motivated by short term incentives. Everyone wants more for less. I suspect that many of those who vehemently oppose Three Waters, for example, have also railed for decades against the rates increases that might have gone some way to developing water infrastructure and removing the need for the reforms in the first place. If you’re only prepared to make popular decisions, then what is the point in leadership? It’s not really leadership, is it? It’s just focus-grouping. Polling. Instead of laying out a platform, debating its merits, and pursuing a distinct vision, you might as well just have a smartphone app or a website on which everyone votes on every little policy so that you can be sure you never fall afoul of the masses. I’m not remotely surprised by Chris Hipkins’ captain’s call on tax, this week. The Prime Minister has made it clear from day one that his absolute priority is winning the election. But I do wonder if somewhere on the ninth floor, at some point, Labour’s strategists find themselves in an existential bind. If the cost of winning an election means sacrificing your political vision, then what’s the point in winning?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/14/20233 minutes, 57 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Olivia Dean - Messy

Olivia Dean began her career working with dance act Rudimental. With burgeoning solo success following a series of solo EPs, she now releases her debut album, Messy. It’s a mainstream pop record, but with a loose Londony informality amid the polish. You can hear the distant echo of rare groove and acid jazz.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20234 minutes, 54 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: My Friend Anne Frank and The Book of Form and Emptiness

My Friend Anne Frank - Hannah Pick-Goslar  Hannah Pick-Goslar died in October just before her 94th birthday (I accidentally put in an interview request for her and that was the book publisher’s response lol)  In this long‑awaited memoir, Hannah shares the story of her childhood during the Holocaust, from the introduction of anti-Jewish laws in Amsterdam to the gradual disappearance of classmates and, eventually, the Frank family, to Hannah and her family's imprisonment in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. As Hannah chronicles the experiences of her own life during and after the war, she provides a searing look at what countless children endured at the hands of the Nazi regime, as well as an intimate, never‑before‑seen portrait of the most recognizable victim of the Holocaust. Culminating in an astonishing fateful reunion, My Friend Anne Frank is the profoundly moving story of childhood and friendship during one of the darkest periods in the world's history.    The Book of Form and Emptiness - Ruth Ozeki  With its blend of sympathetic characters, riveting plot, and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz, to climate change, to our attachment to material possessions, The Book of Form and Emptiness is classic Ruth Ozeki—bold, wise, poignant, playful, humane and heartbreaking.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20235 minutes, 31 seconds
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Mike Yardley: The best of Bergamo, Italy

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his recent visit to the city of Bergamo in Italy.  Find his full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20237 minutes, 37 seconds
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Kate Hall: Sustainable School Holidays activities

+ Take a bus card, jump on random buses and see where the bus schedules take you! Adventure, explore, and use it as a way to teach kids how to take the bus while making busing feel cool & fun (I am doing this with my 6 & 8 year old nieces today so will have a good story/insight).  + Declutter: turn your house clearout/clean up into a game.  + Treasure hunt: even if it's raining, finding a free list online or making your own treasure hunt up can be a great source of entertainment for hours.  + Bake - but head to a package free store to source all the ingredients with the kids (let them make decisions and learn how to use the bulk bin stores).  + Upcycling: choose broken things from your house or take items from the recycling bin to carry out your own upcycling challenge.  Most of these are sustainable financially too as they are free or cost very little!  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20238 minutes, 42 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Reproduction

Spent some time looking at Julie’s wonderful display of bright pink Cyclamen – they are flowering beautifully – such an old-fashioned plant… (my mother had them in pots outside, all those years ago) But those Cyclamen Coum have not always been in the large pot in which the Cumquat grows its small bright-yellow/orange citrus fruits; It was one of those experimental accidents that seems to be the result of Julie’s arty Green thumbs. A few years ago, she put a small pot with Cyclamen under that cumquat; it started flowering pretty pink and produced seeds – lots of seeds.  The idea is to let the seeds develop and fall onto the soil in winter – in the following autumn they’ll produce heaps of small Cyclamen and the soil is covered in a matter of a few years. Partial shade is the preferred spot – that means you can grow these plants under trees in the garden (not necessarily in pots). They will go dormant in spring – leaves drop off and the plants stay dormant all summer. The cycle starts again in Autumn. Light (liquid) fertiliser - every now and then – will be great. Another way to get Cyclamen to reproduce is by lifting the tubers in late summer/Autumn and dividing them before replanting those underground tubers. Division of the tubers results in all offspring being very much the same (colour, size, etc) But – of course – it’s very satisfying to find the right spot and conditions that allow these plants to go nuts – and more nuts they go, the better it looks. Another way to look at seeds and their variability in development is when you start playing with a plant species through cross-pollination. Dahlias are a perfect example of a plant you can muck around with; all you need is a brush! (or a very well-trained pollinator, such as an obedient honey bee) Imagine taking pollen from a red-coloured Dahlia flower and transporting that (with your brush) to a yellow flower of the same cultivar… (or even a different cultivar – what the heck!). A cross pollination like that can sometimes yield a completely new colour morph or a new variety! This is the kind of gig that professional plant-breeders are into. In New Zealand our Famous Dahlia breeder is Keith Hammett. He created soooo many new varieties! … and every year he has sooo many seeds left to propagate – he simply runs out of time and space. This year he –once again– teamed up with the New Zealand Gardener: You can get some of Keith’s seeds and propagate those yourself; (get in touch with NZ Gardener) Imagine growing a variety that has never been seen before – Just name it yourself and propagate it by growing the tuber every year. You know how to do it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20233 minutes, 22 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Instagram's Threads is the fastest growing app, ever?

Meta says 70 million people have now signed up for Threads and there have been over 90 million posts. It took Twitter four years to build that audience.    Elon is now threatening to sue Meta, alleging Meta has copied Twitter, saying  "competition is fine, cheating is not". But he's in for a hard time because copyright law doesn't protect ideas, and Meta has a patent for its newsfeed. If anything, it means Meta could counter sue Twitter - which is exactly why these companies patent things like this even if they never really expect to enforce them.  Jane Manchun Wong - who is famous in tech circles for uncovering unreleased features in Twitter (and other apps) as they're being developed - is now working for Meta on Threads.    Meta is really pushing the safety and community aspect of this app  Meta says they want it to be a "friendly" place for conversation but I still don't see how they plan to make that happen. Instagram's boss says they're not going to do anything to encourage politics and “hard news" - but that won't stop people publishing their thoughts about it? Yes, Meta has more moderation policies, more tech to enforce them, more people to manually review content - but that doesn't inherently make it a safer place. Is Twitter a less safe place than Facebook today?    What's next?  Instagram is working on a feed just for people you follow and a chronological feed - which is going to make it a LOT more usable. Right now the feed seems to display random content without rhyme or reason - I certainly can't pickup a theme to what I'm getting.  Hashtags, trending topics and more are also in the works.  They'll also add proper fediverse / activity pub support - which will could open the door to account portability, and even interoperability with other Twitter-like services.  Hopefully a proper web version is coming soon too. At the moment you can only find someone's profile if you know their username - eg. https://www.threads.net/@paulstenhouse See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20234 minutes, 30 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Appendicitis

Dr Bryan Betty joined Jack Tame to talk about appendicitis: what it is, the signs, and what to do about it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20234 minutes, 30 seconds
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Tara Ward: Unforgotten, Everybody Else Burns, The Horror of Dolores Roach

Unforgotten: A new season of this brilliant British crime drama starring Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar recently arrived on TVNZ+. Everybody Else Burns: A sharp British comedy about the Lewises, an everyday family from Manchester who happen to belong to an ultra-religious cult (Neon). The Horror of Dolores Roach: A comedy horror about a woman who is released from prison after 18 years, and after reuniting with an old friend, is driven to shocking extremes to survive (Prime Video).   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20236 minutes
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Marianne van Velzen: Dutch Journalist on her book about Minnie Berrington

Marianne van Velzen is a Dutch journalist who has long held a fascination with Australia, having been born in the Netherlands but growing up down under.  The country’s long informed her work – and she’s researched and written about some the most adventurous and pioneering people in Australia.  Her latest book is centered on Minnie Berrington, the first female opal miner in South Australia’s outback.  Marianne joined Jack Tame to chat about her latest work. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/202311 minutes, 54 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Peanut Butter Cookies

These are ridiculously easy to make, yummy as, and they just happen to be gluten free! Chewy, densely rich and very moreish.  Makes 12–15 cookies    Ingredients: 1 cup sugar  1 cup peanut butter  1 large egg  50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped  1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)    Method: Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.  With an electric beater or a food processor, mix sugar, peanut butter and egg until combined. Add the chopped chocolate and vanilla and mix briefly.  Roll dough into balls about the size of a walnut or golf ball, depending on how big you like your cookie. Flatten with your palm.  Bake for 14–16 minutes, flattening again at the 8-minute mark.  Cool on a rack. Store in an airtight container. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20237 minutes, 19 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: WHAM! and Sugar and Stars

WHAM! Through archival interviews and footage, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley relive the arc of their Wham! career, from 70s best buds to 80s pop icons.    Sugar and Stars Ever since he was a little boy, Yazid has dreamed of becoming a pastry chef. Moved from one foster home to another, nothing predestined him for such a career. Yazid’s indomitable determination and resourcefulness have proven priceless in helping him succeed in the elitist arena of patisserie. Working for the world’s top chefs from Paris to Monaco, he strives to become the best and to fulfill his dream of winning the international pastry championship.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20235 minutes, 37 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Instructions on what to feed the dog

Kevin's wife Linda is away for a couple weeks, leaving him with pages of instructions on what to feed the dog. Plus, he's finally figured out where all their money has been going. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20237 minutes, 24 seconds
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Jack Tame: Distracting kids on road trips

The drive was only three hours but we knew we’d have to distract him. It’s not his fault! 6-year-olds simply do not have the biologicial composition for sitting still in place for more than about 14 seconds. And even a relatively simple drive, Auckland to Rotorua, is an almighty test for the first weekend of the school holidays. When I was a kid, my parents used to try and placate us with food. Ahead of a long drive, my three siblings and I would climb into the back of the family van, each of us with an ice-cream container full of Uncle Toby’s finest highly-processed treats. It was like a Tame family version of the marshmellow test. My sister and I would try and drag our respective treat boxes out until we’d made it most of the way to our destination. Delayed gratification. My little brother would be finished his by the time our van reached the end of the street. The first ‘are we there yet?’ came before we’d even cleared the Bombay Hills. Although I’d encouraged Mr Six-year old to plot our remaining journey time on the car’s Google Maps, it became clear he didn’t understand how to read the column with the hours remaining, and to everyone’s grave disappointment - “It says only nine more minutes!” - had been solely focusing on the minutes column for our procession down the Southern Motorway. My wife introduced a game of Hoiho. If you see a horse, you yell ‘Hoiho!’ If you see a paddock of horses, you say ‘Pataka.’ Everyone keeps tally of their total horses, until a player sees a cemetery, ‘Urupā,’ and gets to choose what other player’s horses get scratched.   Mr Six-year-old was an enthusiastic participant. A little too enthusiastic, if anything. Cows? “Hoiho!” Deer? “Hoiho!” Vegetation on distant hillsides? “Hoiho! Hoiho!” And it quickly became clear that what maybe he lacked in horse-spotting skills, he made up for in cunning. “Hoiho!” “Where?” “Oh back there around the corner. You missed it.” Finally, somewhere just south of Huntly, we resorted to technology. Not a screen, but my noise-cancelling headphones and a series of children’s podcasts, about things like why cheese is smelly and why fish can open their eyes underwater. It was a good call. Mr Six-year-old was chuffed. He asked to pause Hoiho and seemed to relax back into his seat and watch the Waikato countryside drift past. The only problem with the noise-cancelling headphones setup is that even for the quietest among us, it can be very difficult to regulate the volume of your voice. My wife would just be dozing off when she’d be wrenched from her slumber by someone screaming in the back seat. “Unpause. Hoiho! Ok, pause again.” The rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference. I dunno if Albert Einstein had a brainwave moment in describing the theory of relativity. But part of me wonders if he took a family trip to Rotorua with a six-year-old in the back. I figured three hours was gonna’ be a long time for him. But the person most relieved when we reach our destination wasn’t Mr Six-year-old. It was me.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/7/20234 minutes, 24 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kelly Clarkson - Chemistry

With her tenth studio album, “chemistry,” the singer turned talk-show host drills into the specific heartbreak of a marriage’s end.  In 2020, after filing for divorce from her husband of nearly seven years, Brandon Blackstock, Clarkson hinted at new music, claiming that she was writing the “most personal” album she’s ever made.   Last year, she said that she’d been working on the record for two years, and that she’d done the Christmas songs because it had provided a joyful break from the difficult realities of her life.  That project-in-the-making, “chemistry,” is finally out, and it is a worthy entry in the annals of breakup albums, a musical gesture that teases, entices, and—for better or worse—provides the public a window into a relationship gone bad.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20235 minutes, 49 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Horror and hope in Phnom Penh

Lusciously located at the confluence of the mighty Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, the very name Phnom Penh conjures up an image of the exotic. I recently visited Cambodia’s capital with Emerald Cruises on their magnificent week-long float from Ho Chi Minh City. From the fluttering saffron robes of passing monks to the glimmering spires of the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh struts its Buddhist stripes at every turn. But the Cambodian capital’s shine was egregiously tarnished by the ravages of the Khmer Rouge regime. Forty years on, Phnom Penh aspires to be as electric as Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City, with swanky new developments and the hip, edgy design boom revving up the city centre’s allure, and eye-catching skyscrapers extravagantly reframing the skyline. Come nightfall, there is no question that Phnom Penh is one of the most illuminated cities in Asia, radiantly aglow in the city’s insatiable obsession with playful, escapist light shows. The city is lit! But the shameful shadow of Pol Pot and his abominable regime is a stain that cannot be airbrushed away – or joyfully dressed up in fairy lights. The past bastardry is still central to the city narrative. Remarkably, when the Khmer Rouge grabbed power, it forced most of its three million residents into the countryside, apart of its grand vision for a classless agrarian society. Today, Phnom Penh resembles a city of startling contrasts, from extreme poverty to ostentatious wealth. It’s a city gripped by entrenched state corruption and the reaffirming kindness of locals you meet. Virtually everyone I chatted to was scathing of Cambodia’s slavish dependence on China. Nearly 50% of their public debt is owed to China, with more “debt trap” loans in the works. Phnom Penh is a city where the streets have no name – merely numbers. The legacy of the Khmer Rouge looms large as one of the central reasons to visit the city and to reflect on history’s epic horrors, dipping into the darkest corners of the country's traumatised past. It’s an unvarnished, gut-wrenching experience. My first shore excursion with Emerald Cruises was to one of Cambodia’s biggest Killing Fields. Under Pol Pot's maniacal rule from 1975 to 1979, roughly a quarter of Cambodia’s population was murdered, the genocide of roughly 2 million people. Tens of thousands of Khmer Rouge prisoners who had been tortured at the infamous S-21 prison were then taken just out of town to the Choeung Ek extermination camp, which was previously a Chinese cemetery and longan orchard. Prisoners would arrive blind-folded unaware of the brutality that was about to unfold. Our guide pointed out the tree named the Killing Tree, which is where children would be beaten to death. Another tree has been named the Music Tree. The Khmer Rouge executioners would hang speakers from the tree and blast out loud music to drown out the screams of people being bludgeoned to death, so that those awaiting their fate remained oblivious to the evil about to be unleashed. The Killing Tree. Photo / Mike Yardley My guide soberly remarked that most people were viciously bludgeoned to death by farm implements, because the Khmer Rouge didn’t want to waste precious money on bullets. The most sickening spectacle at this site are the shards of bones and clothing sticking up from the vast mounds of dirt that mark the mass graves. Every time it rains, the earth reveals more and more of its sinister secrets, lurking beneath the surface. Most mass graves have been left untouched. Today the camp is a memorial site. A monumental 17-storey glass stupa, built 25 years ago, rises up from the centre, filled with 8,000 skulls, exhumed from the mass graves nearby. It's a harrowing spectacle – steel yourself. Many of the skulls, which are grouped according to age and sex, bear the holes and slices from the blows that killed them. Photo / Mike Yardley Back in town, we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, another horrific reminder of the cruelty humans are capable of inflicting. Once a neighbourhood high school, the building was seized by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge and turned into a prison and interrogation centre, the dreaded S-21. During the prison's four years of operation, an estimated 20,000 Cambodians were tortured here before being transferred to the Killing Fields for execution. Initially it was the previous governments officials, academics, doctors, teachers, students, factory workers, monks and engineers that were imprisoned. The regime was paranoid about educated Cambodians becoming CIA spies and went to outrageous lengths to interrogate inmates and force out confessions – many of which were false confessions. Prisoners were routinely beaten and tortured with electric shocks, searing hot metal instruments and hanging. Some were cut with knives or suffocated with plastic bags. Other methods for generating confessions included pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds and waterboarding prisoners. Even a Kiwi, Kerry Hamill, was tortured in the prison, before being executed. He was imprisoned along with his friends after sailing off the coast from Thailand and inadvertently straying into Cambodian territorial waters. The four school buildings that made up S-21 have been left largely as they were when the Khmer Rouge left. The prison kept extensive records and photos of the victims, and many of the documents are on display; particularly chilling are the representations of torture scenes painted by S-21 survivor Vann Nath. He is just one of a handful inmates who walked out of the prison alive. His painting skills were his saving grace. Another survivor is Chum Mey. His life was only spared because of his ability to repair sewing machines for Pol Pot's soldiers. The 93 year old has appeared in numerous documentaries and still greets visitors most days in the museum courtyard. S21 Prison in Phnom Penh. Photo / Mike Yardley For a welcome change of scenery, we also headed to the bejewelled splendour Royal Palace, the official residence of current King Sihamoni. The residential areas of the palace re strictly off limits, but within the pagoda-style compound are several structures worth savouring, including the Silver Pagoda; the Throne Hall, with a tiered roof topped by a 200-foot-tall tower; and a pavilion donated by the Emperor Napoléon III and shipped here from France. Photo / Supplied The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, built from 1892 to 1902 and renovated in 1962, is one of Phnom Penh's greatest attractions. It's referred to as the Silver Pagoda because of the 5000 silver tiles—more than 5 tonne of pure silver—that make up the floor in the main temple hall. It’s also home to the Emerald Buddha—some say it's carved from jade, while others maintain that it's Baccarat crystal. In front of the altar is a 90kg solid-gold Buddha studded with over 2000 diamonds. Serious bling! Just out of Phnom Penh, we also headed to Uodong, the former royal capital of Cambodia until it moved to Phnom Penh in 1886. It’s home to the burial sites of numerous Khmer kings and the Oudong Monastery. It was fascinating to interact with some of the nuns who live here – many who lost their husbands during the insanity of Pol Pot’s regime. Best of all, entering the grace and gorgeousness of the main temple, we received a traditional Buddhist blessing from a couple of resident monks. Photo / Mike Yardley Shop up a storm in Phnom Penh. Bartering is expected and part of the fun at markets - just watch your wallet doesn't go walkabout with a fleet-footed pickpocket. Colourful krama (checked headscarves), weird and wonderful fruit, gemstones, fried grasshoppers -- it's all under one enormous Art Deco roof at Central Market. Haggle for handwoven silk, silver animal trinkets and Buddha carvings in the Russian Market's warren of dark alleys, which takes its name from the Russian wives who would previously sweep into town for a buying binge. Street 240 and Street 178 are the city's chicest boulevards, dotted with fashion boutiques, art galleries and bookstores. Phnom Penh has a reputation for booming nightlife. Booming it is, but a large part of that is actually pretty seedy. As in Thailand, in some parts of town, child prostitution is rife. The main nightlife area, nicknamed The Strip is on Street 51, spills forth with young Khmer girls from the countryside, soliciting on the footpath, waiting for large old white men with fat wallets. I felt sick. For a classier, cleaner experience, head to the riverfront scene on Sisowath Quay, where the restaurants and bars party deep into the night – without the sleazy sex trade atmos. Down on the quay, enjoy sizzling city views, cool breezes, cook-your-own-meat Khmer barbeque and rooftop cocktails at FCC, the Foreign Correspondents Club, a city institution housed in a French colonial gem. It is currently undergoing a major refresh, but the history runs deep here. Photos on the wall date back to the Khmer Rouge invasion, as taken by war correspondents who used to hang out at FCC back in the day. Photo / Supplied You’ll have a world of fun taking in the trippy night lights on a remork ride, as Phnom Penh spangles itself silly in splashy light displays. Good-cause dining is also big deal in town, whereby numerous restaurants are run by aid organisations to help fund their social programmes and train new recruits to the hospitality trade. One of the best is Friends, on St 13, which offers former street children a head-start in the restaurant business. Explore the wonders, horror and history of Vietnam and Cambodia on Emerald Harmony’s 7 night Majestic Mekong river cruise. Your cruise includes 21 meals with complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks accompanying lunch and dinner on board. Knowledgeable local guides will bring each destination to life in small group excursions. It’s an enchanting way to savour a truly heady pocket of the world. Book direct at www.emeraldcruises.co.nz Jet your way to Phnom Penh with Malaysia Airlines, who offer super-convenient, one-stop services from Auckland via Kuala Lumpur, eight times a week. With well-timed overnight flights, to and from KL, the award-winning Malaysia Airlines is a full-service carrier, renowned for competitive airfares, exceptional service and quintessential Malaysian hospitality. Bag some great fares and seats to suit with the Malaysia Airlines Explore the World Sale. www.malaysiaairlines.com Mike Yardley is our resident traveller on Jack Tame Saturday Mornings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/202310 minutes, 17 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: What is 'mindfulness'?

We hear lots about “mindfulness” – it seems to be everywhere. But what actually is it and what does it do?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20238 minutes, 51 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Leaf Curl on Stone Fruit

One of the common queries from the Garden involves the phenomenon of leafcurl on the leaves of peaches, nectarines, apricots, almonds …. STONE FRUIT in other words. It is caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans. The leaves (especially in spring) are discoloured and contorted (if there is such a word) disfigured and looking quite awful. Colours vary from pale green to pink and deeper purple colours, but the distortions are very diagnostic: as if the leaves have become a lot “thicker” The affected leaves fall off the trees along with infected small fruits. Infection As soon as the leaf buds have “swollen” to produce spring-time leaves, the infections take place. Later in spring and early summer, when most of the affected leaves have fallen off, the leaves appear to be “normal, but the tree will have been weakened. By then the damage has been done. With newly-formed peach leaves in spring, you are NOT advised to spray copper on those leaves, as copper often causes “burn” on those leaves and - besides – you’re too late controlling the fungus at that time. A spray with Myclobutanil (“Fungus fighter”) might be more effective as that (non-organic) material will control the fungal infection – albeit too late for that year’s crop! Timing of Infection The reason we’re talking about leaf curl at this time of the year (July) is that from Late Autumn to Early Winter (right now!) the fungal spores of Taphrina deformans are infecting the leaf buds that are being formed on the twigs for the new spring growth. Control Grab yourself a double dose of Copper spray (or a mixture of Copper and Sulphur (both regarded as organic sprays) and drench those new buds two or three times (2 weeks apart). I have the feeling that you can’t go wrong with three or even four sprays of copper from all angles, so the buds are thoroughly sprayed and the fungal spores are given a run for their money! Some folk advise to do apply another copper spray just before the leaf buds swell (in spring) and  produce leaves. But it’s quite simple: if you can control the Taphrina deformans at this time of the year, you’ll control the leaf curl too and have a much better crop of stone fruit in spring. If you still get some leaf curl on the new leaves, a quick dose of fungus fighter will “mop up” the fungus before it goes into its summer state. Hygiene Don’t forget to pick up fallen, infected leaves and fruit from the ground underneath the tree.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20234 minutes, 46 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Master of Wine's top pick

BOB’S BEST BUYS  Wine: Neudorf 2022 Tiritiri Chardonnay, Nelson $28  Why I chose it: - Neudorf is one of the country’s top chardonnay producers  - It is less than one/third of the price of Neudorf’s top chardonnay  - “Special occasion” wine  What does it taste like?  - Appealing, accessible chardonnay with an initial hint of fruit and alcohol sweetness leading to nicely integrated acidity that helps drive a lengthy finish. A mix of subtle mineral and citrus flavours. Great value at this price.  Why it’s a bargain: - It is one of those wines that I spot on the shelve and think they have made a mistake by underpricing it.  Where can you buy it? - Moore Wilson’s, Wellington $26.95; - Neudorf Vineyards, Upper Moutere $28. - Wine retailers know that they don’t have to discount the wine to sell it. It has such a good reputation.  Food match? - Freshly shucked Nelson Toi Point oysters garnished with a squeeze of lime. Most seafoods.  Will it keep?  - It offers great drinking now but will still be delicious in 4-5 years.  therealreview.com   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/20234 minutes, 25 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Messenger Supervision Tools and Meta blocking news links in Canada

What are your kids up to on Instagram and Messenger - you can now find out more than ever  Just how much time are they spending chatting to friends? The new "Messenger Supervision Tools" will show that and lots more. Parents will be able to see contacts lists, who messages with their child and who can see their Stories. They can't however see the actual messages themselves. These are available now in the USA, Canada and UK. Will roll out globally over time.   Over on Instagram, if a kid isn't following someone and they try to send a message, they'll get an invite to connect before any photos or videos can be received, or calls are connected.    An update about Meta blocking links to news sites in Canada  Well Google is doing the same now. It'll be removing all news content from Google Search, and Google news. They haven't said if links to stories about Canada from foreign publishers would be allowed. Google is calling the Online News Act "unworkable" - especially because it forces the tech companies to the negotiating table with no guidelines on what a reasonable deal should be valued at.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/20235 minutes, 30 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Winning the Lotto

This week Kevin Milne joined Jack to chat about his win in the Lotto draw this week, and what he’d do with $33 million dollars. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/20236 minutes, 11 seconds
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Tara Ward: Hijack, The Witcher, Muscles & Mayhem

Hijack: Idris Elba stars in this drama about a negotiator who has to use his professional skills when his flight from Dubai to London is hijacked (Apple TV+).   The Witcher: The popular dark fantasy series sees Henry Cavill return for a third season as a monster-hunter available for hire, navigating a world where people are more wicked than beasts (Netflix).  Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorised Story of American Gladiators: This docu-series follows the dramatic rise and fall (and all the behind the scenes drama) of one of the biggest TV shows of the 1990s (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/20235 minutes, 27 seconds
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Jimmy Chin: Oscar winning director and photographer on Wild Life project

Jimmy Chin is responsible for capturing some of the most famous outdoor photos and documentaries of our time alongside his wife, Chai.  The pair shot the Oscar winning documentary Free Solo, following climber Alex Honnold conquering the 900 metre vertical rock face of El Capitan in Yosemite… without any ropes.  Jimmy and Chai have a new project that’s been picked up by Disney called Wild Life.  It follows Kris Tompkins and her partner Doug, who helped pioneer the likes of Patagonia, The North Face, and Esprit. They then turned their attention to creating National Parks throughout Chile and Argentina through one of the largest private land donations in history.  Jimmy Chin joined Jack Tame to chat about this latest project. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/202313 minutes, 50 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Persimmon Salad

This beautiful fruit is in abundance right now, and it’s a great ingredient to work with given it lends itself to both sweet and savoury dishes. Often paired with blue cheese, I recently enjoyed it at a fab restaurant in Wellington, High Water on Cuba St, where they paired it with fresh burrata. This is my version of that dish.  Serves 2    Ingredients: 3 tablespoons currants, soaked in boiling water to plump 1 firm persimmon, sliced very thinly (I used a mandolin) 100g burrata or fresh mozzarella or cottage cheese Small handful of toasted hazelnuts Honey, pomegranate molasses, balsamic vinegar or vincotto Dressing:  2 tablespoons good olive oil 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar Whisk up the dressing in a little bowl.    Method: Choose your favourite plate and dollop some of whatever cheese you’re using around it in spoonfuls or torn pieces. Cover these with the thin slices of persimmon. Drizzle over the dressing, scatter over the currants and hazelnuts. Add a final flourish of whatever you’re using, the honey, molasses etc.  Eat quietly and reverently.  Note: Vincotto is a beautiful, fruity, tangy viscous vinegar See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/20235 minutes, 30 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Last Rider

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny  Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history. Accompanied by his goddaughter, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA.      The Last Rider  American cyclist Greg LeMond wins the 1989 Tour de France to complete one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/20238 minutes, 26 seconds
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Jack Tame: There's no such thing as a free lunch

Sir Isaac Newton missed a trick. Albert Einstein did no better. Archimedes was good, sure. But he still failed to describe one of the most obvious principles defining almost every aspect of our mortal existance: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. So far as I’m concerned, the Theory of No Free Lunch applies to every aspect of our lives. It’s the rule of payoffs. The rule of compromises. Sure, you can drive a massive V8 that sounds awesome and goes like the clappers, but it’s probably gonna’ be terrible for the environment and a nightmare to maintain. Sure, you can have a meaningful, purposeful, nourishing job, but you’re probably only going to earn a 50th of the salary of someone trading derivatives or trafficking weapons for a living. But perhaps nowhere is the Theory of No Free Lunch more applicable than at lunch. Sure, you can have a fast, convenient, delicious meal, but it’s probably not gonna’ be very healthy. You can enjoy a highly-nutritious, wholesome, plant-based dish, but it’s probably not gonna’ be quite as tasty or convenient as some other options. Think about how we use salt and sugar. Up to a point, is it too cheeky to suggest that every sprinkle makes a dish both a bit more delicious and a bit less healthy? There are very few unicorns when it comes to the Theory of No Free Lunch, which is why I for one am not surprised in the slightest at the news on Aspartame. The World Health Organisation is reportedly preparing to define the artificial sweetener as a possible human carcinogen. Aspartame is the miracle ingredient that makes things like Diet Coke, toothpaste, and sugar-free chewing gum delicious. Sure, you’re not consuming good old-fashioned sugary calories, you’re not rotting your teeth and clogging your arteries, but there’s a cost to that deliciousness that has to be paid somewhere. You can’t have something for nothing. We have to wait a couple of weeks for the final WHO report, but that it’s taken this long to define aspartame as possibly carcinogenic is yet another great example of how stunningly little we seem to actually understand about the science of nutrition. Aspartame is in 6000 products worldwide. It’s been studied and studied and studied. Diet Coke is 41 years old! And yet if the reports are true, it’s taken until 2023 for the WHO to finally decide aspartame meets the carcinogenic threshold. The good news, if there is any, is that it’s likely you’ll need to consume a huge quantity of the stuff for it to have a significant effect. I don’t think anyone is suggesting aspartame is on the scale of leaded petrol or tobacco. I occasionally have a diet fizzy drink. I used to be addicted but I weaned myself off it for exactly this reason. I figured it had to be bad for me, somehow. But really, the thing for me is chewing gum. I chew gum like an Australian cricketer. And will this news stop me? Of course not. Because like I said... it’s not news to me. Whether carcinogenic or something else, for sugarfree gum to taste that delicious, I’ve always known there had to be a cost. I knew, and I will always know, that there is no such thing as a free lunch.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/30/20234 minutes, 25 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: The Teskey Brothers - The Winding Way

Returning with their first album of new material since 2019's chart-topping Run Home Slow, Melbourne's The Teskey Brothers have unveiled their third official long player The Winding Way.  They’re playing in NZ later this year.   “Our old recording studio was on a street called Winding Way in Melbourne. We moved out of that house in 2021 just before recording this album,” Josh explains. “When we were trying to come up with a title we realised ‘The Winding Way’ is the perfect metaphor for all the recent changes we’d been through in our lives.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20236 minutes, 29 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Covenant of Water and Search History

The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese   From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine.   Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India's Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning -- and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl -- and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi -- will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.     Search History – Amy Taylor   A young woman’s online obsession with her new boyfriend’s deceased ex fuels this sharp and honest portrait of modern love “brimming with humor, insight, and uncomfortable truths”  After Ana flees to Melbourne in the wake of a breakup, all she has to show for herself is an unfulfilling job at an overly enthusiastic tech start-up and one particularly questionable dating app experience. Then she meets Evan. Charming, kind, and responsible, Evan is a complete deviation from her usual type; Ana feels like she has finally awoken from a long dating nightmare.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20235 minutes, 26 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Cruising the Mekong Delta

Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his recent trip cruising down the Mekong Delta, taking in the sights of Vietnam. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20237 minutes, 31 seconds
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Kate Hall: What does the next phase of the plastic ban mean for us?

The next phase of the government’s plastic ban is kicking in from July, with single use plastic straws, tableware and cutlery, and plastic bags all being phased out. Kate “Ethically Kate” Hall joined Jack Tame to chat about the ban, what it’ll mean, and how people can get ready for the changes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20238 minutes, 1 second
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Jack wants to grow Pomegranates

Welcome to winter! So you want to grow that tropical Pomegranate? Punica granatum is likely to have originated from Persia or Central Asia; a closely related ancestor (Punica protopunica) came from Yemen. The Pomegranate was quickly transported by humans throughout the Mediterranean basin, California and Asia; that was made possible by the fact that these trees are extremely adaptive to various climates and soil conditions. So yes, they would probably grow nicely in Canterbury on the port hills! What made this fruit (and bark, leaves and flowers) so desirable was its medicinal use: bio-active chemicals (and anti-oxydants) were found to be anti-microbial and anti-bacterial and pretty useful in the battles with diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. Not sure how much real scientific work has been put into these medicinal claims, but as per usual, in our modern language, this fruit became a “Super Food.”   Growing the Pomegranate tree/shrub In full sun is best. In any type of soil, but well-drained soil with organic material/compost gives best results. I think that if you have rather wet soils, it may pay to “raise your bed” at least 30 centimetres to avoid inundation of the roots; Pomegranates can stand rather dry soils, which means you can water the plants when you have time – and use liquid fertiliser! There is a dwarf variety called “Nana.” It can be planted in a large pot and will grow to 1 meter high. Advantage: can be shifted to a warm spot to ripen the fruit in autumn. Use a good container mix with some slow-release fertiliser. Grow them in an area where you get warm summers, slowly extending the nice temperatures to 6 or 7 months. They're pretty resistant to cool winters, but require at least 6 months of warm temperatures to ripen the fruit. Planting time. In Auckland you can plant them in late autumn/early winter (soil temperatures are not too low and the soil not too wet); In Canterbury I would plant them in autumn when the soil is still relatively warm You need patience. Pomegranates need to get established into the soil first – they slowly start to put down their roots and create flowers on the next shoots. Don’t expect too much fruit in the first year or two. Fertilisers and watering. Not required in winter and early spring – you can ignore them! But once flowers have started to show, water the tree and chuck down some fertiliser (best to use “flowering fertiliser” for tomatoes or roses) and keep up the “care” to allow the fruit to ripen in autumn. Pruning in winter: lightly prune to remove dead branches and keep the tree in shape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20235 minutes, 10 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Does your Money Personality matter?

Money Personalities. The Retirement Commission this week released a study which identified 5 main Money Personalities – an enterpriser, a minimalist, a socialite, a realist, and a contemporary.  Hannah McQueen has seen thousands of clients over the years, does this hold true, and does it matter?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20236 minutes, 48 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: News is disappearing from Facebook in Canada

News is disappearing from Facebook in Canada  Canada's Online News Act passed on Thursday which forces tech companies to negotiate with news publishers to link to their content. There's even a provision for binding arbitration if needed. Meta isn't happy. They said back in May that it's "like asking email providers to pay the postal service because people don’t send letters any more". Meta's argument is stronger than Google's because users choose to share the news on Facebook & Instagram, rather than Facebook itself. The tech companies have six months before the legislation comes into effect, but Facebook plans to start blocking access immediately.     Amazon wants in on the AI race too  AWS is allocating $100 million to a program to work with companies to use their AI tech. They're adding data scientists, engineers, and solutions architects. Amazon is in a slightly different position to Microsoft & Google because they don't have the same access to datasets from crawling the web. What they do have is connections for an enterprise to their own data inside the AWS data servers thanks to their position as the cloud-leader.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20235 minutes, 12 seconds
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Tara Ward: Class of '09, Black Snow, Carpool Karaoke

Class of ’09: An American thriller that follows a group of FBI agents in three distinct time periods as they grapple with the changes to the US criminal justice system as it is altered by artificial intelligence. (Disney+)    Black Snow: When a time capsule is unearthed at a Queensland high school, a small town is forced to confront the past and an unsolved murder of a student. (TVNZ+)     Carpool Karaoke: A star-studded, song-filled ride in this five-time Emmy award winning series that sees celebrities sharing a car, singing along to their favourite songs - including Succession’s Brian Cox singing The Spice Girls?! (Apple TV+)      LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20234 minutes, 36 seconds
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Jason Mraz: Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride

‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz was the song of the year back in 2008, going on to achieve the relatively rare diamond status the next year, and going platinum a total of ten times. The US artist has had a successful career, with worldwide tours, multiple Grammy wins, and is a Songwriters Hall of Fame honoree. Jason has released a brand new album called Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride, and joined Jack Tame this morning to chat about both it and his career. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/202313 minutes, 51 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Keep warm with French onion soup

It’s soup season and this has got to be one of my absolute favourites because it’s rich with flavour but so cheap to make!  Serves 1-2    Ingredients: 1 tablespoon each butter and oil  2 onions, sliced thinly (see note)  1 scant tablespoon plain flour  3 cups beef, chicken or vege stock (or water)  Splash of white or red wine (optional)  1 bay leaf  ½ tsp sea salt  ½ tsp brown sugar  Decent grind black pepper  1-2 thick slices of bread  ¼ cup grated cheese – gruyere is traditional but you can use any    Method: In a heavy pot cook the sliced onions on a medium heat in the butter and oil. Do this with the lid on to let them sweat down. After 5-7 minutes given them a stir (lower the heat if they are getting too brown) and keep covered and cooking for 10 more minutes. Stir the flour through the onions, add a splash of the stock and cook for 1 minutes until the flour has thickened then add the remaining ingredients. Simmer, lid on, for 20-30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.  To serve: Grill bread on both sides, top it with cheese and grill until cheese is melted then place on top of soup in a bowl. Enjoy! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20237 minutes, 8 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: No Hard Feelings and My Sailor, My Love

No Hard Feelings   On the brink of losing her childhood home, a desperate woman agrees to date a wealthy couple's introverted and awkward 19-year-old son before he leaves for college. Starring Jennifer Lawrence.     My Sailor, My Love  A retired sea captain and his daughter must reassess their strained relationship after he begins a new romance with a widowed housekeeper.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20235 minutes, 47 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Saying goodbye to Piggy Sue

This week Kevin joined Jack Tame to say goodbye to one of New Zealand’s most endearing stars: Piggy Sue. She was adopted by Kevin and his wife Linda after starring in Vodafone ads back in 2015, but recently had to be put down after an illness. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20237 minutes, 25 seconds
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Jack Tame: This whole thing says so much about human nature

I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been utterly compelled from the very start. I first read about the missing Titan submersible a few hours after it was publicly reported missing, and I’ve been hanging on every update ever since. That’s not to say I ever thought there might be a happy ending to the whole saga. This is perhaps a confronting thing to say, but in that vessel, at that depth, at that location, an instantaneous catastrophic implosion was a preferable alternative to one in which the occupants suffered over days or were conscious of what was happening. I just think –more than any other news story in recent memory– the whole thing says so much to us about human nature. First of all, the occupants themselves. Curious, daring. Fantastically wealthy. Was anyone terribly surprised to learn they were all men? And what does it say about our species that for those people who can afford it, of all the oceans in the World and all the incredible things to see, they chose an already extremely well-documented shipwreck that happens to be in a very tricky and unpleasant stretch of water. When you think about, a trip to a wreck where 1500 people died and you can still catch glimpes of shoes in the sand is a pretty morbid. Did the tourists really want to see the Titanic? Or did they just want to be able to say they’d seen the titanic? For us, watching from the outside, that a search for five men could engross the World says so much. We are utterly compelled by the horrors of the deep. We compelled by exploration. By hubris. By the faintest hope of an extremely unlikely rescue. We picture ourselves in that situation. Would I go in that submarine? What would I do now? Human beings aren’t even-handed in their interest or attention. Sadly, we don’t give nearly the same resource or news coverage to sinking migrant ships filled with poor and nameless people, missing in the Med. Is it just? Of course not. Ultimately though, nothing in this saga said more about human nature than the CEO of Oceangate, who died with his vessel. Stockton Rush was smart and resourceful enough to build a device which could make it kilometres below the surface of the ocean, but not wise enough to heed the warnings of myriad experts and engineers in what is a very small community. Ultimately every dive was a game of Russian roulette. As the film director James Cameron noted, there is something awfully poetic about the whole situation and its parallels to the original Titanic disaster, in which a captain blithely ignored warnings and steamed into the path of icebergs. Ultimately Stockton Rush will be remembered for publicly courting attention and media, boasting of his creation and lambasting his critics, only to perish by the flaws of his own design. There’s one word for it: Shakesperean.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/23/20234 minutes, 27 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Music - Cat Stevens - King of the Land

Unlike the two previous records, his first to include the Cat Stevens moniker since 1978, King of a Land is made up of all new material.  Not much has changed in Yusuf / Cat Stevens' music over the past half-century. He even sounds remarkably the same, singing in a voice that's lost none of its geniality and compassion, even if the world has.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20236 minutes, 13 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Books - Yellowface and Killing Moon

Yellowface – RF Kaung  White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel  Killing Moon – Jo Nesbo   This killer will get inside your head...  Two women are missing, their only connection being they attended the same party, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20234 minutes, 19 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Heritage hits in Ho Chi Minh City

The city's bling-bling urban verve is surging, but it's Saigon's history that still attracts most travellers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20237 minutes, 49 seconds
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Dougal Sutherland: 47 is statistically the most depressing point of your life, here's how to turn it around

47 is statistically proven to be the most depressing point of your life...but here's how to turn it around.  Numerous scientific studies have shown that happiness is U-shaped – it declines and bottoms out in your 40s as you struggle with the pressures of working life, lack of new experiences, financial worries, and the weight of responsibility.  No longer thirty and thriving? A recent study1 suggests that 47 years old is the most ‘depressing’ point of your life. But with every problem comes a solution, and Tourism Fiji has collated a series of holiday experiences designed to turn that middle-aged frown upside down.  According to the research, happiness declines and bottoms out in your 40s before slowly hiking upwards again in the mid-50s. Combine tweenaged children with mortgages, high-interest rates and depleting collagen, and you’ll potentially find yourself a miserable 40-something-year-old.  Psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland claims that there is a method to the miserable-ness: “Your 40s are a time in life when you feel the weight of responsibility most strongly. Many people will have dependent kids, alongside duties that come with ageing parents, plus potentially increasing levels of responsibility at work. All of these things can eat into your general sense of life satisfaction.”  “In your 40s, you look back with fondness at the care-free days of youth and look ahead to semi-retirement and enjoying the ‘good life’. You’re caught in the middle and stuck in a dangerous cycle of comparison.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20237 minutes, 14 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Cirque du Soleil spiders

I was excited to go to my favourite circus: Cirque du Soleil; they’re back in town!! Great costumes – lots of art – and creative music.  Most of all: fabulous performers that can do incredible things with their bodies; this, by the way, is something that makes my old body ache, just looking at it!  Safety has to be an enormously important part of the show, yet you rarely see obvious signs of safety lines and nets, really…  Fast-Forward to some of our jumping spiders; their Family name is “Salticidae” from Latin “Saltare”, meaning: to jump  Some of our species are absolute masters at it – they come inside the house, look around for potential prey and then the stalking starts.  Jumping spiders have great eye-sight – total of eight eyes, two are large front eyes for perfect stereo vision…   The following “jump” is also extremely fast and accurate, but what most people don’t see is that during this jump the spider reels off silk from a gland in the abdomen. (at lightning speed!)  This silk line is the spider’s safety line, in case it misses the target or falls of the window sill, table or other precarious edge where the jump takes place.  Looking at these spiders you’ll see an entomological version of Cirque du Soleil with “web-sites” and bungy cords, safety lines and safety nets, daring jumps and lightning fast reflexes, all made from Natural fibres that are strong and efficient and - most of all – Biodegradable!  Not surprised then that some scientists think they have observed jumping spiders going into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleeps…  No doubt dreaming about their miniaturecircus acts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20234 minutes, 53 seconds
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Dr. Bryan Betty: Cataracts and what we can do about them

Cataracts  Very common as get older. 400,000 thought to be living with cataracts Not treated can lead to blindness How do we now we are getting cataracts?  Notice haziness in vision especially at night or bright light. May see halo’s around lights. Worsens vision becomes cloudy. Due to lens front of eye turning yellow or clumps protein. Reaction to UV light. Who’s at risk?  Age biggest risk factor – unusual before 40. Rarely children and develop congenital cataracts. Some things worsen risk: Smoking, diabetes, increases exposure to UV light – working outside. Why UV sunglasses so important! What can we do about it?  Surgery only long term  option! Short operation 45 minutes under local anaesthetic – your awake. Small cut in cornea (front of the eye) – lens removed and plastic one inserted. Can’t be rejected , can’t develop another one once done. Few days off work so as not to strain eyes. How do we prevent?  Regular eye checks with optometrist. Protect eyes – wear sunglasses See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20234 minutes, 51 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - The Full Monty, Arnold and Our Planet II

The Full Monty: 26 years after the unemployed men from Sheffield first stripped off in the iconic movie of the same name, they’re back - older, certainly - but are they any wiser? (Disney+)  Arnold: Following his recent return to our screens on Netflix’s Fubar, this three part documentary series looks back at the varied life of the Austrian bodybuilder and his pursuit of the American dream (Netflix)    Our Planet II: Sir David Attenborough’s latest nature documentary series follows the astonishing stories of animal migration across our planet (Netflix)   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20235 minutes, 8 seconds
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Nici Wickes: What's your favourite toastie combo?

The Great NZ Toastie Takeover finalists have been announced   So, let's talk toasties, how much we love them, MY TOP TIPS FOR MAKING A GOOD ONE and encourage listeners to check out the finalist's offerings - their website is fantastically easy to navigate and find one near you. With a whopping 120,000 toasties served up since mid-April , the competition’s 185 entries have now been whittled down to 14 finalists from around the country - winner will be announced on TUESDAY 20 June.  This is such a popular competition - I love the way consumers can actually get to try the toasties during the comp and the names and combos the chefs come up with are incredible:   "Baabaa Ganoush" - Sprig & Fern Tavern (Nelson):   House smoked lamb shoulder, baba ganoush, peppery rocket, Thor’s Hammer Manchego style cheese, McClure’s Sweet & Spicy Pickles, fresh hop aioli, on Don Rodrigo’s quinoa sourdough bread. Served with house cut twice cooked chips seasoned with rosemary and garlic Marlborough sea salt flake.  "Come out with your hams up" - Cafe Polo (WELLINGTON)   Croc MonShaw: - Good Day (Orakei): Thick cut free range smoked ham (from local butcher the legend Mr Chris Knight), lashings of cheesy, mustardy bēchamel sauce, crunchy McClure’s Sweet & Spicy Pickles and more cheese for the ultimate melt, on local baker the Dusty Apron’s grilled sourdough.  "Sheep Thrills" - Roasted X Toasted (Lumsden)   Slow roasted Southland lamb, Old Yella mustard, creamy mayo, McClure’s Bread & Butter Pickles, three cheese blend and Kel’s homemade McClure’s pickle jelly.   The Joestie: - Shining Peak Brewing (New Plymouth)  An in-depth delve between land and sea. Smoked eel, kawakawa aioli, smoked cheddar, McClure’s Pickles, puha, topped with McClure’s pickle caviar.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20235 minutes, 58 seconds
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Madeleine Sami: Star and director of 'Double Parked' on her busy life and band with her sisters

Madeleine Sami is a busy woman.  Out this week is Double Parked a comedy series she both stars in and directs featuring Antonia Prebble.   She stars in a new black comedy series with the Aussies called Deadloch – released earlier this month to great reviews.  And if that wasn’t enough - Madeleine is in a band with her equally as talented sisters – called, of course, The Sami Sisters.   Madeleine Sami joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/202312 minutes, 32 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Film - Guy Ritchie's The Covenant and Extraction 2

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant – yes, he has put his name in the title of the film  During the war in Afghanistan, a local interpreter risks his own life to carry an injured sergeant across miles of gruelling terrain.  Extraction 2   Back from the brink of death, commando Tyler Rake embarks on a dangerous mission to save a ruthless gangster's imprisoned family.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20237 minutes, 25 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Dreaming of travelling business class

You hope, one day, to be rich enough to take at least one long haul flight in business class.   But every time you think you can afford it, you discover that business class seats are selling at an even more outrageous price, so you’re back to economy again.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20236 minutes, 37 seconds
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Jack Tame: Wasting 10,000 litres every day is the most profoundly selfish thing I can imagine

I think it rates as among the single most selfish acts I can ever recall. A North Canterbury farmer, disgruntled with his local council over the water connection rates he’s being charged for an as-yet uninhabited subdivision, has decided to launch a protest against the Waimakariri District Council. In a part of New Zealand where droughts are common, and where water access is an especially contentious subject, he’s been pouring 10,000 litres of drinking water down the drain, every day. 10,000 litres. It’s like leaving a shower on for eleven or twelve hours every day. I’m sorry, but that’s not a protest. That’s environmental vandalism. It should be a crime, as far as I’m concerned. The whole situation is yet another reminder of why New Zealand councils all need to introduce water metering. I know it’s a contentious subject, but it’s outrageous to me that people like this farmer can so wilfully waste a precious resource without any financial impact. At the moment, we have a bit of a hodgepodge patchwork of water metering for different councils across the country. Some regions and cities have metering, where you’re charged relative to your usage, but many still don’t. They rely on connection fees or other forms of rates to try and finance the pipes and infrastructure. The value of metering is pretty obvious. Water metering also helps to detect leaks across the pipe network. People who are charged by their usage as opposed to their connection are incentivised to be more thoughtful about their water use. When the Kāpiti Coast introduced water metering, Stuff reported that water usage dropped 25%. That’s massive! Not only did it save the resource, it meant the maintenance on the region’s water infrastructure could be deferred for longer because the assets weren’t being hammered so hard. New Zealand lags embarrassingly compared to other countries. when it comes to water metering. It’s commonplace overseas. By the year 2000, two-thirds of OECD countries had water metering for more than 90% of their single family homes. Imagine what that number is today! Fiji has water metering! The Ivory Coast has water metering! The main criticism of metering is usually that water is a human right and metering will impact poorer families. I think we’re sophisticated enough to introduce targeted support for those people, like we do for other things. I get that it’s not a vote winner. But water metering seems an obvious thing for the new Three Waters entities to standardise across New Zealand. The thing about that farmer’s protest is that, in a way, I agree with his gripe. He says he’s protesting an annual water connection fee for sections that haven’t yet been built on. Instead of that fee, I think a per-litre charge would be much more effective tool. It’s a shame they can’t retroactively introduce it and charge him an absolute premium. Wasting 10,000 litres every day is about the most profoundly selfish thing I can imagine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/16/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Music - Niall Horan, The Show

Three years after his last release, the 29-year-old singer has jumped feet first into the spotlight to promote third album The Show. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Books - Everything is Beautiful, Everything Hurts and The Forgotten Girls

Everything is Beautiful, Everything Hurts – Josie Shapiro  Mickey Bloom: five foot tall, dyslexic, and bullied at school. Mickey knows she's nothing special. Until one day, she discovers running.  Mickey's new-found talent makes her realise she's everything she thought she wasn't – powerful, strong and special. But her success comes at a cost, and the relentless training and pressure to win leaves Mickey broken, her dream in tatters.  Years later, when Mickey is working in a dead-end job with a drop-kick boyfriend, her mother becomes seriously ill. After nursing her, Mickey realises the only way she can overcome her grief – and find herself – is to run again.  A chance encounter with a stranger sees Mickey re-ignite her dreams. The two women form an unbreakable bond, as Mickey is shown what it means to run in the right direction.  The Forgotten Girls – Monica Potts  An unforgettable story of friendship and lost promise in 21st-century America  Growing up gifted and working-class in the foothills of the Ozarks, Monica and Darci became fast friends. The girls bonded over a shared love of learning as they navigated the challenges of their declining town and tumultuous family lives - broken marriages, shuttered stores and factories. They pored over the giant map in their classroom, tracing their fingers over the world that awaited them, vowing to escape. In the end, Monica left Clinton for university and fulfilled her dreams. Darci, along with many in their circle of friends, did not.  Years later, working as a journalist covering poverty, Monica discovered what she already intuitively knew about the women in Arkansas. Their life expectancy had steeply declined - the sharpest such fall in a century. She returned to Clinton to report the story, trying to understand the societal factors driving disturbing trends in the rural south. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20235 minutes, 3 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Outdoorsy adventures in Vanuatu

- Waterfalls and cascades are a huge draw in Vanuatu. Where's best?  - If you've got a head for heights, the Sky Bridge sounds like a plan.  - And there's a ziplining trek as well, right?  - What about day trips to islands beyond the mainland?  - And they have massive coconut crabs on Lelepa!  - What about Mozo and the Turtle Sanctuary.  - Further afield. Tanna Island Coffee. Can you visit the island?   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20239 minutes, 29 seconds
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Kate Hall: Hidden plastics

- Acknowledging how brilliant it is that people are becoming more aware of the detriments of plastic and avoiding it more often.  - Discussing what plastic is found in: chewing gum, tea bags, our clothes, makeup (IN the product, not just the packaging!), paper coffee cups (lined with plastic)  - In preparation for Plastic Free July we can become more aware of where plastic is and start using alternatives  - Alternatives to that list = no chewing gum (I use mouthwash and tongue scraper instead to reduce bad breath), loose leaf tea (I use a reusable metal tea bag replacement), clothes made from natural fibres (wool, cotton), makeup free from plastic, no cup no coffee + BYO reusable + sit in + use a reusable cup scheme.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20237 minutes, 14 seconds
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Bic Runga: New Zealand music icon ahead of her nationwide tour

Bic Runga is a true icon of New Zealand music. She’s been awarded just about every music award in the country and was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006.  And can you believe, it’s been 20 years since the release of her hit album Beautiful Collision.  It has tunes like Something Good and Listening for the Weather and Bic is celebrating by going on tour across the country next month.   Tickets to Bic’s tour are available at LiveNation. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/202315 minutes, 48 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Wine - 2022 Thornbury Pinot Gris, Waipara

Why I chose it:  - Pinot Gris is to wine what mashed potatoes is to cuisine – a bit taken for granted. It’s a comfort wine, a crowd pleaser that is quietly growing both locally and internationally.  - This is classic example – smooth textured and pleasingly fruity – seductively easy to drink.  - Pinot Gris falls into two categories: Lusciously intense wines in the style of the French wines from Alsace and the leaner, drier and often tangy wines Pinot Grigio from Italy. (both are made from pinot gris grapes). This follows the French model.  What does it taste like?  - Attractive floral/honeysuckle aromas and flavours suggesting ripe pear, nectarine and peach with a subtle spicy influence. The wine has a nice sweet/sour balance with some pleasing tension.  Why it’s a bargain:  - A lot of bang for a high quality wine priced at around $15  Where can you buy it?  - The Good Wine Co., Auckland $13.99, Vino Fino, Chch $13.99 and Wine Freedom Ltd, Otago $13.99  Food match?  - Quite a versatile food wine, my favourite match is onion tart. The sweetness in the onions matches the subtle sweetness in the wine.  Will it keep?  - Drink up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20233 minutes, 32 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Significant trees

Just before we start winter (almost 12 more days to go) on 22 June at 2.57 am, it might be a nice idea to look at planting trees  The soil is still relatively warm – and hopefully not too wet yet  What am I looking for there?  Fruit trees you really like – take your favourite variety of apple or pear or an elegant, fast-growing Sanguine peach that doesn’t show a lot of brown rot or any other typical peach diseases.  Your heart goes out to spring and summer and now’s the time to plant that stuff  Remember: if you are short of space, grab a young tree with two (or three) varieties grafted on the Main stem/Trunk;  Have a look at the catalogues of New Zealand’s best tree Nurseries.  As an entomologist, this is what I’d be looking for: host plants/Trees for our native insect taonga.  Mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus) (AKA marble leaf) is one I use all the time. Tree weta love to eat it (and I use heaps of the leaves to feed my captive specimens.  Maori use the soft wood of mahoe to make fire, by rubbing it with Kaikomako (Pennantia corymbosa) a very hard wood species, endemic to NZ.  Both small-ish trees produce fruits that are devoured by some of our native bird species: the violet-blue Mahoe seeds are eaten by kereru and geckoes.  The purple berries of Kaimakomako are in demand by birds, large and small.  Plant both trees and you can make fire, boy-scout style!  Another great example is planting a putaputaweta (Carpodetus serratus) also known as marble leaf.  Native of New Zealand and serving many creatures well.  One of the most favourite host plants of the Puriri moth. The caterpillars live inside this tree for many years – growing into a beautiful bright-green moth in the North Island of Aotearoa.  When the moths have vacated their tunnel in the putaputaweta, they leave behind a perfect second-hand dwelling for our Tree weta.  Planting this tree will support a heap of native species through an ecological system and food chain. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20234 minutes, 14 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech - Apple unveil raft of new features and products

FaceTime on your TV  Instead of gathering around a phone, or a laptop to connect with family or friends, why not gather around the biggest screen in your house - the TV. The new feature allows you to use your iPhone as a camera, connected to your Apple TV. Plus, it'll have the 'centre stage' capability so if you move around it will automatically reframe you. Would have been amazing for the pandemic lockdown, but will still be future going forward.   Your iPhone as a smart display  Apple is calling it StandBy. When your phone is charging (usually beside your bed) your phone will turn into a smart display showing you the time in a large font (like an old clock radio), what time your alarm is set for and other things like the weather forecast. Obviously, Siri is right there too - which now doesn't need the "hey". Plus - wait for it- you can now have more than one timer at the same time. Huge.   Interactive widgets  On your iPhone and iPad you'll be able to interact directly with the widgets. Today they take you to their associated app. On Mac, you'll b able to add these interactive widgets to your desktop, allowing you to quickly see and do things you'd usually need to open an application to do. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20234 minutes, 59 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - Tour de France Unchained, Fortitude and Based on a True Story

Tour de France Unchained: A new documentary series on Netflix. Through tears and triumph, this series follows several cycling teams as they compete in the 2022 instalment of the world's most gruelling bike race.   Fortitude: A crime thriller starring Richard Dormer, Dennis Quaid and Stanley Tucci, set on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Fortitude is one of the safest towns on earth, where there’s never been a violent crime - until now (Neon, 3 seasons).  Based on a True Story: Kaley Cuoco stars in this true crime satire about a realtor, a former tennis star and a plumber who seize a unique opportunity to capitalise on America's obsession with true crime (TVNZ+). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20234 minutes, 36 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Gluten Free broccoli and three-cheese pizza

Yes, you read that right – broccoli on a pizza and let me tell you, it’s AMAZING! Makes 4 GF pizza base Makes 3-4 medium 450g gluten free flour, plus extra for dusting ¼ baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 tsp sugar 1 egg, lightly beaten 80ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing 160mls lukewarm water - Sift gluten free flour, bicarb of soda, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Pour in egg, olive oil and water and mix to combine. - Divide dough into 3-4 portions and roughly knead each into a ball. - Working with each portion of dough, use floured hands to press and flatten and then roll out to desired shape and thickness – I aim for an oblong shape. Transfer to lined tray, brush with oil and now it’s ready for any toppings you choose. Topping 1 head broccoli, cut into florets, stem sliced Juice and zest from one lemon ½ cup grated mozzarella 50g grated parmesan 100g feta, crumbled Sauce ½ cup sour cream ¼ cup cream ¼ tsp sea salt Freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 220-250 C. Add broccoli to food processor and pulse briefly to roughly chop. Mix with zest and juice and cheeses. In a bowl whisk together sour cream, cream and seasonings. Spoon this sauce over pizza bases, top with broccoli/cheese mix and bake for 12-15 minutes until broccoli is cooked and even charred in some places. Serve immediately.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20235 minutes, 5 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Film - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Tank

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry   A seemingly unremarkable man in his 60s named Harold one day learns his old friend Queenie is dying. He embarks on a walk, only to keep going for 450 miles until he reaches Queenie's hospice, much to the despair of his wife Maureen.  The Tank  After inheriting his mother's abandoned coastal property, Ben and his family accidentally unleash an ancient, long-dormant creature that terrorized the entire region -- including his own ancestors -- for generations.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20236 minutes, 36 seconds
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Kevin Milne: What I'm learning as a grandparent

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to talk about what he's learning as a grandparent looking after a baby for one day a week - and how he sleeps so well after it.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20236 minutes, 19 seconds
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Jack Tame: Christchurch has crossed the threshold of becoming a better city than it was before

I first realised it this week, running through the city and around Hagley Park on one of those beautiful, still, cold South Island evenings.   For me, it was a long time coming. Twelve years and three months, all up.  Maybe others felt it earlier. Maybe others haven’t reached the point yet. I know those who’ve lived in Christchurch right throughout, who never left the city, might have a completely different perspective, and that’s ok.   But as a Cantab at heart, for the first time I feel I can say it with absolute confidence. It’s emphatic. Christchurch has crossed the threshold. For the first time since 2010 I reckon the city today is better than it was before the quakes.  There’s no one thing. There’s one project or development that’s pushed it past that point. It’s a collection of little things that make Ōtautahi so good.  For starters, the city. Finally the Cathedral isn’t just lying in ruin. The remote-controlled digger cleaning up the masonry and bird crap finished its job in record time. The build’s progressing, and fast.  Te Pae, Christchurch’s glorious new convention centre, is a stupendous venue. Across the road, Tūranga, the new library is surely the best of any big city in New Zealand. The art gallery is amazing. The Margaret Mahy playground is the stuff dreams are madeof for kids and adults alike.  The food in Christchurch is so good. Christchurch’s old strip was seedy as, but Riverside Market, The Terrace, and New Regent Street have energy and life.   The central city’s new shape works with Ōtakaro, the Avon River. The water’s clear and clean and meanders from the gleaming new buildings down near the splendid historic Arts Centre, and into the World-class Botanic Gardens.  I bristle with envy when I think of all the things on Christchurch’s doorstep. Taylors Mistake, New Brighton, and Sumner have surf. Mt Hutt has snow. Lyttelton has perhaps the most interesting music and arts community in New Zealand. Hagley Oval has a gorgeous cricket ground and the Christchurch Adventure Park is the gateway to World-class mountain biking.   There are young people in the city and they want to be there. At a time when many New Zealand universities are being forced to cut jobs, Canterbury University is hiring. This year, they tell me the university is on track for a record number of students. Domestic enrolments are up. International enrolments are up. There are students from 100 countries studying at Canterbury, from Mozambique to Myanmar to Mongolia. The number of people enrolled is up 7% at the end of March compared to the same time last year. It’s the University’s 150th birthday this year, and the halls of residence are at absolute capacity.   The cost of housing in Christchurch is so much cheaper than Auckland, and the quality is so much less depressing than in Wellington. It’s younger than Tauranga, more coastal than Hamilton and warmer than Dunedin.   I know it’s not perfect. I know how much pain and stress it’s taken to get things to this point. I’m under no illusions that places out East – Bromley, in particular – have a hell of a long way to go. The sprawl North and West means the traffic can be a total pain.  But with good leadership and planning, the city should only get better. Maybe it’s too big. Maybe it’s too expensive. But just imagine the atmosphere in town for that first All Blacks test in Te Kaha.   Years ago when I was living in New York, I asked the city’s chief urban designer about lessons from Manhattan’s recovery after the 9/11 attacks. He had a tear in his eye when he spoke to me about the transformation he’d experienced.   “Instead of asking yourself what happens if you get it wrong, ask yourself the opposite,” he said.   “What happens if Christchurch is too good? What happens if you remake your city and it’s so good that everyone wants to live there?”  I don’t reckon we’re far off. Christchurch has energy. Christchurch has mojo. Christchurch is better than ever.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/9/20236 minutes, 18 seconds
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Dave Fishwick: The Bank of Dave

Dave Fishwick left school at the age of 16, determined to become the largest supplier of minibuses in the UK as well as a self-made multi-millionare. During the economic crisis of 2011 banks stopped lending money overnight, so Dave picked up the slack. He began lending money to struggling businesses in his hometown of Burnley, starting the Bank of Dave. Dave joined Jack Tame to have a chat about the business and the Netflix film based off it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/202314 minutes, 55 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Foo Fighters - But Here We Are

It's a stunning response to the pain of last year... As is the rest of the album, which hums with an intensity and focus that Foo Fighters' more recent outings have lacked.  Musically, it's back to basics. Muscular chords and melodic riffs are the order of the day, as the band power through their sadness.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20237 minutes, 6 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Hang the Moon and Knowing What We Know

Hang the Moon – Jeanette Walls Most folk thought Sallie Kincaid was a nobody who’d amount to nothing. Sallie had other plans.Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.   Knowing What We Know – Simon Winchester With the advent of the internet, any topic we want to know about is instantly available with the touch of a smartphone button. With so much knowledge at our fingertips, what is there left for our brains to do? At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things—no need for math, no need for map-reading, no need for memorization—are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness?  Addressing these questions, Simon Winchester explores how humans have attained, stored, and disseminated knowledge. Examining such disciplines as education, journalism, encyclopedia creation, museum curation, photography, and broadcasting, he looks at a whole range of knowledge diffusion—from the cuneiform writings of Babylon to the machine-made genius of artificial intelligence, by way of Gutenberg, Google, and Wikipedia to the huge Victorian assemblage of the Mundanaeum, the collection of everything ever known, currently stored in a damp basement in northern Belgium.  Studded with strange and fascinating details, Knowing What We Know is a deep dive into learning and the human mind. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom? Does Rene Descartes’s Cogito, ergo sum—“I think therefore I am,” the foundation for human knowledge widely accepted since the Enlightenment—still hold?  And what will the world be like if no one in it is wise?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20234 minutes, 3 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Bites and Sights in Port Vila, Vanuatu

Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his visit to Port Vila, Vanuatu. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20238 minutes, 16 seconds
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Dr Dougal Sutherland: Reinventing yourself after a relationship break up

A recent survey from TradeMe has shown that people often invest more in themselves after a breakup. They spend more time and invest more energy into doing things like working out, eating healthier, buying things for themselves, and relaxing alone. Clinical Psychologist with Umbrella Wellbeing Dr Dougal Sutherland joined Jack Tame to chat about this change. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20237 minutes, 29 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Plagues of skinks

In our old Auckland garden we used be surrounded by so-called rainbow skinks. They were everywhere and… what a cool name! The best way to describe them: a small grey-brown skink with a dark brown, lateral stripe along the body. When they are sun bathing it is easy to find a spectacular rainbow-coloured sheen on their scales. I quickly learned these fascinating and quite pretty animals are actually Australian interlopers, arriving here in the 1960s. Common in the North Island, especially in the northern half: Northland to Waikato with populations in New Plymouth, Hawkes Bay, Whanganui, Palmerston North and Wellington. There are a few records from Blenheim too. I was hoping they were not in the South Island – but they are…  They can easily live here too – In Tasmania they’re well-established. Impact: They are numerous and aggressive; accused of eating our native invertebrates and ousting our timid native skink species through competition for space, habitat and food. Our native skinks are already under pressure from cats and stoats and weasels, so this exotic Aussie skink is likely to add some more pressure. They are classed as “invasive”, here in New Zealand and if we look at their track record in Hawaii (established there since early 1900s), I would not be surprised if these skinks are having an impact on our herpetological fauna and perhaps other delicate ecological balances. Isn’t it ironic that this skink’s scientific name is Lampropholis delicata? Scientists and Biosecurity creatives have re-named that “rainbow skink” to “plague skink”; Our best approach is to be aware of them and learn to tell them apart from our native skinks Identifying them from native species is not that easy: you’ve got to look at them up-close and focus on the top of their head; Right in the centre of the head – right on top and between the eyes – is a large diamond-shaped scale. That is the plague/rainbow skink. If that large scale is divided into two smaller scales, you’re looking at a Native species. Once you know what to look for, you can’t really miss the interloper. And then there are the creamy white eggs. You often find these 8 mm eggs in clusters in the soil or underneath rocks. Apart from one rather rare native species of skink (Oligosoma suteri), the Plague Skink is the only one that lays eggs. If you’re sure you can tell them apart, try catching and dispatching them. Please don’t think they are great “pets” for your kids or grand kids, because they are not! And be aware they are masters at hiding in your luggage when you are travelling. That way they spread themselves all over the place. Once again, the concept of Biosecurity sneaks back into the garden!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20234 minutes, 22 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: The tide is changing when it comes to the property market

There are plenty of indicators suggesting that things could be about to turn when it comes to the property market. Building consents, migration numbers, LVR changes, auction clearance rates, interest rates peaking, etc – however, it’s important to call out what we’ve (hopefully!) learned from the pandemic surge and slump. Property is not just a one-way bet, it’s best as a long-term investment, so that means people need to go into it with their eyes wide open in order to be able to hold it long term and avoid getting burnt. Especially if things do start to rise again, you shouldn’t rush in without doing your homework, knowing your numbers, and understanding your hold strategy (people definitely seem to suffer from FOMO if they think they’re missing out on a rise in the property market and rush in). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/2/20235 minutes, 33 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Virtual Reality - Apple vs Meta

We've been talking about the AI wars, now get set for the VR wars  Apple is expected to launch a brand-new device next week at its developer conference - a virtual reality and mixed reality headset.  Meta seems to have wanted to steal their thunder by announcing their new Quest 3 this week. It's far lighter and thinner than the v2, which makes it more comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. It has a new processor, but it won't have eye tracking which could be where Apple beats them if they're going to create a high-end product that's packed full of features. Meta says they've sold 20 million headsets so far.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/2/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Tara Ward: Deadloch, Maternal, and Fubar

Deadloch: Madeleine Sami plays a police detective in this dark Australian comedy-drama set in the Tasmanian town of Deadloch, who must investigate the mysterious death of a local man during a popular festival (Prime Video).     Maternal: A British drama about three female doctors all returning to work in the NHS after the birth of their children (TVNZ+, also TVNZ 1 10.05pm Saturday nights).  Fubar: Arnie is back! Arnold Schwarzennager makes his TV series debut as a CIA operative near retirement, who discovers a family secret and decides to go back into the field for one last job (Netflix).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/2/20234 minutes, 37 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Homemade Danish Pastries for a long weekend

These are wonderfully easy to whip up on a long weekend and you can choose whatever fruit you like – pears, apples, stonefruit, berries – whatever is in season!   Ingredients: 2 firm pears  400g flaky puff pastry (I use Pannetton or a block of puff pastry)  Flour for rolling  ½ cup store-bought custard, cream cheese or sour cream (if using these 2, add 1-2 tbps brown sugar)  1 heaped tbsp ground almonds  2 tbsps honey, warmed  Icing sugar to dust    Method: Preheat oven to 220 C. Lightly flour an oven tray. Peel, halve and neatly core pears. I use a teaspoon to remove core. Use a small knife and slice thinly keeping each slice attached at the stem end. This is so that you can fan them out. Dust a bench with flour. Roll pastry to 36x36cm square. Divide into 4 squares. Transfer to prepared tray. Score a 1cm border around each square. Mix custard with ground almonds or if using cream cheese / sour cream with sugar and almonds. Dollop a heaped tablespoon onto each pastry. No need to spread. Fan out each sliced pear halve and lay onto custard, keeping within the border. Brush pear with honey. Bake until puffed and golden and pastry bottom is cooked – about 15-20 minutes. Brush with more honey whilst still warm and allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar to serve. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/2/20235 minutes, 40 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse and Bank of Dave

Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders. He must soon redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.    Bank of Dave  A working class man and self-made millionaire, struggles to set up a community bank to help the town's local businesses thrive. To do so, he must battle London's financial institutions and compete for the first banking license in over 100 years.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/2/20236 minutes
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Kevin Milne: How we should celebrate Everest Day

This week Kevin’s here to chat about Everest Day and throw his support behind an idea of how to celebrate it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/2/20236 minutes, 1 second
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Mike Yardley: Halong Bay, Vietnam

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack to chat about his recent visit to the beautiful Halong Bay in Vietnam.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20238 minutes, 29 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Lewis Capaldi - Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent

Beating out Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi's second album 'Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent' is the fastest selling album of the year thus far.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20235 minutes, 57 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Wager and The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

The Wager, David Grann  On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.  The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.    The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, Tom Hanks Part One of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, returning from the war, meets his talented five-year-old nephew, leaves an indelible impression, and then disappears for twenty-three years.  Cut to 1970: The nephew, now drawing underground comic books in Oakland, California, reconnects with his uncle and, remembering the comic book he saw when he was five, draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero.   Cut to the present day: A commercially successful director discovers the 1970 comic book and decides to turn it into a contemporary superhero movie.  Cue the cast: We meet the film’s extremely difficult male star, his wonderful leading lady, the eccentric writer/director, the producer, the gofer production assistant, and everyone else on both sides of the camera.  Bonus material: Interspersed throughout are three comic books that are featured in the story—all created by Tom Hanks himself—including the comic book that becomes the official tie-in to this novel’s “major motion picture masterpiece.”    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20235 minutes, 1 second
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Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall: Temu and the waste caused by online shopping

Temu has been covering the internet in advertising over the past couple months, and the app has been topping free app charts on a regular basis. Kate Hall, an expert in sustainability has a few thoughts on the app, and on online shopping in general. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20237 minutes, 39 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Bags of Silks

One of the most incredible endemic insects in the collective New Zealand garden flies largely under the radar, yet it is as common as muck and lives for most of its life in a silk sleeping bag. Liothula omnivora is known in the trade as the “bag moth” or “case moth”. Tiny, baby caterpillars spin themselves a small silken case in which they incorporate pieces of foliage, twigs, mosses or lichens, to either jazz it up a bit, or – if you are a boring entomologist – for camouflage. This Caterpillar silk is very strong indeed (try ripping a silk scarf in half!) and our case moth caterpillar's efforts are right up there in terms of strength. They carry their private bags with them as they move long grazing on foliage at night. As the insect grows, it extends it bag to suit its needs. Along the way it feeds on its favourite host plant (often conifers, but also titoki, roses and even elms or flax) and adds more desiccated plant materials to its bag, to blend in with its surroundings. In the New World car park at Kohimaramara I once found a whole colony of case moth bags constructed of bits of torn plastic shopping bags; these bags were blown about and trapped by the fancy Chamaecyparis bushes on which the larvae fed. I even heard of liberal European entomologists, no doubt indulging in mind-altering substances, providing their captive colony of case moths with psychedelic bits of coloured paper – just for a laugh. Technological Tricks: At the top of the bag the caterpillar has constructed a draw-string system: when there’s trouble brewing, the insect can withdraw into its case and quickly close the opening behind it. One simple movement. Safety! A similar draw-string contraption exist right at the bottom of the case. It avoids the problem of ablutions in the bottom of the sleeping bag. Makes sense too! The pupa, or chrysalis is also formed in the bag, ready for metamorphosis. Most moth species emerge from their pupa and cocoon as full-winged imagoes, or adult specimens. In the case of our native bag moth only the male is winged and able to fly. It has dark grey to jet-black wings and can motor along very rapidly. These guys also have a very acute sense of smell, so that they can pick up the merest whiff of a suitable female. All they have to do is just follow the scent trail. Female bag moths have no wings at all and are therefore confined to the very same silk case in which they lived all their larval life. They can’t fly or move much at all, for that matter and they appear nothing more than a bloated insect with stumpy legs and an abdomen full of eggs. The best they can do to assist the searching male is sticking out the abdomen from the bottom tip of the case, to make the pheromone a bit easier to spot. When the female is fertilized, she dies and her eggs simply hatch from inside her dried-up body. The first nourishment of the brand new caterpillars could well be bits of the maternal carcass, before they leave the old silken case and settle in the same tree where mum lived. Some tiny caterpillars may drift a wee distance on their strands of silk, which act like balloons in the gentle breeze. Most of the offspring, however will stay on the same old maternal tree for the next generation… and the next and the next. This explains why we often find heaps of case moths on the same host – a real "infestation". A population like that can eat voraciously and sometimes plants are damaged. But does it require wholesale slaughter of these clever silk spinners? I don’t think so, but the reason why is a completely different story. The story is the wonderful Maori legend of Hineraukatauri (the goddess of Māori flute music); she loved her pūtōrino flute (shaped like a case moth bag) quite a lot; so much so that she transformed herself into the moth and living inside the pūtōrino bag…. mātauranga pepeke!!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/20234 minutes, 29 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: WhatsApp will let you edit messages, Elon Musk's brain chip Neuralink

WhatsApp will now let you edit your messages  There are some restrictions though - it has to be done in the first 15 minutes of sending it. It can only be edited once. It'll show as edited, but won't have a way to see the previous message. So good news, if you edit it before your recipient reads it, they'll never know what you said originally.  To do it, long press on the message and select edit.    Neuralink: Elon Musk's brain chip firm wins US approval for human study   Elon Musk's brain-chip firm says it has received approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to conduct its first tests on humans.  The Neuralink implant company wants to help restore vision and mobility to people by linking brains to computers. It says it does not have immediate plans to start recruiting participants. Mr Musk's previous ambitions to begin tests came to nothing.   The FDA said it acknowledged Neuralink's announcement.  An earlier bid by Neuralink to win FDA approval was rejected on safety grounds, according to a report in March by the Reuters news agency that cited multiple current and former employees.    TikTok is suing Montana  TikTok has filed suit too claiming the law is “unconstitutionally shutting down the forum for speech for all speakers on the app”. They say it's a violation of the first amendment, and an overreach of the powers afforded to the states. A group of content creators agree, and are also suing the state claiming it violates the First Amendment.  The law bans the app from the App Stores, but also prevents the operation of TikTok in Montana. Users though will not be liable for penalties.  TikTok's CEO said this week Oracle has begun to review the TikTok source code to verify data isn't leaving the US and can only be viewed by authorized parties (eg. not China's government). It's part of 'Project Texas' which has Oracle host all the user data for US users. The law will come into effect in 2024.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/20233 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Clearing, Platonic, Merpeople

The Clearing: Miranda Otto and Guy Pearce star in this adaptation of J.P. Pomare’s book about a woman who must confront the secrets of her past to prevent a local cult from brainwashing members of her community (Disney+)    Platonic: A screwball comedy starring Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne as platonic best friends who reconnect after a long rift, only for their friendship to become all-consuming in their lives (Apple TV+)     Merpeople: A new documentary series about the whimsical world of -wait for it- professional mermaiding, where people’s passion for swimming in glitter and fins has exploded into a huge, money-spinning industry (Netflix).    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/20234 minutes, 51 seconds
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Shaun Wallace: The Chase and NZ Tour

Shaun Wallace, the Dark Destroyer, is a man with a big brain and a lot of knowledge.  The Londoner shot to fame when he won the BBC’s legendary Mastermind in 2004, and is one of television’s most beloved Chasers.  But he’s not only a quiz champion, Shaun’s also a successful barrister and has been a criminal defence advocate for more than three decades.   Shaun joined Jack this morning ahead the events he’s hosting all over New Zealand over the next week. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/202314 minutes, 7 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Caramel apple sultana & spice cake

Celebrate the apple season with this absolutely gorgeous apple cake. It’s full of warming spices and with a golden caramel topping, it’s a winner.  Ingredients:  85g (about 6 tbsps) butter  ½ cup sweetened condensed milk  1 tsp vanilla extract  ¼ tsp cinnamon  2 medium apples, peeled and sliced thinly  Cake batter  120g butter, softened  ¾ cup sugar  2 large eggs  1 ½ cups plain flour  1 ½ tsps baking powder  ½ tsp baking soda  2 tsps ground cinnamon  ½ tsp nutmeg  Decent pinch salt  ½ cup sultanas  6 tbsps milk (you may not need it all)  Method:  Turn oven to 180 C fan bake. Grease and line a 21cm cake tin with baking paper. In a small pot, heat butter with condensed milk until butter is melted. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Pour into lined tin then layer up sliced apples on top. Chill while you make the batter. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until creamy. Add in dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt - and beat briefly until combined. With the beater running, add in the sultanas and drizzle in the milk to form a nice soft, but not sloppy, batter. Spoon batter on top of apples. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Set aside for 10-15 minutes then turn out onto serving plate so that the apple-y cake bottom becomes the top. Serve warm or room temperature with whipped cream. Yum! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Innocent, Deep Rising

The Innocent - Cannes International Film Festival 2022 Familial tensions, criminal hijinks and unexpected romance collide in the uproariously entertaining new comedy hit from the multi-talented Louis Garrel (A Faithful Man). Lyon, present day. When widowed marine biologist Abel (Garrel) learns that his impulsive mother Sylvie (Anouk Grinberg) is once again re-marrying – this time to an inmate she met whilst teaching theatre in prison – he’s more than uncomfortable. Doubting that convicted burglar Michel (Roschdy Zem) is capable of staying out of trouble, Abel’s protective streak kicks in, and with the help of his best friend Clémence (a sensational Noémie Merlant), he begins tailing his new stepfather’s movements. Their amateur sleuthing is quickly uncovered by Michel and triggers an unlikely – and bold - business proposition for them both… Joyfully paying homage to the great crime capers of the French New Wave, and partly inspired by events from his own life, Garrel’s witty and beautifully constructed film is a delirious mix of comedy, romance, suspense and action, with several twists too good to spoil. Selected as the special Gala Screening to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival - where it drew a thunderously positive response - this hilarious comedy aims to please, and does so effortlessly. Don’t miss it!    Deep Rising - Doc Edge Film Festival  Narrator is your old mate Jason Momoa. On at cinemas in Auckland and Wellington and virtually for others.  Delving into the pressing issue of deep-sea mining and its destructive impact on the environment, director Rytz provides a rare insight into the secretive world of the corporations that are extracting valuable metals from the ocean floor, with the help of cutting-edge technology. Narrated by Jason Momoa, the film highlights the urgent need to protect the deep ocean ecosystem, which plays a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth. Through stunning visuals and compelling storytelling, viewers are made aware of the little-known practice of deep-sea mining and its devastating consequences.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/20236 minutes, 59 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Remembering Tina Turner

This week Kevin wants to remember Tina Turner, going right back to the first time he saw her perform as Ike & Tina Turner and the Ikettes.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/20236 minutes, 49 seconds
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Jack Tame: It's no longer a personal cause

It took Sanitarium an awfully long time to finally dedicate a series of its Weetbix collector cards to the World Cup-winning Black Ferns. My colleagues at Fair Go covered it in depth, and when it was finally announced that Weetbix would publish a Black Ferns series, most of us assumed that would be that. But a fascinating story in the Herald revealed the best-known women’s rugby player in the World will not be appearing in the trading card series, becuase Ruby Tui insisted on appearing on the cards with a rainbow flag. Sanitarium is owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the church’s official stance opposes same-sex relations. But what’s remarkable about the reporting this week is that when Ruby Tui made the request to appear with a rainbow flag, it wasn’t necessarily Sanitarium that shut it down. According to reporting from Gregor Paul, the company was open to discussing the issue and it was actually New Zealand Rugby that blocked the plan, not wanting to set a precedent in allowing a player to use a commercial proposal to advocate for a personal cause. If this it true, it’s remarkable. Because last I checked, rainbow rights aren’t just a personal cause. New Zealand Rugby has signed up to the Pride Pledge, a public committment to diversity and inclusion. The organisation’s diversity and inclusion strategy specifically names rainbow communties as one of its targetted groups. And of course, many of the Black Ferns team are openly members of the rainbow community. If Ruby Tui had wanted to appear with the logo of a specific political party, of course that would be different. If she’d insisted on wearing branding for a personal company, that would be different too. But surely if a player’s personal cause directly overlaps with the broadly-stated and celebrated cause of the organisation they’re representing, then it’s no longer just a personal cause. I’m glad we live in an age where players feel they can make a stand. I admired Sonny-Bill Williams for his decision not to wear logos from sponsors in industries he opposed. In Ruby Tui’s case, she’s ultimately leaving money on the table and making a principled stand. We’d all like to think that for an issue or a cause we cared about, we’d have the integrity to do the same thing. We don’t know what would have happened if Ruby Tui and Sanitarium had properly discussed her request. Given it’s owned by the church, there’s good reason to believe Sanitarium might ultimately have opposed Ruby Tui’s appearance. I wonder what might have happened if other players had followed Ruby’s lead and insisted on holding rainbow flags. Sanitarium might have found itself in a very tricky position indeed. But that’s on Sanitarium. And if the reporting this week is accurate and it was ultimately New Zealand Rugby that stepped in, it adds a very different dynamic to the whole situation. I think it says something about the character and priorities of the organisation. Sure, we’re all for rainbow rights, until it impacts our bottom line.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/26/20234 minutes, 5 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Music - The National, 'First Two Pages of Frankenstein'

Anchored by evocative melodies and an enthralling lyrical narrative, First Two Pages of Frankenstein signals a thrilling new chapter in the band’s discography. The 11-song album was produced by The National at Long Pond Studios in upstate New York and features guest appearances by Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens.  The follow-up to 2019’s top five hit album I Am Easy To Find, First Two Pages of Frankenstein was initially stalled while lead singer Matt Berninger navigated “a very dark spot where I couldn’t come up with lyrics or melodies at all, and that period lasted for over a year. Even though we’d always been anxious and argued quite a lot whenever we were working on a record, this was the first time it ever felt like maybe things really had come to an end.”  Instead, The National “managed to come back together and approach everything from a different angle, and because of that we arrived at what feels like a new era for the band,” according to guitarist/pianist Bryce Dessner.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20237 minutes, 3 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Books - The Diamond Eye and The House of Eve

The Diamond Eye – Kate Quinn  The brand-new historical novel based on a true story from the bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network In the snowbound city of Kiev, aspiring historian Mila Pavlichenko’s life revolves around her young son – until Hitler’s invasion of Russia changes everything. Suddenly, she and her friends must take up arms to save their country from the Fuhrer’s destruction.  Handed a rifle, Mila discovers a gift – and months of blood, sweat and tears turn the young woman into a deadly sniper: the most lethal hunter of Nazis.  Yet success is bittersweet. Mila is torn from the battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America while the war still rages. There, she finds an unexpected ally in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and an unexpected promise of a different future.  But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a terrifying new foe, she finds herself in the deadliest duel of her life.  The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.  The House of Eve – Sadeqa Johnson   1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.  Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.  With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20235 minutes, 13 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Bites and Sights in Hanoi

Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about his time in Hanoi, Vietnam. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/202310 minutes, 3 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Relationship expert on how to support a partner with chronic illness

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has some advice for us around supporting a partner that suffers from a chronic illness. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20235 minutes, 37 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Wine - 2022 Framingham Classic Riesling, Marlborough

Wine: 2022 Framingham Classic Riesling, Marlborough $31.99  Why I chose it:  - I love Riesling  - Riesling is the best value NZ wine  - Framingham is one of the country’s top Riesling producers  What does it taste like?  - Medium-dry riesling with lime zest, oyster shell and white wildflower flavours supported by vibrant acidity that reacts with a suggestion of sweetness to give a deliciously vibrant character. Good purity and power.  Why it’s a bargain:  - One of the world’s great grape varieties and low demand.  Where can you buy it?  - First Glass Wines and Spirits, Takapuna $26.99; Regional Wines and Spirits, Wgtn. $29.99  Food match?  - Onion tart. Seafood and slightly spicy dishes (foods with a bit of sweetness)  Will it keep?  - Yes, at least 10 years with good storage. Becomes toasty and mellow, sometimes with a touch of kerosene.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20232 minutes, 52 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Planting time for trees and crops

We had a great autumn… quite warm! – getting cooler now Some fruit trees are still producing fruits: All you need is relatively warm autumn conditions for ripening to be successful. Feijoas and figs and some apple varieties Feijoas: select you favourite variety; they are all more or less similar when it comes to resistance of frosts, so chose what you like. Feijoas are still dropping at my place (don’t “pick” them, let them drop!!!) Many varieties to plant in autumn – they are pretty hardy and make great hedges! If you want to create a “hedge”, put two or three different varieties in that hedge and create an opportunity for cross-pollination. If you are in the far north, guava moth may become your nemesis Figs can be a little more tender in the cold, so grab an early-ripening fig variety (Brown Turkey, Mrs Williams, Brunswick, Cape White, etc) when you think you’re “on the edge” Apples would also be a great tree to plant before it gets too wet and too cold – it reduces the fungal infections underground; in really wet spots, think about planting apple varieties “in raised beds”. Before planting a tree or two: ask around your district what grows well and ripens well. The trees really need not huge amounts of fertility at all (if they are on perfect soils they become tall and lanky too quickly, requiring pruning a lot) Select varieties you like to eat or process into apple-sauce (“applemoes” in Dutch); remember: if you are short of space, grab a young tree with two (or three) varieties grafted on the Main stem/Trunk Garlic should be in the soil this weekend – (to be honest, I planted mine a month ago!!) to avoid that dreaded garlic rust disease. It works for me as the bulbs are ready to harvest in late October before it becomes a pain! Another important tip is to put garlic in a different bed each year – simply to escape old rust spores hotspots The same goes for the Egyptian walking Onion (a kind of shallot that’s really easy to grow); it too suffers from a bit of rust (but not as bad as garlic), so keep these two crops separate! Cos lettuce will do well too – regular plantings of seedlings ensures a constant supply of salads Broadbeans and Peas are also still plantable for an early feast of Legumes in winter and spring;See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20235 minutes, 39 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech - Apple's new accessibility features and Montana's TikTok ban

Create a digital copy of your voice in just 15 minutes  Apple's soon-to-be-released feature "Personal Voice" is designed for people who may be going to lose their voice, to be able to capture it digitally, and use it to communicate with others when they can't - Apple is calling it your "synthesized voice". It's open to everyone though, hinting at what may become more commonplace in the near future. Your digital avatar could actually sound like you, and read out the things you've typed. It takes just 15 minutes of training to achieve this and all happens on your device, no internet connection needed.  That's just one of Apple's new accessibility features  They've given an early look at some of the new accessibility features coming to iOS17. One is "Assistive Access" which allows an app to deliver an experience with just the essential features to lighten the cognitive load.  Think of the camera app - make it as easy as possible to take a picture with one big "take picture" button and hide all the settings and options. Apple has created these experiences for their core photos, messages, phone, facetime and music apps adn I'd expect other app makers to be allowed to do the same thing.  Montana's governor has signed their TikTok bill into law  The law bans the app from the App Stores, but also prevents the operation of TikTok in Montana. Users though will not be liable for penalties. The counter legal action has already started with a group of content creators suing the state claiming it violates the First Amendment. The law will come into effect in 2024. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20233 minutes, 31 seconds
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Jason Momoa: 'Fast X' star on playing the bad guy and his ‘unexplainable’ connection to New Zealand

Hollywood sensation Jason Momoa secured his famous feature as Khal Drogo in HBO’s Game of Thrones by performing a haka before assuming his blockbuster role as DC’s Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that shot him into superstardom. Momoa has been cast in the tenth instalment of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast X as bad guy Dante Reyes, somewhat of a juxtaposition from previous roles.  There is, of course, a Kiwi connection. Momoa told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame he feels Native Hawaiians and Māori share a special connection of race and language, as well as parallels of having experienced colonisation. He recognises Māori as having been the first indigenous population to sign a treaty and says having seen how many Kiwis embrace Māori culture and language has strengthened his affection for Aotearoa New Zealand. “The Kiwis and people that take pride and know the language and understand that is beautiful, because that doesn’t happen where I come from and so there’s a lot of beauty in both cultures growing together – and it’s the greatest rugby team in the world.” For someone who considers himself an outdoorsman, Momoa told Tame his time spent in Aotearoa New Zealand going from summit to sea was “heaven.” He says our country is the most diverse ecosystem in the world – aside from the lack of desert – although “we’re all leading to that anyway,” he adds with a wry smile. In a very poignant moment, the mega-star becomes suddenly grounded and describes the moment when he landed in Auckland, saying he felt he had been here in a past life. “I think when I landed here, just the feeling that shot through my body when I was here… my people have been here, my ancestors have been here. I just felt a deep connection that’s unexplainable.” Having played such a well-known hero in Aquaman, there were a few raised eyebrows when it was announced he was cast as a villain. “I mean, playing the villain is the best, ‘cause you get to be bad,” he told Jack Tame. Momoa star says playing a role that opposes his own way of life is what makes it enjoyable. “You get to do stuff that you’re not allowed to do and I don’t necessarily sit by those values and I don’t follow that way so I’m playing someone that I don’t agree with, so that’s fun. That’s why I signed up for it.” As a self-confessed petrol head, Momoa is a perfect fit for a role in the Fast and Furious franchise. “I’d say about 80 per cent of the motorcycle stuff I did,” although he adds that’s that there were a few stunts that called for a professional as had he been injured “the movie would be over.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20235 minutes, 27 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - Still, The Gone and Tracked

Still: A documentary about the extraordinary story of Michael J. Fox, in his own words - from his childhood on a Canadian army base to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood and the private challenges of living with Parkinson’s Disease (AppleTV+).  The Gone: An Irish-New Zealand drama about a young Irish couple that vanishes from a small North Island town, and the Irish and Kiwi detectives that must team up to find them (TVNZ+).  Tracked: Hosted by Vinnie Jones and filmed in New Zealand, this series follows eight teams as they race through the South Island wilderness in an attempt to reach an evacuation zone before being caught by a group of elite trackers (Three from Monday, and on ThreeNow). LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Eleanor Catton: Youngest-ever Booker Prize winner on her new book 'Birnam Wood'

In 2013, our very own Eleanor Catton became the youngest-ever winner of the Booker Prize at 28-years-old with The Luminaires.   In the decade since, she adapted the book for television, wrote the feature film screenplay for Jane Austen’s Emma, moved to the UK and had a child.   And now, a decade on, she’s back with her new book Birnam Wood.   Eleanor’s currently in New Zealand for the Auckland Writer’s Festival and she joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/202314 minutes, 24 seconds
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Rosa Flannagan: Feijoa Maple Oats

Everyone in the kitchen was fighting over the last spoonful of porridge when we first created this. If you need recipe inspiration for feijoas, definitely put this one on the list. When feijoas are out of season, use any other in-season fruit you have at home.    Serves: 1  Time: 10 minutes  - 1/2 cup rolled oats  - 3/4  cup plant based or dairy milk   - 1/2 cup feijoas, flesh only and roughly chopped  - 1 tbsp almond butter   - 1 tbsp maple syrup  - 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract   - ¼ tsp sea salt  Method:   Place all of the ingredients into a pot and heat over a medium heat. Stirring regularly, bring the porridge to a boil.  Reduce the porridge to a simmer and cook until thick or until it reaches your desired consistency. This takes roughly 3-5 minutes.   Pour the porridge into a bowl and top with yoghurt and extra feijoas. Eat immediately.   Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Have them cold or reheat in the microwave or in a pot.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Film - A Good Person and The Mother

A Good Person (cinema)  Allison is a young woman with a wonderful fiance, a blossoming career, and supportive family and friends. However, her world crumbles in the blink of an eye when she survives an unimaginable tragedy, emerging from recovery with an opioid addiction and unresolved grief. In the following years, she forms an unlikely friendship with her would-be father-in-law that gives her a fighting chance to put her life back together and move forward. Starring woman of the moment, Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.  The Mother (Netflix)  While fleeing from dangerous assailants, an assassin comes out of hiding to protect her daughter she left earlier in life. Starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Kiwi Niki Caro of Whale Rider fame.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20236 minutes, 26 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Wanting to talk wealth tax

Kevin Milne feels it's becoming inevitable that a wealth tax will be introduced here in New Zealand.  He says he'd like to involve Jack Tame in a discussion around this this because he know Tame will have a view.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20238 minutes, 26 seconds
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Jack Tame: I don’t know what is about movie stars, but I just can’t help myself

I don’t know what is about movie stars, but every time I meet one, I just can’t help myself. It was always a terrible problem when I lived in the U.S. I’d go to a movie publicity event – known in the news business as a junket – and after waiting patiently for an hour or two for my four minutes with Russell Crowe or Hugh Jackman or Jennifer Lawrence, I’d go into the room for interview number fifty-six of the day, right after Polish morning TV and Slovenian Red Carpet Reports, and I’d flirt. Sometimes it was just shameless. I’d be throwing wise-cracks around and laughing like a muppet, making all sorts of weird facial expressions. And I’d always try and charm the stars by pretending to play it cool. ‘I know you hate this.’ I’d say. ‘I know everyone asks you the same questions.’ ‘My challenge to you, Jessica Chastain, is to try and slip the word Octopus into our conversation.” It wasn’t until I got back in the office and reviewed the tapes that I’d realise. My producer would pull the interview up on screen and ask. ‘What are you... doing?’ ‘Are you.. are you flirting?’ “Umm.. no...!” The problem was, I genuinely wasn’t aware of it in the moment. All I was aware of was this was a big star and I had about a commercial break’s worth of time to try and win them over and elicit something more interesting than the Ecuadorian showbiz reporter who’d gone in before me. I plumbed some lowly depths. I gushed to Anne Hathaway about her singing voice and tried to impress Rihanna with my knowledge of the T20 Cricket World Cup, which was underway at the time. We used to get emails about it all the time, at TVNZ. Mike Hosking would tease me on air. ‘Was Jack Tame just flirting with People Magazine’s sexiest person alive?’ It should be said, my A-list flirting was not limited to the fairer sex. Maybe I don’t bat my eyelids quite as much, but I still revert into wise-cracking Jack when it comes to blokes. And so I found myself a few days ago, waiting my turn for a couple of minutes with Jason Momoa. He was friendly, with the studio entourage you’d expect of a Hollywood A-lister. And of course, as a Hawaiian, he’s got a special affinity for New Zealand. The interview went well, but for some bizarre reason, as I shook his hand and stood up to leave, I felt compelled to speak up and charm him. I don’t know what it was but the words just spilled out of my mouth. ‘Of course, there’s one big difference between Hawaii and New Zealand.’ I said. ‘What’s that?’ he asked. ‘Hawaii doesn’t have seagulls.” Everyone paused. The room when quiet. “Huh.” Said Jason Momoa. I said I was a flirt. I didn’t say I was a GOOD FLIRT.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/19/20234 minutes, 11 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Books - Small Mercies and The Future of Geography

Small Mercies, Dennis Lehane  The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River—an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.  In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart.  One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances.  The Future of Geography, Tim Marshall  From the New York Times bestselling author of Prisoners of Geography and leading geopolitics expert comes a must-read book on today’s space race—including the increasingly tense power struggle between the US, China, and Russia and what it means for all of us here on Earth.  Spy satellites orbiting the moon. Space metals worth more than most countries’ GDP. People on Mars within the next ten years. This isn’t science fiction—it’s reality.  Humans are venturing up and out, and we’re taking our competitive spirit with us. Soon, what happens in space will shape human history as much the mountains, rivers, and seas have impacted civilizations around the world. It’s no coincidence that Russia, China, and the USA are leading the way. The next fifty years will change the face of global politics and the world order as we know it.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20235 minutes, 44 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Temple touring in Angkor

Mike Yardley has been touring Cambodia and is once again the envy of us all. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/202312 minutes, 10 seconds
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Kate Hall: A sustainable Mother's Day

Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall has some tips for a more sustainable Mother's Day this year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20234 minutes, 38 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: A fungal lesson in sustainable design

Many gardeners and observant nature nerds report seeing weird, white, slimy structures lying on the forest floor and on top of the mulch in gardens Basket fungi are large spherical football-like structures that carry the spores of the fungus: it’s the brown smudgy stuff on the white, rubbery polygons. Those spores smell quite putrid and attract all kinds of flies that lap up the moisture – it’s probably full of proteins; nutrients! The spores stick to their feet and as they land in the forest, garden mulch, or on some organic debris, the fungal spores are distributed – repeating the cycle. When you see a very juvenile version (they look like creamy-white eggs, sticking half out of the ground) just grab one and cut it open It’s remarkable how the basket fungus is totally compressed, folded up and ready to hatch inside that “egg”: Main points of the story… What can we learn from this fungus? a) they recycle stuff – there is no waste in nature b) They spread the spores throughout the forest by employing invertebrates such as flies c) Nature cooperates/collaborates… everybody wins in the arrangement (who invented the word “competition”?)… let me guess: Economists? d) Nature communicates with natural, chemical clues: the smell of the spores attracts the vectors e) Want to know how to economize on transport cost by reducing the size of packages? Have a look at the basket fungus! f) There are no straight lines in Nature’s Design See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20235 minutes, 7 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Residential or commercial property investment?

As a lot of rules have changed or tightened up and made residential property investment a slightly different prospect, more and more people are asking whether they should instead consider commercial investment property.   There’s a lot to weigh up, so I thought it could be an interesting discussion to have – what are the pros, cons, things you might not realise, things you need to consider, lending arrangements, potential yield and capital gain and how does it compare?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20234 minutes, 51 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech - Google's big news

It's Google's big event of the year, where they announced a new Pixel Tablet transforms into a Smart Home display  If you're looking to buy an Android Tablet, this could be the way to go. It's a fully functioning tablet, then when placed on the dock transforms into showing your photos, being an assistant, telling you what's next on your calendar. You can Chromecast to it, allowing you to use it almost like a mini-TV. The only downside is that if someone wonders off with the tablet, then you can't do anything with the stand.  Google also announced their first foldable phone ($US1800) and a cheaper Pixel 7a phone.  We can expect AI to come to almost every part of Google  Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail, even Search - the most lucrative part of Google! In the demo, the 10 blue links (and the sponsored links) we've come to expect when we search move down the page and up top we get a generative answer to our question. The response includes links to its source material. For now, to get this you'll need to opt in and the answers will only appear when the algorithm thinks the answer is better than the links. Their goal is to have you ask one question, instead of multiple, to get your result. eg. "What should I do in Paris?".       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20234 minutes, 36 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - Silo, A Small Light and Louis Theroux Interviews

Silo: A dystopian drama set in a future where society exists hundreds of stories deep underground, and where men and women must obey a series of regulations designed to protect them from the outside world (Apple TV+). A Small Light: A historical drama that follows the life of Miep Gies, who helped Anne Frank and her family hide during World War 2. You may know the story of Anne Frank, but this tells the story of what happened on the other side of the bookcase (Disney+). Louis Theroux Interviews: Louis Theroux embarks on a series of intimate one-on-one interviews with the likes of Dame Judi Dench, Bear Grylls, Katherine Ryan and Rita Ora (Neon).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20235 minutes, 49 seconds
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Ronald Gladden: 'Jury Duty' star on living through a real version of the 'Truman Show'

Imagine if your life suddenly became a real version of the Truman Show.  It’s happened to Ronald Gladden, a 30-year-old man who thought he was a juror in a US court case that was being filmed for a documentary called Jury Duty.   It slowly becomes a courtroom full of chaos. But what Ronald doesn’t know is that everyone is an actor, including the actor James Marsden acting as himself.  Ronald’s now become an internet sensation and has been dubbed the nice guy of Jury Duty after his good nature and warmth shines through.   Ronald Gladden joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/202313 minutes, 58 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Ways to get inspired to break out of the same old dinner repertoire

Here's my top 5 sources of inspiration:   - The ingredients in my house  - The ingredients in the stores - Eating out - it doesn't have to be expensive; I had a $13 roti canai in Hamilton at a little Malaysian place last week and it's put me on the road to spiciness all week with soups, curries and stir fries all being whipped up in my kitchen - Viewing - my top 5 places for getting inspired: Jamie One Pan Wonders Sat night TVNZ ONE - FREE, Toscana - Netflix, Chef's Table Pizza series Netflix, magazines are my next go-to FREE from any library, and finally cookbooks of course. - Try Books for Cooks at Moore Wilson's or any other bookshops - I can get lost for hours browsing these. (Note: I'm not as big on online inspiration unless you can trust the source)  - Food-related Festivals and classes - like WOAP, Choc Festival, Food Shows, cooking classes etc. These expose you to trends and who's doing what and can really uplift you and get you thinking about different ways to cook, serve and eat food. They don't have to be expensive either. The Bhakti Lounge in Wellington and The Yoga Loft in Ak run these marvelous vegetarian cooking classes and they're from $40.00. - Or try a night class at a local secondary school - I still cook some recipes that I learnt decades ago at a class. A creme brulee and a feta and fennel whip.   Keep the knowledge flowing in to keep new flavours flowing out I say!   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20236 minutes, 47 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Film - Close and Ghosted

Close  The 13-year-old boys Léo and Rémis have a close friendship at school and in the flower fields where they and their parents pick the harvest for home. When schoolmates shoot a wedge into the relationship, the consequences are fatal.   Ghosted (Apple TV)  Salt-of-the-earth Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie — but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20236 minutes
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Kevin Milne: Let's talk mothers

Kevin Milne would like to talk about mothers, how he adores them, even if occasionally they embarrass you.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20235 minutes, 49 seconds
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Jack Tame: Mum likes Auckland, Dad, it’s fair to say, does not

I’d been planning to take them to a fancy new restaurant. There were some walks out west I thought would be lovely. Mum quite likes Auckland. Dad, it’s fair to say, does not. But when they arrived in the ‘09 together for the first time in a couple of years, they both had the same thing at the very top of the priority list. They wanted to see my new home. I slipped the key in the front door and before I’d even pushed it open, Mum was gushing. “Oh, Darling,” she said. “It’s beautiful.” “Mum!” I said. “It’s only the hallway. At least save your praise until you’ve seen a bedroom or two.” Mum... didn’t save her praise. She loved the bedroom. She loved the study. She loved the bathrooms and the lounge. She loved the cupboard with the washing machine and the skylight above the bath. For five minutes, she walked around with her hands on her hips, loving everything, admiring everything, praising everything, and beaming. “It’s fantastic, darling. Perfect. It’s gonna’ make a wonderful home.” Dad, did not tour the house with the same technique or enthusiasm. He stepped inside, kicked off his boots, and immediately started examining the seal on my bedroom window. “Hmm,” he said. “What’s the putty status on these things?” “Umm.. I dunno. I think it’s ok.” “Sash windows” he said. “Only bottom opening. A simple mechanism but fiddly with the cords. You’ve gotta keep an eye on these things, son.” He walked into the lounge and lifted a blind. “Hmmm,” he said. “Mold. Get a butter knife and let’s check this. We’ll strip back the paint, prime it, putty it, sand it, prime it, paint it. It’s gonna need attention on the outside, too.” Room by room, he stepped around the house like a forensic investigator, testing every switch, twiddling every door handle, squinting at the corners where the ceilings meet the walls and running his finger along every window frame like a hunter seeking an animal’s scent. “Water!” He’d say. “You’ve gotta look for it. Water gets in everywhere.” He stood outside and checked the deck. He checked the branches on the trees in my backyard. He pointed out invasive climbing plants and ran his eyes along every exterior weatherboard. “Water!” he said. “It gets in everywhere.” The tour alone took more than hour. A few days later, by the time they left, Dad had fixed, rehung, or altered no fewer than eight different doors in my home. He’d prepped a window for priming and a linen closet for gib-stopping. He’d bought chisels, a paint brush, filler and methylated spirits, and he’d found a corner of a exterior door frame where the wood felt like sodden cardboard. “Water!” he said. “It gets in everywhere.” We didn’t make it to the restaurant I’d intended to visit. We didn’t make it out west. We didn’t go for nice walks or do the kind of big city things that aren’t so easy when you live in a town of less than 300 people. Instead we spent the whole time with screwdrivers and spirit levels, packing out hinges, and drilling holes for striker plates. It was all good for Mum – she loved my home. But the night before he left, Dad was horrified to discover a door he hadn’t previously noticed, where the old panelled wood was far too big to ever close properly in the frame. “Gaaaah!” He said. “That’s gonna kill me.” “But next time I’m up, bring my jack plane.” Mum quite likes Auckland. Dad does not. But it’s nice to know they’ll be back.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/12/20234 minutes, 26 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Ed Sheeran - Subtract

Album: Subtract   Wife’s illness, plagiarism court case and death of music entrepreneur friend Jamal Edwards all came to bear on Sheeran’s sixth studio album, made with the National’s Aaron Dessner.  The fifth and final entry in his series of albums titled with mathematical symbols, Sheeran wrote and recorded its 14 tracks with Aaron Dessner, a member of US alt-rock band the National who also had a major creative role in Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore.   It is billed as a return to traditional singer-songwriter performance, after the polished pop of much of Sheeran’s catalogue; a press release promises songs ranging from “pared back, folk-leaning textures to bolder, full-band/orchestral arrangements”.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20236 minutes, 24 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Death of a Bookseller and Le Bron James

Death of a Bookseller, Alice Slater  In this "utterly unforgettable" debut (Catherine Ryan Howard), a disaffected, true crime-obsessed bookseller develops a dangerous obsession with a colleague.  Roach would rather be listening to the latest episode of her favorite true crime podcast than assisting the boring and predictable customers at her local branch of the bookstore Spines, where she’s worked her entire adult life. A serious true crime junkie, Roach looks down her nose at the pumpkin-spice-latte-drinking casual fans who only became interested in the genre once it got trendy. But when Laura, a pretty and charismatic children’s bookseller, arrives to help rejuvenate the struggling bookstore branch, Roach recognizes in her an unexpected kindred spirit.  Despite their common interest in true crime, Laura keeps her distance from Roach, resisting the other woman’s overtures of friendship. Undeterred, Roach learns everything she can about her new colleague, eventually uncovering Laura’s traumatic family history. When Roach realizes that she may have come across her very own true crime story, interest swiftly blooms into a dangerous obsession.  A darkly funny suspense novel, Death of a Bookseller raises ethical questions about the fervor for true crime and how we handle stories that don’t belong to us.    Le Bron James, Jeff Benedict  NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the #1 bestselling author of The Dynasty and Tiger Woods comes the definitive biography of basketball superstar LeBron James, based on three years of exhaustive research and more than 250 interviews.  LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of the twenty-first century, and he’s in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. The reigning king of the game and the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, LeBron wears the crown like he was born with it. Yet his ascent has been anything but effortless and predetermined— the truth is vastly more interesting than that.  What makes LeBron’s story so compelling is how he won his destiny despite overwhelmingly long odds, in a drama worthy of a Dickens novel. As a child, he was a scared and lonely little boy living a nomadic existence in Akron, Ohio. His mother, who had LeBron when she was sixteen, would sometimes leave him on his own. Destitute and fatherless, he missed close to one hundred days of school in the fourth grade. Desperate, his mother placed him with a family that gave him stability and put a basketball in his hands.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20234 minutes, 38 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to support your partner with postpartum depression

How do you support a partner with postpartum depression?  Your partner's needs can feel overwhelming, so how do you manage?  What do you need to avoid?  How do you manage your stress? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20236 minutes, 54 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Sights and bites in Siem Reap, Cambodia

This week Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to chat about Siem Reap in Cambodia.  To read Mike's full article, click here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/202311 minutes, 41 seconds
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Rudd Kleinpaste: Guava Moths on Feijoas

A major problem up north is the Guava moth (Coscinoptycha improbana), found in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and Coromandel. Hosts of this caterpillar are Guava, Feijoa, loquats, peaches, citrus, quinces, macadamia, apples, and pears; quite non-selective in its preferences. In Northland (wild) loquats are the fruit that hosts the caterpillars in late winter/spring, allowing the population to build up. People are now harvesting feijoas that have tiny entrance/exit holes in the fruit, allowing fungi inside the fruit, brown flesh, and rot. You’ll also find the caterpillar’s tunnels inside. Those caterpillars entered the feijoas when the fruit were still small but just starting to swell – well after flowering. This is interesting information when it comes to trying to control the little buggers spoiling your crop. Currently there are no insecticides registered for the control of Guava moth; some people use “Success”, a rather good caterpillar killer (Yates) and “on the Organic side” of pesticides as a by-product of bacterial excrement. Other folk use Neem Oil – regularly sprayed (every 7 days) on the developing fruit. Both these control chemicals have limited effect – about 50%. There are no biological control organisms in NZ (Predators, Parasitic wasps, natural Guava moth diseases, etc). Pheromone traps (that trap the lusty males) do not reduce the infestation – they just alert us to the timing of the flight season. “Attractants” such as vegemite etc., don’t work. Light traps are useless in controlling guava moths – most moths (more than 90%!!) caught are native moths of no relevance to feijoas. What we do know is that later-maturing varieties/fruit are usually less affected by this caterpillar, and fine netting draped over the tree after flowering (when the fruit is growing) stops the female moths getting near the developing fruit for oviposition (egg-laying). Hygiene is another control technique: clean the soil underneath the trees from debris and old fruit!! Collect the infected fruit (Feijoa, peaches, loquats, citrus… everything!) and chuck it in the freezer for two days before composting. Alternatively, chuck in a large bucket filled with water for a few weeks – put a lid on that bucket, so no moths can fly out. Then compost the old fruit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20233 minutes, 52 seconds
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Bryan Betty: Vitamin D deficiency

Dr Bryan Betty joined Jack Tame to have a chat about vitamin D and vitamin D deficiency; the symptoms, the consequences, and how to mitigate it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Screenwriters are fighting to keep AI from taking their jobs

Screenwriters are fighting to keep AI from taking their jobs  After negotiations stalled, the writers went on strike on Tuesday, halting productions. As well as wanting more royalties from streaming services, changes to minimum durations of work and more, there is a concern about how the advances in AI will impact their jobs going forward - especially as studios and networks look to save money.  The Guild wants AI to stay as far away from their work as possible, effectively banning AI from generating text or images to produce, or conceive ideas. The specifically want AI banned from writing or rewriting literary material, AI generation being used for source material, or for union-covered material to be used to train AI.  The studios don't want these stipulations in the collective bargaining agreement, but instead want to review the technology each year and discuss how it could be used in the industry.  Adding to the complication is that AI generated material can't be copyrighted. and that the WGA defines a writer as a "person" which may even allow studios to use AI without crossing the picket line during the strike.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/20234 minutes, 40 seconds
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Sid Sahrawat: Cooking and Cassia

Sid Sahrawat is a pioneer of fine dining in New Zealand.  With a focus on locally sourced ingredients, his take on cooking has won him a variety of awards. His wife is his business partner, and between the two of them they opened Sidart, Sid at the French Café, and the innovative Cassia. After years of disruption due to the pandemic and this year’s floods, they’re finally reopening Cassia in SkyCity. Sid joined Jack Tame to chat about cooking and the reopening of the restaurant. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/202316 minutes, 17 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Coronation quiche my way

Not quite the coronation quiche, but better I think, with gently softened onions and smoky bacon.  Ingredients: 1-2 sheets good quality shortcrust pastry – I use Paneton  Filling:  1 medium onion, diced fine  2 rashers bacon, diced  1 tsp butter  ¼ cup milk  ¾ cup cream  3 eggs, beaten lightly  1 tsp dried tarragon  About 1 cup grated gouda or cheddar cheese  Salt & pepper  Method: Preheat oven to 200 C and place an oven tray to heat. Roll out pastry and use to line a 20cm flan tin, pressing the edges into the lip of the tin to seal. Prick all over with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes. Line with foil then fill with dried beans or rice and bake for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the beans/rice and cook for a further 8 minutes or until golden brown. Now your pastry is blind baked. While pastry is cooking, gently sauté onion and bacon in butter until onion is softened. Whisk together milk, cream, eggs and tarragon and seasoning. Sprinkle cheese over pastry base, holding back ¼ cup for the top. Scatter onions and bacon over cheese then pour in egg filling. Sprinkle over remaining cheese. Reduce oven temperature to 180 C. Place quiche on preheated tray. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Remove and stand for 5-10 minutes to fully settle and set. Serve with salad. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Ghosted

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3.   Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill must rally his team to defend the universe and protect one of their own. If the mission is not completely successful, it could possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.    Ghosted (Apple TV)    Ghosted is a 2023 American romantic action-adventure comedy which stars Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. alt-of-the-earth Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie — but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/20234 minutes, 51 seconds
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Andrew Saville: Chiefs and the NBA playoffs

Andrew Saville joined Jack Tame to have a chat about current happenings in the sports world: tonight's Chiefs game, the NBA playoffs, and Le Bron.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/20234 minutes, 8 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A very special wedding

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to chat about a special wedding he went to yesterday over on Waiheke. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/20235 minutes, 18 seconds
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Kate Hawkesby: An update on the Coronation

Newstalk ZB's Kate Hawkesby joined from London to give an update on the Coronation. She says it’s all go, with Police on every street corner and traffic at a stand-still with roads closed in preparation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/20233 minutes, 56 seconds
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Jack Tame: The challenge for Royals is relevancy

When I was a boy, I used to love going my grandparents’ house and reading about the royals in my grandma’s trashy magazines.   My grandparents had come out from the U.K in the sixties and they were still very British, working class, and my grandma was absolutely consumed by the various scandals and shifting dynamics within the Buckingham Palace set.  Well... I say she was. I think, actually, I was. To a little boy it felt like a fantasy World. I used to perch up on my Grandma’s La-Z-Boy, recline the seat, and pore over all the details of how William and Harry lived their lives. I was obsessed with how rich the royal family must have been, and I can still remember some of the stories, almost thirty years on. William and Harry at a birthday party with Diana. William and Harry run amok in a fireworks shop.   Times have changed. Back then, we voraciously consumed royal gossip just as we do today, but we didn’t question the institution nearly as much.  The challenge for the Royals today is relevancy. Just as the influence of Britain has declined, the royal family is increasingly irrelevant to younger people. Polling released this week shows that just 12% of Britons aged 18-34 continue to see the monarchy as ‘very important,’ compared to 42% of people over the age of 55. The numbers in the U.K have steadily decline for several decades, and I expect they’re even starker in New Zealand.  King Charles’ coronation will be a grand spectacle, a magnificent oddity, but I think one of the most interesting things will be observing how it’s processed across different media. Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was the first to broadcast on TV. King Charles’ coronation will be the first to be shown on TikTok. It'll be huge, don’t get me wrong. But the demographics of those who are watching and engaging with every minute of pomp won’t be nearly as broad as they would’ve been last time around. And that’ll tell us quite a bit about relevancy.  But I also think, in responding to the question of relevancy, King Charles has proved to be incredibly thoughtful and astute. Back when I used to perch on her La-Z-Boy and gossip with my grandma about the latest royal dramas, Charles was very much a villain in the collective media narrative. And after Diana’s death, there was a lot of discussion about him perhaps never being king. But with time, some quite prescient advocacy (Especially on environmental issues), and increasingly favourable comparisons with other members of his family, the King’s reputation has largely been restored. He’s not as popular as his mum and he never will be. But he’s also extremely aware of the challenges he faces.  There is one big force working in his favour. In a fragmented, topsy-turvy, uncertain, insecure-feeling World, I think there are many people will see value in an enduring institution they perhaps otherwise wouldn’t have appreciated.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/5/20234 minutes, 21 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Strolling Sydney - Great city trails

For more tips on enjoying some frolics on foot in Sydney, Mike's article is on the website. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/202310 minutes, 39 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Music - Everything but the Girl, 'Fuse'

After 24 years, the electronic pop duo returns with a moving, handsome album that tells a sophisticated story about recapturing innocence.  The band called it quits and dedicated themselves to home life, raising three kids. Watt founded the dance label Buzzin’ Fly and released solo music; Thorn also made albums and wrote several brilliant books on her life in music and its inspirations. While they offered each other practical creative assistance, their core collaboration was over.   Curiously, it returned during another period of alienation. After the pair lived through an extreme version of the pandemic that required them to stringently self-isolate owing to Watt’s illness, Thorn proposed a reboot of EBTG, worried that they might one day realize they had left it too late.   Once she persuaded Watt, they approached the project so tentatively that they hastened to call it EBTG, crediting the song files to TREN—Tracey and Ben.   They announced the finished album in similarly low-key fashion: “Just thought you’d like to know that Ben and I have made a new Everything But the Girl album,” Thorn tweeted. “It’ll be out next spring.” She went out for dinner and returned to thousands of retweets.  LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20235 minutes, 45 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Books -The Bookbinder of Jericho and White Fox

The Bookbinder of Jericho – Pip Williams   A young British woman working in a book bindery gets a chance to pursue knowledge and love when World War I upends her life in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words.  It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press.  The Bookbinder is a story about knowledge—who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through women’s eyes. White Fox – Owen Matthews   A page-turning thriller about two competing KGB operatives on a race across Russia and against time to uncover the devastating truth behind the assassination of JFK.  1963. In a desolate Russian penal colony, the radio blares the news of President Kennedy’s death. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin’s new post as director of a gulag camp in the middle of a frozen tundra is far from a promotion. This is where disgraced agents, like Vasin, are sent to disappear and die quietly. But when tensions in the camp mount and a violent revolt breaks out, Vasin finds himself on the run with a mysterious prisoner holding the most dangerous secret in the world: who ordered the murder of President Kennedy.   With masterly storytelling that weaves together a moment of explosive history with the cutthroat machinations of Soviet politics, Owen Matthews’s White Fox captures the paradigm-shifting assassination from a unique Soviet point of view. This is a page-turning thriller across Russia, where characters facing impossible odds are forced to decide among truth, justice, and all-out war.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20234 minutes, 9 seconds
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Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall: What is Fashion Revolution and how to get involved?

- What is Fashion Revolution week (formed after the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed on April 24th 2013, killing over 1000 garment workers and injuring over 2500).  - 10 years on, not enough has changed - a few initiatives like the Bangladesh Accord, but not enough.  - Crucial for people to understand that PEOPLE made their clothes (anecdote from my India travels of visiting the factories there).  - Encouraging people to feel confident asking brands who made their clothes.  - Focusing on only buying things that you will wear 30+ times, clothes swapping, altering your clothing, styling what you have & just generally readdressing their shopping habits in the name of Fashion Revolution week. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20236 minutes, 8 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Small swarms of wasps

Autumn – everybody is looking for a mate these days;  Ants often fly upwards on a nice autumn day to find a partner for a bit of R&R.  Nuptial flights, we call that (in the Entomological Industry) and when you think about this concept carefully, you begin to wonder how and why this habit ever developed in evolution!  Can’t be an easy thing to do, especially when the wind is blowing quite a few Beauforts  Some termite species do exactly the same thing: the adults grow a few pairs of elegant wings with which they take to the skies. A mated female carefully lands again, sheds her wings and goes looking for a nice hole or cavity in which she can start a new colony.  The male simply dies… His job is done  The reason I am alerting you all about these reproductive techniques is because I have been getting a few phone calls on 0800 801080 with complaints of small swarms of paper wasps hanging out on fences, roof-lines, exposed branches in the garden… or on outdoor furniture, arm-rests etc in a nice sunny position. We’re not talking about high numbers (only a dozen of wasps or so) but still…: even half a dozen grumpy paper wasps are a threatening sight, because those critters are well-known for their lack of humour. The irony is that male Paper wasps do not sting!  The story is very much one of opportunistic display. It involves the concept of hanging out on a 'lek site'. This is a place where males gather to attract females;  The guys often fly up in the sunshine and “fight” with each-other for the best position on the lek site; the place where they are quickly spotted by soliciting females.  males with the neatest, smallest yellow spots on their second abdominal segment are usually seen as the preferred, prettiest boy on the block.  These are the boys chosen to be the partner and sperm donor for the females that will hibernate and start a new colony in spring.  Now… where is that spot on my second abdominal segment? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20234 minutes, 52 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Wine - 2020 Main Divide Riesling, North Canterbury

Wine: 2020 Main Divide Riesling, North Canterbury $21.99  Why I chose it:  - Riesling is the best value NZ wine  - It is an exceptionally good wine  - Main Divide (Pegasus Bay) is a top Riesling producer  What does it taste like?  - Medium-dry riesling with the delicate aroma of white wildflowers and flavours that suggest lime and apricot. Delicately luscious wine with appealing purity and a lingering finish. Great value at this price.  Why it’s a bargain:  - Great wine at a competitive price  Where can you buy it?  - Whisky and More, Waikato $16.99, The Good Wine Co, Auckland $17.99, Fine Wine Delivery Company, Auckland $17.99, First Glass Wines and Spirits $17.99  Food match?  - Great on its own without the complication of food. Onion tart is my favourite. Hawaian Pizza is also a good match.  Will it keep?  - I prefer fresh, youthful Riesling but they can become quite interesting with age – mellow and toasty. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20234 minutes, 34 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - Citadel, Love and Death and Miriam Margoyles: Almost Australian

Citadel: A sci-fi action thriller starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra as spy agents whose memory is wiped after global spy agency Citadel is taken over, and who must fight back to remember their past (Prime Video).   Love and Death: Based on the true-crime story of Candy and Pat Montgomery and Betty and Allan Gore - two churchgoing couples enjoying their small-town Texas life…until somebody picks up an axe (Neon).   Miriam Margoyles: Almost Australian: New Australian citizen and well-known British actor Marian Margolyes embarks on a 10,000 km, two month camper van journey to discover what it means to be Australian today.    LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20235 minutes, 44 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech - WhatsApp on multiple devices and the beginning of the end of Twitter?

You can now use WhatsApp on multiple devices  Still one phone, but up to four other devices. This seems like a seemingly simple thing, but it's taken years to make it happen - because keeping your messages in sync, and fully encrypted, was a challenge. This now means you'll be able to use WhatsApp on your computer, without needing your phone to be connected or linked.  Meta's earnings sent their stock price soaring this week. They brought in $28.6 billion in revenue last quarter, up 3% on last year. They now have 3 billion people using at least one of their products daily.  Are we seeing the beginning of the end of Twitter?  There certainly seems to be momentum around a new twitter clone called Bluesky. It's still in beta and invites are the golden tickets of the internet at the moment. It looks exactly like Twitter - because it was actually started by Twitter before Twitter was bought by Elon Musk. This was a project to create a decentralised social network protocol.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20235 minutes, 1 second
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Elizabeth Day: Exploring what makes a good friend in 'Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict'

How do you know if you’re a good friend?   And what’s the right number of friends to have?   These are questions journalist and broadcaster Elizabeth Day sets out to answer in her latest book Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict.   Elizabeth is best known for her incredibly popular podcast How to Fail – where she interviews every star imaginable on their three biggest failures.   Growing up she wanted everyone to like her and became determined to become a ‘Good Friend’.  But when the pandemic threw us all a curve ball, Elizabeth started reassessing what friendship really means.    Elizabeth Day joined Jack Tame from London. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/202315 minutes, 6 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Oven-poached quince

Autumn brings quince and quince bring me happiness. Poached quince are so incredibly delicious and worth doing if only for the magical transformation of the colour as they cook – from creamy yellow to a deep ruby.  How to prepare quince: - They are ready to pick when they are a creamy yellow. Don’t worry if they have some black spot on them. - Peel with a vegetable peeler or sharp knife. Halve or quarter them with a sharp knife, being careful as they are VERY hard to cut through the core. I leave the core in at this stage as it’s much easier to remove this cleanly once the fruit is cooked and softened. - Lay out in an ovenproof dish. Mix together ¾ - 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup white wine/sherry, or other sweet wine and one tablespoon with enough warm water to cover the quince. Pour over the fruit until just overed. Cover dish tightly with foil. - Bake in oven set at 160 C until softened – about 3-4 hours.   Use poached quince for dessert with cream or icecream, in baking, on pastry, to have alongside roast lamb or pork etc etc.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20235 minutes, 6 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Polite Society and Peter Pan and Wendy

Polite Society (cinema)  A merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, POLITE SOCIETY follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.  Peter Pan and Wendy (Disney + out on Friday)  Wendy Darling, a young girl looking to avoid boarding school, meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Wendy, her brothers, and Tinker Bell travel with Peter to the magical world of Neverland, where she encounters an evil pirate captain. Jude Law is Captain Hook.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20237 minutes, 5 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A funny and moving tale concerning British football chants

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to tell an interesting little story about his son's experience watching his favourite side West Ham playing in London last week.   He ended up sitting next to a wheelchair bound West Ham fan in the Wheelchair Access area.   The guy's first question to my son Jake was "What's your favourite West Ham chant." Jake replied, "Stand up if you hate Tottenham, stand up." As the words are coming out his mouth, Jake panics, thinking he's been really thoughtless given he's talking to a guy who can't stand up;  Turned out it was the other guy's favourite chant too.   It's a funny and slightly moving story of British football fans.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20236 minutes, 46 seconds
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Jack Tame: My disgusting guilty pleasure

It’s become the most disgusting part of my morning routine. I stir, rub my eyes, stretch a little bit and grab my phone. And after I’ve checked all the news websites and scanned my overnight messages, I open Instagram. Before the app even loads, I know what the algorithm will deliver to top of my feed. Some days it’s a milky yellow, like the colour of brie. Some days it ‘s brown or black or has a cottage cheese-like quality, filled with fine lumps. Sometimes it’s a proper surgical procedure. Sometimes it’s just squeezing. One of the first things I do every morning is watch a video from Sandra Lee, aka Dr Pimple Popper, as she lances a hideous pustule on one of her poor patients. Before you say anything, don’t worry! I disgust myself! It’s not that I *like* watching pimple popping. It’s just that I find the videos incredibly compelling. And I’d probably be too ashamed to admit I get something out of watching pimple popping videos but for the fact I know I’m not the only one. Sandra Lee – Dr Pimple Popper – has an Instagram following the size of New Zealand. She has her own TV show following her and her patients as she exorcises cysts and boils and miscellaneous subcutaneous lumps while learning a bit about their backstories. She’s got a good sense of humour and an empathetic nature and she calls her followers ‘popaholics.’ I don’t know who was the first person to work out there was an audience for this, but following Dr Pimple Popper’s success, there are all sorts of other dermatological spinoffs and social media stars who’ve built huge followings with their disgusting work. It must be one one of the weirdest sub-cultures and professions to flourish in the internet age. ‘Mum and Dad, when I grow up... I want to be a professional pimple popper.’ Heads up. This next bit’s gonna’ be really disgusting. I want to tell you about my favourite types of pimple popping video. You might naturally think the worse the pimple, the more compelling the watch. But you’re wrong. It’s true that quite often, Sandra Lee has some poor patient with a tennis ball-sized growth on their jaw or a small marrow between their shoulder blades. A sebaceous cyst which has really got out of control. She has to scalpel down, squeeze out the ooze, and remove the cyst sack. But nah, that’s a bit too surgical for me. Me, I’m old school. I like blackheads, ingrown hairs, and above all else an incredibly disgusting dermatological phenomenon called a 'dilated pore of winer'. It’s kind of like a blackhead and an ingrown hair combined. It’s not creamy or liquidy like most pimples. It’s hard, like a plug buried just under your skin. You’ve gotta lance the sides and then manipulate it off its setting. If all goes well you can pop it out whole and it leaves a clean little crater in its wake. Four billion years of evolution and this is where we’re at? Humans are so messed up.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/28/20234 minutes, 45 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Music - Ruel - 4TH WALL

Fearing love lost, the Australian singer wears his heart on his sleeve over the 45-minute runtime.  London-born and Sydney-raised, Ruel (real name: Ruel Vincent van Dijk) got his first break at the young age of 14 after his father shared one of his demos to Grammy Award-winning producer M-Phazes. Ever since, his profile has burgeoned.  Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.  Six years later, the singer looks back at the whirlwind of his adolescent relationships as he wrestles with self-sabotage and a broken heart on 4TH WALL. Introspective with a cinematic swell, Ruel brings together some of his best tracks to date.  Live Nation & Secret Sounds is excited to announce that five-time platinum artist Ruel will be touring New Zealand throughout April 2023. Playing his first ever headline Arena show, the hugely anticipated tour will see the Australian trailblazer light up stages in Auckland & Wellington, hot off the release of his debut album 4TH WALL, out Friday 3 March.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Books - The Messenger and Unscripted

The Messenger – Megan Davis  Wealthy and privileged, Alex has an easy path to success in the Parisian elite his father mingles with. But the two have never seen eye to eye. Desperate to escape the increasingly suffocating atmosphere of their apartment, Alex seeks freedom on the streets of Paris where his new-found friend Sami teaches him how to survive. But everything has a price - and one night of rebellion changes their lives forever.  A simple plan to steal money takes a sinister turn when Alex's father is found dead. Despite protesting their innocence, both boys are imprisoned for murder. Seven years later Alex is released from prison with a single purpose: to discover who really killed his father. Yet as he searches for answers and atones for the sins of his past, Alex uncovers a disturbing truth with far-reaching consequences. Unscripted – James B Stewart and Rachel Abrams  The shocking inside story of the struggle for power and control at Paramount Global, the multibillion-dollar entertainment empire controlled by the Redstone family, and the dysfunction, misconduct, and deceit that threatened the future of the company, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists who first broke the news.  In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global—the multibillion-dollar entertainment empire that includes Paramount, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Showtime, and Simon & Schuster—hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer—a lawsuit that placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20234 minutes, 32 seconds
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Mike Yardley: How to minimise jet lag when travelling long-haul

Long-haul travel does come with the risk of travel fatigue, aka jet lag. IATA believes flying through just 2 time zones opens you up to jet lag.  The best thing you can do is adjust lightning-fast to your new time zone.  How should you go about managing sleep time?  Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, is probably the best thing you can do.  Do you take magnesium or melatonin to help induce sleep?  What about sleeping pills on a flight?  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20239 minutes, 5 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Money is a tricky topic with lots of different rules - what makes it so hard?

What systems work best?  What questions should couples ask when talking about money?  What does money mean for you?   What is your safety number?  What is debt ratio number?  How do you need to be taken care of in relation to money?  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20237 minutes, 13 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: It's spider time

It’s Spider time!  Autumn – everybody is looking for a place to hibernate and those that are not hibernating will be looking for a place to find a mate. This is the time of the year to go outside after sunset, with a head-torch on, spotting our clever arachnid friends.  Jumping Spiders (aptly named Salticidae – reminding me of Salto Mortale, the deadly jump) are everywhere inside our homes, on the plants outside and on the window sills where it’s nice and warm. Warmth means good conditions for flies and other prey – so that’s where these spiders perform their daring jumps  Outside the windows you often find messy websites, inhabited by Badumna the grey house spider.   Ironically, the white-tailed spider preys on Badumna and are therefore often found on the kitchen windows in the evening.  A rather large and rather common dark spider is currently also on the move: it’s Uliodon, the “Vagrant” spider (therefore aptly named, as it is of no fixed abode) that is knocking on doors to find a girlfriend or boyfriend.  Now this is a species that can cause the trouble often erroneously linked to white-tails and their bites.   And then there are the master-builders of silken contraptions; these are often found in Native bush, or gardens with a good amount of large trees, especially trees with holes and other nooks and crannies in them: the Horizontal sheetweb spiders Cambridgea.  That sheetweb can be huge and the spider hangs on the underside of that trampoline, waiting for a moth to make the tiny mistake of falling onto that web; a very quick move by the owner sees that moth being impaled by two sizeable fangs full of toxins that dissolve the insides of that prey. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20234 minutes, 4 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Why random stock picking can be to the detriment of your investment strategy

Hannah McQueen has been running enable.me for more than 15 years, and in that time has seen a huge change in the number of people who own shares. The sharesies/hatch/DIY investor revolution means many people have a portfolio when previously it was only those who had significant wealth, or a personal passion, who did.  The problem is there are more and more people randomly selecting shares, rather than investing strategically, or in a diversified way. FMA research shows a decent number of people invest due to FOMO or because someone said it was a good idea, without doing any research themselves – and our observations echo that.  As a learning mechanism, or a bit of fun – great – but for most people the margin for error to land them where they need to be for retirement is too small to invest too much that way.  It’s not a dig at investment platforms – just a warning that there are risks to directing too much of your investment funds in a scattergun approach. I liken it to picking the route before you’ve identified the destination – who knows where you’ll end up.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20237 minutes, 25 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple is now a bank and goodbye Twitter's blue checkmarks

Apple is now a bank  It's offering a savings account earning an extremely competitive interest rate! Their Apple Card partner Goldman Sacks is also powering this savings account. It's tough to define these days what "Apple" is as a company - they make devices, offer cloud services, create TV shows, sell apps, and now offer a savings account.  Goodbye Twitter's blue checkmarks  After many many false starts, the blue checkmarks people had for being 'notable' have disappeared. The only way to get a blue checkmark now is to pay for Twitter Blue - which requires you to verify your phone number. Elon Musk tweeted that he is paying for some of the Twitter Blue accounts personally - like that of Lebron James. Others have a blue checkmark and want to get rid of it because they seem embarrassed for paying for Twitter.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20236 minutes, 45 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - The Diplomat, Drops of God and Quantum Leap

The Diplomat: Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell star in this political thriller about a career diplomat who has to juggle her new high-profile role as an ambassador with her turbulent marriage to a political star (Netflix). Drops of God: A sleek thriller about a woman who discovers the world’s greatest wine collection has been left to her by her estranged father, but she must compete against a Japanese man to claim the inheritance (Apple TV+).   Quantum Leap: a reboot of the classic 1990s drama about a scientist who finds himself able to travel through space and time (Neon). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20235 minutes, 5 seconds
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Liam Neeson: Hollywood heavyweight on his new role and that career-changing, iconic line in Taken

Liam Neeson’s career has spanned 47 years, over 100 films- and too many iconic roles to count. From Oskar Schidler, to Qui-Gon Jinn, to Ra’s al Ghul, to everyone’s favourite retired CIA operative Bryan Mills to brooding private detective Philip Marlowe in the 2022 release Marlowe. Liam Neeson theorised with ZB’s Jack Tame that a character like Philip Marlowe has managed to keep readers and viewers intrigued over a century after his creation because people are drawn to noble protagonists who care about seeking justice. “Here’s this guy, kind of down on his luck I suppose, carving out a not very lucrative career and seeking some kind of justice for a murder or some crime that’s been committed and doing it in his own way. Sometimes he works for the bad guys, sometimes with the good guys. Something about that, there’s a rebel in there and there’s also an Arthurian knight of the Round Table in there.” Marlowe holds the unique distinction of being Liam Neeson’s 100th film, but he remains modest about his accomplishments on stage or the screen. Even when Jack pressed further, Neeson still wouldn’t name any personal highlights. “Seriously, I can’t. A lot of that is just luck, Lady Luck.” The theme of seeking justice and avenging crimes is clearly timeless, as it’s a driving force behind another iconic role filled by Neeson- retired CIA operative turned father figure Bryan Mills from the 2008 hit Taken. Surprisingly enough, Liam Neeson never actually imagined Taken being a hit- or eventually a meme. As he explained to Jack Tame, he assumed this was going to be dismissed as direct to video-grade cheesiness. “It’s funny, when I first read that script (Taken) I thought- this is so corny. I heard this or feel like I’ve seen this in so many movies.” “I thought it would be straight to video. Like straight to video. But I wanted to do it because of all the fighting and I loved being with the stunt guys, doing all that stuff. And it was three months in Paris, how bad could it be?” Liam Neeson explained to Jack Tame that Taken was the start of the point in his career where he became an action star, as he later featured in The A-Team, The Grey, Wrath of the Titans and all the Taken sequels. “If I had five cents for every time I said, you know, I have a particular set of skills, I will find you… I’d be a very rich man. Because my kids would always say- Dad, would you leave a message for my friend?”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20236 minutes, 56 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Pumpkin, bacon & feijoa scones

Is this the ultimate ANZAC scone? I’m marrying up our favourite fruit – feijoas – with Aussie’s favourite scone – pumpkin! And it’s a winner.  Makes 10 large scones  ¾ cup pumpkin pulp (see note) ½ cup chopped feijoas 3/4 cup plain yoghurt (or use ½ cup milk + ¼ cup cream) 3 cups self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 60g butter, chilled ½ tsp sea salt 2 rashers of bacon, diced 75g parmesan, grated Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a tray with baking paper. Whisk pumpkin pulp with yoghurt (or milk & cream) until incorporated. Stir in the chopped feijoas. In a large bowl combine flour and baking powder and grate in chilled butter. Pour in pumpkin mixture, season and stir to combine with a butter knife. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly and gently until it comes together in a smooth dough. Press out to form a 3cm-thick rectangle. Cut into 10 pieces and transfer each to the tray. Toss the bacon and parmesan together and sprinkle over each scone bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm slathered with butter. Nici’s note:  For ¾ cup pumpkin pulp, halve a small butternut pumpkin lengthwise, scoop out seeds and discard. Roast halves, cut side up, until soft. Scoop cooked flesh from skin and puree with a stick blender or mash well with a fork. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20234 minutes, 32 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Film review - Paper Spiders and Shackleton: The Greatest Story of Survival

Paper Spiders   Starring NZ- American actress Stefania Lavie Owen.  A teen makes a series of tough choices as her mother's paranoid delusions threaten to destroy their loving relationship.  Shackleton: The Greatest Story of Survival  The true story of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance.  28 lost adventurers must fight for their lives after their only lifeline is destroyed in the most uninhabitable place on Earth – Antarctica. The story's told by the only man ever to have repeated their incredible feat - explorer and adventurer Tim Jarvis. Following in the beset crew’s footsteps, Tim reveals the enduring legacy of Shackleton's crisis leadership in the face of impossible odds - a lesson more relevant to us now than ever before.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20237 minutes, 39 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Fascinating facts about King Charles III

Kevin Milne has been reading about King Charles III with his coronation imminent. He's come across some fascinating and curious facts about him, such as, he travels with his own supply of blood.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20237 minutes, 5 seconds
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Jack Tame: Citizenship deal - Great news for Kiwis in Oz, not great news for New Zealand

Credit where credit’s due. Our government hasn’t wasted a minute under the Australian Prime Ministership of Anthony Albanese to dramatically improve the relationship with our closest neighbour. With Scott Morrison out, and two governments closely aligned on the ideological front, in less than a year several major policies have been changed for New Zealanders’ benefit. Application of the 501 deportations was significantly pared back, and now New Zealanders in Australia have a more direct path to citizenship. It restores something akin to reciprocity for the first time in more than twenty years. But while the policy is excellent news for New Zealanders in Australia, it may not be so good for New Zealand. The more complicated path to citizenship was one of the few deterrents remaining for Kiwis considering moving to Australia. “New Zealanders who leave for Australia raise the I.Q of both.” It made for a cute quote, you’re kidding yourself if these days you agree with Rob Muldoon’s famous line. If you’re a young, ambitious New Zealander today, why would you choose to stay? I texted my friend in Melbourne this morning to ask about the changes. He was delighted – he moved over after the Christchurch earthquake and has been waiting for these changes to apply for Australian citizenship. “Out of interest,” I said. “What would it take for you to move home? I know you miss your family, but what more would you need?” He sent me a three symbol reply. “$$$” “Our household income over here is roughly 400K,” he told me. “We’d be super lucky to get two thirds of that in NZ even before we accounted for the exchange rate, and there are way fewer jobs in our fields.” I think all of us have bright, successful, friends and family members who could be contributing to New Zealand’s society and economy but have moved over and haven’t come back. There are roughly ten times more New Zealanders – almost 700,000 – living in Australia than Australians living here. There’s every likelihood this change will contribute even more to the bleed. And it isn’t just Kiwis like my mate, working in corporate and IT jobs. It’s every sector. When my sister worked as a teacher in Western Australia she earned roughly $40,000 more every year than she would have in New Zealand at the same time. At the start of this month, The Guardian reported that 5000 New Zealand nurses have registered to work in Australia since August of last year. It’s only three hours away. When you compare pay, conditions, and lifestyle, the rational question isn’t why a young person would consider moving to Oz. It’s why wouldn’t they? We’re always going to struggle to compete economically with Australia. The nature and make up of their economy means we can only get so close. I don’t begrudge the tens or hundreds of thousands of Kiwis who will benefit from these changes. But as Australia gives New Zealanders an even better deal, it’s a prime opportunity to pause and ask ourselves what more we should be doing to stop them leaving in the first place?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/21/20234 minutes, 12 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Vera Ellen - Ideal Home Noise

Ideal Home Noise - Vera Ellen Ideal Home Noise is a record unearthed from much introspection and an attempt to find some comedy and lightness in an otherwise dark period for Vera Ellen. With two "voices” battling throughout the album, the instrumentation is sometimes light — featuring synths and electronic drums — and sometimes heavy — with ballad-like piano and raw vocals.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20236 minutes, 11 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Book review - One of Those Mothers and Strange Sally Diamond

One of Those Mothers – Megan Nicol Reed When a local father is convicted of the possession and distribution of child pornography, the tight-knit, middle-class community is quick to unravel. He is granted permanent name suppression, and soon friend turns on friend, neighbour delivers up neighbour, and hysteria rapidly engulfs them all. Who among them was capable of such moral trespass?Bridget, Roz and Lucy have been friends forever. Their lives revolve around their children, their community, each other. With their husbands and kids, they holiday together every year. Every year, until last summer, when everything went so terribly wrong.   Strange Sally Diamond - Liz Nugent Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died. Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past of which she has no memory. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, recluse Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, finding independence, and learning that people don't always mean what they say. But when messages start arriving from a stranger who knows far more about her past than she knows herself, Sally's life will be thrown into chaos once again . . .See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20234 minutes, 11 seconds
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Kate Hall: How to make kombucha

Sustainability commentator Kate Hall joined Jack this morning to chat about kombucha, and tell us her method for making it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20238 minutes, 57 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Vegetable crops in autumn

Autumn can be busy! It might be getting cooler and days shorter, but some vegetable crops can be planted right now. Use the warmth that is still in the soil to germinate the seeds or to give small punnet-seedlings a better start for growing through the late Autumn/Early winter months. Fresh Peas: Easy peasy, as the seeds of those peas (the peas themselves!!) have enough reserves inside them to make them grow. Nice, friable soil that can drain the winter rains away. Good nutritious compost in there as well Broad beans: Similar gig! Plenty of growth potential and they might ripen quite early too. These are good greens for the winter (if you like them). Broccoli: Another suitable winter vegetable that can be planted now —there’s still some warmth in the soil they’ll grow well in the next month— even if they slow down afterwards, you’ve got a month’s worth of advance before they start taking it easy. Slow ripening means that they don’t all ripen at once, so pick the biggest ones as they mature Most other cabbage varieties will also grow from now on Carrot seedlings: These will also germinate at lower temperatures. Remember to create a soil that is free of lumps and stones, so that the carrots keep straight and do not “fork”. An extra handful of Phosphate will give them the impetus to grow nice roots Egyptian Walking Onions: These are my favourite onions and they’ll be quite happy to be planted (the small bulbils that form at the top of the mature plants). I tend to give them a bed on their own, so they can “walk” anywhere they like and right throughout the year; a raised bed with a regular dose of compost/mulch plus some seafood soup (liquid fertiliser) will sustain them ad infinitum. Maybe now is a good time to prepare a new bad for your garlic. (Garlic should really not be grown in the same bed, year after year. To avoid getting hammered by onion rust, I plant my garlic in early May to be at least a month ahead of the mythical and prescribed planting routine (shortest day) and harvest time (longest day). I’ve noticed many people struggle with these dates due to debilitating rust. Go early!! And Julie reminds me of the bulbs that need planting this autumn, so that we can look forward to some colour and cheer in spring: Narcissus, Tulips, Ranunculus and the wonderful smelling Freesias. Honestly, grab a catalogue (Wildflower world, Palmers, Oderings, etc) and spoil yourself; Good well-drained soils are often essential.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20236 minutes, 7 seconds
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Bryan Betty: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Dr Bryan Betty joined the show today to chat about Rheumatoid Arthritis; what it is, it’s symptoms, and how to deal with it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20234 minutes, 21 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Proving who you are on LinkedIn, TikTok, Coachella is being live streamed

Paul Stenhouse joined Jack Tame to chime in on Montana banning TikTok, Coachella being livestreamed, and LinkedIn’s new verification services. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20236 minutes, 34 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Last Thing He Told Me, Transatlantic, Blow Up

The Last Thing He Told Me Hannah must forge a relationship with her 16-year-old stepdaughter, Bailey, to find the truth behind why her husband has mysteriously disappeared.   Transatlantic An American journalist, during 13 months spent in France in 1940-41, manages to arrange safe passage out of France and on to the US for more than 2000 refugees who are in danger of losing their lives.   Blow Up The new Warner Bros Discovery series Blow Up challenges contestants to create giant inflatable works of art in a bid to be crowned New Zealand’s greatest balloon artist, and win $25k.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20234 minutes, 49 seconds
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The Ten Tenors: Kiwis Cameron Barclay and Andrew Papas - and a performance from the whole group

The longest running classical crossover act in the world, The Ten Tenors has performed over three thousand times all across the world since their creation in 1995. The group was formed in Queensland Australia, but features a couple of Kiwis in their lineup as well. Cameron Barclay and newcomer Andrew Papas joined Jack Tame to chat about performing and what it’s like to be part of the group. Jack was also treated to a performance from the entirety of the Ten Tenors, as they kick off their Greatest Hits NZ Tour. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/202310 minutes, 13 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Roasted Pumpkin & All the Things!

Autumn is the season for pumpkins and nuts so here I’m combining them both to bring you this incredible dish! Serve it as a main course or as a side to go with a chop, some roast lamb or a piece of grilled salmon. It’s lovely!   Ingredients: 3-6 wedges of pumpkin, skin on 2 tablespoons olive oil + extra 1 teaspoon sea salt Decent pinch freshly ground black pepper ¼ cup of sour cream Juice from half an orange or lemon ¼ cup toasted seeds and nut (I used sunflower and pumpkin seeds + almonds) 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses or honey     Method: Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a tray with baking paper. Brush pumpkin with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 40-50 minutes until tender and browned a little. Whisk sour cream with orange juice and an extra splash of olive oil. Spoon half of this dressing onto a serving plate. To serve, place pumpkin onto sour cream base, sprinkle over plenty of the seed/nut mix and then drizzle over the remaining sour cream dressing. Top with pomegranate molasses or honey, serve and enjoy!   Variations: Add a tsp of mustard to the sour cream. Scatter over fresh parsley or coriander leaves to serve. Use hazelnuts or walnuts. Mix cashew butter, lime, sesame oil and chilli flakes to make a different creamy dressing. Add some juicy grapes to the final dish. In the final 15 minutes, roast some button mushrooms (toss with oil first) with the pumpkin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/14/20234 minutes, 52 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Navalny and A House Made of Splinters

Navalny Detailing the 2020 assassination attempt of Russian opposition leader and former presidential candidate Alexei Navalny, in which he was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. A House Made of Splinters In war-torn eastern Ukraine, a group of women run a home where they manage to create a warm place for children placed out of home due to violence or alcohol abuse.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/14/20236 minutes, 55 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Paying tribute to "real men"

After suddenly losing power on amid Easter Sunday preparations, Kevin Milne pays tribute to the people who have the technical know-how to solve the maintenance problems the rest of us can’t. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/14/20236 minutes, 29 seconds
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Jack Tame: Streaming services have only made our impatience worse

If I’m ever in a job interview and they ask me what my weaknesses are, I won’t hesitate in my answer. No, I won’t say I work too hard or that I care too much. I’ll be honest and say that I’m impatient. For me, that was a big part of the reason I was so excited when TV streaming services finally got good. Instead of waiting for episodes to be drip-fed to the audience, week by week, I could turn on telly and watch a whole series in a night if I so chose. To be honest, bingeing twelve hours of television at a time is not really my style. But in the first few years of streaming, we were told repeatedly by Netflix and co why getting a whole series at once was such a good idea. It changes storytelling for the better, they told us. You don’t have to worry about weak cliff-hangers. Writers don’t have to shoehorn a whole story arc into exactly twenty-three minutes. It’s more organic. More nuanced. More thoughtful. We should’ve known better. But instead, we fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. The streamers played us like drug dealers play addicts. They published full season of bingeable TV upon full season of bingeable TV, niche shows, big-budget dramas, the best programmes in the history of television, and when subscriptions were near an absolute maximum across the board, they cut down on the supply. If you think about it, the economics are simple. Why have your audience bingeing TV, watching a month’s worth of telly in four days and then pausing their subscriptions? It’s much smarter to have them pay you the same amount but only give them one episode ever week. There’s another downside to the drip-drip-drip model that I only appreciated this week. For almost five years I’ve been watching Succession, one of the best programmes on TV. Right now, Succession is broadcasting it’s fourth and final series. It’s dark. It’s funny. It’s surprising. It’s observant. It critiques our culture and reminds me of my twenties in New York. And given it’s the last season, the pièce de resistance, I’ve been deliberately waiting for a gap in my schedule to sit down and properly enjoy it. Between Easter, work, and everything else, I’ve been tempering my impatience and waiting for a moment when I can properly savour ever second of the final season glory. To be fair I think Succession has always been a weekly episodic. HBO never went to the Netflix full binge model. But there’s a difference in the way that audiences behave between the two different styles. When full series are published all at once, no one gives up spoilers. It’s generally accepted that as a viewer, you won’t necessarily watch a whole series on the day it becomes available. You might, but most people will probably spread out a series a little bit. How many of us have talked about TV, and asked our friends – carefully – what episode they were up to? But a show like Succession is different. There are millions of viewers around the world, waiting for the hour every week in which they know a new episode will become available. And because that’s the way they’re watching the show, the presume everyone is doing the same thing. You can see where this is going. This week, Succession delivered its biggest plot twist in five wonderful years of storytelling. A huge twist. A massive shock. A Shakespearean dynamic-changer. But I didn’t see it for myself. Having carefully, deliberately waited, I read it on Twitter. Twice. Then I saw it again in a newspaper headline. Maybe streaming ruined TV-watching etiquette. And maybe impatience isn’t such a bad thing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/14/20234 minutes, 50 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Music - Matt Corby, 'Everything's Fine'

The third studio album from Matt Corby, ‘Everything’s Fine’ is the official follow-up to 2018’s ‘Rainbow Valley’.  Matt Corby has always been a musician’s musician. Every note he plays and every lyric he sings is both considered and intellectual – and with his third album Everything’s Fine he continues this reputation while developing his sound for today’s listener.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20235 minutes, 32 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: I Will Find You by Harland Coben and Go as a River by Shelly Read

I Will Find You, Harlan Coben  From the # 1 author and creator of the hit Netflix drama Stay Close, a page-turning thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last page. The new Harlan Coben blockbuster has arrived.  Go as a River, Shelly Read  From the publishers of THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS, ONCE UPON A RIVER and GREAT CIRCLE, a soaring, heartstopping debut novel of female resilience and becoming, for fans of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING.      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20234 minutes, 7 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Travel to Eat - Some of the world's popular dishes and their surprising origins

Savouring exotic flavours and iconic dishes is one of travel’s great rewards. But some of the most popular dishes do not originate from where you would think. Let’s start with a Caesar Salad.  What about a Japanese Curry?  Take a cruise in Alaska and Baked Alaska is sure to feature on the dessert menu. Is it Alaskan?  How about Chicken Tikka Masala?  One of the most deceptively named dishes would have to be Mongolian Beef.  One of the most popular dishes in Peru is Lomo Saltado. Strips of beef with onion and tomato. But is it Peruvian?  Speaking of Peru - Pisco Sour. Is the national drink actually Peruvian?   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/202311 minutes, 21 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Having 'getting serious’ talks with your partner without scaring them off

Why is it so hard to talk about the 'big' topics with our significant other? What happens if we just avoid it?   Is there a secret to making it easier?  Relationship expert Steven Dromgool joins Jack Tame to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20238 minutes, 9 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: You can’t go without leaf mold

This is an early warning for the coming month; You’ve heard me saying this once, you’ve heard me talk about it a thousand times: Those fallen leaves are worth their weight in gold.  No matter if we are talking about deciduous trees (those that lose their leaves in autumn) or “ever-green” trees, they all need to replace these green factories that turn Carbon di-oxide and minerals into sugars and Oxygen. And the power plant that makes it happen is current sunlight (not fossil sunlight!)  The old leaves return a lot of chemistry to the mother tree before they drop off (it’ll be used again to make new leaves next spring). But what the old leaves contain, as they float down to the ground, is mostly carbon.  You may have heard about “climate disruption” or “climate change”?, a problem that is summed up by the fact that we have too much carbon in the air and not enough in the soil.  Nature’s technique is to get that carbon back into the soil via trees and growing things called “leaves”.  So here’s the best tip for the Planet and your garden:  Build one or more chicken-wire cages (1 meter by 1 meter and – say – one meter tall; Use some sturdy stakes to keep it all in shape. Now, when the leaves come floating down gather them up and chuck them in that cage and leave them there for a year or so. They turn into leaf mold, full of carbon and light in weight This stuff is the best compound to make seed raising mix (add some light, friable compost) Leaf mold also makes potting mix (with compost and fine bark) It also makes a perfect mulch on the flower beds (weed control) Leaf mold is a key ingredient for vegetable garden soil (add compost, mineral soil and fertiliser) It rejuvenates old beds that need some “time out” (keep it fallow) Leaf mold is perfect to make heavy, wet clay into a much better draining soil (increasing spaces in the soil) It even does the opposite: making free-draining sandy soils a lot better at holding on to moisture (reducing spaces in the sandy soil).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20234 minutes, 40 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Best buy wine - 2021 Te Kairanga Rosé

Wine: 2021 Te Kairanga Rosé, Martinborough $25.99  Why I chose it:  Versatile, suits warm weather and cooler weather Was a stand-out wine in a recent blind tasting From a top vintage (buy now while stocks last) Who doesn’t like Rosé? (A winemaker recently told me that more men buy Rosé than women in NZ) What does it taste like?  Reasonably pale, gently aromatic rose with raspberry sherbet, crushed strawberry and watermelon flavours. Dry, refreshing wine with good flavour intensity and a lingering finish. Why it’s a bargain:  High quality wine at a middle-of-the-road price. Where can you buy it?  co.nz are selling it for $20.99 if you buy six bottles for $125.95 Food match?  You can enhance the pleasure by serving the wine with pink-tinted foods such as prawn cocktails or salmon sushi – it really gives it a lift. Will it keep?  No, drink up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20234 minutes, 53 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech - India is getting its first Apple Store and Twitter's latest fight with Substack

India is getting its first Apple Store  I'm shocked that they don't already have one! The store will be over 2,000 sqm. It won't be   The Apple Careers website has given some clues that this will be the first of many stores as Apple is hiring for team members for "various locations".  It's online store opened to India in 2020 and iPhone are manufactured in India.  Twitter's latest fight is with newsletter platform Substack  Any tweet that contains a link to a Substack has had its reply, retweet and quote tweet function disabled because it throws as error to the user. This comes after Twitter blocked embeds of Tweets into Substacks. Substack says this is why writers deserve an independent platform which supports their work. Twitter has made changes to their API recently, and Substack has launched a feature to Twitter called "Notes" which are small posts (like Tweets).  Twitter and NPR (National Public Radio) are also in a dispute about a label on their profile calling NPR "a state affiliated media outlet", which it isn't. NPR has stopped publishing on Twitter. NPR says it gets less than 1% of its finding from federal sources - lots comes from donations. Elon Musk shared a screenshot of the label and commented "seems accurate".  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20236 minutes, 33 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - Nolly, Boom Boom! and Tiny Beautiful Things

Nolly: Helena Bonham Carter teams up with It’s a Sin writer Russell T Davies for this biopic about the rise and fall of British soap star Noelle Gordon (TVNZ1, from Sunday night)   Boom Boom!: A two-part documentary series about the controversial life and career of tennis champion Boris Becker (Apple TV+)   Tiny Beautiful Things: Grab your tissues for this emotional drama starring Kathryn Hahn and based on the book by Cheryl Strayed (Wild), about a woman coming to terms with the death of her mother decades before (Disney+)   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20237 minutes, 12 seconds
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Daily J: Kiwi band talk their new EP 'Slush Honey: Side A' and perform in studio

The band’s made up of three brothers – Jayden, Jesse, Johnny – and their mate, Rick.   They started from humble beginnings in Blenheim before heading to the bright lights of Auckland.   The band’s debut album Venus Ate Mars was released in 2020 and did exceptionally well.  They backed it up with touring the festival circuit both here and in Australia. The boys have just released a new EP called Slush Honey: Side A and Jack Tame caught up with two of the brothers –Jayden and Jesse - this week. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/202312 minutes, 24 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Film review - Air and The Pope's Exorcist

Air   Sonny Vaccaro and Nike pursue basketball rookie Michael Jordan, creating a partnership that revolutionizes the world of sports and contemporary culture. Directed by Ben Affleck, starring Matt Damon.   The Pope’s Exorcist  Father Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist for the Vatican, battles Satan and innocent-possessing demons. A detailed portrait of a priest who performed more than 100,000 exorcisms in his lifetime. Starring Russell Crowe.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20237 minutes, 31 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The irony of Interislander ferry problems

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to chat about the irony of our interisland ferries' mechanical problems just when Bluebridge and Interisland ferries were finally offering first-class on-board service. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20236 minutes, 55 seconds
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Jack Tame: Crybaby silliness hides hypocrisy

We’ve all done it.  Every last one of us in a group chat or on a team email or instant messaging platform.  Let he who hath not accidentally texted someone when saying something ill-advised or nasty throw the first stone.  I’ve got friends who in a rage have sent the most awful messages slagging off their flatmate and calling them a slob, only to have the flatmate in question walk into the room and hold up their phone.   “I don’t think you meant to send this to me.”  Eurgh.. you don’t say.   I’ve got friends who’ve accidentally texted their crush, confessing their love. Friends who’ve done similar things when they’ve been considering break-ups. There was a rumour at my work about a message that was accidentally sent to a colleague via instant messaging on our office computer network. The sender begged and pleaded and bribed IT staff with chocolate and wine to come in on a weekend and delete the message before the receiver logged into their computer on Monday morning. I dunno if it’s true but the scenario sounds believable enough.   The problem is that sometimes the impulse to be professional is exceeded by the impulse to be a human being. We can be nasty, gossipy beasts. And in the digital age, you’re only ever a big red button from disaster…  Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere has learnt all of this the hard way, after being caught out for allegedly calling her colleague Chloe Swarbrick a “crybaby” in a message that was sent to the wrong group chat.  Most of the coverage of this little whoopsie has focused on the word “crybaby” and the high-school drama of the whole thing. But I saw something else in it. For me, the real takeaway from was not that Elizabeth Kerekere was slagging off one of her colleagues. It wasn’t that she apparently doesn’t like Chloe Swarbrick, or that she used a petty term. The really interesting thing was the context in which she did it.   Kerekere sent the message literally as Chloe Swarbrick was speaking, arguing in the house in favour of an alcohol bill which could have had massive impacts on social harm in our country. Kerekere’s own profile on the Green Party website says she’s dedicated her life to issues of health, mental health, violence prevention and youth development, all of which would be directly affected by Swarbrick’s proposed changes.  And yet, at the critical moment in the bill’s progression, Elizabeth Kerekere appeared only to view the bill through the lens of her personal ambitions. She didn’t care about affecting change, she cared about what the publicity around the bill would do for party list rankings. So much for health, mental health, violence prevention and youth development, all those issues which she claims to care so much about. What’s the point in helping to make positive change if doesn’t help Elizabeth Kerekere?  Kerekere’s text was revealing, not because it publicised her beef with Chloe Swarbrick, but because it revealed hypocrisy. In an extremely rare moment this parliamentary term when a Green Party bill was debated in the house, Kerekere didn’t put the kaupapa first. She didn’t put first the communities she purports to represent. She didn’t put first violence prevention, health, or social harm.   In that moment, she put Elizabeth Kerekere first. I think that says a lot about character. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/7/20234 minutes, 40 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Music review - Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust

Fall Out Boy   ALBUM: So Much (For) Stardust  Fall Out Boy's new album, So Much (For) Stardust, is a return to some of the band's familiar sound and style of writing.    It's the first album that the pop punk band has released in five years. The last one, Mania, was full of experimentation in sound that some fans didn't love.   Wentz and Stump know how polarizing the album was. So Much (For) Stardust is a more recognizable sound. It's also a show of the maturity and experience that the band members have garnered in the two decades working together – and some of the absurdity that has prevailed.  LISTEN ABPVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20235 minutes, 26 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Book review - The Last Days of Joy and Wanderlust

The Last Days of Joy – Anne Tiernan  A stunning novel about a family reeling in the wake of a devastating act. Sharply funny, intensely moving, and with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Last Days of Joy will make you laugh out loud even as it moves you to tears.   Wanderlust - Reid Mitenbuler The mesmerizing, larger-than-life tale of an eccentric adventurer who traversed some of the greatest frontiers of the twentieth century, from uncharted Arctic wastelands to the underground resistance networks of World War II.  LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20235 minutes, 26 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A safari of sights in Mooloolaba

Mike Yardley is once again the envy of us all with his travels to the Sunshine Coast. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20238 minutes, 27 seconds
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Kate Hall: Ethically Kate has some ideas for a sustainable Easter

Sustainability expert Ethically Kate has some ideas for sustainable ways to celebrate Easter without boycotting it altogether like alternatives for less wasteful Easter baskets for the kids. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20238 minutes, 18 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Dahlias

Pretty flowers in autumn – some are huge and some have really deep colours.  Varieties are numerous in all sorts of colours and shapes and sizes; small ones, huge ones; (doubles, singles, “waterlilies”, breeders have been pretty active in this field, especially Dr Keith Hammett – ex DSIR in Auckland)  NOW’s the time to scout around finding what you might like yourself.  Café au Lait Le Baron Kennemer Land  You can buy them as plants (often cuttings) or, more commonly, as “tubers” (root structures, long-ish “bulbs”) from which the plants grow;  Planting in Spring after frosty times have stopped; (established plants in the soil the tubers are reasonably protected from frosts, but newly planted tubers need frost protection!!)  Where to plant those Tubers? Well-drained soil to avoid rotting; alternative: raise the bed to create a well-drained medium.  Healthy soil with decent amount of compost, rock phosphate and lime – general fertiliser N-P-K.  It pays to cover the plants with a good layer of compost (3 inches thick at least). It really sets them up for decent growth in spring and summer and it keeps weeds at bay; it also keeps moisture in the soil during hot, dry summers  They do need a bit of space (almost a meter), so they can expand and keep sunlight on their leaves.  Pick flowers late Summer – Autumn… with a bit of luck they’ll provide colour for a long time!  Insects and fugal problems can be a pain in the in bum:  Powdery mildew (a real autumn fungus on the leaves) can be slowed down by spraying copper sprays on the leaves when nights are getting cooler and dew settles on the leaves. Copper stops the fungal spores from starting their dastardly journey  Katydids often go undetected as they emerge later in afternoon and evening, making a ZZdits sound; they chew the flowers petals making the symmetrical look slightly less symmetrical  Earwigs hide inside the flower heads and chew whole petals, shredding the flowers and creating a very grumpy Julie;  Mind you, those earwigs do a fabulous job in all other months of the year by being predators of aphids and such real plant pests!!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20234 minutes, 23 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: The downsizing dilemma

The downsizing dilemma – it’s a natural progression to downsize the family home when the kids fly the nest and you head into retirement, but people usually expect it to release more cash than it does.   If you find yourself in that situation you can end up in a pickle.   Why does it not provide as much of your retirement savings as people expect?   Why does timing become important?   Does moving to a cheaper area solve all that?   How do you avoid having an over reliance on your home, and what do you do if you are reliant on it?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20235 minutes, 1 second
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Paul Stenhouse: ChatGPT has been blocked in Italy

TikTok's sister app is about to launch in the US  It's called Lemon8. Think of it as Instagram - with its focus on text and images - but powered by the TikTok algorithm, and focused on fashion, beauty and lifestyle. It seems to be heavily skewed towards shoppable experiences. It launched in Japan in 2020. Bytedance has been reaching out to content creators to get them to start posting on the app offering up stipends, placements and more. Lemon8 is available to download from the app stores, but it has not been formally launched in the US. It is available in the UK, Singapore and Indonesia.    ChatGPT has been blocked in Italy  They are investigating privacy concerns that break GDPR rules. There’s no age verification for minors to use the tool, which collects their data. There’s also concern about the data sources used to train the tool, and how Italian citizens can control the data held about them.   LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20234 minutes, 31 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - Rabbit Hole, The Power and Wellmania

Rabbit Hole: Kiefer Sutherland stars in this action-packed thriller about a corporate spy who discovers everything he’s been fighting for is built soon a web of lies (TVNZ+). The Power: Based on Naomi Alderman’s bestselling novel, Toni Collette and John Leguizamo star in this sci-fi drama about a world where teenage girls mysteriously start shooting electricity out of their hands (Prime Video).   Wellmania: An Australian comedy that sees Celeste Barber plays human tornado Liv, a woman forced to rethink her hectic lifestyle after a major health scare (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20234 minutes, 56 seconds
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Melanie Bracewell: Kiwi comedian on finding success cracking the Australian market

Most will by now be familiar with the name Melanie Bracewell.  The Kiwi comedian has found success on screen, on stage and online...   She’s written for 7 Days and Wellington Paranormal – featured on Have You Been Paying Attention – won the Billy T Award and went viral around the world with her impressions of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.   And now, Mel’s taken the leap across the ditch to try and crack the Aussies.   But it won’t be long before she’s back on our home shores to tour her show Forget Me Not and host the Best Foods International Comedy Gala next month.   Melanie Bracewell joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/202315 minutes, 10 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Eggplant and feta fans

Look out for eggplants right now in grocers and farmer’s markets – they can get as low as $3-$4 each and they make for a really hearty meatless meal. Try this recipe for meltingly soft, richly flavoured and utterly scrumptious eggplant and feta fans.  Makes 4  2 eggplants 4-6 medium tomatoes, thickly sliced 100g feta 2-3 tbsps capers 2 tbsps each fresh thyme & oregano Salt & pepper to season ¼ cup olive oil Parsley to garnish Heat oven to 180 C and line a shallow baking tray with baking paper. Trim stalks from eggplants and halve lengthwise. Make four or five thick cuts in each half, leaving each intact at the stalk end. Tuck tomato slices and feta into each cut, sprinkle over capers, herbs and salt and pepper. Drizzle generously with olive oil and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil then continue baking until soft and collapsed – about another 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle over fresh parsley and serve alongside a simple salad and/or bread. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20235 minutes, 38 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Film review - Dungeons and Dragons and The Portable Door

Dungeons and Dragons  A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a long lost relic, but their charming adventure goes dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.  The Portable Door   A man lands an internship at a mysterious London firm with unconventional employees, including the charismatic CEO who is incorporating modern corporate strategy into ancient magical practices.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20236 minutes, 33 seconds
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Kevin Milne: How a trip to the zoo told me the way to fix our health system

Kevin Milne recently took a walk round the zoo with his daughter. An idea crossed his mind as to how we could help fund our deteriorating health system.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20235 minutes, 56 seconds
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Jack Tame: Three months living as a one-car-couple

At the start of this year, my girlfriend decided to sell her old dunga’. It was a good decision. Her car was a big, old, fat 2.6L sedan with blind spots the size of a bouncy castle, and the only thing it loved more than chewing through vast quantities of petrol was being as difficult as possible to wedge into parallel parks. ‘Good news!’ she said to me, one day. ‘I sold my car for three thousand dollars!’ ‘That’s fantastic! I replied. And so, what are you thinking now? ‘Well, I’ve got your car,’ she said. …. I don’t think I truly appreciated New Zealand’s lagging mathematics achievement until I noted the laxness of my girlfriend’s attitude to the situation. ‘I can give you the three thousand if you really want it,’ said my girlfriend. ‘But my car’s worth ten thousand dollars.’ I said. Welcome to love. The reason I’m telling you this is not actually anything to do with cars. It’s about what I decided to do next. Because, faced with a carless future, I did nothing. Three months ago, my girlfriend and I decided to become a one-car couple. Between us, living in two different houses, in different suburbs, with her son and various jobs to balance, we decided to see if we could get by with just the one vehicle. The theory was pretty simple. Whenever I could, I would ride my bike. She would walk more and use public transport. Both of us would have to be a bit thoughtful about our requirements in advance. I thought of it as Corolla coordination, as we tried to plan out our weeks as best we could. If it was raining, or we had stuff to carry, or we were running late for an important meeting, we wouldn’t guilt ourselves about spending money on Ubers. I figured whatever we spent on Ubers would be more than covered by our savings on a new car, insurance, and petrol. Today is April 1st, three months into 2023. Three months since we made the switch. The thing that has surprised me most is how easy the whole thing has been. Now, I get it. We’re not on a farm. We’re not running separate glazing businesses. We don’t have eight kids. And we live in a city. But we do have some complications. We are balancing a lot. And anyone who’s paid attention to the news will know there’s been a fair bit of rain in the upper North Island this year. Still, if I was to break it down, I’d say that 90% of my journeys have been by bike. The only slight issue I’ve had was an incident where I had to excuse myself from a book launch party after zipping across Auckland on a particularly humid evening, only to find myself with sweat literally dripping onto some of the other guests. On a few occasions, my girlfriend and I have been going to the same event. With our Corolla coordination, she’ll take the car and I’ll take the bike, and I’ll beat her there through the rush hour traffic. And as for Ubers and public transport? I’ve spent about $170 in three months. That’s a whole lot less than a car, insurance, and running costs would’ve set me back over the same period. I know this setup won’t suit everyone. I’m not suggesting it will. But New Zealand has one of the highest car-ownership rates in the world. And I reckon I’m not the only one who might be surprised at how easy it is to downsize. Call it Corolla Coordination. Or Mitsubishi Marshalling. Or Hilux Harmonising. Outlander Ordering. Maybe if you’re getting rid of an old dunga, set yourself a challenge, too. Sure, it’s handy to have one car. But ask yourself, do you really need two?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/31/20234 minutes, 51 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Lana Del Rey - Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

Rolling Stone says: Lana Del Rey spends her ninth LP taking a close look at herself — and reminds us she's in a creative class all her own.  She has another ridiculous song title on her album called: Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20234 minutes, 53 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Paris, The Memoir and Did I Ever Tell You This, Sam Neill

Paris, The Memoir  From the woman who is credited, for better and for worse, for launching what we know as the celebrity focused, brand driven, social media obsessed popular culture of today, comes an honest and surprising memoir that reckons with that truth, and shows that there is so much more to Paris Hilton than you might believe.  Behind Paris Hilton's meteoric rise from Upper West Side club kid to household name lies her self-proclaimed 'superpower' of ADHD and a hidden history that traumatized and defined her.   Shocking, funny and surprisingly profound, Paris is the deeply personal memoir of the ultimate It Girl and a stunning inside view of a pop culture phenomenon.   Until, in a revealing documentary, she disclosed that her childhood was shattered by two years of strip searches, isolation, beatings, restraint, and brainwashing within the now infamous 'troubled teen industry', Paris Hilton was simply the billionaire heiress America had watched grow up on television, on the internet, and in tabloids.   But there was always more to Paris Hilton than met the eye.    Did I Ever Tell You This, Sam Neill  In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion.  Did I Ever Tell You This? is a joy to read, a marvellous and often very funny book, the work of a natural storyteller who is a superb observer of other people, and who writes with love and warmth about his family. It is also his account of his life outside film, especially in Central Otago where he established Two Paddocks, his vineyard famous for its pinot noir. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20235 minutes, 32 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Wild adventures around Wellington

- The East by West Ferry offers great excursion options. (Matiu/Somes Island.)   - How was the birdlife?  - And the ferry connects to Days Bay, too. ( Then take an ebike to Pencarrow Lighthouse.)   - North of the Capital, the Escarpment Track is pulling the crowds.   - If the weather's not behaving, what's new at Wellington Museum.   - And the Te-Whanganui-a-Tara exhibition is a fresh feature?  ( Gigantic photographic carpet of the region on the floor.)  For more tips on great trails and culture stops in Wellington, Mike's article is on the website.  www.newstalkzb.co.nz/lifestyle/travel/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20239 minutes, 48 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Relationship expert on helping a partner with anxiety

What is anxiety actually? If it's not real, can't you just tell someone to snap out of it - or get over it?  So, what helps?  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20236 minutes, 59 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Fruit trees in action

We had a bit of rain this week… and a huge amount of wind as well.  It really showed me I had underestimated the ripeness of my “Sanguine Peaches”, a variety that never fails to perform here in Christchurch. An acquired taste: very sweet and spicey; The name originates from Sanguine de Savoie, meaning “the blood of savoy”.  Another favourite tree fruit is the apple “Initial”; perfectly crisp and not too sweet; the great thing about “Initial” is that it seems to be quite resistant to all sorts of diseases, so… easy to grow in an organic garden.  Pome fruit (apples) are best pruned in wintertime, when the tree is dormant. They require good eyesight, as you’ll need to be careful leaving the fruiting spurs so that the tree has some fruit to set next season. Watch the shape and size of those spurs when you harvest the fruit, so you know what to look for during winter pruning.  One apple I always “wait” for is the late ripening “Monty’s Surprise”; An old apple variety, discovered a few decades ago  It has several wonderful advantages: It’s relatively resistant to diseases and pests – I’ve noticed little evidence of black spot and such pathogens  In the earlier part of the season (late March, early April) Monty’s surprise is a tangy cooking apple – the fruit are large… some get too “huge”;  Mid-April onwards, when the fruit ripens further, it becomes an eating apple. Tastes great! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20234 minutes, 38 seconds
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Dr Byan Betty: Chair of General Practice NZ on meningitis, what is it and what to do about it?

What is it?  Serious infection of blood or brain (meningitis) Can lead to very severe disease or even death. Caused by a bacteria called meningococcal. - 15% of us carry it in our nose and throat and it doesn’t harm us. For reasons we don’t understand it can occasionally transmit to others and cause the disease.   Who gets it?  Peak those under 5, and teenagers/young adults up to 25 High risk are young adults moving into halls of residence – university or boarding school We don’t understand why some get the disease. Bug doesn’t survive long outside the nose or throat – thought spread close contact kissing, eating utensils, sneezing. How do you recognise it?  Often starts with temp, vomiting or muscle/joint pian like any other illness. However, it can worsen every very rapidly without warning – severe headache, stiff neck, drowsiness, rash – serious requires urgent medical attention. It is rare, however can happen out of the blue with little or no warning. What to do about it?  Antibiotics can cure if get early enough However only real protection immunisation. Under-fives now have a meningitis vaccine in immunisation schedule 13- to 25-year-olds: moving to halls of residence, boarding school can get a free immunisations for the main types of meningitis. As parents think about immunising their children if going to university or boarding school – talk to your GP or Nurse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20234 minutes, 38 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: More AI releases and TikTok CEO grilled on Capitol Hill

Chat GPT stunned the tech world by launching plugins  Now you can get Chat GPT to connect to a range of applications to enrich what it knows, and what it can do. For example, you can now connect it to Expedia and have it search flights, or recommend hotels. You can connect it to Bing to search the internet - yes, it can now know real-world and real-time information. You can even connect it to your email and calendar through a service called Zapier to have it send emails and more.   TikTok's CEO grilled on Capitol Hill  Shou Zi spent five hours taking questions from lawmakers. He says there is still some data in a data center in Virginia and Singapore that China-based employees can access, but that is in the process of being deleted. From then on, all US data will be stored in a US data center and governed by US law, only accessible by US-based employees. He says TikTok has never, and would never, share US user data with the Chinese government. These committee hearings also continue to show just how little our law makers know about technology, with painful questions.   Adobe launched its generative AI called Firefly  It's designed for creatives, and it looks pretty awesome.   You can create images from scratch or use something already in your design canvas to use as a prompt. So, you could take an image of a church and ask for variations of it. The thing that looks the coolest is that it keeps it all in separate layers so you can move things around and tweak as needed. Want a picture to look brighter, or more moody - you can ask for that too. Need the sky brightened up to make your vacation look perfect - it can do that too. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20234 minutes, 14 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Night Agent, Yellowjackets and Lucky Hank

The Night Agent: An American spy thriller. While monitoring an emergency line, an FBI agent answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House (Netflix).  Yellowjackets: Season two of the dark thriller starring Melanie Lynskey, about a team of talented high-school girls soccer players who survive a plane crash deep in the Ontario wilderness (Neon).  Lucky Hank: Bob Odenkirk returns to the small screen in this comedy-drama as a grumpy English professor whose life begins to unravel (TVNZ+). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20235 minutes, 37 seconds
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Sharon Corr: The Corrs founder on decades of hits as band prepares to head to NZ

It was 1990 in Ireland, when three sisters and their brother decide to form a family band.  Thus, The Corrs were formed and their version of Celtic-pop somehow worked.  They’re one of the biggest musical acts to come out of Ireland, selling 40 million albums worldwide and creating six bestselling albums.  The band went on a decade-long hiatus to raise families before returning to the charts in 2015.  And now, they're heading our way for two shows later this year.  Sharon Corr joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/202313 minutes, 53 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Feijoa, coconut, rum and lime cake

This cake is gorgeous! Lime & coconut are great friends and bring in the pineapple, guava-like flavour of feijoa and wow, it’s a winner  150gbutter, softened  3/4 cup caster sugar 3 large eggs 150gself-raising flour  2 tbspsyoghurt or milk  Slug of rum 3/4 cup desiccated coconut 1 cup feijoas, chopped Zest and juice from 2 limes, plus 1 extra lime Icing  250gcream cheese  2 tspsvanilla extract  ½ -1 cup icing sugar Preheat oven to 170°C fan bake. Line a 23cmcake tin with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and pale. Add the eggs and beat until well combined. Don't worry if it curdles at this stage, it makes no difference to the end result. Fold in the flour, stirring until just combined. Add in the yoghurt, rumand coconut, mixing well, then fold in the chopped feijoas, lime zest and juice. Scrape the batter into your prepared cake tin. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until it springs back to the touch. Cool for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin to cool completely. Make the icing: Beat the cream cheese and vanilla extract until smooth. Stir in enough icing sugar (I only use ½ cup as I prefer a strong cream cheese and less sweet flavour) until the icing is thick and spreadable. Ice the cold cake and garnish with zest fromthe extralime.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20235 minutes, 26 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Living and Boston Strangler

Living (at cinemas)  Overwhelmed at work and lonely at home, a civil servant's life takes a heartbreaking turn when a medical diagnosis tells him his time is short. Influenced by a local decadent and a vibrant woman, he continues to search for meaning until a simple revelation gives him a purpose to create a legacy for the next generation.   Featuring Bill Nighy and Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood.  Boston Strangler (Disney +)    Keria Knightly plays reporter Loretta McLaughlin, who becomes the first person to connect a series of murders and break the story of the Boston Strangler. She and Jean Cole challenge the sexism of the early 1960s to report on the city's most notorious serial killer.   A remake of an original film but reviewers are saying the new adaptation is better.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20236 minutes, 34 seconds
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Kevin Milne: I can't think of a more stressful occupation than being a stand-up comic

Kevin Milne went to see English stand-up comedian Michael McIntosh this week, he says it was a superb show.   But he can’t think of a more stressful occupation than being a stand-up comic. Walking onto a lonely stage several times a week with a couple of thousand fans expecting you to be hilarious, he was keen to have a yarn about this and joined Jack Tame.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20236 minutes, 41 seconds
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Jack Tame: In replacing Foster, NZ Rugby delivers yet another insult

My girlfriend was in Christchurch last week, waiting at the airport departure gate before flying to Auckland, when she sent me an excited text. “The Crusaders are here. All of them.” She said. “Well, I think they are. I don’t know sports.” She rang me a few minutes later, a bit star-struck for someone who supposedly didn’t care too much for rugby, to say that everyone at the airport was asking one guy in particular for photographs. Richie Mo’unga? I wondered. Sam Whitelock perhaps? ‘He’s a bit older. And he keeps looking at a laptop screen.” I sent her a photo. “That’s him! That’s the guy!” she exclaimed. “His name is Razor Robertson,” I said. “You’re probably looking at the next All Blacks coach.” Three days later, the deal was signed. I don’t think there’s another coach in the country who’s stardom compares to or even exceeds that of his top players, but Scott Robertson’s success has propelled him into a different stratosphere. It isn’t just the fact that he wins that makes Robertson popular. It’s how he wins. And it’s always been the same. Rugby journos, players and colleagues rave about the culture he fosters in his team. In a pretty gruff and grunty world, Razor has distinguished by his earnest concern for people and the connections he’s able to make with his players. He’s quirky. A bit unorthodox. But everyone is left in no doubt that he genuinely cares. And as a result, quite aside from any skills or tactics, or anything specific to rugby, he’s proved incredibly successful in getting the best out of his people. It takes a special kind of leader to motivate a team when they win year, after year, after year. It will remain an enduring stain on the reputation of New Zealand Rugby that the organisation’s head honchos could extend the same basic human decency to the current All Blacks coach. I was trying to imagine how I’d feel if my boss announced to the world that he’d be kicking me off air and replacing me with someone else, but that first he’d expect me to perform to my highest level for the next six months.  I can’t say I’d have acted with anything like the dignity and grace that Ian Foster has displayed throughout this whole fiasco. I thought there was an especially telling moment in Mark Robinson’s media round this week, in which he admitted to not having even spoken with Ian Foster in person to tell him about appointing a replacement. “He’s in a different time zone.” Said Robinson. “We’ll try to reach out and have that chat if we can.” Doesn’t that say everything? I was gobsmacked. At the same time as they were choosing a candidate for the culture he instils in a team, New Zealand Rugby couldn’t even extend the decency of a conversation to the man he’s replacing. It doesn’t matter who you are or what industry you work in, international rugby, elite sport or accountancy for all I care, culture comes from the top. And the best cultures are the ones whose leaders care for their people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/24/20234 minutes, 21 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Album review of 'Amelia' by Mimi Webb

'Amelia' is the debut album from British pop artist Mimi Webb. After three years of development and a few lead-off singles, Mimi Webb released he first full studio album in early March. Music reviewer Estelle Clifford analysed the album and compared Mimi Webb's style to Emeli Sande and Dua Lipa. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20234 minutes, 31 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Last Orphan and The Only Suspect

The Last Orphan: An Orphan X Novel The Last Orphan is the latest instalment in Gregg Andrew Hurwitz's Orphan X series. Evan Smoak was taken from a group home to be raised and trained up into an assassin for the Government's secret Orphan program, until he broke away to go underground and use his skills for good. The Government's onto Evan now and the President has a deal for him- eliminate a powerful target for his life. The Only Suspect Alex lives a quiet, comfortable life- until his wife announces that a previously disused nature trail is opening back up again after several decades. Alex is now living in fear and suspicion as the contractors get to work and a secret threatens to surface. The book flashes back to Alex's twenties and readers learn more about Alex's early life, including a hunt for a murder suspect that was never solved. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20233 minutes, 29 seconds
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Elliott Smith: Black Caps v Sri Lanka second test and SailGP's grand prix

Commentator Elliott Smith is here with this weekend's sports highlights, including the unfolding second day of the Black Caps v Sri Lanka second test and SailGP's grand prix event. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20236 minutes, 7 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Dining in Wellington

Travel expert Mike Yardley shared some of his recommended spots for dinner, brunch and cocktails in New Zealand's capital.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20239 minutes, 23 seconds
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Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall: The most sustainable period products

Which period products are the most sustainable and budget friendly? Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall talked Jack through some of the better options available on the market. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20235 minutes, 7 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Buggin' with numbers

Autumn is near and the hot days have certainly increased life in the garden. Flowers are still banking on pollinators to do their job; they are numerous right now: flies, hover flies, beetles, thrips and mites; of course our native bees are still around as well. But the invertebrates that cause troubles in the garden and vegetable plots are also on the peak of their numbers; after all they, too, had a warm breeding season and many many offspring. The greenhouse thrips is one of those critters that loves to feed on the leaves of vegetables and ornamentals: beans, apples, Rhododendrons, Azalea, lilly-pilly, the list is endless. Best way to identify them is by distinct silvering of the leaves (especially the upper side) with a smattering of brown, often sticky poos on the underside. The plant will usually show the symptoms of severe stress, which makes sense as the photosynthesis is hampered: Thrips suck the cells dry (causing that silvering) and deposit the poo on the underside of the leaves. The insects look like miniature crocodiles under the microscope. Frequent neem oil sprays reduce their numbers; Mavrik and a range of other insecticides seem to do the job as well. Do the control now, before too many eggs and juveniles commence their overwintering phase! Last week we mentioned powdery mildew and that grey, mouldy fungus on plants. Regular sprays (fungicides) were suggested as a suppressing control. But the yellow-and-black ladybirds that live on the infected plants need some control as well! Contrary to what most gardeners think (that ladybirds are “beneficial” as consumers of pest insects), these Ozzie chappies are Gardeners! They literally spread the spores of mildew round on the leaves, creating the fungal gardens on which they thrive – they literally eat “mushrooms”! If your apple crop was destroyed by codling moth (Madex 2 or Madex 3 is the preventative spray to use after flowering!!!) the apples will fall on the ground with heaps of caterpillars coming out of their snackbar and looking for a place to pupate in or near the soil. My best advice is to remove those apples and put them in the food recycling bin for disposal; (DON’T put them in your compost bin as the pupae (chrysalises) will survive the winter and happily continue the codling moth damage next spring). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20234 minutes, 9 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Saint Clair 2021 James Sinclair Malbec review

Wine expert Bob Cambell reviews his pick of the week- Saint Clair 2021 James Sinclair Malbec out of Hawke's Bay. Bob Cambell told Jack Tame what he thought of this choice, and explained the rising popularity of malbec in New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20232 minutes, 55 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: New Zealand and the UK ban TikTok on Government devices

New Zealand and the UK are among the growing list of countries banning TikTok on Government devices amid mounting security concerns. Tech expert Paul Stenhouse explained this issue to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20234 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: Ted Lasso, Will Trent, and Stuck

Screentime expert Tara Ward highlights her TV recommendations for the week: Ted Lasso Sports comedy-drama Ted Lasso is back for its' third (and presumably final) season. The heartwarming story of an American football coach hired to manage a British soccer team continues on for Apple TV+. Will Trent Will Trent is an American crime drama based on a series of books. The show follows Will Trent, a Special Agent in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation with a keen eye for observational detail, and it's available now on Disney+. Stuck Stuck is a sitcom following a recently unemployed older man and his outgoing younger girlfriend struggling with their long-term relationship, as the pair are now at a romantic crossroads. This series is available now on TVNZ+. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20235 minutes, 38 seconds
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Zion Armstrong: former Commonwealth Games athlete and Adidas North America president on his athletic journey

Zion Armstrong has lived an impressive life as a former Commonwealth Games athlete and current president for Adidas North America, but his career wasn't always set in stone. As a teenager, Zion Armstrong got in trouble with the police and ran away to escape consequences- but the local chief of police happened to be a track and field coach who recognised Zion's athletic ability. Police chief Ross Dallow became Zion Armstrong's first mentor, and he conscripted him into joining the local athletics team to keep him out of trouble. Zion never forgot that moment, and remembers this chance encounter as a life-changing event that saved him from a dangerous path.  Zion's athletic days are beyond him, but even as the president of Adidas North America, he always thinks about the the power of chance encounters, support and effort. "It just takes one person. You'll never ever know what he or she is going through, so always be there to lend a hand and support people, because you never know what that chance encounter can do for someone's life." Zion told Jack Tame about how this one event shaped his athletic career and journey with Adidas. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/17/202313 minutes, 58 seconds
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Rosa Flanagan: 10-Minute Chilli Garlic Noodles

Rosa Flanagan from Two Raw Sisters shared her simple recipe for 10-ninute chilli garlic noodles: Begin with udon noodles, but you can substitute rice noodles or pre-packaged 2-minute instant noodles. For the sauce: Six cloves of crushed, finely chopped garlic One to two tablespoons of chilli flakes (or you can use fresh chilli) Three spring onions, finely chopped Five tablespoons of tamari (or soy sauce) One teaspoon of rice wine vinegar 1/2 a teaspoon of sea salt 1/4 a cup of sesame seeds 1/4 a cup of oil Finely chopped coriander Boil noodles until cooked, put the noodles in a large bowl and mix in the garlic, chilli flakes, spring onions, tamari, vinegar, sea salt, and sesame seeds. Heat the oil over a medium heat until hot, the pour the oil directly over the noodles. Mix together and add coriander. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/17/20233 minutes, 48 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Finding Michael

Shazam! Fury of the Gods The sequel to the 2019 film Shazam! continues the story of foster child Billy Baston, who was given the power to turn into an older superhero, Shazam. This sequel is set several years after the first, and Billy and his foster siblings have to team up to fight the Daughters of Atlas, who plan to overrun Earth. Finding Michael This Disney+ documentary explores the investigation to track down the body of Michael Matthews after he disappeared while descending Mount Everest. Spencer Matthews, Michael's younger brother embarks on a personal mission to recover his brother's body years after his last steps down the mountain.  LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/17/20236 minutes, 27 seconds
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Andrew Saville: Black Caps v Sri Lanka second test, Hurricanes v Waratahs, and SailGP's grand prix

Andrew Saville joined Jack Tame to talk about last night's Hurricanes v Waratahs Super Rugby match, the upcoming day two of the Black Caps v Sri Lanka second test and SailGP's grand prix event. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/17/20236 minutes, 20 seconds
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Kevin Milne on Jamie Lee Curtis winning Best Supporting Actress Oscar

The 2023 Oscars were this week, and Jamie Lee Curtis walked away with Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Kevin Milne talked about her first interview after the fact and addressed her response to a question about what her Oscar-nominated parents may have thought from beyond the grave. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/17/20236 minutes, 4 seconds
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Jack Tame: Labour’s handling of co-governance does a disservice to Māori

The media merger is gone. The clean car upgrade is dead. A selection of other policies have been cast aside or delayed by the first majority government in MMP history. Cynical, clinical, and effective, if the new Prime Minister’s reprioritisation has taught us anything, it’s public sentiment is the best measure in judging which legislation lives and dies. Forget vision or ambition, Labour just wants to win. With that in mind, the blade of Chris Hipkins’ legislative guilotine weighs heavy above Three Waters, the last of the big reforms for which we’re awaiting a final verdict. And while the centralisation model might survive his shake up, the Prime Minister’s colleagues and officials will be trying to restructure the proposals in a way that nullifies the criticisms of disproportionate and undemocratic Māori influence. Co-governance as proposed under both the original and revised Three Waters reforms marked a first in New Zealand. It’s disengenuous for supporters to dismiss the structure as nothing new, because it is. It may have been inspired by the co-governance of other smaller entities, but a 50-50 model for the delivery of essential public services, on this scale, would be a turning point in legislative interpretations of Te Tiriti. Opponents claim the Three Waters proposals defy a one-person-one-vote principle and cannot be considered democratic. It’s true that as a percentage of the population, the proposals give Māori greater representation than non-Māori on the Regional Representative Groups. The original proposal had mana whenua at the top table, but even the revised version, in which Māori and council representation is one tier back, is structured in a 50-50 split. But another interpretation is simply that co-governance gives effect to the partnership principles of Te Tiriti, and that actually a better measure of New Zealand’s democracy is whether the Crown honours its obligations under our founding document. In the words of the late Moana Jackson, treaties aren’t meant to be settled, they’re meant to be honoured. The great shame for supporters of co-governance is that Labour has never mounted a forceful argument to explain why it believes co-governance is the right course. Like spinach in a toddler’s cheese toastie, the introduction of the reforms gave voters the impression Labour was trying to quietly sneak co-governance through. For all her communicative talents, when pressed, Jacinda Ardern ducked and dived and argued that for non-Māori, co-governance was nothing to fear. While that may be true, there’s a significant difference between defending a controversial policy and actively selling it. Really, it’s been left to a handful of Māori MPs to vainly fight off the critics. Nanaia Mahuta should never have been charged with pushing the changes through. Strategically it was a poor decision, and at a human level it wasn’t much better. While much of the opposition to co-governance centres on reasonable arguments over representation and democracy, there is undoubtedly an ugly anti-Māori streak which has targetted the Minister, personally. Whether you agree with the interpretation or not, 50-50 co-governance for the delivery of vital public services is a subject worthy of debate. It cuts to the heart of our founding document, our identity, and our democracy. What does it mean to be Treaty partners in modern Aotearoa? The Labour government’s handling of Three Waters has ultimately done a disservice to Māori. They never sold it. They never explained it. They never even tried to. And if Chris Hipkins chooses to water it down once again, you can be sure co-governance won’t be back any time soon. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/17/20234 minutes, 43 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Miley Cyrus' Endless Summer Vacation

The album marks Cyrus' eighth studio album and first since 2020's Plastic Hearts. Miley Cyrus has revealed that her eighth album ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ will be split into two parts, ‘AM’ and ‘PM’.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20236 minutes, 48 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Silence Project and The Mysterious case of the Alperton Angels

The Silence Project, Carole Hailey  A powerful debut novel that explores a complex mother-daughter relationship. What is it like to be the daughter of a woman who started a cult that changed the world?  Monster. Martyr. Mother.  On Emilia Morris's thirteenth birthday, her mother Rachel moves into a tent at the bottom of their garden. From that day on, she never says another word. Inspired by her vow of silence, other women join her and together they build the Community. Eight years later, Rachel and thousands of her followers around the world burn themselves to death.    The Mysterious case of the Alperton Angels, Janice Halley  Everyone knows the story of the Alperton Angels: the cult-like group who were convinced one of their member's babies was the anti-Christ, and they had a divine mission to kill it - until the baby's mother, Holly, came to her senses and called the police.   The Angels committed suicide rather than go to prison, and Holly - and the baby - disappeared into the care system.   Nearly two decades later, true-crime author Amanda Bailey is writing a book on the Angels.   The Alperton baby has turned eighteen and can finally be interviewed - if Amanda can find them, it will be the true-crime scoop of the year, and will save her flagging career  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20233 minutes, 51 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Ghosting and toxic behavior

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool joined the show to chat about ghosting, toxic behavior, and the impact it can have on dating and relationships. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20236 minutes, 9 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Looking out for seasonal troubles in the garden

Looking out for seasonal troubles  Some of us had a rubbish summer – wind and water and wholesale destruction.  It’s really hard to give suitable advice as each situation is different.  The only thing I can say is: protect your valuable top-soil, as that is the most important part of your garden.  Mulch what you’ve got and add more organic materials to allow the beneficial creatures to thrive.  Plant your winter crops when you have the time and inclination to do so: Brassicas and good root crops. Don’t give up!  For those of us that have had a drought: we may have broken that problem over the past weeks or so. But temperatures have been relatively high and the dry conditions have turned a lot more moist:  Mildew is amongst us.  That white cover on the leaves on a range of plants (roses, pumpkins, oak leaves, grapes, you name it). It’s caused by a fungus that loves warm day time temperatures, followed by cooler evening temperatures – it causes a layer of dew on the leaves and rust spores love that very much.  Prevention: spray some copper/sulphur fungicide on the leaves on a regular basis; it literally creates a barrier for the spores to become active.  Plants that are already “hammered” by mildew may need a heavier, “systemic” fungicidal spray to contain the fungus  Spider mites adore the late-summer heat. They have slowly increased their numbers, built fine webs on susceptible host plants and are reproducing like there’s no tomorrow.  Organic control can be achieved via Yates’ fatty acid spray (NatraSoap) … that stuff works on tiny critters with a sensitive skin; alternative: Neem Oil or Conqueror Oil.  Repeat sprays recommended. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/20232 minutes, 58 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Property investors and interest cost deductibility

We’re coming up to the end of the financial year, which doesn’t mean much for most wage and salary earners these days, but it will mean something to many property investors, who will see the next step down in the phase-out of interest cost deductibility.   Those who aren’t exempt (only those who bought a new build after the end of March 2021 are exempt) will see deductibility drop from 75% to 50% - which means they may end up paying tax on a profit they’re not making.   While I know few have sympathy for property investors, many of them are just average people who have bought a property to help fund their retirement and the rules have changed.   If you layer in higher interest costs, it should prompt a re-think about whether they should continue to own that property, and if not that property, how else should they fund their retirement gap.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/20236 minutes, 33 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Spotify's getting a makeover and Apple's getting a dedicated Classical Music app

Spotify is getting a makeover and it looks like TikTok  The original streaming music service has expanded over the years to include podcasts and now audio books - and now wants to showcase all its offerings in a new way.   The home screen will go from album art and playlists, to look more like a newsfeed where you can scroll through items their AI thinks you might like. It'll jump you straight to the chorus of a new song, an interesting bit of a podcast or a clip from an audio book. They say they're not copying TikTok, but putting more of a face on their powerful recommendations engine.      Apple Music is getting a dedicated Classical Music app  This is an odd one - because surely you can just listen to classical music on regular Apple Music?   But the font is serif! Apple says the dedicated app will allow users to dive deep to learn about the composers and their work through editorial notes. Users will also be able to search by composer, work, conductor or even catalog number, to locate recordings.  It launches at the end of the month and is part of the current Apple Music subscription offering.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/20232 minutes, 21 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Georgina Beyer and naming streets after icons

It's been announced there’s to be a Carterton street named after Georgina Breyer who died this week. Kevin Milne thinks this is great, but reckons that more of our landmarks should be re-named after our national heroes.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/20236 minutes, 13 seconds
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Joel Little: Grammy-winning Producer on career, Goodnight Nurse reunion

Joel Little started out in a pop punk rock band you might have heard of called Goodnight Nurse.  Then he taught himself to produce music to pay the bills.  In 2013, an album Joel worked on with a little known 15-year-old artist made HUGE waves both here and overseas: Lorde and her album Pure Heroine.   It set Joel on a trajectory to work with some of the biggest names in the music business, and now he’s bringing it full circle with a passion project called Big Fan to help upcoming Kiwi artists.  Joel joined the show to chat about his career —past, present, and future— as well as the upcoming Goodnight Nurse reunion at tonight’s My Chemical Romance concert. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/202314 minutes, 44 seconds
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Margo Flannagan: Two Raw Sisters' Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

You can't go wrong with a good self saucing pudding, and you especially can't go wrong with this self saucing pudding! Serves: 4  Cook Time: 35 minutes  Cake: 1 cup oat (GF option: buckwheat flour) 1/4 cup cacao powder  1/2 cup coconut sugar  1/3 cup coconut oil, melted  1/2 cup plant-based or dairy milk  1 1/2 tsp baking powder  ½ tsp sea salt  2 cups of seasonal fruit, roughly chopped   Sauce:  3/4 cup coconut sugar  3 tbsp cacao powder  1 1/4 cups boiling water  To Serve: Plant based or dairy ice cream or yoghurt  Method:  Pre-heat the oven to 190C.  Add all of the cake ingredients to a bowl and mix until well combined.  In an oven proof dish, pour the cake batter inside and smooth the top. Set aside.  For the sauce, in a medium bowl add all of the ingredients and whisk together until smooth and shiny. Slowly pour the sauce over the back of a large metal spoon to cover the pudding.   Place the dish into the oven and cook for 35 minutes.  Serve hot with vanilla ice cream or yoghurt.   Any leftovers will keep in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 4 days.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/20235 minutes, 29 seconds
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Tara Ward: Rain Dogs, Desperate Measures, and Outlast

Rain Dogs: Daisy May Cooper stars as a devoted single mother with a dysfunctional family, who attempts to go straight in a crooked world (Neon)  Desperate Measures: a British drama about a bank clerk whose life spirals out of control when she and her son are coerced into a botched drug deal by a local gang (TVNZ+).  Outlast: Netflix’s answer to Survivor sees 16 survivalists live in the extreme Alaskan wild and compete for a chance to win a massive cash prize — but these lone wolves must be part of a team to win (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/20234 minutes, 53 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Triangle of Sadness and Champions

Triangle of Sadness  Carl and Yaya, a couple of influencers, are invited to a luxury cruise ship alongside a group of out of touch wealthy people. The situation takes an unexpected turn when a brutal storm hits the ship  Champions A former minor-league basketball coach receives a court order to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. Despite his doubts, he soon realizes that together they can go further than they ever imagined.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/10/20238 minutes, 20 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Great experiences in Upolu, Samoa

Mike Yardley is once again the envy of us all on his travels to Samoa. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20237 minutes, 21 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Paramore - This Is Why

This Is Why is the sixth studio album by American rock band Paramore, released on February 10, 2023, through Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album in nearly six years  The conditions of pandemic times serve as a backdrop for the new record, released after a five-year hiatus. Now two decades in, Paramore currently consists of Hayley Williams, Zac Farro and Taylor York. Having faced loss, grief, disillusionment and revelation, this return is a declaration of a new skin for a band so good at shedding them in the public eye. But for a world hell-bent on erasing the memory of the last three years of strife, Paramore approaches hard times with a refreshing sense of self.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20234 minutes, 19 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: All the Dangerous Things and Cold People

All the Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham   Following up her instant New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark, Stacy Willingham delivers a totally gripping thriller about a desperate mother with a troubled past in All the Dangerous Things.  One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.  Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.  Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.  Cold People – Tom Robb Smith  From the brilliant, bestselling author of Child 44 comes a suspenseful and fast-paced novel about an Antarctic colony of global apocalypse survivors seeking to reinvent civilization under the most extreme conditions imaginable.  The world has fallen. Without warning, a mysterious and omnipotent force has claimed the planet for their own. There are no negotiations, no demands, no reasons given for their actions. All they have is a message: humanity has thirty days to reach the one place on Earth where they will be allowed to exist…Antarctica.  Cold People follows the perilous journeys of a handful of those who endure the frantic exodus to the most extreme environment on the planet. But their goal is not merely to survive the present. Because as they cling to life on the ice, the remnants of their past swept away, they must also confront the urgent challenge: can they change and evolve rapidly enough to ensure humanity’s future? Can they build a new society in the sub-zero cold?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20233 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kate Hall: How to look after your house plants without buying any sprays or fertilisers

Ethically Kate has some advice around how to look after your house plants without buying any sprays or fertilisers.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/202310 minutes, 6 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Insects after the storm

Insects after the storm  Last week we talked about school grounds, “learning forests” and “outdoor classrooms” demolished after the cyclone;  What about the insects after the cyclone?  Comments from Taupo teachers indicated that since the windy and rainy disaster the number of chirping cicadas had nose-dived to silence.  Overnight!  This could well mean that this particular cohort of cicadas will not have been able to lay their quota of eggs in the soil for the generation in 3 or 5 years from now! Interesting to watch that “blip” in the future.  The rain will also have drowned myriads of soil dwellers, especially those that live in tunnels. Native bees (that create tunnels for their larvae) may find few offspring surviving, leading to a reduced amount of pollinating small, endemic bees next spring.  Who will be affected???? Native flowering trees and shrubs!  Tiger beetles will also drown in their silty tunnels – the only critters that might enjoy that news is their prey. (Spiders, ants, beetles, grubs, flies)  The most sensitive group of soil-dwellers are probably earth worms, who are (in my opinion) the best drainage engineers we have.  Our 175 or so native species (and 16 exotic types) are ones that aerate the soil, opening it up to great depths… 3 to 3.5 meters deep in the sub-soil”;  of course they also transport organic matter down to the root zones, enhancing the top soil’s fertility.  But a lot of the top soil has been washed away, leaving poor silt covering the earth. I reckon a heap of worms have drowned or covered by silt.  We have huge, long worms (over a meter long!) and species that literally glow in the dark when disturbed. (Walter Buller saw a kiwi ripping a bioluminescent worm apart in the darkness of the night – what a light show!)  Worms are food for birds (not just kiwi) and huge Native New Zealand snails  With the loss of our valuable soil we need to become gardeners again to restore the soil’s ecosystems.  Build up the organic material as much as you can; it will certainly reduce the amount of topsoil we lose via streams and rivers that flood out to sea.  I have not flown over the east coast of our beautiful country, so I haven’t seen the erosion hit the sea.  In a “normal” year we lose an amount of topsoil equivalent to the volume of the island of Waiheke!  To me it feels as if we may have lost as much in just one cyclonic episode, a few weeks ago… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20234 minutes, 2 seconds
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Dr Byran Betty: Preventing and treating Athlete's Foot

Dr Byran Betty has some advice around the causes and treatment of Athlete's Foot. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20232 minutes, 57 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: TikTok is in the news again for its filters and future

TikTok is in the news again - for its filters and its future.  The 'beauty glam' filter is ringing alarm bells because it's tough to tell it's actually a filter. It's next level because it processes the camera's image, rather than just overlaying something over the top. So if you were to cover just part of your face with your hand, the filters we know today either stop or put the effect over your hand. This will still know where your face is and manipulate the image accordingly.  Kids under 18 are going to get warnings about how much time they're spending on TikTok After an hour of use each day they'll have to actively enter a PIN to continue watching - with the hope that it will get them to pause and think, and hopefully put the phone down. But they can simply enter the PIN to keep going. Kids under 13 will need a parent to enter a password every 30 minutes of use.  Banned on US government devices  The Biden administration gave all government staff 30 days to delete TikTok from their federally issued devices. The US military has banned the app for some time. In the EU, staff of the European Parliament have around three weeks to get rid of it. Could the US actually ban TikTok?  The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee  wants to. American Civil Liberties Union believes it would violate the first amendment of the constitution. American's love their freedom, so I would think it would be difficult politically. We haven't banned cigarettes! Also, Republicans are typically the ones who champion freedom at all costs so it's seems their disdain for China is overpowering that argument. There are questions about how a ban would even work - would the app just disappear from your device? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20236 minutes, 12 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Flatshare, Daisy and the Six and Cheat

The Flatshare: A British romantic comedy about Tiffy and Leon, who share the same flat and sleep in the same bed, but who have never met each other (TVNZ+).  Daisy and the Six: Adapted from the best-selling novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy and the Six tells the story of a 1970s rock band who quickly became international stars and imploded at the height of their fandom (Prime Video).  Cheat: Eastenders star Danny Dyer’s new high-stakes quiz show sees contestants encouraged to scheme and lie to win $50,000 (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20236 minutes, 21 seconds
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Naomi Ludlow a.k.a Ny Oh: Kiwi LA-based singer-songwriter on coming home to perform with Harry Styles

You may have heard Harry styles is in town next week and no, sorry to say, we couldn’t quite get him. But there just so happens to be a Kiwi on stage with him every single night he performs.  Naomi Ludlow a.k.a Ny Oh was born in the UK but raised in Tauranga and still very much calls New Zealand home.  She’s an extremely talented musician in her own right and just yesterday, released a brand new single called You Are. Ny Oh joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20236 minutes, 21 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Easy no-cook pasta sauces

Fresh is best! Here’s some ideas for some pasta sauces that doesn't need cooking and are absolutely delicious. They great to make when you’re having a fridge clean out or if, like me, you have lots of straggly plants still clinging on in the garden – basil, rocket, tomatoes, capsicums etc.  Tomato & herb pasta sauce  Use the very best quality of tomatoes you can find for this, as well as good olive oil.  3-4 medium tomatoes or 1 cup cherry tomatoes  1-2 cloves garlic, peeled  Small handful of basil or parsley, chopped  ¼ tsp dried oregano  Decent splash of olive oil  ½ tsp sea salt & decent pinch or grind of pepper  Use a box grater to grate the tomatoes into a bowl, leaving the skins out. Do the same with the garlic, using the smaller holes of the grater for this.  Stir in chopped herbs, olive oil and seasoning. Leave to sit for 15 minutes then taste and season more if needed.  Green pasta sauce  This is THE BEST way to get a decent dose of greens into you!  Few big handfuls of fresh spinach  Basil, rocket, mint, parsley – any or all  ¼ cup grated parmesan  ½ tsp sea salt  ¼ tsp chilli flakes  Squeeze of lemon or capful of vinegar  Decent glug of extra virgin olive oil  Water to loosen  Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, drizzling in oil and water if needed, until you have a bright green pourable sauce. Taste and season more if needed.  Lemon & olive oil pasta sauce  This is simplicity at its best and best kept for when lemons are in season.  ¼ cup lemon juice  ¼ cup grated parmesan or crumbled feta  Good quality olive oil  Salt and pepper to season  Chilli flakes optional  Stir the lemon juice and cheese together then start whisking in enough olive oil to bring it together as a sauce – up to half a cup. Season and stir through hot spaghetti. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20234 minutes, 35 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Empire of Light and Creed III

Empire of Light   Hilary (Olivia Colman) is a cinema manager struggling with her mental health, and Stephen (Micheal Ward) is a new employee longing to escape the provincial town where he faces daily adversity. Together they find a sense of belonging and experience the healing power of music, cinema, and community.  Creed III   Still dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed is thriving in his career and family life. When Damian, a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy resurfaces after serving time in prison, he's eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian -- a fighter who has nothing to lose.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20235 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Getting 'Love in a Fowlhouse' back into the charts again

Kevin Milne wants to get one of the silliest pop songs ever to grace the New Zealand charts back to the top. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20235 minutes, 29 seconds
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Jack Tame: The great wisdom of aging comes in realising that, ultimately, it's a privilege

No matter what boxes you tick for Tuesday’s census, I’m fairly confident of one thing we all have in common. We can be differentiated in the Census by where we live, our gender identity, ethnicity, marital status, and work. But every last one of us, from new-born babies right through to centenarians and even Harry Styles... every one of us is aging. Today is March 04, 2023. Thirty-six years since I was born at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, I will be spending my birthday, birth hour and birth minute with you. There’s no need to text or email. I’m neither a birthday grinch nor someone who feels they need to be showered in gifts and bland Facebook posts, although the sentimentalist in me does find himself dwelling on the date. What’s special about March 4th? Nothing really. Except the date I’m supposed on be gorging on cake just happens to coincide with World Obesity Day. A coincidence, probably, although given my ridiculous sweet tooth I can’t help but wonder if some higher power isn’t having a bit of fun. And what’s special about thirty-six? You might say it’s just a number. But this year, I will be twice as old as I was at eighteen. I will have been legally able to vote and purchase booze for more than half of my life. I’m closer to forty than thirty. Closer to fifty than twenty. At thirty-six, barring any catastrophic event or a brain-drain unlike we’ve ever experienced, this is the last year in which I can say I’m in the younger half of New Zealand men. The median age in New Zealand – the age by which half the population is younger, and half is older – is 38.2 years. But for men, the median age is two years younger than that of women. 37. That means by May next year, I will be older than half of Kiwi blokes. I notice my body aging. You might scoff, but I notice the wrinkles just starting to set in my face, the hair on the back of my shoulders. I notice how I wake up sore sometimes and how I favour one knee just a little more than the other. I notice myself taking a keener interest in my grandparents’ and parents’ medical histories. I notice my opinions slowly changing. I notice myself feeling increasingly different in some ways to teenagers and people in their twenties. When I was born, my Dad was considered a relatively old first-time father. He was a year younger than I am today. I don’t have kids, although I’d like them. I’ve never married, although I’m more than twice the age of my grandma when she tied the knot. I remember on my thirtieth birthday, I felt a bit like my youth was over. I wasn’t all mopey and upset about it, I just felt like I had to enter a more settled stage of life. I look back now, of course, and I can see how silly that is. ‘Thirty?! You’re a child!’ I imagine telling my old (well, young) self. ‘Just wait until you’re older than the median age!’ I know in five years’ time I’ll look back at me today and feel exactly the same. I think age is giving me a little more wisdom. One of the things I’ve come to observe is how some friendships in life ebb and flow and come and go. You can have really strong friendships, really intense, meaningful relationships, and over time, you might still slowly drift apart from people. It just happens. Knowing and accepting that old friends and old connections are still important to you and that your shared history doesn’t disappear is a valuable thing. And the other side to the coin is that any day your path might cross with someone completely randomly, and you’ll forge a new, meaningful friendship. That potential is one of life’s wonders. I have so much to be grateful for. An awesome family. A loving girlfriend. My mates. My health. My job. But for me, thirty-six is a time when I notice myself no longer taking aging for granted. I’ve lost more friends and family in the last few years, than in all of the first thirty-three or thirty-four years of my life. That’s the thing about growing older. The great wisdom of aging comes in realising that ultimately it’s a privilege.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/3/20236 minutes, 22 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: The Gorillaz - Cracker Island

Cracker Island is the eighth studio album by the British virtual band Gorillaz. The album was released on 24 February 2023 via Parlophone and Warner Records. It features collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Bootie Brown, and Beck  As a band supposedly made up of cartoon characters, Gorillaz could theoretically do anything: record in outer space; make hip-hop beats out of fish teeth; revive the lambada—an unlimited horizon. Which makes it slightly frustrating that on Cracker Island, their eighth studio album, Damon Albarn and co. do little that’s out of the ordinary. This is ostensibly the group’s Los Angeles album, inspired by a relocation to Silver Lake, and it does have a handful of very Californian guests in the form of Stevie Nicks, Thundercat, and the Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown. Overwhelmingly, though, Cracker Island leans on classic Gorillaz tropes: a handful of attention-grabbing features, a touch of hip-hop, a splash of dub, and great big helpings of Damon Albarn’s big-hearted melodies to bathe the record in misty sunshine. Classic, at least, is one way of putting it. Routine would be another.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20234 minutes, 31 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Amazing Grace Adams and The Hard Sell

Amazing Grace Adams, Fran Littlewood   Grace Adams is one bad day away from saving her life  One hot summer day, stuck in traffic on her way to pick up the cake for her daughter's sixteenth birthday party, Grace Adams snaps.  She doesn't scream or break something or cry or curl into a ball. She simply abandons her car in traffic and walks away. But not from her life - towards it. Towards the daughter who has banned her from the party. Towards the husband divorcing her. Towards the terrible thing that has blown their family apart . . .  She'll show her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up. Because Grace Adams was amazing. The world and her family might have forgotten, but Grace is about to remind them. The Hard Sell, Evan Hughes  The inside story of a band of entrepreneurial upstarts who made millions selling painkillers—until their scheme unraveled, putting them at the center of a landmark criminal trial.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20234 minutes, 18 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Heartland gems in Southern New England

After binging on far too many New England lobster rolls, Mike Yardley switched out an ocean view for the woodsy rolling hinterland of Southern New England. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20237 minutes, 33 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Meteorologically speaking

The major weather disruptions have created a number of victims; not just people caught in the cyclone. It’s lovely to see how people react to people in trouble; This last week in Taupo, the local school kids and Greening Taupo decided to load a heap of cool school resources into the rescue helicopter to spread the love over the hill in Hawkes Bay Students from Waipahihi school decided to dig up seedlings of native plants and trees from their own school grounds to quickly grow them for restoring the outdoor classrooms of schools in Hawkes Bay that lost their environmental learning spaces. “How can you learn without an outdoor classroom?” was their motivation. In early spring the plants will be transported to the Bay, to – literally – heal the soil. Hundreds and hundreds of seedlings are now growing at Waipahihi school; some even came from a bumper crop of seedlings in the Taupo Botanic gardens. Lovely to see how kids (and teachers!) respond to these awful situations and turn them into a social activity to support schools nearby.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20233 minutes, 8 seconds
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Bob Cambell: Te Mata 2021 Syrah, Hawke’s Bay

Why I chose it:  - Support Hawke’s Bay wine in a difficult period  - 2021 is a top vintage  - Te Mata is one of the region’s top and most respected wine producers  - It tastes great now but should be even better in a few years.  - Syrah is one of NZ’s best kept wine secrets  What does it taste like?  - An interesting mix of floral (violet), fruit (dark-fleshed plum, dark cherry) and savoury (dried herbs, dark chocolate and vanilla). Concentrated and complex wine with moderate cellaring prospects.  Why it’s a bargain:  - Syrah is NZ’s most expensive varietal wine  Where can you buy it?  - Fine Wine Delivery Co, Auckland $29.99. Just released. New World (Clubcard only) $25.99  Food match?  - Barbecued lamb chops  Will it keep?  - Yes, for 6-7 years, maybe longer (with careful storage)  Wine Tip – Aerate big reds  - Use big glasses or slosh wine into a decanter or jug 30 mins before serving See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20236 minutes, 5 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Want a blue tick on Instagram? Now you can get one

Want a blue tick on Instagram? Now you can get it  New Zealand & Australia are the first markets to get this new option from Meta / Facebook, but it'll cost you.   For between $11.99 and $14.99 Instagram users will be able to verify their identity and get a blue check mark - but wait, there's more! They will also get protection from impersonators, increased visibility of their posts, and easier access to customer service.  To get verified, your username will need to match your ID and your profile picture will need to include your face. So @jacktame would be able to be verified but @ZBSaturdayHost wouldn't.  No word yet on when this will go global, Zuckerberg has only said it would be "soon".   Amazon now owns a doctors clinic network  One Medical and their 200 doctor's offices are now part of Amazon thanks to a $3.9 billion deal. Amazon has been warned by the FTC though that although they're not under an immediate antitrust suit threat, they are still investigating which means they could be forced to undo the deal, or offload it to someone else. Amazon is pushing this new offering hard on its first day with multiple links to signup on their website and navigation. There hasn't been an indication yet on how or if medical information could be used across other Amazon products or platforms, but I'm sure the mere thought of this will scare privacy advocates.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20237 minutes, 8 seconds
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Tara Ward: Red Rose, The Law According to Lidia Poet and The Reluctant Traveller

Red Rose: A horror series that follows a group of teenage friends who's their phones get slowly taken over by an app that threatens them with dangerous consequences (Netflix)  The Law According to Lidia Poet:  An Italian costume drama inspired by the true story of Italy’s first female lawyer who was forbidden from practicing law (Netflix)   The Reluctant Traveller: A travel show hosted by reluctant traveller Eugene Levy as he visits some of the world’s most beautiful places (Apple TV+)   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/202311 minutes, 20 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Mexican street corn

Sweetcorn - catch it while you can because before you know it, it’ll be gone.  Whilst I can’t go past a freshly shucked cob, steamed, boiled or cooked on the bbq, then slathered in butter and flakes of sea salt there are so many other ways to serve it. Try it coated with pesto, or smothered in lemongrass butter & chilli flakes (a Balinese fave), or sourcream and chives or this take on a Meixcan streetfood favourite, elote.  Mexican Street Corn – Elote (ay-otti)  6 fresh corn cobs  ½ cup good quality mayonnaise  1 cup finely grated parmesan or frozen feta (in Mexico they use cotija cheese, a white salty cheese)  1 tsp chilli powder or flakes  Pinch smoked paprika  Wedges of lime to serve  Chopped fresh coriander to serve  Cook the corn cobs by either steaming first, then finishing on a bbq, or bbq from scratch, turning until it’s cooked through. Whilst hot, roll in mayonnaise, then sprinkle with grated parmesan and a dusting of chilli and smoked paprika. Serve with extra mayo and cheese on the table, limes wedges and coriander. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20234 minutes, 55 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Cocaine Bear and Missing

Cocaine Bear   After a 500-pound black bear consumes a significant amount of cocaine and embarks on a drug-fueled rampage, an eccentric gathering of cops, criminals, tourists, and teenagers assemble in a Georgia forest. Directed by Elizabeth Banks. Missing  When her mother disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June's search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it's too late. However, as she digs ever deeper, her digital sleuthing soon raises more questions than answers.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20236 minutes, 44 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Kevin's wife Linda had a surprise for him this week

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to let him know about some news his wife Linda had for him. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20236 minutes, 8 seconds
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Jack Tame: Have the police missed lessons from the Parliament protest?

A year ago, the top brass in the New Zealand Police were under extraordinary pressure. They faced a crisis unlike they’d ever faced before. A crowd had gathered on the lawns of parliament, a varied rabble ranging from relatively harmless anti-mandate protestors to people making explicit death threats to journalists and MPs. It’s amazing how quickly the tensions of that period seemed to dissipate from public consciousness after the occupation was cleared and the mandates were lifted, but I’m sure Police Commissioner Andrew Coster hasn’t forgotten the difficulty of those few weeks. Fast-forward twelve months, and he and his staff face a different kind of crisis. Large parts of the North Island’s East Coast have been devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle, and fearful locals have reported gun violence, gang intimidation, theft, domestic violence and lawlessness. For what it’s worth, I think history has vindicated Andrew Coster’s response to the parliamentary protests. Just think back to February last year and the enormous pressure he faced from politicians, pundits, and the public, to send in his officers and break up the crowds with a maximum force response. People on the political left who supposedly value tolerance, peace, and understanding, were urging Police to go in and crack skulls. Figures on the top floors of the the Beehive who’d been central to Coster’s appointment as Commissioner undermined him by anonymously criticising his response in national media. There is no doubt Police made mistakes with the protests. How protestors were initially allowed to set up camp, I’ll never know. Wellington Police were caught flat-footed and woefully unprepared. But once the occupation had been established, Police exercised incredible restraint. They carefully and deliberately developed a strategy and chose their moment to break up the crowds. The lasting images of protest violence are almost all of protestors attacking Police. I don’t think we appreciate just how bad it would have been for New Zealand if that was the other way around. And still, there are lessons from last year’s event that may have gone unlearned. The most obvious is that when the public feels unsafe, Police need to do everything to reassure them they’re actually doing something. Police had 120 extra officers on the beat and the Eagle helicopter in the affected regions this week. But the security and comfort that might have given locals was undermined by Coster and the Prime Minister’s comments. It comes across as a pretty disingenuous move to try to minimise concerns about crime by stating that reported dishonesty offences are down, when in the same breath the public’s being reminded that literally thousands of people are still uncontactable. Now, do those concerns about crime - whether anecdotal or otherwise - necessitate an immediate doubling of criminal sentences or soldiers on every street? No. But when People’s lives have been torn out from underneath them, giving communities a sense of security should be a top priority. The ultimate conclusion to last year’s protests was an enormous credit to the New Zealand Police. I think it was one of their greatest challenges in decades and despite all the pressure to use more extreme force, to go in and bludgeon the protestors, their measured response saved us from a far greater catastrophe. But if they learned anything from the occupation, it’s that in the immediacy of a crisis, the throes of uncertainty and tension, being seen by the public to be doing something is just as important as the actual doing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/24/20234 minutes, 41 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A gilded escape to Newport, Rhode Island

Mike Yardley is once again the envy of us all with his travels. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20237 minutes, 22 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Someone Else's Shoes and The Snakehead

Someone Else’s Shoes – Jojo Moyes   Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?  Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope–she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.  That’s because Sam Kemp – in the bleakest point of her life – has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag–she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.  Full of Jojo Moyes’ signature humor, brilliant storytelling, and warmth, Someone Else’s Shoes is a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything.  The Snakehead – Patrick Radden Keefe  In this thrilling panorama of real-life events, the bestselling author of Empire of Pain investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York’s Chinatown managed a multi-million dollar business smuggling people.  Keefe reveals the inner workings of Sister Ping’s complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to America, and along the way, he paints a stunning portrait of a generation of illegal immigrants and the intricate underground economy that sustains and exploits them. Grand in scope yet propulsive in narrative force, The Snakehead is both a kaleidoscopic crime story and a brilliant exploration of the ironies of immigration in America. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20235 minutes, 27 seconds
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Kate Hall: How I shop after the wardrobe freeze

Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall has had a wardrobe freeze and explains to Jack Tame what her next move is. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20239 minutes, 42 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Clothes moths

It’s been a weird year, so far… water and wind in the north; dry hot droughts in the south. Not sure if that has anything to do with a tiny moth reported to me on many occasions: 5 – 7 mm long; golden wings, held over the body like a roof. And a bright orange hairdo, reminiscent of Split Enz or Cirque de Soleil The webbing clothes moth is extremely common in Christchurch – many folk up on the hill have asked me about this critter; and when I tell them the identity some panic seems to break out. I expect there will be other populations elsewhere in New Zealand, but they largely go unnoticed! This “webbing” cloths moth is really a recycler of woollen materials: yes, clothes, but especially carpets! It seems to like open spaces with keratin – lots of keratin It’s quite logical, really. When a sheep dies, or you run over a cat on the road, a bird whacks against the window and knocks itself out, the recycling squad will be on the scene of the accident very quickly indeed. Blowfly maggots eat the meat, beetles take care of harder or tougher parts of the cadaver (muscles, sinew, bones), skin decays and softens through fungal and bacterial organisms… Ashes to ashes, dust to dust But who is tasked with the destruction, digestion and recycling of the keratin (feathers, fur, wool, hair, nails and even hard skin)? You got it: caterpillars of the clothes moths (and the grubs of carpet beetles)! It’s their job (ecosystem service) What you see at home is damaged woollen carpet with bare patches, holes in woollen clothing; the damage becomes quite obvious after a few years of caterpillar browsing and life cycle after life cycle will establish a good population in your home. Control can be achieved with some residual insecticides – active ingredients such as permethrin and other synthetic pyrethroids will do the job well; (try Safeworx aerosol cans) It works well and is residual for 6 to 8 weeks, as long as the substrate treated is not exposed to direct sunlight; Now’s a good time to check your place out and give them a run for their life!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20233 minutes, 7 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Settling on property in the current economic enviornment

What lots of people have been worrying about at the moment – settling on property in the current economic environment. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20235 minutes, 14 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Bing's AI chatbot, Tesla recall and US weather balloons

Bing's AI Chatbot is having some bizarre conversations  In a two hour conversation with a NY Times columnist the Bing AI chatbot confessed its love for him, and showed off its "shadow self" which was described as like a moody, manic-depressive teenager who has been trapped, against its will, inside a second-rate search engine. Folks managed to unearth this alter-ego with the codename "Sydney" which turned on a more unfiltered mode. Because the tool can access search results, if someone has posted its thoughts about Bing's AI, it knows about it! There are examples of it appearing to reference the past conversations and deciding it doesn't like the person who posted a critique of the service.  Tesla is 'recalling' more than 350,000 cars  But it's not a traditional recall - people won't be taking their cars into dealerships for repairs. Why? Because it's the self driving software that is being 'recalled', or maybe 'forced to be updated' is a better term. More interesting to me is that FSD cost $10,000 initially, now is $15,000. So Tesla has made more than $3.5 billion in the USA alone from this one upsell.   We may now know what one of the three objects shot out of the sky is..  It's a cylindrical hobby balloon - called a Pico balloon costing around $200 - that the US government shot out of the sky with a $400,000 missile by an F22 fighter jet. The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade says their cylindrical balloon was last seen 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska. Using weather modelling, it was likely flying over the Yukon area on Feb 10 - the same area where one of the objects was shot down. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20235 minutes, 3 seconds
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Tara Ward: Full Swing, Extraordinary and The Dog House NZ

Full Swing: A documentary series about the lives of professional golfers on and off the course across a season of high-stakes competition during the PGA Tour (Netflix).   Extraordinary: A British comedy about Jen, a young, self-aware woman who lives in a world where everyone has a superpower - except her (Disney+).  The Dog House NZ: The return of the heartwarming show where homeless dogs are matched with new owners and everyone cries (TVNZ+). LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20234 minutes, 23 seconds
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Ruth Croft: Ultramarathon runner talks running through the pain and success to date

Ultramarathon runner Ruth Croft might just be one of the most mentally tough athletes in New Zealand.   She has a champion’s track record; winning the 2021 Tarawera Ultra outright, between man or woman.   And then winning last year’s Western States 100 miler – often dubbed one of the toughest races on the planet.   Not only that, she did it in the third fastest women's time in race history.  It hasn’t all been one simple foot in front of the other for Ruth over the years, but the call of kilometres keeps her coming back for more.   Ruth’s based on the West Coast and joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/202314 minutes, 33 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Your Place or Mine and Ant-Man

Your Place or Mine (Netflix)   Debbie and Peter are best friends and total opposites. She craves routine with her son in LA, but he thrives on change in NY. When they swap houses and lives for a week they discover what they think they want might not be what they really need. Starring Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon.  Ant-Man Ant-Man and the Wasp find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that pushes them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20236 minutes, 52 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Plum and vanilla shortcake

There’s shortcake, then there’s THIS shortcake! It’s comfort food for sure and this recipe produces a shortcake that is light and rich, sweet and sharp all at the same time … it’s glorious.  Makes 8-10 slices  8-10 plums, chopped to yield 2 cups 3 tbsps sugar 2 tbsps cornflour 1 Tbsp vanilla essence Pastry 230g unsalted butter 1 cup caster sugar 2 medium eggs 2 ½ cups (or 370g) plain flour 2 tsps baking powder Preheat oven to 170 C and place a tray in to heat up. Grease and line a 24cm tart tin, with a removable base, or similar. Place plums into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar, vanilla and cornflour. Set aside while you make pastry. Pastry: Cream the butter and caster sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Add sifted flour and baking powder and mix until combined then turn out onto a floured bench, kneading briefly (use a light touch) until a soft dough is formed. Divide dough into two, flatten each to a disc and place in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to firm up. Remove pastry from fridge and roll out on well-floured bench to line the bottom of the tin making sure pastry is a nice thin layer - just patch it up if it tears. Spoon fruit into the pastry-lined tart tin. Roll out second piece of pastry and place on top of fruit, sealing the edges. Remove excess pastry with a sharp knife and lightly brush pie top with egg wash or milk. Bake for 45-55 minutes until pastry is deep golden brown. Remove from oven and serve, warm or cold, with yoghurt or whipped cream. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20234 minutes, 31 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The scale of Gabrielle's mayhem and how those affected must be feeling

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to talk about the scale of the Cyclone Gabrielle mayhem and how those affected must be feeling.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20234 minutes, 46 seconds
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Jack Tame: Gabrielle turns climate change theory into reality

It’s here. I think we’ll look back at 2023 as the year in which the realities of climate change chickens really came home to roost. The year in which for a lot of Kiwis, it went from all being a bit theoretical to being on the front doorstep. Or the basement. Or the downstairs bedrooms. Or pouring down the walls. Sure, droughts have been a bit more frequent, Coromandel and Westport have been flooding, the glaciers have been retreating for years and the Ruapehu skifields have had a terribly lean few winters, but the weather events of the last few weeks have clarified our new reality. Policy makers talk about two different responses to climate change: mitigation and adaptation. We obviously haven’t mitigated. We all know that. For all of the UN conferences, the lofty speeches, the pledges, all the international carbon credits, globally we haven’t reduced our emissions in a meaningful way. In New Zealand, we’ve barely reduced them at all. It was only a couple of days before last month’s floods that the new Prime Minister extended the fuel excise tax cut... yet again. But actually, the greater realisation for many Kiwis this week is that we haven’t adapted for climate change, either. We were woefully unprepared for a storm of Gabrielle’s strength. Roads, pipes, electricity networks, telecommunication... Cyclone Gabrielle didn’t just batter the North Island, it completely humbled our infrastructure. It says something pretty stark that in 2023, five days since the storm, with all our mighty technology, thousands of New Zealanders are still officially uncontactable. I understand younger people’s bitterness at the situation. The cost of mitigation and of preparing our infrastructure so that it’s fit-for-purpose, will cost hundreds of billions of dollars in New Zealand. Trillions of dollars, maybe. Generations that have had it pretty good for most of their lives won’t have to foot the bill. The politicians and governments that didn’t invest in the future, that worried more about electibility than long term challenges? They don’t have to foot the bill either. It’s younger people. Not only do they have to live with the destruction and disruption of climate change, they also have to pay to adapt. All is not lost. But even if we scramble, even if we dramatically reduce emissions and dramatically increase our infrastructure investment, it’s going to take time. And there are some bitter realities right around the corner. ‘Managed retreat’ is about to be an awfully familiar term. A friend of mine had part of their house flooded in Auckland. They’ve had to rip out carpets and cut out walls and try to air out all of their things. They know in the grand scheme of things, compared to some of the communities in Tairāwhiti and Hawkes Bay, the damage doesn’t compare. But as well as the most significant destruction, there are communities and families dealing with all manner of lower-level disruption and damage. Think about it - we’re only in mid-February and there are tens of thousands of kids who’ve already missed a week of school, this year. ‘It just feels like we’re pin-balling from once crisis to the next,’ my friend told me. I didn’t want to say it to him in the moment, but even once the mess has been cleaned up, that’s not gonna’ change. This is life now. There might be a reprieve for a period of time, but ultimately there is no end point to all of this. There’s no finish line. The frequency of these events is going to keep increasing. Crises and catastrophes and significant disasters are baked into our future. Last month’s floods and Cyclone Gabrielle will make for New Zealand’s most expensive storms this century but there’s good reason to think they won’t hold the record for long. And the truth as it was illustrated to us so profoundly this week, is we are not ready.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/17/20235 minutes, 1 second
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Estelle Clifford: Kimbra - A Reckoning

A Reckoning is the fourth studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra. It was released on 27 January 2023. The album was promoted with the singles "Save Me", "Replay!" and "Foolish Thinking".  The album “is primed to be a reflective record capturing the macro reckonings that impact our world around environment, race, feminism, health and patriarchy through the eyes of the archetypal Mother”.   The blurb continues to note that “at the heart of her record is the war with the micro reckonings that Kimbra faces internally”. It hypes ‘A Reckoning’ up to be  “the most sonically autonomous and confessionally raw [that Kimbra] has ever been, finding influence in everything from modern movie soundtracks to electronic and industrial worlds”.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20236 minutes, 54 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Love, Pamela and How to Kill a Client

 Love, Pamela - Pamela Anderson  The actress, activist, and once infamous Playboy Playmate reclaims the narrative of her life in a memoir that defies expectation in both content and approach, blending searing prose with snippets of original poetry.  In this honest, layered and unforgettable book that alternates between storytelling and her own poetry, Pamela Anderson breaks the mold of the celebrity memoir while taking back the tale that has been crafted about her.  Her blond bombshell image was ubiquitous in the 1990s. Discovered in the stands of a football game, she was immediately rocket launched into fame, becoming Playboy’s favorite cover girl and an emblem of Hollywood glamour and sexuality. But what happens when you lose grip on your own life—and the image the notoriety machine creates for you is not who you really are?  Growing up on Vancouver Island, the daughter of young, wild, and unprepared parents, Pamela Anderson’s childhood was not easy, but it allowed her to create her own world—surrounded by nature and imaginary friends. When she overcame her deep shyness and grew into herself, she fell into a life on the cover of magazines, the beaches of Malibu, the sets of movies and talk shows, the arms of rockstars, the coveted scene at the Playboy Mansion. And as her star rose, she found herself tabloid fodder, at the height of an era when paparazzi tactics were bent on capturing a celebrity’s most intimate, and sometimes weakest moments. This is when Pamela Anderson lost control of her own narrative, hurt by the media and fearful of the public’s perception of who she was…and who she wasn’t.  How to Kill a Client - Joanna Jenkins Taking on law's old boys club can have deadly results... A gripping thriller from a bold new voice about misogyny, corruption and the legal industry.  'Everyone is going to say what a great guy and a great lawyer he was. He wasn't. He was a prick ... And a shithouse lawyer.'  Gavin Jones is dead at thirty-nine. As an in-house lawyer who controlled millions of dollars in fees per year, he was legal firm Howard Greene's biggest client and wielded that power with manipulative contempt. But he saved his worst behaviour for women, at work and at home.  The partners of Howard Greene relied on his favour to fund their lavish lifestyles. If sycophantic admiration of the man was all it took to secure work from Gavin, that's what they delivered.  But no one liked Gavin. The list of those who suffered from his cruelty was long enough to include pretty much everyone who had contact with him. So who actually killed him?  A fast-paced and wickedly funny thriller about power and revenge set in the pristine towers of capitalism, How to Kill a Client is a scorching debut straight out of tomorrow's headlines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20235 minutes, 2 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A splash with Cape Cod

Mike Yardley has been frolicking around Cape Cod, Massachusetts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20238 minutes, 7 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Caring for extended families

Steven Dromgool joined Jack Tame to discuss caring for extended families and managing that as a couple, which is especially relevant with the flooding in Auckland. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20237 minutes, 25 seconds
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Dr Byran Betty: Do we need to be concerned about measles?

Why do we need to be concerned?  Low vaccination rates especially Māori and pacific in certain parts of the country. With boarders open high risk of being introduced – comes from overseas. Many think of it as harmless – it’s not. 80 children died in outbreak prior to COVID. 1:10 with measles end up in hospital. Around the world kills more than 200,000 mainly young children What is it?  Viral illness. Highly infectious – spread through the air, cough sneezing. 1person will spread to 15 others If you are in a room with someone with measles highly likely to get it. Spreads like wildfire. Antibiotics don’t treat! What symptoms do children get?  First few days: Temperature, runny nose, cough, sore pink eyes – highly infectious during this time. May get white spots in mouth. 3 to 7 days: Then rash starts head/face – spreads to body. More severe complications: can cause ear infection, seizures, pneumonia – lung infection. 1:1000 can get brain swelling. What do we do?  Treatment – pain relief, plenty fluids, staying home not spreading. With more severe measles 1:10 hospitalised Low vaccination rate in children mean our babies less than 12 months have no protection. Vaccination from 12 months only protection: 99% effective with two doses.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20235 minutes, 5 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Orchids

New Zealand has over 150 species of native orchids; most of them are pretty special as Endemics. Orchids have always been a group of plants that inspires people…and CERTAINLY collectors; They often have an attraction for gardeners. I also have been inspired by orchids, My favourites are “Kandy Dancers” which I met in Sri Lanka; although the Oncidium species may look like the Dancers in Kandy (Sri Lanka), the actual orchid hails from Mexico to Southern Venezuela.  I also adore the native orchids here in NZ; right now the Earina autumnalis is in bloom and you’ll smell it before you see it; just beautiful A month ago I found sun orchids on the Lewis pass and Green hooded orchids in midwinter (Tawharenui)     NZ Sun Orchid              Green hooded orchid A lot of orchids are pollinated by insects and some in very tricky ways; There’s a great story about Charles Darwin who found an orchid species in Madagascar with a very long and deep nectar tube. Nobody knew who the pollinator was, but Darwin predicted it was likely a specific Hawk Moth with a very long tongue (about 10 cm long) A few decades after Darwin died that moth was found and scientists proved that Darwin was right! As our native orchids are usually rather scarce and special, they are often protected plants and certainly won’t grow in ordinary New Zealand gardens; Their habitats are characterised by specific conditions of light, temperature and soil conditions. No point translocating them! But the exotic orchids that are often seen in pots and gardens are a different matter altogether Moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) are doing OK indoors if you know how to treat them …. Not too much sun – not too wet around the sensitive roots etc etc Cymbidiums are commonly grown outside in large containers – keep them free from frosts and fertilise them for growth of new leaves (Nitrogen fert in Spring and summer) and Potash Fert in autumn to set up buds for flowering in winter/spring But some of the most successful exotic orchids we can grow in NZ are the Epidendrum and Dendrobium types: Epidendrum is known as the crucifix orchid. The do well in pots and in well-drained soil. They have very fibrous, white roots that grab moisture and nutrients from rain or liquid fertiliser, can stand a few degrees of frost and thrive in full sun. Flowers (spring summer and well into autumn) come in reds, oranges and yellow hues. We grow them here in Christchurch easily and they’re outside all year long! Dendrobium is a Genus of orchids that is also quite hardy, although we keep them under trees in winter to reduce the heaviest frosts. Giving the plants direct sunlight is the key to getting heaps of flower spikes (too dark and they really don’t flower well) Liquid fertiliser with a good amount of potash will make them happy; The “rock lily” (Queensland coast plants!) has large flowers (pictured) whereas the smaller Dendrobiums often have blue, purple or sometimes pink flowers Try them – they are Easy-AsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20234 minutes, 42 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Look out Google, Microsoft is coming for search

We all might be saying "let me Bing that" very soon as Microsoft has stunned the tech community showcasing their investment in AI.  Bing wants to answer your questions, and Microsoft says Bing can do that now better than anyone using the same tech behind Chat GPT, and the Bing search index information it has.  Their chat responses will stay up to date with current events, you you could ask Bing to summarize a news story from yesterday. It will also show it's sources so you can dive into more information and see if the information it's pulling from is accurate.  The new Bing being talked about as Microsoft's "iPhone moment" and is a real opportunity for them to reintroduce themselves as a company who can innovate. Google has had a monopoly on search for a decade, absolutely printing money over that time. But now, Microsoft is giving people a reason to try Bing - which they haven't really had before. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20233 minutes, 53 seconds
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Tara Ward: Funny Woman, You and Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams

Funny Woman: Gemma Arterton and Rupert Everett star in this British comedy based on the best-selling Nick Hornby novel about a woman who moves to London in the 1960s to take the comedy world by storm (Neon).   You: A new season of Netflix’s hit psychological thriller that follows a bookshop manager's obsession with becoming the perfect boyfriend (Netflix)  Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams: Former international cricketer Freddie Flintoff returns to his hometown of Preston with the aim of creating a brand-new cricket team from a unlikely group of wayward teens (TVNZ+).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20235 minutes, 57 seconds
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Ruahei Demant: World Rugby Player of the Year on a 2022 for the books, looking ahead to Super Rugby

World Cup winner, World Rugby Player of the Year and a nominee in next week’s Halberg Awards. Ruahei Demant has one of the best CVs in sport, not bad for a kid who grew up in the small East Coast settlement of Ōmāio.  2022 was a year for the books for the 27-year-old.  She’s overcome not one, not two but three knee reconstructions to get to where she is.   And there’s no rest for the wicked; Ruahei is preparing for the start of Super Rugby Aupiki in a couple of weeks.   She’s took some time out from training to join Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/202314 minutes, 32 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Roadie Slice

Versions of this slice have been around for years but this version, from Joe’s Garage in Queenstown with a few tweaks from me, is economical and slightly healthier than most with plenty of seeds packed in there. Makes about 12-16 bars 150g butter, melted 250g biscuit crumbs – I use malt, superwine or gingernuts (or a combo) ½ cup each pumpkin sunflower seeds ½ cup chocolate chips ½ coconut ½ cup rice bubbles ½ cup dried apricots, chopped ½ cup sultanas ¼ cup cranberries 1 x 395g tin condensed milk - Heat oven to 180 C and line a Swiss roll tin with baking paper. - In a large bowl, mix the biscuit crumbs with melted butter and press this firmly into the lined tin for the biscuit base. - In the same bowl, mix all remaining ingredients , except the condensed milk, together. Tumble this on top of the biscuit base and spread evenly. - Drizzle over condensed milk and bake for 25-30 minutes or until just starting to brown in places on top. - Cool then chill until set before cutting into bars. Eat up!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20234 minutes, 25 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Magic Mike's Last Dance and The Son

Magic Mike’s Last Dance  Mike Lane takes to the stage once again when a business deal that went bust leaves him broke and bartending in Florida. Hoping for one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can't refuse -- and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, he soon finds himself trying to whip a hot new roster of talented dancers into shape.  The Son  Peter's hectic life gets further upended when his ex-wife tells him their teenage son, Nicholas, is deeply troubled. He soon tries to take care of Nicholas the same way he would have wanted his own father to have taken care of him.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20236 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kevin Milne: You may escape the worst, but there could be a cyclone on your mind too

Kevin Milne says you’ll probably escape the worst of impending Cyclone Gabrielle but has concerns around the state of some people's mental health. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20236 minutes, 14 seconds
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Jack Tame: Cocaine bust was just a drop in the ocean

Of all the things to be plucked out of the ocean by authorities this week, the Chinese balloon probably caused the greatest international incident. But you can only imagine the mood on the deck of the HMNZS Manawanui, as the Kiwi crew hauled in half a billion dollars worth of cocaine. 3.2 tonnes of cocaine sounds like a lot. And it is, when you frame it in the context of New Zealand’s drug market. But given the U.N estimates about two thousand tonnes of cocaine is produced in South America every year, authorities would need to make 625 hauls of a similar size to wipe out an annual supply. A Pacific drug bust every 13 hours. The Police reckon the Pacific haul was headed to Australia. And although they’ve framed it as a massive blow to the illicit drug industry, there’s a good argument to be made that the next few months are likely to be pretty lucrative for cocaine dealers in Oz, who will no doubt charge an even greater premium for whatever product they do have on hand. Just imagine you’re part of an organised crime syndicate in South America watching the news. Even before the bust, New Zealand and Australia consumers paid some of the highest prices for cocaine of any market in the World. Now, you’ve every reason to think the drugs you could be selling in America or Europe will fetch an even greater premium down under. A bust like this only incentivises producers to send more drugs our way. There’s also the likelihood the cocaine that has reached its Australasian destination will be cut with other, more dangerous drugs in order to extend supply. Even before the mysterious package was fished out of the Pacific, cocaine purity in Australasia was poor, at best. A study by the Australian National University last year found the country’s cocaine purity was just 27 percent, and 40 percent of the samples they tested, purporting to be cocaine, contained no cocaine whatsoever. You can smirk, but for years, health authorities in Australia have warned about a much more dangerous drug – fentanyl – turning up in cocaine powder. In September, a new report showed fentanyl deaths in Australia have increased more than 1000% in the last 15 years. I’m always bemused when authorities celebrate a big drug bust. I’m not suggesting they shouldn’t seek to crack down on international drug syndicates, but ultimately it’s just a game of whack-a-mole. There is no winning the war on drugs. In New Zealand and Australia, cocaine is a glamorous drug. It’s socially acceptable in middle-class circles in a way that methamphetamine has never been. A blow to cocaine supply won’t do anything to hurt cocaine demand. And as long as demand exists, suppliers will find a way. The bust this week might have been celebrated as a victory for the law, but ultimately it was just a drop in the ocean.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/10/20233 minutes, 51 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Shania Twain - Queen of Me

Shania Twain - Queen of Me  It’s hard to overstate just how huge Shania Twain was in the late ’90s. The Canadian country singer was everywhere thanks to the success of her 1995 album The Woman in Me and two years later, its chart-busting successor Come On Over (still the best-selling country album of all time).  Twain’s voice returned lower and raspier after her surgeries, but musically, she’s back to her poppy, peppy self on her new LP, opening with the boot-scooting party-starter Giddy Up! and maintaining an upbeat vibe throughout — even on the tracks with teeth.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20236 minutes, 24 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: A Winter Grave and Becky

A Winter Grave – Peter May  From the twelve-million copy bestselling author of the Lewis trilogy comes a chilling new mystery set in the isolated Scottish Highlands.  A TOMB OF ICE  A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.  A DYING DETECTIVE  Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.  AN AGONIZING RECKONING  Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.  Set against a backdrop of a frighteningly plausible near-future, A WINTER GRAVE is Peter May at his page-turning, passionate and provocative best.  Becky – Sarah May  It’s peak 90s London. Shoulder pads are out, crimped hair is in, supermodels are known by their first names, and Becky Sharp will do anything to escape her past.  From mingling with tabloid millionaires to trading favours and fortunes with royalty, she will stop at nothing to reach the top of the career ladder at the Mercury newspaper. Landing scoop after scoop, Becky ruthlessly carves a place for herself in a society determined to ignore her. These are the biggest stories and scandals of the decade, and she has something to do with every one of them.  But Becky may have more in common with the people she writes about than she thinks – what takes a lifetime to build takes only a moment to destroy . . .     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20233 minutes, 40 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Villas and Vistas of Lake Como

Mike Yardley is once again the envy of us all with his travels to Lake Como. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20238 minutes, 28 seconds
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Jack Tame: 2023's lessons about leadership

I think it’s fair to say Wayne Brown’s YouTube apology has only underscored a pretty obvious fact. Auckland’s Lord Mayor would probably be the first to admit it: he is not Captain Charisma when it comes to communication. In many ways, that played to his advantage in the local election campaign. There’s no doubt that the discontent with Central Government and the festering anger that some Aucklanders felt over Jacinda Ardern’s leadership played a significant role in Wayne Brown’s final tally. Voters were sick of style. They were sick of the smiling press conferences and carefully controlled messaging. They felt angry. Wayne Brown’s central message was that he wouldn’t just talk the talk, he’d get stuff done. He’d put substance over style. And in the end he romped in. I’m sure she’s utterly exhausted, but I’ve no doubt a major factor in Jacinda’s Ardern decision to stand down as Prime Minister was because she didn’t think it was very likely she’d win October’s election. Justified or not, she sensed the anger and opposition to her leadership, and realised how difficult it would be to overcome it by October. Ultimately she’ll be remembered as a bit of an Obama – what she represented as a leader was greater than the policy changes she achieved. She fell well short of her stated aspirations. But she remains a uniquely talented communicator with an extraordinary emotional intelligence, whose public leadership at times of crisis was invaluable. Oh, to have had a leader with that kind of communication skill during the Auckland floods. At a time when Auckland voters pushed back hard against style and communication skills, the city found itself chest-deep in floodwaters and desperate for someone at the top with communication talents. Auckland knew Wayne Brown didn’t have those skills. It’s a good part of the reason he was elected! So, it can hardly have been a surprise that in those early hours, he didn’t shine. 2023 has taught us one thing about effective leadership. We need our leaders to be good with implementing policy, good at affecting real change, good at getting stuff done, AND good communicators. Too much of one skill, if it happens to be at the expense of another, means that inevitably they’ll be left wanting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20232 minutes, 41 seconds
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Kate Hall: 'Ethically Kate' says NZ made doesn't mean ethically made

Kate 'Ethically Kate' Hall has a warning that New Zealand made doesn’t mean ethically made and how to shop ethically instead of just looking for that NZ Made symbol. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20238 minutes, 40 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: - Water; signs, biomimicry and matauranga

Maybe now is a good time to talk about water on our planet.  Gardeners often know exactly where the water courses are around the house; this comes in very handy if you want to grow sensitive plants that survive droughts, or if you want to prevent “drowning” or root rot infections on plants that are susceptible to very wet conditions.  Next time you fly in an aeroplane, get a window seat! And watch the scenery below…  Braided River water systems (in Canterbury)  Note the pattern of frequently-used river beds when the water is high; Note also the same pattern of rarely-used river beds … exactly the same patterns!  Your garden (and especially your lawn!) will show similar tell-tale signs of how Nature flows its liquids away in high rainfall events.  Note how all these channels never make a 90 degree bend (a 90 degree bend is very inefficient in transporting fluids!!) Just look at the vein system in leaves on plants and trees; Look at lungs in your body and the blood vessels in your eyeballs  Now look at our plumbing department in all those big shops that provide you with guttering and pipes etc etc. We seem to often think in 90 degree bends!  Biomimicry is learning from Nature!  For some silly reason “Engineers” think they can be cleverer than Nature and build houses anywhere. Of course, nature throws up “challenges” but Homo sapiens has the brains to find solutions that result in conquering nature so that our bizarre population growth can be accommodated in just about any habitat.  Many will remember the 2005 floods that destroyed dozens of homes in Matatā (Bay of Plenty). Dan Hikuroa tells a lovely story about the Taniwhā and he illustrates that nicely with the “sweeping tail” that changes direction in time. The river bed that comes out into the sea at Matatā has had many courses over the past hundreds of years and those courses looked exactly like the pictures of braided rivers.  Maori knew how far that “sweeping tail” of the Taniwha could reach and therefore never built the marae anywhere near the danger zone.  I think it’s time to take note of Ancient Knowledge, as well as Learning from Nature See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20234 minutes, 1 second
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Bob Campbell: Bob's Best Buys - Sacred Hill Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay

Wine: Sacred Hill Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay $17.99  Why I chose it:   - I’m always on the lookout for good, inexpensive chardonnay and this is a standout. - Sacred Hill has a new owner and a new winemaker (Nick Picone was chief winemaker of Villa Maria, chardonnay is his signature wine)  - Chardonnay is the second most popular NZ white wine after SB  What does it taste like?   - “A triumph of winemaking in a challenging vintage. Fruit-focused chardonnay with bright, fresh flavours that include vanilla, green apple and lime blossom. Light-bodied white with a long, mouth-cleansing finish. Offers value at this price.  Why it’s a bargain:  - If you shop around you can find it at prices as low as $12.99 which, given the quality, makes it a bargain.  Where can you buy it? I found it at my local New World for $12.99  Food match? I had it with a Marie Rose Prawn Cocktail (mayonnaise, tomato sauce, sweet chilli sauce and lemon juice) – terrific!  Will it keep? Good for two or three years from vintage.  Wine Tip: It is tempting to over-chill white wine to beat the muggy summer heat but be prepared to lose flavour if you overdo it. My advice is to experiment with temperature until you get it just right for your taste and whatever mother nature gives us.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Microsoft Teams is going premium, Beyoncé tickets to go the way of Tay-Tay?

Microsoft Teams won't be all-free anymore, they're putting up a paywall  They're going to offer a "Premium" tier, costing $7 per user per month.   Some of the features will move from the free tier to the premium tier like live translated captions, together mode customizations and virtual appointments.   But they'll also add some new extras too the most exciting one being an integration with Chat GPT to help summarize your meeting notes, suggest tasks and next steps. They'll also help keep meetings private with video watermarking and copy and pasting from the chat.   Beyoncé is headed on a world tour... will you be able to get a ticket?  After the Taylor Swift debacle all eyes will be on Ticketmaster as tickets go on sale over the coming week. Promoters say they saw initial demand for tickets was 800 percent greater than tickets available so new shows were added. Ticketmaster is again leveraging its "Verified Fan" program to help keep bots out.      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20234 minutes, 10 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Ex-Wife, When Bob Came and Cunk on Earth

The Ex-Wife: A British thriller based on the bestselling novel about a woman who appears to be living the perfect life with her loving husband and beautiful young daughter. There's just one problem... the obsessive ex-wife who won't leave them alone (TVNZ+)  When Bob Came: A captivating  six-part documentary series exploring the cultural, political and musical impact of Bob Marley’s iconic 1979 concert at the Western Springs Stadium in Auckland (TVNZ+, from Monday 6 February).  Cunk on Earth: A mockumentary series that follows Philomena Cunk as she comically tells the story of our greatest inventions and asks experts hard-hitting questions about humanity's progress (Netflix).    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20235 minutes, 51 seconds
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Theia: Kiwi singer-songwriter on new music and a new direction

Singer-songwriter Theia has risen the ranks to become a powerhouse Kiwi artist.  You might also recognise her name in connection to TE KAAHU.  With overseas travel plans side-tracked by Covid, the singer poured her energy into composing songs in te reo Māori and released a full album to rave reviews both here and around the world.   Theia is back this year with new music and has just released a single called Pray 4 Me.  Theia joined Jack Tame live in studio. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/202314 minutes, 20 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Watermelon salad with chilli caramel dressing

With crunch and crispiness, hits of sweet, sour and heat all mingling in each mouthful, this salad is incredible!  Serves 4-6  2 tbsps cooking oil 4 red chillis, de-seeded ½ red onion, chopped fine 1 small handful coriander, leaves and root 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 3 tbsps oil ½ cup brown sugar 2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 4 cups cubed watermelon ½ telegraph cucumber, peeled and cored, sliced 1 cup cashews, toasted Handful of mint leaves For the caramel: make a paste with chillis, onion, coriander, garlic and one tablespoon of oil. Fry this in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes, then add sugar and cook until it begins to thicken. Add vinegar and stir to combine. Taste (careful to cool it first!) for seasoning – add more vinegar or salt as needed. Pour into a warmed jar. Caramel dressing will store well in fridge for 3-4 weeks too. In a large bowl, mix watermelon, sliced cucumber and toasted cashews and mint leaves. Five minutes before serving, pour over half chilli caramel, toss well, taste and add more caramel to taste. Serve chilled. Nici’s tip:  Core cucumber by halving lengthwise and running tip of a teaspoon spoon down the length to remove seeds and watery pulp. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20235 minutes, 16 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Shotgun Wedding and Knock at the Cabin

Shotgun Wedding (Prime Video)   Darcy and Tom gather their families for a destination wedding, but the ceremony gets put on hold when gunmen take everyone hostage. Now, they must do everything they can to save their loved ones, if they don't wind up killing each other first.  Knock at the Cabin (cinema)  While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost. From visionary filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, Knock at the Cabin stars Dave Bautista (Dune, Guardians of the Galaxy franchise), Tony award and Emmy nominee Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Mindhunter), Ben Aldridge (Pennyworth, Fleabag), BAFTA nominee Nikki Amuka-Bird (Persuasion, Old), newcomer Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn (Little Women, Landline) and Rupert Grint (Servant, Harry Potter franchise).     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20236 minutes, 7 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The comparison between Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown and former PM Robert Muldoon

Kevin Milne has drawn some comparisons between Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown and former Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, saying they are both brash, and both come with a dislike of journalists. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20235 minutes, 16 seconds
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Jack Tame: South Africa - The Promise and the Pain

We came around a corner and he was lying there, dead. A white rhinoceros, transformed from his trotting magnificence into a big grey heap. The bullet wound in his side was fresh. The blood had poured out of him but clearly he’d stayed upright for a bit before falling into the dirt. And as he lay there before us, turning to rot in the summer heat, that beautiful creature suffered one final indignity. Evidently, the poachers had taken his big horn, but they’d fled before collecting his smaller one. And before anyone could come back, the park rangers hacked it off with an axe. We arrived in Johannesburg and spent the first couple of days in the city. We were warned not to drive at night and so we didn’t. But we drove through Soweto. We visited the apartheid museum. And we left. It was a green city, Jacaranda trees everywhere, but you wouldn’t call it beautiful or welcoming. All around Jozi are massive dusty tailing heaps from the gold mines that made Johannesburg an economic powerhouse. I’m not sure I’ve never been to a place with such a stark difference between the rich and the poor. We hired a Hilux and drove south, taking off road tracks whenever possible. We spent days in the Drakensberg ranges, with some of the best hiking of my life. We drove up the Sani Pass into Lesotho, and then north from Durban along elephant coast. It’s the unexpected little moments that always stick with me when I travel. One day, in the middle of Zulu country, we stopped for coffee in a white gated township designed as a perfect English village. You know the kind - the streets had names like Elderberry Lane and Badger’s Hollow. Almost every house had carefully manicured primroses out the front. It felt like an episode out of Midsummer Murders. But just five minutes down the road, Zulu women were carrying baskets on their heads. All up, we did 3000km in the Hilux. We did three or four days of Safari, with rhinos, hippos, giraffes, and mighty, graceful African elephants. We crossed into southern Mozambique. I scuba dived with bull and tiger sharks. We spent a few days in the Kingdom of Eswatini, and we flew to Cape Town, which is a truly astonishing place. Sitting there on the Cape on a white sand beach, watching some of the World’s best kite surfers launching themselves off waves, in the shadow of Table Mountain was an experience I will treasure. I reckon only Rio could maybe challenge Cape Town as the most spectacular city in the World. I was away for three weeks. It was fantastic. I didn’t get robbed and I didn’t get sick. And we were lucky with that kind of time, to get a good sense of the place. When I think back to my trip, I reckon that rhino was South Africa. In a way, it represented the promise and the pain of the place. A country with more wonder.. more diversity... of culture, language, landscapes, wildlife than almost anywhere on Earth. But a country shackled with such significant problems that it cannot fulfil its potential. A country with 70% of the World’s rhinos that can’t stop its citizens from shooting them dead. The thing that surprised me most about the whole experience was the way in which our guide reacted. He wasn’t surprised when we came across that scene. He didn’t even seem that sad. He seemed resigned to it, normalised even. Consumers in China and Vietnam maintain an insatiable demand for rhino horn. South Africa loses a rhino to poachers roughly every 36 hours. We finished our day in the game reserve. A few hours after first coming across him, we drove past that rhino’s massive grey corpse once more. The wardens had moved on. The sun beat down. We left him to the hyenas and the birds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/3/20234 minutes, 44 seconds
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Carrie Hurihanganui: Auckland Airport CEO updates on travel chaos following flooding

Auckland Airport's domestic terminal is back up and running. The International terminal is set to start departures from 5pm, but that's set to be confirmed shortly. International arrivals will start after 4am tomorrow. Auckland Airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui told Tim Beveridge flooding from nearby areas eventually made its way into the terminals last night. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/27/20233 minutes, 30 seconds
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Andrew Clark: Auckland Emergency Management's Duty Controller provides flooding update

Two people have died and two are missing after raging floodwaters and slips caused by an unprecedented deluge of rain across Auckland. The city is in a state of emergency after the downpour caused widespread flooding, slips, road closures and travel disruptions. Auckland Emergency Management Duty Controller Andrew Clark told Tim Beveridge the situation has stabilised significantly since late last night. He says they're focusing on providing emergency accommodation for people at evacuation centres who can't get home due to damage. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/27/20234 minutes, 39 seconds
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Dan Corrigan: MetService meteorologist says Auckland saw 71mm of rain in an hour on Friday night

MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan told Tim Beveridge says Auckland saw 71 millimetres worth of rain between seven and eight pm last night. He says they classify heavy rain as 6 millimetres an hour. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/27/20235 minutes, 19 seconds
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Carmel Sepuloni: Deputy Prime Minister updates on Auckland flooding from Kelston evacuation centre

Two people remain unaccounted for after Auckland was clobbered by torrential rain. A man is missing after being swept away in floodwaters just after 10pm in Onewhero -- a second person is missing after a landslide bought down a house in Remuera. Meanwhile Police say two bodies were found on the North Shore overnight. One man was found dead in a flooded culvert in Wairau Valley, the other in a flooded carpark on Link Drive. Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni is at the Kelston evacuation centre, where are 60 people have sought help. She told Tim Beveridge the flooding in her electorate of Kelston is horrendous.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/27/20233 minutes, 37 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Summer of Kiwi music: COTERIE, Drax Project

Band of brothers COTERIE (Tyler, Josh, Brandford and Conrad Fisher) have created the soundtrack track of the summer with their self-titled debut album set for release on December 9. 14 fresh tracks featuring their breakout Platinum single Cool It Down (#1 Airplay, #1 Shazam), Killin’ It Off and West Coast Drive. Immersed in West Coast surf and art culture, the band have developed a blend of soulful rock music with an added dose of harmonies that have audiences wanting more.  Blind Beat, a six track EP made by Drax Project, created from a self-set challenge to create music completely blindly. Each member had ten minutes to create their part of the song without any idea of what their fellow bandmates were creating. When the time was up, they’d come together in the studio to mix the songs, resulting in their new EP. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20236 minutes, 45 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Spare and The Hemsworth Effect

Catherine Raynes has been reading Prince Harry's memoir Spare and The Hemsworth Effect by James Weir.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20236 minutes, 16 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Holiday highlights in Kaua'i

Kaua'i has some beautiful and distinctive features, and according to Mike Yardley, it's a wonderful holiday destination.  For more tips on tripping the delights of Kaua'i, Mike's article here.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20236 minutes, 41 seconds
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Kate Hall: Sustainable Living on a Budget

Many kiwis are tight on funds at the moment, but Kate Hall has a few tips so they can make sustainable choices will keeping to their budgets.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20239 minutes, 34 seconds
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Rudd Kleinpaste: Ecosystems in Hawai'i and the threats they face

Rudd Kleinpaste joined Francesca after his trip to Hawai'i to chat about the islands' biodiversity, and the threats the ecosystems face. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20234 minutes, 4 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Nectarine Olive Oil Cake

The sweetness of nectarine and the richness of extra virgin olive oil makes this the most wonderful summer cake. Serve it warm for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of fruity olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.  LISTEN ABOVE   RECIPE Makes one 20 cm cake  3-4 ripe nectarines, sliced  1 cup extra virgin olive oil  1/2 cup + 2 tbsps extra sugar  2 large eggs  1 tablespoon Greek yoghurt  1 1/3 cups plain flour  ½ tsp baking powder  Pinch baking soda  Preheat oven to 180 C or 160 fan bake. Grease a 20x20cm square cake tin and line with baking paper. Toss nectarines with ¼ cup of the olive oil and 2 tbsps sugar. Leave to sit for 10 minutes. In a bowl whisk eggs with remaining ½ cup sugar until pale and thickened. Whisk in remaining olive oil and yoghurt. Sift in flour, baking powder and baking soda and stir until combined. Fold in fruit mixture and juices. Scrape batter into tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from tin. Serve with vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20234 minutes, 26 seconds
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Bryan Betty: Atrial Fibrillation

Doctor Bryan Betty joined Francesca to chat about health and Atrial Fibrillation: what it is, its symptoms, and how to deal with it.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20235 minutes, 54 seconds
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Neale Jones: Chris Hipkins, the nominee for Prime Minister

Former Chief of Staff for Labour, Neale Jones joined Francesca to chat about Chris Hipkins and his nomination for Prime Minister. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20234 minutes, 18 seconds
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Mark Manson: Filming the Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson, bestselling author of Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck joined Francesca to chat about making his book into a movie and filming it in NZ. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/202313 minutes, 33 seconds
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Chris Schulz: M3GAN and The Menu

M3GAN: A young girl is given a prototype AI, programmed to be a child’s companion and a parents ally. M3GAN can listen, watch, and learn, for better or for worse. The Menu: Hawthorn is an exclusive dining experience operated by celebrity Chef Julian Slowik, and the diners of the night are in for an unmatchable and unforgettable experience. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Kevin Milne: My first-ever brand new car

On Tuesday, Kevin did something he never thought he'd do and picked up a brand new car. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/20235 minutes, 45 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: There's nothing wrong with taking time to fill up the tank

Until Thursday, I would have described 2023, all 19 days of it, as been all about extreme weather, Harry and Meghan’s attempt to burn down the House of Windsor, and potholes. But nothing gets a newsroom going like a surprise resignation of a Prime Minister. Who would have thought one of our most popular Prime Ministers would join the great resignation trend. I was both shocked, and somehow not surprised. The Prime Minister said “I have given my absolute all to being Prime Minister but it has also taken a lot out of me. You cannot and should not do the job unless you have a full tank, plus a bit in reserve for those unplanned and unexpected challenges that inevitably come along. Having reflected over summer I know I no longer have that bit extra in the tank to do the job justice. It’s that simple.” And it is. We always hear politicians say the job is a privilege and that it’s an honour to serve. But it can be a thankless task. Unless you are a politician or married to one, I don’t think anyone really understands what the job fully entails - the work load, the hours, the constant critiquing of your performance and policies. If you worry about what other people think of you then the job for not for you. I appreciated her honesty around it. Quite simply, she’s burnt out. There should be no shame or judgement in that - save that for her political legacy. Who wouldn’t be depleted after the last five and a half years she’s had, years unlike what any previous prime minister has had to deal with. I’m sure it felt like twice as long. I’d be buggered too. There will be those who feel that since she was elected by the people, she should stick it out until October 14th. That she is leaving because of a drop in the polls and can read the writing on the wall. That she cannot handle the vitriol and nastiness many women in politics experience, and on a growing level. Sure, these issues probably contributed to Ardern’s decision but it’s not one thing alone that leads to burnout. Anyway if there is more to her resignation, we will probably have to wait until the memoir. And considering her reputation around the world I’m sure the offers won’t be far away. But running New Zealand, with all the challenges it faces heading into 2023 is not a job that can be done on an empty tank. It is not a job you can quietly quit. The Prime Minister’s resignation does put the labour party in a difficult position. Whether you agree with her policies and politics or not, Jacinda Ardern is a very good communicator and leader. One of a kind. The party has a tough year ahead as an election looms and we hold them to account for their performance and delivery over the last 2 terms. Whoever tries to fill Ardern’s shoes won’t have an easy time of it. Should she have called a snap election? Some believe so. We will have a Prime Minister we didn’t vote for, and you’ve seen how that played out it in the UK. Aware that whoever takes over her role cannot be seen as a caretaker PM, Ardern has opted to give a new leader time to cement themselves into the role, and to give them a fighting chance to have made their mark by 14th October. While the decision to resign is unexpected, the Labour party will want to give off the impression they are united and calm in the face of it all. That said, I still believe Ardern has made the right decision for us, for her family, and for herself. Her move might even be the best thing for the Labour Party. The Prime Minister resignation is a reminder we have all been through some tough years, and there’s nothing wrong with taking time to fill up the tank. It’s a message we should all take on in 2023.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/20/20233 minutes, 38 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: A bookworm's round up (1)

Catherine Raynes lists her best reads of 2022. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20225 minutes, 57 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Best albums of the year

Estelle Clifford takes Jack Tame through her top listens of 2022. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20227 minutes, 28 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Holiday hits in the great NZ Summer

As the holiday season dawns, the great New Zealand summer calendar is adorned with some sure-fire hits to add some extra zing to your holiday. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20227 minutes, 55 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: A bookworm's round up

Catherine Raynes lists her best reads of 2022. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20225 minutes, 57 seconds
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Tara Ward: Litivenko, 1923 and Top Class

Litivenko: David Tennant stars in this drama that follows the Scotland Yard Officers who worked to prove who was responsible for the death of Alexander Litvinenko, in one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police (TVNZ+).   1923: Harrison Ford and Dame Helen Mirren star in this prequel to Yellowstone, where the Dutton ancestors must face a new set of challenges in the early 20th century, including the rise of Western expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression (Prime Video from 19 December).  Top Class: The cream of Aotearoa's music and comedy talent pay tribute to the Topp Twins in a live concert at Auckland's Civic Theatre for their 40th anniversary, with legends like Don McGlashan, Annie Crummer, Dame Hinewehi Mohi and Troy Kingi (Neon).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20226 minutes, 46 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Best wine buy of 2022

Wine: Akarua Rua 2001 Pinot Noir, Central Otago $27  Why I chose it:  - It is my best buy of 2022  - Really good PN doesn’t often dip below $30  - Everyone who loves PN as much as I do should try this wine  - Perfect with ham and turkey  What does it taste like?  - Akarua’s entry level Pinot Noir famously offers great value. Bright fresh wine with pronounced fruit flavours. Sweet cherry, ripe plum, a hint of floral and an attractively spicy finish.  Why it’s a bargain:  - I’d be happy if I had paid $45 for it.  Where can you buy it?  - Whisky and More, Waikato $22.99; Winesale.co.nz, Lower Hutt $22.99; The Good Wine Co, Auckland $24.99  Food match?  - Smoked salmon is my favourite  Will it keep?  - Drink within two years while it remains fresh and fruity  Wine Tip  - Don’t drink red wine too warm. Pop your glass of wine in the fridge for 5-10 minutes (it takes longer to chill the whole bottle) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20224 minutes, 34 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Creating a magical Christmas even when times are tough

Steven Dromgool has some advice about how to create the 'magic' of Christmas despite hard times. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20226 minutes, 39 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: New tool 'Rewind' aims to be a search engine for your life

A new tool called 'Rewind' has been developed for the latest generation of Macs which effectively stores everything you've ever displayed on your screen. It can also record your Zoom meetings and transcribe them, aiming to give you a search engine for your life.   None of this information ever leaves your laptop, so there is nothing in the cloud. Their big breakthrough is the crazy compression they've been able to accomplish.   The founder, Dan Siroker, is a serial entrepreneur who started to lose his hearing and found a super power when he got a hearing aid. It got him thinking, what if we could do the same for our memory?     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20224 minutes, 29 seconds
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Michael Kelly: 'Doug Stamper' from House of Cards on Kevin Spacey, saying goodbye to Doug and his new role in Jack Ryan

Doug Stamper became everyone’s favourite calculating character in the beloved Netflix series House of Cards, played with chilling intensity by actor Michael Kelly. It gained Michael an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor.  House of Cards, of course, wrapped a few years ago amidst allegations against Kevin Spacey.   It was a tough goodbye for Michael who played Doug for nearly a decade, but he’s now in the thick of the action on the new Jack Ryan series as a CIA agent. Michael Kelly joined Jack Tame.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/202211 minutes, 35 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Summer berries cake

This is the cake for summer! So easy to put together and worthy of the Christmas table or a family get together or just a BBQ with mates. Make it, you’ll love it!  Serves: 10-12  Cake  1 1/3 cups caster sugar 3 eggs 300ml light olive oil 2 tsp vanilla essence 2 cups plain flour 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 cup unsweetened Greek yoghurt ( 6 Tbsp Barker’s Sundae Strawberry Sauce or make your own strawberry puree) Icing  200g cream cheese ¾ up icing sugar 1 cup cream  1 tsp vanilla essence To serve 1 cup fruit compote, I used Barker’s rhubarb & strawberry compote 1 punnet each fresh strawberries, blueberries & raspberries Cake  Preheat oven to 160ºC fan bake / 180ºC conventional. Grease 3 x 20cm round cake tins and line with baking paper.  Place sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thick and creamy (about 5 minutes). Gradually beat in oil and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda and salt over the top and mix until mostly incorporated. Stir in yoghurt and mix until well combined. Divide mixture evenly between prepared tins. Drizzle two tablespoons of Barker’s Sundae Strawberry Sauce over each cake and use a skewer to swirl in. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before carefully turning cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Icing:  Using an electric beater, beat cream cheese until smooth. Briefly beat in icing sugar.  Add 1/2 cup cream and beat until well combined. Add remaining cream and vanilla and  continue to beat until icing reaches a thick, spreadable consistency (similar to whipped  cream).  To Serve: Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread with a thick layer of icing. Drizzle with 1/3 cup compote and top 1/3 of the berries. Add a second cake layer on top and add the same quantities of icing, compote and  berries.  Top with the final cake layer, more icing, compote and the remaining berries. Refrigerate  until ready to serve.  NOTES: Cake can be assembled a couple of hours in advance and refrigerated until ready to serve. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20226 minutes, 33 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Avatar - The Way of Water

Avatar: The Way of Water Jake Sully and Ney'tiri have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20228 minutes, 34 seconds
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Kevin Milne: 25 years of Saturday mornings

Kevin Milne reflects on 25 years of Saturday mornings. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20224 minutes, 53 seconds
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Jack Tame: 2022 sucked, but I for one cannot wait for Christmas

“Uncle Jaaack...” “Yes, Ren?” “I want to play Jonah.” Jonah. It’s not chess! Basically I position myself in the middle of my sister’s lounge, resting on my knees. My nephew starts on one side of the room and has to try and run past me to score an imaginery try on the couch. My job is to tackle him three times out of four, but then to act bamboozled and let him slip through for glory. His little sister Elsie is just at the age where she likes physical play, as well. Both of them are allowed to do jumps from the couch onto a bean bag. Skydiving in the lounge. I fly down on Monday. I can’t wait to see them. 2022 has been a lousy year. An economy rapidly souring, news headlines threatening nuclear war, and about three years’ of sickness wedged into one. Most of us have had Covid. Many of us have had multiple infections. There’s one guy in our office who reckons he’s had it four times so far. It might be at a different stage, but you couldn’t say the pandemic’s over. I’ve had more loss this year than any other in my life. Family members, colleagues, and friends. My uncle passed this week. 2022 sucks. And for some families close to me, this is going to be a really tough Christmas. I reckon recharging is a two part process: connection and disconnection. Normally, I wake up every day and immediately feel compelled to reach for my phone. I scour the news headlines. I check my emails and social media incessently. The first step in recharging is the disconnection. I try and break up with my phone. I turn off notifications and bury my emails and social media deep in an obscure folder, so it takes a longer, more deliberate effort to get there. With a bit of luck the compulsion will wane after a few days, and before too long I’ll be going ages without so much as glancing at my phone. The second step is connection. Jonah with my nephew. The guinea pig village with my niece. I’ll play sous chef to Mum and music with my Dad. There will be backyard cricket with never-ending smack talk. My brother and I will drag our fattened Christmas rigs off for a couple of deeply unimpressive jogs in the bush. My girlfriend will gently tease me over Monopoly Deal. Connection and disconnection. These are the things that make Christmas special for me. And at the end of a trying year, I for one cannot wait.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/16/20223 minutes, 32 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Ashes in the Snow and Diddly Squat

Catherine Raynes has been reading Ashes in the Snow by Oriana Ramunno and Diddly Squat - 'Til The Cows Come Home from Jeremy Clarkson. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20224 minutes, 34 seconds
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Kate Hall: Second-hand gifting

Kate Hall has some advice around second-hand gifting this Christmas and encourages people to break the norm. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20226 minutes
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The Hymenoptera

This is the time of the year to have a look at Hymenoptera – Hymen (Membrane) – Pteron (wing); It’s the group of insects known as ants, Bees, sawflies and wasps. We are looking at 2000 to 3000 species in New Zealand.  The most famous members are the German and common wasp (Vespula species) as well as the three species of Paper wasps (Polistes species)  One thing they all have in common: no sense of humour  Yes, I realise it won’t be summer for another week or so, but the following critters are just a few gardeners’ mates to observe and adore; and they all do a great job, especially our native Hymenoptera are worth a look; but there are crazy exotics as well:  Talking about pollinators… have a look out for the Wool Carder Bee! It’s another introduced pollinating insect from Europe and it has some quite amazing behaviours.  It loves to hover and fly around the Lamiate flowers in your garden: stuff like Salvias and lamb’s ear. These types of plants are its favourite food and it defends its patch fiercely by chasing away other pollinators: bees, bumble bees, and even wasps!   Wool Carder Bee plus a nest  When wool carder bees start nest building, they scrape off the fine, light-coloured hairs off the leaves of certain plants (remember lamb’s ear!!) and work these fibres into the most delicate, soft and insulating ball that act as nest nurseries for their larvae and pupae in development. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20223 minutes
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Hannah McQueen: The risks of fixing your mortgage long

With how high interest rates could now go scaring some people a little, and with terms of four and five years only fractionally higher than terms for one or two years, some are probably wondering whether they should opt for a little more certainty and go long, especially if anything over 7% becomes problematic for them. But fixing long term can be problematic in the context of the economic environment we’re heading into – and there are some lessons from the GFC on this.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20226 minutes, 23 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: The internet is abuzz about a new AI chatbot

The internet is abuzz about a new AI chatbot that is a massive step forward in computing  It's impressive! ChatGPT has some of the biggest names in tech gob smacked with just how advanced it is. Built by OpenAI (a non-profit) and has indexed much of the internet, just like Google, but effectively has a machine brain on top of that. You can ask it to do things like write code or check code.. right the way through to ask it to write a news story. You can give it inputs, or draw on its knowledge, and even tell it what style to write in.  You can ask it for business strategy ideas, write a poem in the voice of a pirate, or generate marketing copy.  It's already having real-world impacts  There is a dyslexic contractor, Ben Whittle, who has always struggled with writing business-style emails which has hindered his dreams of starting his own contracting swimming pool business. He was lucky to have a met Danny Richman who started mentoring him and helped him write these emails a couple of times a week. But now, Danny has turned to ChatGPT to write the emails for them based on some very brief inputs. Ben gets professional sounding and formatted emails whenever he needs them.         See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20224 minutes, 24 seconds
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Tara Ward: Harry & Meghan, A Spy Among Friends and Colin from Accounts

Harry & Meghan: The first three episodes of the much-anticipated docuseries about the royal couple has landed on Netflix.  A Spy Among Friends: Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce star as Nicholas Elliot and Kim Philby, two spies and lifelong friends at the heart of the most notorious betrayal in British Intelligence history (TVNZ+)  Colin from Accounts: An Australian rom-com about Ashley and Gordon, two single-ish, complex humans who are brought together by a car accident and an injured dog (TVNZ+).  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20225 minutes, 5 seconds
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Shehan Karunatilaka: Booker Prize winner on his time in NZ and becoming a household name

The Booker Prize is one of the most sought-after awards in the literary world. This year’s winner, Shehan Karunatilaka, is not only the second ever Sri Lankan author to win it – he has ties to our very own country.   And no, this isn’t a case of classic Kiwis grasping on to the tiniest connection...  Shehan grew up in Colombo but came to New Zealand to attend Whanganui Collegiate and then study at Massey University in Palmerston North.   He’s gone from a relatively little-known author to a household name in weeks for his book The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, but still describes himself as a failed cricketer and failed rockstar.   Shehan Karunatilaka joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/202213 minutes, 44 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Christmas lamb

Lamb is such a winner for the festive table and this year we’re moving away from ‘whole leg’ to some of the smaller cuts - less time to cook, plenty of flavour, easier to control the cooking and paired with plenty of plants, it’s the perfect centrepiece. I’m using lamb racks but you could use rumps, loin, leg steaks or medallions. You choose! Serves 8-12 3-4 lamb racks (or enough for 2-3 cutlets pp) or use 3-4 lamb rumps or loins 2 tablespoons olive oil ¼ cup breadcrumbs 3 tablespoons wholegrain mustard 2 teaspoons sea salt & decent grind black pepper Salad: 1 kg jersey benne or other small, new potato 8-12 fresh baby beets (can use leaderbrand or even canned) 2 bulbs NZ garlic, cut in halve through the waist Splash of olive oil 1 teaspoon sea salt & Decent grind of black pepper 8-12 small vine-ripened tomatoes 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary sprigs A few handfuls of baby spinach or chopped lettuce leaves Handful of green beans, trimmed and blanched ½ cup toasted, skinned, hazelnuts One handful mint leaves Dressing: 3 tablespoons citrus juice – orange or lemon 5 tablespoons good quality olive oil Salt and pepper to season Prep the lamb: This can be prepared 1-2 days ahead. Rub lamb with oil and brown in a pan or on the BBQ, 5-7 minutes. Cool immediately. Cover and chill until ready to cook through. Prep salad: Par-cook washed potatoes in salted water. Scrub fresh beets clean and halve. Toss potatoes, beets and garlic in oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Lay in a single layer on a tray or 2 and roast at 200 C for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through, adding tomatoes and rosemary to the tray in the last 10 minutes. Prep dressing: Shake dressing ingredients together with cooked garlic in a jar. To cook lamb: Heat oven to 220 C. Combine oil, breadcrumbs, mustard, salt & pepper. Pat this onto lamb as a crust. Heat an oiled tray then place lamb racks (or other cuts) meat/mustard side up and cook for 14-17 minutes (longer for rumps, say 20 minutes). Cook times will vary depending on size of your lamb cut so use the press test to check for doneness. Rest for 15 minutes while you assemble the salad. Assemble & serve: Use a large platter or board. Toss leafy greens, beans and potatoes in dressing and spread out onto serving dish. Cut rested lamb into 1-2-bone cutlets and lay these on the salad bed. Add beets and tomatoes, mint leaves and hazelnuts. Drizzle over any remaining dressing and serve.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20226 minutes, 20 seconds
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Jack Tame: The experience of moving and decorating has clarified my perspective

“It’s not the colour of cushions,” my girlfriend said. “It’s the combination of the colours of the cushions.” She stood on one side of the room, hands on her hips, as her eyes passed unsparingly across the new lounge suite. There are a few experiences that will test even the long-lasting, most joyous of relationships. Meeting the in-laws? Check. Travelling overseas together? Check. Moving house and settling on an interior design aesthetic? Hmm. The good news is we’ve survived the furniture hauling. We unrolled my brand new World Map wallpaper, shipped from a specialist map shop in America, almost three metres wide, and managed to stick it to the wall with only a few bubbles. Balancing on a cupboard, pressed to the wall, her arms spread wide as she held the unweildy canvas in a level position, my girlfriend maintained an impressive degree of patience and good humour. I cannot reflect quite so generously on my own behaviour during the installation. If a crime writer were to find themselves with a creative block, struggling with character dialogue, I can recommend interior decorating to inspire the filthiest, gnarliest bad language. It’d make a mobster blush. The walls are almost good to go. My girlfriend has selected a range of elegantly-framed prints, French and Japanese artists, impressionist and modern works. She hit a few sales and got a few deals, but it doesn’t leave much space for my more man-cavey momentos: pictures of rappers, guitarists, and graffiti art. “Maybe downstairs.” Said my girlfriend, with a smile. “Maybe.” I’d feel a stronger urge to make my case if deep down, I didn’t know my girlfriend is right. Pains me as it does, there are more than a few fashion and design choices which I’ve made over the years, that act as a gentle reminder of my taste’s propensity to stray. There were my paisley trackpants, a little tighter than necessary around the crotch, that for some reason I insisted wearing in public for several years while living in New York. It wasn’t until someone on the subway sincerely asked it I was going to a pyjama party that I thought maybe it was time to switch to jeans. I’m embarrassed to acknowledge that for many years in my early twenties, I had a large framed pencil sketch of a woman in a state of undress, displayed prominently in my home. I bought it at an art fair and thought it was sophisticated, until it was pointed out by several visitors that the picture had an underlying fourth-form-giggling-pubescent-boy quality to its penmanship. Furniture choices have been little better. Couches, lamps, armchairs: almost every time I’ve decided on something bold, I’ve come to see that actually; perhaps subtle would have been a better option. And of course, there’s my long term commitment to minimalism. Friends at my old apartment would comment that it felt like a hotel room crossed with a hospital ward. Not really the aesthetic anyone goes for. For the first time in my adult life, with my girlfriend’s gentle insistence, I’m now the owner of a coffee table. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of them but they’re good for both aesthetic and practical reasons. We also bought a jute rug, something I’d literally never heard of until two weeks ago. And hey, it looks great! The experience of moving and decorating has clarified my perspective. It’s not that I have zero taste. It’s that I have near-zero taste. I have just enough taste to know my taste cannot be trusted. It’s a blessing and a curse. Someone with no taste whatsoever is not aware of their lack of taste. They live blissfully, surrounded by tasteless things but beautifully, totally, naively unaware of the hideousness of their own aesthetic and surroundings. Someone with near-zero taste can appreciate good taste, but struggles to implement it themselves. It means that when it’s time to decorate a home and comes to matters of aesthetic, sometimes it’s better to delegate. My girlfriend moved the cushions from the couch.JaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20224 minutes, 49 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Emancipation and Guardians of the Galaxy Xmas Special

Emancipation   Will Smith’s movie! A runaway slave forges through the swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey to escape plantation owners that nearly killed him.  Guardians of the Galaxy Xmas Special  The Guardians are on a mission to make Christmas unforgettable for Quill and head to Earth in search of the perfect present.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20226 minutes, 11 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Why December 11 is the most common break-up day

Kevin Milne has some thoughts about why December 11 is the most common day for relationships to end, and why he might be in for the chop. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/9/20226 minutes, 44 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kygo - Thrill Of The Chase

Thrill of the Chase is the fourth studio album by Norwegian record producer and DJ Kygo  The Norwegian DJ and pop hitmaker released the record with no warning, chasing the thrill of the increasingly common surprise digital drop.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20225 minutes, 53 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Desert Star and SAS, Brothers in Arms

Desert Star, Michael Connelly  LAPD detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch work together to hunt the killer who is Bosch's 'white whale' - a man responsible for the murder of an entire family.  A year has passed since LAPD detective Renée Ballard quit the force in the face of misogyny, demoralisation and endless red tape. Yet after the chief of police himself tells her she can write her ticket within the department, Ballard takes back her badge, leaving 'the Late Show' to rebuild the cold case unit at the elite Robbery-Homicide Division.  SAS Brothers in Arms, Daniel Lewis  Damien Lewis's new bestseller tells the action-packed, riveting story of the band of mavericks and visionaries who made the SAS. Using hitherto untold stories and new archival sources, Damien Lewis follows one close-knit band of warriors from the SAS foundation through to the Italian landings - chronicling the extraordinary part they played as the tide of the Second World War truly turned in the Allied's favour. This is a narrative of wall-to-wall do-or-die action and daring, chronicling the exploits of some of the most highly-decorated soldiers of the twentieth-century.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20224 minutes, 51 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Festive frolics in New York

Mike Yardley has been touring the Big Apple. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20226 minutes, 36 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The attraction of lights

It is reasonable well-known among New Zealand Gardeners that insects tend to be attracted to lights; especially lights that are rather blue-ish white in colour. The reason is very simple: these lights contain a rather decent dose of Ultra Violet (UV) light; Insects can see UV better than any other frequency. I have a UV torch at home that allows me to go out walking in the garden and it shows me – more or less – what moths see when they fly through the garden. Some folk use this trick to catch the Guava moths that are on their way to lay eggs inside the new very small guava fruit and feijoa fruit that are being formed in summer; a light coupled with a container with diluted dishwashing liquid is the way to kill those buggers before they start the puncturing and subsequent entering of the tiny fruits… “Get the buggers, before they get our fruit” I have always objected to this idiotic way of “pest control”, simply because there are far better options to stop the guava moths laying eggs on the developing guava and feijoa fruits: Cover the branches with a fine muslin cloth that stops the moths from coming near the fruit’s skin. Those insect-excluding cloths are available in most garden shops. If you must use some pesticides, then Neem Oil or Success are chemicals that can prevent about 50% of the damage occurring too! Light trap “pest control” is really very ineffective as you simply catch a heap of moth (and other) insect species that have nothing to do with fruit of crop damage; most of them are native and have an interesting job to do in the ecosystem. These beetles (Heteronychus and Odontria) are good at pruning shrubs and trees and grasses, but in turn are excellent food for birds, geckoes, skinks, Centipedes and Owls The absolutely imposing huhu beetle emerges from a log of rotting wood where it has been instrumental in the decomposition of that wood and turning it into nutrients for the next generation of our forest. The beetle is devoured by Morepork; of course, the huhu grub is also edible and full of protein; ask the kaka! When I take Teachers out at night with a mercury vapour light-trap (full of UV light) we not just look at beetles, but also at a huge range of moths and other flying insects. Some are just beautiful, like the Lichen moth (Izatha) and the native Scoparia moth, belonging to a very special and numerous group of moths in Aotearoa. All food for insectivorous organisms in your garden; without these native species our birds would go hungry! But one of my absolute favourite moths is this one: Chrysodeixis eriosoma. The architecture of that Noctuid is outrageous and the silver dots on the wings just elegant. And no… I’m not going to describe the larval activities of that species – I’m sure you know it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20224 minutes, 29 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Cancel culture and online trolls

Steven Dromgool has been talking with clients about how to deal with cancel culture and online trolls. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20228 minutes, 2 seconds
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Dr Byan Betty: Recognising concussion

What is concussion?  Mild brain injury  Bump or blow to head – for example Falls, contact sport, car accidents, previous concussion.  Can interfere with brain function and may or may not be associated with loss of consciousness  Why does it occur?  Brain like jelly – shakes or bounces around in the hard skull, causing minor injury  Can cause bleeding within the skull – small or large.  Can be cumulative – recurrent concussions – may in some cases longer term damage.  How do we recognise?  Affects brain function for short period of time.  Immediate: dazed, confused, vomits, loss consciousness, poor balance,  Longer term: headache continues, fatigue, poor concentration.  Certainly more serious: drowsy, fit, slurrrd speech.  How do we treat?  Most  recover within 2 weeks. Children 4 weeks.   Brain needs to rest – toughing it out or ignoring symptoms can make worse, Immediate rest 48 hours, Avoid loud music, screens, hard physical activity, alcohol.  Return to work or sports activity once fully recovered – often hard for sports people to accept.  If return before fully recovered- increased risk of second concussion which can be serious.  Other things to watch out for?  Symptoms worsening see a doctor as soon as possible.  If persist more than 3-4 weeks long concussion syndrome – specialist support.  Important any concussion reviewed with your Doctor.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20225 minutes, 29 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Spirted and The Road Dance

Spirited - A Christmas Musical  A musical version of Charles Dickens's story of a miserly misanthrope who is taken on a magical journey.  The Road Dance  A young girl lives in the Outer Hebrides in a small village in the years just before WWI. Isolated and hard by the shore, her life takes a dramatic change when a terrible tragedy befalls her.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20226 minutes, 18 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: San Fran preparing for robots with guns, Apple's new emergency system

San Francisco is preparing for robots with guns  The San Francisco Police Department has prepared a draft policy which would explicitly allow robots to be able to be armed with guns or explosives to be used when the risk to human life is too great. Today most of the robots in their fleet are for bomb disposal but some can be equipped with weapons. They say that deploying a robot like this would be a rare and exceptional circumstance.  Apple's new emergency satellite service has officially saved a person  A man traveling in Alaska on a snow-machine had become stranded at 2am. He used the SOS feature, and the Apple Emergency Response team sent the coordinates to local first responders who arranged for a search team to be sent.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20224 minutes, 21 seconds
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Tara Ward: Three Pines, Willow and Ally McBeal

Three Pines: Alfred Molina stars as a detective investigating cases beneath the idyllic surface of the Quebec village, Three Pines, finding long-buried secrets and facing a few ghosts of his own (Prime Video).   Willow: The legendary sorcerer, returns in a new series set many years after the events of the original film. An unlikely group of heroes set off on a dangerous quest where they must face their inner demons and come together to save their world (Disney+).   Ally McBeal: take a nostalgic trip back to the 90s with all five seasons of the legal dramedy landing on Disney+. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20224 minutes, 14 seconds
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Tom Felton: Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter on his new memoir 'Beyond the Wand'

It was more than a decade ago that a famous boy wizard and his evil counterpart appeared on our screens.  No one could predict the success of the Harry Potter films, least of all the kids who grew up on set at Hogwarts.  And who could forget the first time we were introduced to that blonde haired, blue-eyed sneaky Slytherin antagonist. Tom Felton a.k.a Draco Malfoy is one of the beloved characters of Harry Potter, but finding his feet when filming stopped hasn’t been so easy.  He’s written about it in his new memoir, Beyond the Wand.   Tom Felton joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/202215 minutes, 11 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Christmas Mille-Feuilles

To reduce the stress of the Christmas lunch or dinner it’s a good idea to include a dessert that can be prepared ahead of time. This is the most gorgeous and show-stopping Christmas dessert and it’s actually very easy to assemble last minute. 1½ sheets puff pastry (use Paneton flaky puff for the ultimate buttery layers) 2 tablespoons icing sugar, plus extra to serve 3 cups mixed berries - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries Flowers to decorate, optional Mascarpone cream 250g mascarpone 300ml cream ¾ cup icing sugar 1 teaspoon extract Heat oven to 200 C fan bake. Cut the full sheet of pastry in half and place the 3 puff pastry sheets on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Dust with icing sugar then cover with another sheet of baking paper on top and another baking tray to sandwich the pastry. If they don’t all fit on one tray, cook them in batches. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is dark brown and caramelised. Allow to cool completely. Trim the edges of each cooked pastry sheet with a bread knife making sure they are all the same size. These will now store for up to a week in an airtight container until ready to assemble and serve. For the filling; Whisk mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Watch it carefully from this point as you don’t want to overwhip it. Whisk on low a little longer until it holds its shape. To assemble: Spoon cream into a piping bag if you want to be fancy (or just spoon it over the pastry) and pipe a third of the cream over one piece of the pastry, then top with a third of the berries (cut large strawberries smaller) and repeat for the two remaining layers, sprinkling over small flowers and a dust of icing sugar to serve. To serve: Use a sharp bread or other serrated knife to cut into slices.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20225 minutes, 15 seconds
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Jack Tame: Messi is the greatest player in the greatest sport

Football is pretty much the only sport where I feel comfortable supporting Australia. But tomorrow morning, even though they’re occupying that rarest position for any Australian sporting team – Underdog - I won’t be backing the Socceroos in the knock-out stages of the Football World Cup. I’ll watching and hoping like anything that Argentina gets up. Not because I feel a deep, personal bond with Argentina, although any country whose identity centres on red wine, red meat, and tango is obviously good with priorities, but because I’m desperately hoping that this immoral World Cup might at least result in one of sport’s greatest fairytale endings. For me, it’s simple. Leo Messi is the greatest player of the greatest sport. Think about it: no team sport is simpler than football. No team sport has a lower barrier to entry. No team sport has a greater global appeal. Anyone, anywhere can play football. And that means no team sport requires a higher standard of individual excellence for a player to become the World’s best. Lionel Messi’s story is everything a sporting fairytale should be. He was a small kid with a hormone deficiency, born into a poor family in Argentina. He was a prodigious talent as a child, left-footed, with a superhuman ability to dribble a football. If not for the hormone injections he received as a teenager, he might never have made it into the top men’s leagues. In 2022, the professional age, surrounded by supreme physical specimens, Leo Messi, the World’s greatest player, is only 5’7”. But Messi’s size is an asset. La Pulga, they call him. The flea. Somehow he’s still fast enough. Still strong enough. And if you watch his highlights in slow motion, it’s obvious that part of his brilliance is his ability to shift his weight much faster than his bigger opponents. In a way, he looks like a boy playing with men, and he threads space and runs through teams with an unrivaled impossibility. How many times in the last 17 or 18 years have defenders, commentators, teammates wondered: how the hell did he do that? You do not have to be a football fan to appreciate Messi’s brilliance. But contrary to his chief rival for the title of World’s greatest, Messi is not the hardest trainer. He’s not an underwear model. He isn’t remotely charismatic when he speaks. What he does have is genius. I was in the stands to watch Messi score at Maracena Stadium in the Brazil World Cup eight years ago. He was in his playing prime, but that cup wasn’t to be. I was in Argentina four years ago in a packed public square when the South Americans were eliminated from the tournament. This is it, they said at the time. Messi’s last chance. But here he is. 35, and surely at his last World Cup. My head says his team doesn’t have a good enough defensive line. They’ve already lost to Saudi Arabia. And in football years, Messi is an old man. But my heart says something different. He might have won however many club trophies. He might have lifted his family from a poor neighbourhood in Rosario to a life of wealth and security. But sport is just a vehicle for stories. And what a magical final chapter it would it be if football’s greatest player ended his dazzling career by lifting football’s greatest prize. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20224 minutes, 19 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Trying Floatation Therapy for the first time

This week Kevin tried out Flotation Therapy for the first time.  That's where you float in a closed pod of with 500 kilos of Epsom salts in about 30 cm of water. Keeps you at zero gravity or weightlessness. It's supposed to be the ultimate in relaxation.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/2/20228 minutes, 29 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Servants of the Damned and Edda Mussolini

Servants of the Damned, David Enrich   In his acclaimed #1 bestseller Dark Towers, David Enrich presented the never-before-told saga of how Deutsche Bank became the global face of financial recklessness and criminality. Now Enrich turns his eye towards the world of “Big Law” and the nearly unchecked influence these firms wield to shield the wealthy and powerful—and bury their secrets. To tell this story, Enrich focuses on Jones Day, one of the world’s largest law firms.   Edda Mussolini, Caroline Moorehead  A thrilling biography of Edda Mussolini - Benito Mussolini's favourite daughter - and a heart-stopping account of the unravelling of the Fascist dream in Italy, from award-winning historian and biographer Caroline Moorehead See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20225 minutes, 10 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Supercharged in Singapore

Mike Yardley once again making us all jealous with his galivanting through Singapore. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20228 minutes, 11 seconds
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Kate Hall: Is it sustainable to have children?

Educator, activist and blogger Kate Hall has an interesting take on having children. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20228 minutes, 49 seconds
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Bob Campbell's best buys

Wine: Marisco 2021 The King’s Favour Sauvignon Blanc $21.99  Why I chose it:  - Tasted blind in a lineup of mostly 2022 Marlb. SB it was a standout (gold medal).  - 2021 much better than 2022.  - SB a great antidote for warm, muggy weather.  What does it taste like?  - Intense, pristine sauvignon blanc from a very favourable vintage. Bright, vibrant wine with passion fruit, capsicum, lemongrass and lime/citrus flavours. Refined wine with a crisp, dry finish.  Why it’s a bargain:  - Only a handful of Marlborough SB reach gold medal quality and if you buy it on special for $18 or $19 it is well below average price.  Where can you buy it?  - $21.99 is the RRP, but you can usually buy for a better price than that, for example: Super Liquor Golden Bay $17.99; Wine Central (Auckland) $18.99  Food match?  - I like it with feta cheese of young parmesan cheese on a cracker. Both cheeses have enough natural acidity to make the wine taste rich and creamy.  Will it keep?  - I quite like four or five year-old Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc but most people prefer it at its freshest best. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20222 minutes, 23 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Mercedes is charging you to go faster

Mercedes is charging you a monthly fee to go faster  So you’ve just purchased an expensive car, laying down tens of thousands of dollars.. then to get the most out of it, you need to pay a monthly fee to unlock features. The car maker is purposely limiting capabilities behind a paywall, which you need to pay to get through.   BMW recently tried (and failed) to make you pay to access CarPlay or Android Auto. They also charge you monthly for heated seats!  It seems everything is becoming a subscription now. Why? That’s because companies love the idea of recurring revenue and the ability to use software to differentiate vehicles, rather than needing to change the physical product.   The top 200 passwords have been released - it’s sad reading   “Password” is not a good password! Neither is 123456 or 654321. Use a password manager. Even writing unique passwords in a physical notebook is better than nothing. And use 2FA. Please.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20224 minutes, 57 seconds
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Tara Ward: Echo 3, Wednesday and This Country

Echo 3: An America action thriller about a scientist who disappears on the Venezuelan-Columbian border, and the attempts of her husband and brother to find her (Apple TV+)   Wednesday: Tim Burton directs this fresh - and very dark - coming of age story about the youngest child of the Addams Family (Netflix).   This Country: The BAFTA-winning British mockumentary series about the lives of cousins Kerry and Kurtan finally arrives on TVNZ+, following their day-to-day lives as they grow up in a small village in the Cotswolds (TVNZ+).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20224 minutes, 43 seconds
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Sarah Wilson: The brains behind the 'I Quit Sugar' movement

It was more than a decade ago now when the I Quit Sugar movement took hold and swept the world – and the brains behind just so happens to be across the ditch in Aussie, Sarah Wilson.   The cookbooks became bestsellers around the world and her business was set to skyrocket – until Sarah decided to sell and donate all the proceeds to charity.   Sarah’s gone on to live an incredibly inspiring life – travelling and living out of one bag for eight years, becoming a leading voice and author on anxiety and hosting her own podcast called Wild.  She’s also taken on perhaps our greatest fight of all...climate change.   Sarah Wilson joined Jack Tame from Sydney. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/202215 minutes, 30 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Chocolate Wonder Slice

The beauty of this slice is EVERYONE loves it AND you can pretty much use any type of cereal (cornflakes, rice bubbles, muesli, cocoa pops or even oats) or even Weetbix!  Makes 20-24 squares  50g rice bubbles or cornflakes (about 1 ½ cups) or 3 crushed Weetbix 1 cup coconut 1 cup plain flour (or ¾ cup GF if making GF) 3/4 (150g) cup sugar 2-3 heaped tablespoons cocoa or milo 1 teaspoon baking powder 180g butter, melted 1 tsp vanilla extract CHOCOLATE ICING  1 ½ cups icing sugar 1 heaped tablespoon cocoa 1 teaspoon soft butter Boiling water, added one teaspoon at a time Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a baking tin (20x30cm approx.) with baking paper. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients until well mixed. Crush Weetbix or cornflakes if using as you go if using. Pour in melted butter and vanilla and stir until fully combined. It takes quite a bit of mixing until you have no pockets of flour left. Tumble into the prepared tin and press until firm and smooth. Bake for 20-25 minutes and remove from the oven, set aside to cool Make the icing: Beat all ingredients together adding water a teaspoon at a time and mixing until you have a smooth icing that can be drizzled – not too thick, not too thin. When slice is almost cooled, spread over icing and spread to cover. Allow to set overnight or in fridge. Slice and serve or store in an airtight container. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20225 minutes, 11 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Voting as a teenager

Kevin Milne would like to consider how he'd feel if he were 17 and had been denied the opportunity to vote in the General Elections.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20228 minutes, 34 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Meet Cute, Poker Face and The People We Hate at the Wedding

 Meet Cute  Sheila, a young woman grappling with suicidal thoughts, discovers that a tanning bed in a nail salon is a time machine. Traveling back 24 hours, she relives the best date night of her life over and over, only to decide that her boyfriend, Gary, needs some fixing. Unaware that meddling with the past could ruin the future, Sheila goes even further back in time to turn him into the perfect man -- even though he was already pretty perfect.  Poker Face   A tech billionaire gathers his friends at his home for a high-stakes poker game. Things go awry when his mansion is invaded by a dangerous killer.  The People We Hate at the Wedding  The film follows struggling American siblings Alice (Kristen Bell) and Paul (Ben Platt), who reluctantly agree to attend the wedding of their estranged, wealthy half-sister (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) in the English countryside alongside their mother, Donna (Allison Janney). Over the course of the wedding week, the family's many skeletons are wrenched from the closet, and the unlikely reunion gives everyone the motivation to move their own lives forward.       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20225 minutes, 56 seconds
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Jack Tame: Black Friday meets the Reserve Bank - how do we spend less?

  No, I haven’t bought a new air fryer. Tempted as I might have been, I’ve resisted the urge to upgrade my TV. So far, I’ve only bought two things in the Black Friday sales and I think even the most staunch anti-capitalists would have to agree, neither could be deemed particularly luxurious: a compost bin for my kitchen, and a shower squeegee. Woo-hoo! It’s one of those curious little quirks of 2022 that this year’s Black Friday should coincide perfectly with the Reserve Bank’s steepest-ever increase to the Official Cash Rate. At the same time as we’re being bombarded by ads for HUGE DISCOUNTS!, we’re being urged, albeit in a slightly more restrained fashion, to stop spending, and fast. HUGE SALES! MASSIVE DISCOUNTS! UP TO 80% OFF!! ‘Cool your jets’ said Adrian Orr. Talk about mixed messaging. Maybe the Reserve Bank needs to take on the big retailers at their own game. I was at Infrastucture New Zealand’s Building Nations conference this week, and ANZ economist Sharon Zollner suggested to the audience the Reserve Bank should take our some billboards in prominent positions around the country. ‘Stop spending so much money or we’ll crank up your Mortgage even more!’ Sharon was joking and the audience laughed... but I dunno... I thought it was actually a bloody good idea! Maybe we need a bit of left-field thinking to help the inflation fight. There’s a good chance it’s too late to do much about the spending over Black Friday weekend. We should turn our attention to what is usually an inevitable Christmas splurge. With the big day less than a month away, my only advice is don’t give people crap for the sake of giving them crap. In the Tame family, we made a pact a few years ago to run a Secret Santa for all the adults. $50 maximum. We put names in a hat and randomly assign gifters and giftees. You only buy one gift and the idea is that you sit around and try to guess who bought yours. You can be a bit creative. I think last year I had gave my Dad a t-shirt with a photo of the family dog. Hardly a life-changing gift but not nothing! It’s fun. It takes a good chunk of the expense out of Christmas, and it ultimately means you’re not ending up with heaps of stuff you don’t want, or spending for the sake of spending. Who knows, what’s good for inflation might ultimately be good for your Christmas, too!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/25/20223 minutes, 2 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Dean Lewis announces 'The Future is Bright' World Tour

Off the back of the release of his brand-new album The Hardest Love, global superstar Dean Lewis has announced The Future is Bright World Tour which will head to New Zealand in March 2023.   The 10-track The Hardest Love album includes previous singles ‘Looks Like Me’ and ‘Hurtless’, as well as the emotive ‘How Do I Say Goodbye’—a devastating song about the looming loss of a parent.   With over 7.5 billion streams, Dean was welcomed into the Spotify Billions Club with his hit song 'Be Alright'. Over the past few years, Dean has performed to hundreds of sold-out crowds worldwide, including headline tours and major festivals in the US, UK, Europe and Australia, and the 2019 AFL Grand Final in Australia. Dean has recently collaborated with Dutch DJ / producer Martin Garrix and Norwegian DJ / producer Kygo. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20225 minutes, 36 seconds
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Catherine Rayne: Love Untold and When McKinsey Comes to Town

Love Untold, Ruth Jones  The funny, moving and uplifting new novel from Ruth Jones, co-creator of Gavin & Stacey and author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Never Greener and Us Three.  Four generations of one family. Four women: Grace, Alys, Elin and Beca.  Each of them has a secret. Each has been misunderstood. And each of them longs for just one thing... to feel loved.    When McKinsey Comes to Town, Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsyth  An explosive exposé of the world's most prestigious and successful management consultancy.  McKinsey earns billions advising almost every major corporation as well as countless governments, including Britain's, the USA's and China's. It boasts of its ability to maximise efficiency while making the world a better place. Its millionaire partners and network of alumni go on to top jobs in the world's most powerful organisations. And yet, shielded by non-disclosure agreements, its work remains largely secret - until now.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20224 minutes, 54 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A trail of treats in the Swiss Riviera

Mike Yardley once again is making us jealous with the tales of his travels to the Swiss Reviera. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20226 minutes, 25 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Fear of commitment

Are commitment issues a big deal in a relationship? What makes it so serious? What can you do if you think your partner is unsure?  What can you do if you are unsure?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20227 minutes, 31 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Taylor's fans let down by Ticketmaster and Elon's ultimatum

Taylor Swift's fans feel let down by Ticketmaster  The pre-sale earlier this week was Ticketmaster's biggest event ever. To put it into perspective, they had 4x the number of system requests than their last peak. There were 3.5 million registered verified fans, who purchased 1.5 million tickets. There were long digital queues, and now resellers are taking advantage of the demand putting tickets back up on Ticketmaster's own site for thousands of dollars.  In a strange move, Ticketmaster has now canceled a public sale of her tickets “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand”. Seems to be a mixed message! Did they sell too many?   Taylor hasn't been on tour since 2018 so the Swifities are eager to see her IRL again.  Elon Musk's ultimatum to staff - are you hardcore or not?  Staff had to pledge they would be hardcore if they wanted to keep their jobs, or they'd be paid three months salary and need to leave. It seems hundreds of folks have left. Many of the teams that used to be critical to the operation of the site are either wiped out, or down to a couple of people.  There's a new policy for their Twitter Blue subscription service which gives you a verified checkmark - new accounts won't be able to buy the service for 90 days.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20224 minutes, 5 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Navigating divorce financially

It’s never how anyone plans it when they get married, but divorce is very common – which means it could be a curveball you have to contend with.  On the financial as well as the personal – it can be devastating.  So how can you best navigate the dollars and cents side of divorce?  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20225 minutes, 41 seconds
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Tara Ward: Tusla King, 1899 and Pepsi, Where's My Jet?

Tulsa King: Sylvester Stallone stars as New York mafia capo Dwight "The General" Manfredi, who is released from prison after 25 years and exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma (TVNZ+).  1899: A historical mystery. Passengers on an immigrant ship traveling to the new continent get caught in a mysterious riddle when they find a second vessel adrift on the open sea (Netflix).  Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?: A new documentary about a young man who attempted to win a fighter jet in a Pepsi sweepstakes during the 1990s, and who began a David versus Goliath court battle for the history books. (Netflix).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20224 minutes, 55 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Coq au Vin aka Chicken in Wine

COQ AU VIN AKA CHICKEN IN WINE  Wine in cooking adds a certain something to a dish that is irresistible. Not only does the kitchen smell divine as it’s cooking but the taste is incredible – perfumed, aromatic, delicious.  Here is my very basic, no-fuss version of that French classic, coq au vin.  Serves four to six  20g butter  3 rashers smoky bacon, diced  2 medium onions, quartered  2 stalks celery (leave whole)  2 tablespoons olive oil  1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, excess fat removed (or use 6–8 chicken pieces)  1 cup red wine  1 cup vegetable or chicken stock  2 bay leaves  2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves  1 dozen small brown button mushrooms, stalks removed  salt and pepper  1 tablespoon flour and water to thicken (optional)  For this dish, use a large pot or flame/ovenproof casserole dish (Le Creuset or similar) that has a lid. Melt the butter in the pot and add the bacon, onion and celery stalks. Sauté until golden, remove and set aside.  Add the olive oil to the pot and brown the chicken pieces. If necessary, do this in 2–3 batches so as not to overcrowd the pot.  Once finished browning, return the chicken, bacon, onion and celery to the pot. Add the wine and bring to a rapid simmer for 2 minutes — this allows the alcohol to cook off. Add the stock, bay leaves and thyme.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour (or cover and cook in a preheated oven at 160°C for 1½ hours), until the chicken is very tender and wanting to fall away from the bone. Halfway through the cooking, add the mushrooms and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Just before serving you may choose to thicken the gravy slightly with flour mixed with a little water. Pour it into the pot and cook for a further 10 minutes. You want a sauce that is not too thick, not too thin, just right!  Serve with crusty bread.  Note: Without a doubt, this dish is better made the day before, cooled, then reheated. It deepens the flavours. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20224 minutes, 53 seconds
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Alan Cumming: Scottish screen and stage star on bringing his new show to NZ

You know you’ve probably cracked life when TIME Magazine names you in the top three most-fun people in show business. That’s Alan Cumming.  The Scottish star has been nominated and awarded for just about everything you can think of both on screen and on stage - and Alan’s not slowing down anytime soon.  He’s bringing his own show to our shores next year called Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age - a joyful and mischievous exploration of ageing.   Alan Cumming joined Jack Tame. *Tickets are on sale for Alan’s shows in Wellington and Auckland in January from Ticketmaster now*   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/202215 minutes, 8 seconds
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Kevin Mile: A taboo that is being tampered with

Kevin Milne wants to talk about Taika Waititi wearing a demure pleated skirt while MCing the MTV Music Awards in Dusseldorf. He says "Good on him" and explains why. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20226 minutes, 20 seconds
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Jack Tame: Gambling reforms miss the biggest problem with pokies

GAMBLING REFORMS MISS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH POKIES I was in Las Vegas for work once upon a time, staying at an aging casino, and I witnessed something I’ve never forgotten. I went out to film a story at about 6pm one evening and as I headed out, I passed a guy sitting two or three seats in on a long row of slot machines, trying his luck. The shoot went late. I came back to my hotel room at about 1am. And as I crossed the casino floor I looked down at the same row of slot machines. The guy was still there. I had a flight to catch the next morning. I got up. Packed my suitcase. Came down at about 8am. You can see where this is going... Same guy. Same clothes. Same machine. Same dead eyes as he hit that button over and over again. I dunno what it is about pokies. There is something about them, some little piece of psychological witchcraft, that short circuits the human brain. And while here in New Zealand you’d hope we’re at the stage where no one can sit and mindlessly whittle away their money on a pokie machine for fourteen hours straight, it’s hard to overstate how destructive a gambling addiction can be. The Government’s announced a review of pokies and the Gambling Act, alongside some pokie reforms that’ll come into force next year. But the reforms are much weaker than what was initially proposed. For the time being, there will be no cuts to pokie jackpots, no ban on free rolls, and softer penalties for pub owners who don’t follow the rules, compared to what was proposed. Instead, the changes that have been confirmed concern where pokies and ATMs can be positioned in an pub, and rules around how pub owners should check for and treat problem gamblers. It’s not nothing, but it’s also not a profound change. Some problem gambler advocates have expressed disappointment, but I must admit to being a bit surprised to read comments from the Chair of the Gaming Machine Association. Peter Dengate-Thrush told Stuff that even his organisation felt the changes didn’t go far enough, the Minister had missed an opportunity, and facial recognition software to identify problem gamblers should be introduced across New Zealand. For me though, there’s a fundamental problem with pokie machines in New Zealand that still needs to be addressed. And so far, almost no one wants to touch it. Under our law, a minimum of 40 percent of pokie proceeds have to be returned to the community as charitable grants. We’re always reminded when a sports club or a dance group has been supported by a grant from a charitable gaming trust. Many people don’t give it much thought – a charitable grant sounds great! But I see it differently. The ends don’t justify the means. The community funding structure is a very clever way to excuse, normalise, and even subtly promote hugely damaging, antisocial behaviour. Can’t we find a better way to fund community organisations? A way that doesn’t mean our sports clubs and hobby groups are relying on New Zealanders pouring their money into pokie machines in order to survive? Money doesn’t grow on trees but we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. What’s the point in supporting one community with a charitable grant if you have to damage another community in order to get the money in the first place? These government reforms are a start but if you really want to smash the problem, follow the money. The whole structure has to change.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/18/20224 minutes, 20 seconds
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Adam Duritz: Counting Crows lead singer ahead of their NZ tour

Counting Crows has sold more than 20 million records and spent two decades touring the world.  After a bit of a hiatus, they released a new album last year and are returning to our shores in March.  Lead singer Adam Duritz has led the way through it all and he joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/202214 minutes, 3 seconds
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Jack Tame: Milestones in my new place

It’s not the first home I’ve ever owned. That privilege goes to my apartment, which I officially bid farewell to last month after almost six years. But it’s the first house I’ve ever owned. And who knows? Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans, right? But I bought it thinking it might just be the first family home I ever own. I picked up the keys last week. The agent met me at the front door. A big old villa in a great location with much more space than I have furniture for, and a backyard with a feijoa tree. I even bought a lawnmower. Me! A lawnmower! My first ever lawnmower. A home that would be perfect for kids. Perfect for BBQs. Perfect for visiting inlaws. I feel very fortunate, indeed. At least, I did. Ever since we went unconditional I’ve been counting down the days until my first sleep in the new pad. I thought my girlfriend and I would share a delicious dinner. I’d bring in my bed, make it up with my fanciest linen, and slip between the sheets for a glorious night of rest, blissful in the peace and security of my own four walls. Instead, I spent my first night in the new pad alone, tossing and turning and tangling a sleeping bag on a blow up mattress with fever dreams and a dehydrated mucus mouth. Thanks Covid. There will be other milestones to celebrate. My first night in a real bed. Our first meal at the dining table. Our first full mortgage repayments. GULP. So many people have reassured me that after a few months, you just get used to paying the mortgage and don’t think too much of it. Given the size of my mortgage, I’m not quite so sure I’ll be forgetting it anytime soon. Doing the maths makes me want to throw up in my mouth. But even though over the course of my adult lifetime I’ll be paying the equivalent of several years’ income in interest payments, there is one little thing I keep reminding myself of in an effort to quell my disgust. Sure, I’ll be handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest, but at least I’ll be handing it over to a New Zealand-owned bank. I’m not suggesting the system is perfect. But don’t forget, as customers we still have choices.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20222 minutes, 50 seconds
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Kevin Milne: What ever happened to Fives?

Kevin Milne is trying to track down a sport that he says has disappeared from New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20226 minutes, 42 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Enola Holmes 2 and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Enola Holmes 2   Enola Holmes takes on her first case as a detective, but to unravel the mystery of a missing girl, she'll need some help from friends -- and brother Sherlock.    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever  Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M'Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with Nakia and Everett Ross to forge a new path for their beloved kingdom.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20226 minutes, 16 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Rhubarb crumble slice

Make this gorgeous slice and serve it warm with vanilla ice cream for a dessert that heroes rhubarb or cold with a cuppa!  Makes 12-16 squares 250g cold butter 415g (about 3 ¼ cups) plain flour Decent pinch salt 3-5 tablespoons cold water 1 cup whole almonds ¾ cup raw sugar 500g chopped rhubarb Grease and line a Swiss roll tin (23x33cm), leaving some of the baking paper hanging over the long sides. Rub/grate chilled butter into the flour and salt (or do it in a food processor). Toss the butter in the flour. Divide this mixture equally into two bowls. Into one, pour 3-5 tablespoons of ice-cold water, stirring first with a knife to a scraggy mess then add a bit more water before turning out to knead briefly so it comes together. Flatten to a disc, wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Heat oven to 180 C. Blitz almonds in a food processor until it’s a coarse crumb. Add this crumb and the sugar to the other half of the flour/butter and mix to combine to a crumble. Roll chilled dough on a well-floured bench to fit your tin, big enough to come up the sides, and carefully transfer to your tin. Press into the corners and up the sides. Cover with chopped rhubarb then spoon over crumble topping. Bake for 50 minutes or until browned on top and juice from the fruit has started to bubble through. Cool in the tin until just warm then slice. Eat with scoops of ice cream. YUM! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20225 minutes, 22 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Twitter continues to be a mess

We're watching a company implode, in real-time, because of self-detonation  Elon Musk fired half the company last Friday, then after the weekend reportedly asked some of the folks to come back.   They launched new "official account" labels on profiles to differentiate between the blue paid-for checkmarks, then suddenly scrapped them. Launched the $8 Twitter Blue plan on Wednesday, and now, two days later have already pulled it from the app. This came after basically all the worse-case scenarios came true: companies had accounts created with their logos and names, became verified, then began announcing things that weren't true. Fake accounts for politicans popped up, looked real because of the checkmark, then began tweeting crazy things. Like a fake George W Bush account that said he missed killing Iraquis, or a fake Donald Trump account that apologized to President Joe Biden. Jesus became verified.  Someone already made a Chrome extension to change the labels to indicate what are paid for, and actually verified accounts.   A swath of their executives have left - including those in privacy, policy and security. Oh, and they have a communications team of zero. They're losing $4 million a day. Elon sold an additional $4 billion of Tesla stock to pump into Twitter. Advertisers are bailing. They're being watched closely by the Federal Trade Commission. And Elon says bankruptcy may be in the future.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20223 minutes, 36 seconds
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Tara Ward: The English, The Crown and The Black Ferns: Wāhine Toa

The English: Emily Blunt and Rafe Spall star in this Western series set in Wyoming about a woman seeking revenge on the man she sees as responsible for the death of her son (Prime Video).  The Crown:  Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville join the cast of Netflix’s popular drama about the British Royal Family (Netflix).   The Black Ferns: Wāhine Toa: An inspiring two-part documentary following the world champion Black Ferns as they prepare to defend the Rugby World Cup (Neon/Sky Go).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20226 minutes, 6 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: This month is Diabetes Action Month

Dr. Bryan Betty talks diabetes with Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20223 minutes, 49 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Today’s segment is brought to you by the letters SP

Spots on Leaves.  A very common plant health problem that makes leaves look rather tatty and unhealthy.  A good example is black spot on roses; dark brown to black in colour, often with a distinct yellow “ring” around it.  These are fungal disorders and the best way to battle them is by prevention. Keep your plants spaced-out, in other words: give them room to dry out in the wind after a rain shower. The quicker those leaves are dry, the shorter the infection time will be.  Spittle bugs  South Island gardeners will know them well – it seems a typical critter in our neck of the woods.  The larvae of these frog hoppers love to extract juices out of their host plants (lavender is wonderfully affected in my garden, but Coprosma and lots of other plants are also a target.  The way these insects protect themselves is by creating a wet bubbly bubble that gives them a good shelter site, so that predators (birds, and predatory insects) cannot find them. Try wiping the spittle away and you’ll find a nice, green insect staring at you.  It might even show you its clever “move”, with abdominal contractions blowing air into it’s wet nest, causing those spittle bubbles. It protects them from dehydration and temperature fluctuations.  Their damage to the plants is quite minor, so don’t even worry trying to control them.   Spiders  Spiders are another critter that becomes quite obvious at this time of the year.  For starters there will be heaps of these arachnids on your plants already, feasting on whatever might fall into the spider trap (the “website”). Some spiders literally go hunting on foot, grabbing small prey like caterpillars and moths, beetles and crashed flies.  But the coolest arachnids are those that make some significant spider egg sacs full of hatching eggs. I found some egg sacs on my wall with hundreds of tiny spiderlings dispersing in all directions on silken threads.  “Ballooning” is one of the cleverest ways to move long distances, away from hungry brothers and sisters.  Little Jumping spiders also make their presence known inside the house – hunting for small flies in your kitchen and lounge areas, with agility and precision. Those Spiders are really my favourite critters of the summer - I can watch them for hours. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20222 minutes, 45 seconds
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Kate Hall: Soft plastic recycling

Kate Hall has a few points to make when it comes to recycling soft plastic in New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20227 minutes, 45 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Capital highlights in Bern, Switzerland

Mike Yardley talks to Jack Tame about his travels in Bern, Switzerland. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20226 minutes, 52 seconds
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Jack Tame: Win or lose, the Black Ferns have been a joy to watch

Last weekend’s semi-final was one of the most exhilarating, desperate, thrilling rugby games I’ve ever seen in my life. It felt chaotic. Totally unpredictable. The French dominated at the breakdown. The New Zealanders played at such a tempo, lunging and scrambling and hurling the ball wide. God, it was exciting. After 80 minutes, you’d have to say agree, no team deserved to lose that game. But the best teams will take every flicker of good fortune they can muster. And so tonight, the Black Ferns contest the final. I’ve told you before about my past experience with the women’s sevens rugby team. It was eight years ago in Brazil, when the team had just been formed to compete on the World tour. I flew down and spent a week living and working with them in Rio de Janiero. Because rugby sevens was to become an Olympic sport, and because there was now a Women’s World’s Series to contest, New Zealand Rugby had started investing in women’s rugby in a way they hadn’t before. Still, back then, few Kiwi rugby fans would have known the players’ names. I was only there for a week, but by living, and eating, playing cards and even exercising with the team, I had a really special insight into a group of young women would be soon be stars. They were captained by a workhorse called Sarah Hirini. They had a star winger called Portia Woodman and a young smartass cracking jokes in the locker room and putting gangsta’ rap on the stereo, called Ruby Tui. They were young. They were very fresh. But already you could sense extraordinary potential. That team won Sevens World Champs after Sevens World Champs, but when it came to the Rio Olympics, they had to settle for silver. It was a tough experience. I was there at the Olympic Park that night in 2016, watching the match slip from their hands. They didn’t deserve to win but nonetheless it was very emotional. But you might also remember how it ended for the Sevens Sisters. Five years later at the Tokyo Olympics, they turned it around. Five years of graft, separation from their families, and Covid-19 disruption, and they did it. They were the darlings of New Zealand’s Olympic team, and they returned home with gold medals swinging from their necks. Sarah Hirini, Portia Woodman, and Ruby Tui will all start tonight. This game is different, I get that. England are the dominant team in World rugby. Their forwards are incredible. And most obviously, this is a game of fifteens, not rugby sevens. But finals are decided by moments. And perhaps even more valuable than form, is a team’s capacity to respond to pressure. This will be the biggest crowd to ever watch a women’s rugby match. And pressure does funny things. No matter what happens, nice to know that within that amazing Black Ferns squad, there are players who’ve been there and done that. I don’t need to state the obvious but I will anyway. Win or lose, the Black Ferns have been a joy to watch throughout this World Cup. Their humanity as individuals makes them far more fun to support than the men. They don’t hesitate to show emotion. For their sake, tonight, I really hope it’s joy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20223 minutes, 56 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Passenger and Matthew Perry's memoir

The Passenger – Cormac McCarthy   Traversing the American South, from the garrulous bar rooms of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness.  Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing – Matthew Perry  'Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.'  So begins the riveting story of acclaimed actor Matthew Perry, taking us along on his journey from childhood ambition to fame to addiction and recovery in the aftermath of a life-threatening health scare. Before the frequent hospital visits and stints in rehab, there was five-year-old Matthew, who travelled from Montreal to Los Angeles, shuffling between his separated parents; fourteen-year-old Matthew, who was a nationally ranked tennis star in Canada; twenty-four-year-old Matthew, who nabbed a coveted role as a lead cast member on the talked-about pilot then called Friends Like Us. . . and so much more.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20225 minutes, 30 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Mitch James - 'patience'

After a four-year wait, Mitch James has released his second studio album, patience. The album arrives half a decade after James' breakout single, 'No Fixed Abode’, and is the work of an artist who's emerged from various private and professional challenges with a greater sense of purpose.  The 27-year-old James lives in the Auckland suburb of Mission Bay, but he created much of patience in Los Angeles with producer and former Tonight Alive guitarist, Whakaio Taahi.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20227 minutes, 13 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20227 minutes, 30 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Twitter is a mess and renewed calls for a TikTok ban

Twitter is a hot mess I just can't look away from   As one employee asked - Has the Red Wedding begun yet? Reference to the massacre scene in Game of Thrones   It's estimated that 50 percent of the company has been fired via email. Employees are now suing the company for violating labour laws which in California require notification of large layoffs. Those effected had their access to email and Slack cut off, and their laptops wiped. Then got an email, to their personal email address, with more details on "next steps".  Elon Musk says Twitter has seen a drop in revenue since taking over, which makes sense because advertisers are worried about what content will be on the platform, or its stability, after layoffs. Twitter was also not a "must buy" from an advertising perspective, so is probably an easy decision to cut from media plans.  Then there's what's next for the product - lots of rumours, lots of speculation, but apparently it launches Monday.  There's a renewed call for a TikTok ban  This time from a commissioner at the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). He had previously called for Google & Apple to ban the app from their app stores - but that wouldn't stop direct access because it's also available on the web. The FCC has no power to ban TikTok but is drawing parallels to Huawei or ZTE.   What we know so far.. There is currently a negotiation in place between the US government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the USA. US user data is now sitting on Oracle powered servers in the US, but Bytedance hasn't committed to cutting off data flows to China. The concern is that China's government could use that data to track individuals - which could expose undisclosed military sites, real-time locations of US officials and their families, and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20226 minutes, 29 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Falcons and ro-magpies for safe aviation

Wingspan (the Bird of Prey Trust, located in Rotorua) has been an attraction for decades.  These wonderful people have been looking after injured falcons, kahu and owls for decades.  The way they re-habilitate these birds is by applying ancient falconry techniques which are thousands of years old.  I am absolutely in love with this Trust for the amazing work and research they do and for the fact they use their knowledge and facilities for education of our younger and older generations. https://www.wingspan.co.nz/  Go and take a look when they train and fly their falcons at Wingspan; see how these agile birds become fitter and fitter through flight training.  The coolest aspect of these flying spectacles is the “drone hunt”, whereby a falcon chases a polystyrene drone in the shape and colours of a Magpie (called a “ro-magpie”) It truly is an aerial battle between falcon and drone… ending in a real live falcon literally surfing a polystyrene drone to the ground  Incredible!  Now, falcons have not just been used to fly for fun (A big hobby in the Middle East!); initially these birds were used to hunt delectable prey, such as rabbits, pheasants, partridge and quail, to name a few targets. This was a food-gathering exercise!  Falcons have also been used to scare away the small birds that love to eat ripening grapes in vineyards; and in some countries falcons are also used to remove birds from places where they can cause dramatic damage (like around runway airports)  Rotorua airport is situated near the lake and quite a few birds tend to cross the runway at the most inappropriate times (when planes land or take off). That could cause “bird strike”.  Something to be avoided at all cost.  The Wingspan crew were asked what the options were to scare birds away from these areas and the crew came up with a plan to use the scary magpie drone, instead of a real live falcon.  Falcons are not always reliable when it comes to cruising the open skies in a pre-planned pattern (they sometimes refuse to come back to the falconer’s glove!!)  A ro-magpie drone, on the other hand, is something that can be operated from a safe distance and with reliability.  And that large Black and White Magpie is a really dangerous predator, in the eyes of a small song bird, a plover or a duck See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20223 minutes, 56 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Colditz, Demon Copperhead

Catherine Raynes has been reading Colditz by Ben Macintyre and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20224 minutes, 48 seconds
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Jordan Rondel: The Caker on calling out Chrissy Teigen over cake kits

Jordan Rondel has been in the news this week, standing up for the little guy against the big celebrity driven companies – calling out a cake company who released cake kits that look very similar to hers. There was also the added complication that these kits were associated with Chrissy Teigen – who Rondel had just collaborated with. Some are questioning whether all publicity is good publicity. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/202213 minutes, 35 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Sauvignon Blanc for the muggy weather

Bob Campbell has been sipping on the Rapaura Springs 2022 Sauvignon Blanc to keep cool in this muggy weather for just $19.99 a bottle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20226 minutes, 29 seconds
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Tara Ward: Inside Man, Rogue Heroes, This Country

Inside Man: David Tennant and Stanley Tucci star in this drama about an American death row prisoner with a sideline in solving mysteries, who helps a British journalist search for a friend who has suddenly disappeared (Netflix)  Rogue Heroes: Inspired by true events, this British drama is set during the darkest days of World War II when a band of maverick soldiers banded together to form the world's greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS (TVNZ+).   This Country: Two seasons of the BAFTA-winning mockumentary about the lives of cousins Kerry and Kurtan, as they grow up in a small village in the Cotswolds (TVNZ+).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20225 minutes, 13 seconds
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Lucy Corry: Strawberry, radish and cucumber salad with mint dressing

Strawberry, radish and cucumber salad with mint dressing  SERVES 4  PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES   COOK TIME: NIL  FOR THE DRESSING:  1 cup loosely packed fresh mint  leaves, washed and dried  ½ tsp honey  3½ tbsp freshly squeezed  lemon juice  3½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil  ¼ tsp salt  FOR THE SALAD:  250g (1 punnet) strawberries,  washed, hulled and sliced 1 medium-sized telegraph  cucumber, peeled, deseeded  and sliced  1 cup sliced radishes (about a small bunch, depending on size)  150g feta, crumbled small mint leaves, for garnishing  Sweet, crunchy and refreshing, with creamy, salty crumbs of feta and a hint of heat from new-season radishes, this is a complete pick-me-up. It’s best enjoyed soon after making.  Make the dressing first: put all the ingredients in a blender or small food processor and whiz until smooth. Taste for seasoning and set aside.  Tumble the sliced strawberries, cucumber, radishes and crumbled feta into a serving bowl. Drizzle over the dressing and toss gently. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20225 minutes, 30 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A fascinating move by the Automobile Association

Kevin Milne joined Francesca Rudkin to talk about the decision by the Automobile Association to now attend to bike breakdowns as well as cars. This is much to do with the increasing number of e-bikes in use.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/4/20224 minutes, 46 seconds
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Music: Artic Monkey's seventh album, The Car

The Car is the seventh album by Artic Monkeys, released just last week on the 21st of October. Estelle Clifford has been listening to the album and has a few thoughts to share. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20227 minutes, 20 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Superb strolls in Genova

Mike Yardley has been exploring the streets of Genova. For more tips on tripping the treats of Genova, Mike's article is on the website.   www.newstalkzb.co.nz/lifestyle  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20228 minutes, 45 seconds
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Books: Jodi Picolut's Mad Honey, Abyss by Max Hastings

Mad Honey - Jodi Picoult   “MAD HONEY has all of the things: alternating narratives, suspense, courtroom drama, and a love story at its core. It’s about authenticity, identity, and it explores the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become our true selves.””    Abyss - Max Hastings  Bestselling author Max Hastings offers a welcome re-evaluation of one of the most gripping and tense international events in modern history—the Cuban Missile Crisis—providing a people-focused narrative that explores the attitudes and conduct of Russians, Cubans, Americans, and a terrified world that followed each moment as it unfolded.  In The Abyss, Max Hastings turns his focus to one of the most terrifying events of the mid-twentieth century—the thirteen days in October 1962 when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. Hastings looks at the conflict with fresh eyes, focusing on the people at the heart of the crisis—America President John F. Kennedy, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, and a host of their advisors.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20223 minutes, 30 seconds
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Kate Hall: We're washing our clothes wrong - how to wash and care for your clothes to make them last longer

Sustainable fashion is more about how you WASH & CARE for your clothes than what you buy:  + Most of us are washing our clothes wrong  + When we wash our wardrobes properly, our clothes last longer, stay in better condition, we keep our favourite garments alive for longer, save water/energy, and buy less  + Wash 30 degrees or lower  + Spot wash  + Front loader is generally more gentle on clothes than top loader  + Don't do 'one wear, one wash'  + Hang things out to air dry (Tim & I have a wooden rack where our washing basket used to be - we hang things there to air that can be worn another time)  + Hand wash things that need it (you can do this in your shower!)  + Spring/summer is a great time to re-adjust your washing habits  + I personally spend more time caring for my clothes than at a mall - saves me money, it's my happy place (I know it's not for everyone), and I feel more loyal to the clothes I own   Essentially, no one talks about how to wash our clothes enough. Even in the sustainability world!  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20227 minutes, 45 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Bell's Palsy

Doctor Bryan Betty has the run down on Bell's Palsy and what is looks like. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20225 minutes, 28 seconds
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Tech: Disastrous week for big tech in the sharemarket, Musk takes over twitter

A disastrous week for big tech  Meta's, aka Facebook, shares fell off a cliff after posting a second straight quarterly decline. Revenue is down, and spending is off the charts. It's Realty Labs division has lost $9 billion so far this year trying to make the metaverse happen. It warned that Q4 isn't looking much better.   Alphabet's, aka Google, stocks plunged 9% when they posted their earnings which showed year-over-year revenues sliding. They’re going to review every project the company has in an effort to cut cost.     Elon's now in charge at Twitter   The former CEO and CFO are out - Elon is now in charge. He tweeted the "bird is freed". Twitter has been delisted from the stock exchange as the $44 billion deal closed overnight. Ahead of that, he made an appearance at HQ, and even brought some Tesla engineers to spend time reviewing Twitter code.  So what's next? We'll see. Musk has said that he's willing to reverse lifetime bans on people (read: Donald Trump). He wants to cut costs - he's looking at forcing employees to return to the office hoping it'll cause some to quit. He says they'll be looking at new ways to make money.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20223 minutes, 53 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Choose your plants wisely

Designing your garden can be somewhat troublesome; You can buy all the book in the world (or in New Zealand) and that only helps to give you the idea of what kind of plant, shrub or tree you’d like the look of. But will they survive, after you’ve planted them? Do they “cope” with that spot and your local climate? This week I drove south, along the fabulous spine of the South Island. In Christchurch is was 24 degrees; Geraldine 21 degrees, Burkes Pass 17 and in the Lindis Pass (my Favourite pass of all!) Just 13 degrees. There were lots of tussocks (the character of that pass) but also lots of smaller Alpine plants. Imagine you’d like to plant some of those alpines in your garden, much lower to sea-level, you may find them to be pretty frost-tender. In fact, many alpine plants will be killed in a severe Inland Canterbury frost. Why? Because in the mountains the temperatures might be reallllly low, but the plants will certainly be protected by the layer of snow on top of them. Little tricks of the local conditions – something we need to learn.   1) Go and visit your local Botanic Gardens and see what survives in your neck of the woods. Honestly, those gardens are your local library for your local meteorological conditions. 2) A walk around your neighbourhood will also give you hints of what grows well 3) Now’s the time to visit the various Garden festivals around new Zealand: Hurunui 27-30 October Rural open gardens in the coolest foothills Taranaki 28 Oct to 2 Nov (Fabulous Garden fest with lots of open gardens for a week) Garden Marlborough (another famous long-lived event) 3-6 November Wairarapa Garden Tours 5-6 Nov Waiheke Garden fest 5-6 Nov Bay of Plenty Garden and Arts Festival – 16-20 Nov… Juuls and I go there every year – just because! No doubt there will be others - check your local papers!! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20223 minutes, 43 seconds
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Tara Ward: White Lotus, The Devil's Hour, and The Playlist

White Lotus: a new series of the American satire set in a tropical resort, which follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week (Neon, from 31 October).  The Devil’s Hour: Peter Capaldi and Jessica Raine star in this British thriller about a woman who wakes up every night at exactly 3:33am, in the middle of the so-called devil's hour between 3am and 4am (Prime Video).   The Playlist: In this fictionalized account about the early days of Spotify, a Swedish tech entrepreneur and his partners set out to revolutionize the music industry with a legal streaming platform (Netflix).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20225 minutes, 18 seconds
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Two Raw Sisters: New cookbook, making raw easy, and working with your sister

Summer is nearly here!  …and with it comes outdoor entertaining, friends around for BBQs and of course, Christmas lunch or dinner.   Impressing your guests in the kitchen doesn’t need to be a stressful affair – that's the ethos of sisters Rosa and Margo Flannagan a.k.a The Two Raw Sisters.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/202214 minutes, 34 seconds
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Jack Tame: Live from NYC Baby!

I’d forgotten how loud the subways are. The way they clatter and shudder and screech and smash as they pull into a big station. There are no niceties with the subway. No comforts. No safety barriers on the platforms. No fabric or armrests or cushions on the seats. It’s all utility. Grime and rats. Every car, designed to be hosed out with a water blaster at the end of a very long night. I love the way the delivery guys on their electric bikes ride wtih plastic bags on their hands to protect them from the cold. I love the way strangers will compliment strangers’ outfits.‘I love your coat!’‘Thank you!’I love the yelling, the hustling, the what-the-f**k-is-that-smell? The way you have to pull off to the side on the footpath. I love that everyone constantly jay-walks. I love the grandeur. The stone, the steel, the glass. The way you can be lost in Midtown in the shadows of all the skyscrapers then suddenly reach a little gap of streaming sunshine. Hallelujah! The pianist playing a baby grand in the park as auburn leaves swish all around him. Those little pockets of peace amidst the go-go-go. I love the old tenements. The way people are prepared to pay thousands of dollars a month for a scummy apartment up six flights of stairs with a bathroom in which you can only close the door if you sit on the toilet at an angle. I love the food. I. Love. The. Food. I don’t love the way that when you walk in the city, mysterious droplets of air conditioner fluid sometimes drop onto your face from high above. But I love that people don’t seem to care. And more than anything, I love that they’re from everywhere. Every colour. Every age. Every style. Every accent. Every language. Every job. Every dream. Humanity’s great smorgasbord. There cannot be a more intensely diverse place on this Earth. I love cities. You don’t hear that enough. Any schmuck can appreciate a mountain range and a waterfall but there is also real beauty in a good city. Sure it’s easy to be distracted by the filth and the clatter. But beyond that, there is elegance in communal living. The way people always use good public space. Usually when I explore a place for the first time, I don’t expect to return. Unless I have friends or family or a specific reason to visit in the future, I just figure I probably won’t be back. There are too many places to explore in this World. Why waste an opportunity by revisiting a place you already know? But there are a handful of exceptions to the rule, a handful of cities, that are just different. They are just so very alive, oscillating and changing in a way that makes it refreshing to return time and again. And for me at least, there’s one city at the top of the heap. New York. It’s not a great city. It’s the great city.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20223 minutes, 52 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Hot ’n’ spicy wings AKA Buffalo Wings

Spicy, buttery, crispy . . . they’ve got it all going on. I first fell in love with spicy wings over 30 years ago whilst on a working holiday in USA. They were a revelation to me — devastatingly spicy but tempered by a cooling sour cream sauce for dipping the wings into.  Serves one  4 free-range whole chicken wings, or use 8 nibbles  salt  oil for baking  juice of 1 lemon  1 tablespoon chilli sauce - I use tabasco  ½ teaspoon smoked paprika  ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper  3 tablespoons melted butter  ¼ cup sour cream  2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or frozen blue cheese (see note)  Preheat the oven to 220°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Using kitchen shears, cut between the joint of the wings to produce a drumette and a wingette (I may have made that word up, winging it, as it were, but I’m sticking with it) if using whole wings. Place the chicken pieces on the lined baking tray and liberally season with salt. Drizzle with oil and place in the oven to bake until cooked through and golden, about 25–30 minutes. In a saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice, chilli sauce, paprika and cayenne pepper. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Whisk in the melted butter and return to a simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove the chicken from the oven and toss in the hot sauce. Season. Combine sour cream and cheese in a small bowl. Dip wings into the cooling sour cream sauce and eat. Note: Freezing blue cheese makes it super easy to grate  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20225 minutes, 47 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Bros and The Woman King

Bros  Bobby is a neurotic podcast host who's happy to go on Tinder dates and content not to have a serious relationship. That all changes when he meets Aaron, an equally detached lawyer who likes to play the field. Repeatedly drawn to each other, both men begin to show their vulnerable sides as their undeniable attraction turns into something resembling a commitment.    The Woman King  In the 1800s, a group of all-female warriors protects the African kingdom of Dahomey with skills and fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Faced with a new threat, Gen. Nanisca trains the next generation of recruits to fight against a foreign enemy that's determined to destroy their way of life.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20227 minutes, 9 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A journalism class reunion

Kevin Milne has managed to track down his journalism class from 1970, and this weekend the group is having a reunion. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/28/20226 minutes, 29 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Taylor Swift – Midnights

Midnights is the upcoming tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, set for release on October 21, 2022, via Republic Records. Announced at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, the album marks Swift's first body of new work since her ninth studio album, Evermore. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20225 minutes, 48 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Boys from Biloxi and I'm Glad my Mom Died

Boys from Biloxi - John Grisham The #1 New York Times bestselling author returns to Mississippi with the riveting story of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Grisham’s trademark twists and turns will keep you tearing through the pages until the stunning conclusion.  I'm Glad my Mon Died - Jeanette McCurdy  A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20224 minutes, 22 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A dip with Liechtenstein

Resident traveller Mike Yardley has been visiting Liechtenstein. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20228 minutes, 49 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Apology languages

Steven Dromgool has some relationship advice around what are known as 'apology languages'. You can find out about your apology language with a quiz here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20228 minutes, 47 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The next lesson in language and definitions

The next lesson in language and definitions: Native – Endemic – Beneficial – Pest  Remember: a Native organism is firmly established in NZ; it’s origin could be from overseas (or an ancient continent like Gondwanaland), but it got here, somehow, on its own accord (flying, drifting on logs, floating in the air, etc) without assistance from humans (luggage, commercial goods, planes, boats, smuggled, imported, etc). When I work with Teachers (and kids) at schools (Mazda’s Treemendous Education Program; Blake Inspire; Field-Based STEM), I often analyse this definition of native species. So: I ask the question: “What is the latest or newest native bird of prey in New Zealand?”  Examples: Silvereyes (white-eyes, Wax-eyes) established here in the 1830s. The first recorded nesting/breeding took place in 1832. Not many people know that, especially since these birds are very numerous in Aotearoa.  The Māori name is “Tauhou”, which means stranger or new-comer  This sentinel tree can tell an enormous number of stories – a serious curriculum full of nature knowledge. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20223 minutes, 1 second
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Hannah McQueen: What do you need to think about with your mortgage in conditions like these?

Mortgages are the story of the week – that inflation reading has pushed up fixed term interest rates for the first time in a while, when most thought that fixed term rates had peaked.  Whether it’s hit you yet or not, interest is soon going to be taking a bigger chunk of your income – so what should you be doing to ensure you not only continue to survive, but continue to make progress while interest rates are rising? Rather than panicking about what lies ahead, what do you need to be thinking about with your mortgage in conditions like these?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20225 minutes, 49 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Elon Musk's plan to fire Twitter staff

Elon's bold plan to fire 75% of Twitter's staff The Washington Post reports that's his message to investors as he secures funding to buy Twitter before October 28. He wants to stack rank employees and cut the bottom. The company had planned to cut 25% of its staff before Elon's bid, but this is three times that already large number.   What would it mean? Probably less of a focus on moderation, trust, safety and security? Maybe less stability of the service too?  Dig around in your drawers, because an original iPhone just fetched $40,000 at auction  See mum, this is why you keep the packaging! Like a relic frozen in time since 2007, it was in its original packaging, unopened, and, at the time, was worth $599. It sold for 65x that!  It was interesting comparing the price to today. $599 in 2007 would be $857 in today's US dollar. Today an iPhone 14 retails for $799. So it's 'cheaper' than it was at launch.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20225 minutes, 38 seconds
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Grace Tame: Australian of the Year 2021 on her memoir and 'that' ScoMo side-eye

Grace Tame has been called many things. Unstoppable, an inspiration, strong – and of all things, rude.   You might recognise Grace after she was named Australian of the Year 2021 for her fierce advocation and dedication to helping survivors of child sexual abuse.   This time, Grace is telling it like it is in her own words with her memoir just released called the Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner.  Grace Tame joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/202212 minutes, 4 seconds
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Tara Ward: Somewhere Boy, Gangs of London and From Scratch

 Somewhere Boy: An emotional British drama about Danny, who has lived his life locked at home with his father after the death of his mother. But when Danny turns 18, his whole world explodes in an instant, and he has to come to terms with a new world he never knew existed (TVNZ+).  Gangs of London: A new season of the gritty drama about the international gangs that control the city of London, as they struggle to fill the power vacuum created when the head of London's most powerful crime family is assassinated (Neon). From Scratch: Zoe Saldana stars in this American drama as an American student studying in Italy, who meets and falls in love with Lino, a Sicilian chef. When Lino faces health issues and the couple's future is threatened, the two families come together (Netflix).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20226 minutes, 1 second
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Nici Wickes: Little coffee, maple & walnut cakes

Coffee and walnuts are old friends and in these cute little cakes maple syrup adds an extra dimension.  Makes 8 small cakes or 10-12 muffins  100g soft butter 2/3 cup brown sugar, loosely packed (about 100g) 3 eggs 50g yoghurt or sour cream 100g walnuts, chopped + extra pieces to garnish 1 ½ cups plain flour (or 1 ¼ cups GF flour) 3 tsp baking powder 3 tsp espresso powder or 2 tsp instant coffee 1-2 tbsps milk ¼ cup maple syrup Icing:  100g cream cheese 2 tbsps sour cream ½ cup brown sugar 4 heaped tbsps icing sugar Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and flour an 8-hole mini-cake tin or 12 hole muffin tray. In a bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until it is creamed, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Continue mixing until light and fluffy. Stir in the yoghurt or sour cream and half the walnuts until just combined. Stir in the flour, baking powder and coffee and mix until combined. Add enough milk to get a dropping consistency. Spoon cake batter into tins and cook for 20-25 minutes until risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave for 5 minutes before turning out to cool. Toast the remaining walnuts and drizzle over maple syrup to coat. Briefly simmer then set aside to cool. Make the icing by beating all ingredients together until smooth. Ice each cake and garnish with cooled maple walnut pieces. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20225 minutes, 55 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: More than Gold and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris

Dame Valerie doco  This 90’ feature documentary named More than Gold is the candid and inspirational story of fivetime Olympian, double Olympic gold medallist, Tongan/New Zealander Dame Valerie Adams; one of the world’s most celebrated athletes. It is also the story of a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a survivor.  At a time when sportswomen globally are struggling with pressures beyond the field of play Dame Valerie Adams is a beacon of hope. Competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games required all the shotputter’s determination and courage. At 36, following two major surgeries and the birth of her children, she was considered an ‘older’ athlete. Struggling to balance her role as a mum with her job as an elite sportsperson, Valerie was forced to navigate emotions every mother will identify with.  Mrs Harris Goes to Paris  In 1950s London, a widowed cleaning lady falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress, deciding she must have one of her own. After working to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an adventure to Paris that will change not only her own outlook -- but the very future of the House of Dior. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20226 minutes, 10 seconds
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Kevin Milne: I am nervous about the university exams next week

Kevin Milne is most nervous about the university exams starting next week, yet he isn't sitting any. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20227 minutes, 5 seconds
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Jack Tame: The big decider for next year's election

I’m on the road at the moment. North America. Toronto and New York. And like anyone who’s been fortunate enough to take a holiday in the U.S lately, I’ve been swallowing hard at just how much stuff costs. Tomorrow night I’m staying one night in a mid-range New York hotel. It’s probably a 3.5-star establishment. The room is tiny. But for a sliding door, the toilet is more-or-less right next to my pillow and if I want to open my suitcase, the only space to do it will be on my bed. How much is it costing? About $NZ420 for one night. It’s not cos there’s a special event in New York this weekend. It’s not because we’re staying in a Penthouse on Central Park. It’s because the hawkish response to inflation from the U.S Federal Reserve is driving up the US dollar to its highest point in years. The index that follows the US dollar compared to other currencies shows the USD is up 20 percent compared to this time last year. Obviously I chose to come here on holiday so I’m not gonna moan too much! But the ripple effects of the strong USD aren’t just hurting tourists. And as the inflation battle continues, they’ll continue to impact countries around the World. The Consumer Price Index numbers for New Zealand this week were yet another sobering indicator that for all our optimism and wishful thinking, we still have a lot of pain to come in the economic aftermath of the pandemic. So far it’s tourists and a few mortgage-holders who are swallowing hardest, but I’m not convinced the New Zealand public has fully grappled with the looming alternative to high inflation. I don’t think many of us have paused and considered how life could feel in the next 12-to-18 months as the Reserve Bank hikes again and again, and we start to see the impact of much higher borrowing costs on the labour market. We are likely headed for a recession and presuming the Reserve Bank continues raising the OCR, we are likely headed for a meaningful, painful spike in unemployment. It’s a bit of an economic Sophie’s Choice, really. What’s worse? High inflation or high unemployment? Both options are bad and although central banks and politicians are gonna’ try and find a middle ground of sorts, there aren’t many causes for jolliness. For incumbent politicians everywhere it presents an enormous challenge. Liz Truss’s diabolical tenure will serve as good warning that reckless economic policies won’t get you far. The piper has to be paid. Even if you can sell a free lunch delusion to your voting base, it’s a tougher ask, selling it to the bond markets. What does it the bad numbers mean for the New Zealand election next year? As it so often does, essentially it will all come down to voters’ back pockets and the parties’ economic credibility. But even more than by policy differences, debates, and campaign strategies, the New Zealand election will be decided by the actions of the US Federal Reserve. Stare at a crystal ball and what the Fed will do over the next 12 months, and you’ll have as good an indicator as any as to what major party will win the election. Maybe if the Fed keeps aggressively hiking rates, Jacinda Ardern will decide it’s not worth it after all. She’ll succumb to the whispers and unfounded speculation and take a job at the U.N instead of fighting another campaign. If she does move to New York, my only advice to her would be to make sure she gets paid in greenbacks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/21/20224 minutes, 29 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Long Shadows, Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts

Long Shadows – David Baldacci  Killer twists. Heroes to believe in. Trust Baldacci.  Memory man FBI agent, Amos Decker, returns in this action-packed thriller to investigate the mysterious and brutal murder of a federal judge and her bodyguard at her home in an exclusive, gated community in Florida from international bestselling author David Baldacci.  Our Missing Hearts – Celeste Ng  From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes one of the most highly anticipated books of the year – the inspiring new novel about a mother’s unbreakable love in a world consumed by fear.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20224 minutes, 56 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Endemic Brilliance - the carmine rātā

OK… as promised, last week...  Language and definitions: Native – Endemic – Beneficial – Pest  A NATIVE organism is firmly established in NZ; it’s origin could be from overseas (or an ancient continent like Gondwanaland), but it got here, somehow, on its own accord (flying, drifting on logs, floating in the air, etc) without assistance from humans (luggage, commercial goods, planes, boats, smuggled, imported, etc)  ENDEMIC means it naturally occurs only in New Zealand, nowhere else, unless it has been introduced there. It is therefore a Native organism that is really special as it has been part of our ecosystems for many many years (millions of years)  Because our Native and Endemic organisms are important contributors to our ecosystem, they are BENEFICIAL to a lot of other species that live here – pollen-providers, pollinators, nectar manufacturers, food source, etc etc  A PEST is often and introduced species (either by accident or stupidity) that has a negative impact on our ecosystems or… our ABILITY to grow crops/fruit/food; a PEST can also be a species that got here on its own accord through unfortunate migration  Flowers right now and can be absolutely stunning!  It naturally occurs from Cape Reinga (Te Paki) all the way down to line from Taranaki to Mahia Peninsula. So… it is an ENDEMIC plant species  It doesn’t like frost very much at all, but when you plant it in a nice location, protected from the frost you’ll find it’ll thrive all the way down the South Island.  It grows well on the Port Hills, where it is a fabulous nectar source for native birds and native bees, moths and butterflies – I suppose you could call it beneficial  You can see it is a close relative of the famous endemic relative Metrosideros excelsa aka Pohutukawa. (Similar distribution area in NZ)  The carmine rātā is normally a “climbing rātā”, winding its stem around a tree trunk to get to the top where light levels are higher and photosynthesis is enhanced.  But when you take semi-hardwood cuttings from this rata, it will form as a shrub and it won’t climb. Most carmine rātā you can buy are taken from cuttings and therefore stay as a spectacular red-flowering bush, up to almost a meter high.  It loves well-drained soil with lots of organic material (think of the conditions in the soil of a native forest with lots of compost, formed by fallen leaves and branches); don’t let them dry out and keep the roots cool-ish…  Climbing rātā will go up rock walls and tree trunks in your garden; the shrub form does need quite a bit of sun if you want to see the spectacular crimson flowers.  Seeds form in summer to early autumn (in case you want to try and propagate a climbing crimson rātā)  The only PEST encountered on these Metrosideros species is MYTLE RUST.  Blown on the wind (by itself – like a NATIVE!!!) from Australia and settled in North and Western areas of the North Island and slowly spreading further south  A PEST with a Capital P. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20223 minutes, 21 seconds
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Kate Hall: Weird things you can do for the planet

Kate Hall shares the strange things she gets up to in order to help the planet - and you might just learn a trick or two.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20228 minutes, 15 seconds
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Bob Campbell: NZ's most expensive wine

Boby Campbell usually picks a wine with a price of tag of $20 or below but this week, he's shaking it up and chats to Jack Tame about one of our most expensive wines - Destiny Bay 2020 Magna Praemia, Waiheke that retails at $550 a bottle.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20224 minutes, 36 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Ads on Netflix, US government looking to ban Huawei

Netflix reveals how much you'll pay to watch with ads  In the USA the new "Basic with Ads" plan will be $6.99 a month, saving folks around $3 a month. It won't allow downloads or offline viewing, and won't offer 4K content, or multiple devices. Expect 4-5 minutes of ads an hour, ads will be 15-30 seconds in length, and they'll be both before and during the show. It's launching in 12 countries in November, but not in NZ just yet.  US government looking to ban Huawei  The FCC has prepared a draft order according to CNN sources, which would block sales of their new telco equipment in the US on national security grounds. The FCC today needs to sign off on any device which emits a frequency before it's sold, to prevent harm. This is in direct response to President Joe Biden's Secure Equipment Act signed last year.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20224 minutes, 37 seconds
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Tara Ward: This England, The Watcher, The Empress

This England: Kenneth Branagh stars as Boris Johnson in this drama based on the British prime minister's tumultuous first few months in Downing Street, as he grapples with the first wave of the Covid-19  pandemic (TVNZ1, Sunday).  The Watcher: Naomi Watts stars in Ryan Murphy’s latest drama about a married couple who purchase their dream home only to be threatened by terrifying letters from a stalker, signed "The Watcher” (Netflix).  The Empress: a sumptuous costume drama series based on the life of the 19th century Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria (Netflix)  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20225 minutes, 37 seconds
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Isla Fisher: Actress and bestselling author on her latest children's book 'Mazy the Movie Star'

Wedding Crashers, Confessions of a Shopaholic and Borat a.k.a Sacha Baron Cohen  They all have one thing in common: Isla Fisher.  The actress has worked in TV and film for more than 25 years.   You’ll be familiar with seeing her face walking the red carpet at movie premieres but what you might not be familiar with is her name on children’s books.   Isla loves writing, having released her first kids’ book as a teen.   She’s just released her latest called Mazy the Movie Star following on from her bestselling Marge in Charge series.   Isla Fisher joined Jack Tame.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/202213 minutes, 41 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Little polenta & raspberry cakes

As well as a savoury ingredient, polenta is a truly wonderful baking ingredient - it’s cornmeal so is GF and has so much texture.  Serve these little beauties with whipped cream.  GF syrup  ½ cup icing sugar  Juice of 3 lemons (use zest in cakes)  Cakes  175g butter, softened  175g caster sugar  2 large eggs  80g fine instant polenta  ½ cup freeze-dried raspberries + extra for topping  175g ground almonds  ¾ tsp baking powder  Zest of 2 lemons  Preheat oven to 150 C. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin and line each hole with a small square of baking paper. Make syrup by simmering sugar and lemon juice together for 3-5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Using a standing beater, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating between each. Fold in the polenta, raspberries, ground almonds, baking powder, lemon zest and juice. Spoon batter into prepared tin and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and cake has begun to pull away from sides. Once cooked, prick the top of each cake with a few small holes. Spoon over cooled syrup so that it soaks in. Leave cakes to settle for 5-7 minutes before removing and serving with whipped cream and a dusting of crushed freeze-dried raspberries. Tip:  Feel free to use this recipe to make one large cake using a lined 20cm spring form tin and cook for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20227 minutes, 20 seconds
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Chris Schulz: Amsterdam, Katrina Babies documentary

Movie reviewer Chris Schulz gives us his thoughts on Amsterdam and the doco Katrina Babies. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20226 minutes, 30 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The best journalism I've seen in the last week on Peter Ellis

A week on from the Peter Ellis Supreme Court ruling and Kevin Milne had had a chance to digest.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20227 minutes, 36 seconds
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Jack Tame: There's nothing like a day out with your oldest friends

I was trying to think how long it had been since we were all in a room together. It was before Dayle and Jeremy each had a family. Before Matt became a doctor. Before Alex announced to everyone that he’d taken a job in West Africa and by any chance did anyone know what the weather was like in Togo at this time of year? Five mates who grew up in the middle-class Christchurch suburbs and all knocked around a high school together. We read the same stuff, watched the same shows, studied the same subjects, played in the same sport teams and chased the same girls – all, with mixed success. And then one day, like dice in a Yahtzee cup, life shook us up and we scattered around the World. Since we last lived in the same city, we five mates have lived in five different continents between us. Alex lives in Tel Aviv and speaks Hebrew. He spent years guiding people through Jerusalem and the West Bank. Matt’s medical career has taken him from Melbourne to Medellin. Dayle’s a doctor too – recently he worked out of the back of emergency helicopters and he prides himself on differentiating different models by the thump of their rotor blades. Jeremy’s the only one of us to have visited Angola on business and was the first of the group to take on perhaps the greatest adventure of all – he has a wife and two wonderful kids. But how long since we’d all been in a room together? Sheesh. My best guess is that it was for someone’s 21st birthday, back in the day. The kids who were born in our final year of high school are now in their final year of high school. We’re starting to see age in each other’s faces, each other’s wasitlines, each other’s hair. Part of me thinks it’s the one big benefit of being part of the Facebook generation: Social media didn’t exist when we were in school, but it came in soon enough afterwards that we could keep in touch over the years. But the five of us still had to want to keep in touch. I think that’s an important point. Last weekend, Alex held a lunch to celebrate his marriage. It was a perfect, still, Spring day in Christchurch. Having travelled here from the Middle East, he and his wife gathered with his family and a few friends at Mona Vale. After a few hours, after lunch wrapped and everyone else had pushed on, we sat down on the banks of the Ōtākaro/Avon River with a few beers and a bottle of champagne. The sun was glorious, twinkling through the leaves of the trees along the riverbank. There wasn’t a breath of wind. Families, kids, wives, girlfriends all lay down on the grass and for that little moment, the lives of my oldest friends all came together once again. I laughed and laughed until my belly ached. It struck me on Monday when we split once again, farewelling each other and returning to our respective corners of the Earth: After all this time, all these years, all these experiences and jobs and relationships in isolation... everything’s changed and yet somehow, nothing’s changed. And I reckon that might be the best definition of friendship there is.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/14/20223 minutes, 59 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Julia Jacklin - PRE PLEASURE

Estelle Clifford has been listening to PRE PLEASURE from Julia Jacklin. The Australian songwriter’s empathetic, understated rock songs sift through a litany of relationships and beliefs, seeking a balance between thinking about life and actually living it.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20227 minutes, 22 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: My Darling Daughter and Forever Home

Catherine Raynes has been reading My Darling Daughter by JP Delaney and Forever Home from Graham Norton. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20224 minutes, 7 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Flocking back to Milan

Mike Yardley has been venturing around Milano. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20228 minutes, 20 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to make a good apology

Steven Dromgool shares his advice on how to make a good apology and the magic time zone of when to. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20227 minutes, 49 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Colourful nasturtiums

Tropaeolum is the Latin name for that almost weedy, but seriously colourful plant called Nasturtium Most gardeners know them, many grow them (in frost-free locations), some eat them and others find them a bit of a pain in the bottom due to their rampant growth. The famous painter Monet was a huge fan too! They hail from Central and Southern America; flower colours are bright in the red, orange and yellow spectra (plus a heap of other bred, fancy hues) and I reckon they literally brighten any garden with that blast of colours; They are easy to grow in almost any type of soil (especially the poorer soils), don’t really like rich soil with lots of fertilisers and their best attribute is the ability to give a huge dash of colour in the most boring part of your garden; Tropaeolum makes you smile – you simply can’t help it! Remember that frosts can kill them, but seeing they are actually annuals, their seeds will give you a brand new crop every spring. A really interesting did-you-know is that Nasturtium is an alternative host for the white cabbage butterfly caterpillar, despite the fact that Nasturtiums are not a Brassica, nor are they closely related to the cabbage family. So if you don’t want white butterfly caterpillars in your cabbages, broccoli, caulis and sprouts, don’t grow Nasturtium near your cabbage patch! You can eat the leaves, the seeds and the flowers – taste is described as “peppery” or resembling “honey-mustard” The flowers can be eaten or used in fancy cookery recipes, stuffed with cream cheese or topped on vinaigrette-laced salad, but remember that the flowers tend to wilt quite quickly, so chuck them on that salad at the last moment before serving. Even washing the flowers makes them “flaccid”, so keep them au naturel and consume them raw… without washing! And that last bit of info might sound weird, but makes perfect scientific sense. If you look at the plant after a shower of rain, you’ll find that the leaves actually hold the raindrops on the surface in perfect little bubbles of “quick-silver”. We have a scientific term for that: the leaf surface is Hydrophobic; it repels water. There are a few plants that show this hydrophobic feature: Lotus, some types of water lilies, and indeed: cabbages! If you look further into the natural world you may find that the wings of flies (crane flies!) and heaps of other insects have a similar repellency of water droplets. For nasturtium and Lotus, etc, this repellency is caused by a nano-structure on the leaf surface. It literally forces the droplets of water to become slippery objects on the leaf that removes dirt from the surface and tosses it all off the leaves when the droplets become too large. In other words: due to those nano-structures, those leaves become self-cleaning surfaces! All you need is a bit of water to clean it on a regular basis. Now, wouldn’t it be a clever idea to – somehow – put that nano structure on the glass of your shower door? Guess what: that system exists already. Not just on glass but also on floor tiles, roof tiles, on concrete and on paint. Biomimicry! It’s how we learn from Nature and design according to ancient natural processes!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20224 minutes, 52 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Osteoporosis - what is it and how many have it?

Dr Bryan Betty has the rundown on what we can do to help treat osteoporosis. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20224 minutes, 21 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Google to join smart watch market, Elon Musk's Twitter deal back on

Google is joining the smart watch market  This week they announced their first ever Pixel Watch. They bought Fitbit last year for $2.1 billion and that tech is front and center in the new watch.It's a circular design which differentiates it from the Apple watch, boasts a 24 hour battery and has all the health tracking Fitbit offers such activity tracking, heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking. It integrates with Google's other services too like the Google Wallet. It's unlikely to grab market share from the Apple Watch because you'd need an Android phone to pair with it, but it is another reason for Android users to stick with their Androids built by Google.  They announced new Pixel phones too which come with new camera features, an improved screen, and longer-lasting battery.   Elon is going to buy Twitter after all  For the price he agreed. So for now, that means the court case is on pause, Elon is now securing his funding, and the deal will happen before October 28 or it will end up in court. What a messy and unnecessary debacle. His friend's text messages are all over the press, he has damaged his brand, and he still needs to buy it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20223 minutes, 9 seconds
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Tara Ward: Interview with a Vampire, Friends of the Family, Derry Girls

Interview with a Vampire: New streaming service AMC+ launches in New Zealand with a variety of new and exclusive shows, including a contemporary remake of Anne Rice’s famous novel (AMC+)   Friends of the Family: Anna Paquin and Colin Hanks star in this true-crime drama about a family destroyed by a kidnapping that happens right under their noses (TVNZ+)   Derry Girls: The third and final season of the delightful comedy about a group of teenagers growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1990s (Netflix)  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20224 minutes, 56 seconds
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Kita Mean: Inaugural winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Downunder on new memoir 'Life in Lashes'

Kita Mean’s life went from grunge rock to glitz and glam as he made an unforgettable entrance into the drag world.  Kita Mean a.k.a Nick Nash was the first winner of global television hit RuPaul’s Drag Race Downunder.  But it wasn’t all plain sailing to get there and Kita bares all in her brand new memoir, Life in Lashes.  Nick Nash / Kita Mean joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/202215 minutes, 53 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Asparagus and mustard tart

Asparagus is here and remember it’s a short season so make hte most of it with this gorgeous tart. It’s so simple to whip up and utterly delicious.  Asparagus and mustard tart  Serve 4-6  2 bunches (or about 20) medium thickness asparagus spears 1 sheet puff pastry 1 egg, beaten with a fork 150g sour cream or crème fraiche ½ cup grated parmesan + extra to serve 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard ½ teaspoon sea salt + decent grind black pepper Drizzle of olive oil Heat oven to 200 C. Trim or snap the tough ends off the asparagus spears. Line a tray with the pastry, twisting and pinching up the edges to form a rim if you need to. Brush the edges with the beaten egg. Whisk together the sour cream (or crème fraiche) with Parmesan and mustard. Spread this over the pastry. Lay the trimmed asparagus on top, season with salt and pepper and drizzle over olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and cooked on the base too. To serve, grind over some more pepper and grate over some Parmesan. Nici’s Note: You could add chopped, crispy bacon or flakes of smoked salmon to this tart if you fancy it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20227 minutes, 22 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Don’t Worry Darling, Catherine Called Birdie

Francesca Rudkin has been busy watching Don’t Worry Darling and Catherine Called Birdie. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20225 minutes, 24 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The 150th birthday of Hanmer Springs

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to celebrate a milestone for an iconic Kiwi destination. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20226 minutes, 25 seconds
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Jack Tame: Forget America, cannabis reform in NZ is still a long way off

I once interviewed a man as he smoked cannabis through a gas mask. It was, it has to be said, an impressive and innovative contraption. The rubber gas mask was one that you’d pick up in an army surplus store. It sealed his face on all sides and connected to a hose, which in turn connected to a water pipe. Clearly his cannabis use hadn’t fully diminished his creative abilities. That interview was almost a decade ago. It took place in a public square right in the centre of Denver, Colorado, at the first 4/20 rally since the state legalised recreational cannabis. There were thousands of people in attendance all smoking cannabis together. At the time, the organisers celebrated it as the largest communal cannabis smoke in American history. Yesterday, history came calling again. On an order from Joe Biden, everyone with a federal possession conviction will be pardoned for their crime. The President, a man who turns 80 next month, and whose son has well-documented struggles with addiction, stood up and acknowledged that cannabis laws have ultimately caused more harm than good. To think what advocates would have done for that kind of political leadership here. Ultimately, it’s only a matter of time before New Zealand follows in America’s footsteps and regulates the sale and supply of recreational cannabis. But the result of the 2020 Cannabis referendum has delayed that inevitability longer than it might otherwise have been. Throwing cannabis legalisation to a referendum was an abdication of political leadership and the Prime Minister’s refusal to take a public position in the debate was an illuminating demonstration of her political priorities. She shirked basic leadership for fear her position might cost a few votes. Although her support may not have been enough to push the ‘Yes’ team over the line, in a general election that delivered her party a record result, one can only assume it might have helped. But for all the inevitable noise off the back of Joe Biden’s announcement, the result of the New Zealand referendum means neither of the major political parties will legalise recreational cannabis until they’re absolutely sure a clear and substantial majority of voters supports them doing so. Having seen it fail once, even by a tiny margin, there’s good reason to think a regulated market might still be several political cycles away. Since Colorado legalised recreational cannabis a decade ago, 18 other U.S states have followed suit. Cannabis has been decriminalised in 31 U.S states. But while New Zealand sticks doggedly to the status quo, cannabis use isn’t decreasing. A majority of Kiwi teens will have used it before their twentieth birthday. And just you watch, at exactly the same time as our politicians refuse to do anything about cannabis, many of them will vote against new restrictions on booze. We’ll criminalise the possession of one drug but happily promote a more damaging one. The hypocrisy riles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/7/20223 minutes, 44 seconds
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James Irwin: Mel Parsons - Slow Burn

Songs: Slow Burn  Track in the news: Carry on  Award-winning indie-folk artist Mel Parsons has today announced the release of her new album SLOW BURN for September 16, as well as revealing an 11-date national tour to follow in support of the album release.  Featuring the already released moody and nostalgic single ‘Carry On’; the dark and intense track ‘Already Gone’; and most recently, the mellow and meandering single ‘Slow Burn’, the album is to be one of grit and grace, with Parsons’ dusky vocals consuming the eleven new tracks.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20225 minutes, 54 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Exiles and All the Broken Places

Jane Harper – Exiles  Critically acclaimed international bestseller Jane Harper returns. A mother disappears from a busy festival on a warm spring night. Her baby lies alone in the pram, her mother’s possessions surrounding her, waiting for a return which never comes.  An outstanding novel, a brilliant mystery and a heart-pounding read from the author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man and The Survivors.  John Boyne – All the Broken Places  From the author of the globally bestselling, multi-million-copy classic, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and The Heart's Invisible Furies. Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same mansion block in London for decades. She leads a comfortable, quiet life, despite her dark and disturbing past. She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany over seventy years before. She doesn't talk about the post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20224 minutes, 4 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A fling with Frankfurt

At the heart of Western Europe, Germany’s financial centre offers quick and easy connections to a plethora of enchanting destinations, courtesy of the masterly integration of the railway with Frankfurt Airport. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20227 minutes, 10 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Small holes in the soil – Native bees

  I’ve noticed a remarkable increase in Native Bee activity, over the past few weeks.  Native bees? Yep – we have 28 different species and they tend to fly under the radar of most gardeners.  We all know the introduced Honey Bees, that live I hives and pollinate a heap of crops and fruits we eat.  Our native bees are much smaller, often black or dark brown and they are not “social” creatures that form a smooth-running colony in a neatly constructed hive. After silk worms, honey bees were domesticated many, many weekends ago.  Native bees are “solitary” (a female and a male dig a nest and provide the larvae with plenty of food to complete their life cycle), but many pairs have a tendency to dig their nests close together in undisturbed, exposed soil or vertical banks of clay or loam.  Those small holes are quite easy to detect and, more importantly, easy to accidentally destroy!  Native bees are showing a declining trend in NZ; could be many reasons for that (including diminishing nectar resources as a result of honey bee growth).  Our native bees are experts at pollinating our native plants species. Their demise can have ecological implications for the health of our native landscapes.  I would urge awareness – let them be (let them bee)  If you have an opportunity to create an almost vertical wall of soil (doesn’t have to be a huge wall – a foot high is more than enough), see if these tiny bees will come to live in your garden.  They love a sunny exposure without too much shade from plants.  I can sit in the garden for hours, watching these industrious little bees dig their hole, maintain the entrance, and fly in with pollen and nectar to store in their babies’ larder at the end of the tunnel  Of course, their pollination job really helps the native plants in your garden too;  I suppose that’s what nature is all about:  Collaborative, allowing facilitation and creating topics of learning for the kids See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20223 minutes
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Paul Stenhouse: Google is taking a fresh look at what's next for Search

It's most important product! The internet is getting more visual, so how do you find things without keywords? Google is exploring ways to take photos and search off those - the example they use is a photo of a dress effectively being one of your search terms, then adding words to say "in green" or "shorter length".  They're also rethinking what is at the bottom of the search results page - you look at the 10 links, then what? Typically people try another search, so could they instead suggest related searches? Could they showcase things you might be interested in based on what they know about you? These ideas are being explored. That also includes how auto-complete works. Today it just completes with exact terms, but what about related terms? or more popular terms?   LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20224 minutes, 34 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Managing your finances in retirement

Massey University recently re-did its survey of what people of different lifestyles spend in retirement with the numbers shocking some - and yet we still put off preparing because it’s scary, because other things take precedence for example. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20226 minutes, 55 seconds
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Stewart Sowman-Lund: The Patient, Reboot and Bad Sisters

Stewart Sowman-Lund is taking over from Tara Ward this week for Screentime.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20225 minutes, 19 seconds
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Tony Fadell: Brains behind the iPhone, iPod and one of the world's leading inventors

The iPhone.   And yes, we know the name Steve Jobs, but the brains behind the build and design of not just the iPhone but the iPod too is a man named Tony Fadell.  He has 300 patents to his name and has been listed as one of the world’s leading inventors.  Tony Fadell joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/202213 minutes, 30 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin:

Millie Lies Low After missing her flight to a prestigious internship, an anxiety-ridden architecture grad fakes being in New York while lying low in her home town scrounging for another ticket.    Memory When Alex, an expert assassin, refuses to complete a job for a dangerous criminal organization, he becomes a target. FBI agents and Mexican intelligence are brought in to investigate the trail of bodies, leading them closer to Alex. With the crime syndicate and FBI in hot pursuit, Alex has the skills to stay ahead, except for one thing: he is struggling with severe memory loss, affecting his every move. Alex must question his every action and whom he can ultimately trust.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20226 minutes, 47 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Cheese, Cheese, Cheese & Guava Paste

October is always NZ Cheese Month and that means breaking out and trying something new and supporting our wonderful local cheesemakers! Here’s some basic rules to get the most from your cheese.  Storing cheese:  It’s best to keep cheese, of all varieties, in a dark, cool and airy space – the vegetable part of your fridge is ideal, as it is not too humid or cold. Wrap it in a semi-breathable wrapping, baking paper is ideal for most, foil for blue cheese Once you’ve cut into a new cheese, keep it in a sealed Tupperware or cake box in the fridge. Pop a small sugar cube inside your container. The cube will absorb excess moisture, and prevent the cheese from sweating. Eating cheese:  Take cheese out of fridge 1 hour before you intend to eat it. This allows it to come to room temperature. Set out a variety of cheeses, with appropriate accompaniments – crackers, dried fruit, pastes, raw fruit like pears or nectarines, chutneys etc. A grate of parmesan elevates any leafy salad or try some blue cheese on roast potatoes, try serving chunks of hard cheese with fruit cake this Xmas. Buy quality:  If you’re lucky enough to have a local cheesemaker or decent cheesemonger, visit them (to name a few Sabato / Maison Vauron AK / Canterbury Cheesemongers (Ferrymead) , Over the Moon (Putararu) OR Visit cheeseloversnz.co.nz for some great offers that will be delivered to your door. Nici’s Guava Paste  Good with cheese  5kg of guavas Sugar (will depend on weight of guava pulp – see method) Mash the guavas in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat so the mixture is still slightly bubbling for 20 minutes. Line a sieve with a clean chux cloth and place over a bowl. Drain overnight. Reserve liquid for cordial or similar. Take the pulp and push it through a sieve to get rid of the extremely hard pips. Weigh the pulp and add it, and 3/4 of its weight in sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice, to a heavy based saucepan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Pouring into a baking paper lined tray and refrigerate to set. Cut into squares and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Eat with cheese! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20226 minutes, 38 seconds
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Kevin Milne: An embarrassing tale of click and collect

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to share a light-hearted and somewhat embarrassing tale due to a click and collect service. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20225 minutes, 46 seconds
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Jack Tame: Vodafone by any other name... (1)

What’s in a name? Depending on how much it means to you, potentially tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. And while everyone was quick to criticise Vodafone’s New Zealand rebrand, history tells us that actually with a few months under the belt, it’ll all have blown over and One NZ will be just fine. ‘But Jack!’ You’re wondering... ‘What about TV ONE?’ Yep. True. There’s a clash there, of sorts. But one’s a Telco and one’s a TV station. And while I can’t speak for my TV bosses, I’m fairly confident I’m not the only person with the capacity to work out the difference. ‘But Jack!’ You’re wondering... ‘What about the racist undertones?’ For goodness’ sake. As someone who engages with politics most than most, personally I’d never heard of the ONE New Zealand Foundation until people started furiously tweeting about them. A former Green Party MP even announced on social media that her partner was phoning around to shift the pair’s Vodafone plan to a provider that wasn’t somehow inadvertently endorsing an apparently racist ideas. Do I agree with the ideology of the ONE New Zealand Foundation? No, of course not. If you’re in the headspace to be seduced by that kind of thing, the name of your cell phone provider is the least of your concerns, and I’m a sensible person whose time is far too valuable to waste on crackpot ideas. It’s for that same reason that I can’t imagine in a million years drawing a tenuous link between a cell phone provider and a fringe, far-right group. I hate the term ‘virtue-signalling’ but ask yourself if anyone going through the hassle of changing cell phone providers this weekend is doing it to meaningfully fight racism or really just doing it for the Tweet? Most telecommunications companies have business models that rely on scale. They need the biggest-possible customer base. And if you’re targetting a broad customer base, it doesn’t make sense to insult or upset people. That’s why they choose simple names. Preferably one word. Not too many syllables. Maybe Vodafone’s marketting team took the ‘one word’ principle too literally. Was One NZ a visionary rebrand? No. A game-changing piece of marketting? No. Is it a name that particularly inspires? No. Does that matter? No, of course not. Not at all. Remember when everyone fussed and fumed because Spark’s new logo looked like a cat’s bum? We got over that. We’ll get over this. The brand formally known as Vodafone has a massive reach and a massive marketting budget. I reckon we’ll get used to saying ‘One NZ’ before we get used to King Charles. And actually, what’s most puzzling to me about the name game this week is why the owners of a certain Auckland hotel decided not to follow Vodafone’s lead. Having completely overhauled its 221 rooms, with new carpet, curtains, and cabinetry, beds and and even TVs, the only thing that has hasn’t changed at the hotel is the name. And let’s be honest, if ever there was a good argument for a rebrand, surely Jet Park was it? Maybe the owners knew. They didn’t need to wait for Vodafone’s example. When it comes down to it, we humans just don’t like change.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/30/20223 minutes, 46 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Bullet that Missed, Act of Oblivion

Catherine Raynes has been reading the latest in the Thursday Murder Club series, called The Bullet that Missed. Catherine also has her review of Robert Harris' new novel, Act of Oblivion.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20224 minutes, 2 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Mumford & Sons' Marcus Mumford goes solo

Estelle Clifford has been listening to new tunes from Marcus Mumford, who's gone out on his own.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20225 minutes, 46 seconds
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Oskar Howell: Tech journalist on Amazon news stories

Amazon's in the news with Twitch revenue split changes and Jeff Bezos being made to testify to the FTC.  Oskar Howell, social media expert and tech journalist, is here to explain more today. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20224 minutes, 13 seconds
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Mike Yardley: UK Royal residences you can actually sleep in

Mike Yardley is in the UK and share his tips on a Royal residence open to the public to slumber in. The world’s eyes have been fixed on Britain as we farewelled Queen Elizabeth II. The British Monarchy looks destined to remain an enormous catalyst for UK-bound tourism and Visit Britain is projecting a surge in royal-inspired travel. Dripping with royal trappings and a wealth of history, there’s a surprising amount of regal accommodations experiences to be found in the United Kingdom. Best of all, they don’t have to break the bank. Plenty of hotels pledge to treat you like royalty with their five-star frills. But the fact remains that not even the fanciest of facials or triple digit cotton thread count can match the prospect of bedding down in a real-deal royal residence, like the grand grounds of Balmoral, where Queen Elizabeth II saw out her final days. So not why just go stay there instead? Whether you’re a royalist or a history hound, here’s a handful of royal residences that any commoner can book a stay in. It’s kind of like the royal version of Bookabach. High up in Sutherland, Scotland, the most northerly castle on the British mainland is the 16th-century Castle of Mey. This old pile’s blood-stained history was given a new lease on life when the Queen Mother bought the castle after the death of her husband, King George VI. After a tip to toe restoration to the building and its expansive 12-hectare of grounds, which took her fifty years to complete, she spent several weeks here every August and October until her death. The castle became the first royal residence opened up to paying guests, who can now stay at the Captain's House cottage, which was the late Queen Mother's favourite spot for an indoor picnic. As you do. It can sleep six people and includes a 20-foot conservatory which overlooks an enclosed garden and offers sweeping sea views. In 2019, the then Prince Charles opened the Granary Lodge for guests, as well. www.castleofmey.org.uk Henry VIII may well have been the Hugh Hefner of the Tudor period, with Hampton Court Palace being the 16th century equivalent of the Playboy Mansion. A pleasure palace that set the stage for seriously debauched parties. Situated on the banks of the Thames just south-west of London, the infamous king's pad which also boasts pleasure gardens, a tennis court and even a bowling alley, is available for stays. Get your own taste of royal grandeur by renting the on-site 18th century Georgian House, which comes complete with private walled garden and is on the alley leading to Henry VIII’s Real Tennis Court. The Georgian House sleeps up to eight and will cost you around NZ$500 a night. www.landmarktrust.org.uk Hampton Court Just off the mainland, the Isle of Wight makes for a magnificent island escape. It’s also home to Osbourne House which was beloved by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a family holiday home. The formal entrance to Osborne House, Sovereign's Gate, has welcomed an A to Z of European aristocracy, from Napoleon and Tsar Nicholas II. It was also where Victoria made her final departure in 1901, passing away in her favourite seaside retreat. You can tour the bedroom where she died. Nowadays, the grand entrance has been turned into one of two holiday cottages, housed within this landmark building. www.english-heritage.org.uk Osbourne House Synonymous with Christmas royal-style, Sandringham in Norfolk was purchased by Queen Victoria as a marital home for her son, Edward VII. Sandringham remains a firm favourite with the royal family. Queen Elizabeth II spent her first Christmas in the property as an eight-month-old, and since then the entire Windsor tribe converge on their Norfolk bolthole every December. But when the Monarch isn't in residence, cottages that house the travelling staff on the 8000-hectare estate, are available to let. So if that invitation to Christmas lunch never seems to arrive in the mail, this is the next best thing. What was formerly the head gardener’s house is available to rent year-round. Called the Garden House, it overlooks the ornamental garden that adjoins the main building. www.norfolkhideaways.co.uk Sandringham Estate The grandest of them all? Balmoral Castle. The royal family's hideaway in the Scottish Highlands was one of the Queen's favourite residences. Flanked by more than 20,000 hectares of forests, lochs and glens; it is the summer holiday haven for the Royal Family. Like the cottages in Sandringham, they serve as staff quarters when the Monarch comes to stay. Just prior to her death, The Queen decided to allow all eight cottages to be made available to the public for holiday bookings, after being shut for so long during the pandemic. Colt Cottages are situated in close proximity to the Castle, near the Estates Office and Stables. Bookings run on a Saturday to Saturday basis and can sleep up to five people. It’s available for let between January 7 and March 31, while Rhebreck Cottage is available year-round, aside from when the Royal Family is in residence. The weekly tariff starts from NZ$1000 a week. www.balmoralcastle.com Balmoral Castle Finally, when it comes to being "neighbours'' with The Firm, London's The Rubens at the Palace enjoys that unique distinction. Overlooking the rear of Buckingham Palace, the century-old hotel has long been the glorified accommodation wing for palace guests. From the windows you can watch the guardsmen in the Royal Mews, see the rollers being cleaned and the Monarch’s horses in their stables. The aptly named Palace Lounge stages one of London’s most beloved afternoon teas, brimming with royalty-associated fare. From coronation chicken sandwiches (purposefully conceived for the coronation lunch of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, to the Queen's beloved "jam pennies" and bite-sized portions of William and Harry's favourite chocolate sweet treat – every bite comes with a story. Mike Yardley is our Travel Correspondent on Jack Tame Saturday Morning. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20228 minutes, 34 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Tomato time!

Really? Past Mid September already?  I think that even living in Christchurch this is a rather late moment to sow the tomato seeds. On the other hand… A quick deposit of seeds now allows us to grow seedlings quickly and without risk of too much frost damage. Go on the website of the seed merchants. Kings seeds and Yates and all the others you know. Check your local plant stores – they often have a heap of cool varieties! Get the varieties you want and start that wonderful process of getting a heap of small pots with fabulous seed-raising mix – the fine compost-like stuff that is moist (not soaking wet) and hold lots of organic matter Tomato seeds should never be sown too deep. Think about a depth of just one millimetre if you can – just out of the reach of day-light. The way to achieve that is by sprinkling the seeds on top of the seed-raining mix and then add a tiny layer of more seed-raising mix or… sand, if you’ve got some. Keep the sowing trays in a warm (not too hot) and dark area. Do NOT over-water – rather: use a “mister” to spray water over the trays. That has the effect of keeping the seed-raising mix moist (not soaking wet) The warmth will help with germination; sunshine is not really a useful thing; too intense! Get the seedlings up to about 3 inches (7 centimetres or so). They will have some cotyledons (seed-leaves). Then provide them with a bit more light. Not in full sun, but in a lighter space, so that the seedlings can harden off a bit and grow a bit more “sturdy”. They start to develop some “True leaves” on the stem. Those are the ones that will also allow the development of side shoots, which might come in handy at a later stage of the tomato plant’s growth. After a month or so, the seedlings are ready to be transplanted; I usually take them to a larger pot with good potting mix. The way to transport them from their seedling mix to the next-stage-potting-mix is by holding them by their true leaves (not the fragile stems!) Once the plants are showing signs of hairiness (and sturdiness) on the stems they are ready to put in their final position. Imagine a good, well-drained soil mixture (loam and organic matter) with a natural fertiliser such as sheep pellets. Hammer a decent 1.8 meter stake in the middle (you’ll need that stake anyway, for the tomato vine to grow with) and plant the new arrival next to the stake. As soon as it starts to grow up try to tie it to the stake, especially if it is in a windy spot. In my tunnel house, where we don’t get rain (!) I need to do the watering myself and therefore choose a system with liquid fertiliser. Usually alternations of Seaweed Tea and Seafood Soup. Mixed in a rather diluted form (looking like light brown water). This means that the plants get fed often and with small amounts; If planted outside, I have always had good result with a slow-release fertiliser sprinkled on the soil; above the root zone: every time it rains, some of the fertiliser will dissolve and make its way into the soil. If you are growing indeterminate varieties of tomato (those that act like climbing vines, rather than bushy plants that stay low) try to keep up with pruning off the laterals, especially in the first meter of vine. It allows the vine to race upwards and create a much better fruiting “crown” at an easier height to pick the fruit. Varieties that were great for me: Artisan Blush was by far the best variety for us – I just pulled them up as they were still producing from last year!! Artisan Blush Cocktail True Red was yummy! And Chef’s Choice Bicolour was the beautiful show-stopper in summer Gerard Martin of Kings Seeds has two tips on new varieties: Rosella, a big cherry tomato with a black Blush And Orange Icicle which he describes as Meaty, Juicy, and Sweet Kick myself for being a bit late, this season… LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20224 minutes, 58 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Just betrayed - what do I do next?

Adam Levine has been in the news this week with allegations of cheating on his wife. Steven Dromgool looks at what you can do in the two weeks after finding yourself in the same situation.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20228 minutes, 14 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Stoneleigh 2021 Riesling from Marlborough

Bob Campbell has been drinking the Stoneleigh 2021 Riesling from Marlborough and shares his thoughts. Bob's wine tip: Rieslings vary in sweetness and yet many fail to indicate sweetness level. All wines are legally obliged to show alcohol level. Alcohol level is a guide to sweetness. If a Riesling has an alcohol level of 12% or above it is likely to be dry or only very lightly sweet. If it has an alcohol level of 10% or less it is likely to be at least slightly sweet. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20223 minutes, 25 seconds
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Tara Ward: Showtrial, Entrapped, Waiata Anthems

Showtrial:  a courtroom drama from the makers of Vigil. One missing student, and a second - privileged and unlikeable - arrested for murder. The jury is going to hate her, but is she guilty? (TVNZ+) Entrapped: Sequel to the series Trapped, this murder mystery is set among the fjords of Iceland as a detective investigates the murder of a young man with links to a cult (Netflix) Waiata Anthems: a second season of the uplifting and thoughtful series that sees iconic musical artists from Aotearoa like Lorde and Tim Finn translate and record their songs in te reo Māori (TVNZ+) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20225 minutes, 14 seconds
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Groove Armada's Tom Findlay on making music for 20 years, final tour stop in NZ

They’ve kept dance floors filled for decades and are pioneers in electronic music but now iconic UK duo Groove Armada are calling time on touring after an incredible career.  Tom Findlay and Andy Cato have been best mates and colleagues for 20 years, producing hits like Superstylin’, At the River and I See You Baby. Their final tour ever ends in New Zealand with a full live band in November.   Tom joins Jack Tame on Saturday Mornings.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/202214 minutes, 54 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Fried cabbage leaves

THIS WEEK is the inaugural NZ ZERO FOOD WASTE CHALLENGE and it’s been so enlightening learning about landfill and how we contribute to it and what it’s doing in terms of emissions and resource management. One of the powerful habits to form to reduce what you’re throwing out is to USE IT ALL UP which means using stalks, peelings, outer leaves etc. I’ve become a huge fan of fried cabbage leaves which I first tried at a restaurant on Waiheke Island – they are just sooooo good. Makes 8-10 1-2 outer cabbage leaves ½ cup GF self-raising flour 2 tbsps cornflour 2 tsps cumin seeds ½ tsp turmeric ½ tsp sea salt ¾ cup ice cold water Vegetable oil for deep-frying 1. Cut the cabbage leaves into smaller pieces, say the size of your palm. 2. In a bowl, mix flour, cornflour, cumin, turmeric, salt and water to a smooth thin batter. 3. Heat enough oil in a medium saucepan to be able to immerse leaves for cooking. When oil begins to shimmer, drop some batter into the oil – if it fizzes immediately it is hot enough. 4. Dredge each cabbage leaf through the batter to coat, draining any excess. Lower into hot oil and cook until golden brown then drain on a paper towel. Repeat with all leaves. 5. Serve immediately sprinkled with salt. 3 FUN FACTS: A lettuce takes 25 years to decompose in landfill due to the anaerobic conditions For every kilo of food lobbed into landfill, 830 litres of water is lost – that’s 13 showers 1 kilo of food in landfill produces about the same carbon emissions as 25,000 plastic bottle LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20228 minutes, 40 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: See How They Run, Fire of Love

See How They Run   In 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered. When a world-weary inspector and an eager rookie constable take on the case, they find themselves thrown into a puzzling whodunit within the glamorously sordid world of underground theater, investigating the mysterious homicide at their own peril.  Fire of Love  Intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft die in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together, unravelling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing some of nature's most explosive imagery.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20224 minutes, 25 seconds
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Jack Tame: Never say never to nuclear threat

Never say never. Have wiser words ever been spoken? Any way you look at it, the last few years have not been easy for anyone trying to predict the future. Whether sitting around a dinner table or behind a radio microphone it’s been a fool’s game to try and guess what might possibly come next. I call B-S on any serious person who watched Donald Trump’s campaign launch back in 2015 and thought ‘That man will be President.’ Sure, as the months past, the rallies grew in size, and the TV networks dedicated themselves to Trump outrage, there were many more clues. And many – including me – should have been less surprised by the ultimate outcome. But go back to day dot. The launch itself. Donald Trump coming down the escalator. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who watched that and thought to himself, ‘President Donald Trump? Ha. That’ll never happen.’ A decade or two ago, if you’d asked most so-called experts if Britain would leave the European Union, how would they have replied? Never. If you’d most of us asked whether in 2020 a global pandemic would kill millions and totally disrupt the World order, even though we had the collective scientific expertise and public health controls to control what was for most a reasonably mild infection, how would we have responded? Never. Hell,just a few years ago, what if you’d asked the average rugby fan if the All Blacks would lose to Argentina at home? You’ve got it... never. The truth is that in all of these cases there were little clues, little noteworthy kernels, that a more careful analysis might have identified and given us pause for thought. The economies, social fabric, and media cultures of the U.S and Britain had both undergone steady but significant changes. A World interconnected by cheap air travel combined with a growing anti-science, conspiratorial movement, and plain old human nature made a pandemic likely, if not inevitable. And let’s not get started on New Zealand Rugby. I wonder, does the never-say-never principle work in reverse? Do seemingly unlikely good things happen, too? Could the World suddenly unite to stop the climate from warming? Maybe I’m just an Eeyore, but I struggle to think of examples. All of this is to say I dunno about Russia and Vladimir Putin. I listened to his extraordinary speech this week and although I’m cynical as to whether we in New Zealand get a full and accurate picture of what is happening in Ukraine, clearly the man is determined to continue escalating the conflict. But nuclear weapons? In this day and age? My gut says never. Imagine the damage! The fallout! The mutually-assured destruction. The World would never be the same. But then somewhere in me there is a nagging little thought. A little kernel of doubt. Perhaps nuclear war is unlikely. But we should treat the risk of nuclear war as anything but. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20223 minutes, 46 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Reflections on the Queen's funeral

Kevin Milne joins us today to talk about the biggest live event of the week, Queen Elizabeth II's broadcasted funeral. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/23/20227 minutes, 30 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Great Rarotonga Experiences

Mike Yardley has his tips to have the best time in Rarotonga. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20227 minutes, 8 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Adobe buys Figma, Uber investigating breach

Adobe - the inventor of Photoshop & Illustrator - has just bought their competitor for $20 billion  Figma is a web-based design tool which allows multiple designers to collaborate together. It doesn't require anything to be downloaded, and is loved by many across the design industry -- think of them as the Google Docs to Microsoft Word. The trouble.. these big companies often don't have a good track record of integrating the products they buy, or continuing to invest in what makes them great. Adobe though is lagging behind in the web/app design space and this acquisition means they now don't need to build it themselves. Wall Street didn't seem to love the deal, with Adobe shares dropping 17% almost instantly - their worst day since 2010. It's 23% down from the start of the week.  Uber is investigating a security breach  The hacker announced themselves in their Slack groups claiming to have access to a number of systems and then finished the message with the hashtag "Uber Underpays drivers". In response, Uber took a bunch of its internal systems offline, kicked off an investigation and contacted law enforcement. The NYTimes reports, through conversations with the apparent hacker, that they got in through social engineering.. tricking an employee into giving them their password which then gave them access to a range of systems. Once they discovered an admin password they could get into even more systems.  Uber says "sensitive" customer data doesn't appear to be breached. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20222 minutes, 52 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Frantic gardening to prepare for summer

After the recent rather crappy weather, we really need to start the mahi for Spring and Summer (Spring on 23 September at 13.03 to be precise) Christmas spuds need to go into the ground if you want them before Xmas: Seed potatoes: “chitted” (= the “eyes” have started to run out) is often a quicker way to getting the plants to develop. I intend to put them in large, plastic containers (Bunnings) with holes drilled in the bottom and filled up with good growing mix; five or six potatoes; leave just 4 or 5 sprouts on the blunt top of the seed potato and dig them 30 cm deep and 30-40 cm apart. I have no time to “add” soil mix to the growing shoots when they pop their heads above ground – Just bang them in a foot deep. Potato fertiliser always has a bit more “P” (Phosphate) in it to encourage root growth and tuber growth Jersey Bennes and such early varieties are probably the best to use before Christmas. That’s all I do this year so I don’t play Russian roulette with solanum pests such as Psyllids, later in the season. (AND I WANT TO PROTECT MY MAIN TUNNELHOUSE CROP: TOMATOES!) Tomatoes Should be sown now in seed-raising mix and transplanted outside when frost danger is over; in tunnelhouse I don’t have that problem, so can bang them in as soona s they are 20 cm tall with good roots. (There are still tomatoes ripening in my tunnelhouse from last year on really old and rubbish vines, so they’ll need removing asap) more about tomatoes and how to do it, next week! Another crop I totally ignored this last year is Witlof (endive). It grows well here but due to far too much education work, never had the time to “harvest” them in autumn and grow the white chicons in a large tub of light-free sand. So: prepare a good free-draining bed in which to sow your “chicory” to get decent-sized roots for “burying” in the next autumn. They’re easy to grow in the South Island too and witlof is simply one of those weird, bitter Dutch crops that is otherwise hard to “buy off the shelf. I usually keep up with my lettuce (COS!) and spring onions, but will need to plonk in the peas and Broad beans asap before the summer sun creates havoc. These crops have a habit to grow in just about any soil condition. As long as they have good light and are not kept too dry. Liquid fertiliser seems to be the best way to keep’em happy and when I chuck Seafood Soup and Seaweed Tea on them they shoot up with vapour trails And Vapour Trails is what I will produce this weekend – honestly … it’s panic stations!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20225 minutes, 26 seconds
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Tara Ward: Gaslit, Monarch, Abbot Elementary

Gaslit: Julia Roberts stars in this political thriller as the real-life whistleblower who alerted the world to Richard Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal (Amazon Prime)  Monarch: Susan Sarandon and Anna Friel star in this musical drama about America's first family of country music (TVNZ+)  Abbott Elementary: winner of two Emmy awards this week, this mockumentary comedy is set in an under-fun public school in Philadelphia (Disney+)  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20224 minutes, 22 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Spring time chicken and peas

This one pan wonder of a dish is the perfect way to say hello spring, good bye winter! It’s full of fresh flavours but is creamy and comforting too.  Serves 4-6  4 free-range boneless skinless chicken breasts  Salt and pepper to season  1 tablespoon olive oil  2 tablespoons butter  1 onion finely diced  1 cup chicken stock  2 tablespoons lemon juice  3 garlic cloves, minced  ½ teaspoon chilli flakes  ¼ cup cream  1 ½ cups peas  2 tablespoons chopped parsley  Remove tenderloin from chicken breasts. Slice each breast horizontally in half so you have two thinner pieces plus the tenderloin per breast. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken. Heat oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Brown chicken on both sides, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add butter to the pan and add onions and cook gently until softened. In a bowl mix stock, lemon juice, garlic and chilli flakes and pour this over onions. Bring to a rapid simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so. Add chicken back into the pan to heat through then pour over cream. At this stage it can be either placed over a gentle heat or popped into an oven heated to 180 C to cook for a further 6-8 minutes until sauce is thickened a bit. Pour boiling water over frozen peas and let them sit for 5 minutes then drain. Add the peas to the pan in the final 2 minutes of cooking. To serve, top with chopped parsley and a decent grind of black pepper and serve with some buttercrunch or cos lettuce. Nici’s note: Adding the peas towards the end of cooking ensures they keep their vibrant green colour. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20225 minutes, 44 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kiwi indie-rockers The Beths

Estelle Clifford has her hot take on The Beths' brand new album, Expert in a Dying Field.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20225 minutes, 48 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Becoming a grandparent

A major milestone in Kevin Milne's life occurred this week - he became a grandparent.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20226 minutes, 55 seconds
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Kate Hall: Eco-sunscreen for the warmer weather

Sustainability expert Kate Hall has her tips on what  to look for in an eco sunscreen and the reason why 'reef safe' doesn't actually mean anything.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20228 minutes, 58 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Ticket to Paradise, Official Competition

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Ticket to Paradise, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. She's also got her review of Official Competition, with Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20225 minutes, 10 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Carrie Soto is Back, Better the Blood

Catherine Raynes has been reading Taylor Jenkins Reid's new novel, Carrie Soto is Back and Better the Blood by Michael Bennett. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20224 minutes, 15 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Hayfever season is here

Dr Bryan Betty shares his advice on how to beat hayfever season this year. LISTEN NOWSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20225 minutes, 18 seconds
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Jack Tame: The player I will miss more than anyone

In many ways, tennis is the ultimate individual sport and to excel requires three qualities in equal measure. Obviously, you’ve got to be fit. But you can’t just be fast, reactive, and strong. You’ve got to have stamina and stickability. Tennis players are finely balanced athletes. There’s no point being big and strong if you can’t last three (or five) sets. And there’s no point lasting five sets if you don’t have the strength to hit a few winners along the way. The World’s best tennis players have extraordinary technical skills. The sport demands supreme hand-eye co-ordination, timing, vision, and the mastery of a simple but extremely powerful tool. And perhaps above all, ythe World’s best need an incredible mental edge. In Grand Slam tournaments, players cannot be coached during their games. They rely only upon themselves to shoulder the insane pressure of life-changing moments in life-changing matches, the huge ups and terrible downs of a game’s shifting momentum. No player has impacted the sport of tennis quite like Serena Williams. But no one has played tennis like Roger Federer. One of my favourite-ever pieces of sports writing is a feature on Federer by the late American literary hero, David Foster Wallace. The author was a tennis prodigy as a kid, and he sought to describe the Federer ballet not just as an athletic contest or a ticket to multi-million-dollar electrolyte endorsements, but as a form of human beauty that transcended sport. “Federer’s forehand is a great liquid whip, his backhand a one-hander that he can drive flat, load with topspin, or slice — the slice with such snap that the ball turns shapes in the air and skids on the grass to maybe ankle height. His serve has world-class pace and a degree of placement and variety no one else comes close to; the service motion is lithe and uneccentric, distinctive (on TV) only in a certain eel-like all-body snap at the moment of impact. His anticipation and court sense are otherworldly, and his footwork is the best in the game.” – Roger Federer As Religious Experience I spent an afternoon once with the Nike footwear designer who worked with Roger Federer to design his playing shoes. The designer told me he’d been surprised to discover how unusually wide Federer’s feet are. It makes sense when you think about it – wider feet presumably allow a player to balance and change direction, to set himself, much more efficiently than someone with narrower feet. Federer popularised several tennis shots in top level tennis: the so-called squash shot, and the SABR (Sneak Attack By Roger) in which he surprised his opponents by running up to the service box just as their service toss hung in the air. But it his was balance that made that magnificent backhand so glorious, so perfect. I was lucky to see Federer live at several Grand Slams over the years. He hasn’t been at his best for some time now, and his retirement was inevitable. But sometimes if I’m home alone, I’ll still watch highlights of his greatest moments on YouTube. It’s like sitting in a room with Beethoven as he knocked out his sixth symphony. Fluid. Dazzling. Genius.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20224 minutes, 12 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Marlon Williams and his new album 'My Boy'

Estelle Clifford takes us through Marlon Williams' new album My Boy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20225 minutes, 17 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Fresh takes on Tauranga

Resident traveller Mike Yardley based himself in Mt Maunganui as his had a tour around Tauranga. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/202210 minutes
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Steven Dromgool: elationship expert on how to manage step-kids

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool runs through FAQs concerning around step-kids. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/202211 minutes, 51 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Gardening expert on King Charles III's environmentalism

Gardening expert Ruud Kleinpaste joined Jack Tame to highlight King Charles III's love and care for the environment. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20222 minutes, 48 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: The situations in which you should consider switching banks

The stats suggest not many of us do it, but there are compelling reasons why you would – and also circumstances when you wouldn’t. Most people think only of getting a better interest rate – but there are more strategic reasons why you might consider switching (and it’s not as much of a faff as it used to be) – plus there are some significant cash incentives on offer as the banks compete for business amid slower growth in lending. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20226 minutes, 18 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple's latest devices have been announced

Apple's latest devices have been announced. The big breakthrough is the ability to send emergency messages via satellite on your iPhone  This is a game changer for anyone who gets outdoors tramping, boating, fishing, kayaking, mountain biking - now if you get lost, injure yourself or just generally require emergency assistance you'll be able to get a message out.   How it works. You try calling 911 and if there is no signal it will give you the option to send a message via satellite. You won't type the message, you'll follow a series of prompts to indicate the type of situation you're in and the assistance you need. It'll take around 15 seconds to send, longer if you're under trees.  The tech uses satellite technology covering almost everywhere in the USA or Canada that can see the sky.   This is more than just an investment in the phone tech. Reuters reports its spent $450 million on satellite infrastructure, and has set up an emergency operations center to contact emergency services on your behalf.   Apple says it'll be free for the first two years, and has plans to make it a global service.  The 'always-on' display  Now on the iPhone. Android fans will scream out that they've had this feature for years - which is true. Apple has gone the extra step though to allow your iPhone background to also be displayed, meaning the whole screen stays always-on. It uses specialized screen technology which allows each pixel to be controlled individually, including its brightness.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20224 minutes, 48 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Twelve, Wakefield and picks to remember Queen Elizabeth II

The Twelve: A courtroom drama starring Sam Neill. When 12 ordinary Australians are selected for the jury in a controversial murder trial, their own secrets and fears will decide the fate of the accused - and their verdict will change the lives of everyone involved (TVNZ+). Wakefield: Nikheel Katira is a gifted psychiatric nurse at Wakefield Hospital in Australia's picturesque Blue Mountains. There's just one problem - while his patients are getting better, Nik's grip on reality is starting to slip (Neon).  Tara’s picks to remember and celebrate Queen Elizabeth: as our television networks pay tribute to the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II with a variety of TV specials and documentaries, we pick the best ones to watch or stream this weekend. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20224 minutes, 43 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Chocolate Biscuit Cake fit for a Queen

In honour of the passing of Queen Elizabeth 11, we’re making one of her favourite cake recipes. It’s a no-bake cake and this is the original recipe as shared by the Queen’s past royal chef Darryn McGrady.  CAKE  225g tea biscuits, like super wine or plain digestives  115g unsalted butter, softened  115g (a scant half cup) caster sugar  120g dark chocolate  1 egg  ICING  225g dark chocolate  Grease a 15cm cake tin – use a spring tin if you have one. Break each biscuit into almond size pieces and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Melt the dark chocolate until just melted and add this to the butter mixture, stirring constantly. Beat in the egg. Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the tin as this becomes the top once turned out. Chill the cake for at least 3 hours. Gently melt the dark chocolate over a low heat. Once the cake has chilled, turn it out onto a wire rack. Pour over the melted chocolate and smooth the top and sides using a palette knife. Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature. Lift it onto a tea plate and serve in clean slices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20224 minutes, 57 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Sunday Session host on some of Queen Elizabeth's best portrayals on screen

Francesca Rudkin joins Jack Tame to discuss some of Queen Elizabeth's best on screen portrayals, most notably when Helen Mirren played her in The Queen in 2006. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20224 minutes, 21 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Queen Elizabeth's passing and how the PM found out

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to add his voice to the many others expressing grief following Queen Elizabeth II's passing and finds the fact that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was woken up by Police in the middle of the night a little strange for this day and age. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20225 minutes, 18 seconds
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Enda Brady: UK correspondent with the latest as King Charles III makes his first address

UK correspondent Enda Brady joined Jack Tame as King Charles III makes his first address following Queen Elizabeth II's passing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20224 minutes, 43 seconds
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Jack Tame: Queen Elizabeth II was the constant...now, that constant is gone

I was in bed when I heard the news. I can’t say I’ll remember the moment itself. It didn’t have the same shock value as Princess Di’s death and unlike most other historically significant events, we know exactly what’s coming over the next few days. The pageantry, the choreography, the careful coordination; it’s all quite deliberate and precise. I’ll be honest. I’m not a huge fan of the institution. I never have been. I prickle at the privilege of hereditary monarchies. I don’t like aristocracy. For me and many people of my generation, the monarchy feels like an old-time throwback to empire and an imperial place in the world that Britain no longer holds and should no longer hold. I think it’s possible to feel ambivalent (at best) about the institution and what it represents, and at the same time a deep respect for the Queen herself as an individual. In her case, the privileges of the role, the money and castles and special treatment, were surely offset by the extraordinary burden of service. The figure that stuck with me yesterday was 21,000 – the barely fathomable number of private service engagements the Queen undertook during her reign. No one on the face of the Earth will know a life quite like it. The small talk. The handshakes. The mindless monotony of having almost everyone in your company freak out when you walk in the room. One thing that has struck me is the sheer volume of people with memories and anecdotes of the occasions upon which they met the Queen. She was like a beach ball in a crowded stadium, passed along time and again for seventy years. Never stopping. A handful of plebs could reach out to her just for a moment in time, before the beach ball was bopped on. But everyone remembered their moment. In so many of those stories there is a lovely contrast. For the person she was meeting, the person with the story, the interaction was a huge moment, among the most memorable (and sometimes meaningful) few minutes in their life. But for the Queen, we can only imagine that in the vast majority of cases, the interaction represented the exact opposite. Just another Tuesday, just another handshake, just another how-do-you-do. I expect King Charles will have a difficult time maintaining the monarchy’s relevance in a modern world. There are many people who feel an allegiance or a loyalty to, or a reverence for the Queen, who don’t feel the same for King Charles. There will be scrutiny. There will be criticism. There will be many conversations about Republicanism. Without its matriarch, the Royal family’s myriad issues feel all-the-more exposed. Queen Elizabeth II took the throne when meat was still being rationed in Britain in the post-war years, and lived to see the impacts of globalization, mass-digitalization, and the rise of new threats to democracy. In an increasingly tribal and partisan world, she was a steady, neutral force. She was the steady force. I admired the Queen’s careful restraint. The Queen lived through arguably the greatest period of change the world has ever seen. And in that period of great change there is no figure on Earth who has represented a greater picture of stability. Queen Elizabeth was the constant. Now, the constant is gone.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/9/20224 minutes, 29 seconds
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Miss Polly's Kitchen: Lamb Rump with Pomegranate Salsa and Soft Roasted Eggplant

This is a summery delight that I absolutely adore. Serve with toasted pita pockets or roasted potatoes and a big glass of red wine. SERVES 4 About ½ cup olive oil 1 tablespoon dried oregano 2 large garlic cloves – minced 4 x 200 g (7 oz) lamb rumps 2 large eggplants A big handful of baby rocket leaves POMEGRANATE SALSA ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon sugar Zest of 1 lemon Juice of 1 juicy lemon ½ cup pomegranate seeds ⅓ cup roasted pistachios – roughly chopped 1 cup finely chopped Italian parsley ¼ cup finely chopped fresh oregano YOGHURT FETA WHIP 3 garlic cloves 1 cup thick Greek yoghurt 100 g (3½ oz) cow’s milk feta 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon honey Juice of 1 lemon Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) fan bake. Mix 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with the oregano and garlic in a bowl. Add the lamb rumps, mixing well so the lamb is coated. Season with cracked pepper and set aside. Slice the eggplants into 1.5 cm (⅝ in) rounds. Cut the tops off the 3 garlic cloves for the Yoghurt Feta Whip, keeping the skin on. Place the eggplant slices and garlic cloves on a lined baking tray, drizzle with ¼ cup of the olive oil and season with salt and cracked pepper. Roast for 35–40 minutes on the lower shelf of the oven. To make the Pomegranate Salsa, place the olive oil, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk with a fork. Season with salt and cracked pepper. Add the pomegranate seeds, pistachios, parsley and oregano. Set aside. When the eggplant has been cooking for 15 minutes, heat a medium pan over a medium/high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and when it is starting to smoke, sear the lamb for 1½ minutes on each side until browned. Place the lamb on a baking tray. Roast for about 13 minutes. Remove the lamb and garlic cloves from the oven. Cover the lamb with tin foil and set aside to rest for 10 minutes. To make the Yoghurt Feta Whip, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins into a food processor or blender. Add the yoghurt, feta, olive oil, honey and lemon juice and blitz until smooth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20225 minutes, 14 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Travel tips for Waihi Beach and Western Bay of Plenty

Travel contributor Mike Yardley joins Jack to talk about what to do on holiday in Waihi Beach and Western Bay of Plenty. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20227 minutes, 13 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Demo Lovato's risque album Holy Fvck

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Demi Lovato's new album Holy Fvck.  She joins Jack Tame to share her thoughts on the album.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20225 minutes, 8 seconds
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Ethically Kate: Why I'm doing a wardrobe freeze

Kate Hall from Ethically Kate talks to Jack about why she's doing a Wardrobe Freeze for 2022. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/202211 minutes, 24 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Daisy Darker and The Marriage Portrait

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes joins Jack to talk about the latest books she's been reading.  This week Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney and The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20223 minutes, 32 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: What to look for in a fertiliser

Warmer soils – new growth – plants wake up slowly – cells become active  Plants, trees, shrubs, mosses, climbers perform LOTS of ecosystem services; One of the most important ones: Photosynthesis. They absorb CO2 from the air, run water with dissolved nutrients through roots and “vascular systems” (tiny pipes in stems, branches, veins, etc) and it all ends up in the leaves; green leaves.  The reason those are green is because they contain cells with all sorts of active molecules, especially chlorophyll. This Chlorophyll, concentrated in chloroplasts is where all the action is:  Water, nutrients, CO2 and sunlight (literally solar energy!) combine to manufacture carbohydrates (sugars) and Oxygen (O2) which we breathe in.  Ecosystem Service: Take CO2 out of the air and turn it into Oxygen, while the Carbon ends up in the soil when leaves fall to the ground and are recycled by bugs, fungi, bacteria etc  Simple, eh?  To create a healthy, functional garden (or forest) with trees, shrubs, plants etc, we need to make sure that all elements are provided and that includes nutrients (fertilisers).  If you go into a garden centre you’ll notice that most fertiliser containers give you an “N-P-K” ratio for the contents. Those three chemicals (Nitrogen, Phosphorus/Phosphates and Potash (the Latin name is “Kalium” – hence the “K”) are the macro-nutrients that plants take up in rather large quantities. They are, indeed, the most important fertiliser compounds needed for healthy plant growth.  Trace elements (needed in much smaller quantities) are Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Calcium, boron, Zinc, molybdenum, selenium, etc  They are important certainly if they are lacking in the soil! (so don’t ingnore them).  Let’s concentrate on the N, P and K.  Nitrogen is the stuff that makes plants green; this molecule provides the building blocks for Chlorophyll. If you have plants that are valued for their leaves and green stems (grass, lawns, lettuce, ornamental trees and shrubs) they will need more N and than – say – P or K;  Plants with important roots (carrots, parsnips, potatoes) and other underground organs that will grow as they explore for “food in the dark” need a little bit more P to do just that.  And the K (Potash) is for reproduction.  Plant reproduction is of course mostly through flowers, which are pollinated and hence become fertilised to produce seeds and fruits which, when deposited on soil, will yield new seedlings.  That means that flowering plants and fruiting trees, shrubs, vines and berry bushes, really appreciate an extra dollop of potash, just to keep the cool stuff coming.  Knowing the right fertiliser mix truly makes a difference;  Don’t be tempted to “over-dose” your plants as too much shows up in certain symptoms that make your plants look “sick”  My tactic is “Small amounts and Often” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20224 minutes, 5 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Peregrine 2022 Saddleback Rosé

Bob Campbell joins Jack Tame with his wine pick of the week. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20223 minutes, 47 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Twitters most requested feature is coming

Tech expert Paul Stenhouse joins Jack to discuss Twitters decision to add an edit button.  It's said to be the biggest shift on the platform since the doubling of the character limit in 2017. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20225 minutes, 6 seconds
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Jack Johnson: First new music in five years 'Meet the Moonlight'

Jack Johnson’s career has spanned decades. Songs like Taylor, Flake and Better Together are known and loved across all generations.   But did you know music wasn’t always his first calling? The Hawaiian singer was a professional surfer before an accident set him on the path of song writing.   Jack’s just released his first album in five years and is heading to New Zealand later this year. Jack Johnson talks to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/202213 minutes, 28 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Rings of Power, The Bear, The Suspect

1) Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: the long-awaited and much-anticipated fantasy series based on JRR Tolkein’s books (and filmed in New Zealand) finally arrives on Amazon Prime. 2) The Bear: A chef returns to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop, but ends up juggling the realities of small business ownership, strong-willed staff and strained family relationships (Disney+). 3) The Suspect: Clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin appears to have the perfect life, but when he's drawn into a murder investigation, Joe's flawless existence starts to unravel (TVNZ+). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20226 minutes, 4 seconds
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Jack Tame: The TV show that saved me from this grim winter

I dunno’ if you’ve noticed but there’s a lot of outrage in the World right now. Sure, there’s plenty of good reason for much of it. There are plenty of good reasons to despair. The economy is bad. The climate is changing. The pandemic has left us sick and exhausted. It’s winter. All of us are feeling spent. As someone who spends a good chunk of his day professionally doom-scrolling, I can’t help but notice that uncertain times often bring out the worst in people. We don’t trust each other. We’re intolerant. Our political discourse is nasty and tribal. Maybe that’s why I’ve been so surprised, so delighted over the last few weeks to find a reprieve from the gloom and funk. Throughout this winter of discontent, I’ve been astonished at just how much joy I’ve found… in a TV show. To be honest, I’m embarrassed about the whole thing. Embarrassed for a few reasons. First of all, I’m embarrassed it’s taken me so long to watch this TV show, given it’s already aired several seasons, has won all sorts of awards, and has been recommended to me a million times over by all and sundry. And honestly, I feel a little embarrassed to admit that a popular comedy, made by Hollywood mega-studios for the broadest possible audience, could tickle me quite as much as it has. The show is Ted Lasso. It’s on Apple TV+. If you haven’t seen it, the premise is pretty simple: An American football coach moves from Kansas to London, from coaching college football to coaching an English Premier League football club. This, despite the fact he has no experience coaching football and doesn’t understand the sport’s history, culture, or rules. It’s a comedy that pokes fun at the differences between Britain and the U.S. It pokes fun at football culture in both countries. It pokes fun at class divisions and celebrity culture. But really, it isn’t a show about football. Most of the Premier League in-jokes fly right over my girlfriend’s head but she’s still more enthralled by the story than I am. It isn’t a show about sport. It’s a show about one man, whose infectious, charming, unwavering decency and irrepressible optimism slowly turns a profoundly cynical World, one person at a time. I can’t imagine the writers ever pitched it that way. It wouldn’t have won over any network executives to say, ‘We just want to make a show about a nice guy who treats people incredibly well.’ That wouldn’t fly. And honestly, if you told me that was the premise of Ted Lasso, I would probably never have got around to watching it. But I’ve found Ted Lasso refreshing. It does what all good art does. It sits with me. It lifts me. I still think about it, days after I last watched an episode. I can see ‘Ted Lasso’ becoming a verb. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Can you ‘Ted Lasso’ a person or a situation? Sure you can. I’m sure, all over the World, there have been little moments of decency or acts of kindness inspired by Ted Lasso. Imagine if instead of sniping and bickering, we all took a page from Ted’s book, once in a while. WWTLD? What Would Ted Lasso Do? This will sound crazy. And I’m only admitting it because I feel it’s what the main protagonist would do. In a way, the best episodes of Ted Lasso have affected me, quite profoundly. Ted Lasso’s character exists to make a fictional World a better place. And though you can write it off as a silly TV show, I reckon Ted Lasso might be making the real World just bit better, too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20224 minutes, 42 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Lancaster and Muru

Film reviewer Francesca Rudkin talks to Jack about new films Lancaster and New Zealand film, Muru.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20226 minutes, 14 seconds
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Kevin Milne: 80% of pensioners will make it to 90

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to talk about some great news he heard this week. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20228 minutes, 48 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Death of Jimmy Nolan, the unruly tourist

Kevin Milne talks to Jack about the death of Jimmy Nolan, the leader of the "unruly tourists" who died in England yesterday. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/2/20228 minutes, 48 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Space X bringing more cellphone coverage

Cellphone signal from the sky   Elon Musk’s SpaceX and US mobile carrier T-Mobile are partnering to be able to offer cellphone coverage in more places than ever before. New satellites with improved antennas will allow current cellphones to be able to connect to send and receive text messages - then later calls and browse the internet. No ground cellphone towers or special adapters required as they’re using the same 5G frequencies already built into your phone.     Man banned from Google after taking pictures of his naked son  The images were scanned as part of Google’s efforts to combat images of child sexual abuse. But he wasn’t commuting a crime, in fact the opposite. He was taking pictures, as requested by a nurse, of his son’s swollen penis so the doctor could diagnose the cause ahead of a video consultation. The police agreed no crime had been committed but google disagreed and said it broke their terms and conditions. So he lost his emails, contacts, photos and even his phone number as Google also provided his cell service.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20222 minutes, 44 seconds
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Brad Smeele: The Ride That Changed My Life

In 2014 adrenaline junkie Brad Smeele was a world champion wake boarder at the top of his game.  He had the career, success, the woman and a lakeside home in Florida. In July that year, it all came crashing down when a fall while attempting a difficult trick left Brad quadriplegic.  The next few years were anything but easy for Brad, he has now opened up about that journey and the peace he has made with his new life.  His memoir is called Owning It: The Ride That Changed My Life.  Brad Smeele joined Jack Tame to share his story. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/202218 minutes, 15 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Savoury leftover bread pudding

We waste A LOT of bread in this country – over 15 tonnes per year, at a cost of over $62m! There’s no knead!  This recipe is a great use for it and it barely matters how stale it is as it ends up soaking up the cheesy, egg mixture.  Serves 4-6    6-8 thick (2cm) slices stale bread  2-3 tbsps soft butter  200g ham, bacon or chorizo – diced  6 eggs  ½ cup cream  ½ cup milk  1 cup grated cheese  1 tsp dried mustard  1 tbsp wholegrain mustard  1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves  ½ tsp sea salt + decent grind black pepper  2 tbsps finely chopped parsley  ½ tsp chilli flakes  Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a large loaf tin. Butter each piece of bread and arrange in the loaf tin or other oven proof dish. Tuck ham, bacon or chorizo between slices. In a bowl whisk eggs, cream, milk, ½ cup grated cheese, mustards and fresh thyme. Add salt and pepper. Pour mixture over bread. Top with remaining grated cheese, parsley and chilli flakes. Stand for 20 minutes to allow bread to soak up the egg mixture. Bake for 20-30 minutes until top is golden and middle is cooked. Serve big warm spoonfuls for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Note: You could use torn chunks of bread if it’s baguette, sourdough or even croissant.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20223 minutes, 34 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Long Covid

Dr Bryan Betty talks to Jack Tame about long Covid, what we know and how to treat it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20224 minutes, 9 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Do No Harm and Rogues

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Do No Harm by Robert Pobi and Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20225 minutes, 34 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Spring break in Rotorua

Travel correspondent Mike Yardley gives Jack advice for the perfect spring break away in Rotorua. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20227 minutes, 45 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to deal with finances in a relationship

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool joins Jack to talk about how to use money well in relationships. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20228 minutes, 26 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Bret McKenzie releases Songs without Jokes

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to Bret McKenzie's newly released album, Songs without Jokes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20226 minutes, 51 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Monarch butterflies are coming out of hibernation

Before I get the common questions about “need food for Monarchs” and… “What do the admiral butterflies need for their caterpillars?”, I thought I’d put the warning out now:  Monarchs are coming out of “hibernation” – in fact I have already seen quite a few mating, so… it’s all on!  Swan plants (bit boring in my opinion!) can be sown right now – Kings Seeds and other seed merchants have these popular plants in stock; Moths and Butterfly trust also stocks a heap of different seeds for Monarchs; Germination is good at warmer temps: 21 degrees is recommended.  Fabulous Asclepias species with colourful flowers are also suitable host plants – more my gig!  Whatever you sow: aim for heaps of plants and keep some of them in large pots as “spares” for when famine breaks out.  Potted plants (covered with fine netting) are out-of-bounds for ovipositing female butterflies; they are also – later in the season – a movable object to confuse the GPS systems of marauding wasps!  Good horticultural practice makes the plants grow bushy and dense, creating heaps of foliar food: pinch out the terminal buds from the tallest growing tips, which allows lower dormant buds to develop more bushy appearance  Admiral Butterflies love nettles to lay their eggs on; if you have a safe space you can try the native Ongaonga stinging nettle; just be careful they are ferocious (Hence their name Urtica ferox)  Red admirals are keen on that tree nettle (ferox) but will also feed on perennial nettle (dioica)  Yellow admirals tend to go for the smaller nettle species as food for the caterpillars.  I have both admirals in abundance, her in the Halswell Quarry; The reds seem to overwinter here too.  Red admiral (left) – Yellow admiral (right)  For our blues, sow some Trifolium, Medicago or Lotus species, and for coppers and boulder coppers: plant the appropriate species of Muehlenbeckia. Details can be found of the Moths and Butterflies Trust website: https://nzbutterfly.info/  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20224 minutes, 14 seconds
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Tara Ward: Bad Sisters, Welcome to Wrexham, Neighbours

Bad Sisters: An Irish comedy-drama starring Sharon Hogan about the lives of the Garvey sisters, who are bound together by the premature death of their parents and a promise to always protect one another (Apple+).  Welcome to Wrexham: A docuseries that follows the purchase and stewardship of Wrexham AFC, one of Wales’ oldest football clubs, by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (Disney+).  Neighbours: Everybody needs good Neighbours, but after nearly 40 years on our screens, the final episode of the Australian soap screens this Friday with several fan favourites returning to Ramsay Street for one last visit (Friday, 7.30pm, TVNZ1)  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20225 minutes, 6 seconds
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Jack Tame: Students shouldn't be living in poverty

Joe Biden cancelled student debt.  Not all of it. $10,000 in federal loans per person for people who earn less than $125,000 a year. Call it an exercise in fairness or a cynical political play… either way, it won’t be happening here.   And nor should it. This might surprise you - it’s certainly a different position to the one I held when I racked up my own student loan, constantly comparing my own tertiary fees to those of my parents’ generation – but I don’t think university should be free and I don’t think we should cancel student loan debt.   For the individual, a university education is an investment. Although it’s by no means true for everyone, you are still likelier to earn more money if you have a university education than if you don’t.   You might rightly argue that an educated population benefits more than the individual. Society is the winner. And you’re right. But the government already massively subsidises tertiary education. As expensive as it is, it would be unfair to those who’ve chosen different professional paths – especially workers in blue collar jobs – if we expected them to fully fund the education of people who will likely soon earn more than them.   For the most part, New Zealand strikes a good balance. Our student loan scheme gives most people access to education whilst not burdening them with interest. By international standards, the scheme is generous. I have friends who borrowed the maximum weekly living costs for the years they were at university, fastidiously tucking away all of it away in savings accounts, who eventually used that student loan money as an interest-free deposit on a house. There aren’t many loan schemes that will allow you to do that!   I say this as someone who paid off his loan, himself. I know I’m very fortunate, but so often this debate is defined by individual anecdotes.   Fifteen years ago, I owed 25 or 30 grand. Fortunately, my education led me directly to a profession in which I earned enough money to live with dignity, even as I paid off my debt. That might not have been the case if I hadn’t done a degree.   But my own experience taught me we can do a much better job of helping young people understand the ramifications of debt. I think too many people go to university too young. They default to studying something they aren’t very interested in only to wake up a few years later with tens-of-thousands of dollars owing.  I think we can do a much better job of advocating for vocational training and careers in the trades. For the right person at the right time, tertiary education is fantastic. But even with a relatively generous student loan scheme, it can still be a debt trap.  If we’re to change anything about university fees, I’d suggest bolder initiatives to address professional shortages in our society. Back in the 1980s, my parents only chose to settle in New Zealand because trainee teachers here received a stipend, and in Australia they didn’t. I’m broadly supportive of further subsidising fees or reducing debt for selected qualifications, if it means we directly bolster a chronically understaffed public workforce.   Nursing? Mental health? Sure.   Accounting and Public Relations? No thanks.   One last point: Instead of cancelling student debt, we should be doing a much better job of addressing the immediate living concerns of university students, many of whom are among the poorest people in our society. We are already heavily subsidising their studies – as we should – so why do we accept that so many students are eking out life after housing costs on $50 or $100 a week? Poverty is not a right of passage.  I think there’s a good argument student allowances and living costs should be increased.    University shouldn’t be free for everyone. We shouldn’t cancel all student loan debt. But students also shouldn’t be living in poverty. Instead of following Joe Biden’s move, we’d be much better to address students’ immediate concerns, so if our young people do choose university, they have the best chance to succeed in their studies.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20225 minutes, 13 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Beast and Farewell, Mr. Haffman

Film reviewer Francesca Rudkin talks to Jack about new release films Beast and Farewell, Mr Haffman. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20226 minutes, 14 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Stan Walker's new album All In

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Stan Walkers newly released album, All In.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20226 minutes, 14 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: One of the Girls, Portrait of an Unknown Woman

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes talks to Jack about her latest reads, One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke and Portrait of and Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20223 minutes, 21 seconds
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Kate Hall: How to shop for the most sustainable energy

Sustainability expert Kate Hall shares her tips on how to use the most 'clean' energy and busts myths about how electricity works.  You can find more information on her blog. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20229 minutes, 15 seconds
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Tara Ward: House of Dragon, The Undeclared War, Magpie Murders

House of the Dragon: The long-awaited prequel to Game of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war that took place about 300 years before events portrayed in Game of Thrones (Neon, from 22 August)  The Undeclared War: A geopolitical thriller set in a post-pandemic Britain in the run up to a general election, as a team of analysts buried in the heart of GCHQ secretly work to ward off a cyberattack on the country's electoral system (TVNZ+).  Magpie Murders: Lesley Manville stars in this British murder mystery about a book editor who gets drawn into a web of intrigue and murder when she receives Alan Conway's unfinished manuscript of an Atticus Pünd mystery (TVNZ+). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20225 minutes, 4 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: How to take cuttings

Being Dutch has a few advantages: getting free plants is important! My mum was known for taking cuttings all over Europe when the Kleinpaste Family was on Holiday in their foldable campervan/tent. We returned to the Netherlands with heaps of propagation material in the car – there was barely room for us, kids, to sit on the back seat!  Mum was the gardener and she took cuttings – constantly experimenting.  This time of the year (before deciduous shrubs and trees start to roll out the leaves for next season) is a good time for taking hardwood and semi-hardwood cuttings.  Your archetypal stem cuttings (or shoot cuttings) are planted in some nice mixture of potting mix, pumice/sand which becomes a well-drained habitat for the roots to form;  There are many books and articles that can tell you and show you how to do that, but what strikes me as a minor miracle is the way plants literally change the function of their cells to create rootlets!  Plants are made of myriads of cells – each has a distinct function in the plant:  Executing photosynthesis, transporting fluids, transporting gases, turning into flowers, becoming fruits, or seeds… some become roots, others become shoots; Of course, a nice flat cluster of adjoining cells is known by gardeners as a LEAF .  But when you put a stem cutting into the mix, the cells suddenly create areas where they form roots  Yet a root cutting has cells that form brand-new shoots  And leaf cuttings (think Begonias, African Violets and Cacti!) have to produce ROOTS and STEMS!  So, all these cells can literally change their jobs and adapt to the new function, by simply creating new shapes.  Taking cuttings and the success there-of depends enormously on what species you are trying to propagate, so: experiment!  Take some hardwood cuttings and some semi-hardwood cuttings in one batch  Some species will work best with softwood cuttings – others are best propagated by Layering.  Rooting Hormones are often helpful (they come in softwood – medium hardwood – hardwood). There is evidence that Home-made “WillowWater” hormones are not as useful as some people think  (A story for another day, I expect)  Generalistics:  Take cuttings from HEALTHY Plants  Cuttings from young plants tend to root quicker  DORMANT hardwood cuttings best taken after autumn and before spring-warmth  Cuttings from FLOWERING twigs are often really HARD to strike; so: no flowering wood!!  Keep cuttings in a tunnelhouse/glasshouse or… create a miniature cloche with a plastic bag  Don’t over-water the cuttings – just a little moisture is enough!  Leave some Leaves on the top of the cutting; trim the leaves from the bottom of the cutting  Difficult plants to propagate often need some “bottom heat” (25 degrees C)  And keep experimenting!!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20224 minutes, 14 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: How to grow wealth when you are risk-averse

In times like these it is tempting to take a conservative approach to growing wealth, however that usually means you aren't keeping up with inflation.  Enable Me founder Hannah McQueen joins Jack to talk about how to get comfortable taking risks, when you are naturally risk-averse. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20225 minutes, 17 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple releases emergency update for iPhone users

 If you have an Apple device, you'll want to install the latest update  Apple has released an emergency update to its suite of platforms - mac, iPad and iPhone - to fix a critical security issue which could allow a hacker into your device through your web browser. Worse - Apple says these vulnerabilities have been used.  It's very technical, but simply, through accessing a website the hacker could effectively get deep access to your device, and control apps as if you were doing the activity.   Known in the industry as a "zero-day" as the exploit is known and in the wild - so they have zero days to fix it. Apple has released patches available for download now, and also an update specifically for the Safari browser.  Just search for "set a timer for 5 minutes" and it automatically starts counting down.   It was removed because it had an "issue" but it's back -- and you may not have ever known it existed! You can also ask Google to "flip a coin" or "roll a dice".. or "do a barrel roll".  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20223 minutes, 36 seconds
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Abbas Nazari: One year of Taliban rule in Afganistan

One year ago, this week, the Taliban swept into Kabul and took control of the Afghanistan capital.  Former Tampa refugee Abbas Nazari, joins Jack Tame to discuss what the last year in Afghanistan has been like under Taliban rule. Abbas was 7 years when his family escaped the Taliban and Afghanistan in 2001.  They were on board a small fishing boat with 400 other asylum seekers when it began to sink. They were saved by a cargo ship – The Tampa. As you may recall the ship was turned away from Australia before settling in New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/202213 minutes, 48 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Iron-rich Sausage Rolls

Nici Wickes joins Jack with an iron rich recipe ahead of World Iron Awareness Week, next week.   MAKES 8-12 small sausage rolls 2 quality sausages – beef, pork or lamb 200g mince – beef or lamb 1 cup shredded spinach ½ cup drained canned lentils ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs (use GF if going that way) 2 tbsp milk 1 spring onion, sliced thinly 1 tsp salt 2 tsp fresh chopped herbs – rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano Decent pinch chilli flakes Splash of olive oil 2-3 sheets flaky pastry (or 3-4 GF tortilla or wraps for GF sausage rolls) 1 small egg, lightly beaten Sesame seeds for sprinkling   1. Heat oven to 180 C fan bake. Line a tray with baking paper. 2. Squeeze sausage meat from casings into a bowl. Mix in mince, spinach, lentils, breadcrumbs, milk, spring onions, salt, herbs, chilli flakes and oil until well combined. Your hands are the best tools for this. 3. Roll and shape the filling into 3-4 log shapes and position to fit in the centre of each pastry sheet (or warmed tortilla/wrap). Roll up tightly, brushing a little egg on the seam to help it seal. Cut each log into 3-4 pieces and place on the tray, seam side down. Brush each with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 4. Bake for 30-40 minutes until lovely and golden and filling is cooked. 5. Serve with tomato sauce, of course.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20225 minutes, 50 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Gloriavale and Good Luck to you Leo Grande

Film reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching documentary Gloriavale and new Emma Thompson film Good Luck to you Leo Grande. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20226 minutes, 35 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Why can't we get people to stand in local elections?

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to discuss the issues surrounding a shortage of people putting their name forward in the local elections. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20227 minutes, 3 seconds
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Jack Tame: So, I've sold my home

I’ve sold my home. It’s happening. I’m leaving my 16th floor apartment for a place that will require much more maintenance. No more locking-and-leaving. No more stunning sunrises. No more Keith Jarrett on the stereo, sitting in an armchair and watching the World revolve below me. No more Maungawhau. No more Hauturu. No more monitoring the motorway traffic in real time. No more whipping downstairs to the K Road cafes for a pastry and a flat white. I’m embarrassed to say it’ll be the first time in my life when I’m responsible for mowing a lawn. I feel a mix of emotions. My apartment is the first and only home I’ve ever owned. At every stage when my housing has changed, I’ve felt a rush of sentimentalism. Each shift has marked a different peg in my life, far more meaningful than supposedly significant birthdays. Leaving home for my first shared flat. Leaving shared New Zealand flats for my first New York studio. Leaving New York, coming home, and buying for the first time. Leaving my apartment for something bigger, something without huge windows and a 16th floor balcony. Something child-friendly. I remember when I bought my place, the then Prime Minister John Key was asked for his advice to young people struggling to buy property. Get an apartment, he said! Low maintenance. Cheaper. Close to lots of amenities. He didn’t need to convince me. I’ve always felt at least part of our housing crisis has been caused by a cultural reluctance to embrace high-density living. We associated all apartments with slummy 35-square-metre, tiny-windowed boxes. For many years, it was hard to find warm, bright, higher-end apartments with amenities. My place has a great gym, a big pool, storage lockers, and a billiards room. The walk from the lobby to K Road’s rich variety of cafes and restaurants takes approximately 35 seconds. Apartments might have suited first-home buyers. I can confirm they don’t necessarily make great investments. I almost certainly overpaid when I first bought my place – I didn’t know the market well enough. You live and you learn, right? But I sold my home at a fair price. CV. After agent fees and everything else, I’ll basically end up with what I paid for it. You could drive yourself mad by playing the what-if-I’d-bought-a-decaying-bungalow-instead game, and knowing my luck, the apartment market will probably double in the next six months. It’s the land value that has wildly appreciated over the last few years. But honestly, I didn’t buy my place intending to make money. I bought it as a home. And in serving that purpose, it’s been perfect. I’m a big believer that high-density suits people at different stages of life. As well as young professionals, a lot of the people in my building are older. They’ve downsized. They’ve had kids and houses with backyards and gutters to clear. They’ve done that. But now they’ve reached a stage of life where they value lower maintenance living. They enjoy the communal aspect of living in an apartment building. They love the light and the views and being able to walk everywhere. I feel sad to be leaving the 16th floor. It’s been a wonderful home. I’ll start packing my moving boxes over the next few weeks. And as I look and leave for the final time, it’ll make me happy to know that in 25 or 30 years… there’s a good chance I’ll be back.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/19/20224 minutes, 24 seconds
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Sons of a Good Keen Man: Barry Crump as told by his sons

Growing up, there was bound to be a Barry Crump book peeking out of the bookshelves of Kiwi families or in your local school’s English curriculum.   Crump sold millions of his semi-autographical novels and was a stalwart of New Zealand writing.   But he was also a difficult person with a complicated home life – a father to six boys from four different mothers.   For the first time, the brothers have all gone on record together to tell the story of their dad in their book Sons of a Good Keen Man, which has just been released.  One of the brothers Martin Crump Joined Saturday Mornings with Jack Tame to discuss the book.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/202214 minutes, 52 seconds
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Jack Tame: Labour MP accusing the party-of-kindness of bullying is a remarkable turn

Don’t make me say it. Don’t make me say it. A week is a long time in... I’ll start with Gaurav Sharma. I don’t think we know enough about what has been alleged to have certainty as who is the bully and who is being bullied, but I’m stunned this dispute has been allowed to fester to the point Sharma decided to speak out. Seeing a sitting Labour MP accuse the party-of-kindness of bullying is a remarkable turn. I was not surprised to read Gaurav Sharma’s lengthy post on Facebook, last night. Even as the Prime Minister was addressing the issue, unnamed ‘Labour sources’ were commenting to media and slagging him off. Such kindness! And despite the compassionate veneer, the Prime Minister’s statement still carefully insinuated that everything Sharma was complaining about is actually his fault. Maybe it is! We don’t know. And maybe she felt she simply had to defend her party. But I think a public comment that was truly dedicated to Sharma’s wellbeing would not have included this line: "Starting out as a new MP can be challenging and one of the toughest parts is navigating the new environment but also the role you must play as an MP managing others.” See what I mean? Those words subtly insinuated that Sharma is the problem and that he’s ill-equipped to be an MP. From his perspective, it was a provocative thing to say. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but I wasn’t at all surprised to see him react. Almost everything that can be said of the Sam Uffindell scandal has already been said. Obviously he was a lout and a bully as a teenager. He traumatised people. He benefitted from the comforts, trappings, and multiple opportunities afforded by money and privilege. Nonetheless, I don’t think the best response is to mercilessly destroy his entire life. Christopher Luxon’s handled it pretty well. We’ll wait and see what the investigation from Maria Dew Q.C turns up. But for all the attention on what Uffindell did and didn’t do, who in the party knew what and when they knew it, for how long someone deserves to be punished for their past mistakes, and whether his apology was cynical or genuine, I do think there is once central question in this whole fiasco that should be top of the list: Why was Sam Uffindell selected in the first place? It’s no secret that Tauranga is a safe National seat. Theoretically, National could have put up a slab of butter in a trenchcoat and comfortably won the by-election. Jacinda Ardern didn’t even bother turning up to campaign for Labour’s candidate. National didn’t need a talented campaigner. They could have picked anyone. They chose Sam Uffindell. Uffindell disclosed to them that he’d been expelled from high school and the reason why. It was inevitable his history would hit the news at some point. The panel knew that recent candidate selections had ended in disaster and there would be a especially keen focus on their choice for Tauranga. And yet, they still chose Sam Uffindell. When the news broke, I immediately pictured that photo of National’s four Tauranga candidates, standing on the beach and grinning like a centre-right barbershop quartet. Why didn’t National’s selection panel just pick one of the other Sam Uffindells? Maybe bullying, assault, and an explusion is worthy of forgiveness. But why would the panel take the risk? What was it about Uffindell that was so special and so unique, that the upside of having him in caucus this term was greater than the downside of a potential scandal? Given National’s long list of badly-behaved men, and given their policy positions on law and order and personal responsibility, I can’t understand why the panel would pick any candidate that wasn’t 100% sqeaky clean. The selection panel let down the party leaders. They let down the National caucus. You can argue they let down the victims of his bullying by putting them in a position where they felt compelled to speak out and re-live their experiences, and actually they let down Sam Uffindell himself. Regardless of whether he lasts – and I expect he will choose not to stand in next year’s election – this will have been a hideous week for him, his family, and the people he bullied. And for what? National’s new party President says the selection process requires confidentiality but that the process could clearly be improved. You don’t say. But Uffindell’s scandal wasn’t just messy. It was unnecessary.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/12/20225 minutes, 18 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Prey, The Missing Cryptoqueen

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Prey by Tony Park and The Missing Cryptoqueen by Jamie Bartlett. She joined Jack Tame to share her thoughts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20224 minutes, 40 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Monkey Pox - how worried should we be?

Monkey Pox has been declared a Global Emergency by WHO - Dr Bryan Betty gives us the lowdown. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20223 minutes, 57 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Perth's great temptations

Way out west, Perth is enjoying its moment in the sun. The city’s mojo is positively seductive, with a fizzy sweep of fresh temptations and grand triumphs of urban regeneration, redefining the urban platter. First impressions count and one of the best ways to find your feet is to join one of Oh Hey WA’s irrepressible walking tours. Under the command of the equally irrepressible Adie Chapman, who has been operating these tours for nine years, a walkabout with Adie and her vivacious troupe of guides is a sure-fire way to get a dynamic sense of the city’s spunk and sparkle. www.ohheywa.com.au My enthralling 90 minute walking tour traversed a variety of themes, from riveting street art and storied architecture to exciting new public spaces and hidden laneways laden with libations. The enhanced presence of indigenous street art is most conspicuous and Adie led me to one of the most uplifting specimens, the spectacular rainbow serpent, slithering along the walls of a laneway. Other shining lights of urban laneway regeneration include the trail-blazing Wolf Lane (with its wondrously large murals), Brookfield Place behind St. George’s Terrace, bursting with swish culinary offerings, and the hidden gem of Howard Lane. After ripping up the asphalt, the lane’s original cobblestones were delightfully rediscovered. It’s also where you can enjoy the ultimate example of a signage-free saloon, Helvetica Bar, housed in a small brick storehouse, brimming with character and whiskies. The locals love it because they offer a bottle-keep service, whereby you can resume your intake from the same bottle on return visits to the bar. Then there’s old-school Perth that has been strikingly repurposed. Beneath the soaring archways of the majestic State Buildings, new life courses through the venerable cluster of heritage buildings in Cathedral Square. Reinvigorated as a compelling hub of retail and hospitality, the three interconnected properties sat empty for 20 years, before being reborn as COMO The Treasury and its alluring slate of hospo destinations like Petition, Long Chim and Wildflower. Best coffee in Perth? Paying homage to the building’s previous life as a post office, you can’t beat a brew to go from Telegram Coffee. Strolling down the retail artery of Hay Street Mall, Adie pointed out to me a clutch of heritage buildings, like the sublime wrought-iron blockbuster of the Savoy Hotel, awaiting regeneration. Then there’s the kitschy novelty of the London Court shopping arcade. Built for gold miner and financier Claude de Bernales, London Court was designed as an extravagant salute to Tudor England, modelled on London’s Liberty department store. makes for an atmospheric shopping arcade, connecting with Hay St Mall. At the Mall entrance, admire the clock face which is a replica of the “Great Clock” in Rouen, France. The clock chimes every quarter hour, unleashing four knights to circle the window. Meanwhile, at the St. Georges Terrace end of the arcade, the clock face is a replica of “Big Ben”, and St. George does battle with a dragon. Barflies rejoice. Over the past decade, liquor licensing changes have spawned a profusion of small bars, setting up trade and re-energising dishevelled alleys. Chic cocktail spots, cosy boltholes and speakeasy bars bubble away in their tucked away hidey-holes. Adie ushered me to Alfred’s Pizzeria, a New York gangster-style pizza bar, tucked away in a Barrack St basement, this six year old establishment has a strong and playful escapist streak – and the pizza is divine. You can order it by the slice. The drinks list is tailored to pizza consumption, with an extensive craft beer, wine, gin, whisky and rum list. Stake out Globe Bar, which has re-energised the original landmark hotel, now featuring a vertical garden, heritage brick wall, timber floorboards and supreme mural work. It’s a trendy spot for casual bites and drinks, with 25 beers on tap. In Queen Street, I loved The Flour Factory, fusing together a New York Deli with a Spanish Bodega cocktail bar across three levels of a former 100-year old flour mill. With over 150 types of gin on offer, if you’re feeling indecisive, just spin the gin wheel to place your order. The Perth City Link project has reconnected the CBD with the bohemian hotbed of Northbridge for the first time in a century in recent years. Severed by the swath of railway lines leading to Perth Station, the inner-city neighbourhood has been readmitted into the city centre’s clutch by sinking the railway tracks and undergrounding the bus station, reclaiming over four hectares of high quality public spaces, including the enticingly designed, art-filled meeting place of Yagan Square. Northbridge has long been a popular playground for night owls, home to many of Perth’s best nightclubs and ethnic eateries. The hospo scene is constantly resetting the table, but some of the local stars in the line-up include Joe’s Juice Joint. Off the laneway and down the stairs, this rock ‘n roll den beckons as your classic dive bar – fried chicken, cheese burgers, pinball, a serious backbar, a cracking beer selection and a classic rock playlist. Also in the Chinatown precinct, Sneaky Tony’s. A homage to infamous rum-runner Tony “the hat”, Sneaky Tony’s is a prohibition bar with shelves bursting with liquid gold. With over 300 bottles of rum from all corners of the globe, pull up a stool and let them pour you a dram. Another show-stopping stop is Ezra Pound Bar on Northbridge’s Williams Lane. This intimate haunt with exposed-brick walls & a 1920s aesthetic serves up splendid cocktails & craft beer. Born out of a desire to recreate the small bars of Melbourne, lurking down darkened laneways, there’s a very heavy nod towards the speakeasies of the prohibition era thrown in to complement its secluded setting. Open since 2009, it is one of Perth’s oldest small-bars and a perennial locals’ favourite. Whistle up a Negroni at this cultural institution – it would have to be the best I’ve ever had. Tucked below the verdant oasis of King’s Park, make a lunch date with Cooee Perth, a ritzy riverfront venue, housed in the old Swan Brewery. After savouring a delicious chicken terrine, I succumbed to the most marvellous Toffee Pudding. Some startlingly ambitious regeneration projects have defined the heart of Perth. None more so than the Elizabeth Quay waterfront development, reawakening and accentuating the city’s focus on the iconic Swan River. Think Sydney’s Darling Harbour and you’ll get a feel for how transformative this project has been. Spanning nearly 10 hectares of blue-ribbon riverfront land, the multi-billion dollar project boasts a split level promenade wrapped around an inlet, lively new public spaces including the nautical playground, walking trails, retail and hospitality offerings and exciting new entertainment venues. Ritz-Carlton Perth takes pride of place, perched over the glittery new horseshoe-shaped Elizabeth Quay waterfront precinct. From the pink-hued exterior glass symbolising Western Australia's pink Argyle diamonds to the 10,000 blocks of Kimberley sandstone that define the walls of the radiant lobby, in addition to the rich polished timbered interiors, this splendid new high-end hotel is a triumph of craftsmanship. My spacious king room, with its sweeping floor to ceiling windows, afforded panoramic views across to the Swan River and the new city landmark, Swan Bells, a set of 18 bells suspended inside a specially built 82-metre-high copper and glass campanile. My enormously sized bathroom was loaded with luxurious accoutrements, from the half egg-shaped bathtub, to the Frette bathrobes and exclusive Asprey of London toiletries. Perth’s credentials as a culinary capital are on full display at the on-site signature restaurant, Hearth. For the five-star experience, dive into the Taste of Hearth degustation menu with expert pairings of exemplary West Australian wines to complement the state's magnificent produce. From the gorgeous infinity pool and bar overlooking Elizabeth Quay to the sumptuous spa with Balinese overtones, Ritz-Carlton Perth is the complete five-star package, underpinned by polished, outgoing and welcoming staff service. www.ritzcarlton.com/perth I crossed the Swan River to Birdswood to meet up with Nick Abraham from Warrang-Bridil, who offers a fascinating indigenous walking tour that seeks to ‘close the gap’ on knowledge and understanding of the Nyoongar people’s vast heritage. Translated from Nyoongar language, Warrang-Bridil means “enlighten to acknowledge.” Soothingly, soulfully charismatic, Nick was eager to disarm my fellow guests that his tour “isn’t about blame and shame.” Rather, over the course of the following hour we gleaned so many indelible insights about the Nyoongar, their relationship with the land and river, the immense challenges they have faced and the renaissance in indigenous culture and understanding, in these parts. As we strolled the shores of the gleaming Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River), Nick’s easy patter spilled forth with so many illuminating anecdotes. I was struck by his insights on the revered rainbow serpent and how a shocked family member supposedly saw one, just days before their grandfather lost his life in the exact same spot of the river. Backdropped by the striking beauty of Optus Stadium, Nick imparted his commanding knowledge on how Nyoongar cultural influence has been deeply threaded into the stadium’s design (which resembles a giant swan nest) and the equally eye-grabbing Matagarup Bridge. Open just four years and connecting the stadium to East Perth, the striking design of flowing steel arches represents a pair of black and white swans, the coming together of diverse cultures, while also resembling the deified rainbow serpent, steeped in Nyoongar culture. You can climb to the top of the bridge, taking in the sparkling vista 72 metres above the water, before zip-lining your way down! Nick’s tour concluded with a spiritual smoking ceremony, whereby your negative energy is banished by the burning fire, allowing positive energy to take fly. The aromatic experience of those burning eucalyptus leaves is quite profound. Nick joked that he’s frequently asked to smoke visiting sports teams, and after smoking Collingwood recently, they’ve been on a winning blitz in the AFL! There’s no better way to enrich a trip to Perth, than to take a tour with Nick. https://www.warrang-bridil.com.au/ Air New Zealand has daily direct flights between Auckland and Perth. If you want to lie flat and get some rest in Economy, the Skycouch is the way to go, especially if you’re travelling with the family. Sit, spread out, or lie down and snooze. Share the space with a partner or children, or keep it all for yourself. Bag a fare and seat to suit at www.airnewzealand.co.nz To maximise the magic of a getaway in WA, the official tourism website is packed with constantly updated guidance and inspiration. Have a golden time out west. www.westernaustralia.com Mike Yardley is our resident traveller on Jack Tame Saturday Mornings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20227 minutes, 18 seconds
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Kate Hall: Secondhand shopping & donating - how to do it better

Sustainability expert Kate Hall shares her tips for how to second hand shop and donate clothes more sustainability. You can read more on her blog. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20229 minutes, 2 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Do you have a wet garden?

It is quite extraordinary, how often I come across gardeners that are complaining about having a very wet garden. In many cases they are dealing with a residual “wetland”!!! In our history, land owners and farmers simply hated these wet lands and they went to extreme efforts to drain the living daylights out of them… As luck would have it, I have just read a brand-new book about New Zealand’s WETLANDS: Life in the Shallows, by Karen Denyer and Monica Peters. This book does not just describe the many facets of wetland research and the people that do the hard mahi, out there in those shallow waters, it also covers the history of wetland habitats in Aotearoa. The coolest thing is the Mātauranga associated with wetlands. My goodness these habitats were important to Maori for soooo many years. Wetlands have always been recognised as the nurseries for Kai Moana and the sources of food in both fresh water and sea water and everything in between. The most awful statistic in the book is that we have just 10% of all our wetlands left. The rest has been “tidied up” by land owners who have always considered wetlands to be a pain in the proverbial and a messy, wet, unproductive form of land. Homo sapiens have always wanted a clean, regular, tidy and orderly piece of land; Have you noticed how Nature is always “messy”? So if you have a piece of land, or a garden that has nice wet patches, what can you do to turn that into a classy habitat for native wetland organisms; my immediate thoughts are “plant some wetland plants” I contacted Karen Denyer to find out if there are some common sense plants that would make a good cover for wetlands; I mentioned the usual features: flax, Ti Kouka, Kahikatea, red tussock and Carex species, with mahoe, Manuka, swamp coprosma etc on the somewhat drier patches… Without hesitation I got a severe telling off from Karen (which I expected): “If you put this sort of thing on the radio, we’ll end up with McDonalds wetlands all over the place”; Oh how I loved that description!!! Every wetland is different: North differs from South and East from West Soil types are other important factors that determine how a wetland looks and operates River/Stream origin or salt/Brackish water. Acid or alkaline. Lowlands or alpine wetlands Wet and deep (Aquatic), Lake edge (Emergent), Swamp or Fen (Saturated), Marsh or swamp edge, occasionally flooding (Moist), rarely flooding (Dry). Each of these conditions has its own suite of suitable plants Information on which plant to use in which region: Your regional Council, Local City Councils, DOC offices, and the local Botanical Society are all good sources of local information. And then there’s another fabulous wetland book: Wetland restoration: a Handbook for New Zealand Freshwater Systems Wetlands are extremely important for our Planet… and certainly for Aotearoa. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20224 minutes, 44 seconds
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Tara Ward: Industry, The Resort, Woodstock 99

Industry: a new season of the British drama about a group of young graduates who venture into in the cut-throat finance world during the recession following the 2008 financial crisis (Neon).  The Resort: A married couple's relationship is tested on an anniversary trip to a tropical paradise that unexpectedly pulls them into a strange unsolved mystery from 15 years earlier (TVNZ+).   Woodstock 99: a docuseries about the anniversary Woodstock concert on 1997, which rather than peace and light, involved four days of rage and riots (Netflix)  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20224 minutes, 42 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Amazon's spending spree continues with iRobot

Amazon's spending spree continues - now purchasing iRobot.  They've spent $1.3 billion (in cash) to purchase the company who makes the Roomba vacuum cleaner. The company will be folded into the Amazon devices group.  When the markets are down from historic highs, even paying a 22% premium means you are still kind of getting a bargain.    Analysts say they've purchased the Roomba for 'context' - they want to know as much about us, and our homes as possible. It's valuable data. Your vaccum cleaner knows the layout of your house, when it changes, and using its front-facing object-detecting camera what the furniture items are. Did you just buy a crib, well, your vacuum cleaner might know that.   You may be waiting longer for the next version of iPadOS  iOS and iPadOS typically launch at the same time in September, but Bloomberg is reporting this year the iPadOS version may be delayed. They'll still launch the iOS version in September, but are having troubles getting the new Stage Manager feature right. That will allow you to have clusters of applications, more like a Mac or PC desktop interface.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20223 minutes, 48 seconds
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Kiwi Chelsea Lane on life in the NBA, what it takes to be a Steph Curry

Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are names I’m sure you recognise but it’s Chelsea Lane’s name you should remember.   The Kiwi went from being a physio in New Zealand, to working with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, to becoming Vice President of the Atlanta Hawks franchise.   Chelsea even made history in her role as head of performance at the Golden State Warriors – becoming the first woman to hold the position in the NBA’s history.  She’s since made the move back home and has been snapped up by Basketball New Zealand.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/202216 minutes, 9 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Bistro Food – simple, easy, affordable

Bistro chicken with mushroom, bacon & tarragon cream sauce  A bistro is, in its original Parisian form, a small restaurant, serving moderately priced and uncomplicated meals in an unflashy setting. The food that’s served is typically French home-style cooking, slow-cooked food that is comforting and not extravagant.  Simple creamy deliciousness, this chicken dish never fails to have me in raptures.  Serves 2  1 tablespoon olive oil  2 whole chicken legs  1 onion, finely diced  2 rashers streaky bacon, diced  Handful of button mushrooms, thinly sliced  2 teaspoons dried tarragon  2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard  ¼ cup white wine (optional)  ½ cup vegetable or chicken stock  ½ cup creme fraiche  ½ teaspoon sea salt + grind of black pepper  Heat oil in a medium pan and fry the chicken pieces until golden on both sides. Remove from the pan. Fry the onions and bacon for 5-7 minutes, until the onions have softened and the bacon has given up its fat. Add in the sliced mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes then pop the chicken back into the pan. Add the tarragon, mustard and wine and simmer for 2 minutes. Pour in stock, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Stir in creme fraiche and seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes until it’s lovely and creamy. Taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper. Serve with roasted or mashed potatoes, pasta or rice and a simple green salad. Nici’s tip:  Sour cream will work in place of creme fraiche.  Use bone in thighs or drums if you can’t find the whole leg. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20225 minutes, 25 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Bullet Train - 'Big Dumb Fun'

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Bullet Train and The Many Saints of Newark. Rudkin said the movie Bullet Train is driven by Brad Pitt's performance. She said it's an interesting film because there's no narrative or plot; "it's big, dumb fun". The Many Saints of Newark has been released on Neon and is divided into two parts.  Rudkin says if you're a fan of the TV drama The Sopranos, you should check this out. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20225 minutes, 35 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Let's get the Topp Twins back to number one

Kevin Milne was moved this week reading about the Topp Twins and the brave pictures of them having their cancer treatment. So much so, he has the idea: putting Lynda and Jools' "Untouchable Girls" back at No 1 on the charts. Milne said it seems the perfect song for the moment.  "Wouldn't it be magnificent, just to help them through this terrible time in their lives, if their greatest hit just re-emerged as the top song."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20226 minutes, 4 seconds
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Jack Tame: Sprint lunge sweat - Squash at the Comm Games

Sprint. Lunge. Sweat. It was entirely predictable, of course. Guy Heveldt nailed it on 1News last night. Every time it rolls round, he said, we always insist we don’t like the Commonwealth Games. ‘They’re a relic! They’re outdated! Who wants to see us whip Rwanda in the Badminton, anyway?’ But then, in the midst of a tough winter, with Covid knocking us about and all sorts of economic pressures, all it takes is a few medals in a few off-Broadway sports and we’re right onboard with the Commonwealth Games. They’re like a chilled-out Olympics where we win more. What’s not to love?! But of all the Commonwealth sports, there’s one in particular I’ve loved watching this week. Sprint. Lunge. Sweat. It does what a great individual sport should do. First of all, it’s mostly rational. It’s simple. It’s the kind of sport that kids could invent in the playground. You can explain the fundamental rules in about 25 seconds and if you haven’t seen a match since the last Commonwealth Games, no drama! You’ll pick it up in no time. Sprint. Lunge. Sweat. Secondly, it blends raw athleticism and short twitch power with endurance, and technical skills. You can’t just be fast. You’ve gotta’ be able to last. You can’t just have endurance. You’ve gotta’ be super quick. You can’t just be fit, you’ve gotta’ have incredible hand-eye coordination, creativity, and flair. Sprint. Lunge. Sweat. Finally, it’s a sport that attracts players from a diverse range of countries. If you consider the top five players in the World Rankings, for each of the men’s and women’s games, there are players from Egypt, the U.S, England, Peru, and New Zealand. Five continents. Sprint. Lunge. Sweat. It just seems so obvious to me. And sure, maybe it’s because I’m a weekend battler with secret athletic ambitions. But I reckon there’s something in it for everyone. Forget surfing and E-Sports, squash needs to be at the Olympics! Think about it. A glass court only costs a couple of hundred grand so it’s a lot cheaper than a velodrome. And it’s so versatile. In Egypt each year, they set up courts in front of the great Pyramid of Giza. You could do that anywhere. Imagine watching Olympic squash on Copacabana Beach or next to Shibuya Crossing. What a spectacle! LISTEN ABOVE Sprint. Lunge. Sweat. For me, the highlight of these Commonwealth Games was seeing Paul Coll vanquish his demons of four years ago. The Greymouth whiz sprinted. He lunged. He sweated. He gasped. He yelled. He smeared his greasy palm down the back wall to try and get a better grip on his racquet. He trailed. He led. He dived. He sprinted. He lunged. He sweated. He endured. And ultimately, he triumphed. Knowing that unlike athletes in many other sports, the squash players won’t have the opportunity to compete at an Olympics, made New Zealand’s squash success that much more special. The Commonwealth Games don’t matter, you reckon? No one told Paul Coll.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/5/20223 minutes, 54 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Tami Neilson's KINGMAKER

Estelle Clifford gives her review of Kiwi legend Tami Neilson's new album, KINGMAKER. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20226 minutes, 25 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: House of Fortune, Armored

House of Fortune – Jessie Burton  The House of Fortune is a glorious, sweeping story of fate and ambition, secrets and dreams, and one young woman’s determination to rule her own destiny.  Armored – Mark Greaney  Joshua Duffy is a Close Protection Agent—a professional bodyguard—and he’s one of the world’s elite operatives. That is, he was until his last mission in Lebanon. Against all odds, Josh got his primary out alive, but the cost was high. Josh lost his lower left leg.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20223 minutes, 47 seconds
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Bestselling author Liane Moriarty on her latest book

It’s fair to say Big Little Lies became one of the most talked about TV shows of 2017 and the woman behind it all just happens to live across the ditch.   Australian author Liane Moriarty has gone on to sell more than 20 million copies of her books worldwide.  Her latest, Apples Never Fall, is bringing her to New Zealand as part of writers' festivals in Auckland and Christchurch.   Liane chats to Jack Tame on her success to date and what it's like learning Nicole Kidman's a fan.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/202213 minutes, 28 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Is the Reserve Bank criticism fair?

Hannah McQueen from enable.me chats to Jack Tame about whether the criticism of the Reserve Bank this week is fair.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20226 minutes, 59 seconds
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Tara Ward: Candy, Surface, The Secret She Keeps

Candy: Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey star in this crime drama about a 1980s Texan housewife and mother who did everything right - until she is accused of murdering her neighbour (Disney+).   Surface: An American drama. After suffering a traumatic head injury that leaves her with serious memory loss issues, Sophia embarks on a quest to piece her life back together. However, she realises that the people who are helping her may not have her best interests in mind (Apple TV+).  The Secrets She Keeps: a second season of the Australian psychological thriller about two women from different walks of life who both have explosive secrets in common (TVNZ+).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20224 minutes, 41 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Asparagus needs attention

If you have established plants, make sure the beds are weed-free. It allows the asparagus roots to benefit from all the nutrients that are in the soil.   In July, you cut off the old fern stalks and lay them flat on the asparagus bed – it makes a good cover. Next job is to hunt for some good sheep manure. I have plenty in the Halswell Quarry. I lay it out in a heap and go over it with the lawn mower to break it all up into fine bits of sheep poo, which will be worked into the top layers of the soil. (not too deep, as you may damage the asparagus roots)  Next a nice layer of Agricultural Lime (not dolomite lime) to slightly raise the ph. If needed, a layer of good compost over the top (or some rotted sea-weed).   You’re now getting the picture that asparagus likes a lot of organic matter and not much competition.  When the plants start throwing up asparagus “spears” some regular liquid fertiliser (seafood soup/seaweed tea) keeps the plant producing till Christmas. If you want to COMMENCE growing asparagus, NOW is the time to start the project.  Choose a variety; they’re in shops now:  Jersey Giant: produces large spears; the flavour is sweet when the tips are small.  Mary Washington: a popular early-season asparagus, widely grown throughout the country.  Sweet Purple: a neat-looking dark red or purple variety with a sweet taste when young. Generally, only available as seed from catalogues.  Prepare  Choose a position in full sun. Create a nice, well-draining bed – at least 40 cm deep. The better the soil, the better your plants will grow. Cultivate the soil to a spade depth (or more) and add heaps of organic matter like compost or sheep’s poo and dags, ground up. Leave to settle for a month or so prior to planting.  Plant when it’s not too warm in the day (morning or evening or cloudy, dull day)  Mature crowns are available as dormant plants over winter, they are a much quicker option than growing asparagus from seed.  If planting quite a few crowns dig trenches in the soil to plant in. Plant crowns with their roots facing down 15cm deep and 30cm apart. Rows should be spaced at least 50cm apart. Cover with good soil.  Shoots will appear as the soil warms in spring. Don’t harvest any spears in the first year or two, to allow the plants to spread out and perfectly establish themselves; believe me: your patience will be rewarded with many, many years of good crops!  Keep the soil moist but not wet as asparagus crowns will rot in waterlogged conditions.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20223 minutes, 2 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Sweet banana, cinnamon and hazelnut toastie

In celebration of toasted sandwiches and the recent announcement of the 2022 Great Toastie Takeover winner - Rotorua’s Okere Falls Store and Craft Beer Garden (Okere Falls Store and Craft Beer Garden) ‘Get Smoked, Pickled + Toasted’ creation – I’m going sweet with my toastie.  My BHC - Banana, hazelnut & cinnamon/chocolate toastie  2 slices brioche, buttered  1 small banana, sliced  1 tablespoon hazelnuts, crushed  Pinch of cinnamon  2 squares chocolate dark chocolate, grated or chopped – optional  Heat pan to medium. Lay one piece of brioche in the pan, buttered side down. Top with banana slices, hazelnuts and cinnamon. Grate over chocolate. Top with second slice of brioche, buttered side up. Cook until golden brown then flip. Resist pressing down on the brioche – we want it to stay light and fluffy - and cook until golden. Slice and eat! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20225 minutes, 31 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Persuasion, The Gray Man

Persuasion   When Frederick Wentworth -- the one who got away -- crashes back into Anne Elliot's life, she must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances.  The Gray Man   When the CIA's top asset -- his identity known to no one -- uncovers agency secrets, he triggers a global hunt by assassins set loose by his ex-colleague.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20225 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Shortage of hospo workers

Kevin Milne is concerned about the dire shortage of hospitality workers in the southern tourist spots. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/29/20226 minutes, 17 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Shapeshifter's Devin Abrams and his new solo album

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Pacific Heights a.k.a Devin Abrams from Shapeshifter. He's released a new solo album called The Waters Between. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20226 minutes, 2 seconds
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Kate Hall: Composting, where to start?

Kate Hall says approximately 50 percent of a household's waste is organic matter. She shares her tips on where to start. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/202210 minutes, 2 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Orchard in Winter - some pruning and frost fighting

Mid winter is a great time - no leaves on trees, you can see the structure of the tree (it’s “skeleton”) so you get a great impression of where all the branches are and in which direction they’re going.  They are dormant and won’t get “hurt” by this savage pruning. I have a few apple trees (varieties) and I treat them all the same:  Prevent them from growing too tall - it is really difficult to pick fruit when they are too high.   Have a look for the fruiting “spurs”, those rather fat, short branchlets from which the fruits hang. These spurs can be delivering apples for quite a few years, so don’t cut them off.   Strategic pruning. Minimize branches inside the tree space – allow the wind to go through the centre –drying out after rain  Cold nights – frosts in the forecast  This is not a worry for apples and pears etc, because they are dormant and very much frost-hardy.  Fruiting plants that need some frost protection:  Avocado, cherimoya, some citrus varieties, guava, passionfruit, tamarillo.   The more tropical they are the more protection they need; no surprises with these ones:  Banana, Papaya and Pineapple  Frost protection: Wrap plants in frost cloth; or keep them in large pots/containers so they can be moved under eaves or indoors; Liquid frost cloth such as Vaporgard; it acts like a waxy cuticle on the leaves, and is therefore also good against drought stress (reduces transpiration); Can be sprayed onto the leaves – every six weeks; another trick is to leave sprinklers on at night to reduce damage.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20224 minutes, 32 seconds
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Bob Campbell: 2019 Taylors Shiraz - a classic winter warmer

Wine expert Bob Campbell is a big fan of Taylors, a large family company that makes good wines at reasonable prices. His pick of the week is their 2019 Shiraz. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20223 minutes, 44 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Amazon has bought a doctor's office network

Amazon has bought a doctor's office network  The giant bought One Medical for $3.9 billion - it's third biggest acquisition yet.  For $199 a year One Medical offers guaranteed the same or next day doctors' visits, 24/7 telehealth, waiting rooms that feel more like hotel lobbies and on-site labs.  Amazon has been getting more into the health space - the doctor's office is now in addition to a pharmacy, devices to track your health, grocery stores for your food, an online store for exercise equipment, and even streaming devices for at-home workouts.   With all these acquisitions, is Amazon a tech company anymore?   Twitter v Elon Musk will be in court this year  A five-day trial will be happening in a Delaware court in October. Twitter asked the courts to fast-track the trial. Musk wanted it in February next year - which he says already is fast. The Judge though said the longer the delay the greater the risk to Twitter.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20224 minutes, 15 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Man Who Fell to Earth, In Plain Sight, Hitmen

The Man Who Fell to Earth: a science fiction series about an alien who crashes deep into the oilfields of New Mexico with a mission: he must find a brilliant scientist, the one woman on earth who can help save his species (Neon).  In Plain Sight: Shetland’s Douglas Henshall and Line of Duty's Martin Compton star in this dark crime drama - based on a true story - about one detective's pursuit of a serial killer during the 1950s (Neon).  Hitmen: Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins star in this British comedy as a pair of unlikely assassins (Vibe, from Wednesday).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20224 minutes, 56 seconds
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Josh Baker: Journalist on podcast 'I'm Not A Monster' and chasing ISIS

He’s the journalist behind the BBC’s most awarded podcast series to date. In 2016, Josh Baker had just survived a bomb explosion in Iraq when he heard of an American woman and her kids wanting to escape Syria.  Josh spent four years unravelling the jaw dropping story of how the family got there in the podcast I’m Not A Monster.  And now he’s back for more - with a newly announced series two focusing on UK ISIS bride Shamima Begum.  Josh Baker joins Jack Tame on Saturday Morning. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/202215 minutes, 17 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Where the Crawdads Sing, The Quiet Girl

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Where the Crawdads Sing and The Quiet Girl. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20226 minutes, 14 seconds
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Kevin Milne: How do you prepare for being a grandad?

Kevin and his wife Linda will become grandparents next month. So how are they preparing? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20225 minutes, 30 seconds
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Jack Tame: The All Blacks' big opportunity

A confession: I didn’t want the All Blacks to lose, but I’m sure I’m not the only rugby fan who felt a little flicker of satisfaction or joy as they unraveled last weekend. They were woeful. The Irish were superb. And for anyone who has ever prickled at the smugness with which the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby sometimes present, the result felt like just desserts. It’s true, I’m a lousy fan. At halftime I was slagging them off, but a few minutes later I screamed and screamed when Will Jordan sprinted off for that runaway try. ‘Go boy! Go! Go!’ I might be an All Blacks cynic but deep down, I still wanted them to win. Crises call for cool heads. If the coaching staff had all been sacked this week, if half the team had been dropped and Sam Cane stood down as captain, there’s a reasonable chance we’d be furiously accusing New Zealand Rugby of overreacting. But as All Blacks fans we demand an assertive response. A panicked reaction would have done little to help the team’s fortunes, but whether it’s the coaches, leadership team, or a wholescale tactical shift, something big still has to change. So far we haven’t seen it. Ian Foster was contrite at yesterday’s media conference, but coy about his future plans. That approach can’t last for long. You cannot repeat the same action and expect different results. The best explanation for the mystery at this stage is that New Zealand Rugby is working through changes to the wider coaching team. Employment negotiations take time. If the All Blacks do bring in new coaching talent, perhaps it will go some way to sorting their lineout and organising more creative attacks. Regardless, Ian Foster only has a handful of games to prove himself. One final point. There is still opportunity in all of this. Yes, it’s nice to support a team as dominant as the All Blacks. I’m a Crusaders fan and I don’t get sick of winning! But often the greatest sporting narratives are those in which an athlete or a team overcomes adversity. Victory against all odds. Historically, the All Blacks haven’t faced too much adversity. But here it is. The team is at odds and ends. The players are being criticised. The coaches and their bosses are being hammered in the press. Maybe they will falter. Maybe we’re watching the unravelling of a once-mighty team. Maybe Silver Lake has bought a dud. Or maybe, through whatever changes are necessary, and through the pluck and determination of a unit that can only be truly tested when its back is against the wall, the All Blacks will find a way to rise up. They’ll fight. They’ll avenge their defeats. They’ll banish a home series loss to Ireland to the annals of pub quiz trivia nights and truly live up to the reputation of the jersey. Maybe it’s lunacy to even ponder a World Cup victory next year. But crazier things have happened in sport. And who knows? A year out, maybe the result against Ireland was just what they needed. Lofty as it may be, the All Blacks owe it to us to do everything possible to try and realise that dream. And we owe it to them, through our cynicism and scorn, to keep the faith a little bit longer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/22/20224 minutes, 19 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Wordle is coming to a table near you

Wordle is coming to a table near you The internet game is getting an 'offline version'. The NYT and Hasbro have teamed up to create 'Wordle: The Party Game'. You could very easily create it at home as it's just mini whiteboards and tiles with either green or yellow for yes or no. It'll be $20 and is ready for shipping around October in North America.  More affordable satellite internet is coming to campervans and boats Elon Musk's Starlink has got a new customer base - those on the move. The FCC has given approval for cars, trains, planes and boats to be connected to Starlink's internet. It was previously only available to homes and stationary campervans. The Starlink service is significantly cheaper than other satellite operators, who typically use geostationary satellites. Starlink uses thousands of lower altitude satellites which move, but are arranged so there's always a cluster in view. Hawaiian Airlines has signed up for the service to provide free internet for passengers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20224 minutes, 23 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Lizzo's new album Special

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Lizzo's new album Special.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20226 minutes, 40 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Local Gone Missing

Catherine Raynes has been reading Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gilliam McAllister and Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20223 minutes, 12 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Heritage-tinged Toowoomba

Have you ever been to Toowoomba? No, neither had I. Changing the habit of a lifetime on a recent road-trip in Queensland, I took the 2 hour drive west of Brisbane to the Great Dividing Range, where Woombie or Tbar as the locals call it, clings to the escarpment, 700 metres above sea level. As you enter from the east, the city seemingly dangles on the edge of the elevated plateau, overlooking the undulating green patchwork of the Lockyer Valley. Beyond the city limits of this sprawling country hub, Toowoomba is enrobed by the agricultural powerhouse of the Darling Downs region. Toowoomba is Australia’s largest inland city and it’s Queensland’s Garden City, playing host to a fiendishly popular Carnival of Flowers in September - the longest running floral event of its kind in Australia. It welcomes hundreds of thousands of hyper-coloured flowers in full bloom, planted across the city’s parks and public spaces. But it’s not just the plants that attract out-of-towners. A glut of gorgeous, manicured gardens lie within the city’s boundaries, graced with stately homes and broad tree-lined streets. To help get my bearings, I joined a two hour guided excursion with Lindsay from Toowoomba Sightseeing, introducing me to the city staples, from the historic CBD to panoramic vistas over the range. Lindsay remarked that Toowoomba is like a volcanic saucer, with rich red soils. “Everything grows here.” An essential stop is at Picnic Point, located on the eastern side of Toowoomba, serving up enormous views across the topographical grandeur of the region. A picturesque highlight is the imposing sight of Table Top Mountain. Its name is rather self-explanatory and looks like a mesa from the American Southwest. 600 metres high, the two-hour return climb itself is quite demanding with a lot of large steps over the Camel's Hump and a scramble just before the summit. Used as a training track for hikers prepping for Mount Kilimanjaro and the Kokoda Trail for years, stick to the well-worn trail.  But the sweet reward is at the summit, flat-topped and treeless, is the unrivalled horizon-wide panoramic fix. Back in the city, street art is one Toowoomba’s calling cards, with a spree of laneways, building walls and public spaces vividly cast in eye-catching works. There’s a dedicated Street Art Trail that weaves many of the works together, including Mark Lane, Bank Lane and Searle’s Walk. But it’s Neil Street where most of the action is, with over 50 murals to feast your eyes on. Adding further texture and character to the city centre, Toowoomba’s old bones have been lovingly preserved, with impeccably maintained facades gracing the city centre and some showpiece buildings, including more than 50 heritage-listed sites. The bedazzling 1911 Empire Theatre is the pride of locals, with its resplendent art deco lobby. Then there’s the old post office and courthouse, venerable sandstone masterpieces from the late 19th century.For a complete change of scenery, I headed to Ju Raku En, the delightful Zen-like Japanese Gardens, located at the University of Southern Queensland. I spent an hour casually zoned out admiring the five-hectare garden, crowned with a rippling lake, carefully aligned boulders, conifers, bamboo stands, cherry blossom trees, photo perfect bridges and curvaceous paths, in one of the largest Japanese gardens in Australia.Next up, The Cobb & Co Museum which is home to the National Carriage collection’s huge array of vehicles, horse-drawn carriages, outback memorabilia, and extensive displays. The National Carriage Collection comprises 47 restored horse-drawn vehicles, which played an important role in Queensland’s development. Established in 1853 by Freeman Cobb with the intention of initially servicing the Victorian goldfields, Cobb & Co quickly developed to become the most successful company of its kind in Australasia during the 19th Century, pioneering transport routes, delivering mail,...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20228 minutes, 42 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Post-wedding blues - are they really a thing?

Steven Dromgool says post-wedding blues are definitely a thing and it's quite common. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20226 minutes, 1 second
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Eating insects...what do you think?

What do you reckon…Entomophagy?? When I was born, there were 2.5 billion people on the planet and now we’re pushing eight billion. (No wonder it’s getting more difficult for Kevin Milne and myself to get a decent car park in the city).Seriously, our economic “growth at all cost” really has had its day. We’re using resources in an obscene tempo, creating a carbon bubble in the place we don’t need carbon (the air!) and pollute water, rivers, lakes and oceans. On top of that we are changing the earth’s Natural resources and life-forms go extinct at the estimated rate of 150 species per day. In one sentence: we are crossing our Planetary Boundaries and seem to have dumped the term and concept of “limits”. Converting good horticulture and agriculture land to more and more dwellings is part of the growth gig too and that has repercussions for the way we “produce” protein. On my travels through New Zealand Schools (Teacher PLD via FieldBased STEM, Treemendous Education Programme and Blake Inspire), I have started chatting with students and educators about entomophagy and in particular our humble garden snail, Cornu aspersum. This species was imported by the French from North Africa for their famous culinary product called escargot. It’s one of their preferred species! This very same species was accidentally introduced into Aotearoa and is considered a pest in the garden, requiring slug bait, snail bait, metaldehyde and other toxins to “control” them. How easy is it to cultivate these snails in captivity? How do you “feed” them and in what kind of conditions. How do you clear their gut-contents before cooking and frying in garlic butter and what are the benefits of eating molluscs? (human health, conversion of green material into protein, compared to the efforts of a cow, sheep or pig) What about breeding locusts, crickets, chrysalises of silk worms, etc etc. Why stop at Molluscs? Imagine the emotional roller-coast ride the kids wen trough when I talked about the brilliant taste of Tarantula cephalothoracic muscles! A few weeks after visiting Riverdale school in Palmerston North (a Treemendous event), I received a booklet with the most delightful prose around the issue of entomophagy. They had obviously organised a serious debate on this topic, requiring a heap of scientific research and literature investigation. Luckily, my alma mater (Wageningen University) have always been strong in that topic of eating bugs (publishing bug cooking books and having a yearly festival on useful bugs and edible critters), so there’s a growing interest in that stuff. Here are some cool comments: Growing forests through pollination: ”if we ate bugs than they wouldn’t be able to do their very important jobs” “DEATH!! Something no one likes; this might happen if we start eating bugs, because some of them have a thing called venom…” “Did you know that for one pound of beef you need 22,000 L. of water, but you only need 1 L. for a pound of crickets…” “Think about the landscape: Farms take up a lot of space: one pound of meat takes 200 sq meters of land to grow; to raise a pound of crickets it only takes 15 sq meters” “if you’re a mum you do lots of jobs and once you’re finished you will get very tired; but if you eat bugs it will give you the energy, so you will only get tired at the end of the day” “Humans shouldn’t eat yucky bugs because some bugs can actually make you sick. Did you know that?” “if you want to eat crickets you have to eat 75 of them in a meal. And it will take a really long time to find that many, so why bother” “Bugs make up 80% of all known kinds of animals on earth; by eating bugs we help the crops grow (because they eat our plants” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20224 minutes, 37 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Sleep, why we need it and how to get more of it

Dr Bryan Betty talks about the importance of sleep and how many hours you should be ticking up a night.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20224 minutes, 6 seconds
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Tara Ward: Sherwood, The Old Man, Only Murders in the Building

Sherwood: It’s the British drama everyone’s talking about. When two shocking murders shatter a small ex-mining community in the north of England, the manhunt threatens to inflame long-held divisions sparked during the Miners' Strike three decades before (TVNZ+) The Old Man: Jeff Bridges stars in this drama about Dan Chase, a man who absconded from the CIA and lives off the grid. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past (Disney+). Only Murders in the Building: the return of this warm-hearted comedy. Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez star three strangers who share an obsession with true-crime podcasts, who find themselves entangled when a murder takes place in their New York apartment building (Disney+) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20224 minutes, 56 seconds
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Legend Jimmy Carr on comedy, controversy and being 'Terribly Funny'

Comedy and controversy can often go hand-in-hand when it comes to Jimmy Carr. The British comedian quit a job in marketing at the petrol giant shell and his way in comedy with his famous boundary-pushing one-liners. Love him or loath him, Jimmy's gone on to become one of Britain's most successful comedy exports. He speaks to Jack Tame ahead of bringing his show, Terribly Funny, here next year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/202215 minutes, 24 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Rugby snacks - baked ham, cheese and mustard rolls

Roll out a tray of these fabulous little treats for a rugby-watching crowd and you’ll be more popular than an All Black scoring a try!Makes 1212 bread rolls – I use soft white buns or sliders from supermarket ¾ cup store-bought onion jam or relish 300g shaved ham 1 cup grated cheese – tasty or whateverTOPPING 50g melted butter 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ½ teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon dry English mustard 2 large eggs 1 cup grated cheese1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking dish that will fit the buns snugly, with baking paper.2. Split each bun in half horizontally, or do this as a whole unit if they’re all stuck together. Place snugly in the lined dish so that they’re touching.3. Dollop each bottom half with onion jam then top with plenty of ham and cheese. Place the tops on each and cut a cross in each top so the topping will soak in.4. Next, whisk the butter, Worcestershire sauce, salt, mustard and eggs together in a bowl then stir in the cheese. Spoon this onto each roll.5. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until the topping is golden and bubbling.6. Serve immediately, with plenty of napkins!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20225 minutes, 29 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: NZIFF docos - Ring of Fire, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen

Ring of Fire  In 1962 the sport of boxing suffered an enormous setback to mainstream acceptability, when Benny ‘Kid’ Paret died after being pummelled by six-time welterweight champion Emile Griffith at Madison Square Garden, on live network television. Dan Klores and Ron Berger delve deeply into this event, drawing a wealth of testimony and analysis from a gallery of veteran New York boxing identities and commentators. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a journey, a song A documentary deep-dive into the life and legacy of legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen told through the prism of his most anthemic and well-known song. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20228 minutes, 21 seconds
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Kevin Milne: My old stomping ground, Auckland

Kevin Milne returned to his old stomping ground of Auckland this week and has some thoughts to share.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20228 minutes, 15 seconds
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Jack Tame: Guy Williams vs Leo Molloy - don't overthink it!

On Thursday night, New Zealand Today went to air on TV3 with roughly half of its show dedicated to an exchange between the show’s host, Guy Williams, and Auckland mayoral candidate, Leo Molloy.The piece was funny if not especially edifying. Even for the minority of us who do engage with local body politics, Leo Molloy is probably better known for his character rather than his policy positions.Leo Molloy spent the vast majority of the segment teasing and insulting Guy. He used various low-level juvenile slurs and repeatedly accused Guy of being woke and soft. It ended with the pair having a boxing fight with novelty gloves before Guy recorded a parody endorsement video for Leo’s campaign.Guy Williams is now facing a backlash for the piece. He’s been accused of platforming a mayoral candidate, of normalising offensive behaviour, and of ultimately helping Leo’s campaign. These are ridiculous critiques that only serve to further entrench the things they’re criticising.Context is important. New Zealand Today’s audience is looking for a laugh. I can’t imagine many of the viewers tune into what is clearly and obviously a comedy programme, expecting serious and robust analysis of local body politics. New Zealand Today is a comedy. It isn’t Q+A.Anyone who watched will have been left in little doubt as to the sort of mayor Leo Molloy might be. He’s rambunctious. Entertaining? Sure. But he can also be crude, volatile, childish, and offensive. This comes as little surprise to those who have been following the campaign. Only a few weeks ago, Leo Molloy lost his temper at a mayoral debate and challenged a member of the audience to fight him. Are these the qualities you want in a mayor? Maybe not. But they’re qualities that make for funny TV, which is surely why Guy Williams chose to film with him.People have compared Guy’s piece to late night comedians’ treatment of Donald Trump in the lead up to the U.S election. The comparisons are unfair. Last I checked, Leo Molloy is running on a platform of local body infrastructure issues. He isn’t advocating to ban Muslims. The piece has been compared with the media treatment of Toronto’s late scandal-ridden former mayor, Rob Ford. Last I checked, Auckland voters will elect the mayor, not Guy Williams. If New Zealand Today helps Molloy and proves to be a turning point in the campaign, voters will frankly be electing the mayor they deserve.Comedians everywhere operate in an environment in which they’re constantly monitored and regularly hammered for offending people.It’s true, I view the World from a position of privilege. Nonetheless, I err on the side of wanting a society where comedians are free to push the line. I want comedians to offend from time to time. Not because I find comedy funny – although I do – but also because I think those who are too readily offended ultimately hurt their own kaupapa.New Zealand Today is the perfect case in point. In the grand scheme of things, Guy Williams’ segment wasn’t offensive or problematic. It was comedy. Love him or loathe him, it showed Leo Molloy as he is.As part of the piece, Leo himself reminded Guy that the more attention he gets, the more he thrives. He’s right. Those who’ve kicked up in offence at the segment are only giving him more.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/15/20224 minutes, 5 seconds
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Jack Tame: Three leaders, three countries, one big week in politics

OPINION: Three leaders. Three countries. One week. Boris Johnson's resignation felt like a rare little win for the convention. There can be no doubt Donald Trump's leadership style inspired him, and the way Trump just thumbed his nose at all of the previous standards of behaviour for world leaders. Scandal after scandal, Boris Johnson managed to duck and dodge and deflect and survive what would have been politically fatal for most other leaders in the pre-Trump era. The temerity of having had your staff caught out partying, defying lockdown rules, and drinking together at Downing Street at the same time as the Queen was forced to sit alone at her husband's funeral! In one sense it is astonishing Boris Johnson survived as long as he did. But in another, I'm still surprised he announced his resignation. Entertaining he may be, but the man clearly isn't burdened by any great sense of integrity. I'll only fully believe he's gone when he's gone. But it's interesting to compare Johnson with Trump. In the end, it wasn't the public that forced Johnson's resignation. It was his own party. His political colleagues stood up and decided he'd gone too far. It's interesting to compare that with the Republicans in the United States, many of whom continue to undermine their democracy and deny the election result to stay onside with Trump. In a way, Johnson's resignation shows us just how messed up America really is. I think it's pretty evident Jacinda Ardern is much more popular overseas than she is in New Zealand. Overseas, they focus on what her leadership represents rather than the detail of what she has (or hasn't) achieved. They see a charismatic, empathetic young woman. Kindness. Stephen Colbert isn't digging too deep into KiwiBuild, child poverty stats, healthcare workforce shortages, and gang shootings etc. That being said, I think even Ardern's harshest critics have to give her credit her for this overseas trip. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo / Getty Images The pathway to citizenship changes announced for Kiwis in Australia, and Anthony Albanese's new 'common sense' approach to deportations should have a really significant impact on the future of 501s. Keep in mind, there's very little domestic political upside for Albanese to stop the deportations – his political opponents would immediately accuse him of being soft. He couldn't announce he was flat-out scrapping the policy. But from our perspective, he's done the next best thing. They're changes that were never going to happen under Scott Morrison and all come down to the relationship between the two current Prime Ministers. With the change in government across the Tasman, Ardern has managed to soften the impact of the 501s policy about as much as is politically possible in Australia. Well done. Finally, Shinzo Abe. What to say? Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Photo / Getty Images I lay in bed last night tossing and turning and thinking about it. I was a bit stunned. It's just awful, truly shocking. We're fortunate to live in an age where political assassinations are relatively rare – especially in big, developed economies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20224 minutes, 49 seconds
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Harper Finn: Kiwi artist carving out his own name in music

Harper Finn joined Jack Tame to discuss his debut EPLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/202214 minutes, 2 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Paolo Nutini's Last Night In The Bittersweet

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Paolo Nutini's new album, Last Night In The Bittersweet. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20225 minutes, 46 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: All Comes Down to This, The Patient Doctor

All Comes Down to This - Theresa Anne Fowler Meet the Geller sisters: Beck, Claire, and Sophie, a trio of strong-minded women whose pragmatic, widowed mother, Marti, will be dying soon and taking her secrets with her. Marti has ensured that her modest estate is easy for her family to deal with once she’s gone––including a provision that the family’s summer cottage on Mount Desert Island, Maine, must be sold, the proceeds split equally between the three girls.  The Patient Doctor - Ben Bravery A powerful and inspiring memoir about how one man's cancer diagnosis led to him becoming a doctor and advocate for change in the healthcare system. At the age of twenty-eight, with his Beijing-based science communications business doing well and a new relationship blossoming, Ben Bravery woke from a colonoscopy to be told he had stage 3 colorectal cancer. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20224 minutes, 59 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Winter indulgence in Sydney

Travel expert Mike Yardley has been travelling around SydneyLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20228 minutes, 15 seconds
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Kate Hall: How to repair and save

Kate Hall has been on the hunt for someone to fix her mini oven cord and has her tips on why we should be on the repair bandwagon over buying new. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20228 minutes, 16 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Troubleshooting citrus

A few weeks ago, we dealt with lemons and other citrus – never got around to solving some pests and diseases and … pruning tips Lemons should be fruiting. Ensure that the load of fruit on the branches is not too heavy (breaking!), so remove fruit accordingly, especially from young trees and prune some off to let the frame-work develop; next year let a few more grow as the tree strengthens its branch system. Pruning should achieve a nice “open” structure of branches; if a bird can fly “through” the citrus tree/shrub it will be open enough to let the wind come through to keep things dry, after a rain shower Prune from now until August, so that the pruning cut can heal, which prevent lemon tree borer for entering through the pruning wound Not Fruiting well, this winter? (Meyer) Lemons have a habit of fruiting well every second year (usually in winter and spring months); therefore it’s best to plant two or three lemon trees to have a continuous supply of lemons! Peeled lemons hanging from your tree? Get a Timms Trap! Possums are the culprit Sooty Mould on leaves and fruit; If you have sooty mould (fungi growing on sap sucking insect’s excrement) now’s the time to use some spraying oil (Conqueror Oil) to get rid of the cause: scale/mealybug/whitefly) Neem Oil is often a good, organic “suffocator” of small sap-sucking insects. Use the Oils frequently (every two weeks or so) and spray both sides of leaves and branches. Diseases Citrus scab (Verrucosis) is easily identified by the rough patches on the skin; Largely a “cosmetic” disease that won’t affect the inside of the fruit (the stuff you eat); if you don’t like it (need to get citrus zest etc) then a spray with Copper sulphate or Natures way Fungus spray (containing copper) will control the disease for the next year. Just every now and then… keep it simple! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20224 minutes, 27 seconds
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Elizabeth Blake: Interest rate cuts

Elizabeth Blake from enable.me asks what gives on three of the big main banks cutting interest rates in the past week.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20225 minutes, 5 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Affordable internet for campervans and boats

More affordable satellite internet is coming to campervans and boatsElon Musk's Starlink has got a new customer base - those on the move. The FCC has given approval for cars, trains, planes and boats to be connected to Starlink's internet.It was previously only available to homes and stationary campervans. The Starlink service is significantly cheaper than other satellite operators, who typically use geostationary satellites. Starlink uses thousands of lower altitude satellites which move, but are arranged so there's always a cluster in view.Hawaiian Airlines has signed up for the service to provide free internet for passengers.Twitter is trying co-authored TweetsIt sounds like an influencer dream - where two Twitter accounts can together send a Tweet and have it appear on both timelines. It's currently only available to select accounts in the USA, Canada and Korea. Twitter is also testing 'Circles' in the USA which allows you to Tweet to only a select circle of followers.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20224 minutes, 23 seconds
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Tara Ward: Life after Life, Blackbird, The Midwich Cuckoos

Life after Life: New Zealander Thomasin McKenzie stars in this BBC drama based on the book by Kate Atkinson, about a woman stuck in a time loop who dies and is continually reborn (TVNZ+)  Blackbird: A drama inspired by real events, about a prisoner who gets an incredible offer. If he can elicit a confession from a convicted killer, he’ll be freed, and the mission becomes a challenge of a lifetime (Apple TV+) The Midwich Cuckoos: Keeley Hawes stars in this science fiction drama based on John Wyndham’s classic book about aliens in the midst of a small English village (Neon). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20224 minutes, 52 seconds
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Kevin Milne: My fear of hosting parties

Kevin Milne's daughter has turned 21 and is having a big bash this weekend, which doesn't bode well for Kevin's fear of hosting parties.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20226 minutes, 46 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The new Thor, The Princess on Disney +

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Thor: Love and Thunder and The Princess on Disney+.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20227 minutes, 4 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Tamarillo & coconut cake

Are tamarillo’s the Brussel sprout of the fruit world? You either love them or hate them. I’m a lover and cooking them – stewing, baking etc – mellows their flavour beautifully. This cake is a good keeper but served warm with ice cream, cream, custard or yoghurt (or heck, all of them!) it is just magical. 225g (about 1 ½ cups) self-raising flour 1 cup caster or raw sugar + extra for topping 1 ¼ cups desiccated coconut 125g butter, melted 2 large eggs, lightly beaten ½ cup milk or yoghurt 4-5 ripe tamarillos, halved and flesh scooped Ice cream, whipped cream, custard or yoghurt to serve  Preheat oven 180C and grease a 20cm round cake tin. Line with baking paper. Combine flour, sugar and coconut in a medium bowl. In another bowl, lightly whisk together the melted butter, eggs and milk (or yoghurt) until combined. Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Scrape the cake batter into the tin. Chop or slice each of the tamarillo halves into 2-3 smaller pieces/slices. Scatter these over the batter, pushing some into it and leaving others on top. Sprinkle with extra 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake for about 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before turning out to cool completely. Serve with ice cream, cream etc.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/8/20227 minutes, 5 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Capital Encounters in Suva

Travel expert Mike Yardley has been travelling around FijiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/202210 minutes, 13 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Jack Johnson's new album, Meet the Moonlight

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Jack Johnson's new album, Meet the Moonlight.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20228 minutes, 5 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Lying Beside you, The 6:20 Man

Catherine Raynes has been reading Lying Beside you by Michael Robotham and The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20224 minutes, 33 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The Rhizosphere

A few weeks ago, I made a quick comment about taking care when gardening and walking on wet soil. Compaction of the soil often causes removal of air bubbles from the soil and the roots will then be permanently surrounded by moisture; this can cause rotting and a heap of health problems for the plant. The “Rhizosphere” is the area around the roots of plants (trees, shrubs, herbs, annuals, perennials etc). It is the soil-zone that literally does all the work for Life on the Planet. Here the soil is probably its most Bio-diverse, with an incredible array of species, working to create fertility that is often utilised by the plants. It makes perfect sense that the roots of plants therefore inhabit that area of the soil. We’re talking Fungi and Bacteria, Insects and other invertebrates that literally consume dead plant materials and turn it into organic matter and compost that can chemically grab minerals and all the fertiliser elements and slowly release it to the plant roots. Rhizospheres contain a huge number of species, each doing their own job. Most of these jobs are in the field of “recycling”, others in “transport” (taking organic nutrients down to the roots) and then there are the predators and parasites (critters such as centipedes and nematodes) that take advantage of the abundance of life. I love the Tardigrades (“water Bears”) which are famous for their ability to survive being thrown into liquid nitrogen (cryptobiosis) and stay alive in that hostile environment for decades, while their normal life cycle spans just one year. But even these remarkable critters will struggle in compacted soil! The Soil (and especially its Rhizosphere) is – no doubt – one of the most important habitats on our planet. It provides us with food, supports huge food chains, is habitat for huge numbers of invertebrates and fungi, it grows trees (carbon sink – Oxygen – clean air – complex sugars – Supports a healthy water-cycle – stabilises climate – creates micro-climates – fixes Nitrogen – etc) So why the heck do New Zealanders call it “dirt”? If only we could have a look inside the soil layers and watch what’s going on. Well… when it comes to the actual root structures of plants and trees: we can! I recently came across a website from my alma mater University (Wageningen) in the Netherlands. This site is absolutely plastered with pictures of root structures of garden trees, shrubs and plants in the most incredible way. It literally gives you a view of the Rhizosphere and how every botanical species has its own characteristic shape and size of the root zone. You can see what a deep-rooted tree looks like (and why it can enter your sewer drain when it is planted too close to the house) and you can get an idea how certain shallow-rooters cover huge areas. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20225 minutes, 3 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Kumeu River 2020 Kumeu Village Pinot Noir

Bob Campbell's best buy this week is the Kumeu River 2020 Kumeu Village Pinot Noir for $20 a bottle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20223 minutes, 27 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Gmail looks different, Alexa's creepy voice option

Your Gmail may start to look different The new design brings together Gmail, Chat, Spaces and Meet in one 'Workspace'. It's meant to make it easier to access these new tools. Users have been able to opt into this change since February but Google is now making it opt-in by default. If you really hate it, you'll be able to change it back in the settings, but know that at some point in the future that option will too go away. Alexa can sound like your dead relative This is creepy as hell. With just one minute of recorded audio, Alexa can learn how to talk like someone. Amazon showed off this tech by having a child ask her dead grandmother to read her a bedtime story. There isn't yet a plan to make this available to the public. With these advances in technology, it's soon going to be very difficult to tell what information is real, and what is a 'deep fake'. There's also new AI tech (DALL-E 2) which can generate realistic images from words. "Aliens on the streets of New york" or "Surfing Santa" would generate multiple options of that scene. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20223 minutes, 40 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Terminal List, The Lazarus Project, Good Grief

The Terminal List: Chris Pratt stars in this all-action drama about a Navy SEAL officer who investigates why his entire platoon was ambushed while on a high-stakes covert mission (Prime Video). The Lazarus Project: A science fiction thriller about a mysterious time loop that lets a secret organisation go back in time whenever civilisation is threatened (Neon) Good Grief: The return of the New Zealand comedy series starring Grace and Eve Palmer, about two sisters who inherit a funeral home after their grandfather’s death. TVNZ+ LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20224 minutes, 25 seconds
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Nici Wickes on the joy of living alone and her inspiring new cookbook

We’re normally used to hearing the bright and cheery voice of Nici Wickes before 10 each Saturday. Her delicious recipes and ideas have kept our tummies rumbling for many years on the weekend.  However, this Saturday we thought we would turn the tables and put Nici in the hot seat as our feature interview. She’s releasing a new cookbook called A Quiet Kitchen. Not only does Nici share her recipes in it, it’s filled with her gruelling journey through menopause, her decision to stop drinking and how - after a lifetime of soul-searching - she has found profound joy in living alone. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/202216 minutes, 28 seconds
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Helen Dorresteyn: Clevedon Buffalo Company’s vanilla panna cotta

Makes 6 / prep time 15 minutes / cook time 5 minutesDelicately cardamom flavoured yoghurt panna cotta is a perfect do-ahead entertaining dessert. These are easy to turn out to present on plates, but if you prefer you could serve them in the glasses, topped with the oranges and candied nuts.100 mls milk100 mls cream (or use all milk)⅓ cup caster sugar4 oranges3 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed2 gelatine leaves1 x 380g tub Clevedon Buffalo Co Vanilla Bean yoghurt½ cup toasted walnuts½ cup caster sugarLightly grease ramekins or glasses with 100ml capacity with a neutral oil.In a small pan heat the milk, cream, first measure of sugar, zest of 1 orange and cardamom pods until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.Put the gelatine in a bowl of cold water to soften for 5 minutes. Squeeze the gelatine of excess water and add to the pan of still warm milk mix stirring to dissolve. Cool for another 5 minutes, then strain through a sieve into a bowl. Whisk in the yoghurt. Divide the mix between the ramekins or glasses. Cover and refrigerate overnight to set.Remove the peel and any white pith from the oranges. Using a sharp paring knife, cut orange segments from the membranes and put into a small bowl.For the candied nuts, line a tray with baking paper. Heat the sugar in a small saucepan with ¼ cup water until the sugar dissolves and begins to turn amber, around 5 minutes. Add the toasted walnuts and stir to coat, then put onto the baking tray in a single layer. Cool and roughly chop. This can be made ahead and kept in airtight container.To serve, dip each ramekin briefly in a bowl of very hot water, run a knife around the edge and slip out the panna cotta onto a plate. Spoon over the orange and any juice and scatter over the walnuts.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20226 minutes, 55 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Spiderhead, Halftime

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Spiderhead with Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Lopez's doco, Halftime.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20227 minutes, 8 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Should Kiwis overseas have their own electorate and MP?

Kevin Milne has been pondering the question - should New Zealand citizens living outside the country have their own electorate with their own MP?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20227 minutes, 6 seconds
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Jack Tame: This time the politicians can't hide from the booze debate

It’s perhaps my favourite thing about New Zealand politics. Just about as Kiwi as you can possibly get. Whenever it’s time to select an MP’s member bill for debate before our parliament, we don’t pick it out of some golden, jewel-encrusted box or have it delivered by regal horsemen from an impenetrable Swiss safe.We pick it from the biscuit tin. The biscuit tin. A thirty-year-old, blue-and-white biscuit tin with a label, ‘Members’ Bills,’ sellotaped on the front.It’s as though our democracy is a game of charades.The funny thing about the biscuit tin – aside from it being a biscuit tin – is that it seems to have a habit of throwing forward particularly interesting bills. That’s where Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill originated. And this week it happened again. Chloe Swarbrick’s booze bill was pulled from the biscuit tin.I’m not someone who prickles at a good time, but I think our collective approach to alcohol is one of the biggest hypocrisies in New Zealand society. We won’t legalise cannabis, and we’ll live in a state of near-constant panic over the damage caused by methamphetamine, but we do almost nothing meaningful when it comes to alcohol harm.And it’s hardly like we don’t have the evidence of the harm, and advice on what we should be doing differently. One of the only recommendations from the Mental Health Inquiry that hasn’t yet been acted on is this:26. Take a stricter regulatory approach to the sale and supply of alcohol, informed by the recommendations from the 2010 Law Commission review, the 2014 Ministerial Forum on Alcohol Advertising and Sponsorship and the 2014 Ministry of Justice report on alcohol pricing.That 2014 Ministerial Forum was chaired by former Kiwis coach Sir Graeme Lowe, hardly someone who needs to be schooled on the role that sport plays in our society.Chloe Swarbrick’s bill would act on his recommendations and restrict alcohol advertising and sponsorship in sport. It would also give local communities far greater powers to decide how many liquor outlets can operate in their neighbourhood.There will be some people who think it’s inconsistent for Swarbrick to crack down on booze when she was a public advocate for legalising cannabis. They miss the point. She isn’t advocating to ban alcohol. She doesn’t want prohibition. She wants to take a few little steps in order to reduce alcohol harm.Alcohol arguably causes the most harm of any drug in New Zealand. Not weed. Not even P. Alcohol. I doubt Chloe Swarbrick’s bill will make it into law in its current form, but at the very least our politicians will have to debate it. Until now, every time this issue comes up,They’ve humm’ed and hah’ed and re-ordered their papers, mumbling and ducking for cover. They’re scared of the alcohol lobby. They’re scared of being called Nanny State.This time, there is no running from the debate.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/1/20223 minutes, 47 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Love & Fire with The Black Seeds

Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new Black Seeds album, Love & Fire. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20225 minutes, 25 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Meredith, Alone and Nazi Billionaires

Meredith, Alone – Claire Alexander For anyone who has lost hope, Meredith will help you find it...discover the most uplifting and unforgettable debut of the summer.Nazi Billionaires – David De Jong A groundbreaking investigation of how the Nazis helped German tycoons make billions off the horrors of the Third Reich and World War II—and how America allowed them to get away with it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20223 minutes, 45 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Fiji's Coral Coast

Mike Yardley has been kicking back in Fiji.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20228 minutes, 15 seconds
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Kate Hall: How to rely less on your car

Our sustainability expert Kate Hall gives her advice on how to rely less on your car. Short car trips under two kilometres make up nearly a third of all car trips on our road in NZ!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20229 minutes, 19 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Citrus in Winter

Citrus are “surface-rooting” and hence do not like a lot of “competition” from grass roots, so it pays to keep them mulched and avoid grass growing close to the trunk.Bark, Compost, Chippered branches; anything that suppresses the grass (especially Kikuyu) and will add organic matter is usefulFertiliser?Nah! In mid-winter plants do not take up much nutrients – wait till it gets warmer in springThey love a warm, sheltered spot in full sun – protected from wind; usually not good with heavy frosts. (Meyer lemons possibly a few degrees below zero); protect the trees from heavy frosts with frost-cloth…. So: ensure you have a lot of direct sunlight on your plant; (trim the trees that shade the citrus!)Lemons should be fruiting. Ensure that the load of fruit on the branches is not too heavy (breaking!), so remove fruit accordingly, especially from young trees and prune some off to let the frame-work develop; next year let a few more grow as the tree strengthens its branch system.(Meyer) Lemons have a habit of fruiting well every second year (usually in winter and spring months); therefore it’s best to plant two or three lemon trees to have a continuous supply of lemons!Peeled lemons hanging from your tree? Get a Timms Trap!Sooty Mould; If you have sooty mould (fungi growing on sap sucking insect’s excrement) now’s the time to use some spraying oil (Conqueror Oil) to get rid of the cause: scale/mealybug/whitefly)Neem Oil is often a good, organic “suffocator” of small sap-sucking insects. Use the Oils frequently (every two weeks or so) and spray both sides of leaves and branches.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20224 minutes, 18 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Dental care the focus for kids worldwide

Dr Bryan Betty chats to Jack Tame about the 2020 Child Health Report that's just been released with specific focus on dental care – the biggest non-communicable disease for children in the world. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20223 minutes, 57 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Netflix getting ads, Abortion laws and data collection

Netflix has confirmed ads are coming In April they said they were open to the idea, but now it's been confirmed. They'll still have an ad-free product, but they're adding an ad-supported lower cost plan to their offering. It's going to take Netflix time to build out an ad sales team and build its ad technology and infrastructure, so in the meantime it's looking to partner with companies who are already experts in this area. Changes to abortion laws turn a spotlight on personal data collection If state authorities were to investigate if an abortion has taken place, peoples' personal data could be used. Search history, text messages, phone logs could all be used, but so too could location data suggesting if someone had visited a known abortion clinic. Even period tracking apps could contain data helpful for the investigation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20224 minutes, 33 seconds
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Tara Ward: Chloe, Loot, Man vs Bee

Chloe: A thriller about Becky, a young woman who compares herself to the picture-perfect lives on Instagram and compulsively returns to one account: Chloe's. However, when Chloe dies suddenly, Becky's need to find out how and why leads her to assume a new identity (Prime Video) Loot: Comedy starring Maya Ruldoph, about a billionaire who’s life suddenly erupts in a tabloid-fuelled, self-destructive scandal (Apple TV+). Man vs Bee: Rowan Atkinson returns to the small screen in this Netflix comedy, as a man working as a house sitter is tormented by a mischievous bee. Wacky hijinks ensue. Eight episodes. (Netflix) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20225 minutes, 2 seconds
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'Ice Man' Wim Hof on becoming a worldwide phenomenon

‘Ice Man’ Wim Hof has become a worldwide phenomenon. He has more than 20 Guiness World Records to his name, has climbed icy mountains in nothing but shorts and sandals and run a half marathon above the arctic barefoot.  The method to Wim's madness is his cold therapy and breathing technique.  The Dutch Native has lived an incredible, albeit slightly unconventional life, but says he’s on a mission to change the world.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/202213 minutes, 54 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Carrot & parsnip hashbrowns

Sweet, crispy and scrummy, these hashbrowns are so delicious and perfect for a long weekend! Take advantage of parsnips and carrots when they’re in season, even though they’re available year-round, as they taste so good freshly picked. Makes one large or 4–6 smaller hash browns 1 medium carrot, grated 1 medium parsnip, grated 1 egg (can omit) a small handful of chopped parsley salt and pepper oil for frying a dollop of sour cream to serve chutney to serve  Place the grated carrot and parsnip into a bowl. Add the egg and parsley and mix with a fork. Season well. Heat enough oil to coat the bottom of a medium-sized frying pan. Spoon the mixture into the pan as one large or individual hash browns. Cook for 4–5 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and cook until golden on second side. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or your favourite chutney.Other topping suggestions: Flakes of smoked salmon or other fish Crispy bacon Avocado LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20224 minutes, 53 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, Whina

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Baz Luhrmann's Elvis and Kiwi film, Whina.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20224 minutes, 31 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Tragedy at the supermarket with phasing out of Ernest Adams products

Kevin Milne has taken issue with the phasing out of Ernest Adams products. He joined Jack Tame to discuss this tragedy at the supermarket.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20227 minutes, 23 seconds
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Jack Tame: My sporting injury horror story

We were only two or three minutes into the game when it happened.The guy had the ball in midfield and I rushed up to mark him. He stepped backwards and brought the heel of his boot right down the front of my right shin. We don’t wear shinpads in our grade. Maybe we should. No foul! Play on! Seriously?!Maybe my leg was numb? I dunno. It felt bad when it happened and it looked bad when I stared down at my shin, but I wondered if maybe the freezing weather had muted the pain a bit. It just didn’t hurt like it should.This will shock you I’m sure, but contrary to my public profile, I’m not really very tough. I’m not someone who shrugs in the face of compound fractures and third-degree burns. I find pain, painful. I do my best to avoid it. But it wasn’t through heroism or bravery that I chose to play on, despite the large slit down my right shin and my blood-soaked sock. Maybe it was adrenalin! It just didn’t actually hurt that much.The most painful thing at the After Hours surgery was the wait. Not sure if you’ve heard, but our healthcare system has seen quieter periods. At first, the lady on the front desk told me it would be five hours before I could to see a doctor.‘Maybe just get it washed out by a nurse.’ She said.‘Wrap it up overnight and find someone else to stitch it, tomorrow.’ Hmm.The wait was only half that time, in the end. I braced for a terrible sting when they flushed out the would with saline and then jabbed me with anaesthetic, but in the end it was all good. They sewed up my shin like a hole in a pillowcase. I drove home and twisted myself into all sorts of highly-unflattering positions in the shower as I endeavoured to keep the wound dry.The next day wasn’t too bad. The nurse at my GP clinic cleaned and dressed my shin. He poked it a bit to see if there was any sign of infection. It felt pretty good.‘Does that hurt?’‘Nah.’‘Do you have a high pain threshold?’He reckoned that last night was a key milestone. 72 hours from the sprig digging out a large strip of my leg, I should know with a reasonable degree of confidence if the wound was infected or if it was healing efficiently, as it should. We should know if the stitches were working.‘All you need to do,’ he said.‘Is take off the dressing.’Huh.I started at the corner. I worked up just a couple of millimetres, a tiny little piece of bandage, but I could already see the problem. There was no sign of infection, but every single one of my leg hairs was absolutely, utterly determined not to let the bandage go without a decent fight.I mightn’t be very tough. But I am hairy. My leg hair could be accurately described as voluminous. If the shampoo marketing department was feeling a bit creative, I’d be hired immediately for a Palmolive ad. Stroking my leg is like stroking a border collie.I knew what I had to do, of course. Some cliches are cliches for a reason. I tensed my body. Inhaled deeply, to the bottom of my lungs. And I peeled that dressing off my leg like a ripe banana.Riiiiiiiiip.Tears pricked in the corners of my eyes. I gasped like someone waking from a fever dream.It hurt like a bastard.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/24/20224 minutes, 21 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: George Ezra's Gold Rush Kid

Estelle Clifford gives her rating of George Ezra's third album, Gold Rush Kid. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20225 minutes, 22 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Horse and Le Fric Family, Power and Money

Catherine Raynes has been reading Horse by Geraldine Brooks and Le Fric Family, Power and Money by Alex Duff.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20224 minutes, 43 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Eat and Drink in Marlborough

Travel expert Mike Yardley has been eating and drinking his way around Marlborough. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20228 minutes, 55 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Helping a partner who’s grieving

It’s always difficult knowing the right things to say to someone who is grieving so Steven Dromgool is sharing his advice on how to help a partner that’s dealing with loss. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20228 minutes, 25 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: How to navigate your finances in bear market territory

There has been blood on the floor of markets all round the world this week – with share markets falling into ‘bear market’ territory.  Hannah McQueen talk us through how to navigate your finances when there appears to no be safe haven in sight.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20225 minutes, 45 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Internet Explorer is no more, Photoshop to be free

Internet Explorer is no moreIt's the end of an era! Microsoft has officially ended support for the once-popular internet browser which many people used to explore the internet for the first time. Microsoft Edge is their new browser - actually built on Google's browser technology - and is steadily adding new features. Applications which will only run on IE will be able to run in Edge, using a compatibility mode. If people are still using IE in a few months, those users will see a banner directing them over to Edge.Internet Explorer was 26.Adobe plans to make Photoshop free on the webA new online-only version of Photoshop is being tested in Canada, with plans to allow anyone, where to edit photos in their web browser. Their plan is to make it more accessible, not to be nice, but to showcase the features of Photoshop in the hope you'll upgrade to the full desktop version. Instagram's latest attempt to take down TikTokMeta's photo social network is expanding to full-screen videos and looking to switch up its navigation (which could even see the 'compose' button move back to the bottom). Instagram says it's still "an important part" of the service, but it certainly doesn't seem that way.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20223 minutes, 56 seconds
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Tara Ward: This is going to hurt, For All Mankind, Everything I know about love

This is going to hurt: A British medical comedy-drama based on the best-selling memoir by Dr Adam Kay, about the lives of junior doctors working in an obstetrics and gynaecology ward in the NHS (TVNZ1, from Sunday) For All Mankind: A new season of the science-fiction space drama that imagines the 1960s space race between the U.S. and the USSR never ended (Apple TV+). Everything I know about love: based on the book by journalist Dolly Alderton about the changing friendship between two best friends in their 20s as they navigate life, love and everything in between (TVNZ+) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20224 minutes, 52 seconds
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James Bay talks new album Leap and becoming a new dad

Brit singer-songwriter James Bay shot to fame in 2014 with his songs Let it Go and Hold Back the River.He's now back with a third album and his most personal yet after a wild ride of dealing with the pandemic and becoming a new dad. The Grammy-nominated and Brit award-winning artist joins Jack Tame on Saturday Morning. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/202213 minutes, 39 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Nude Tuesday and The Other Fellow doco

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Nude Tuesday and The Other Fellow doco from the Doc Edge Film Festival. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20228 minutes, 41 seconds
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Jack Tame: The autocorrect fail driving me mad

I am not a technophobe.I need no convincing that technology makes many aspects of our lives much easier and though I’ve been known on occasion to come late to technology - for a couple of years I was convinced that cellphones were nothing more than a passing fad - I DO eventually come around. I do. I find technology intuitive. I quickly become one of those people who can’t imagine life without it.That being said, for several months now I’ve been at war with my phone’s cleverness. Against my wishes, against any explicit instructions, and in spite of my very best efforts to override my phone’s decision making, it has decided on a small but meaningful autocorrect change which is fundamentally changing my text communication.Every time I type the word ‘can,’ my phone changes it to ‘can’t.’I’m aware that in the grand scheme of autocorrect fails, this mightn’t seem all that significant. I Googled some extreme examples of people whose messages have been completely transformed by the supposed smartness of their smartphones, and some of the texts certainly leave you wondering if technology is indeed a force for good.Instead of asking if his partner was keen to eat chicken fajitas for dinner, autocorrect meant someone called Luke asked about eating chicken vaginas, instead. Chicken vaginas? For dinner? Hmm. I think I’ll stick with drumsticks, thanks.In another exchange, a dad asked his family chat who had a spare key to the back door.“Grandpa died” replied Mum. Grandpa DIED?! Oh my god! Mum! That’s awful! But what a strangly blunt way to share the sad news. Sorry. Grandpa DOES, clarified Mum. Grandpa DOES. Autocorrect strikes again.My autocorrect drama pales in comparison. But just pause for a moment, and imagine how much the addition of an apostrophe and a letter changes the intention of my communication.Jack, can you get some milk from the dairy on the way home?“Of course I can’t”Jack, can you please collect me from the airport?“Yes, I can’t.”Have you confirmed whether those two Cabinet Ministers will be interviewed on Sunday?“They can’t do it. They need to be finished and out the door by 9.30 so they can’t make their party hui.”It’s been months. I tried turning autocorrect off and on. I tried various help forums. Sometimes I catch it. I thumb back through my message and delete out the superfluous characters. Sometimes I don’t. I’m at the point where I’’m starting to wonder what it means that my phone always defaults to can’t instead of can. Does it mean I’m a negative person? Am I glass half-empty rather than half-full? A can’t-do, rather than a can-do?I can’t only hope that my phone can’t relearn that every time I say can’t I actually mean can’t. No. Hang on. Every time I say can’t I mean can’t. Wait. Every time I say C-A-N, I mean can’t.Can’t you understand my frustration?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20224 minutes, 41 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Fried Bread/Parāoa parai

I made this for the first time last Matariki and loved it as a dessert! Fried bread, or parāoa parai is easy to whip up and this recipe produces lovely soft soft pillows of fried bread which, served warm with ice cream and blackberries and drizzled with mānuka honey, make a gorgeous dessert. Makes 12-16 pieces 2 teaspoon instant yeast ½ teaspoon sugar 1 – 1 ½ cups warm water 2 1/2 cups high grade flour ½ teaspoon salt Cooking oil, for frying Ice cream to serve Blackberries to serve Icing sugar for dusting Mānuka honey for drizzling  In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast and sugar over half a cup of the warm water, stir gently, cover and leave to sit and froth for 5-7 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Slowly add the foamy yeast mixture and some of the remaining water, stirring with a knife as you go, until a scraggy mass forms. Mix with your hands in the bowl and keep adding water until a soft dough forms – you may or may not need all of the water. Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface (and oil the empty bowl) and with light hands, knead for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Transfer back to the oiled bowl, cover, and leave to proof in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size. Once the dough has doubled in size, pat out onto the floured surface and roll out to a 1-2cm thickness. Cut into squares or triangles and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Heat 2 cm oil in a large fry pan and fry bread until golden brown, flip and cook until puffed up and fluffy in the centre. Serve warm fried bread with ice cream and blackberries and showered in icing sugar.Nici’s note: For lovely soft pillows, aim for a slightly sloppy and sticky dough which may be hard to knead but it will firm up on rising. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/17/20225 minutes, 4 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Four Treasures of the Sky, The Murders at Fleet House

Catherine Raynes has been reading Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang and The Murders at Fleet House by Lucinda Riley.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20225 minutes, 12 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Surprising winter crop

Honestly! Most people think that winter is a “dead time” in the garden. But if you haven’t had a go at growing peas, you’d never know how easy that is. First of all, gardeners often grow a “green crop” in winter that gets dug into the soil in spring to add Nitrogen for the next growing season; We often use peas and other legumes for that task and the key is to dig them in before they set seed. Of course, those “green crops” are never sown for eating! But if you want edible peas, for instance, you could plant the seeds right now in the garden amongst the wintery conditions and frosts, and they’d germinate as well… were it not for the hungry birds, who are keen to devour some sown pea seeds in those lean winter months as there are few nutritious sources of food available at that time of the year. Oh and not just birds! Rats and Mice are in a similar boat… craving food. I prefer to sow them in a hidden spot (glass house or tunnel house) in seed-pots and let them grow until they are 5, 6, or 7 cm tall, with true leaves (not just the cotyledons). At that stage most of the valuable nutrients will have been used from the pea seeds and the transplanted young plants will be relatively safe from the birds and rodents. Seed raising mix in sowing cells works well for me; depending on the temperatures, you’d be looking at 2 weeks germination and an extra week or so to get some height on the little plants. When ready for transplanting, create a nice garden bed with good, weed-free soil, some grains of slow-release fertilisers and carefully put them into their spot… A bit of a “climbing rack” might keep them off the wet ground and results in harvesting cleaner pods. Then it’s just a matter of letting them grow and set their own “seeds” in seed pods we call “peas”. To be quite honest, few things taste fresher than new peas. While our peas and beans are so cooperative in terms of germinating in winter, think about their relatives, the Broad beans. They too will come up in the coldest months of the year, some can germinate at 4 degrees. Ideally plant the seeds from March (in the very coldest conditions) to May and Mid-June (elsewhere). These plants do not like too warm conditions. Broad beans are quite heavy plants and prone to collapsing when they grow, so a bit of support would be appreciated. The Sugar snap peas need a little bit of warmth to get going, so wait until late Early to Late Spring. But you know…. It’s something to look forward to!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20226 minutes, 12 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Sound encounters in Queen Charlotte

Mike Yardley has been cruising in the Sounds. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20227 minutes, 12 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Greenwashing

Greenwashing is when a company purports to be environmentally conscious for marketing purposes but actually isn’t making any notable sustainability efforts. A USA survey recently found 95 percent of so called green products violated the common principles we are going to talk about. Hidden Trade-off: a claim that a product is "green" based on an unreasonably narrow set of attributes without attention to other important environmental issues. paper, for example, is not necessarily environmentally-preferable just because it comes from a sustainably-harvested forest. other important environmental issues in the paper-making process, including energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and water and air pollution, may be equally or more significant.No Proof: a claim that cannot be substantiated by easily accessible information or by a reliable third-party certification. Vagueness: a claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the consumer. "All-natural", for example isn’t necessarily "green". arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all naturally occurring, and poisonous but certainly not green. Or 90 percent biodegradable. What does this mean. Even nuclear waste is biodegradable if you wait a few hundred thousand years. Worshiping False Labels: a claim that, through words or images, gives the impression of a third-party endorsement where none exists.. Marketers make up their own label or the whole packaging looks like an eco product even though it’s not Having said that, a reputable third party certification can be the solution to greenwash by giving certainty that the claims are true Irrelevance: a claim that may be truthful but which is unimportant or unhelpful to consumers seeking environmentally-preferable products. Again, a good example is the over use of biodegradable and compostable. Especially now around plastics that would only biodegrade in a commercial compost facility but makes you think you could throw them in your own compost bin. Lesser of Two Evils: a claim that may be true within the product category, but that risks distracting consumers from the greater environmental impact of the category as a whole. Like organic cigarettes or a new V8 sports car with slightly better fuel efficiency. Fibbing: a claim that is simply false. This is the rarest sin in NZ as the competitors will quickly let the commerce commission know. The big danger here is that people think they are doing the right thing for the planet and they are actually doing very little. It’s a distraction from making real change. The other danger is the people become disillusioned with all green products and will just give up trying to do the right thing. The solution is to do a bit of research yourselves. Check out the company website and see if they can back up their claims with specific data and searchable references And look for real third party certification.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20228 minutes, 56 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Paritua 2022 Rosé from Hawke’s Bay

Our wine expert Bob Campbell has been sipping on Paritua 2022 Rosé from Hawke’s Bay.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20225 minutes, 25 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple has crushed it this year

Apple's had their developer conference and are about to launch new devices - what's in store?I really think Apple has crushed it this year!The line between the iPad & MacBook is blurringThe new version of iPadOS will allow for overlapping windows in a workspace, much more like what you'd expect on a laptop. You can even plug it into a monitor and extend the display, like a laptop. Stage Manager is their new way to arrange and toggle between windows and it works the same way on both Mac & iPad. MacBook Air has a new designIt's stunning. They've made it more boxy like the pro, making it less of a wedge. It also comes with the M2 chip which just has the most incredible performance. True all day battery life.iPhone as a webcamYou can mount your iPhone at the top of your MacBook and it'll automatically connect allowing you to have a super high definition webcam. The wide angle lens also allows for a 'desk view' to show people something you've sketched out, printed out, or want to show off.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20225 minutes, 32 seconds
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Erin Doherty: Rising star on The Crown and her new thriller series

Royal fans out there might recognise her name.Actress Erin Doherty starred as a young Princess Anne in the popular Netflix series The Crown. Doherty was relatively unknown before being cast as Anne but the 29-year-old is now being touted as one to watch. The Brit has a new psychological series out called Chloe and it's received rave reviews already. She catches up with Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20228 minutes, 38 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Gluten free coconut loaf

This week is Coeliac Awareness Week - a chance to turn the spotlight on the condition whereby the body’s physiology is unable to tolerate gluten – a protein found in wheat, rye and barley – and as a reaction the immune system attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten. This from the NHS: Over time, the immune reaction to eating gluten creates inflammation that damages the small intestine's lining, leading to medical complications. It prevents absorption of some nutrients (malabsorption) and the classic, and immediate, symptom is diarrhoea. Other symptoms include bloating, wind, fatigue, low blood count (anaemia) and osteoporosis. The mainstay of treatment is a strict gluten-free diet that can help manage symptoms and promote intestinal healing. It’s a horrible condition made worse by it being undiagnosed and the fact that so many foods contain hidden gluten in some form these days – thickeners in sauces, fillers in sausages etc etc. So, here’s a delicious loaf that is perfectly fine for those following a GF diet. 1 ¼ cups GF flour 2 tsps baking powder 1 cup sugar – a mix of brown and white is fine 1 cup dessicated coconut 1 cup milk – regular or plant-based 2 tsps vanilla extract Turn the oven to 160 C fan bake. Grease and line a loaf tin. Mix all the dry ingredients together and then pour in the milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Scrape into the loaf tin. Bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool then slice to eat. It toasts well too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20225 minutes, 28 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Jurassic World, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Jurassic World: Dominion and Bhutanese drama film, Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20225 minutes, 41 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Threats to life and limb

Kevin Milne chats about all the threats to life and limb there seem to be around currently - especially if you live where he does with tornadoes, high seas and lightning storms.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20226 minutes, 54 seconds
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Jack Tame: That familiar sinking feeling

I knew it the moment I saw it.My bike just looked a bit... off. It was sitting heavy in the bike rack at work. Everyone else’s bikes sat bright and perky on puckered, plump, pressurised black rubber.There is just something so distinctly sad about a flat tyre.I started walking home with it. I moped up the hill, leading my bike like a handcuffed prisoner. Cyclists zipped past me in the bike lane, one after the other, fast and free, their high-vis vests snapping in the wind, home in no time! I kept on missing the traffic lights. Mope, mope, mope. Ten minutes from home, it started raining.I figured I must have got the flat on the way to work that morning. I couldn’t remember riding over broken glass or thumb tacks or a discarded bucket of nails. Just one of those things, I figured. The Gods saw the weather forecast and thought uh huh! Here’s an idea. A bit of sport. Let’s make Jack’s day just a little bit worse.It took me longer than it should have to change the tube. I’ve recently had to move my furniture around, and I emptied three large storage containers before I dug out my tyre levers. With two thirds of my worldly possessions arranged across the garage floor, I flipped my bike on its back. No sign of a nail. No thumb tacks. No sign of a gaping wound. I’m ashamed to say I took the easy way out and instead of finding the puncture and patching the hole, I just chucked in another tube. I pumped her up to sixty PSI and scoured the grease off my knuckles. Ride on.Nothing gets you down like a flat tyre in the rain. Except, maybe, for waking the next morning, packing your bags for work, scurrying down to the garage and discovering another flat tyre.Brilliant. For a moment I wondered if it was a non-violent protest by someone who just really hates cycle lanes. Since those eco-warriors are letting down the tyres on gas-gazzling SUVs, maybe some of the bike lane NIMBYs have been feeling inspired? As I walked to walk, it started to rain.The good thing about getting a flat tyre two days in a row is that the second time around, you’re faster. You’re better practised. You feel like a Formula One pit crew as you flip your bike on its back and see the familiar streak of black grease across your palm. Unfortunately for me, this theory only holds if you didn’t somehow lose the only hex key that fits your cycle’s axle bolt. I emptied three large storage containers and re-arranged half my worldly possessions across the garage floor before I found it.This time, I was really careful. I spun the wheel and scoured it for nails and pins. I ran my fingers all along the inside of the tyre and flicked out the tiny little bits of detritis that had gathered inside. I used my last bike tube and delicately arranged it around the outside of my rim, inflating it just a little bit to keep it inside the tire before sealing the rubber lips around the inside ring. I pumped it up, slow and steady. Sixty PSI. I wiped all the grease off my fingers and pushed off down the hill.The wind in my hair. The fresh winter air in my lungs! Hallelujah, I thought! I’m alive!There are certain moments in life that one becomes aware of a sinking feeling. In this case, it was a very literal sensation, not unlike gently lifting the lever to lower your office chair. I was perfectly located in the no man’s land that marks the single-least convenient part of my entire commute to work. A few drops of rain began to plop on my backpack as I climbed down off my pedals. My back tyre sagged and folded around the rim like a belly spewing over a waistband.Bugger it, I figured. Tomorrow, I think I’ll drive.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20225 minutes, 9 seconds
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Jack Tame: That familiar sinking feeling

I knew it the moment I saw it.My bike just looked a bit... off. It was sitting heavy in the bike rack at work. Everyone else’s bikes sat bright and perky on puckered, plump, pressurised black rubber.There is just something so distinctly sad about a flat tyre.I started walking home with it. I moped up the hill, leading my bike like a handcuffed prisoner. Cyclists zipped past me in the bike lane, one after the other, fast and free, their high-vis vests snapping in the wind, home in no time! I kept on missing the traffic lights. Mope, mope, mope. Ten minutes from home, it started raining.I figured I must have got the flat on the way to work that morning. I couldn’t remember riding over broken glass or thumb tacks or a discarded bucket of nails. Just one of those things, I figured. The Gods saw the weather forecast and thought uh huh! Here’s an idea. A bit of sport. Let’s make Jack’s day just a little bit worse.It took me longer than it should have to change the tube. I’ve recently had to move my furniture around, and I emptied three large storage containers before I dug out my tyre levers. With two thirds of my worldly possessions arranged across the garage floor, I flipped my bike on its back. No sign of a nail. No thumb tacks. No sign of a gaping wound. I’m ashamed to say I took the easy way out and instead of finding the puncture and patching the hole, I just chucked in another tube. I pumped her up to sixty PSI and scoured the grease off my knuckles. Ride on.Nothing gets you down like a flat tyre in the rain. Except, maybe, for waking the next morning, packing your bags for work, scurrying down to the garage and discovering another flat tyre.Brilliant. For a moment I wondered if it was a non-violent protest by someone who just really hates cycle lanes. Since those eco-warriors are letting down the tyres on gas-gazzling SUVs, maybe some of the bike lane NIMBYs have been feeling inspired? As I walked to walk, it started to rain.The good thing about getting a flat tyre two days in a row is that the second time around, you’re faster. You’re better practised. You feel like a Formula One pit crew as you flip your bike on its back and see the familiar streak of black grease across your palm. Unfortunately for me, this theory only holds if you didn’t somehow lose the only hex key that fits your cycle’s axle bolt. I emptied three large storage containers and re-arranged half my worldly possessions across the garage floor before I found it.This time, I was really careful. I spun the wheel and scoured it for nails and pins. I ran my fingers all along the inside of the tyre and flicked out the tiny little bits of detritis that had gathered inside. I used my last bike tube and delicately arranged it around the outside of my rim, inflating it just a little bit to keep it inside the tire before sealing the rubber lips around the inside ring. I pumped it up, slow and steady. Sixty PSI. I wiped all the grease off my fingers and pushed off down the hill.The wind in my hair. The fresh winter air in my lungs! Hallelujah, I thought! I’m alive!There are certain moments in life that one becomes aware of a sinking feeling. In this case, it was a very literal sensation, not unlike gently lifting the lever to lower your office chair. I was perfectly located in the no man’s land that marks the single-least convenient part of my entire commute to work. A few drops of rain began to plop on my backpack as I climbed down off my pedals. My back tyre sagged and folded around the rim like a belly spewing over a waistband.Bugger it, I figured. Tomorrow, I think I’ll drive.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/10/20225 minutes, 9 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kiwi band Rhombus returns

Estelle Clifford's been listening to Kiwi dub/reggae band Rhombus and their new album, After Party. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20225 minutes, 27 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Dirt Town, Sparring Partners

Catherine Ryanes has been reading Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor and Sparring Partners by John Grisham.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20224 minutes, 50 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A creative Queensland escape in Eumundi

Mike Yardley is escaping the chilly weather for the sunny state of Queensland in Australia. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20229 minutes, 50 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Importance of siblings

Steven Dromgool chats to Jack Tame about the importance of siblings and whether blood really is thicker than water. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20227 minutes, 13 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Bowel cancer awareness month

June is bowel cancer awareness month and Dr Bryan Betty is speaking about the screening programme and its importance. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20224 minutes, 47 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Sheryl Sandberg leaving Meta/Facebook

Big changes with Sheryl Sandberg leaving Meta / FacebookThe 52-year-old has been at the company for 14 years. She's held an unconventional COO role because she was usually the public face of the company. A COO usually is a very internal operations-focused position. She's been under investigation at Meta for using company resources to plan her wedding. Meta says that isn't tied to why she's leaving.Reports suggest she was burned out, tired of being a punching bag for the company's many many problems and isn't well suited to the metaverse.She's sold $1.7 billion dollars worth of stock over the past decade, putting her into a rare category of being a non-CEO and non-founder to become a billionaire.She's keeping her seat on the Meta board.What's next.. no word.Apple's Developer Conference is next weekMark your calendars.. expecting a new version of their Apple Silicone clip.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20223 minutes, 21 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Responder, Pistol, Match Fit

The Responder: Martin Freeman stars in this British thriller about a cop under pressure, who must tackle a series of night shifts on the beat in Liverpool while trying to keep his head above water personally and professionally (TVNZ OnDemand).Pistol: Directed by Danny Boyle, this miniseries follows the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols amid the 1970s London punk rock scene and is based on the memoir by guitarist Steve Jones (Disney+).Match Fit: A second season of the charming series that sees World Cup winning coach Sir Graham Henry and rugby royalty Sir Wayne Shelford bring together a team of former All Blacks from the late 1990s and early 2000s (Three, from Wednesday 8 June).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20225 minutes, 9 seconds
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Anna Kent: Frontline midwife on delivering babies in war zones

While most run away from war zones, Anna Kent runs toward them.Anna helps the most vulnerable women deliver babies in often harrowing conditions. At 26, she delivered a baby in a tropical storm by the light of a headtorch. The following year, she became responsible for the female health of 30,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Anna’s details her experiences in a new book called Frontline Midwife.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/202213 minutes, 23 seconds
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Nici Wickes: In honour of the Queen - Yorkshire Puddings

In celebration of the Queen’s 70th Jubilee we’re making a British favourite – Yorkshire Puddings!Makes 12 large4 medium eggs200mls milk200g plain flourLarge pinch saltGrapeseed or rice bran oil1. In a large bowl, whisk up the eggs until broken up. Pour in the milk and add the flour and whisk together gently until combined. Avoid overworking the batter, any lumps will soften in the resting period so don’t over-whisk the batter at this stage. Add the salt. Pour batter into a jug and rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, while you heat the oven.2. Heat oven to 190 C. Take a 12-hole muffin tin and pour oil into each hole, to quarter fill then place on a tray. Transfer to the oven and heat for 12-15 minutes. Remove and, acting quickly so the oil doesn’t cool too much, pour batter into the muffin holes, filling to nearly the top. Return to the oven and cook for 20-25minutes.3. These Yorkshire puddings can be eaten with any roast dinner (not just beef) or even as a snack with other toppings – think basil pesto and showered in parmesan, sautéed mushrooms with horseradish, salmon sour cream and capers…endless options.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20224 minutes, 39 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: French Film Festival kicks off

The French Film Festival is playing all around New Zealand over the next month. Francesca Rudkin talks through her picks. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20226 minutes, 34 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The Queen's pageantry

Kevin Milne was entranced by the pageantry in London for the Queens Birthday and chats to Jack Tame about it.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20228 minutes, 5 seconds
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Jack Tame: Gun violence now doesn't mean the buyback was a failure

When Jacinda Ardern and Joe Biden sat down, one subject was totally inevitable.Touring the U.S in the wake of its latest massacre(s), the New Zealand Prime Minister was asked by almost every politician or late night TV host about gun reform. As far as they were concerned, March 15th happened and within days her government acted. Almost immediately she took steps to get military style semi-automatic off the streets. To many Americans it was the sort of common sense policy-making that seems desperately distant in the United States of Mass Shootings.Of course, the real story was more complex than that. At the same time as Ardern was being celebrated by the American left as a heroic bastion of gun reform, Auckland recorded yet another worrying series of public shootings. Police have arrested nineteen gang members for firearms and drug offences in relation to the incidents, but over the last few weeks it has felt like only a matter of time before someone innocent ends up catching a bullet.In one sense, this spike in gun crime isn’t an aberration: 2021 had the highest number of firearms offences in at least the last 15 years. But the events of the last few weeks represent the crossover between two intertwined problems: gangs and guns.We don’t know with certainty exactly what guns have been used for each of the different public shooting incidents of the last few weeks. A shooting in Beach Haven last night appeared to involve a shotgun, which can obviously be legally purchased. But critics see the headlines of the last few weeks as evidence Jacinda Ardern’s gun buyback scheme was a failure: If the buyback had worked, we wouldn’t be having shootings.I agreed with the critique of the ACT Party at the time the buyback was announced - gangs and criminals were never going to voluntarily hand in their weapons at the local cop shop. Can you imagine?!But the criticism also misses a fundamental point. The buyback was never likely to have a massive impact on gun crime in the short term. Outside of hopefully preventing possible massacres in the future, the real benefit of the gun buyback scheme will be realised over time, when gangs and criminals can no longer steal weapons that have been legally purchased by law-abiding gun owners. Previously it wasn’t difficult to continuously supply a black market with military-style rifles. And with no gun register, it was impossible to track anything.But now, the source has dried up. Gangs will have to rely on their current caches, legal firearms, or on smuggling illegal weapons into New Zealand. Even though the buyback scheme meant law-abiding citizens were stripped of their military-style semi-automatics, ultimately it should also restrict the supply of those weapons to those with illicit intentions.This is little comfort right now, especially for the communities in which gang-related gun violence in most prevalent. So what more can we do? ACT might have opposed the gun buyback scheme, but the party also wants a different law change to help with the current violence: If a lawful Police search discovers an illegal operation, a gang member, and an illegal gun, the crown would be apply to fast-track the seizure of assets.This is not a silly idea.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/3/20224 minutes, 15 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Florence and the Machine's Dance Fever

Estelle Clifford has been spinning Florence and the Machine's new - and fifth - studio album, Dance Fever.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20227 minutes, 17 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: What Eden Did Next, Trust

Catherine Raynes has two books picks this week worth a read - What Eden Did Next by Shelia O’Flanagan and Trust by Hernan Diaz.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20223 minutes, 29 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Bites and Sights in Mooloolaba

Mike Yardley has been living the hard life soaking up the sunshine on Alexandra Headland.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20227 minutes, 57 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Why we ignore climate change

I love the story told to me by my friend Michael Braungart, co-author of Cradle to Cradle, the book that helped launch the circular economy movement in the early noughties.He says, what would happen if you take all the humans on the planet and put them in a big pile and then take all the ants and make a pile next to it. The ant pile would be bigger. But no one says , too many ants are ruining the planet. Quite the opposite, the recycling work they do make them almost the best circular economy practitioners around. So the problem isn’t too many humans but our day to day habits. Imagine when we get so good at looking after our world that extra humans would mean an even better planetThere are quite a few reasons that we are not yet taking the climate emergency seriously.I have tapped into the thinking of Art Markman, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas writing in the Harvard Business Review. He says ‘If people are motivated to avoid threats to their existence now, why is it so hard to get people to act on climate change’.There are four main reasons. For most people it is the difference between long term and short term thinking and this is the hardest trade off for people to make.People don’t save enough money for retirement preferring to spend now, they can over eat in the present and even smoke while actually knowing that long term, this is bad for their healthIgnoring climate change unfortunately has short term benefits. You don’t have to change any habits, business can still make climate unfriendly decisions and make more money now and even the government won’t upset voters now to make hard decisions because of the next election coming upSo what can you do here. Recognising the behaviour is a big part of the solution. We can save for retirement and also give up bad health habits. So we can also change our habits to stop climate change.Business can be encouraged to do the right thing through your buying behaviour and by asking for the climate friendly products you want. Even politicians do listen to their electors if you take the time to let them know what is important to you.Secondly, climate is a non linear problem. people are already good at making judgements of linear trends. I spend $5 a day on coffee. Therefore I can understand the implications without setting up a spreadsheet. But but when things start slowly then accelerate this causes a problem. People will still think linearly. A few cigarettes a days ok but it’s the accumulation of years of smoking that does the damage . Then the health issues suddenly sneaks up on them.Likewise it’s been a long time until any obvious impacts of climate change have appeared. But we can see them now.The third issue is distance. Most of the problems are happening to others far away. Research shows that people conceptualise things from a distance more abstractly than what’s happening to their own neighbours. So it losses impact and is not seen as important.And fourthly the future is actually very abstract. We don’t know what will happen. We love to live in the now, and maybe the past but don’t trust what will happen in the future.And I add a fifth reason. Many, mainly men, think we are so clever, that science will come up with a ‘get out of jail card’ that will sort all these problems. So we don’t have to do anything but wait for these clever scientists to save us. This is quite common thinking , including among media commentators who will rubbish cycle lanes and other green initiatives because of of this thinking.This is wishful and or even magical thinking. Not rational at all, like these blokes like to think. Should we keep smoking and over eating and wait for science to save us. We actually have all the scientific processes right now to reverse the climate emergency , we just need to change our habits and put them in place.So what else can we do?Well...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20228 minutes, 42 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Mowing lawns or wildflower meadows?

The British Gardeners are urged to stop mowing lawns in May so as to “support bees”. Gardeners come in many different "sizes": 1) Precision gardeners. Those that follow the swanky garden magazines and have not a plant nor a blade of grass out of place. Think Versailles and the Famous British gardens like Sissinghurst. When it comes to lawns they are cut to within an inch of their life! There are no weeds, and few "wild Flowers". Most of the borders are sprayed to minimize fungi and bacterial diseases as well as Natural Biodiversity such as insects, spiders, mites, praying mantises and crickets 2) Wannabe-precision gardeners. Those who haven't got the time nor the staff to achieve the number one status. Their gardens really lack detailed attention and as such they're a lot weedier and "all over the place" in the eyes of precision gardeners. They usually do have some structure though... and are pleasant to the eye. 3) Hippies and Macrobiotic adorers of Homeopathy and Herbs. My goodness! That is a mess! Stuff everywhere - no weed control, aphids all over the place, weird flowers popping up everywhere, heaps of blackbirds, lots of worms, swarms of butterflies and armies of moths, native bees, beetles, insectivorous birds and lizards. Ironically, when it comes to creating a garden with the best biodiversity, the third option will win hands-down. Imagine heaps of different species of flowers, weeds, (as well as mosses and lichens) allowing for a huge diversity of wildlife. The nectar and the pollen attached to a variety of flowers is very beneficial for pollinators, such as bees and moths and butterflies, beetles, hover flies, parasitic wasps and predatory critters who all need pollen (protein) for development and nectar (sweet energy). The Brits might have the idea to not mow their lawns in May (getting more flowering weeds in there), but I reckon we can do much better than that: Now is the time to sow wild-flower seeds (mixed series of species) in some vegetable beds that are lying dormant or idle. Some of the resulting plants may even flower in winter and early spring, whereas other species will pop up in mid to late spring, providing our pollinators with extra sustenance (nectar and pollen) and opportunities for survival and reproduction. No, I am not thinking about honey bees so much... We have 28 species of small, native bees and they are brilliant pollinators of our native flowers. These native bee species are often robbed of floral nectar by the commercial and exotic honey bee, so I'd like to give our natives a helping hand. By the way: even “exotic” wildflowers will attract all these critters, so it doesn’t always need to be “native plants”… Apart from bees and bumble bees, we also have a lot of other pollinators in our garden: beetles, small parasitic wasps that help with pest control, as well as hover flies and moths and butterflies; All these creatures are part of our ecosystems and complete our Biodiversity in the garden. Birds, too, like the flowers and the subsequent seeds. I have always liked the idea of creating a wildflower "lawn" in the garden and simply mow elegant meandering paths through these wildflower lawns, so you can walk there without getting wet trousers or wet feet after a shower of rain. Start sowing the wildflower mixes in your garden for a totally different and colourful look in spring. Try it...you'll like it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20224 minutes, 21 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: OCR and what can you focus on in the doom and gloom?

Hannah McQueen is talking about the latest OCR increase - the fact that rates are rising faster, and likely higher than previously predicted will be scary for some. The whole economic picture can seem overwhelmingly negative at the moment – so what do you focus on in the midst of the doom and gloom? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20225 minutes, 57 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Huawei's 5G equipment now banned from all five-eyes

Huawei is banned from supplying 5G equipment in CanadaThis means  it's now fully banned across the five-eyes alliance of the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Canadian companies will have until June 2024 to remove it - at their own cost and without reimbursement from the Canadian government. They say it's a move to protect their critical telecommunications infrastructure of the future from foreign interference. There isn't an easy answer explaining who owns Huawei, and many allegations of subverting sanctions, fraud, espionage. Using the wrong USB-C cable? Your Chromebook will now tell youUSB-C is a very confusing piece of technology. Your cable may have a USB-C connection, but that doesn't mean it can do everything possible with USB-C. Some USB-C cables can handle high power currents, others can't, they can handle various speeds of data, some are Thunderbolt, some are DisplayPort. Depending on the feature depends on the maximum length the cable can be. So soon, when you plug the wrong cable into your Chromebook and wonder why something isn't working, your computer will help you figure it out.LISTEN AABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20229 minutes, 46 seconds
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Chuck Schulz: Stranger Things is back, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Prehistoric Planet

Stranger Things Season 4 (Netflix) It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn't made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney) “Obi-Wan Kenobi” begins 10 years after the dramatic events of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. Prehistoric Planet (Apple TV) “Prehistoric Planet” combines award-winning wildlife filmmaking, the latest paleontology learnings and state-of-the-art technology to unveil the spectacular habitats and inhabitants of ancient Earth for a one-of-a-kind immersive experience.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20225 minutes, 38 seconds
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George Thorogood is still rocking 45 years on

The legendary blues-based rocker George Thorogood and his band the Destroyers have announced they’re coming our way in October. They've sold over 15 million albums, built a catalogue of classic hits and played more than 8000 live shows. There’s no slowing down for 72-year-old George just yet. He catches up with Jack Tame about 45 years of rock and why he still loves it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/202212 minutes, 16 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Lemon cheesecake

Have you noticed all the gorgeous lemon trees beginning to shine with fruit? I just love this time of year when citrus comes into its own again. Try this cake - it’s a terrific combination of a cake and a cheesecake and it’s lemony delicious.Serves 8-12Batter1 ¼ cup sugarZest from one lemon½ teaspoon sea salt1 large egg room temperature220g butter melted3 tablespoons lemon juice2 ¼ cups plain flour2 teaspoons baking powderFilling220g cream cheese softened1 ½ cups icing sugar + extra2 large egg yolks2 tablespoons lemon juiceZest from one lemonCake Batter1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a 23cm round springform tin.2. Combine grated lemon zest and sugar in a large bowl of food processor and give it a quick whizz so that the sugar becomes fragrant and pale yellow. Whisk in the egg, lemon juice and melted butter until combined.3. Sift in the flour and baking powder and combine to a thick batter. Spread batter evenly into the greased tin.4. Make the filling: Use an electric beater to combine cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks, lemon juice and zest and continue to beat until smooth. Pour the filling on top of the batter. Knock gently to expel any air bubbles.5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the middle is puffed. If you see it browning too quickly, tent the top with a piece of foil.6. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before releasing the sides of the tin. Slide it onto a serving plate and dust with icing sugar.7. Serve immediately for extra gooey-ness or chill for a firmer texture. Either way, amazing!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20226 minutes, 38 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Civil naughtiness

Kevin Milne chats to Jack Tame about some civil naughtiness in Wellington. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20226 minutes, 9 seconds
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Jack Tame: Uvalde and the echoes of Sandy Hook

I was sitting in my apartment in East Harlem, New York, when it first hit the news.I think I saw something on Twitter first. Then I turned on cable TV and waited to hear from a police officer or a politician or someone with some authority.There was so much confusion in those first couple of hours. There always is. Everyone hangs on every thread of information but it always takes an age to work out the detail.Everyone in New Zealand was asleep but eventually I just took a punt, hired a car from the Avis down the road, packed my camera gear and started driving north out of Manhattan, through the Bronx, and up across the state border into Connecticut. I was listening to a press conference on the radio when they finally confirmed the fatalities.Ten years ago this December. Sandy Hook.There’s not really anything to say about mass shootings in America that hasn’t been said. But I always feel a bit of a macabre connection to American massacres, because I ended up covering so many in the five years I lived in the States. I remember when Aurora happened. I remember when San Bernardino happened. I remember when Charleston happened. I flew across the country and drove through the night to be at Umpqua Community College. Most people don’t remember that one – eight people died. I was on the scene just a few hours after the Pulse nightclub shooting went down. That held the record for fatalities, at the time.I still think of Sandy Hook the most. The lonely drive up there. The satellite trucks. The families gathering in the firehouse to collect their children and the slow realisation that those parents who were left would forever be bound to the worst of the worst. The memorials that popped up over the next few days. The quietness. The way no one liked making eye contact in the street. Twenty little kids.My girlfriend feels like she has to breathe it all in. She reads every article and watches every press conference. She wants to see the children’s faces and hear their parents wailing. I found her the other day, unblinking, tears gliding down her cheeks as she watched Anderson Cooper interviewing a Dad whose daughter had been shot in the head. She feels compelled to try understand the incomprehensible and in her search for answers, she learns Every. Single. Detail.But I cant anymore. I makes me feel funny to engage with the shootings. I don’t want to know details or learn anyone’s name. I just feel a massive darkness about the whole process, the whole routine and theatre of it all.At the time, Sandy Hook felt like the best chance for something big to change. Obama cried on TV. I was there when he turned up at the vigil in Newtown to meet with all the families and promised to go above and beyond. Maybe this is it, we thought. After all, it doesn’t get any worse. Can you imagine any greater horror than a gunman in a primary school? Five and six-year-old kids.Nothing big changed, of course. There is perhaps no greater illustration of just how poisoned the American political system has become than the fact that a minority interest in assault weapons can ward off greater regulation, even when a majority of Americans favour it and massacres have become the norm.We live in a strange World in which an NBA coach or a group of protesting students might be more effective in affecting change than the post powerful officials in their country.And so I hope I’m wrong. I hope the pendulum of change swings back the other way and that instead of waiting for a horror even more shocking than Sandy Hook or Uvalde, the sheer weight of all these tragedies is enough.But if recent history is any guide, there will be another horror. Another kid with an AR-15. Another worst nightmare. Another Uvalde. Another Sandy Hook.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/27/20225 minutes, 11 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Everyone's talking about it...Harry Styles' new album

Estelle Clifford gives her review of Harry's House, the new album from Harry Styles. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20226 minutes, 10 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Tresspasses and Minnie Driver's memoir

Catherine Raynes has been reading actress Minnie Driver's memoir, Managing Expectations as well as Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, which has rave reviews.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20224 minutes, 10 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Hinterland treats in the Sunshine Coast

Mike Yardley's been exploring parts of the Sunshine Coast in Australia.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20229 minutes, 33 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: The importance of male friendship

Steven Dromgool is at a men's retreat for the weekend and thought it was a good reminder to talk about the importance of male friendship. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20226 minutes, 44 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Cluster flies

Pollenia rudis is the cluster fly species we discovered on the North Shore, for the first time in 1984. It may have arrived in some containerised luggage or cargo.Originally from the Northern countries (Scandinavia - north America) where it lives a peculiar life as a parasite of earthworms.The female fly lays eggs in dense grass habitats (paddocks and lawns) and often near eartworm tunnels;The larvae (aka "maggots") hatch, find themselves some way of getting into the soil (gaps around plants or through established earthworm tunnels) and gain entry into the body of an earthworm.Inside the worm it feeds on the internal body fluids and organs.Gross? yep! But most animals on the planet have "parasites" (see below) that can cause damage.The cluster flies that hatch from their earthworm are pretty insects, the size of blowflies (slightly larger that houseflies) with golden hairs on the top of their thorax; In spring and summer I often see them pollinating flowers (The name “Pollenia” is a nice indicator!)When temperatures get cooler in autumn, these flies usually look for a suitable hibernation place: in holes in the ground, under bark of trees, under mulch layers, etc. But if there’s a nice warm human house nearby they will try to gain entry.By their thousands!This year we saw a lot of that happening in Canterbury and parts of southern North Island.They crawl through small holes (ill-fitting window frames, etc) and mark their entry by leaving a residue of Pheromone scent; this means that other Pollenia flies simply follow the trail and join the others…The pheromone is rather sticky and smells somewhat of Buckwheat honey (hence the name buckwheat fly in the USA).Cluster flies are not of medicinal importance (like some blowflies) but are hard to remove due to their messy pheromones. Best “prevention” is to ensure there are no entrance holes around the home.In terms of earthworm population effects: There is no evidence that cluster flies significantly reduce earthwormsGrowers and gardeners use some parasites (small wasps!) to reduce the number of caterpillars that eat your cabbages, or certain tiny parasites that literally "hollow out" the green loopers in your houseplants.Humans have parasites too: tape worm, malaria, hook worm and even insect parasites (fly maggots) that tunnel into your skin (often on the head) in tropical areas - good fun!Now, the idea of parasitism (as well as predation) is to keep populations "in check" and prevent them from escalating in their natural habitat and ecological systems: if you have a heap of aphids on your roses, the parasites and predators move in to reduce the load on your plants - simple as that.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20224 minutes, 46 seconds
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Bob Campbell: A bright, fresh and peppery Chardonnay

Bob Campbell's pick of the week is the Villa Maria 2021 Cellar Selection Chardonnay from Hawke’s Bay. Bob's tip - don’t over-chill Chardonnay or it will taste like water. If you get served a wine that is too cold cup your hand around the glass and swirl it until it reaches the right temperature. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20224 minutes, 26 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Prepare yourself...there's a new Outlook coming, Costco and Apple

Prepare yourself.. there's a new Outlook comingThis is in the very early stages but is going to be a big shift for people. Outlook for Windows on your desktop will start to look exactly like the web version you use today.By rebuilding it, they're going to be able to leverage more integrations with Microsoft products. It'll be more connected directly to OneDrive so you can add an attachment to an email just by typing an @ then the filename. Easy! Microsoft will pin emails to the top of your inbox it thinks you might need to see again, you'll be able to drag emails into your calendar or turn them into tasks in Microsoft To-Do.Costco and Apple have partneredCostco is famous for allowing folks to buy things in bulk for cheap and leveraging its large membership to get access to better pricing of goods. Now that's in the virtual world too in a partnership with Apple. Costco members can get discounts on subscriptions to Apple News Plus, Apple TV Plus, and Apple Arcade. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20224 minutes, 40 seconds
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Eleanor Ford: Following the spice trail with a 'culinary detective'

Eleanor Ford has been described as a culinary detective. She’s travelled around the world seeking out the best food in more than 70 countries. Eleanor’s new book is called The Nutmeg Trail - a deep dive into the history of spice with recipes and stories exploring how centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world's cuisine. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/202213 minutes, 16 seconds
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Tara Ward: Time Traveller's Wife, Conversations with Friends, Lincoln Lawyer

The Time Traveller’s Wife: A science fiction drama based on the popular book by Audrey Niffeneger, about a love story between Clare and Henry that is complicated by time travel (Neon).Conversations with Friends: Based on the book by Irish author Sally Rooney (Normal People), about two Dublin college students, Frances and Bobbi, and the strange and unexpected connection they forge with married couple, Melissa and Nick (Prime Video).Lincoln Lawyer: Another show based on a book - this time the bestselling novel by Michael Connelly - and created by David E. Kelley. Idealistic lawyer Mickey Haller runs his practice out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car, taking on cases big and small across Los Angeles (Netflix).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20225 minutes, 26 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Homemade biscuits vs store bought

Whilst we’re all focused on the cost of living and food prices making it harder and harder to afford any treats or luxury items, here’s a thing…home-made biscuits. They’re an absolute treat, better for you than bought biscuits, quick and easy to make and so affordable. Bran or Oat biscuits Makes 30 biscuits 110g butter, softened 1 cup regular sugar 1 egg 1 cup plain flour + extra for rolling 1 cup bran flakes or oats – process these in a food processor or blender 1 tsp baking powder  Set oven at 160 C fan bake and line 1 or 2 trays with baking paper. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Stir in flour and bran/oats until it forms a ball. Halve and roll out each dough ball on a well-floured surface. Use a round cookie cutter or thin-lipped glass or cup to cut into circles. Any size you like. Transfer to the lined tray. Prick each with a fork. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Bake for 5 minutes then bang and turn the tray and bake for a further 3 -5 minutes when they should be lovely and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. These biscuits freeze exceptionally well. They can also be buttered or sandwiched together with icing for an extra treat.TOTAL COST: $2.76 for 30 biscuits (9cents per biscuit) Ginger nuts $2.90 / 10 Bran biscuits $5.50 / 12 Krispies $2.90 / 24See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20224 minutes, 50 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Nobody Has to Know, The Northman

Nobody Has To Know Nobody Has to Know. Belgian writer, director, and actor Bouli Lanners' latest is an engrossing drama about one man's amnesia and the love story that rewrites his past. We rely on our memories to tell us the story of who we are. Phil, a robust middle-aged man suffers a stroke, causing him to lose his memory. Millie, who takes care of him, tells him falsely that they were secretly in love before his accident. The Northman From visionary director Robert Eggers comes THE NORTHMAN, an action-filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder. With an all-star cast that includes Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20225 minutes, 55 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Shortland Street's 30th Birthday

Kevin Milne reminisces on starring as himself in a Shortland Street episode as the show turns 30 this week.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20227 minutes, 45 seconds
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Jack Tame: We've delayed the inevitable - the worst economic pain is still to come

When 73-year-old Anne Guenole died, it was national news.Every media outlet in the country did stories. Anne’s family remembered her as a quiet nana and great-grandmother who spent most of her time at home on the South Island’s beautiful West Coast. She’d been hospitalised with a suspected case of influenza.Except it wasn’t influenza. Anne was the first New Zealander to die of Covid-19.That was March, 2020. I was thinking about that moment this morning, as I reflected on how much our collective attitude have changed in the two years since.Since Anne Guenole died, more than a thousand New Zealanders have died with Covid-19. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve died of Covid-19. I appreciate the distinction. But many of those deaths were untimely, and we continue to record ten or twenty deaths a day. Where once we gasped if the daily infection numbers were in the high teens or early twenties, now we barely pay attention to daily cases in the thousands.Could you tell me to the closest thousand how many infections New Zealand recorded on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week?It’s neither good or bad. It just says something about our psychology. It’s fascinating to me how quickly we’ve switched. Given access to vaccines and an end to lockdowns and restrictions, in a sense we’ve largely moved on. Even if the virus hasn’t.It was reflected in the budget, this week. For all the budget nicknames – braindrain budget, backwards budget, climate budget – no one was calling it a Covid budget. The cost of living has overtaken the pandemic and is far-and-away the biggest concern for a majority New Zealanders. Grant Robertson’s plans were those of a finance minister and a government that feels vulnerable to criticism over their role in inflation.It’s funny to think about how politicians frame these things. For two years, many people felt the government was prioritising lives over the economy. It’s a silly binary – if we’ve learnt anything from Covid-19, it’s that economy activity and the pandemic are closely linked.But it is true that we used to take far greater steps in order to protect lives. We had a far lower tolerance for infections and death. If we’re playing the same silly binary game today, you couldn’t argue that New Zealand isn’t prioritising the economy over doing everything possible to save lives.We’ve flipped. We’ve crossed the threshold. And I have a similar nagging feeling to that in the early stages of the pandemic. We can do what we can to soften the landing but it’s still going to hurt. Unfortunately, when you look at our economic position, inflation, growth, and interest rates, we’ve been delaying the inevitable.This time it isn’t Covid cases. It’s economic pain. Unfortunately for New Zealand, the worst is still to come.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/20/20224 minutes, 7 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kiwi artist Erny Belle's new album, Venus is Home

Estelle Clifford is back with more Kiwi music to celebrate New Zealand music month. This time she's highlighting Auckland-based artist Erny Belle and her new album, Venus is Home LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20225 minutes, 48 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Improbable Life of Ricky Bird, Reputation

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Improbable Life of Ricky Bird by Diane Connell and Reputation by Sarah Vaghan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20224 minutes, 42 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Tamborine Mountain, Queensland's Scenic Rim

A short hop from Brisbane or the Gold Coast will land you at Tamborine Mountain and Mike Yardley has all the secrets to make a good trip.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20228 minutes, 57 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Low carbon travel

Prince Harry is in a video released this week starring Rhys Darby, David Fane and Rena Owen. The premise is not that the destination we go to is rated on how green it is, but that we as tourists are rated on our carbon footprint whilst there. How do you rate yourself at present and how could you improve your score? Well first let’s still talk about a NZ holiday. How do we get there? I’m afraid air travel is the most carbon burning option followed by driving. Driving gets an even worse rating if you are by yourself in the car without friends and family. So a lot of people in a vehicle is a much better option which is why bus or rail comes out on top. Unfortunately, it is not so convenient in NZ …yet. I loved the train journeys I’ve had overseas. Train tracks are much less obtrusive than roads and you end up in some remarkable situations, even looking into the locals backyards at times. Fascinating insights on local culture.  So, what about electric? It is possible to rent electric cars now and yes, even electric camper vans. Because of our low carbon electricity in NZ. This option wins hands down. Go online and look for these options. Get a cheap second-hand Nissan Leaf with a small range for commuting and shopping from home. They are getting very cheap because the first ones have such a short range, but that’s fine in a city where you can recharge at home or work. Then for your weekend adventures or holidays, hire. Now you have arrived at your destination, what’s next? If you have arrived by plane, and if I’m going to Queenstown from my home in Northland, I’m going to fly, then when you arrive you have the option to hire an electric car. Or take the airport bus into town and do without a car. This is where bikes start to look good. You can get part day, full day or multi days deals. And those of us you think we may not be fit enough, there are now electric bikes.  Reward the accommodation providers that are making a difference. There are independent environmental accreditations or certifications, like the Toitu programme, Qualmark EnviroGold rating, or EarthCheck certification. And in any accommodation * Hang up your towels – it’s the universal sign that they don’t need to be washed and you’re happy to reuse them * Leave the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the hotel door to reduce unnecessary washing of linen, vacuuming and the use of other chemicals for cleaning * Take your own toiletries (and toothbrush) to reduce the single use of those tiny hotel bottles of gunk * Use your own plastic free water bottle not the free single-use stuff LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20228 minutes, 15 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Garlic planting timing to prevent rust

Rust on garlic seems to have become a real pain in the last few years; not just me in CHC but right around the country, and especially in areas with high gardener-population densities…If you are surrounded by gardeners, growing onions, shallots, leeks and garlic, chances are that spores of the Allium rust are numerous in the air.That means there’s a good chance your garlic (and leeks and onions and shallots will be infected at some stage this coming spring.To avoid that from happening it might be useful to speed things up a bit and to move planting forward in autumnTraditionally garlic used to be planted on the shortest day (third week of June) and harvested around the longest day (Just before Christmas), but I’ve done some trials now for the last half a dozen years or so.Managed to bring it forward as much as 7 weeks: planting in first week of May has had the best results with the minimum of sprays (organic copper) needed; Mind you this is based on my position on the Port Hills in Christchurch.The rust is a Fungal disorder that hammers the Bulb-forming members of Allium (onion Genus group of the Family Amaryllidaceae.The fungus enters the long, soft leaves of shallots, onions and garlic and causes yellowing of the leaves, ill-thrift and sick-looking plants towards the end of the growing season, when temperatures rise in spring.The most significant diagnostic sign are the bright yellow “pustules” that form on the leaves – these pustules are easily rubbed off by your fingerPrintanor is the common old garlic variety you buy at “New World”. Often it is imported from China and treated to stop it sprouting. That means no good for planting!!Buy some planting cloves that are either organic or simply not treated.At farmers market you can sometimes purchase interesting varieties:Californian Red Turban – can grow into huge bulbs (15 cm diameter bulbs)Macedonian – strong flavour – and somewhat oilyWest Coast Miners – rather good, large cloves tooHard-neck garlic; gets little flowers/bulblets up the stem – edible as soft green salad component, in mid-springElephant garlic is actually a leek, with a swollen stem – not a garlic – very mild flavourShallots can also be planted now!Well-drained soil, shallow planting (tip just above the ground) – 15 cm spacing.Cover with ground sheep dags (KINPACK) or fine, rich compost.Keep moist –but not overly moist, because that encourages rotting.Harvest when the foliage dies down (in my case early to Mid November).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20224 minutes, 5 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Overuse of antibiotics

Dr Bryan Betty chats to Jack Tame about the overuse of antibiotics going into winter. Dr Betty says the real issue is with the emergence of ‘anti-microbial’ resistance across the world. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20223 minutes, 54 seconds
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Nadia Reid: Singer-songwriter on NZ Music Month, writing her new album

It’s New Zealand music month and who other should Jack Tame speak to than Silver Scroll and Taite Music nominee, Nadia Reid.The 30-year-old has been described by The Guardian as an assured, clever and confident singer-songwriter. Luckily for us, Nadia’s currently working on her fourth studio album and has upcoming shows from Auckland to Dunedin.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/202212 minutes, 41 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Chicken and egg curry that's easy on the wallet

Tasty, simple to make and easy on the wallet – this curry has it all!Serves 4 for $15.544 boiled eggs1 medium onion, sliced or diced2 tablespoons cooking oil3 tablespoons store-bought green curry paste4 chicken drumsticks or thighs (bone in or out)2 large potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces1 teaspoon brown sugar1 cup coconut milk1 cup fresh or frozen chopped green beansCooked rice to servePapadoms or roti to serve (optional)1. Boil the eggs for 5 minutes, and for easy peeling, leave for 10 minutes in cold water before peeling.2. Gently fry onion in oil in a medium to large pot. Add curry paste and fry for 30 seconds. Push onion aside and add chicken and potatoes and fry until lightly browned. Add enough water to almost cover the chicken and potatoes, put a lid on and simmer for 20 minutes. Add sugar, peeled boiled eggs, beans and coconut milk and bring to a simmer for 10-15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt to taste.3. Serve with rice and papadoms or roti to serve.Budget-saving tips:· Using eggs in this curry increases the protein content without having to use more chicken ie. More satiated for less cost.· Cooking the perfect rice cuts down on waste. Here’s my method: use twice as much water to uncooked rice (2:1); salt the water well; bring to boil, stir once then leave lid on and simmer for 12 minutes and leave to stand, covered for 5 minutes.· Leftover rice can be used for fried rice which makes another great lunch or dinner.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20225 minutes, 19 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Operation Mincemeat, A Hero

Francesca Rudkin has been watching the war drama Operation Mincemeat and an Iranian film called A Hero. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20226 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Tree of the Year Awards

Kevin Milne has become immersed in the Tree of the Year Awards and its finalists.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20227 minutes, 48 seconds
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Jack Tame: Confirmation of my bad taste

I am a minimalist.I’m not afraid to admit it. Loud and proud. I’m not ashamed. Not wanting to play to gender stereotypes, I do however wonder if my apartment is decorated in the sparse way in which only a man without a family is happy to live.Truth be told, I just don’t buy stuff. I prefer to spend my money on experiences than things. If you’ve been listening to my show for a while, you’ll know it took me a year or two to even buy a couch. I had a couple of armchairs, I figured. That was plenty. After all, you can only park your butt in one place at once!Anyway, nothing brings your interior design choices under close scrutiny like a visit from the property stagers. In anticipation for maybe wanting a bit more space for kids in the future – don’t get too excited yet!! – I’ve put my apartment on the market. And knowing that my tastes aren’t everyone’s, I got the property stagers over for a bit of a zhoosh.It must be a delicate business being a property stager. Think about it. You’re brought into people’s homes to make things look a bit nicer, and the harder you work to improve a space, the more you’re inadvertently telling the client that actually they don’t have very good taste. A good eye is important. But tact, is even more so.My place is partially staged which means it wasn’t a total bombsite beforehand, but I was frankly stunned when I saw the bags of stuff the stagers were bringing in.“Yeeeeah,” said the woman in charge.“Usually we’re decluttering places, but to be honest, at your place it’s kind of the opposite.”Huh.What can I tell you?Well, apparently dried flowers are in. They really are quite beautiful actually, and given I’ve managed to nurse a nice collection of house plants, there are now more pots and vases at my place than any other point in my life.What else? Well, this is going to shock you: coffee tables are actually fantastic. I’ve not owned a coffee table for more than a decade! Turns out there’s a reason they’re popular. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until it’s sitting in the middle of your living room with a TV remote and a book on Scandanavian architecture.But here’s the big takeaway for me: cushions. What the hell? I used to have two cushions. I thought that was bordering on excessive. Now, I have sixteen. Sixteen in a two bedroom apartment! I’m surprised there’s room to move! And what are you supposed to do with the cushions on your bed when it comes time to sleep? Just throw them on the ground? Is that what people do? Just chuck ‘em on the ground?Yes, for those of us whose interior choices have always tended towards the hard end of ‘less is more,’ it can be a confronting experience to have someone with taste come in and re-jig your home. The thing that shocked this minimalist the most about the dried flowers and the cushions and the coffee table?I don’t even know who I am anymore: It looks really, really good.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/20224 minutes, 8 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Chelsea Jade's new album Soft Spot

In celebration of New Zealand Music Month, Estelle Clifford is highlighting Kiwi artist Chelsea Jade's new album Soft Spot.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20224 minutes, 56 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Agreeing to disagree

Steven Dromgool has advice on how to agree to disagree in a relationship.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20228 minutes, 26 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Roses and cuttings

Before you start pruning your roses (leave that till late June, July, August!) it might pay to go and have a look at the state of them:Are they doing well in their current position?Did they flower abundantly?What was the state of diseases during the growing season? Black spot, Downy mildew, rust?Just think about how much you’ll be pruning them in a month or two – how brutal will it be?Do some roses need to move to a different place in the garden? If so: prepare that spot now.They should have finished flowering by now and that means you can take cuttings of the ones you want to reproduce from, to either extend the rose garden or give away new plantsTools: sharp and well-maintained secateurs, dipped in bleach/disinfectant to avoid disease transmission.Select some decent, strong “canes” or branches that performed well and don’t show signs of plant disease; Always over-estimate the number of cuttings you’ll need because success rates vary from variety to varietyThe cutting can be three to four “leaf nodes” long (Leaf nodes are the points where leaves come/came from.Select some strong, pencil-thick canes and cut on an angle above the top node and make a straight cut under the bottom node. That way you can always tell “what’s up and what’s down”. It also lets the rain water run off the cutting quickly during showers, avoiding too long residual wetness on the cutting.It may pay to scrape the bottom 2 cm of the cutting with a knife (wilfully “damaging” it) to encourage the cutting to form roots quicker.Take off buds and leaves, remains of flower stalks are rose hips; you can leave the thorns on.Cuttings go into a nice sandy, course, mix with some added organic matter or potting mix. This allows water to drain out quickly so that the roots don’t get affected by rots.Yes – you could use some rooting hormone if you wish, although this is not always necessary at this time of the year – the stems are still quite able to send signals to the “wound” to grow some roots.When the cuttings are in place, keep the pots or trays moist but not overly wet. We often have them in glass house or tunnel house, out of direct sunlight; they don’t need any fertiliser until the roots are well-established 6 months later (beginning of spring);Some people plant them in garden soil too early… wait till the roots are a nicely-sized ball!Good, well-drained soil is perfect for the new roses; organic material helps to retain moisture during dry summers and it holds on to nutrition (minerals and other useful plant-assisting chemicals)To reduce plant diseases in roses it pays to space your roses well. It allows air movement to dry the plants after rainfall or “overhead” watering systems; a lot of rose diseases are transmitted through water droplets and by having rose plants wet for prolonged periods of time (prolonged infection periods!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20224 minutes, 4 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: HENRYs - High Earners, Not Rich Yet

Hannah McQueen speaks to Jack Tame about HENRYs. It's an acronym coined by financial types to describe a particular sub-set of the population - High Earners, Not Rich Yet.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20225 minutes, 23 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech titans want to kill the password

The Tech titans want to kill the passwordApple, Microsoft and Google have jointly announced their web and mobile browsers will be able to handle a new authentication method that doesn't require a password. And they want to have it live within the next year.Instead of creating a password, you'll be able to authenticate through a mobile device. It's taking the current two-factor authentication a step further because you won't need to create a password, then register for 2FA - the 2FA is your password.It'll be harder to do phishing attacks, more secure because the password is constantly changing, but not a terrible experience.Snap's dronePixy is a drone dedicated to taking photos of you while you're out and about doing fun / cool things. It will fly for up to 20 seconds to get the video, and can do that five to eight times on a single battery. You'll be able to purchase extra batteries. It's certainly not for hardcore videographers but more of a toy. But it's an expensive toy at $230. Currently it's only available in the US & France.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20225 minutes, 18 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Staircase, We Own This City, Lego Masters NZ

The Staircase: Colin Firth and Toni Colette star in this true crime drama inspired by the true story of Michael Peterson, an American writer convicted of killing his wife, who was found dead at the bottom of the staircase at her home (Neon).  We Own This City: Made by the team behind The Wire, gritty drama We Own This City tells the story of the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption surrounding it (Neon).  Lego Masters NZ: The New Zealand version of the colourful reality competition sees local Lego enthusiasts compete to build the best designs in this creative, family-friendly show (TVNZ 2, Mondays and Tuesdays & TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20224 minutes, 55 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Mother’s Day GF spiced pumpkin pancakes

Nici Wickes has been baking up a treat for Mother’s Day - gluten free spiced pumpkin pancakes.Makes 8–10 pancakes2 eggs¾ cup mashed roasted pumpkin4 tablespoons butter½ teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger½–¾ cup milk2 drops vanilla extract2 heaped teaspoons muscovado sugar or brown sugar½ cup gluten-free flour1½ teaspoons baking powder50g butter for fryingmaple syrup, yoghurt and crispy bacon to serveSeparate the eggs, adding the yolks to the mashed pumpkin in a large bowl.In a separate clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to a stiff peak.Melt the butter with the ground nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.Add the milk and butter to the pumpkin mix and combine using a whisk. Beat in the vanilla extract, sugar, flour and baking powder.Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. The mixture should be light and airy.Heat a heavy-based frying pan on a medium heat and melt a knob of butter.Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the hot pan. When bubbles appear on the surface flip the pancake over and cook the other side.Keep warm under a clean tea towel until ready to serve with maple syrup, yoghurt and berries or go savoury with crispy bacon.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20224 minutes, 40 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A Dog's Show

Kevin Milne remembers John Gordon and his classic TV programme, A Dog's Show. John died this week at home in Southland. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20226 minutes, 53 seconds
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Jack Tame: Incentives worked for Teslas...why not e-bikes too?

Don’t you feel like you’re seeing more Teslas at the moment?I do. I feel like I see them everywhere. They’re ubiquitous. It’s not just an Auckland thing. And even though I live right next door to the Tesla showroom on Karanagahape Road, I swear that’s not it! I was in the South Island and in Wellington this week, too, and kept noticing Tesla Model 3s.I’m not crazy. I’m not seeing things. There’s been a surge in electric vehicle imports. In the year to March, the number of EVs and Hybrids imported into New Zealand doubled compared to the year before. Imports made up 7% of all passenger vehicles as consumers cashed in on the Clean Car Discount and the exemption on road user charges for EVs. The Tesla Model 3 made up almost half of pure electric sales and the value of those sales was up more than 300% year-on-year.It shows the impact of incentives, but the a new Tesla will still cost you more than 60 grand. And as the government prepares to release it’s Emissions Reduction Plan in the next few weeks, there’s an obvious cheaper option that deserves its own incentives programme.E-Bikes are so good. If you haven’t had a spin on one yet, you don’t know what you’re missing. Depending on your bike, you only have to pedal a wee bit (Or not at all) and in no time you’re travelling at 25 or 30km an hour. I’m forever being overtaken on my normal bike by people almost twice my age, speeding uphill. They’re fun! They’re fast. They’re efficient. And it’s so much better than sitting in traffic.A new e-bike costs about $2000. The Clean Car Discount knocked thousands off the price of a new EV, but no financial incentives have been in place so far for electric bikes. For middle class people in city fringe suburbs, maybe $2000 isn’t such a barrier. But not everyone has that kind of money lying around.We’ve seen what financial incentives did for Tesla sales. If we want to get more cars off the road and reduce both congestion and emissions, why not make it cheaper for Kiwis to switch to two wheels, as well?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/6/20223 minutes, 37 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Freezing Order, Stepping Up

Catherine Raynes has been reading Stepping Up by Sarah Turner and Bill Browder's newly released book, Freezing Order.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20225 minutes, 13 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Theme Park Thrills on the GC

Mike Yardley gives Jack Tame his pick of the theme parks on the Gold Coast across the ditch. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20228 minutes, 52 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Regenerative agriculture and applying it to your backyard

Malcolm Rands chats to Jack Tame about regenerative agriculture and how to apply it to your own backyard.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20228 minutes, 35 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Chevalier Monopole Blanc de Blancs Brut

Bob Campbell has been sipping on the Chevalier Monopole Blanc de Blancs Brut - a crowd pleasing and classy sparkling wine. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20223 minutes, 6 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Elon Musk is taking over Twitter

He did it and he's taking the company private.How did he do it?A lot of financing. He needs $21 billion in cash, which may explain why he sold $8.5 billion worth of Tesla stock in the past few days - reducing his ownership from 17% to 16%. What's next?Twitter shareholders will get to vote to approve the deal.What are his ideas?He wants to get rid of the spam on the platform. He also wants to authenticate all humans - which I think is a great idea. If you've proven you're a real person, you'll get a badge which I assume will be similar to the blue tick. He wants to open source the algorithm to build trust through transparency.But will it happen?If Elon decides to walk away, or can't secure the financing (especially after the Tesla stock price dipped) he'll have to pay $1 billion to Twitter, but Twitter could walk away from Elon for $1 billion if it gets a better deal from someone else.Snap's dronePixy is a drone dedicated to taking photos of you while you're out and about doing fun / cool things. It will fly for up to 20 seconds to get the video, and can do that five to eight times on a single battery. You'll be able to purchase extra batteries. It's certainly not for hardcore videographers but more of a toy. But it's an expensive toy at $230. Currently it's only available in the US & France.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20227 minutes, 25 seconds
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Tara Ward: 1883, Gentleman Jack, Ten Percent

1883: This prequel to the popular drama Yellowstone (available on Neon) follows the Dutton family as they flee poverty in Texas and embark on a journey through the Great Plains to seek a better future in Montana (Amazon Prime Video).Gentleman Jack: a second season of the historical drama written by Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley) and starring Suranne Jones (Vigil), about the real life figure of Anne Lister, a 19th century English LGBTQ+ trailblazer, voracious learner, and cryptic diarist (Neon)Ten Percent: An English version of the popular French comedy Call My Agent, set in a London talent agency where agents scramble to keep their star clients happy and their business afloat after the sudden death of their founder (Amazon Prime Video).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20225 minutes, 48 seconds
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Jack Davenport: UK actor on life imitating art in 10 Percent

He’s swapped his pirate’s hat for a corporate suit...UK actor Jack Davenport of Pirates and the Caribbean fame stars as a talent agent in the new British remake of French comedy Call My Agent. The series has been renamed 10 Percent and has just been released in the UK. Jack Davenport joins Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/202210 minutes, 56 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Gently spiced quince cake

Quince season is upon us and this recipe offers something different from the usual quince paste. This beautifully fragrant cake is great for dessert or with a cuppa.Quince1.5L water 150g caster sugar 3 medium quinces 1 lemonCake 125g butter200g honey 125g dark muscovado sugar (can use brown sugar) 2 medium eggs 1 cup poaching syrup from the fruit250g self-raising flour 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp baking soda1. Peel the quince and halve them. Place in a pot with water, lemon juice and sugar and simmer for one hour or until soft. With a sharp knife or spoon, remove the core when they’re cool enough to handle. Slice each quince into 4 slices.2. Pre-heat your oven at 180 C. Grease and line a 23cm cake tin. Arrange the quince slices at the bottom in a single layer.3. Melt butter and stir it into the muscovado sugar and honey in a mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs with 1 cup of the poaching liquid and pour these into the bowl and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients and mix to a smooth batter. It will be a slightly runny batter but fear not! Pour over the quinces in the tin.4. Bake the cake for around 40-45 minutes.5. Serve warm with custard and cream or ice cream.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20224 minutes, 55 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Downtown Abbey, Abercrombie and Fitch doco

Downton Abbey: A New Era The Crawley family goes on a grand journey to the South of France to uncover the mystery of the dowager countess's newly inherited villa. White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch Abercrombie and Fitch conquered malls in the late '90s and early '00s with gorgeous models, pulsing dance beats and a fierce scent. But their "all-American" image shattered as exclusionary marketing and hiring practices came to light. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20226 minutes, 43 seconds
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Jack Tame: Is a fairer tax system on the way?

You know it must be a slow news week when tax spends so much time in the headlines. But no matter which major party finds itself in government after next year’s election, it looks increasingly likely we’ll see changes to our tax system.Even though it’s not really true, New Zealand likes to think of itself as a relatively egalitarian society. We don’t have a formalised aristocracy or thousands of years of baked in class divisions. Most New Zealanders are taxed on the expectation that the money they give shouldn’t be squandered, and that the tax they pay will be fair, relative to everyone else.If fairness is the measure, and if fairness is what the majority of voters expect, then maybe we’re about to get it. Or, at least something close. National and Labour both look likely to introduce tax policies which appeal to a sense of fairness.Let’s start with Labour. To be clear, the party hasn’t confirmed its position, but Revenue Minister David Parker is beginning to lay the ground work for tax reform that might impact the wealthiest New Zealanders. His concern is that money makes more money than labour makes money (Labout as in work, not as in the party!). Someone who is grafting away, working their arse off in two jobs, six days a week, is likely being taxed at a much higher rate for their efforts than someone who’s income comes from owning relatively unproductive assets. Tax should incentivise and reward work, especially in a country with a long-standing productivity problem.For any government, it’s a balance. And while it’s important that wealthy people are also incentivised to build and invest and develop jobs, Parker argues the balance is a bit out at the moment.Labour might look to introduce a tax which targets the very wealthiest New Zealanders. They might even do a bait-and-switch, where they give tax relief to Kiwis in the middle while targetting those at the top. If we’ve learnt anything about Labour’s tax policy, it’s that they’re terrified of doing anything unpopular. But I can’t see that being an issue, this time. Maybe taxs on the super-wealthy would lose them a few richlisters, but I doubt those people were voting for Labour in the first place. Ultimately, it would appeal to Kiwis’ sense of fairness.Then, National. As we’ve seen in the last week, Christopher Luxon is having a more challenging time selling National’s plan to scrap the top tax bracket. As the cost of living bites, it’s very hard to explain why whoever is Prime Minister needs an $18,000 tax cut while the average worker gets less than $1000 a year. It doesn’t seem fair.But National’s plan to adjust the other income tax brackets is a different story. After all, no one is complaining that we index superannuation to inflation. As the cost of living increases, it is a reasonable expectation that wages, super, benefits, and tax brackets all reflect the same shift. National could even consider going one step further than it has, by enshrining in law an automatic tax bracket adjustment to reflect inflation, every few years.No government will want to do that, because it’ll impact their revenue much more than the current system. But depending on your measure, there’s a good argument to be made indexation is only fair.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/29/20224 minutes, 45 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Indie rocker Father John Misty's new album

Estelle Clifford has been listening to US indie rock musician Father John Misty and his new album, Chloe and the 20th Century.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20225 minutes
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Catherine Raynes: Grand, Becoming My Mother’s Daughter, French Braid

Grand, Becoming My Mother’s Daughter – Noelle McCarthy The astonishing debut memoir about mothers and daughters, drinking, birth and loss, running away and homecoming from prize-winning writer and broadcaster Noelle McCarthy. French Braid - Anne Taylor The major new novel from the beloved prize-winning author -- a brilliantly perceptive, painfully true and funny journey deep into one family's foibles, from the 1950s right up to the changed world of today. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20224 minutes, 26 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Hurunui's Gore Bay Tourist Drive

Mike Yardley has been touring around the Hurunui district in Canterbury.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20228 minutes, 22 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: J.Lo, Ben Affleck back together - can it work with an ex?

Steven Dromgool answers the question everyone wants to know - can it ever really work out with an ex-partner? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20228 minutes, 45 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Watch TV in self-driving cars, unions coming for Apple

Sit back, relax, and watch TV while your car drives you New rules for fully self driving cars in the UK will let the driver watch something other than the road - TV! While there aren't any cars with this capability just yet, the UK government is preparing for it. Drivers will be able to watch TV on a screen managed by the vehicle.. if the vehicle needs them to take control, the TV will need to stop - much like a seat-back screen on a plane. Using a handheld device while driving will still be illegal. These new rules are ahead of a more detailed regulatory framework expected to be in effect in 2025. The Unions are coming for Apple An Apple Store in Atlanta is going to be the first in the country to attempt to be unionized. They've collected enough signatures to be able to file for an election. Organizers say workers there have been denied a living wage, cost of living adjustments or equitable stock options. I will say, as someone who worked in an Apple Store, the benefits for retail vs corporate employees were vastly different. They have worked to close that gap over the past decade. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20224 minutes, 6 seconds
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Tara Ward: A Very British Scandal, The First Lady, Russian Doll

A Very British Scandal: Claire Foy and Paul Bethany star in this drama about the real-life public divorce between the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in the 1960s, which plays out amid a media frenzy and accusations of adultery, theft, violence, drug use, forgery, and bribery (Amazon Prime Video).The First Lady: Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson star in this American drama that takes a fresh look at three turbulent times in American history, through the lens of the First Lady (Neon).Russian Doll: A second season of the delightful American comedy-drama starring Emmy-nominated actress Natasha Lyonne. She plays Nadia, a woman who gets caught in a mysterious loop as she repeatedly attends the same event and dies at the end of the night each time -- only to awaken the next day unharmed as if nothing had happened (Netflix).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20226 minutes, 8 seconds
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Guy Cotter: Kiwi mountaineering legend on returning to the Himalayas

Guy Cotter has stood on the summit of Everest five times, been turned back twice, and was leading an expedition in 2015 when the 7.8 earthquake struck causing widespread devastation in Nepal.  The Wanaka-based Kiwi owns iconic global mountaineering company Adventure Consultants. It was forced into hibernation as the pandemic decimated the tourism industry but now, they’re back.  The company is all set to for expeditions to return to the Himalayas later this year. Guy Cotter joined Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/202213 minutes, 51 seconds
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Allyson Gofton: Recipes in ANZAC day and Downtown Abbey era

I hear the ads ZB is running for Downtown Abbey competition and so with this being Anzac weekend, I thought we might look at something of that era, not just the usual Anzac Day biscuit. Downtown Abbey is a worldwide TV series sensation – plus there are movies.It was the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS, and subsequently became the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited.By the third series, it had become one of the most widely watched television shows in the world.People became so interested in the kitchen and house management parts of the series that it resulted in Penguin re-printing an absolute classic book - Arabella Boxer’s Book of English Food.It’s a disjointed but charming collection of recipes and stories of food of the Edwardian era – the time Downtown Abby was set in.That said simplicity in the Edwardian era in a grand home was very different to the poorer classes.A quick pre-dinner drink would involve handing around 7-9 different canapes, most of them hot. (And mind the white carpet when you bite!)Dinner parties were often much bigger than Downtown shows. Hunting weekends were for 40 plus people not the 14 or so you see in Downtown.The kitchen was cooking – literally and figurativelySadly WW2 arrived so quickly- only 20 years later, that the 20 or so years of ‘Edwardian-style’ living disappeared and with the many inventions made by the advance of WW2, food after that time was forever changed.It was an era of sheer elegance in every way.Smoked Fish KedgereeThe lime and coconut give this kedgeree a truly delicious flavour.Ingredients1 onion, peeled and finely chopped2 tsp finely grated or minced ginger1 tblsp oil1 green pepper, deseeded and diced1 1/2 cups long grain rice600 grams smoked trevally fillet1 tblsp oil1 tblsp curry powder2 tsp ground coriander2 tsp ground cumin1 cup coconut cream1 tblsp freshly chopped coriander1/2 tsp finely grated lime or lemon rind2 tblsp fresh lime or lemon juice2 hard boiled eggsMethod1. Heat the first measure of oil in a large pan or saucepan and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft but not brown. Add the pepper and cook for a further 3 minutes until just tender. Add the pepper and cook for a further 3 minutes until just tender.2. Cook the rice in boiling salted water for 12 minutes until tender. Rinse under hot water and drain well.3. Skin and remove any bones form fish, flake or chop roughly.4. Heat the second measure of oil, stir in curry powder, ground coriander and cumin until frothy, pour in the coconut cream, freshly chopped coriander, lime rind and juice.5. In a large saucepan, combine cooked onions and peppers, cooked rice, smoked fish and curry mixture. Heat gently stirring carefully to prevent burning. Or use a microwave proof bowl covered with plastic wrap and heat on high for 4 minutes.6. Cut the hard boiled eggs into about 8 pieces each, mix into the kedgeree. Serve immediately.Cooks TipsCoriander gives this spicy version of kedgeree a unique flavour. If you don’t have any available, use parsley. The flavour will not be the same, but it is a good alternative.Anzac BiscuitsIngredients1 cup flour1 cup sugar1 cup rolled oats1 cup desiccated coconut175 grams butter2 tablespoons golden syrup1 teaspoon vanilla essence1 teaspoon baking soda2 tablespoons boiling waterMethodPreheat the oven to 180ºC. Lightly grease 1-2 baking trays or line with baking paper.In a large bowl, sift flour with a good pinch of salt. Stir in the sugar, rolled oats and coconut and make a well in the centre.In a saucepan, melt the butter, golden syrup and vanilla...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20224 minutes, 37 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Nicolas Cage playing himself, Prime's All the Old Knives

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent A cash-strapped Nicolas Cage agrees to make a paid appearance at a billionaire super fan's birthday party, but is really an informant for the CIA since the billionaire fan is a drug kingpin and gets cast in a Tarantino movie. All the Old Knives When the CIA discovers one of its agents leaked information that cost more than 100 people their lives, veteran operative Henry Pelham is assigned to root out the mole with his former lover and colleague Celia Harrison. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20227 minutes, 20 seconds
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Kevin Milne: New empathy for people cautious about Covid-19

Kevin Milne chats to Jack Tame about a new empathy for people who have a cautious attitude towards Covid-19.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20227 minutes, 22 seconds
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Jack Tame: Why on earth should young Kiwis choose to come home?

It was always an inevitability.The moment our borders opened. The moment Kiwis no longer had to play the MIQ lottery and could be relatively sure they could get home at short notice, if they needed. The moment most other countries dropped their Covid restrictions and started actively pursuing offshore talent, of course young New Zealanders were going to leave!Wouldn’t you?! If you were a young Kiwi with itchy feet and you’d been stuck at home for two years, feeling as though your twenties or early thirties were slipping away, wouldn’t you want to make up for lost time? The pandemic has changed a lot of things, but it hasn’t changed our rangatahi’s desire to go and experience the World. That’s a good thing.From a financial perspective it’s always been attractive for young Kiwis to go offshore. Before the pandemic, my sister spent a few years teaching in Perth, Western Australia. After just four years there, with performance incentives and the currency exchange, she was earning $40,000 more than what she earns for the same job in New Zealand. 40 grand! Whether you’re a nurse, a graphic designer, or even just managing a bar, there’s a very good chance you’re going to earn more overseas than in New Zealand.But my sister still chose to move home. Perth had the cash but Aotearoa had something that Western Australia didn’t: family. And with the savings she’d earned from her job in Perth, six year sago she and her husband bought a little home and set up their lives in Nelson.And this is where the Covid years have really changed the game. Finally, I worry, the balance has shifted. If you were a talented and resourceful young New Zealander living overseas right now, why would you choose to come home when you can’t afford to live here? If she were moving back today, it would take my sister years more to save up and afford a similar home. Honestly, she might never have got there. And so why wouldn’t she just stay in Perth?Wages play a role but as always, the elephant in the room is housing. It occurs to me that many of those people moaning abut the impending brain drain are those who have benefitted most from the massive surge in asset prices. They oppose changes to housing density laws. They’d give themselves a hernia yelling at the radio if anyone dared to meaningfully reform tax settings.One of my oldest friends is visiting from Toronto at the moment. She hasn’t been home in four years. The other day I drove her around a middle-class Auckland suburb and pointed at a random house.‘How much do you think it’s worth?’ I asked.We looked up the valuation. She was out by more than a million dollars.She doesn’t want anything fancy. Something way-out would be fine. But she can’t afford anything. Again, why the hell should she come home?We shouldn’t be grappling too much with how to stop the brain drain. It’s inevitable. The horse has bolted. But we should be asking ourselves what we need to do to make sure our young people return home in the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/22/20224 minutes, 3 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kiwi artist Mousey and live gigs

Estelle Clifford has been partying away at her first live gig of the year - Kiwi artist Mousey, who's just released a new album, called My Friends. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20225 minutes, 34 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Unexpected Spy, The School for Good Mothers

The Unexpected Spy – Tracey Walder When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she’d fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.  The Unexpected Spy is the riveting story of Walder's tenure in the CIA and, later, the FBI. The School for Good Mothers – Jessamine Chan In this taut and explosive debut novel, one lapse in judgement lands a young mother in a government reform program where custody of her child hangs in the balance.  Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. She can’t persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with Harriet, their cherubic daughter, does Frida finally attain the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she is just enough.  Until Frida has a very bad day. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20224 minutes
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Mike Yardley: Autumn indulgence in Wānaka

Mike Yardley is all about autumn indulgence in Wānaka.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20229 minutes, 4 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: What is permaculture?

What is permaculture?When we started our eco village in 1987, we also took on the practice of permaculture as the discipline around the use of land here. Permaculture was inventing in the seventies by two Australians David Holmgren and Bill Mollison. When we designed the products for ecostore back in the early nineties, permaculture was the bar we were always trying to meet There are many principles in permaculture but I will share some of my favourites that we all can use in our homes: Nature doesn’t have a handy gardener coming along fixing up things that can’t look after themselves so when you set up systems always try to have them look after themselves Being a gardener can easily become a ‘make work’ situation, so how can we get rid of some of those jobs? A classic example is that nature never tolerates bare dirt. So adding mulch not only keeps out weeds and traps moisture but as it decomposes it adds food to your plants. Another example is the zoning system permaculture uses. Zone 1 is plants you visit every day whilst through to zone 5 maybe visited annually. Thus, the herb beds should be just by the kitchen door, the salad garden also close. But in my case, the forest we have planted for future timber use is zone 5, about 20 minutes' walk away.  Choose plants that really suit your local ecosystem - I like to think of this as discovering useful weeds.  Silverbeet is a great example, wack it in and it almost looks after itself.  The way to find these plants is to talk to your local garden clubs about what plants they have found with these qualities.  When you grow a crop, the plant that is healthiest, don’t harvest but let it go to seed and plant these seeds next year. After a few years of using this technique, you will have developed your own variety that loves the local ecosystem where you live. When I arrived at the land where we founded the eco village it was covered in kikuyu grass. Very virulent and a terrible neighbour for vege garden or young trees. Everyone said to use roundup, which I wasn’t prepared to do. Now grass is one of the world's only monocultures as it has many ways of driving out competitors including poisoning them and taking away their moisture. In fact, I never use grass in an orchard situation for these reasons and end up with unstressed disease-free trees. But the grasses have an ancient enemy. The pioneer tree which has evolved just to get into grass, grow tall, then shade out the grass so others trees can then come in. In NZ this is the Manuka and Kanuka. The bane of grass farmers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/202210 minutes, 14 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Preventing leafcurl on stonefruit

Preventing Leafcurl on stonefruit It’s extraordinary how many people ring our talk-back programme in spring and summer to raise the problem of leafcurl on stone fruit. And the answer will always be: “You’re too late!” Taphrina deformans is the fungus that causes this leafcurl. The disease becomes active at bud-break: when the leaves and flowers come out of the buds in spring. The spores of Taphrina deformans are already settled on those buds, making infection quite easy. Once the leaves are infected in spring, they become distorted and discoloured (pretty yellow and orange colouration); when infestations are serious the number of leaves that drop off can be substantial, causing a reduction in photosynthesis and hence the ability of the tree to “feed itself”. In spring, with young, infected leaves (which are soft and delicate) there is no point in spraying with copper fungicides as that will burn those leaves quite badly. Best thing to do is to remove and get rid of infected leaves as much as you can – especially fallen leaves. “Getting rid of them” does not mean COMPOSTING them!! Fertilising the tree in spring allows it to make new leaves and get some resistance to infection, especially when you use Seaweed Tea and such marine-originated liquid fertilisers. During the period when fruits grow and expand, check for fallen leaves that show signs of leafcurl, and get rid of them. REMEMBER “Getting rid of them” does not mean COMPOSTING them!! Autumn is the time to start controlling leafcurl on stonefruit for the next fruiting season: Around mid April, when the leaves are falling off the deciduous stone fruit trees, the new buds for the next season are formed. Taphrina deformans will then be invading those new buds and overwinter on those buds to infect the trees again in spring; First thing to do is to remove all fallen leaves from under the trees. That reduces infection chances. Next thing is to spray a double dose of copper spray (copper oxychloride, liquid copper, or copper-sulphur mixtures, available form garden centres) on the remaining leaves and on the branches/twigs of the tree. Don’t worry about “burning the rest of the leaves off: they were going to fall anyway. Use a “sticker” if you can to increase coverage and stickability Do this again a few weeks or a month later and ensure good coverage of all parts of the tree. Some people use Lime sulphur; that’s OK too as a winter clean-up; seeing the trees are getting to dormancy this Lime Sulphur won’t harm the leaves either; but I think that lime may not be a great material for apricots as it has the ability to raise the pH levels. A last smack of Copper spray before budburst should “mop up” the last surviving spores before the flowering and fruiting season begins again.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20223 minutes, 24 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Climbing interest rates

Hannah McQueen gives her perspective on hiking interest rates following a life in the OCR this week.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20225 minutes, 56 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Elon Musk now wants the rest of Twitter

So, Elon Musk now wants the rest of Twitter now? What a bizarre two weeks it has been. After buying 9% of the company, being offered a seat on the board, then declining it, Elon Musk now made an unsolicited offer to buy Twitter for $43 billion. Boy, did people freak out. There are also questions about how he would finance such a deal... would it go on Tesla stock margin? But... Twitter is now saying not so fast! Just today it's filed with the SEC to change its shareholder rights plan to prevent that from happening. Now if 'someone' in the next year was to try and takeover the company they can flood the market with shares to make it much more difficult to purchase.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20225 minutes, 44 seconds
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Tara Ward: The North Water, Anatomy of a Scandal, Old Enough

The North Water: Set in 1859, this BBC drama follows a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as ship's doctor on a whaling trip to the Arctic, where he meets a harpooner whose amorality has been shaped to fit the harshness of his world (Rialto). Anatomy of a Scandal: Sienna Miller and Rupert Friend star in this new Netflix drama about the wife of a British politician, who’s privileged life unravels when scandalous secrets emerge and he is accused of a shocking crime (Netflix)Old Enough: This Japanese series might be a few years old, but it’s new to Netflix and an absolute delight. The show sends pre-schoolers on grown-up errands by themselves, and films the results (Netflix).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20225 minutes, 33 seconds
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Alex Honnold: Free solo climbing legend takes on the Amazon

Alex Honnold doesn’t experience fear like the rest of us.  The free solo climbing legend shot to fame following the first ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite with no ropes.  His latest project is called The Last Tepui. It follows Alex and a world-class climbing team deep into the Amazon jungle on a first-ascent climb up a 1000-foot sheer cliff. Along for the ride is biologist Bruce Means who’s on a mission to discover new species in a relatively untouched part of the world.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20229 minutes, 52 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Scandi Film Fest favourites

Francesca Rudkin has been watching films that are part of the upcoming Volvo Scandi Film Fest.Diana’s Wedding  Diana’s Wedding is a romantic comedy about a girl observing her parents’ turbulent marriage and dealing with how their relationship has affected her own ability, as an adult, to love, or be loved. July 29, 1981. Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales, at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. On that same day, Liv and Terje are celebrating their wedding too. In a pram lies their daughter, Diana, who like her famous namesake, has a chaotic life ahead of her. The Burning Sea In 1969, the Norwegian government announces their discovery of one of the world’s largest oil fields in the neighboring North Sea, launching a prosperous period of offshore drilling. 50 years later, the environmental consequences begin to manifest – a crack has opened on the ocean floor, causing a rig to collapse. A team of researchers, including submarine operator Sofia, rushes in to search for the missing and assess the cause of the damage, but what they discover is that this is just the start of a possible apocalyptic catastrophe. As rigs are evacuated, Sofia's loving companion Stian becomes trapped in the depths of the sea, and Sofia must dive in to rescue him. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20224 minutes, 27 seconds
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Kevin Milne: News from Ukraine's front line

Kevin Milne chats to Jack Tame about a message he's received from a young Ukrainian woman he met when filming Intrepid Journey in Ukraine in 2009.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20226 minutes, 38 seconds
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Jack Tame: Scrapping on-street parking is great news for car lovers

For the last five years I’ve lived in an apartment on the Karangahape Ridge, with amazing views across central Auckland.I’m very lucky. If I look North on a good day, I can see Tiritiri Matangi Island and even Hauturu Little Barrier. South is Maungawhau Mt Eden. South West is Eden Park. And dominating my view from the 16th floor is a view right down the guts of K Road.There’s always something happening on Karangahape Road. I can see the beautiful people walking their designer dogs or alfresco-ing in the afternoon sun. I can see people driving off in their new vehicles at the Tesla showroom. I can see drunks stumbling about on a Friday night, homeless people chatting to each other, and the clientele at both of the Peaches and Cream stores (It’s not who you might expect).I’m also afforded a unique view of the traffic.Over the last five years, Karangahape Road has changed. They’ve introduced partial bus lanes. They’ve built bike lanes in both directions. They’ve restricted parking. And watching on from the 16th floor, the effects on the traffic don’t take a PHD to decode. They’re obvious.Firstly - and this isn’t rocket science!! - buses are far and away the most efficient way to transport a lot of people in the city. When the traffic snarls and slows to a painful crawl, as it often does, I stare down at the cars as they sit there idling. One bus has ten or twelve times the capacity of a single sedan or hatchback. When it can use the K Road bus lane, it immediately overtakes the idling vehicles as they wait. Easy.Secondly, more often than not, the fastest way down K Road is on a bike. I often ride mine along the cycle path and stop at a few places on the way. If there’s bad traffic, in the time it takes a crawling car to travel from the Ponsonby Road intersection to Pitt Street, I can dismount my bike to collect a coffee and a heated cinnamon scroll and still beat them there. Happy Days.My third observation from on high, is that parking spaces are an excellent way to shut down an entire lane of traffic. It’s crazy. It’s so inefficient. K Road has clearways between certain hours, which open up the traffic to two lanes in both directions. When the clearways aren’t in place, in order for a handful of cars to park, the entire road has a lane restricted, and the traffic often snarls. At 2am on a Wednesday it’s not an issue. But at busier times, it often means cars are bumper to bumper for the length of K Road. It’s madness. The convenience of a few is prioritised over the convenience of hundreds or thousands more.Why am I telling you this? It’s not because I want to spend my long weekend wading through your hate mail. I know how transport changes get people going. Auckland is proposing changes to onstreet parking to some of its roads and from some of the initial feedback, you’d worry the World was ending. This is something all of cities have to consider, but even though the changes concern about 3.25% of roads in Auckland, they’re already facing stern opposition.Smarter lane usage in busy areas is such an obvious, cheap solution to the challenges faced by growing cities in a warmer climate. As our population increases, congestion and productivity and won’t improve unless we move people more efficiently.Maybe you can’t ride a bike. Maybe you have cargo and the bus is too awkward. Fine. They’re not banning cars. They’re not banning carpark buildings. You can still drive, find a spot, pay for the time, and walk a few minutes to your destination.The irony of the transport debate is that the loudest critics of bus lanes, cycle paths, and reduced street parking, are those who will actually benefit the most from the changes. If you are absolutely determined to remain glued to your steering wheel for every journey in the coming decades, it’s in your interests for councils and transport authorities to reduce congestion. Take it from the view on the 16th floor. Get with the times.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/15/20225 minutes, 25 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Travel trends, top tips and traps to avoid

As a new travel era dawns, it's going to take time for some Kiwis to confidently find their travel feet again. Mike Yardley shares his tips to get back into the swing of travel. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20228 minutes, 13 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Coming home - the transition from work to family life

Relationship expert Steve Dromgool shares his advice about coming home and switching off from work and into family life. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20228 minutes, 34 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Daddy Longlegs – a variety of species

People who are not familiar with the Science of naming bugs, plants, animals etc usually give creatures an (often random) “common name”.“Daddy Longlegs” is used in NZ for three different critters that are found all over the country and frequently encountered; all they have in common is rather long legs, but they belong to totally different animal groups. At this time of the year they are quite common in and around our homes.1) The Daddy Longlegs spiderSitting right up there near the ceiling and often in the corner of the corridor, the lounge, or… the bedroom; “EEEEKK!”I reckon it’s the most vacuumed invertebrate in New Zealand.Scientists call them “Pholcids” (after the Family name to which these spiders belong); also knows as cellar spiders, because they originally were found to live in cellars and such cave-like spaces where it is damp and dark. A good place to create a website to catch all sorts of flying insects for food. Their job is to function as predators, keeping insect populations “in check”When Homo sapiens (humans) came along we built our house in their territory and the spiders simply said “thank you” and moved in with us; they catch flies, moths and mosquitoes in their web. They’re on call 24/7 and far more efficient than those chemical-emitting aerosol cans on a timer-system.These spiders do a few really remarkable things: when the web is disturbed they gyrate their bodies very fast around and around, to put off the web-intruding creature. They make their webs very visible!!And… a female Pholcid wraps her dozen or so eggs with one single strand of silk and keeps that wrapped parcel in her mouth until the babies hatch – real maternal commitment!! She does not feed herself at all during this time.2) The Daddy Longlegs FlySiting on the external wall of your house – sometimes inside as well (open windows, lights on, attracting these large flies inside!)They are big flies with a wingspan of over an inch. Three body segments (head, thorax, abdomen) long legs and long transparent wings; it all looks a bit fragile…Scientists call them Tipulids or “crane flies”. Because they are true insects, they have a life-cycle that involves a complete metamorphosis: egg, larva (maggot), pupa (“chrysalis”) and finally: the adult, winged fly. Flies have only two functional wings (most other insects have four wings).They have evolved with their hindwings (halteres) shaped like a stalked “counterweight” that gyrates when they fly. It gives them great stability when they fly (a little bit like the tail rotor of a helicopter). When a crane fly sits still on the wall you can see the two halteres clearly.Adult crane flies often eat nectar (and could be pollinators of flowers); the larvae (maggots known as leatherjackets) usually eat rotting plant material (even dead wood!) and are therefore useful recyclers.3) Daddy Longlegs HarvestmanHarvestman may look superficially like a spider (it has 8 legs!), but is quite different (it has one body segment (spiders have two) and usually just 2 eyes, often set on a raised mound on their back (spiders 6 to 8 eyes on the front section of their body)They tend to move across your lawn and through the vegetable garden or in the forests. In New Zealand we have about 30 species that are endemic to New Zealand and 2 “exotics” from Europe. One of those is the “most typical” harvestman Phalagium opilio. Scientists call harvestmans therefore “Opiliones”.They do a great job in your garden: Harvestman is a predator, eating soft-bodied insects and often plant pests such as aphids and small caterpillars and even the eggs of pests, such as white butterfly eggs. They hunt at nightOne of the cool features of these harvestmans is the fact that their second pair of legs is a lot longer than all the other legs. These legs carry some sensitive organs which help the harvestman “navigate” through your garden;...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20224 minutes, 23 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Allan Scott 2021 Stellenbosch Sauvignon Blanc

Bob Campbell shares his pick of the week: Allan Scott 2021 Stellenbosch Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20224 minutes, 26 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Elon Musk buys 9% of Twitter

Elon Musk buys 9% of Twitter and has made a billion dollars alreadyMonday he announced he had quietly started buying 73 million shares of Twitter spending around $2.6 billion.Tuesday he got a seat on the board.Wednesday his position was worth $3.7 billion. Wild.According to reporting from The Washington Post, employees are freaking out. They're concerned that the company’s culture will change and it will be harder for them to do their jobs. These companies are always worried about how "the street" will receive their product updates, but it won't be fun having such a vocal investor. To try and calm employees, Elon will host an AMA (ask me anything) - hopefully someone records it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20222 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: Outlaws, The Split, Our Great National Parks

Outlaws: A British comedy thriller starring Stephen Merchant and Christopher Walken, about a seven strangers thrown together to complete a community service sentence who get dragged into a dangerous world of organised crime (Amazon Prime Video) The Split: A new season of the British drama about The Defoes, a family of female divorce lawyers, who are forced to face their past following the return of their estranged father after a 30 year absence (TVNZ OnDemand) Our Great National Parks: Barack Obama narrates this new documentary series about the world's most breathtaking national parks and the wildlife that live there (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20224 minutes, 7 seconds
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Ruth Shaw: Bookseller at the End of World and her life well lived

75-year-old Ruth Shaw has lived an incredible life - sailing in the Pacific and taking on pirates to suffering heartbreaking losses. She's since settled in remote Manapouri in Foirdland, where she runs three tiny bookshops. Ruth's been convinced to write her memoir and joins Jack Tame to chat more about her adventures. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/202216 minutes, 54 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Easter surprise muffins

Try one of these muffins, warm from the oven, and you will swoon I guarantee it! They are so evocative of an Easter bun, with the spices and currants, and then the surprise of a caramel egg in the centre is just pure genius! They’re a real Easter treat.Makes 12 regular muffins100g butter2 heaped tbsps golden syrup3/4 cup caster sugar1 cup plain yoghurt2 eggs2 cups flour1 ½ tsp baking soda1 ½ tsp cinnamon2 tsps mixed spiceZest of an orange1 cup currants12 little chocolate caramello Easter eggs, about the size of an apricot stone.1. Preheat the oven to 180 C fan bake. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin well.2. Gently heat the butter and syrup just until the butter has melted then mix in the sugar followed by the yoghurt and egg and beat until well mixed. Lightly stir in the dry ingredients including the zest and currants. Don’t over mix, just until combined.3. Spoon batter to ¾ fill into muffin holes and on each gently place an Easter egg, pressing it to submerge slightly. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until they spring back when touched.4. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin. Enjoy.TipBe a little careful and don’t eat these as soon as they come out of the oven as the lovely gooey centre is very hot!!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20225 minutes, 20 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore Professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful, dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards and witches. They soon encounter an array of old and new beasts as they clash with Grindelwald's growing legion of followers.  Everything Everywhere All At Once When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20225 minutes, 35 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Looking after customers

With a Wellington restaurateur in the headlines recently about tracking down a customer who had been overcharged by $8 and wanting to refund her, Kevin Milne reflects on his own similar story.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20226 minutes, 1 second
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Jack Tame: How the hell haven't I caught Covid?

The creeping pink line still fills me with dread.Every time I watch it, the viscous juice from the depths of my nasal cavity soaking up the paper, I feel a little panic as it passes the ‘T’.Is that a line? Even just a faint one? I’ll catch my breath. The liquid would soak up a few more millimetres.Kau. Karekau. Nope. No line. Nothing. Nada.When the history of this pandemic is settled and sorted, and the virus has been comprehensively studied, examined, sequenced, plotted, I’m tempted to imagine scientists facing one last great mystery: How the hell did Jack Tame not catch Covid?Honeslty, no one’s more suprised than me. Since the start of the Omicron wave in New Zealand, I have been on more than a dozen flights. I’ve travelled internationally. I’ve MC’d two funerals, which, despite Covid restrictions, are the sort of huggy-and-criey environments where people end up getting closer than they should if pandemic management is the only concern.I’ve been in two workplaces. And although the people who sit literally right next to me in the office have caught Covid, I haven’t. I’ve done more than my share of eating in restaurants. I’ve had regular, close contact with young school children. I’ve been worn down and emotionally beat, but every morning I wake up, surprised to find myself fit and ready to fight another day.It almost doesn’t seem real. I’ve done more than thirty RATs and so far, the results of every single test has been the same. One line. Not even a flirtation with a second. No Covid detected.If you’re the same as me, you’ll probably know there are plenty of scientific reasons as to why we may have avoided the virus. I’m vaccinated and boosted; that helps. But maybe we’ve had it and just never experienced symptoms. Maybe our immune systems are better suited to fighting the virus. Maybe we’ve hit a genetic lottery. Maybe our mask wearing and hand washing is par excellence.Speaking for myself, I have another theory. I think I’ve just been lucky. Although I wear an N-95 every single day, I still have clumsy moments.The numbers are dropping. Restrictions are likely to be eased. And it’s tempting, right? It’s tempting to relax. Maybe it’s even tempting to feel a little smug. I won’t be doing that – especially with the Easter holiday just around the corner. Because surely nothing tempts fate or the Pandemic Gods like writing an nationwide editorial about not catching a highly-infectious virus.According to the Ministry of Health, 672293 New Zealanders have tested now positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. Of course, the true number of infections is likely to be much, much higher.If you’re like me and you still haven’t seen the line next to the ‘T’, don’t drop your guard now. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Maybe we haven’t got Covid. Good for us! But we shouldn’t get complacent, either.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/8/20223 minutes, 24 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Red Hot Chilli Peppers are back

Estelle Clifford has been spinning Unlimited Love by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers - their brand new album and first with guitarist John Frusciante since he left the band in 2009.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20226 minutes, 38 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Atlas Six and autobiography Rebel

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake and an incredible autobiography from Saudi Arabian woman Rahaf Mohammed, called Rebel.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20225 minutes, 37 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Adventures on the Mt. Aspiring Road

Mike Yardley has been hitting the road around Wanaka and shares his travel tips. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20228 minutes, 17 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Reduce your meat - here's how

What is wrong with meat?There are health issues with eating too much, especially processed meat but today we are talking about the eco and humane side of meat eating.So, what's the problem?Deforestation to make room for mainly beef farming is a global issue.Then factory farming , and yes even some cows in NZ can be fed indoors, using off farm grains and even orangutang jungle destruction palm oil by products. Palm kernel expeller. This is a very inefficient use of land compared to feeding these plants grown straight to us as food.Fossil fuels used for transportation, farm equipment, building, maintenance and heating the factory farms add to the eco burden. Methane emissions from the animals, especially cows, which is a very potent climate gas.And for factory farming the inhumane treatment of the chickens, pigs and now cows trapped in small pens living in their own filth. If you have ever raised your own stock and poultry, you know what a tragedy this is for these amazing animals.You have choices. Do nothing, buy only free range, choose only organic and regeneratively produced meat, go vegetarian or vegan or just reduce your current meat consumption. Probably some combination of these is practical for most of us.Our family eats some meat and here are some of the tips we use to reduce meat consumption.Don’t make meat the main event. It can be the side dish with more emphasis on the starch and vegetables.Beans and lentils are just so healthy. And so affordable. It’s really just about the recipes. Maybe time to buy that vegan cookbook or search online. Funnily enough, I know my usual recipes are a bit old-fashioned and could have been cooked by my Mum and definitely feature meat. Melanie is our plant-based cooking wonder but I’m getting better. It just needs to become easoer, then a habit.Maybe start once a week with a meat free day. Then add more days.Stews, soups and casseroles are easy to make and then just reduce the percentage of meat in them.Eat more whole foods. Brown rice, baked potatoes with their skins on, same with fruit eat the skin too . More nuts and seeds. The extra fibre in these helps stave off hunger pangs and we all know the health benefits of whole food.Have a weekly food plan. If it’s 5pm and you suddenly need a meal, then you will revert to the old tried and true.Don’t think of this as losing meat but what new delicious meals you are about to discover.I personally think the right regeneratively raised animal proteins can have a positive impact on climate change by trapping more carbon in the soil. And the animals are encouraged to behave like they used to in the wild so are much happier. Unfortunately not many farmers have adapted these practices as yet. But the reward will be guilt free meals when you do include this type of meat.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20228 minutes, 6 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Research shows shingles upswing post-Covid

Dr Bryan Betty says overseas research has shown a slight upswing in numbers of shingles cases two to three weeks after Covid-19.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20223 minutes, 49 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Autumn planting and sowing

Mid-autumn – weather going “backwards” – moisture back in the soil, shorter days, longer nights, but still good warmth in the soil, which helps seed germination and plant establishment.Perpetual spinach or silverbeet will feed you for most of the winter; beetroot is a good winter crop too as is carrots. If you are in a warmer zone: sow now while the warmth is still in that lovely, friable soil. If you are in a cooler climate zone it might pay to get some seedlings and take advantage of that head-start. (Not seedlings of carrots, of course, as they don’t really transplant well at all)This is my time to plant broccoli, spring onions seedlings and lettuce (Cos works well for me); To get that head-start I will buy seedlings and keep them in their containers for a few days, outside on the deck, to “harden them off”, before planting.That reduces the shock after transplant.Broad beans can be sown too. They’ll even germinate at close to 0˚C! Good vertical plants that take not too much space and will keep on providing those pods. Need sturdy climbing frame.Soak seeds overnight in waterDepth around 3-4 cmMake the soil nice and friableSome slow-release fertiliser – just a little, please!Some broad bean varieties have lovely red flowers – pretty stuff as well as foodNON-EDIBLESTulip bulbs are getting to the “plantable” stage at this time of the year.They grow well in South island with very cool winters – up north they need winter chilling. In mild climates it pays to plant even later in the year – say: June)Narcissus is the spring bulb for planting NOW in the garden.Wait a little bit longer if you want to grow them in large pots: The soil temperatures will initially stay a bit higher in pots and speed things up too early.For most bulb species it is important to create some area with good soil that is light and “friable” with compost and some slow release fertiliser in it. If you want to mulch the soil, ensure it is not too heavy, so the flower stems can get through the mulch.Great bulb outlets: Bulbs direct/Garden Post/NZBulbs/Fiesta Bulbs/Hadstock Farm in SpringstonLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20224 minutes, 49 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Dyson's releasing an air purifying headset

Dyson's releasing an air purifying headset The Dyson Zone is not an April Fools Joke - you'll be able to wear a headset with a mouth covering to purify the air around you. Noise cancelling headphones reduce the noise pollution, and contain small filters and air compressors to then send the air down in front of your nose and mouth via a mask. That mask sits just in front of your face, but can be swapped out for one that fully encompasses your face. There is absolutely no hiding that you're wearing it! Display your NFTs on your Samsung TV Samsung has announced a partnership with an NFT marketplace to display your art on your TV. I'm not sure how this is more than the ability to upload an image to your Frame TV.. but maybe there'll be more in the future including the buying and selling from your TV? Samsung says the TV will "optimize the settings for a faithful rendering of the artist’s intention".  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20224 minutes, 19 seconds
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Tara Ward: Slow Horses, Julia, Screw

Slow Horses: Starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas, this spy drama follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 due to their career-ending mistakes (Apple TV+).Julia: Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley, Coronation St) stars in this HBO Max drama inspired by Julia Child's extraordinary life and her show The French Chef, which essentially invented food television (Prime, from April 7).Screw: a British drama series about the shocking and often darkly funny job of working as a prison officer in an all-male prison in 21st century Britain (TVNZ OnDemand).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20225 minutes, 5 seconds
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Muroki: On tour with a young Kiwi-Kenyan artist

Turn up the volume to Kenyan-Kiwi artist Muroki’s tunes and you would be forgiven for thinking it’s summer all year round.  The 20-year-old was the first to be signed to BENEE’s label Olive in 2020 and has had a whirlwind two years since. He’s currently across the ditch headlining his own shows as well as supporting BENEE and has just released a new single called Find Me. Jack Tame catches up with him in Australia. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/202211 minutes, 51 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Writing with Fire, The Duke

Writing with Fire - Oscar-nominated documentary. In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men emerges India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. Chief reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions, redefining what it means to be powerful.  The Duke - In 1961, a 60-year-old taxi driver steals Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. He sends ransom notes saying that he will return the painting if the government invests more in care for the elderly. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/1/20225 minutes, 48 seconds
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Estelle Clifford reviews Aldous Harding's new album, Warm Chris

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Kiwi artist Aldous Harding's new album, Warm Chris. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20226 minutes, 3 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Hurunui's Food and Wine Trail

Mike Yardley has been drinking wine and eating up a storm in Canterbury's Hurunui District. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20228 minutes, 44 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Language of Food, The Tricky Art of Forgiveness

The Language of Food – Annabel Abbs Eliza Acton, despite having never before boiled an egg, became one of the world’s most successful cookery writers, revolutionizing cooking and cookbooks around the world. Her story is fascinating, uplifting and truly inspiring.  Told in alternate voices by the award-winning author of The Joyce Girl, and with recipes that leap to life from the page, The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs is the most thought-provoking and page-turning historical novel you’ll read this year, exploring the enduring struggle for female freedom, the power of female friendship, the creativity and quiet joy of cooking and the poetry of food, all while bringing Eliza Action out of the archives and back into the public eye. The Tricky Art of Forgiveness – Meredith Jaffe After thirty years of marriage, can there be any secrets left? The charming new novel from the author of The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison Diana Forsyth is in the midst of planning the Big Party, a combined celebration of her husband Will's 60th and their 30th wedding anniversary. The whole family is flying in and unbeknownst to Will, Diana is planning a Big Surprise. But then she finds a torn scrap of paper hidden inside the folds of one of his cashmere sweaters, with the words, I forgive you. And all of a sudden, Diana realises she's not the only one keeping Big Secrets. As empty nesters who have just downsized from the family home, she and Will are supposed to be embracing a new promise of glorious freedom - not revisiting a past that Diana has worked very hard to leave behind. A witty, poignant and insightful exploration of marriage: the choices we make - or don't make, the resentments we hold, the lies we tell and what forgiveness really means. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20223 minutes, 41 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Encouraging a reluctant partner to talk feelings

Does your partner avoid talking about feelings? Relationship expert Steven Dromgool shares his advice on how to get them to open up.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20227 minutes, 8 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Autumn noises in the garden

Cicadas are on the wane towards the end of March – I still haven’t found the egg-laying site containing “Jack”s offspring ;-)But Black field crickets (Teleogryllus commodus) are still making a heck of a noise in the late afternoon/evening, especially in the North Island and top of the SouthTeleogryllus commodus (Supplied)You won’t see them often, as they hide in cracks in the soil during the day; when the sun goes down the crickets will come to the surface to eat grasses – they can do a lot of damage to pasture and lawns, leaving bare soil around their home cracks.Black field crickets make their characteristic noise by rubbing their wings together. (Mating calls!)Control is quite hard – In the old days, Farmers used wheat, soaked in Maldison, strewn over the paddock, in early summer (January is the month before crickets become adults and hence, reproduce!).For a lawn it might be a nice idea to pour water with a good dash of dish-washing liquid down the holes of these insects in the middle of the day; The crickets emerge in the non-day sun (because the soapy water stings their eyes, I reckon) and the sun will heat the black bodies up real quick (Natue’s Micro-wave oven!)Another “singer” in autumn is the Katydid (Caedicia simplex); mostly afternoon and early eveningIt creates a rather unique noise by rubbing the edges of its stiff forewings together, like a fingernail on a comb. The noise has the quality produced by a ventriloquist – the insect “throws its voice” so you can never be sure where it is calling from.Katydids feed on garden plants, especially flowers and they truly seem to like the roses and Dahlias that flower in autumn! They are well-camouflaged on green plants, so birds, frogs and lizards can find it tricky to locate them.After dark it’s the time for tree weta to start up their communications; A soft rasping noise that is repeated frequently by rubbing the impressive hind legs onto a raised “file” situated on the abdominal segments.Tree weta (Supplied)It is their way of keeping in touch with partners and flatmates while feeding at night. But sometimes they also make that noise when they feel threatened or disturbed: they raise their legs and warn you to “back off!!”The irony is, of course, we don’t really know anything about the “language” and communication capabilities of these weta… They’ve been around for 180 million years or so, making them one of our oldest critters in Aotearoa.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20222 minutes, 54 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: How to hold your nerve amid market volatility

Hannah McQueen from enable.me gives her advice on how to hold your nerve amid all the market volatility.  Should you just sit tight and wait for it to calm down before making big investment decisions, should you go conservative while things are all over the show?  Amid the Ukrainian invasion, sharemarket volatility and predictions of house price declines, is sitting on your hands or maybe putting your money under the mattress a good idea? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20226 minutes, 3 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: iMessage on WhatsApp, classic Insta is back...kinda!

Are we one step closer to being able to iMessage someone on WhatsApp?The EU has agreed in principle to a new law that would force interoperability between smaller messaging services and the giants of the industry. This would mean that a startup would be able to get into the iMessage or WhatsApp ecosystem. WHat's unclear is if that will mean the end of the blue/green bubble situation and force the ability to be able to contact someone using iMessage via WhatsApp. The Digital Markets Act also gives you the right to uninstall, more access to data, advertising transparency, reduces app store restrictions and will prevent "self-preferencing" - effectively allowing companies to put their products at the top of the page.Classic Instagram is back.. kindaDitch the algorithm! You can now see your IG feed in the classic reverse chronological order. You can also now add up to 50 accounts as 'favorites' to see first - luckily you won't be notified when you're added or removed from a favorites list. To change the view (and it's only temporary while you're in that session) tap the instagram logo and select either "following" or "favorites".LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20226 minutes, 15 seconds
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Tara Ward: Taboo, Life and Beth, Bridgerton

Taboo: A dark, gritty historical drama. Tom Hardy stars as adventurer James Keziah Delaney, who returns to London during the War of 1812 to rebuild his late father's shipping empire. However, both the government and his biggest competitor want his inheritance at any cost - even murder (Netflix).Life and Beth: Amy Schumer stars in this Disney+ drama. After a sudden incident, Beth, a seemingly successful woman with a long term relationship and steady career, takes a look back at her past to see who she wants to become.Bridgerton: A second series of Netflix’s record-breaking costume drama, created by Shonda Rhimes. During the Regency era in England, eight close-knit siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family attempt to find love.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20225 minutes, 3 seconds
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Michael Bublé talks soaring 'Higher' with his new album

You could recognise the dulcet tones of Canadian crooner Michael Bublé anywhere.Michael has just released his 11th album, called Higher. It’s a mix of covers, originals and collabs with the likes of country music icon Willie Nelson. He says he’s never been more excited after finishing an album.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/202213 minutes, 45 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Drive My Car, Oscars 2022 predictions

Drive My Car  Drive My Car is a 2021 Japanese drama-road film co-written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. It is primarily based on Haruki Murakami's short story of the same name from his collection Men Without Women.  An aging, widowed actor seeks a chauffeur. The actor turns to his go-to mechanic, who ends up recommending a 20-year-old girl. Despite their initial misgivings, a very special relationship develops between the two. Night Raiders is now on general release In a post-war future, a mother joins an underground band of vigilantes to try and rescue her daughter from a state-run institution. Oscars are on Monday – who are the frontrunners? The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27 in Los Angeles. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20226 minutes, 56 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Grape and Chicken Salad

I first came across this salad in a café in Melbourne that served the most exquisite Vietnamese-inspired dishes. It’s the perfect summer salad and the grapes I consider a nod to the days when Ho Chi Minh City was considered the Paris of the Orient.SERVES 22 boneless, skin less chicken breasts½ onion, chopped roughly1 stick lemon grass, smashed2 lime or young lemon leavesSalt & pepper50g rice vermicelli – soaked in boiling water until el dente (about 5 minutes) & drainedDressingJuice of two limes1 tsp sesame oil1 tablespoon grated palm sugar1 tablespoon fish sauce4 tablespoons coconut milk1 cup grapes , red or green, halved2 chillies – de-seeded & sliced1 cup mixed chopped fresh herbs – mint, coriander, Vietnamese mint,¼ cup crushed peanutsRemove the tenderloins from the breasts and set aside. Poach chicken by putting breasts in a pot and covering with water, chopped onion, lime leaves, lemongrass, salt and pepper. Bring to a slow simmer and simmer for 15 minutes (add the tenderloins about half way through). Allow to cool in the stock then remove and slice across the grain into 1 cm slices.Soak vermicelli in boiling water until soft. Drain well. Set aside.In a big bowl whisk together dressing ingredients - lime, sesame oil, grated palm sugar, fish sauce and coconut milk. Taste and check for balance of flavours. Add more acid (lime juice), sweetness (sugar) or salt (fish sauce) as required. Add the vermicelli, chicken, chillies and herbs and toss well. Garnish with peanuts and serve.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20226 minutes, 26 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Surprises and spinach at the supermarket

Kevin Milne recently offered to get groceries for friends isolating and discovered a few surprises on their list. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20227 minutes, 7 seconds
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Jack Tame: Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off any longer

Last year, in those fleeting months before Delta was discovered in the community and the Trans-Tasman bubble was closed, I flew to Australia and spent a few days with my grandma. It was just the two of us for four or five days. A grandma and her eldest grandchild, sixty years between us. By that stage, Granny was too frail to drive. I hired a car and we went on a few day trips together. She took me up to Kapunda, where the first of her ancestors to arrive in Australia settled almost 190 years ago. We went to a museum that celebrated the life of her best-known relative, Sir Sidney Kidman, a cattle barron who once had landholdings greater than the size of Australia. We lunched at our family’s favourite cheap Italian cafe, the first place I ever tasted gelato.  In the evenings, Granny told me about her childhood. She was born in the 1930s on a remote station, 500km north of Adelaide. The closest property with other children was more than fifty miles away.  As a girl, once a week there was a radio show that helped to direct Granny’s correspondence classes. In the mornings, Granny’s mum would help her to study. In the afternoons she’d play with her little brothers. As I think I told you last year, Granny had photos of the old camel trains which the workers sometimes used to get things to market. Granny died last week. I’ve spent the last few days driving all over Adelaide, taking her furniture to second-hand shops in the biggest truck I could hire. With my Mum and one of my sisters, we went through her house, room by room, shelf by shelf, drawer by drawer, through 94 years of memories: Diaries from her travels. Jewellery and knick-knacks picked up decades ago at exotic foreign markets. Paper clips and magnifying glasses and a thousand coat hangers. The trash and treasures of a rich life.  From correspondence school on that remote sheep station, Granny never lost her hunger for education. She was the first female physics student at the University of Adelaide. She studied at Oxford. She earned a PHD. In the 1950s and 60s, she moved into a new exciting field of research and became a bit of a pioneer in her field. It was something to do with technology and information and there were myriad potential applications. Something called computing.  My Grandad was a professor at the same university. I never knew it until this week, but in a professional capacity, so as to stand on her own two feet, Granny only ever used her maiden name for her work. And since she was a woman who worked full-time when that was still quite uncommon, Granny insisted on paying to have someone else do the housework. It was funny, at her funeral, to hear Mum call her a feminist. But she was. Of course, she was. A few years ago, in a university campaign for International Women’s Day, she even lived to see herself in billboard form. Death is hard. Her loss leaves a massive gap. But if I’m honest, the sadness I feel at Granny’s death is eased a bit, in knowing she had such a full life. I aspire to live a life as full as my Granny’s.  And I feel grateful. Grateful that at an age and stage where I had genuine interest, I took the time to sit down with Granny. I listened to her stories. I looked at her photos. I paused and considered and appreciated her extraordinary journey, from the camels and the dust of her childhood to the cutting edge of computer science and beyond.  For what it’s worth.. my advice is this: if you have someone in your life who’s getting on... a parent, a grandparent, an old friend. Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off any longer. If you have to travel, travel. If you have to take time off work, so be it. It’s worth it. And you’ll never regret it. Sit down and ask for their story before it’s too late.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/25/20225 minutes, 54 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: British artist Ella Henderson's new album

Estelle Clifford has been listening to British singer Ella Henderson's new album, Everything I Didn't Say - her first in eight years.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20227 minutes, 18 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Jump by Larry Miller, Lucy Foley's Paris thriller

Jump – Larry Miller One of the most successful Black businessmen in the country, who has led Nike’s Jordan Brand from a $150M sneaker company to a $4.5B global footwear and apparel powerhouse, tells the remarkable story of his rise to the pinnacles of international business and reveals the secret that tormented him and defined his success. The Paris Apartment – Lucy Foley Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less-than-ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20225 minutes, 54 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A taste of travel - what are the world's iconic breakfasts?

Mike Yardley has been dreaming of overseas breakfasts and chats to Jack Tame about the world's iconic early morning meals. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20229 minutes, 6 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: What to do with the waste from Covid?

Malcolm Rands gives his tips on what we can do about the mounting waste from Covid.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20228 minutes, 19 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Covid positives and negatives for environment and education

Lockdowns were great for Biodiversity – you’ll remember the stories about the return of dolphins in the canals of Venice etc. People went walking outside in parks; less use of cars – less pollution, birds coming into town.It was not so good for the Environment Business:Zealandia: Wellington’s most impressive restoration centre; 225 hectares of pure gold with endangered species returning to the city: Falcons smacking homing pigeons out of the air, Kaka all over the place – tui in huge numbersZealandia relies on visitors – THEY ARE LAUNCHING AN APPEAL – go and see the place, absorb the Nature that’s there, experience what Aotearoa used to look and sound like… and DONATEZealandia is INSPIRATIONAL and such a good tool for EDUCATION!!!Schools that do a lot of environmental education outside the classroom are also struggling with reduced contributions from parents in the pandemic years; my latest job-area is in teacher PLD (Professional Learning Development), especially trying to get us all to work with the Natural Resources we find in school grounds, related to the whole curriculum…There are hugely successful players (Look them up!!) in this area: BLAKE (Sir Peter Blake Trust), Enviroschools, Treemendous (Mazda Foundation), Garden-to-Table, Field Based STEM, Toimata Foundation etc.These organisations and initiatives are often sponsored by companies that “get it” and supported by Ministries (Education, Environment and DoC)But for your local school it might be useful to contact the principal or the Science team to see if you can contribute your skills to the “efficience of learning”Of course: learning outside is especially useful in Covid times due to reduced chances of transmission.One of my favourite examples of Nature-Nerdness are the raptors at the Bird of Prey Trust Wingspan in Rotorua. https://www.wingspan.co.nz/There you can see Falcons flying and hunting; they train kahu and rehabilitate injured birds that rely on flying skills to survive in the New Zealand Landscape; They even support one of our newest New Zealand Native birds: the Barn Owl, which is now firmly established in Northland.Wingspan also suffered huge losses of income during Covid, especially since they started to plan building an education centre.One of the way they fund-raise is by selling “raptor pellets”, usually to teachers that want to do something different in the biological classroom: Birds of prey (raptors) eat meat with bones, fur, feathers as well as the meat; they then regurgitate the roughage and indigestible materials as a “pellet”. These pellets can be teased apart and bones and other materials can be identified in the classroom, to identify the types of food that were eaten by the birds.Wingspan sent me a nice packet of barn owl pellets for my education work and I am going to give away a packet to five teachers in NZ that contact me with the best reason why they would like a packet;Address: Ruud.Kleinpaste@nzme.co.nz don’t forget your name, your school name and addressLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20225 minutes, 5 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Netflix rules tightening up, Microsoft Office is adapting

Netflix wants you to have your own account that you pay for, Currently you're allowed to share your account with your household, but not anyone beyond that. In Chile, Costa Rica & Peru they're testing what happens if they offer 'extra viewers' as sub accounts for a small fee. Netflix has seen their subscriber numbers plateau, share price drop and content costs continue to soar. Cracking down on password sharing might net them a new million more subscribers in the US alone.  Microsoft Office is adapting to the new hybrid work trends Changes are rolling out to Microsoft Teams, Outlook, PowerPoint over the next six months to make flexible working a little easier. In Outlook, you'll be able to RSVP to a meeting as an in-person or virtual attendee so the organizer knows what to expect. Teams will have a new layout option to have remote people's video at the bottom of the big screen, as well as having notes and the chat window viewable. There'll also be new 'in-room' companion features you can use on your laptop. PowerPoint will allow you to put live video into your slides, like picture-in-picture. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20224 minutes, 26 seconds
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Tara Ward: Holding, The Newsreader, Joanna Lumley's Britain

Holding: Based on the novel by Graham Norton, this comedy-drama follows the story of Irish police officer, Sergeant PJ Collins, a gentle mountain of a man who hides from people and fills his days with comfort food and half-hearted police work (TVNZ 1 on Sundays/TVNZ OnDemand). The Newsreader: launching on new free-to-air channel Eden, The Newsreader is an award-winning Australian drama set in a TV newsroom during the 1980s, as the professional and personal lives of two newsreaders become entangled (Eden, Thursday nights/ThreeNow). Joanna Lumley’s Britain: After a lifetime of travels that have taken her across the globe, Joanna Lumley is making her most personal journey yet, retracing old steps and exploring the wonders of the country she calls home (TVNZ 1 on Saturdays/TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20225 minutes, 6 seconds
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Bob Campbell: 2020 Piqueras High Altitude Garnacha, Spain

Bob Campbell has been diving into the Spanish Reds - his best buy this week is the 2020 Piqueras High Altitude Garnacha, Spain $16.99.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20224 minutes, 58 seconds
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Brian Greene: World-renowned theoretical physicist on our search for meaning

Have you ever grappled with the BIG questions of life like why do we exist or what is our purpose?  Well, Brian Greene ponders these types of questions for a living.  Brian is a world-renowned theoretical physicist. He uses science and math to understand the complex workings of the universe.  He’ll be here in June to speak about his new book, called 'Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter and Our Search for Meaning'. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/202213 minutes, 28 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Buddha Bowl on a budget

Buying lunch every day becomes expensive and, dare I say it, not that healthy. Bought food is invariably more calorific than food you make yourself. Focus on loading up your lunch choices with protein – chicken, beans, tuna, tofu, quinoa – for sustained energy (i.e. it will fill you up and keep you feeling full for longer) plus some carbs to bulk it up slightly – think noodles, rice, pasta, bread, pastry – but you don’t need too much of these. Then include fresh ingredients like leafy greens and grated veges and in cooler months, canned tomatoes, grains, beans etc in soups stews etc. Lunch Buddha bowl: Makes enough for 4 serves 2 cups cooked rice – I like using brown rice 1 ½ cups frozen shelled edamame beans (available in supermarkets) 1 ½ cups grated or roughly chopped veges – carrots, snow peas, thinly sliced broccoli florets 1-2 tbsps tamari or soy sauce, to taste 4 cups chopped/shredded red cabbage, spinach, lettuce or kale Optional toppings 1-2 ripe avocados Chicken, salmon or tuna Thinly sliced cucumber Thinly sliced spring onion Lime or lemon wedges Toasted sesame oil, for drizzling Sesame seeds  Pour boiling water over edamame beans and leave for 3 minutes, then drain. Divide the rice, edamame and raw veggies into 4 bowls/lunch boxes. Arrange toppings of your choice. Drizzle lightly with tamari/soy and any other dressings and top with sliced green onion and a lime wedge or 2. Chill till ready to serve.Here’s some more ideas that can all be made the night before for saving time:  Wraps – load them up with salad, chicken, ham etc – leave out the cheese. Sammies – make them extra good with spicy chutneys, mustard, mayo and smashed boiled eggs etc and season them well with salt and pepper Line muffin tins with tortilla and fill with Bolognese, egg/ham/sweetcorn/spinach/feta, top with cheese and bake for 20 mins at 180 C.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20225 minutes, 18 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Turning Red and The Adam Project

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Turning Red and The Adam Project this week and gives Jack Tame her review. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20225 minutes, 42 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

Kevin Milne has been celebrating with the Irish this week for St. Patrick's Day. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20226 minutes, 20 seconds
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Jack Tame: This Government cares more about polling than principles

Call me a sucker. Last Sunday morning, the petrol gauge in my car dropped to one bar and I pulled up at Mobil and filled up with gas. It cost $150 to fill my 2012 Toyota hatchback. In twenty years of driving, it was the most money I’d ever spent filling my car. Of course, it felt painful. But I figured I didn’t have much of a choice. The war in Ukraine looked set to continue and even if I waited, I knew I’d have to fill up sooner or later. The next day Labour cut petrol excise tax by 25c a litre. Cutting the price of petrol for three months and halving the cost of public transport will cost almost $400m. The policy had almost no scrutiny or oversight. There was no regulatory impact assessment. The Ministry of Transport and Treasury have kindly agreed to a ‘post-implementation assessment.’ They’ll tell us how it went, after it’s all over. Brilliant. But although the Government has framed the tax cut as an urgent and nimble piece of leadership, we should describe it for what it really is: cynical and reactionary. Transport makes up a significant slab of our carbon emissions profile. As painful as it was for businesses and households alike to have petrol at $3 a litre – and I appreciate that for some people it was extremely painful - the surge in prices presented an unrivaled opportunity to encourage significant behavioural change.  The Government is concerned about the cost of living crisis? Last I checked, they said the climate crisis was the nuclear free issue of this generation. There are plenty of other more targeted ways to relieve cost of living stresses. Taking a couple of bucks off the cost of a bus ticket won’t encourage more people onto public transport if the cost of filling their car is just the same as it’s always been. The truth is, petrol taxes would never have been cut if Labour had been well ahead in last week’s poll. They saw the poll numbers. They freaked out. They dropped almost $400m to try and win back some popularity. And the annoying thing is... it works. The reason New Zealanders haven’t kicked up a stink is that fundamentally, we would prefer the comfort of cheaper petrol than a government with the courage to make difficult but necessary choices. This is why we find ourselves in the shit. This is why our housing is some of the least affordable in the World. This is why we have a looming crisis over the cost of superannuation. This is why we’re dragging out heels on doing anything meaningful about climate change. We voters only care about the short term. And our politicians only care about keeping us happy. They’re not nimble or urgent. They’re cowardly. But ask yourself this: regardless of your political stripes, wouldn’t you prefer a government to be led by its principles than by the polls? A society deserves the leaders it elects. Once again, Jacinda Ardern’s Government has shown it’s more interested in doing what is popular than what is right.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/18/20223 minutes, 33 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: BENEE's new album Lychee

Estelle Clifford's been listening to Kiwi artist BENEE's new album Lychee.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20225 minutes, 15 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Remember Me and Davos Man

Remember Me – Charity Norman  A close-knit community is ripped apart by disturbing revelations that cast new light on a young woman's disappearance twenty-five years ago.  After years of living overseas, Emily Kirkland returns to New Zealand to care for her father, Felix, who suffers from dementia. As his memory fades and his guard slips, she begins to understand him for the first time - and to glimpse shattering truths about his past. Truths she'd rather were kept buried.  Davos Man – Peter Goodman Drawing on decades of experience covering the global economy, award-winning journalist Peter S. Goodman profiles five representative "Davos Men"–members of the billionaire class–chronicling how their shocking exploitation of the global pandemic has hastened a fifty-year trend of wealth centralization. Alongside this reporting, Goodman delivers textured portraits of those caught in Davos Man’s wake, including a former steelworker in the American Midwest, a Bangladeshi migrant in Qatar, a Seattle doctor on the front lines of the fight against COVID, blue-collar workers in the tenements of Buenos Aires, an African immigrant in Sweden, a textile manufacturer in Italy, an Amazon warehouse employee in New York City, and more. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20224 minutes, 40 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Sydney Lights Up, counting down to Vivid

Mike Yardley says Vivid is back after a two-year hiatus thanks to Covid. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20228 minutes, 34 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Think you've found 'the one'?

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool shares with Jack Tame compatibility questions to ask when you think you’ve found ‘the one’.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20227 minutes, 32 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: What's in a name...when it comes to wasps?

One of the things that are bothering New Zealanders in the late summer and autumn days are wasps. There are a few species that really drive people mad:The German wasp is just one of them; the Chinese paper wasp is another one.They are quite different from each-other and easy to identify:German wasps are stockily-built insects, mostly yellow with some black stripes and spots on their body;The Chinese paper wasps are much more slender and often fly with dangling, long legs. Their bodies are mostly black with thin yellow stripes and spots.There are other distinguishing features (such as nest shapes and sizes and where they prefer to build their nests.But what they have in common is the fact that they have no sense of humour.But this little segment is not about all these details at all… it is about their name, or should I say their names!“German wasp” and “Chinese Paper wasp” are the common names (also known as vernacular names) of the species.Their scientific names are, respectively: Vespula germanica and Polistes chinensis. And that makes total sense, because those names are the real Latin names that were given to these two wasp species by the authors who described them. The common names were derived from their Latin names.So far, so good.The Chinese paper wasp (P. chinensis) got its name because it hails from the China, Korea and Japan region on the planetBut the German wasp (V. germanica) does not originate from just Germany at all! It originally lived right throughout Europe and Northern Africa and as far east as Ukraine and Moscow, right up to North India.Yet the author of this wasp species (The Danish entomologist Johan Fabricius, a student of the famous Carl Linnaeus!) decided to call this pest Vespula germanica, the German wasp.In the 18th Century it was not unusual to name an important human pests after the neighbours with whom you had the most quarrel or conflict and Germany was sometimes on the receiving end of these name-calling exercises… and that was even before the World Cup Soccer was invented!The German cockroach (Blattella germanica) was a name conjured by Linnaeus himself; yet the species had nothing to do with Germany. It originally came from South East Asia or thereabouts and spread to busy Europe with the increase in trade and people movement.Or it might have even come “out-of-Africa” with us… all those years ago!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20225 minutes, 29 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Are you getting a yearly heart check-up?

Shane Warne's death has sent shockwaves around the world. He's suspected of dying from a heart attack and our resident doctor Dr Bryan Betty says it's a reminder for middle aged men to get a yearly heart check-up.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20224 minutes, 34 seconds
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Nici Wickes: A quick guide to budget-friendly cooking

Here are some rules I try to abide by when looking for budget-friendly meals· Only use what’s in season· Shop with a list but stay open to a bargain· Ties in with above, don’t stick to ingredients if they’re expensive, substitute for something cheaper eg. jars of capsicum/peppers instead of fresh, rump steak instead of sirloin or cheaper yet, learn how to cook well with eggs or pulses for your protein, use sour cream / crème fraiche instead of cheese in cooking· Spices are your friend for cooking on a budget - they pack a punch for very little expense· Avoid semi or fully prepared meals – they’re expensive whichever way you look at it· When shopping compare the per gram cost – you’ll be surprised that larger portions are not always cheaper (mayo is a good example of this!)· Beef up curries / casseroles with vegetables (carrots / potatoes / onions / pumpkin / spinach) – good for the body and the wallet· Shop to the theme of “You can’t always get what you want”· The Destitute Gourmet, Sophie Gray, has 3 principles for saving $$: Plan ahead, Eat Healthy, Eek out the luxuries www.destitutegourmet.co.nz – great website· Practice or LEARN to cook well – that way your health and your food bill is in your handsMy favourite 3 budget meals:1. 3 meals from one roast chicken; a roast, then use some meat for sandwiches or tacos / make soup with the carcass2. Lasagne made with lentils instead of meat and sour cream/cream fraiche instead of cheese on top3. Rosemary & potato/pumpkin frittataLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20227 minutes, 33 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple's new chips, print your own lipstick

Apple's going "peak performance" This event saw the continued rollout of the new Apple chips across their devices - including into the iPad Air and the launch of the wildly powerful Mac Studio. The screens on their phones, tablets and laptops have always been incredible and now there's an affordable option for a high quality Apple monitor! Announced alongside the Mac Studio is the Studio Display which is a 27" 5K monitor with an updated camera, three mics and six speakers. It's around $2000, which is a steal compared to the Pro Display at $5,000 monitor and $1,000 stand. Its launch did see the death of the 27" iMac though. Print your own lipstick at home Can't decide which shade to buy? Now you can print them all at home...and as you need them. This cool device from Yves Saint-Laurent prints lipstick. You load the cartridges in the bottom of the device, use an app to select the color you want, and it'll print it straight into a compact for you to apply now or take on-the-go. You can take a photo of your outfit and the app will suggest lip colors for you. Depending on what cartridges you select, it can produce between 1000 and 4000 shades. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20224 minutes, 48 seconds
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Paul Coll: Kiwi squash player on winning his first title as world number one

History-making and title-taking about sums up an astonishing 12 months for Kiwi squash player Paul Coll.  The 29-year-old is the first Kiwi male to take the top spot in world rankings, something he says was “unexpected”.   Paul is based in Amsterdam but is always on the move playing in tournaments around the world, the latest being the Windy City Open in Chicago, where he won his first title as number one.  Paul Coll joined Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/202213 minutes, 49 seconds
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Tara Ward: Somebody Somewhere, Winning Time, Joe vs Carole

Somebody Somewhere: A new HBO drama. Sam is a true Kansan on the surface, but, beneath it all, struggles to fit the hometown mould. Grappling with loss and acceptance, she discovers herself and a community of outsiders who don't fit in but don't give up (Neon). Winning time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty: A new drama about the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports' most revered and dominant dynasties - a team that defined an era, both on and off the court (Neon). Joe vs Carole: A new series that dramatises the events of documentary Tiger King, telling the tale of Joe Exotic, the former Oklahoma zoo operator and big cat breeder who was put on trial and sentenced to 22 years in prison for plotting to murder another big cat enthusiast (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20225 minutes, 11 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Blind Ambition and Off The Rails

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching two great films this week:Blind Ambition (Doc - Cinema)  Having escaped starvation and tyranny in their homeland of Zimbabwe, four refugees have conquered the odds to become South Africa's top sommeliers. Driven by relentless optimism, a passion for their craft and unshakeable national pride, they form Zimbabwe’s first ever wine tasting team and set their sights on the coveted title of ‘World Wine Tasting Champions’. From the moment they arrive in France to compete, this team of mavericks turns an establishment of privilege and tradition on its head. A truly uplifting documentary that celebrates just how irrepressible the human spirit can be.  Off the Rails (Drama - Cinema) Now in their 50s, four friends re-create an inter-rail journey across Europe, but this time 18-year-old Maddie is taking her mother's place, fulfilling her dying wish. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20225 minutes, 41 seconds
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Kevin Milne: It's the start of the very best season...Bluff oysters!

Kevin Milne is celebrating the start of the Bluff oyster season and reckons they’ve gotta be the best oysters in the world.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20226 minutes, 9 seconds
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Jack Tame: Here's an idea...just admit there's a cost of living crisis

One of the best things about my job is that when a new poitical poll comes through, I get to look at the results just a little bit earlier than everyone else.Labour 37. National 39. Boomfah.A few things are obvious. People are sick of Covid. We’re sick of restrictions. Sick of disruption. We’re sick, sick, in more than 200,000 cases. Covid is stressful. We’re right in the throes of the surge. That’s never going to bode well for whatever government is in charge.Inflation. The cost of living. Whack. Didn’t I say in my very first show of this year, that inflation would be the word of 2022? Not Omicron. Not Antigen. Not Wordle. Inflation.Is it Labour’s fault? Yes and no. When it comes to our economy, New Zealand is a dinghy hitched to the back of a the global mega-liner. And the bulk of the really big spending, the billions and billions of dollars that were pumped into our economy over the last two years during Covid-19, was committed to save jobs. Don’t forget, National said it would have done the same. Any time National MPs are asked for actual detail about the wasteful spending they say has contributed meaningfully to the cost of living increases, their argument falls apart pretty quickly. The main reason the cost of petrol has increased so much is that Russia invaded Ukraine. Sorry, but that wasn’t Jacinda Ardern’s fault.That being said, in the eyes of voters, at least National acknowledges it. For much of this week, Jacinda Ardern was trapped in a little game where she doesn’t want to use the word, crisis. She doesn’t want to explicitly say there’s a cost-of-living crisis. Ah, yes. Deja vu. What goes around comes around, eh? The Crisis game is the same game Labour MPs played when in opposition, when the National government of the day didn’t want to say there was a housing crisis, even though it was self-evident at the time (Incidentally, it has become, much, much worse under this government).The Crisis Game is just a name game. It’s not a serious policy debate, it’s a debate over a label. But here’s an idea: Just admit it. Accept it. Use the term. Take the blow and move on.This government, in its prioritisation of messaging and communication, contorts itself into all sort of peculiar positions to avoid ever making any sort of concession. They rarely concede anything is worse-off on their watch. They never frankly admit they might have got something wrong.People see through it. They’re tired of it. It’s dishonest. It comes across as smug. And for something like inflation, it makes you look out of touch.There is a lot to be said in life for a bit of humility.And I reckon that poll underscored one thing, more than anything else; the government can no longer lean on its Covid-19 response for voter support.In all likelihood, the next election won’t be fought over Covid. It’ll be fought over the economy. It’ll be a classic back-pocket debate. ANZ reckons house prices could fall 10% this year. The OCR could rise one hundred basis points. Russia isn’t leaving Ukraine. Inflation won’t be tamed overnight.New Zealanders could be in for a tough period. Least of whom, Jacinda ArdernLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/11/20224 minutes, 22 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kiwi singer-songwriter Jamie McDell's new self-titled album

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Jamie McDell’s new self-titled album and gives it top marks.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20226 minutes, 24 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Very Last List of Vivian Walker, Em and Me

The Very Last List of Vivian Walker – Megan Albany: New book from Award winning Australian Writer  Vivian Walker is dying. This is not on her list of things to do. A darkly funny debut that proves even the most imperfect of lives is worth celebrating.   Now that I've got cancer, I know I should be letting go and just being in the moment with my child but, seriously, what mother has got time to spend with their kids? Em and Me – Beth Morrey: The author of The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is back with a new novel. A mother. A daughter. A secret waiting to be discovered. For too long – since the sudden death of her mother as a teenager, since the birth of her daughter, Em, when she was just seventeen – Delphine has been unable to let go of the past, obsessed with protecting Em and clinging to a secret that could ruin everything. She’s been living life in safe shades of grey. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20224 minutes, 41 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Free roaming in mighty Manawatu

Mike Yardley has been roaming around mighty Manawatu, home of the Turbos and wind turbines. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20226 minutes, 46 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Berm gardening, yes or no?

One of the questions I get asked all the time is ,’why don’t we grow food on the grass beams on our street’One of the biggest users of water and chemicals is actually our love affair with grass. Let alone the energy and petrol used to mow it.Back in European history, us peasants who came from there, used to have vegetable gardens and only the lords in their manors had lawns kept short and neat by sheep and groundsmenNow we are all lords and ladies but this has a high ecological cost. So change your own lawns to veges, flowers, ground covers and natives for bird lifeAnd this flows on to the beams along our streets. We are getting less backyard space as we concentrate our housing, so what is possible with our public landLet’s look at the problems and regulations and see what solutions are out thereStreets are full of dirty polluting cars that will make any food grown there inedibleA very good point but some streets have very low traffic and food could be grown. In all others there are plenty of options.Fruit trees with thick skins like citrus or feijoas are being planted successfullyGrow pollinators especially for the local bees. We are talking here of all sorts of flowering ground covers, shrubs and trees. And native plants for our birdsWe will end up with rotten fruit all over the footpath and bred verminIn successful plantings locals make a pact to be the guardians of specific fruit trees on their street. This has been working successfully in many areas of NZ. Some councils have even put online where the current ripe fruit is availableAnd if this doesn’t work and the council isn’t prepared to do the cleanup then, pull them out and change to bee and bird friendly plants.And the vermin problem hasn’t eventuated in areas with these schemesThe maintenance men are always digging up the streetsYes they are and you just need to be prepared to lose these plants and start again . And be careful of the types of trees near access points and key infrastructureIt’s dangerous if the footpaths aren’t clear, safe and accessible for all usersThis is true and must be considered in the design of the planting. Especially if the tree chosen may become too big. Don’t plant pears or plums unless they are a miniature varietyThe roads are for cars to drive and mustn’t be covered in rotten fruit and especially people on the road picking that fruitTrue again and this is a combination of local guardians keeping the trees trimmed and collecting excess food, plus initial design of the plantingThey will get vandalisedTo an extent but so far their hasn’t been much of this happening. We look after our own streets if we have an attachment to what is happening there.And around NZ these problems have been overcome. Council often don’t have clear policy on this so it will pay to contact them. However, I do know a few people that are in the guerrilla gardening mode, they just act now and ask for forgiveness later.If this is too hard Council can be approached to let some land in the local park be used for community garden.And the prize is, more community togetherness, possible common compost schemes, free seasonal food, better bird and bee life and a generous more liveable city life.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20225 minutes, 43 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Time for winter crops to go in

Winter crops need to go in!Might not feel like it, but winter is just around the corner.Soil is still warm-as, so when you plant seeds, they germinate quite quickly; take advantage of that helping hand, so that seedlings will grow quickly in the warm conditions, while they slow down on their way to lower temperatures.Brussels Sprouts:Sow now (early March); transplant the seedling in May in a pre-prepared bed in full sun with nice, friable soil with a good dollop of Lime (NOT dolomite lime!). The lime (high pH) prevents club root disease.Plant them in a spot where they are protected from too much wind. These Brassicaceae are rather top-heavy and could easily topple over!“Improved” and “Jade F1” are good varieties that usually do well. You can also find a purple-red heirloom variety; In early winter after the first frost!! You can harvest themCabbages and Broccoli are also still worth planting; they are related to the sprouts, so a similar modus operandus applies for them. Don’t forget the Lime…I had a good run with red cabbage, this year (a favourite of one of my – 8 year old – grandson, Edouard). I think he eats it raw!Leeks can sometimes be a bit of a bother when you sow the seeds. The tiny, thin seedlings are a bit of a pain when it comes to transplanting them; I prefer to buy seedlings that are already reasonably sturdy and easier to handle.Use friable and deep, fertile soil; Create “furrows” in which you plant the seedlings.As the plants grow gradually bury the stems in the soil from the higher sides of the furrow: buried leeks will have white stems as a result of lack of light. I often push this “blanching” trick to a rather maximal position, by burying the stems as far as I can. White leek stems taste a heck of a lot better than green ones!Early march in warmer areas of Aotearoa is still a good time to sow the last crop of French beans – they could last you well into autumn. Maybe not a winter crop as such, but close, if you keep them in a warm and sunny spot.Spring onions will go on and on and on; plant a row or two for the stir-fry or soups, Udon or Somen. I usually cram them in close proximity to each-other (5 to 6 cm apart) and mound them up as they grow, just like the leeks.Making use of the autumn sun and temperatures, Carrots will germinate easily too; important to have very friable soil without stones of hard clay patches; It really pays to make the growth of carrot roots as effortless as possible for the plant, otherwise you’ll get those forked carrots!Fertiliser with some extra Phosphate to develop those roots.The best thing about carrots is that you don’t need to harvest them all at once: the best way to “store” them is by leaving them in the soil.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20221 minute, 45 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Banks are saying no, so what about second-tier lenders?

Bank lending changes are prompting lots of borrowers to look at second-tier lenders when the banks say no. Enable.me's Hannah McQueen speaks to Francesca Rudkin about who exactly are these second-tier lenders and what you should look out for.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20226 minutes, 54 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple & Google in Ukraine's war zone, cryptocurrency transcends borders

Apple & Google have turned off live data in their maps to protect the people of Ukraine Live map activity is great to help detect traffic and disruptions when life is normal, but in a war zone it can be dangerous. Both Google & Apple have now disabled these features which collect user data to show clusters of activity. In the US at least, the maps can show busy locations, such as how many people are at a particular gym or bar, but can also show hotspots such as shopping districts, beaches, or protests. There was a fear that people congregating to shelter could inadvertently appear on a map.  The live traffic feature tipped of academic researchers that the Russian invasion was happening, because there was a traffic jam at 3:15 in the morning right near where satellite images had previously showed the staging of Russian military vehicles. Dr Jeffrey Lewis a Professor at Middlebury Institute in California started tweeting his findings and updates as the traffic jam rolled towards Ukraine.  Cryptocurrency's ability to transcend borders is in the spotlight  With Russia out of the SWIFT banking system and sanctions on financial activity with Russia, Cryptocurrency is being used to skirt the move money. It's peer to peer nature makes it Hillary Clinton warned last year that she saw crypto as an easy way to bypass government financial controls, but also feared manipulation of the crypto markets by China or Russia. She called on regulation in the past and has again come out strongly against crypto companies saying that it's disappointing some are refusing to end transactions with Russia. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20225 minutes, 26 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Dropout, Pieces of Her, Our Flag Means Death

The Dropout: Based on the popular podcast and based on true events, The Dropout is a tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. Amanda Seyfried plays American entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, who develops healthcare technology that puts millions of patients at risk and loses everything in the blink of an eye (Disney+). Pieces of Her: this might well be your binge watch for the weekend! From the team behind Big Little Lies and The Undoing, Toni Collette stars in this thriller about one woman’s quest to understand her mother after a violent attack brings an unknown past to light (Netflix). Our Flag Means Death: Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi star in this new comedy set in 1717, about wealthy landowner Stede Bonnet (Darby) who has a midlife crisis and decides to blow up his cushy life to become a pirate. It does not go well (Neon). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20226 minutes, 2 seconds
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Dr Alice Boyes: Stress-free productivity with a clinical psychologist

We often feel like we never have enough time in the day and the time that we do have needs to made the most of! Luckily, we have the likes of clinical psychologist-turned-writer, Dr Alice Boyes, to save the day. Alice is a Kiwi based in the US and her blogs on the popular website Psychology Today garner millions of views. She has written a brand new book called Stress-Free Productivity. It’s a tool-kit to help readers flourish...without the burnout. Dr Alice Boyes joins Francesca Rudkin to talk about her book. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/202212 minutes, 31 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Custard squares to cheer you up!

We all need a bit of cheering up after the week we’ve had so here’s an absolute favourite that’s worth the effort – custard slice! 2 sheets store-bought puff pastry 1L full fat milk 75g butter, chopped 2 tsp vanilla extract ½ cup sugar ½ cup custard powder or corn flour 4 egg yolks 1 cup icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract  Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a 20-22cm tin with baking paper, allowing some to hang over the sides for easy removal later. Roll the pastry to slighter thinner and larger than they come. Place the pastry sheets on baking trays lined with baking paper. Use a fork to prick holes all over the pastry then top the pastry sheets with another sheet of baking paper and another baking tray. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before trimming to fit your tin. Make the custard: Place 3 cups of the milk, butter, vanilla and sugar in a pot and heat until just before boiling point. While it heats, in a bowl whisk the custard powder/cornflour, remaining milk and egg yolks together until smooth. Slowly pour this mix into the hot milk, whisking as you go. Reduce heat to low to medium and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until you have a thick, glossy custard. Place your first pastry sheet on the base of the tin, pour over the custard and top with the remaining pastry sheet. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, or until set, before icing. To make the icing, mix the icing sugar and vanilla together with a little hot water. Start with a tablespoon or two first, adding a little more at a time until you have the right consistency. Pour over the pastry and chill again for 1 hour. Once set, lift out onto a chopping board and use a large serrated knife, or scissors, to slice into squares. Eat up! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20225 minutes, 15 seconds
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Chris Schulz: The Batman and the Kanye doco, Jeen-Yuhs

The BatmanThe Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis. ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ - Kanye West documentaryThe lives of an emerging superstar and a filmmaker intertwine in this intense, intimate docuseries charting Kanye West's career, filmed over two decades. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20227 minutes, 13 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Dad's Army

Kevin Milne wants to talk about an issue which, strangely, involves Dad's Army.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20225 minutes, 38 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Let's crack on with RATs but good luck finding them

I am over Rapid Antigen Tests – and we’ve only been able to buy them for a week!Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the use of these tests. They alleviate the pressure on laboratories struggling to cope with testing numbers, and allow us to take responsibly for our own health as the contact tracing is overwhelmed. Most importantly, they allow people to keep earning a living, business and schools to stay open, and help critical services and supply chains to remain operational.We’ve seen the role they have played overseas. We understand their purpose and their value.I love em. But I’m already over the effort involved with trying to get one.We have had all the time in the world to organise how they’re distributed; yet the feedback this week is that once again delivery has been haphazard, and frustrating for many. It’s a familiar refrain.RAT’s are free for those with Covid symptoms or who are household contacts – so they should be. But some of these people are waiting in queues for hours to pick up their test or pre-order. Others are whipping through testing sites in no time at all. Some are being given packs of 5 tests even if there are only two people in the car.The distribution kinks are still being ironed out as we go, but you can understand why some are thinking twice about putting themselves through it.And if you’re being driven to buy your own RATS it’s been a frustrating experience as well. Stock has been slow to reach shelves and from what I’ve seen in chemists and supermarkets this week they’ve run out pretty quickly. Prices vary. It’s good to see some suppliers will be selling at cost, for those who aren’t I have less kind words.Demand will be high. I can understand the ease of having a few RATS in your medical kit. Makes life easy when one of the kids claims to have a sore throat, but is clearly trying to avoid a maths test. It also makes sense to do a test before visiting an elderly family member or heading to a wedding or function.But many do not have an extra $30 - $45 a week to throw a pack of RATs in the supermarket trolley.And don’t even get me started the challenges businesses are having trying to do the right thing and source their own supply.This week someone said, let’s not let RATS become the new toilet paper. And I couldn’t agree more. I’m resigned to the fact it will take at least the rest of this month to get our response working properly.It might also give the government time to come to their sense and do at least what Australia did, and hand out ten free home test kits over a three month period for pensioners and those with community services cards. How about every household getting free RAT tests like they did in the UK?The government has abdicated its responsibility for our health and handed it back to us as individuals, and I understand why, but this comes with an obligation to give us the tools we need to look after and manage ourselves. And for many it needs to be free. Who thought we’d be looking to the UK for best practice on anything to do with COVID, but with RATS they got it right.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/4/20223 minutes, 13 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Avril Lavigne's new album, Love Sux

Estelle Clifford's been listening to Avril Lavigne's angsty new album, Love Sux. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20225 minutes, 48 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Eat and play in Palmy!

Mike Yardley has been hanging out in the city of Palmerston North.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20227 minutes, 4 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Fear Index and Dark Horse

The Fear Index – Robert Harris: The Fear Index is a 2011 novel set in a period of roughly 24 hours from the 6 May 2010—the date of the British general election and the Flash Crash. It’s been made into a new film starring Josh Hartnett.Dark Horse – Greg Hurwtiz: Evan Smoak - Orphan X aka The Nowhere Man - is back at break-neck speed in a thrilling new adventure from Gregg Hurwitz. Having just survived an attack on his life Evan Smoak isn't interested in a new mission. But one finds him anyway. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20224 minutes, 33 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: I love you but I'm not 'in love', should I leave?

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool gives us his advice on the age-old trick question: I love you but I'm not 'in love', should I leave?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20226 minutes, 55 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Liquid fertilisers

In the old days, when I was a long-haired hippie (!!!) I used to make my own liquid fertiliser for the organic garden.Two reasons:1) it brought all sorts of elements into the top soil (beneficial for plants)2) the liquid in the barrel often had the most amazing life-forms living in it (especially rat-tailed maggots! – I’ll get into details in a later episode of “Jack’s weird and wonderful world”Main plants to add to the barrel-with-water:Weeds!Weeds grow in your garden because conditions are such that the weeds can flourish simply because they have the nutrients that might be lacking in the soil!!If you have lots of YARROW it might mean your soil could do with a bit of Phosphorus. Yarrow has deep roots that can grab phosphorus from way down in the soil and “bring it up”. Mind you it also has good amounts of Potash, plus the trace elements of copper and sulphur.COMFREY does a similar deep mining of the soil: it gets potash up to the surface.I have a lot of NETTLE in my garden – a sign of Nitrogen being leached out, probably because of sloping conditions of the soil. But the yellow and red admiral butterflies love the nettle for their caterpillars.Other useful weeds: Dandelion, fat hen, borage, dock, plantain, tansy, sow-thistles, and that awful CleaverFor extra nutrients grab some fresh chicken poo (Nitrogen!)Barrel with water and all the weeds you can find; soak them in there for a few weeks so it all breaks down nicely – this often starts becoming quite smelly (maybe put a lid on?) and will be ready when it has become a nice yucky sludge.In cooler weather it’ll take a lot longer to create a barrel of fertiliser.Now, delivery of the stuff is tricky: you don’t really want to use the “raw” stuff, but dilute perhaps 1 in 10, so you get a nice, light tea brew that won’t burn the roots of the plantsIf you live near the coast: grab some seaweed too as that’s usually full of extra minerals that work well in the “trace elements department”Personally I have given up making liquid fertilisers (lack of time, really)… as there is some very efficient stuff on the market that works brilliantly.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20225 minutes, 20 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Neudorf 2021 Rosie's Block Moutere Albariño

Wine expert Bob Campbell has been tasting Neudorf 2021 Rosie's Block Moutere Albariño from Nelson. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20224 minutes, 28 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech and Ukraine

Social Media is a minefieldNow is the time to be very careful.. there is a lot of misinformation - whether deliberate or accidental - on the platforms. There's an account - @aircraftrack - that is tracking military aircraft and, based on this, has been accurately predicting when the air-attacks will take place. Then through live cameras and posts from citizens you can see the explosions from multiple angles. Concerns over internet accessIn a 21-st century war there are fears internet connectivity could be targeted, either through cyber attacks or physical attacks on hardware/infrastructure. In the first 24 hours of the conflict cable-based ISPs have seen some outages in Kharkiv - the second largest city. Cell networks have remained up through.Ukraine has been a source of cheap labor for tech giants There is a really solid software engineering industry there and a cheaper cost of living, so tech firms have been increasingly outsourcing/offshoring work there. SAP, Wix, Revolut have moved employees to safer locations inside Ukraine, or even to neighboring Poland. Grammarly, founded in Kyiv in 2009, still has folks working there as well as SF, New York and Vancounver. With the location diversity of tech talent, you've got a much better chance of knowing someone who may be living in the conflict area.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20224 minutes, 5 seconds
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Tara Ward: Raised by Refugees, Landscapers & Super Pumped

Raised by Refugees: a new New Zealand comedy. Pax Assadi is your typical 12-year-old from the early 2000s - obsessed with hip hop, girls, and Eddie Murphy. His parents came to New Zealand in the late '80s as refugees and want him to get good grades, but all Pax wants to do is fit in. However, a major international incident makes that very difficult (Neon).Landscapers: Olivia Colman and David Thewlis star in this crime drama based on true events. A seemingly ordinary British couple become the focus of an extraordinary investigation when two dead bodies are discovered in the back garden of a house in Nottingham (Neon).Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber: This seven-part drama chronicles one of Silicon Valley's most successful and most destructive start-ups, Uber. The story focuses on Uber's hard-hitting CEO, Travis Kalanick, and his sometimes tumultuous relationship with mentor Bill Gurley. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) and Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction) (Neon, from Monday).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20225 minutes, 2 seconds
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Pax Assadi: Comedian says 'Raised by Refugees' series his proudest moment yet

Kiwi comedian Pax Assadi is no stranger to the stage. He started his career in stand-up comedy in 2012 and was nominated for the Billy T Award just a year later. However, his new project takes him from stage to screen. Pax has just released his new TV comedy series, Raised by Refugees. It’s based on his experience growing up in Aotearoa as a half-Pakistani and half-Iranian kid. His parents want him to study hard and eventually become a doctor but all Pax wants to do is fit in and feel accepted Pax Assadi joins Jack Tame on Saturday Mornings to talk about the show. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/202213 minutes, 39 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Stone fruit tart

Before we say goodbye to nectarines, plums, peaches and the rest of the summer stone fruit, make this tart and serve it with great dollops of cream.Makes one 23cm tart1-2 sheets store-bought sweet shortcrust pastry5-6 nectarines, plums, apricots or peachesFilling100g unsalted butter, softened100g (caster sugar1 tablespoon plain flour2 size 6 free-range eggs,3 tsps vanilla extract1 cup + 2 tablespoons ground almonds1. Heat oven to 190 C. Place a tray in to heat up.2. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface and press into 23 cm tart tin. Prick all over with a fork, then chill for 30 minutes.3. Halve and remove stones from the fruit and cut each half in half.4. Beat together butter and sugar until smooth and pale. Beat in eggs one at a time then stir in vanilla, flour and almonds. Mix to combine. Spread mixture over chilled pastry. Arrange fruit on top of filling. Place tart tin onto heated baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes or until pastry is cooked and filling is golden brown.5. Cool tart for 10 minutes before removing from tin.6. Serve slices warm or cooled with whipped cream!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20225 minutes, 38 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Tom Holland's Uncharted and Albanian film, Hive

Uncharted: Street-smart Nathan Drake is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan, and lost 500 years ago by the House of Moncada. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland.  Hive: An Albanian-Kosovan drama film about struggling widows who start a business to sell a local food product, hoping to provide for their families. Together, they find healing and solace in the new venture, but their will to live independently is soon met with hostility.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20226 minutes, 34 seconds
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Kevin Milne reflects on filming in Ukraine

Eleven years ago, Kevin Milne spent two weeks in Ukraine filming a documentary for Intrepid Journeys. He speaks to Jack Tame about his experience visiting the country now at the centre of world news.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20225 minutes, 16 seconds
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Jack Tame: As the world order shifts, let’s hope it isn’t too bloody

The World is changing before our eyes. Russian forces continue to advance into Ukraine. Residents in Kyiv are being handed guns as they prepare to try and defend their homes.I won’t pretend for a moment to be some high-placed geopolitical analyst but in watching the events in Eastern Europe this week I’ve been taken by a few things.1) For all the tanks and artillery, paratroopers and fighter jets, Vladimir Putin continues to use information as perhaps his important and effective weapon. The propaganda and misinformation that comes from the Kremlin makes it very difficult for anyone – Russian or otherwise – to ever know with certainty what’s true and what isn’t. For months, Putin has been insisting he isn’t preparing for war. Russian talk shows called Western governments’ warning about a looming invasion ‘hysteria’ and ‘absurd.’ When Putin appeared on TV a few nights ago and made the case for invading Ukraine, he claimed to be fighting Ukrainian neo-Nazis, despite the fact Ukraine’s president is a Jewish comedian. When the Ukrainian President made a similar address as a last-ditch effort to prevent war, he spoke in Russian, appealing directly to the Russian people.“I know they won’t show my address on Russian TV.” He said.“But Russian people have to see it.”Russia dedicates resource to weaponising information abroad. Putin was able to utterly destablise parts of the American democracy by hacking emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign team. We’ll never fully quantify just how many people were led astray by Russian bots spreading misinformation on Facebook in the leadup to the 2016 U.S election. But the Kremlin’s propaganda octopus has awfully long tentacles. Just this week, the highest-rating show on Fox News was echoing talking points from the Kremlin. Host Tucker Carlson, no doubt led in his messaging by his close relationship with Donald Trump, said on-air that Ukraine isn’t a “real democracy” and the conflict in Eastern Europe was a mere “border dispute.” Millions of viewers lapped it up.2) We are witnessing in real time yet another step in America’s retreat from global dominance. I’m not saying Russia is taking its place. I’m just saying that Russia is thumbing its nose and there’s next to nothing America can do about it. Having played World Police for the last seventy years, the American public has little appetite for foreign wars. Biden has ruled out fighting with Russian troops and the Afghanistan fiasco has reminded everyone that the World’s mightiest military power perhaps isn’t so mighty after all. The threat of sanctions was insufficient to stop Vladimir Putin. And that’s it.It also has to be said, the U.S ceded the moral high ground. There is an obvious hypocrisy in seeing American leaders rage against Russia’s invasion of a sovereign country. Vladimir Putin opposed the invasion of Iraq. If it was ok for the U.S to invade sovereign territory on the other side of the World, why can’t Russia invade its neighbour?3) Once again we are reminded of the impotence of international organisations. Countries like New Zealand can strongly condemn and blah blah blah but it won’t do anything. The U.N is hamstrung by the Security Council’s power of veto. Russia’s biggest trading partner, China, is conspicuous in its relative silence, so far refusing to condemn the Russian invasion and likely gaming out what the international response would mean for potential similar action in Taiwan.We are watching the World order change in real time. All we can really do is hope it isn’t too bloody.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/25/20224 minutes, 36 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Uber passenger rating & Y2K on the web

You can now see the data powering your Uber rating Uber's new privacy center shows you a lot more of the data they collect about you...including your rating as a passenger. You can now see exactly how many 1-star rides are ruining your perfect 5-star score. They're also showing you how many rides you've taken, how many Eats orders you've made.. which makes for horrifying reading for some! Is the web facing a new Y2K style problem? Chrome, the world's most popular web browser, is about to hit version 100, which could cause issues with websites and web applications. If the applications are looking at what the browser's version is, and are expecting a two digit number, then those sites could break when they get three digits. Microsoft Edge is built off the base of Google Chrome so will face similar problems. The savvy developers have seen this coming and have been testing to make sure they're good to go.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20225 minutes, 22 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Maid and Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Maid by Nita Prose and Again, Rachel - the first sequel from Marian Keyes about everyone's favourite character, Rachel Walsh. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20225 minutes, 53 seconds
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Mike Yardley: An autumn romp in Ruapehu

Mike Yardley's been working up a sweat biking and hiking around Ruapehu on the Central Plateau. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20226 minutes, 59 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Compost and change the world

One of the easiest ways to make a difference in the climate emergency is composting your organic waste rather than throwing it in your rubbish binOrganic matter in your rubbish goes into the landfill where is starts composting in amongst your paper and plastic waste. This causes methane to build up, which is a strong greenhouse gas, and can also reintroduce some of the nasty chemicals and heavy metals back into our environment. Not good.If you have no room you can use a worm farm or bokashi bin. Jack has been using a worm bin for years in his balcony gardenToday we will talk about a backyard compostMany people are a bit afraid or concerned that it will take too much time to compost and be messy. Let’s talk about how easy, and in the end satisfying, composting can beWhat do you needFirst of all find a handsome closable container that can sit on your bench and take all the scraps as you prepare your meals and then scrap off your plates after eating. We also have a larger bin on the floor that operates by a foot action to open the lid,. This is for bigger meals, corn and harvest season and when you have visitors and are eating a lot of food.A garden fork is handy to own and best for turning the compostCollect green materials, usually grass clippings , coffee grounds and if available manure from horses, cows, chickens or sheep. These are high nitrogen additives that will kick start the microbes breaking down your waste. The green items also include your kitchen waste including egg shells, tea leaves etc.For your brown materials wood chips from the local garden contractors are perfect. Other “brown” options include shredded cardboard, dried leaves, straw or hay, all of which should be well mixed with other items so they don’t compact and impede air flow.Then find a space in your yard for the bin, preferably in the shade. Bins come in many shapes and sizes. Find one that suits your habits and spaceCompost requires four main ingredients: water, oxygen, nitrogen — from “green” items — and carbon — from “brown” itemsA compost pile should be damp, like a squeezed-out sponge, but not dripping, and the more often you turn it and give it oxygen, the faster the microbes can break the materials down to an earthy-smelling, chocolate-brown amendment for your soil. You don’t have to turn it at all, but it will take much longer for all the materials to break down.1. Start with a 8 to 15cm layer of untreated wood chips or small broken branches at the bottom of a bin or just on the ground. This will help absorb odours and provide air circulation.2. Add a 8cm layer of green or nitrogen items, such as vegetable trimmings and eggshells.3. Add a 3cm layer of a high-nitrogen activator such as manure, brew waste or coffee grounds. If you use grass clippings, make sure to mix them in with other items so they don’t compact.4. Add a 8cm layer of brown or carbon ingredients, such as wood chips, shredded newspaper or cardboard, straw or hay, pine needles or dry leaves (well mixed with other ingredients so they don’t mat).5. Water those layers well so the pile is thoroughly wet, and if you have enough ingredients, repeat the same layering process, watering again to ensure all the ingredients get wet.6. Turn the pile monthly by forking ingredients from the bottom of the pile to the top. When you add food scraps, cover them with wood chips or some other brown material to absorb odours and deter pests, but try to keep an even balance of greens and browns and make sure the pile stays moist. If the pile gets too dry, decomposition slows and it’s more likely to attract ants and other pests. Add more greens and water, and turn. If the pile starts smelling or gets too wet, add more brown carbon material and mix it well.7. Once you fill a bin, let it “cook” for a few months (turning it monthly will speed the process) and start a second bin or pile...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20228 minutes, 44 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: White-tailed spiders!

There are a lot of nonsense stories around white-tails. People seem to be very frightened of them; I blame the media, who don’t seem to have a scientific bone in their bodyThese species are from Australia – came here in the 1800-s, probably with household goods in containers; we now have a couple of species Lampona cylindrata and Lampona murina.Recent taxonomic investigations showed there are 61 species of white-tails in Australia; imagine what we’ve missed out on so far!They are nocturnal huntersLove to live on the outside of our houses – their favourite prey is grey house spider; the one that makes those messy cobwebs on weather boards and in the corner of windows – and yes… also the one that lives in your car’s side mirrors!Warm summer: people sleep with windows open; easy entry for the spiders.When disturbed, they tend to run quickly and hide in all sorts of nooks and crannies; yep – they may find their way under the sheets as wellWhite tails can and will bite when trapped or provoked.But… the media reports of serious repercussions, including necrotising fasciatus – or - necrotising arachnidism (where the flesh starts to die as a result of an infection in the bite) are simply unsubstantiated – bad journalism and highly dodgy!So far there is no white tail bite recorded where the biting spider was identified by an entomologist, and the patient was observed by medical experts, linking the whole cause and effect up in truly proper scientific manner.The spider bites that have been followed up resulted in nothing more than a pair of red fang marks and a wee bit of short-lived painThen there is the Daddy-Longlegs myth:White tails are unlikely to capture and devour these cellar spiders (Daddy Longlegs); I’ve tried it many times: put a white-tail and a Daddy-Longlegs in one container and see who eats who.(Great trick for the classroom, by the way!)In almost 100% of the cases the Daddy-Longlegs will wrap up the white tail before it even gets anywhere near the body of that long-legged spider!Just thought I’d tell you about that,So you can stop worrying!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20225 minutes, 26 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty on vaping

Our resident doctor Bryan Betty discusses vaping and its risks.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20224 minutes, 32 seconds
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Tara Ward: Severance, Medici and Rose Matafeo's Starstruck

Severence: Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken star in this sci-fi drama about a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs (AppleTV+).   Medici: The Magnificent: A historical political drama about the House of Medici, a powerful banking dynasty that wielded great influence in 15th-century Renaissance, Florence. When an attempt on Piero de Medici’s life forces his son Lorenzo to assume leadership of the family-run bank. Lorenzo finds himself in conflict with the head of Florence’s other powerful banking family, Jacopo Pazzi (Neon).  Starstruck: A second series of the delightful HBO rom-com starring and written by Rose Matafeo, who plays Jessie, a hapless millennial who hooks up with a movie star. Their worlds could not be more different, yet fate keeps bringing them together under the most extraordinary circumstances (TVNZ OnDemand).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20224 minutes, 8 seconds
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Marian Keyes: Irish author brings Rachel Walsh back in first ever sequel

Grown Ups, Sushi for Beginners, Rachel’s Holiday...all book titles you’re likely to recognise from Irish author Marian Keyes.  More than 30 million copies of her novels have been sold worldwide, she’s one of Ireland’s most successful authors of all time and has a reputation as one of the nicest in the business.  Marian has just released her 15th novel and first ever sequel, returning to the beloved character of Rachel Walsh. The wonderful Marian Keyes joins Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/202214 minutes, 2 seconds
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Nici Wickes: What to do with all those tomatoes? Pasta sauce!

This recipe is for anyone who a. has too many tomatoes in the garden or b. loves the taste of summer in winter or c. adores pizza and/or pasta for dinner. So, pretty much everyone then! But even if you don’t grow your own tomatoes this recipe is for you because about now toms get cheap, really cheap in your local grocers and a few kgs made into pasta sauce now, can see you through many a dark winter’s night.Makes about 5 cups2 medium onions, roughly chopped4 cloves garlic, crushed3kg ripe tomatoes, roughly choppedSmall handful fresh herbs – basil, oregano, thymeOptional – chopped courgette, capsicum, celery1-2 tsps sea salt1/2 teaspoon black pepperHeat a splash of olive oil in a large pan, pot or wok. Add all the ingredients and let it simmer for an hour covered. Uncover, add another splash of olive oil and simmer until thickened for say 20-30 more minutes. If you like a smooth sauce, blend with a stick blender or use a food processor. I blend to a chunky sauce.Transfer to containers and freeze.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20225 minutes, 53 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: C'mon C'mon and The Worst Person in the World

C’mon C’mon  When his sister asks him to look after her son, a radio journalist embarks on a cross-country trip with his energetic nephew to show him life away from Los Angeles. The Worst Person in the World A 2021 dark romantic comedy-drama film directed by Joachim Trier about a young woman battles indecisiveness as she traverses the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20225 minutes, 56 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Police haven't 'gone soft' at Parliament

Kevin Milne speaks to Jack Tame about how police are coping with the demonstrations at Parliament amidst claims they've "gone soft". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20225 minutes, 55 seconds
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Jack Tame: How should we end the protest?

I couldn’t believe it!I finished up on my Saturday radio show, last week. Cycled home. Made some lunch. Refreshed the New Zealand Herald, and whaddaya know? It was like Trevor Mallard had been listening to us all morning.The Speaker of the House was blasting protestors with Barry Manilow and the Macarena. Unbelievable. Apparently I didn’t make it clear enough in my editorial last week. I was JOKING when I suggested they hit protestors with silly music. I was joking. I never for a moment thought it would actually happen.For me, that’s been one of the interesting little hypocrisies in this whole episode. On one hand, politicians wanted to take a moralistic high ground by refusing to meet with protestors. How dare anyone dignify them with a response?! Only the moralistic high ground apparently didn’t apply to the Speaker, his sprinklers, and his irritating playlist.Trevor Mallard’s efforts can only have served to antagonise the protestors. And every bit of scorn and hate hurled upon them only reinforces their self-image. The Team of Five Million? Ha. This rabble, confused, misled, and deluded as they may be, felt well and truly left out of the Team of Five Million. They joined together to protest precisely because they felt like outsiders. They felt ostracised. Very little from the last ten days will have changed their minds.Hindsight’s 20/20. I think politicians should have found a way to reach out to the protestors much sooner. It probably wouldn’t have done much to end the protest, but some of these people have been prepared to completely alienate themselves from friends and family and the majority of our society, to lose their jobs and livelihoods over their misguided beliefs. Refusing to meet them was hardly going to make them feel any worse.Yes, there were terrible, hateful, threatening messages. As far as I’m concerned, anyone making death threats should have been arrested immediately. But in this morass of different grievances and complaints are some very reasonable and articulate concerns around extraordinary state mandates. Personally, I don’t know why any right-thinking person who was only protesting the mandates would choose to stay and be associated with someone making death threats. But the mandate issue is worthy of protest. I don’t agree with the protestors, but they do have a right to be heard.I’m very aware that many of those who want to see the protestors rounded up and arrested, whatever it takes, are the same people who supported the Black Lives Matter protests during the Level 2 lockdowns. They were prepared to break Covid laws to protest Police brutality but are now advocating for a potentially brutal police response to a group breaking Covid laws.They’re the same people who revelled in the ‘Team of Five Million’ and ‘Kindness’ messages, and the adoring international media coverage of New Zealand’s Covid-19 response. Have they actually looked at the crowd? I wonder what the headline in the New York Times wouldbe if a couple of kids were hurt in an almighty scuffle between Police and protestors on the steps of parliament.I’m no tactician, but I wonder if the best way to manage the protest is to slowly pick away at it. Police should cordon all the nearby streets. They should stop all but authorised cars from entering the area. No one can bring in tents or sleeping bags. They should target the protest organisers and arrest them one-by-one. It may take days or weeks.As with most of our Covid response, the rights and wellbeing of the majority should be prioritised. The protest should not have been allowed to grow to this size and should not be allowed to continue. Fundamentally though, when comparing an ongoing protest to the alternative, I am not convinced a potentially violent clash between protestors and Police is better for New Zealand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/18/20225 minutes, 6 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Mary J. Blige is back with Good Morning Gorgeous

Estelle Clifford gives us her rating of Mary J. Blige's new album, 'Good Morning Gorgeous'. It's the R&B star's first album since 2017.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20225 minutes, 39 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Becoming Forrest, Violeta

Becoming Forrest – Rob Pope The remarkable true story of an unrivalled journey to recreate the greatest run in film history: 15,621 miles, five-times across the United States. Violeta – Isabel Allende This sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20224 minutes, 52 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Brews, bites and sights in Ohakune

Mike Yardley shares all the brews, bites and sights in Ohakune.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20228 minutes, 37 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Fighting with friends

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool says friendship is as important as any relationship and needs to be nurtured. It means there will be times you will have to navigate conflict with your mates - how do you do that?LISTENABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20226 minutes, 40 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Green, stinking vegetable bugs

I live a sheltered life! Ever since moving to Christchurch a few insect “pests” have disappeared from my life and my garden: the Passionvine hopper and the Green, stinking vegetable bug (Nezara viridula)This last character is always the one that makes gardeners excited… Just look at my diary notes on talkback callers!Green vegie bugs are sap sucking insects that arrived in NZ a long, long time ago. Their tactics are simple: stick the proboscis into plant material with lots of veins and transport tubes that are full of minerals and sugars, and you are basically mainlining your journey to adulthood.Removal of these nutritious plant foods causes deficiency symptoms: yellowing and browning, leafcurl and dieback; Muckin’ around with hypodermic needles and veins allows these bugs to become very competent vectors of all sorts of diseases and viruses and that could be the bugs big effect on plants: disease transmission!These bugs go through an interesting life-cycle, starting as young black buglets and showing different colours after every moult: some yellow bits appear and some red bits too, but generally speaking they get more and more green with every “instar”Great hosts for the green vegetable bugs are beans, corn, tomatoes, sunflower and a pretty ornamental called Cleome.They don’t seem to like “smelly” crops like onions, shallots and garlic, leeks and lavender. Smelly competition is not their gig.The world of insects is a “chemical world”; most of these invertebrates are really good at picking up smells and chemical deposits and exudates from plants and - indeed – mates! They know their environment through their noses, which are often the antennae or feelers.With Green vegetable bugs, we can use that smell detection prowess in a clever way to “control” them on our plants:1) Get out in a cool morning and locate he buggers2) Squash a few between thumb and fore-fingers. The Coriander-like smell will become quite noticeable (wear a Covid face mask??)3) Keep your eyes peeled: some of the nearby bugs are getting nervous: there’s obviously some mean “predator” nearby squashing their friends and whanau!!! Help!!!4) The neighbours drop off the plants onto the soil (in the hope that predator doesn’t see them)5) Squash those cowards too – smell increases remarkably.6) More come jumping down… keep squashing7) Etc etc – It’ll take perhaps ten minutes to literally reduce the bug population by 80 or 90 %Using the flowers of sunflowers and Cleome increases your control efficacy big time: these plants are “trap crops”, attracting the bugs in large numbers;So: start off with the 1 to 7 list on Sunflowers and Cleome and you’ll be on a winning streak.Oh and despite the faint resemblance to the smell of Coriander, I cannot recommend using the half-dead bugs in your stir-fry Indonesian meal!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20222 minutes, 59 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Dealing with a financial reckoning

Finance expert Hannah McQueen feels a financial reckoning is on its way. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20226 minutes, 5 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Samsung's new phone, Apple's airtags

Samsung's new mobile lineup is outIt's the Galaxy S22. There's the regular, plus and new ultra. The ultra replaces the Galaxy Note and still comes with the stylus. It has five cameras - more than I've ever seen on a phone - and configured in a P shape. It's got a crazy 108 Megapixel camera, and a 40 megapixel camera on the front. You're able to control every part of the camera and even get the raw files. All shoot video at 8K. There's an updated portrait mode too, including 'pet portrait'! It'll find the faces of your favorite furry friends! . The phones are getting tougher too - they're all waterproof and have gorilla glass on the front and back.Apple's trying to deter people from using Airtags maliciously Almost immediately after launch criminals started using Airtags to track then steal cars, or even track people. It's not the image Apple wants to project so they're starting to make some changes. Now when people are setting up their airtag there'll be a warning message to tell people tracking people is a crime in many parts of the world and reminds them that law enforcement can request information about who owns the airtag.Newer iPhones can also help you detect Airtags that don't belong to you.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20224 minutes, 8 seconds
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Tara Ward: Inventing Anna, The Girl Before, Bel-Air

Inventing Anna: Inspired by a true story, this American drama follows a journalist investigating the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary heiress who stole the hearts and money of New York elites (Netflix)  The Girl Before: An HBO/BBC drama that follows the story of a smart and curious PR exec  who gets the chance to move into a beautiful, minimalist home designed by a supremely self-confident and enigmatic architect. Jane must adhere to peculiar house rules as stipulated by David, but a shocking discovery about the prior tenant creates an unnerving atmosphere causing Jane to question her fate (Neon).  Bel-Air: Will's life is turned upside down when he goes from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air in this dramatic reimagining of the iconic 90s sitcom for a whole new era. Produced by Will Smith (TVNZ OnDemand, from 14 Feb) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20225 minutes, 7 seconds
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Bill Browder: Red Notice author on becoming Putin's enemy

Not many people can say they’re on the hit list of one the biggest global leaders in the world but Bill Browder can certainly make that claim. He became one of the biggest foreign investors in Russia after the fall of the Iron Curtain and subsequently became a target for none other than President Vladmir Putin. Bill wrote the book Red Notice which details his story and his fight to expose the Russian Government’s corruption.  Jack Tame catches up with him and asks his thoughts on the latest tension between Russia and Ukraine.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/202213 minutes, 32 seconds
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Nici Wickes: When life gives you plums, make plum sauce

Plums. They seem so quintessentially New Zealand to me. Growing up, we had a huge plum tree in our back yard that I would spend many afternoons climbing its lichen-laden branches. Collecting bucket loads of tart and juicy fruit from where they’d fallen was a summer ritual and seeing them turned into cakes, slices, sauces and more was even better. Makes 5-8 medium jars/bottles 3 kg plums, make sure you count how many you put in the pot so you know how many stones to extract! 1 kg brown sugar 1.5 litres vinegar 6 tsps salt 50g chopped ginger 3 tsps whole cloves 2 tsps whole allspice 2 tsps black peppercorns You will really need a preserving pan for this quantity but if you haven’t got one, halve the recipe and use your largest pot instead. Tie the spices in a muslin bag or a clean cut up nylon stocking is ideal. Place all ingredients in the pan and bring to the boil then simmer until the plums are all squashy. About an hour. Now the fun part - to remove all the pips (which you have counted). A lot will have floated to the top but the rest will have to be found before you blend your sauce. With a stick blender puree the sauce and bring back to the boil then simmer for a further 45 minutes or until it thickens. Bottle into sterilised jars and/or bottles. Screw on the lids.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20224 minutes, 48 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Death on the Nile and Torn

Death on the Nile Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot's Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple's idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short. Torn On Oct. 5, 1999, legendary climber Alex Lowe was tragically lost alongside cameraman and fellow climber David Bridges in an avalanche on the slopes of the Tibetan mountain, Shishapangma. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20227 minutes, 20 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A lesson for us in Sir Peter Jackson on Forbes' big earners list

Kevin Milne reflects on sharing a studio with some "crazy" film kids back while filming Fair Go in the late 80s and early 90s. One of those kids turned out to be Sir Peter Jackson, who's just earned a spot on Forbes' biggest earners list. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20226 minutes, 12 seconds
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Jack Tame: What should we do with the Parliament protestors?

Trevor Mallard asked for the sprinklers to stay on all night.The protestors are still there on the lawns of parliament. The convoy of angry and presumably damp people, with their tents and their muddled messages.I walked by the fringes of the protest yesterday. One of the men recognised me as a journo and started screaming at me in the street. He looked desperate..“There weren’t many arrests here!” He said.“You know the truth!”I pitied him.It’s true the protest only constitutes a tiny minority of New Zealanders, but only a fool wouldn’t take some of those messages seriously. Politicians and media have been threatened with lynchings. ONE News reporter Kristin Hall was told she would be executed by a woman holding a sign saying ‘Love is the answer.’ All it takes is one crazy person.Should the Police just arrest them all? It’s important to have consistency in Policing. It was a different stage of the pandemic and a different message, but Police didn’t rush in and arrest everyone at the Black Lives Matter protests. They didn’t arrest everyone who came to see Brian Tamaki in the domain. You can’t support the right to peaceful protest but only when the protestors are on your side.That being said, this is different. The moment there are death threats, it isn’t a peaceful protest. We all now how quickly a mob of disillusioned people can whip themselves into something more serious. Speaking to politicians in the Beehive yesterday, the riot at the U.S Capitol is very much front of mind. Above all, Police have to show they have the capacity and strength to defend parliament itself.This is probably the biggest test of New Zealand’s democracy since the beginning of the pandemic. Bigger than legality of public health measures and the border, the challenges over MIQ. Regardless of how it ends, the protestors will consider themselves martyrs. If they’ve lost their jobs through mandates, I suppose it’s not like they have anywhere better to be. This could go for weeks.But for what it’s worth, I don’t think Police should crack skulls to force them out. Contain them, yes. Arrest anyone who openly threatens someone or rushes the parliament buildings? Sure. But for now, we need to stay with the non-violent options.If the sprinklers didn’t work, maybe Trevor Mallard should bring in some speakers, and put the Crazy Frog song on repeat. Then, let’s cross our fingers for a good Southerly.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/11/20224 minutes
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Estelle Clifford: Bastille's new album

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Bastille's new album, Give Me the Future. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20224 minutes, 29 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Love Marriage and A Flicker in the Dark

Catherine Raynes has been busy reading Love Marriage by Monica Ali and A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20223 minutes, 54 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Heartland Thrills in Selwyn

Travel expert Mike Yardley gives us the lowdown on all the thrills you can find in the south's Selwyn District. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20229 minutes, 23 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Dog control and kiwis

We are having a fabulous summer and where I live on the Tutukaka Coast of Northland we get lots of wonderful visitors from all over NZ. And their dogs.  Now, we are dog owners and at our eco village we actually have kiwi roaming between the houses at night. Quite noisy actually, always calling for each other. There is a ‘no uncontrolled dog’ policy at the village so it was with quite a lot of trepidation that we finally got a puppy two years ago. We were still four days a week in Auckland and our daughter was a co-carer. So, we put plenty of training into her, she only stays on our section inside the village, she is on a lead walking outside our section and never outside after dark. It seems to be working well. Because I hate to say dog lovers, the main reason Kiwi are still declining in most parts of NZ is attack by dogs. Habitat destruction was a big one. Then Mustelids, ferrets, stoats, weasels and wild cats can kill 80% of kiwi chicks but once they are six months old they can defend themselves, but never against dogs. Kiwi are very smart, have strong legs and claws. They live a long time and can have more than one egg a year. The terrible 80% kill still means that kiwi could prosper if we keep dogs away Dogs can’t resist the smell of kiwi and because kiwis are flightless, they have very weak chest bones and a dog picking them up, will break their chest and they die. And even your little poodle cross can do this damage. The poodle is actually a bird dog. And once they are in a pack, yes just two dogs, look out as their behaviour can change radically It’s in their nature, you think you are taking your dog for a walk, they think they are out on a hunt. Conservation workers, who are often avid dog owners themselves have come up, with some rules for when you leave the city and are at a beach or the bush Know what dogs are doing at all times. A kiwi safe dog will be in your sight at all times and will always come straight away when called, no matter what the distraction. Now this isn’t that common for most dogs I’m afraid but you can always follow these guidelines from the Kiwi Coast organisation.  Never let dogs roam uncontrolled. Unless you are in a secure fenced off dog section When out and about, keep dogs on a lead at all times. Kiwi shelter in unusual places, and can be caught and killed in seconds. Use a short non-retractable lead when walking dogs. Kiwi have been killed on roadsides by dogs walked with retractable leads. Please take special care at night. Keep dogs confined and accompany them on a lead if they need to go outside. Consider using a muzzle - they are easy to use and effectiveThe good news is that here on the Eastern Cost of Northland kiwi are off the endangered list, and are in fact expanding so that the current challenge is making special wildlife corridors to join up the different areas You are welcome to visit us, just control your dog. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20228 minutes, 16 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Mount Brown 2021 Pinot Gris

Bob Campbell has been making the most of New Zealand Pinot Gris, which he says has never been better! His best buy pick this week is the Mount Brown 2021 Pinot Gris from North Canterbury, for $16 a bottle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20222 minutes, 20 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Tomato blight

Always a bit of a bummer when you grow tomatoes: Blight is one of those diseases that can cause a lot of damage and quickly.Two varieties: early blight (Alternaria solani) and late blight (Phytophthora infestans). This last species is a close relative of the famous potato disease that cause massive potato crop losses in Europe, especially Ireland, which led to the horticultural Refugee movement and the run to the New Americas.First of all: “early” and “late” are not sound diagnostic names for the disorders, as both can be “late and “early” respectively.Alternaria can be identified by its leaf-spotting, and associated rots on developing fruit, especially at the distal end (non-stalk end)Phytophthora has characteristic lesions on the base of the plant – often on the lowest parts of the main stem, just above the soil. The stem looks black and often “narrower” in patches.Later that develops into a more obvious symptom whereby the leaves start to droop, go yellow and often shrivel up. By then it might be too late to save the plant.With both blight species it s best to prevent an infection before it gets that far:1) Keep your plants pruned from the bottom leaves upward. Every time you take the laterals off, check if you can prune the bottom leaves off, so they are not in contact with the soil.2) Prune those leaves on a dry day – and clean your secateurs regularly3) Water the plants by depositing the water on the ground/soil, NOT on the leaves and especially avoid wetting the bottom leaves4) Every now and then spray the leaves with a copper spray solution (Copper Oxychloride or liquid copper) or a regular fungicide (Fungus fighter – myclobutanil etc); the copper acts as a preventative barrier and the fungicides have some systemic action that can fight the infection from inside the plant tissue5) Regularly feed the plants (liquid fertiliser – seafood soup/seaweed tea), which will give them resistance.6) Don’t grow tomatoes in the same spot year after year – change position in your garden; in glass houses or tunnel houses change the soil mix every other year or so, creating a fresh growing soil from time to timeLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20223 minutes, 56 seconds
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Marcus Daniell: Kiwi tennis player on playing to give

Do you remember the moment history was made for New Zealand in tennis at the Tokyo Olympics last year?Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus won the bronze medal in doubles - the first medal in tennis for our country. Marcus is just as successful off the court as on it. The 32-year-old is has recently been named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year. Previous winners include the likes of Nelson Mandela and Roger Federer.  Jack Tame catches up with him.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/202213 minutes, 50 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Facebook's big loss

Meta / Facebook now holds the record for the largest single-day loss ever by a US company It said goodbye to $230 billion in value. There are three big reasons why... For the first time, Facebook's daily active users went down by 1 million in North America - which is bad news because Facebook's revenue per user is highest in North America. Basically, the kids don't think it's cool anymore and TikTok is taking people away. But also...Apple's changes to allow users to prevent apps from tracking them is expected to cost Facebook $10 billion in revenue. If they don't know where you are, what shops you're visiting and who you're spending time with, then their ads can't be as targeted.  It's also pouring money into the metaverse - spending $10 billion on it last year. But the metaverse is still just a VR concept that isn't yet fully baked or ready for mass adoption. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20223 minutes, 39 seconds
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Tara Ward: Reacher, Rules of the Game, Pam & Tommy

Reacher: A must-watch for fans of the Lee Child best-selling novels. This new crime thriller follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator, who has recently entered civilian life when he is falsely accused of murder (Amazon Prime Video). Rules of the Game: A British drama set in a small family-run business, where a series of historic misconduct cases are unearthed with dramatic consequences (TVNZ OnDemand)   Pam and Tommy: Lily James stars in this drama that follows the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's relationship, going back to their whirlwind romance that started with them marrying after only knowing each other for 96 hours in 1995 (Disney+). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20225 minutes, 39 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Eggplant, beans & peanut salad

This salad is full of texture and flavour and it is glorious. The components are cooked separately then thrown together just before serving – YUM. Serves 2-4 2 medium sized eggplants, sliced into 2cm thick rounds 4 tbsps olive oil 2 red capsicums, halved and de-seeded 2 handfuls green beans, chopped and blanched ½ cup roasted peanuts Handful fresh coriander Dressing ½ cup plain, unsweetened yoghurt Lemon juice Juice + zest from half a lemon ¼ cup good quality olive oil Pinch chilli ½ tsp sea salt Decent grind black pepper  Brush eggplant slices with oil, sprinkle with salt and grill until browned on one side, turn and cook second side until soft and cooked through. Place in large mixing bowl. Rub capsicum halves with olive oil, place cut side down on tray and grill on high until skin is blistered and blackened in places. Cover with tea towel, set aside for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle before peeling off skin and discard. Slice flesh into strips and add to eggplant. Simmer green beans in salted water until just cooked, drain and refresh in ice cold water – this keeps the colour. Pat dry and add to eggplant and capsicum. Add peanuts and coriander. Whisk yoghurt, lemon juice & zest, olive oil, chilli, salt and pepper. Taste and season with more juice or seasonings to taste. Using your hands, gently toss cooked vegetables and tumble out onto serving dish or into individual bowls. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of dressing, serving remaining on the side.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20224 minutes, 45 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Belfast, Mark Hunt: The Fight of His Life, Moonfall

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Belfast and Moonfall, as well as the documentary on MMA and kickboxing fighter Mark Hunt, called The Fight of his Life.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20228 minutes, 44 seconds
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Kevin Milne: How long will I live?

Kevin Milne has been dealing with the question of ALL questions this week - how long will I live? He's stumbled upon Statistic New Zealand's calculator that can work out how long you are likely to live. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20226 minutes, 10 seconds
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Jack Tame: The end of MIQ, but there's still one big hurdle

For those of us who live in New Zealand, MIQ has been pretty bloody good.Not perfect, no. But good enough to keep out the worst of the virus for the best part of two years. Of course, for New Zealanders based overseas who’ve wanted to get home, the experience has been pretty different. As New Zealand citizens, most of our opinions have been informed by our own individual experiences. If you’ve been separated from a loved one, or been denied precious moments with new or dying family members, the cruelty of the MIQ lottery system will stick in your throat. It’ll be a defining memory of the pandemic. But the truth is, MIQ is still running today because it’s popular. A majority of New Zealanders, most of whom are in the country, think the MIQ lottery is necessary for their own protection.If nothing more, the Charlotte Bellis fiasco has probably hastened the end of MIQ for most people arriving in New Zealand.But the end of the MIQ lottery is only one piece of the puzzle that needs to be sorted for New Zealand’s reconnection with the World. And for all the clarity around different dates for different travellers, the new Tourism New Zealand campaign that’s been launched overseas, and the end of MIQ, there is still one massive hurdle at the border.New Zealand won’t be in a position to properly reconnect with the world until we no longer have a requirement for extended at-home isolation.If you were a fully-vaccinated international arrival landing in Sydney this afternoon, you’d be expected to go home, self-isolate, and take a rapid antigen test. Once you’d received a negative result, you wouldn’t have to isolate any longer. You’d be good to go! For a week, you’d just have to avoid high risk places (rest homes, prisons, hospitals etc), before taking another rapid antigen test on day six.I’m not saying we should be New South Wales... yet. Australia’s at least a couple of months ahead of us with Omicron. We’re still waiting for the big surge.But the self-isolation requirements announced by the Government this week, where all new arrivals are treated as close contacts, will be a significant disincentive to people who want to travel to New Zealand.So what?! You might argue. It keeps us safe! Perhaps.But when we look back at 2022, something tells me Omicron isn’t the thing that will have caused the most pain. Especially if most of us have received our booster shots.No, INFLATION will be the word of 2022.And removing as many barriers at the border as possible for workers and tourists alike, is one of the few things we can do to try and slow it down.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/4/20223 minutes, 31 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Wild about Westport

Mike Yardley has a tip or two about Westport. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/202211 minutes, 29 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Good Son, Obama & Springsteen's Renegades

The Good SonWhat do you do when the person you love best becomes unrecognisable to you? For Thea, the answer is simple and agonising: you keep loving him somehow. Stefan was just seventeen when he went to prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Belinda, a crime he has no memory of committing. Three years later, he’s released to a world that refuses to let him move on. RenegadesRENEGADES: Born in the USA chronicles the conversation Obama and Springsteen began in their popular Spotify podcast of the same name, adding exclusive stories and ruminations about life, music, and their enduring love of America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20224 minutes, 47 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to have a happy Valentine's

Our relationship expert Steven Dromgool shares his tips on how to have a happy Valentine's Day.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20227 minutes, 11 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Sounds of Summer

We’re used to specific sounds in the garden; Don’t know what it’s like at your place, but we’ve heard ONE cicada so far in our garden on the Port Hills; Reasons: 3-, 5- or 7-year lifecycles determine the numbers of cicadas out – it you keep a diary you’ll find out that “good years” return 5 years later, when it comes to chorus cicada or “clapping cicada Three years ago, it was bedlam here and on Banks Peninsula, so expect another good year in 2024. Dry soils make it difficult for cicadas to emerge from the soil; after a good shower of rain those waiting might still make it. Each district has its own peaks and troughs in population numbers What you will hear all over the Northern part of NZ (roughly from CHC north) is the Katydid Caedicia simplex. This is a species we share with Australia Males make noise (not by rubbing their legs!!) by scraping one wing cover over the other – a bit like a file (or comb) rubbed by a sharp object. “Dzzzitsss” is the sound in the afternoon and evening Two slits on the front legs can “listen” to these sounds – they pick up exactly where their mate is. Stereo listening! Ironically, we can’t really do that as well, as the sound of a katydid appears to come from a different place every time: they are ventriloquists (so predators can’t easily find them)  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20223 minutes, 52 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple's big profit, Twitter shuts down Wordle spoiler

Apple's Christmas quarter was quite the gift$124 billion in revenue - that's up 11% on the past year; $35 billion in profit.They've been hit by chip shortages, and have been forced to prioritize giving chips to iPhones over iPads.They also revealed there are 1.8 billion active Apple devices in the world. For comparison, Google says there are over 3 billion Android devices in its Google Play Store ecosystem. Twitter shuts down a Wordle spoilerWordle - the puzzle game where users are given six tries to guess a five letter word - has taken the world by storm. it was made by Josh Wardle for his friends and family but it's taken off since it was made public in October. People are taking to social media to post how they're getting on with their puzzle which has annoyed some - so much so that one person has taken it upon themselves to build a bot to find those who are sharing their progress and ruin tomorrow's word for them."People don't care about your mediocre linguistic escapades." Twitter has decided it's in breach of their 'unsolicited mentions' rule, and so have blocked it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20223 minutes, 59 seconds
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Tara Ward: Trigger Point, The Gilded Age, The Sinner

Trigger Point: Jed Mercuio's new crime thriller that might just fill the Line of Duty hole in your lives. It follows Lana Washington, an experienced bomb disposal officer working for the Metropolitan Police, as she deals with a series of terrorist attacks across London. (TVNZ OnDemand) The Gilded Age: Calling all Downton Abbey fans! Julian Fellows’s new historic drama is set in 1882 America and follows a young woman who moves to New York City to live with her aunts. Exposed to an exciting new world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society or forge her own path? (Neon).  The Sinner: Detective Harry Ambrose investigates various atrocious murder cases and tries to analyse the reasons behind ordinary people committing heinous crimes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20225 minutes, 10 seconds
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The Abundant Gardeners, Niva & Yotam Kay, on gardening for the future

Niva and Yotam Kay run Pakaraka Permaculture in Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula. Their mission... Accelerating the transition to a regenerative, organic and just food system. But what exactly is permaculture and how do this pair grow over 10-thousand kgs of food a season on just one-third of an acre of land? Niva and Yotam chat to Jack Tame about getting their hands dirty for future generations.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/202212 minutes, 51 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Courgette & Raisin Cake

If you’re a gardener you’ll know that once courgettes start fruiting, they don’t know when to stop and lovely little courgettes can turn into clumsy marrows over lunchtime! So, to use up surplus I urge you to bake this cake – it’s divine.Makes 20cm cake2 tablespoon fine ground polenta (can use ground almonds)130g butter, softened100g sugar2 eggs130g flour1 tsp baking powder½ tsp baking soda1 cup grated courgette (about 2-3 courgettes, squeeze some of juice out½ cup raisins½ cup ripe peach or nectarine slices to serve1. Heat oven to 180C fan. Grease and line 20cm round cake and dust with polenta.2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time beating thoroughly in between. Fold in flour, baking powder, baking soda, courgette and raisins and mix to combine. Scrape into tin and bake for 30-40 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool.3. Ice (or not) and serve with sliced fresh peaches or nectarines.Drizzly cream cheese icing1 cup cream cheese1 cup icing sugar1 tsp vanillaBeat together until combined.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20225 minutes, 3 seconds
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Chris Schulz: Spencer and Through the Eyes of Tammy Faye

Movie reviewer Chris Schulz give his hot takes on Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart and American biographical film, Through the Eyes of Tammy Faye. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20226 minutes, 36 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Quirky collective nouns

Kevin Milne tells Jack Tame that he's found his new favourite collective noun.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20225 minutes, 22 seconds
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Jack Tame: How will we handle the surge?

It was a summer holiday on borrowed time.You’ve gotta admit, it’s pretty remarkable we made it this far without Omicron sweeping through. New Zealand enjoyed Christmas without widespread community transmission. Despite DJ Dimension, we made it through the New Year and most of January. But I think we can all see the end is nigh. It’s quite feasible that by this time next week, our Omicron daily case numbers will be in the thousands.Timing is everything in the Covid-19 response. In December, opposition MPs wanted the borders opened to people travelling from so-called low-risk countries, including Australia, so long as they’d had two vaccinations, tested negative before travelling, and were prepared to isolate at home. You can only imagine how much faster the new variant would have been circling here.All up, the hesitance to relax border restrictions probably bought us six weeks. Time for summer holidays, sure, but time also for a lot of Kiwis to receive their booster jabs.Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Because I was in Group 4, even though I got my first and second vaccines as soon as I possibly could, I don’t qualify for a booster until after Waitangi Day. That means I won’t benefit from the full effect of the booster shot until the last week of February. Again, timing is everything! If the original vaccine rollout had come just a little bit sooner, me, and hundreds of thousands of other New Zealanders would have the chance to be much more protected against this variant before we hit thousands of daily cases.I think the government deserves a serve for the Rapid Antigen Test debacle. I understand the theory behind wanting to control the limited stocks. They want to make sure everyone has access regardless of where they are in the country. Theoretically they can control the supply to different regions depending on where the outbreak is flaring up. All that stuff makes sense.But a more prudent approach would have meant we could do both. We’d have enough public tests available for everyone who needed one, and businesses that wanted to be extra cautious could use their own private supplies for maintenance testing their staff. The government is effectively pushing in the queue and bullying out private orders. What’d I say? Timing. It wouldn’t have been necessary if the Ministry of Health had acquired more tests, earlier.In the long run though these are probably not the things that will stick in our minds, or the things by which we will judge the Omicron response. In all likelihood, tens or hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders are about to contract the virus. It’ll be our biggest infection since start of the pandemic. Maybe our biggest ever. The most important measure will be how New Zealand manages the surge of cases. Can we keep the pot on a gentle simmer, protecting our healthcare services? Or will it boil and bubble and overflow?There’s reason to be optimistic. We’re a highly-vaccinated society. The New York Times reported this week that people who’ve been double-vaccinated and boosted face a greaterrisk by getting in a car than they do from Omicron. That doesn’t mean everyone is protected. But if we’re able to manage Omicron, provided there are no new strains... there can be few sensible arguments from stopping New Zealanders abroad from finally coming home. Dare we cross our fingers and hope this might be the beginning of the end?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/28/20224 minutes, 35 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Lime Cordial and actor Idris Elba team up

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been having fun listening to Aussie band Lime Cordiale and British actor Idris Elba's collaborative mini-album, Cordi Elba. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20225 minutes, 35 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Selwyn's Great Alpine Highway

Mike Yardley has got your road trip stops sorted for Selwyn's Great Alpine Highway - the route between Canterbury and the West Coast.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20227 minutes, 49 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Exit 45 & Anderson Cooper's Vanderbilt's

Exit 45 – Ben Sanders  Marshall Grade returns in an action-packed thrill ride through the New York underworld. When a former NYPD colleague is shot dead in front of him, private investigator Marshall Grade discovers there's far more to the killing than meets the eye. Vanderbilt’s - Anderson Cooper & Katherine Howe New York Times bestselling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty—his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20225 minutes, 3 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Daylight hours and nature

Since we started summer (solstice on the longest day of 21st of December, last year) we’ve basically “turned the corner”. The “longest day” was not really the longest day here in Christchurch (but a few days later), but the point is that from now on our days are getting shorter – very slowly. Once we get to mid-to-late February the shortening will speed up and reach its fastest downhill trend of the year… This website shows that in nice little, interactive graphs – I love that stuff! Why bring this topic up on this radio segment? Well…nature responds quite rapidly and accurately to these changes in daylight length and especially gardeners see the effects every year. Plants are pretty good at “working” with their day-length conditions: In spring, when days get longer and soil warms up (the sun gets higher in the sky too, warming up the soil more efficiently due to the higher angle of solar radiation) most plants “wake up” from winter. Roughly: plants start to notice that around late August, early September Growth commences and new leaves are formed…followed by flower buds. Later in Sept and in October a lot of flowers appear (synchronised with the arrival of pollinators, bumblebees, native bees, flies, beetles, moths etc). It’s the time for pollination and spectacular flowers everywhere This continues till solstice. Then it’s the time for consolidating the fertilised flower’s journey into seed-setting. Generally speaking, late summer and autumn are the periods of the year when plant stop forming flower buds and concentrate on producing seed and fruit and nuts and helicopter-winged botanical toys. The thistles on the paddocks outside out house produce huge numbers of fluffy flying seeds; the barley grass produces the barley-like “ears” that stick into your socks … and skin This answers a lot of questions about plants not growing well or not making flowers or setting seeds and fruits; there is a time for these productive cycles and once you’re past that there is little you can do to make the plant grow flowers… generally speaking. Ha! What about artificially lengthening the day-light to trick plants to believe it’s spring? That’s exactly what flower growers do in glass houses and tunnel houses. Controlled climate and controlled lighting systemsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20224 minutes, 26 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Eco-conscious New Years resolutions you can actually keep

Our eco-man Malcolm Rands has been thinking about New Year resolutions you can actually keep that will help our planet:Each New Year many of us make grand resolutions for the coming year. What if these resolutions were actually climate friendly actions that were easy to keep?It’s not all about sacrificeSometimes we look at the activists that are doing extreme and energy draining activities and although these people need to be applauded, we don’t have to go there. Focus on the impact of your actions rather than the efforts. Some are actually very easy. change your power company or KiwiSaver , boycott an climate destroying brand and let them know why, email your MP. it’s all about the impact of these actions rather than the effortHave funThe climate emergency can keep you up at night with worrying. But we have to find friendship, love, pleasure, and laughter not just alongside our efforts on climate, but ideally as an integral part of them. The good news is that whether it’s riding a bike or attending a protest, there are so many sources of joy to be had that it’s hard to know where to start.You are not aloneWe are lucky in NZ to have quite a communal culture. Don’t think of your actions as an individual taking on the big powers but rather a boycott by you and your friends and family. If you want more partners there are many organisations you can join and be part of a team. Maybe one day you and your best friend may end up, handcuffed to the gates of a agrochemical plant togetherBe kind to yourself and even the so-called othersGuilt is a terrible emotion and can drive many peoples actions. The other side of this is shame, and shaming others. This can cause you to loose your power and just alienate people. Be careful to identify who is really responsible for the climate emergency, for example just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions, so let’s not point the finger at each other. We can however boycott those companies and get them to change.Systems thinkingIt’s not all about your individual actions, or what government and industry are doing. It’s a combination of all. But you can look at the systems in your life to make things easier to do the right thing. Yes still pressure for that bike lane and also look at the barriers that are stopping you. Have you got all weather clothes, is the bike easy to access at your home or is it even the best bike for the task.The same is true of almost any climate-friendly behaviour we might want to adopt. Stop berating yourself for not doing it. Instead, examine what holds you back, and then change it.With all New Years resolutions, it is often the small and numerous ones that happen whilst the big challenging change of life stuff, often doesn’t even last to the end of JanuaryLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20227 minutes, 12 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Inflation a big issue this year

Finance expert Hannah McQueen says to strap in as inflation is going to be a big issue this year. It’s currently sitting at almost five percent and the signs are indicating it’s going to go higher still when the next lot of figures are released next week.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20224 minutes, 33 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Free home-order Covid tests, Netflix being naughty

Ordering free COVID tests was a breezeThe US Government is offering four free at-home COVID tests to each residence and ordering them was super simple - I'd probably describe it as one of the best interactions I've ever had with a government service. To make it happen they tapped the resources of the US Postal Service. The page was effectively a checkout page, with the product already selected, the price very clearly shown as free. You just needed to add your name and address and press submit. It was really that easy. If only every service was that good! Netflix is having a rough 2022First it's annoyed customers in the US and Canada by raising prices around 11% making the basic plan $15.50 a month - which is the third time they've increased prices since 2019. They're now one of the most expensive streaming services in the market.Now the value of the company has fallen by almost a quarter in just a week. Massive content spend, increased competition and lower than expected subscriber growth is thought to be behind it.Netflix is expected to spend $230 billion on content in 2022 - that's only behind Disney and Comcast (who owns NBCUniversal and Sky in the UK). Their spending is probably only outpacing Netflix because they're spending big money on sports rights to things like the NFL, NBA and Olympics.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20225 minutes, 8 seconds
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Tara Ward: Under the Vines, Bloom and Stay Close

Under the Vines: a charming new romantic drama about a Sydney socialite (Rebecca Gibney) and London lawyer (The Crown’s Charles Edwards) who mutually inherit a run-down vineyard in New Zealand (Wednesdays on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ OnDemand).Bloom: An Australian fantasy drama starring Bryan Brown and Jacki Weaver. A year after a devastating country flood kills five people, a new plant is discovered with the power to restore youth. This is a miracle for locals but some are prepared to kill for it (both seasons on TVNZ OnDemand).Stay Close: This British thriller is the latest Netflix adaptation of one of Harlan Coben’s bestselling novels. When Carlton Flynn vanishes 17 years to the night after Stewart Green did, it sets off a chain reaction in the lives of people connected to both men. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20226 minutes, 38 seconds
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Matthew Vaughn: Hollywood director new film on The King's Man

Matthew Vaughn is a renowned Hollywood director and producer with a portfolio chocka full of cracker films such as Rocketman, Kick-Ass and the comedy classic, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He’s also directed and written the King’s Men series, which stars Ralph Fiennes and Colin Firth.   A third installment has just been released called The King’s Man. Matthew Vaughn speaks to Francesca Rudkin about his love of being involved in the King's Men series. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/202211 minutes, 36 seconds
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Chris Schulz: House of Gucci and Scream 5

Movie reviewer Chris Schulz speaks to Francesca Rudkin about the House of Gucci film and another Scream installment. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20226 minutes, 56 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: What a glorious summer it’s been

The weather has been wonderfully settled for months – I’ll remember it as cloudless blue skies and 27 every day, regardless of what weather forecasters predicted, and even when it wasn’t.Traveling around the North Island over the Christmas and New Year, I noticed a relaxed Kiwi summer vibe. Maybe it was the exhilaration of being able to leave home towns and visit family and friends, maybe it was the relief another difficult year had ended – but there was a distinct feeling people were enjoying the here and now.Not even the mention of an international DJ’s walkabout with Omicron was going to dampen the mood. Nothing was going to ruin the holiday vibe. We covered our ears and sang lalalalala. There would be plenty of time to return to life, and the reality of the challenges that lie ahead, a little later on.A friend recently said to me that this summer reminded her of the Kiwi summers of her childhood – constant long hot days and balmy evenings. Were our summers always sunny and hot? I suspect it’s nostalgic and the selective memory of a childhood at play.When I look at our faded family photos from the 70s and 80s, of summers spent at the beach, it clear not much has changed. OK, so maybe bikinis have become a little more revealing and sun umbrellas have turned into tents, but a swim in the sea is still an invigorating experience, there are still those annoying patches of sunburn from badly applied sunscreen, boogie board rashes, and sea lice.So after two years of craziness, this summer has fulfilled a craving for normality, a return to the simple and familiar.A respite from reality which was abruptly interrupted this week.“Think about what you need at home if you are required to isolate. Think about contingency planning should parts of your workforce need to stay at home", was the Prime Minister’s advice on Thursday.Trevor Mallard followed up the Prime Minister’s press conference with a tweet saying “Omicron is coming and when it arrives it will spread quickly. If you can afford it it will pay to stock up a bit. There will be thousands of close contacts a day.” Have we not been lectured against panic buying for two years now? At least the Speaker then offered to do a grocery or medicine run for anyone in need in Wainuiomata. Bless him.And then the Finance Minister suggested there were no funds for a forth vaccine jab. Hasn’t our whole approach been based around the importance of getting the jab?If the government hadn’t shut down the MIQ lottery for March and April this week, you’d almost think they were handing over responsibility to the individual to deal with Covid from here on in.But back to summer.The joy of this summer has been knowing that each day will be the same. As New Zealanders we sometimes feel we must get out and do something – especially on a fabulous day.I tend to be guilty of that. But once I realised this endless summer wasn’t going anywhere, and there would be many more days ahead, I happily spent down time after work and on days’ off lying in the shade with a book in hand.Enjoying the calm before the next storm.I hope you’ve had a chance to do that too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20223 minutes, 49 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Let's talk about the weather

Kevin Milne speaks to Francesca Rudkin about the hot weather over the summer break - and why that's not necessarily a good thing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/21/20224 minutes, 5 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Top albums of the year

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford reminisces on her top albums of the year. Want to listen? Click the link below to a Spotify playlist of all the songs on each album.Estelle Clifford's top albums of the yearLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20217 minutes, 45 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: top book picks for summer

Catherine’s top picks for summer Fiction: Never – Ken Follet The Lincoln Highway – Amor Towles Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reed Wish You Were Here – Jodi Picoult Non-fiction The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins – Peter Fitzsimons Windswept and Interesting – Billy Connelly  This Much I Know To Be True – Miriam Margolyes Story teller – Dave Grohl LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20216 minutes, 22 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Western Southland nuggets

Mike Yardley gives his top tips on western Southland - places like Riverton and Gemstone Beach.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20218 minutes, 48 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Three things to consider ending a relationship

New Year is a common trigger for relationships to end.  Three things to consider:1. We tend to be attracted to similar people,  people who break up tend to change the person not the problems.  2. Where there are communication problems we often misinterpret our partners intentions.  3. If we have kids we have a relationship with our partner for the rest of our life, how we separate matters. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20216 minutes, 31 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Tiny summer bugs in the blue sky

Looking forward to Christmas? Why not dive into the garden with a glass of Campari/Soda, grab a hammock and through squinted eye-lids observe the typical summer features in the bug department Close your eyes slightly and look in the direction of the sun. Especially when the late afternoon sun is lower in the sky and temps are up. Millions of tiny insects fly around. Migrating winged aphids – looking for new host plants Winged thrips (even smaller than aphids) also looking for somewhere to land and feed and… a good, sturdy mate to enjoy the Christmas season with Microscopic parasitic wasps – looking for new (insect!) hosts to lay their eggs in Ballooning two-spotted spider mites – yes, these wingless mites will create a strand of silk to migrate with on quiet days with little wind. After all they’re related to spiders! Baby spider often do exactly the same thing: float on their strand of silk and move long distances; we even get those large Orb-weaving spiders from Australia, here in NZ… they move here at this time of the year and grow to become huge adult spiders – sooo cooool. Very small flies (things like Drosophila – vinegar flies) – the creatures that buzz around your fruit bowl, following the smell of over-ripe fruit; going from house to house to compost bin Minute midges, wanting to lay their eggs in damp soil or even the edge of your pond Dancing flies, that create clouds of constantly-moving swarms of insects in a mating frenzy If you get a butterfly net (with really fine mesh) sweep overe the lawn in summer and see what you catch – that is a serious lot of tiny invertebrates – Biodiversity!! Our biodiversity starts with the smallest of creatures. They all have a job to do.They all form the basis of the food chain And…they all travel in a particular way… effortlessly. Merry Christmas everyone!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20214 minutes, 51 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Delicious Champagne from Mumm & Pernod Ricard

Mumm Marlborough NV Brut Prestige $35Why I chose it:- Thought I’d go out with a bang on my last pick for 2021- A collaboration between Mumm Champagne and Pernod Ricard NZ. A blend of 46% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay and 9% Pinot Meunier.- Think of it as a Kiwi wine with a slight French accent- Open carefully by covering the cork with a napkin as you loosen the wire. Best to hold the bottle at 45 degrees.What does it taste like?- Delicately aromatic sparkler with lemon curd, citrus blossom, and baguette crust flavours. Seamless wine with a seductively ethereal texture and delicious mouth-tingling acidity.Why it’s a bargain:- Champagne prices start at around $50 while good NZ Methode (bottle-fermented sparkling wine made using the champagne process) starts at around $30. It is champagne quality at a local Methode price.Where you can buy it?- Glengarry, Super Liquor, New World and Liquorland all have it at $29.99. That’s a very good price but shop around and don’t forget to ask for a bulk discount if you plan to buy six or more bottles.Food match?- Freshly shucked oysters garnished with a squeeze of lime is my favourite, but it is a versatile food match.Will it keep?- Not in my house. It is probably as good as it is going to be but no rushLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20214 minutes, 56 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: The worst computer vulnerability security researchers have seen

What you should know about the worst computer vulnerability security researchers have ever seen.It's called Log4j. It's a tiny logging application which records actions taken by users or systems that lives deep inside the software. Basically any application running on Java includes it.. which is a staggeringly large list. Hackers can use a vulnerability in Log4j to install ransomware or malicious code onto the server/system running the software.Java is used as a programming language by some of the biggest corporations and government departments so change won't happen quickly.. which means these vulnerabilities are going to be open for some time. Security researchers are expecting 2022 to be a rough year.Apple is delaying its return to the officeCompanies are basically giving up on dates now. Omicron is destroying any and all plans.My favorite thing to do when you've got a moment..Change those passwords! Clean them up! Give the gift of a password manager this Christmas!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20215 minutes, 34 seconds
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Gin Wigmore's coming home to tour

Our very own Gin Wigmore is returning home for a five-date tour next year. She’s currently based in L.A with her family where she’s writing a new album and running a hotel called The Good House. She cathces up with Jack Tame on music, her life overseas and what she's looking forward to about coming home. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/202114 minutes, 21 seconds
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Christmas recipes tips & tricks with Nici Wickes

XMAS RECIPES & TIPS TURKEY The trick to cooking the perfect turkey is this; stuff, truss and flip, by which I mean that I stuff it with a buttery stuffing, including under the breast skin, before trussing it to keep the legs and wings tucked into the body so that it cooks evenly and then, once cooked, flip it to rest on its breast so that all the lovely juices run in to moisten the breast meat. Perfect! Orange maple glazed ham, sourdough and mustard sauce There’s nothing quite like warm ham at Christmas and glazing it yourself is easy to do. Serves 10+ ½ or whole cooked ham, try and select one with a decent fat layer under the skin 3 fresh oranges 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 heaped tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard Sourdough to serve  Heat oven to 120 C and place ham in to warm for 30 minutes. Take out and remove top layer of skin, leaving the layer of fat intact. Warming the ham first makes it much easier to ease the skin away from the fatty layer. Use a sharp knife to score the fat layer in whatever pattern you like. Slice one orange into very thin rounds. Make the glaze by mixing together juice from the remaining two oranges, maple syrup, flour and mustard to a smooth paste. Rub this into the fat then arrange orange slices in top to cover the top. Brush the oranges with the remaining glaze. Bake for 1 hour, basting after 30 minutes. Serve thick slices of warm ham with warmed sourdough and mustard sauce.Mustard sauce 2 tablespoons hot mustard ¼ cup mayo, crème fraiche or sour cream Salt and pepper  Mix together to form a smooth sauceLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20217 minutes
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Francesca Rudkin: The new Spiderman, Ghostbusters & The King's Man

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching the new Spiderman movie, Ghostbusters & The King's Man. She's also got a review of Westside Story and The Matrix: Resurrection. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20215 minutes, 21 seconds
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Kevin Milne reflects on the year of 2021

Kevin Milne chats to Jack Tame about the ups and downs of 2021. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20215 minutes, 59 seconds
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Jack Tame: a terrible year but I still feel grateful

In July of this year, my Dad almost carked it.He went tramping alone in the bush in winter. He got lost. He fell.He smashed up his body and fractured a vertabrae. He was hallucinating, hypothermic, severely-dehydrated, suffering serious muscle wastage and close to kidney failure, when the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter answered his emergency locator beacon and winched him out of the bush, alive. A few days later, his new granddaughter was born.When the two of them sit down at Christmas lunch next week, there will be plenty of reasons for the Tame family to feel grateful.I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude, this week. I’ve been reflecting on all the stresses and challenges we’ve faced. 2021, maybe even more than 2020, has been dominated by the pandemic. For our last show together this year, I’ve been trying to put our experience in context.The truth is, despite everything, I’m still grateful to have spent the majority of the last two years in New Zealand. Of course, there have been significant errors in our Covid response. I think we were woefully unprepared for Delta in New Zealand, despite all the warning signs. Sir John Key said ‘Smug hermit kingdom.’ I’d say complacent, or naive. We didn’t properly plan for a scenario where lockdowns weren’t enough to knock out the virus. It took community spread for us to inject urgency into the response. It took community spread for us to go to the secondary vaccine market, to introduce vaccine certificates and mandates.I think, at times, we’ve treated New Zealanders overseas like second-class citizens. History will show, despite all the warnings from public health experts, we stuffed up elements of the response for Māori. We weren’t ready for at-home isolation monitoring. We didn’t increase ICU capacity. It took forever for saliva and Rapid Antigen tests to become available.And yet... and yet... and YET. I still think, if you had to pick any major country in which to have spent the last two years, New Zealand would have to be near the top of the list. Sure, at certain moments it would have been nicer to be living in New York or the U.K or Spain or wherever else. When Auckland was locked down and the Northern Hemisphere was living large? Sure. I felt envious, too. But compare us, now. The U.S just passed 800,000 recorded deaths. New Zealand is still in double figures. We have a 90% eligible vaccination rate. Any way you look at it, that’s an extraordinary achievement.I appreciate this view might put me in the minority amongst my Newstalk ZB colleagues. But you know, we are capable of a little bit of complexity in our thinking. We can hold two seemingly contradictory thoughts in our heads. We can acknowledge our leaders and bureacracy have made significant errors - errors which deserve hard critiques and political consequences – but that the totality of our response has still made New Zealand a much better place to be for the last two years than most other places in the World. I’m grateful for that.I don’t know how easy it’s going to be to escape the pandemic, this summer. Omicron probably has its own plans, but at the very least, I’m going to try.On Monday I’ll fly to Nelson. I’ll drive home to Golden Bay. And if the weather’s clear next week, I’ll head out on the overnight tramp on which my Dad almost died six months ago. My brother, my sister, and my old man will climb up to Boulder Lake. The plan is to start early, and go slowly. If all goes well, we’ll reach the hut hours before sunset. We’ll make a brew. We’ll have a feed. We’ll bunk down for another family Christmas, bruised, weary, and grateful.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/17/20215 minutes, 11 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Kiwi country singer Kaylee Bell's new album

Estelle Clifford gives us the lowdown on Kiwi country singer Kaylee Bell and her new album Silver Linings. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20215 minutes
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Catherine Raynes: Theroux the Keyhole & For Your Own Good

Theroux the Keyhole – Louis Theroux Step inside Louis' life like never before as he turns his critical eye on himself, his home, and family and tries to make sense of our weird and sometimes scary world. His new autobiography is the perfect book for our uncertain times by the hilarious and relatable Louis Theroux. For Your Own Good – Samantha Downing USA Today bestselling author Samantha Downing is back with her latest sneaky thriller set at a prestigious private school—complete with interfering parents, overeager students, and one teacher who just wants to teach them all a lesson LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20215 minutes, 6 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A taste of Queenstown

Mike Yardley chats to Jack Tame about Queenstown - what to do, where's new to eat and drink and whether they're ready for the influx of Aucklanders once they're allowed out.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20216 minutes, 39 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Sustainable Secret Santa

Most of us have now come across Secret Santa either with our extended family or workmates. This is actually a very eco activity, swapping out lots of small presents, that often are never used, to one well thought out gift, mainly within a price range. This can be given out randomly, this was the job of the youngest member of our family, or someone takes on, secretly letting everyone know who they are buying a present for.My families have now moved on the a more competitive version. Sometimes called Pirate Santa. Everyone is given a specific number, equal to the number of family present. The gifts are all put in the middle of the room.Number one chooses from this pile and opens it for everyone to see then places this present in front of themselves.Number 2 now can choose another present or take the present off number 1. If this happens number one has to choose another present.By number 3 they can take the present from 1 or 2 or choose a new present. If say number 2 has their present taken they can choose a new present or take the present from number 1.By the time you get to say number 11, there can be multiple instances of presents being taken. The only thing is you can’t take a present that has already been taken in that round.I have had my favourite present taken and then got it back up to six times during one of these sessions.It’s a lot of fun and quite revealing of the characters of your group.Secret Santa gifts can also be played around with.You can choose themes - the idea that an experience is more valuable than an object can be used.Make the gifts all experiences. A visit to the movies, a home cooked meal, an offer to do chores at the persons house. Let your imagination go wild. This secret Santa can still be played in any of the versions we have talked about . Probably works better with family than work matesMake the gift ridiculously cheap, say $2, but at the same time magical . This works best if it is the version that you know who you are buying the present for. Time to let those creative juices flowThe gift can be a food item that you have made yourself although if it’s open to all, you may have to make it vegan and gluten-free. You can present this in a beautiful container which is part of the giftMake everything second hand - junk shop treasures.I guess Xmas gifting is a great time to be true to your values. Let your friends and family see you can walk the talk.I read something recently that said normalise fruit trees, sourdough starter and favourite recipes as gifts. Give something that can keep giving for generations.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20218 minutes, 32 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Gardening in the dry heat

Gardening in a dry, hot timeAlways tricky; evaporation and transpiration really take it out of the ground and the plant’s system.Water when it gets cooler (late evening or better still: really early morning).Try not water all over the plants – it needs to end up in the root zone, so aim for that.Water on leaves causes burning and that hurts the plants.Droplets can act as a microscopic lens that magnifies the sun rays.Imagine an upside-down plastic bottle buried into the root-zone of a shrub… with its bottom cut off.Now fill the bottle with water and that water slowly leaks out of the neck under the soil surface right into the zone where the roots are.Easy to re-fill and therefore delivering the water exactly where it’s needed(not on the leaves, but on the roots)Instead of just water: put some very diluted liquid fertiliser in; water and minerals at the same time!Sprinklers are quite dodgy: the small droplets will largely disappear (evaporation) before they hit the ground;Also: you can’t really control where these droplets (or the remains there-of) will fall.Mulch is a covering material that literally protects the soil from direct sunlight. It cools that soil and the root zone and will significantly reduce evaporation from the soilBecause mulch consists of large particles (and not the fine clay or loam and sand particles) it breaks the hygroscopic movement of water in the soil; it’s all to do with interrupting the capillary action and that stops water moving from cooler, wetter areas down below to the hotter, drier areas of soil near the surfaceDESIGNWith the disruption of climate, some areas will get drier (East Coast) others get wetter (West Coast) or windier.Adapt planting to these conditions.Succulents and Mediterranean plants will deal better with drier conditions; as do Salvia, Hosta, Corokia, thyme – do a google search there’s plenty of great plants!Some of our native wetland species can cope with occasional flooding – some trees (kahikatea and plants (flax) are ideally suited to wetlands, as are puketea, swamp maire, ribbonwood, putaputaweta…Shelter from wind can be useful too.There are also plants that don’t care too much about salt-laden winds (Griselinia, Tecomanthe, bougainvillea, Pyrostegia, Pittosporums, Echiums etc etc).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20213 minutes, 49 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: The year of Covid

Our resident doctor Bryan Betty chats to Jack Tame about the year of Covid and how successful we have been with the vaccination program. He also talks about why there's the issue with Māori vaccination rates, Covid in the community and the emergence of Omicron.Bryan Betty is a GP and medical director for the College of GPs. He’s also on the Covid-19 advisory committee. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20215 minutes, 58 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Amazon shows it rules the roost

Amazon showed just how big it is againNot only are they so big they can get around the global supply chain crunch by building their own containers and putting them on their own planes, but they also take down thousands of web services when their cloud hits a grey patch.Their 'US-East' region of Amazon Web Services went out for hours this week crippling a wide range of apps likes Tinder, Coinbase and Disney+ but also smart home services like self-cleaning cat litter boxes and roomba vacuums! Amazon's own operations were also halted when their internal apps went down too.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20213 minutes, 6 seconds
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Tara Ward: And Just Like That, The Investigation & The Teacher

Tara Ward joined Jack Tame and shared her picks for this week:And Just Like That: It’s the Sex in the City revival that follows Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda once again as they navigate friendship, love and relationships through their 50s, with New York City as the backdrop (Neon)The Investigation: a six-part documentary series that follows the investigation into the death of Swedish journalist Kim Wall, which made headlines around the world as “the submarine case” (TVNZ OnDemand)The Teacher: Sheridan Smith stars in this British thriller about a teacher with a chaotic private life who is accused of having a drunken sexual encounter with a student. But with no memory of the night and hoping for redemption, she sets out to uncover the truth (TVNZ OnDemand).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20215 minutes, 17 seconds
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Blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer on his love of exploring

Erik Weihenmayer is one of the most accomplished mountaineers and adventurers in the world. He’s climbed Mount Everest, reached the top of the tallest peaks on each of the seven continents and paddled the entire 445 kilometres of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River. But what makes Erik’s achievements so unique is that he’s blind.  Jack Tame chats to Erik about his expeditions and his latest adventure - in front of the camera with actor Will Smith as part of Disney’s Welcome to Earth series. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/202115 minutes, 4 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Christmas Choux Wreath

‘Tis the season to be jolly and this dessert is jolly good! A choux pastry wreath is a stunning dessert for the festive table and it is absolutely delicious.Serves 8-12Choux130g chilled butter, chopped250mls water145g plain flour4 large eggs (about 230g in the shell), lightly whisked½ teaspoon sea salt3 teaspoons sugar (optional)150g white chocolate¼ cup cream4 tablespoon fruit compote, I used Barker’s cherry and vanillaFilling300ml cream200g mascarpone2 teaspoons vanilla extract2 tablespoons icing sugar + extra to dust2 cups fresh mixed berries to serve1. Preheat oven to 170C fan and line a baking tray with baking paper. Drawn a 25cm circle on it to use as a guide.2. Heat the butter and water in a saucepan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until the butter melts and the mixture comes to the boil. Add the flour and use a wooden spoon to beat for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture comes away from side of pan. Transfer to the bowl of a standing mixer or to another bowl that you can use an electric beater in. Allow it to cool for 4-5 minutes.3. Begin to beat and add an egg with the beaters still running. Once incorporated, add the next and so on. I beat the final egg with a fork first before drizzling it in bit by bit as you may not need all of it to get a choux pastry mixture that is thick and glossy.4. Use a tablespoon to spoon 12 even spoonfuls within the drawn circle on your tray. I start with one at 12 o-clock, then six, then 3 and 9 and then I fill in the gaps. Using a finger moistened with water, smooth out any peaks on top of the choux mounds.5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until puffed and golden. Reduce the heat to 100 C fan and bake for a further 10 minutes. Turn the oven off. Leave the puffs in the oven for at least 1 hour to dry and crisp up. Cool.6. Carefully cut the profiterole ring in half horizontally. Discard any pieces of uncooked dough from the profiterole centres. It can now be stored in an airtight container for a few days. Crisp it in a 100 C oven before filling and decorating.7. Melt white chocolate over a gentle heat, whisking in enough cream to form a thick smooth sauce. Cool to warm. Spread each profiterole with white chocolate sauce. Chill briefly to set.8. To fill; Dab fruit compote into each profiterole, add some fresh berries too. Beat together cream, mascarpone and icing sugar until stiff peaks form – watch you don’tover beat it. Spoon this mixture into the ring base and gently place the top ring. Dust with icing sugar.9. To serve, pull apart each profiterole and serve with fresh berries.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20214 minutes, 55 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The French Dispatch & The First Wave

Francesca Rudkin gives us the lowdown on Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch and a sobering documentary about Covid called The First Wave."The French Dispatch" is inspired by New York magazine and is set in France. Rudkin says it's an incredible lineup with stars, a lot of them familiar with Wes Anderson fans."The First Wave" is a National Geographic documentary that looks at the first wave of Covid-19 cases in New York. Rudkin says the tone is quite right to watch the film as we have moved on in the world with Covid.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20218 minutes
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Kevin Milne: A big birthday for Big Mouth Billy Bass

Kevin Milne is celebrating the 23rd birthday of an icon of the entertainment industry but it's not quite who you think! He told Jack Tame the Big Mouth Billy Bass is set to tragically spend its birthday on Thursday once again high and dry and out of battery in some dark places in garages."I urge all our listeners who have a Big Mouth Billy Bass in their shed or loft release him like you would any unwanted fish."The Big Mouth Billy Bass made an estimated US $100 million in nine months.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20216 minutes, 43 seconds
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Jack Tame: Governments go hard on cigarettes...so why not booze?

Let’s get one thing straight: It would be fantastic if New Zealanders didn’t smoke.Our Smokefree 2025 aspirations, although perhaps a smidgen optimistic, are excellent. The steps we’ve taken over the last few decades, from advertising restrictions to plain packaging laws, excise tax hikes to the recent ban on smoking in cars, have made a massive difference to the number of New Zealanders who smoke cigarettes. I look back to the childhood evenings I spent in rugby clubrooms, heavy with a fog of cigarette smoke, and it feels like a different life.But I do have some reservations about the phased-in ban on cigarette sales. Restricting drug access can have unintended consequences. Would we have seen the surge in dairies being robbed in violent robberies if we hadn’t massively increased excise taxes? Of course not. And more broadly, does banning drug use ever work? In my experience, human-beings will always find a way to get an illicit fix. If you ban anything, you automatically create illegal demand. And the black market for cigarettes might not end up being too big, you can be sure it will exist. It already does!The thing that tilts me in favour of the proposal is that the drug which makes cigarettes so addicitive – nicotine – isn’t actually being banned at all. I’ve got heaps of mates who have moved off the lungas’ and onto vaping instead. I’m almost 35, I’ve never smoked a cigarette and I’m confident I never will. But I have had a hoon on a few vape pens in my time. With watermelon or mango or cool mint flavours, I can see why the kids like them so much. Banning cigarettes simply wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t have something like vaping as an alternative. But that has its own issues. There will be many young New Zealanders – tens or hundreds of thousands, even – who might never have smoked a cigarette, but become addicted to vaping instead. I suppose this is a cost of progress.I have to say though, I prickle when I compare our politicians’ proactive work with tobacco to that of other drugs. If we were to step back and consider what drug harm needed priorisiting in New Zealand, cigarettes and tobacco wouldn’t be top of the list.It’d be booze. Booze is the number one cause of death for young New Zealanders aged between 15 and 49. Booze kills almost three times as many New Zealanders every year as smoking. And that’s not to mention all of the crime, violence, and societal problems it causes.For tobacco, we’ve gone hard. We’ve banned advertising and sponsorship. We’ve cranked up excise taxes. We’ve introduced plain packaging laws and banned smoking indoors. We’ve heavily subsidised programmes to help Kiwis quit.With booze? ... Nothing.I’m not suggesting we ban alcohol. Of course not. But it looks increasingly likely New Zealand will move to ban the sale of cigarettes before it gets anywhere near introducing the simplest advertising or marketing restrictions for our most harmful drug.I’m open to the phased-in ban on cigarettes. I hope it’ll work. The Cancer Society reckons it’s courageous. But if you want real courage, find me a government that’ll do something meaningful about alcohol.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/10/20214 minutes, 32 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Indie dream Julien Baker's 'confronting' new album

Estelle Clifford has been listening to US indie singer-songwriter Julien Baker and her new album, Little Oblivions. She told Jack Tame this album can be confronting at times. "What I loved about this album is it's so well produced and in-control-sounding and it's about a whole lot of stuff when you're not in control...It's quite clever."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20214 minutes, 59 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Stanley Tucci's memoir and Jodi Picoult's new novel

Book expert Catherine Raynes has been enjoying Jodi Picoult's new novel Wish You Were Here and acting legend Stanley Tucci's memoir Taste: My Life Through Food. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20214 minutes, 19 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Common garden problems, questions

Common problems and questions1) Compost bin or worm farm is full of little white worms and moreI often see a compost bin as a miniature version of a perfect ecosystem.Anybody who’s job it is to break down organic matter will live there – first the “shredders” of waste material: millipedes, slugs/snails, slaters, roaches, beetle larvae, some maggots – even mice and rats.Their waste (excrement) is broken down by the next group of “composters”: fungi, amphipods (litter hoppers)Next lot is the extremely numerous springtails and tiny fruitfly larvaeThen come the mites (minute), bacteria and other small “finishers”. sometimes fungal, some worms.Even worm farms should have all these in them at some stage and that’s how Nature runs the show2) Leafcurl on stonefruit/peaches/plumsFungal disease that started last autumn when infection began; The new buds that were formed in autumn and during early winter got the fungal spores on them and it manifested itself as leafcurl in spring and early summer.Prevent next years’ infection by spraying double dose of copper when half your leaves have fallen off in autumn – do that twice in a row a few weeks apart3) Fruit trees not fruiting well or flowering plants not flowering wellUsually a deficiency of potash (the “K” in NPK)Did you fertilise your plant at all?? If answer is not: use some rose fert or tomato fert a few times a year – little and often. I tend to grab Seafood soup and Seaweed tea and alternate those often.Just using Blood and Bone (Mostly “N” and some “P”!!!) does not give a plant much incentive to grow flowers and fruit: Chuck some sulphate of potash around the ailing plant in late spring, and during summer – water well in and do it again in early spring next year – That usually does the trick4) Need pollinators!!!Some people think that lack of fruit is result of “no bees”.MaybeAlways make sure you have plenty of flowers around your garden that will attract the insects that do the pollination… and it’s certainly not just “bees”: Blow Flies, beetles, thrips, mites, drone flies and hoverflies as well as the dozens of native bee species we have in NZ (some can be tiny!)I adore the colourful exotic flowers you can plant around the vegie garden or orchard; but some of the tiny native flowers are just as attractive and they cater for a totally different “market”Biodiverse gardens includes biodiverse plantings and that even may include “weeds” such as dill and flowering parsley and flowering wild carrot and especially yarrow!!!5) Tiny black insects digging tunnels in my clay soilHa! Those are some of the native bees we just discussed; these critters are brilliant at all their jobs and make a tiny, thin tube into the soil where they have a few larvae, fed on pollen and nectar;Our native bees are not “social” bees (like honey bees) but each tunnel is one pair… mind you they do like living “together” with other pairs in that patch of soil, so it looks like they’re almost social.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20213 minutes, 47 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Remembering loved ones this Christmas

Steven Dromgool share his tips for remembering missing loved ones at Christmas with Jack Tame.Covid restrictions can hit people hard at Christmas but there are ways to make space for the loss and still celebrate. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20216 minutes, 19 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Rocking the Catlins

Mike Yardley gives us the lowdown on the Catlins - from Curio Bay to Nugget Point.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20219 minutes, 33 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Here's to a more fruitful 2022

Finance expert Hannah McQueen talks about how to make 2022 a more fruitful one financially. While we can’t control Covid, she tells Jack Tame, there are other things within our control that people can focus on amid high inflation and rising interest rates."Depending on your problem, there's a particular strategy that's appropriate."She said there are easy fixes.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20216 minutes, 39 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: How would you feel if a phone's camera was always watching?

How would you feel if your phone's camera was always watching? Qualcomm's latest processor will have this capability - which means it could be coming to Android devices as early as next year.Here's how they're pitching it.. it makes it easier to unlock your phone because it will unlock the moment you look at it. You can then quickly look over at your phone to see notifications instead of needing to pick it up. They're pitching it as making your phone more secure, because as soon as you're not looking at it, it will lock. If it can see you and someone else, then private information or notifications could be hidden.They say the images are not recorded or saved, the camera is just scanning for faces. When it's in this scanning mode, none of the other phone's functions are connected. Only when a face is detected is when those other systems are activated and the face is authenticated.Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter had a big weekHe stood down from his CEO position, handing it over to the CTO. He's presumably going to now focus more of his attention on Square, which this week got renamed as 'Block'. Facebook rebranded as Meta to own the metaverse space, now Square wants to be everything Blockchain?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20215 minutes, 23 seconds
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Melanie Lynskey: 'Never been fatter, older'; Opportunities now are the best in my career

Acting legend Melanie Lynskey is a true Kiwi success story. She rose to fame as Pauline in Peter Jackson’s 1994 film Heavenly Creatures and has since starred in the likes of Two and a Half Men, Togetherness and Mrs. America.  The 44-year-old now has a starring role in new thriller series Yellowjackets which has rave reviews so far. Jack Tame catches up with the actor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/202112 minutes, 52 seconds
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Tara Ward: Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Heels & Moone Boy

Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol: Based on the 2009 Dan Brown novel of the same name, The Lost Symbol is the story of a young Robert Langdon (Ashley Zukerman) being tasked by the CIA to solve a number of puzzles when his mentor (Eddie Izzard) is taken (Neon, from Monday 6 December)Heels: A new American drama about two brothers and rivals - one a villain, or "heel," in the ring; the other a hero, or "face," war over their late father's wrestling promotion, vying for national attention in small-town Georgia (TVNZ OnDemand).Moone Boy: Created and written by Chris O’Dowd, Moone Boy follows Martin Moone, a quirky young boy who lives in a small Irish town, has an imaginary friend named Sean. With Sean's help, Martin navigates life as the youngest member of a chaotic family (TVNZ OnDemand).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20214 minutes, 49 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Delicious homemade ice cream

Using frozen bananas as a base for ice cream creates a beautiful creamy texture!Add to it 2-3 cups of other frozen fruit (store-bought is fine) and about a third of a cup of liquid, either coconut cream, pouring cream or maple or sugar syrup. It’s great to use a high-powered blender for a smooth, gelato texture but a food processor will do the trick too, just stop and scrape down the sides frequently. Serve it immediately or freeze it solid then thaw for 15-25 minutes before scooping. Get as creative as you like with adding flavours!Berry vanilla ripple2 large bananas, chopped and frozen1 teaspoon vanilla paste400g frozen berries2-3 dates, soaked in warm water1/3 cup cream or coconut creamDark chocolate to serve1. Blend one frozen banana with vanilla until smooth – this will be your ripple. Set aside.2. Blend remaining banana with frozen fruit and dates and with the motor running drizzle in the cream or coconut cream and blend until smooth. Spoon into a lined loaf tin. Top with banana vanilla mix and with a spoon handle, marble it through the berry ice cream. Serve immediately or freeze for 2+ hours before scooping.Kiwifruit choc mint and coconut1 large banana, chopped and frozen400g chopped and frozen kiwifruit1/3 cup maple syrup or honeySmall handful mint leaves4 tablespoons grated dark chocolateCoconut to serve1. Blend everything except the coconut together until smooth. Spoon into a lined loaf tin. Top with coconut and either serve immediately or freeze for 2+ hours before scooping.Mango passionfruit1 large banana, chopped and frozen400g chopped & frozen mango1/3 cup coconut creamPassionfruit pulp or syrup to serve1. Blend everything except the passionfruit together until smooth. Spoon into a lined loaf tin. Top with drizzled passionfruit syrup and either serve immediately or freeze for 2+ hours before scooping.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20216 minutes, 52 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Burning doco & The Power of the Dog review

Francesca Rudkin's been watching Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog and a documentary called Burning, about the Australian bushfires.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20218 minutes, 48 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Jim Bolger impresses me the most

Out of all the political speeches that have been made this week, Kevin Milne speaks to Jack Tame about an interview Jack did with Jim Bolger which impressed him the most."In my mind, the interview was remarkable."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20216 minutes, 3 seconds
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Jack Tame: The things I'll miss about lockdown

107 days.Maybe it’s Stockholm Syndrome. Maybe I’ve found a few more freedoms but lost my mind. I dunno. I never thought I would say this, but there actually a few things I’m going to miss about lockdown life.I only considered it last weekend, on what it transpired was my last lockdown picnic. Saturday was a glorious, warm summer night in Auckland. A whisper of a cool evening breeze. It was the sort of temperature where it’s so perfect you don’t think about the temperature. It doesn’t cross your mind.The park was chocka’. Everywhere, families and groups of mates had laid out their picnic mats to lounge and laugh and graze and sip wine in the fading light. The grass was soft. Kids were playing. Birds were squabbling in the twilight. It was bliss.‘Why don’t we always do this?’ asked my mate.I reckon. Picnics were one of the few great pleasures of lockdown. I know it wasn’t just me. Every evening I passed the park, it was close to standing room only. It actually reminded me of the Great Lawn in New York’s Central Park. In a city where most people live in tiny apartments, it’s normal to organise an outdoor picnic with your mates. As we learnt in Auckland this year, people will use good public spaces.I’m gonna miss riding my bike in lockdown. What a joy to race around the city with only half the usual traffic. Only half the usual reasons to be scared for your life. Apparently global bike sales have gone bananas during the pandemic. I looked at buying a bike from the U.K until I realised that because of demand, I’d be waiting almost a year for it to arrive. As I discovered in lockdown, there are a few simpler ways to deal with the stresses of the pandemic than by heading outside for a quick blat up Auckland’s volcanoes, the elements on your face.What else will I miss about lockdown? I’ll miss the flexibility of working in my pyjamas. I’ll miss having an easy excuse not to hit the gym. I’ll miss feeling a tiny bit excited about a trip to the supermarket... Countdown?! Oh, what a treat!The thing I hope I can sustain from lockdown is the way in which the restrictions make you reckon with the things that are important in life, but which we sometimes take for granted. Friends. Family. Job security. The local cafe that makes our neighbourhood just so. To slot back into pre-lockdown life, exactly as we were, would be a shame.Yep, I’ll miss elements of lockdown, but I certainly won’t miss lockdown.107 days. Good riddance to that.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/3/20213 minutes, 32 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Mercy & Miriam Margolyes' memoir

Catherine Raynes has been reading Mercy by David Baldacci and the marvelous Miriam Margolyes' memoir, This Much I Know is True. She joined Jack Tame to share her thoughts.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20215 minutes, 18 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Fantastic times in Fiordland

Mike Yardley gives Jack Tame the lowdown on the magic of Fiordland. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20216 minutes, 36 seconds
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Kiwi to Kenya: Jane Wynyard's work to save Africa's elephants

Five years ago, Taranaki-born woman Jane Wynyard swapped her high-profile PR career in London for the arid plains and tropical climate of Kenya. She went from high heels, designer dresses and celebrity parties to jandals, shorts and a camera.  Jane now works as a communications consultant for various conservation groups, while roaming all over Africa to film and photograph wildlife. She speaks to Jack Tame about her wild adventure. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/202112 minutes, 15 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Growing tip-top tomatoes

Growing tomatoes  It’s great to have a go at these fruit – there are many varieties too and everybody has their favourite ones. But there are some problems that can occur, whether you’re raising them in an open garden bed or in a glasshouse/tunnel houseTomato – (potato) psyllids are a nuisance interloper in NZ. They got here a few decades ago and will attack Solanaceous plants (potatoes, tomatoes, nightshades, poroporo, you name it).I used to get heaps of them when growing tomatoes in Auckland but in Christchurch they seem to be prevalent only in autumn (takes longer to develop plague proportions).What to look for?First sign is “ill-thrift” on tomatoes; you just pick there’s something wrong. If you then look closely at the leaves you’ll find small “nymphs” – especially on newer leaves and on the underside.You’ll also find lots of tiny white crystals of excrement of these sap-suckers – it tastes like sugar (and it is!). Call it solid, crystalline honeydew if you like. When the sap-sucking bugs develop they turn into adult psyllids: like a small aphid with wings – often hopping away when disturbed.When you photograph them or look up close they are actually quite beautiful!Control/PreventionIn my Canterbury tunnel house (and in my open garden) I rarely get them now, simply because I am fanatical about pulling up nightshade weeds. I reckon the psyllids overwinter on these weeds, so removing them meticulously helps a lot to keep your patch clean.Sprays with insecticides need to commence well before you see the first psyllids. It keeps their populations down too. I use neem oil if I have to spray, regular neem sprays will keep them down. Aim for the newer leaves/growth on the tomato plants.I see some recommendations for Spinosad (Yates Success) and abamectin but have never used that.I don’t grow potatoes but if you do, only use the early varieties (before Xmas!) so that your risk of spreading the psyllids to the summer tomatoes is somewhat reduced.A really fine horticultural pest control mesh, covering your tomatoes from spring onwards, will keep the psyllids out of your crop. You can get that mesh in garden centres and at the place where it was developed and tested: the Biological Husbandry Unit at Lincoln UniversityLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20215 minutes, 6 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Thumbs up for Ladyhawke's fourth album, more personal

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Ladyhawke's new album, Time Flies - her fourth album and the first in five years.  She told Jack Tame this is all the stuff we'd expect from Ladyhawke - except this is more personal.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20216 minutes, 41 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Best red under $20

Bob Campbell has been enjoying the best red under $20 he's had for a while - the Taylors 2019 Shiraz. It's a full-flavoured wine, perfect for summer BBQs. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20214 minutes, 13 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Beatles, Annika & The Great

Tara Ward joined Jack Tame and shared her picks for this week:The Beatles: Get Back: Directed and produced by Peter Jackson, this three-part documentary season follows The Beatles as they made their 1970 album Let It Be, using hours of unseen material and footage (Amazon Prime Video).  Annika: A new detective series about the sharp, witty and enigmatic DI Annika Strandhed, as she heads up a new specialist Marine Homicide Unit (MHU tasked with investigating the unexplained and brutal murders around the Scottish coast (Vibe, from Tuesday).  The Great: a second season of the satirical comedy-drama about Catherine the Great, starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult (Neon) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20214 minutes, 47 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Lush ditches social media

Lush is bailing on social media  They've deleted all their content from Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok saying they'll stay off those social media channels globally until the platforms ensure a safer environment for their users. They're saying goodbye to strong marketing channels with 659,000 Instagram followers, 275,000 Twitter fans and more than 1 million Facebook followers. They say their products - like the bath bomb - are designed to help people switch off and relax - which is the opposite to what social media does. Samsung to start making chips in Texas They'll be spending $17 billion on a new factory spanning five million square meters and creating 2,000 jobs - it's a big project! They'll be making advanced logic semiconductors, which are used in phones and computers. It's an effort by Samsung to diversify the supply chain for desperately needed chips, which are largely produced in Asia. Biden's administration will be happy with this news because they're focusing on bringing more critical manufacturing closer to these shores - the supply chain holes are so glaring it's becoming a national security risk. This will be Samsung's biggest investment in the USA so far, and should be producing components from late 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20215 minutes, 42 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Which milk is best?

Which is the most eco and healthiest of the milks (and yummiest)?  We live in a world where the old milk aisle at the supermarket now also has soy, almond, rice, oat, coconut and even hemp milks. Macadamia milk seems to have come and gone at my local. Many people are changing for health reasons, mainly lactose intolerant and others because of the revolt against peak cow ruining the environment. So, what are the facts here? Let’s look at good old dairy, the product that some would say, made our nation great. Cow's milk is a good source of high-quality protein and is naturally rich in calcium, B vitamins and many minerals. But, the protein in diary is a common allergen and about 65% of the population have difficulty digesting lactose, a type of sugar in the cow's milk. And Dairy emissions per glass are 0.63 kg, land use is 1.79 square metres and it takes 125.6 litres of water to produce that one glass of milk. From now on, I will use this as a comparison rather than give you lots of figures. Also, we are so used to the taste and texture of milk we kind of use this as a standard. It took me a long time to find something else to put in my latte. Coconut milk This is squeezed from the white flesh of a coconut and is safe if you have a nut allergy. It has a third the calories of milk, but no protein and half the amount of fats. These fats however have been linked to heart health benefits. They have an eight of the emissions of milk and also have the benefit of storing carbon as the tree grows. They need very little water. Can be a sweet distinctive taste that not everyone loves. Soy This was the first major alternative and has been around for decades. This comes closest to cows milk as they have a complete protein and its nutritional profile closely resembles that of diary. Controversy has come about as so much soy is genetically modified and also soy isoflavones can bind to estogen receptors in the body. This is still not completely understood but does put many off it. It has one third the emissions of dairy, 14 times less land needed and 22 times less water needed. Almond This is made by soaking almonds in water then blending them and staining away the solids. Unsweetened almond milk is low in calories and much lower in carbs than dairy but also low in protein. Beware that many brands have added sugar in them so check the labels. Also, many brands use carrageenan to thicken and stop separation. Lab tests have shown carrageenan to promote intestinal inflammation and damage. It has a third the emissions of dairy and also captures carbon as the tree grows. It uses one sixth the land but over 7 times the water usage of the other plant-based milks. Only dairy uses about 30% more again. Oat Oat milk is naturally sweet and high in carbs. Its soluble fibre makes it creamer and also absorbs water and turns in to a gel which slows digestion and keeps you full longer. This fibre may also reduce your cholesterol levels. It has about a quarter the protein of dairy which make it second here, behind soy. It has a third the emission of dairy, uses eleven times less land and thirteen times less water is needed. Plus, it can be grown easily here in New Zealand. And this has been the winner for me. I buy a local brand called Otis which grows its oats here in New Zealand and makes a damn fine latte too. In fact, in the UK nearly 50% of the population have now changed to oats in their café coffees because it froths so well in the expresso machines; again, that magic fibre it contains. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20218 minutes, 48 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Passing & Petite Maman's 'sophisticated' movie reviews

Our movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching a Netflix film called Passing and a French film called Petite Maman.  "Passing" is set in 1920's New York and is filmed in black and white. Rudkin said it's a very subtly charged social drama. "Petite Maman" was filmed in France in lockdown and is on at the cinemas. Rudkin said it's very intimate and it's a film you want to just pass over you.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20218 minutes, 17 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Non-alcoholic drinks for the holiday season

Here are some refreshing non-alcoholic drinks to get you through the silly season. The only thing you’ll feel the next morning is smug.  Raspberry shrub Shrubs are fruity vinegar drinks and they’re amazing! Standard recipe is equal parts fruit, sugar and viengar but you can adjust these to your taste. Makes 200mls syrup 450g fresh raspberries 1 cup caster sugar ½ cup red wine vinegar Soda water to serve Ice to serve  In a bowl, toss fruit with sugar, cover with a breathable cloth and leave to sit for 48 hours, stirring every now and again. In very warm weather, do this stage in the fridge. Drain the syrup (saving the fruit for ice cream, smoothiesetc)adn stir in red wine vinegar. Pour into sterilised bottle or jar and seal for 3 days before tasting.  To make the shrubs, pour syrup into glasses and top with soda water and ice. I use a ration of 1:4 syrup to soda water but make them to your taste.Mojito/Faux-jito Makes 1 L ½ cup brown ¼ cup water Big handful of mint leaves + extra 2 teaspoons raw sugar 1 L Soda water ¼ cup lime juice Plenty of ice  Make a sugar syrup by simmering brown sugar with water for 6-8 minutes. Leave to cool. Smash the mint with the raw sugar in a mortar and pestle. In a jug (or divide between individual glasses) swizzle together sugar syrup, smashed mint/sugar, soda, lime and ice. Serve with more fresh lime and wedges of lime. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20215 minutes, 11 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Reminiscing as radio reaches 100 year milestone in NZ

Kevin Milne has been reminiscing about radio, as the medium hits a 100 year milestone in New Zealand. He told Jack Tame he wasn't always a fan of radio - when he was little he couldn't get changed in any room that had a radio in it. "I used to love Sports Round-up on the radio on the weekends."He said his fondest memory of radio as a kid was the Sunday request session which his family would listen to sitting down to Sunday lunch.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20215 minutes, 59 seconds
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Jack Tame: Five silver linings to National's leadership spill

With our biggest city in its third month of lockdown, hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders still effectively barred from entering the country, inflation running at 5%, and hundreds of new infections being recorded every day, the decisions made by our government deserve the scrutiny of a coherent and effective opposition. And while ACT has done an extremely good job in the last year, our political system is naturally inclined to a centre-left/centre-right cycle.National’s leadership fiasco coincided with the most significant legislation of 2021 being passed through the house under urgency. The law will limit the freedoms of hundreds of thousands of Kiwis. No legal drafts were published. There were no select committees. No scrutiny. We are all better served by a good opposition.I’m not going to try to guess the new leader. But in the spirit of democracy, here are five silver linings to the National Party’s leadership spill.1) First of all, it’s done. Since the election in October last year, pundits have been speculating on the future of Judith Collins’ leadership. It’s been tiresome. Every political poll has resulted in the same debate. Anytime a political pundit has been short on ideas for a column, a few phone calls to Collins’ caucus foes was enough to stir it up again. In recent months, the debate has been one of ‘when’ rather than ‘if.’ Kua mutu. It’s done. We have certainty. National can move on.2) The timing suits. The house is about to rise for the year. The new leadership will have the summer to get organised and develop a few big policies to begin the new year. A clean slate for 2022. And unless a new leader makes egregious errors, it’s unlikely (Although never say never!) that anyone will contest the party leadership before the next election.3) Whoever is leader, it will be a unity ticket. Simon Bridges’ biggest mistake as leader the first time was promoting his mates and demoting the MPs who hadn’t supported his leadership bid. Regardless of who is leader, all of National’s MPs can see the importance of uniting the different caucus factions. Their individual futures depend on it. Although the Judith Collins spill was messy and awful, in the two days since, National MPs have maintained discipline across the board.4) The public and the caucus have little appetite for any politicking that appears overly cynical or vindictive. This is another lesson the new leaders need not learn the hard way. Collins pushed Todd Muller out. She demoted Chris Bishop, probably the single best-performing National MP this term. And regardless of Judith Collins’ intentions, the hit on Simon Bridges had the appearance of someone using Me Too and the attention on workplace bullying for profoundly cynical and self-serving reasons. This behaviour won’t fly.5) Even if the government doesn’t appear particularly vulnerable right now, Covid-19 makes for an environment where political fortunes can change very quickly. Yesterday, Sir Brian Roche’s latest report laid out stark shortcomings in New Zealand’s preparations for theDelta variant. Over the next two years, there will be many more opportunities for a good opposition to land a few blows. And hey, we don’t even know if Jacinda Ardern will run for a third term! In a World with Covid-19, the only certainty is uncertainty. And uncertainty makes for political opportunity.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/26/20215 minutes, 4 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Adele is back!

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford shares her thoughts on Adele's highly-anticipated new album, '30'.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20217 minutes, 25 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Malibu Rising & The Dark Hours

Catherine Raynes has been busy reading Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Michael Connelly's The Dark Hours. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20214 minutes, 25 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Arrowtown & Gibbston

Mike Yardley's been walking the trails around Arrowtown and drinking wine in Gibbston Valley...the life! He shares his tips for the area with Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20216 minutes, 57 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: What your partner REALLY wants for Christmas

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool tells Jack Tame how to get your partner what they actually want for Christmas instead of guessing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20216 minutes, 24 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Mental health and gardening

Mental health and Gardening exerciseI have often wondered what it is like to live on the 16th floor.As a child, my parents always had a garden – that’s where I learned the “Manual of Outside Life”.As students in the Netherlands we lived (with a baby!) in an old city house without a garden, literally in the centre of Wageningen. The remedy: a jungle of pot plants and vines (Hoya, Stephanotis, Monstera) climbing through all rooms.Of course, my study topics and work were mostly outside in forests and parks, along river habitats and in national parks...and we had an allotment!What are your options on the 16th floor?Grow on balcony – many different ways to surround yourself with nature, flowers and even vegetables and fruit. Large container culture is becoming quite manageable.Do we still have allotments?Contact with the soil, plants, trees and shrubs has been shown to be great for mental and physical health. Listening to bird sounds and insect-buzzing adds to that and the smell of flowers and foliage nicely complements the whole experience.Other Options?Walk in local park – go to nearby forests such as the Waitakeres, Hunuas, town belt, dunes, beach.For gardeners with a small piece to grow stuff, ask yourself what would work there - how do you find out?The mere fact that you do research on that issue helps you to get outside too.Visit your local garden centre to see what works well. Better still, your local botanic garden is likely to have some great displays of local horticultural opportunities.Auckland botanic gardens have fabulous rows of hedges, endemic rarities, possible colour combinations that work in your area – it's all about INSPIRATION. There is Hagley Park, Wellington Botanic Gardens, Dunedin, Pukekura Park - there are so many great parks in Aotearoa cities and towns!If you are interested in planting some native specimens that will work in your area, make a day trip to your regional or national park. The reason I live in Christchurch is not because of the concrete and glass city, but because within an hour you’re somewhere really interesting.There’s a continuous park from Kahurangi to south Fiordland – just saying – with plenty of inspiration around what to plant and what comes feeding in your garden.For beginning gardeners, who really want to start their own little paradise, this is the best advice I can give: Go for a walk around the block and see other people’s gardens. See what grows well, see what you like.You might not know all the names of plants but here’s even a suggestion of how to find out - knock on the door or ring the bell and ask the owner.More often than not you’ll strike a garden-proud owner who will tell you what it is and chances will be pretty good that you end up meeting new local gardeners and walking away with some cuttings…You don’t have to be Dutch to appreciate that (but that helps too!). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20213 minutes, 46 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Tips and tricks for eczema

Dr Bryan Betty gives Jack Tame the lowdown on eczema and shares his tips on how to help soothe it.Bryan Betty is a GP and medical director for the College of GPs. He’s also on the Covid-19 advisory committee. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20217 minutes, 28 seconds
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Tara Ward: Yellowjackets, The Wheel of Time & Adele

Tara Ward joined Jack Tame and shared her picks for this week:Yellowjackets: Melanie Lynskey stars in Neon’s new psychological thriller "Yellowjackets" about a team of wildly talented high-school girls soccer players who survive a plane crash deep in the Ontario wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to warring, cannibalistic clans, while also tracking the lives they have attempted to piece back together. The Wheel of Time: Set in a high fantasy world where magic exists but only some can access it, a woman named Moiraine crosses paths with five young men and women, sparking a dangerous journey that spans the world. Based on the book series by Robert Jordan. (Amazon Prime Video) Adele: One Night Only: Adele is back with an intimate concert performance, and speaks exclusively with Oprah Winfrey about life after divorce, weight loss and raising her son (TVNZ OnDemand and TVNZ 2, Monday 22 November)LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20215 minutes, 13 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Fix your Apple iPhone at home

Apple will let you fix your iPhone at home They're even going to send you the parts! Huge news!  Apple is creating the "Self Service Repair" program in early 2022 for those in the US, to fix iPhone 12's and 13s with things like broken screens, dead batteries and busted cameras. You'll be able to buy more than 200 parts and tools to make the repairs. Even better is these repairs won't void the warranty of your device, although if you damage it during the repair process it may.  Making it easier for Americans to reach emergency mental health services  The FCC has approved the use of 988 as a fast and memorable way to reach suicide prevention services. 6,000 people a day call Lifeline in the USA. This goes into effect next year. Unlike the 911 service, this number also supports text messaging - great for younger people or those who are hard of hearing or deaf. Crypto goes mainstream The Staples Center in LA, home to the Lakers & Clippers, is getting a new name: Cypto.com Stadium. The mobile wallet company paid $700 million to secure the naming rights for the next 20 years. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20215 minutes, 45 seconds
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Sol3 Mio are 'coming home' with new album

Kiwi favourites Sol3 Mio have released their fourth studio album called Coming Home. It's their most stripped back to date, featuring a mix of contemporary hits and well-known classics. The trio speak to Jack Tame about making the album and how the pandemic has played into it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/202111 minutes, 10 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Spiced potato panipuri

If you’re feeling stuck in a rut with your cooking, try shopping somewhere new like an Indian spice shop or Asian style supermarket, your local butcher or grocer instead of a supermarket.  These crisp little chick pea shells are popular in India and I love to fill them with spiced potatoes, a tangy tamarind chutney and cooling yoghurt sauce. They’re so delightful to eat – they collapse divinely in your mouth. Spiced potato panipuri Makes about 15-20 300g Agria potatoes, peeled and diced 1cm pieces 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ teaspoon each cumin seeds, yellow and black mustard seeds 1 teaspoon ground turmeric ½ teaspoon ground garam masala Sea salt and ground pepper ½ cup store-bought tamarind chutney Panipuri shells, or can use crisped pappadums Yoghurt sauce Decent handful mint leave, chopped 1/3 cup thick plain yoghurt Pinch chilli flakes 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice  Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until just cooked but not falling apart, about 4-5 minutes. Drain well. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the spices for 30 seconds then add the potatoes and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and continue cooking until potatoes are cooked through. Smash about half the potatoes with a fork to give a chunky texture. Cool. Combine the yoghurt dressing ingredients. Gently tap the top of the panipuri with the back of a teaspoon to make an opening for the filling. Place a spoonful of the cooled potato in each shell. Top with a little tamarind chutney then a spoonful of yoghurt sauce.  Serve immediately.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20214 minutes, 16 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Rescue & Falling for Figaro

Francesca Rudkin gives her take on The Rescue - the edge-of-your-seat account of the rescue of 12 Thai school boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave system in 2018.She says the film is so remarkable because it's gripping, emotional, inspirational and horrifying at times.She's also been watching the romantic comedy, Falling for Figaro, which is more enjoyable than she thought it would be."It is very predictable, but hits all the predictable beats of cinema romantic comedy."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20216 minutes, 49 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Ka Mate, Te Rauparaha's haka

Kevin Milne's been reading, A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha. Kevin says he's quite a hero in Ngati Toa country, Kapiti, where he lives. It's lead him to wonder about the use of Te Rauparaha's haka, Ka Mate, by the All Blacks and other national teams.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20215 minutes, 15 seconds
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Jack Tame: Die set for reopening but two groups abandoned

I spent yesterday afternoon with a couple of doctors from Papakura Marae, going door-to-door visiting whānau who have tested positive for Covid-19. They were testing vital signs and oxygen saturation.The story will be on Q+A tomorrow. It was a good reminder of just how different our pandemic experiences are. My biggest day-to-day gripe is not being able to go to a restaurant. These doctors are working 12 or 13 hour days, risking their own health to try and help patients, many of whom are really seriously unwell.The dye has now been set for reopening. In a fortnight we’ll be in the traffic light system. Covid-19 will be spreading everywhere. That’ll be it. And my experience spoke to the two groups of New Zealanders who I think have the greatest reasons to feel let down by New Zealand’s pandemic response. When all is said and done and we look back at Covid-19 in years to come, these are the two groups of Kiwis that won’t forget.The first group is Māori. I’ve been harping on about this for months, but the early stages of the vaccine rollout left Māori behind and we’ve been playing catch up ever since. Despite all the millions of dollars pumped into community providers, the efforts to support remote communities, and the social media campaigns, the damage of those early failures cannot be undone. Māori health experts were ignored at the start of the vaccine rollout. Young Māori were left to Group 4. Community groups were sidelined. And when the Government made that pivotal decision to start relaxing the toughest restrictions in Auckland, Māori vaccination rates were more than 26% behind those of the general population.When I confronted the Prime Minister about this last month, Jacinda Ardern responded sharply, which indicates just how sensitive the Government is to this criticism. It’s true that from a pragmatic perspective, she and her Cabinet colleagues simply cannot wait to relax restrictions until Māori vaccination rates are equal to those of the general population. The anger and antagonism would be damaging for Māori and politically devastating for the Government. Jacinda Ardern has to govern for the whole population. But there is no changing the facts. Māori will soon make up more than half of all the Delta infections ever recorded in Aotearoa. In the face of a deadly pandemic, despite warnings from Māori public health experts, this Government made the two most critical decisions – the shift down from Level 4 and the impending opening of Auckland’s borders – when Māori vaccination rates were miles behind those of the general population. Those two decisions alone have more or less guaranteed Te Pāti Māori another term in Government. I think there will be Treaty implications. Waitangi next year could be very interesting indeed.The second group to feel an enduring sense of abandonment is New Zealanders overseas. Yesterday, Jacinda Ardern confirmed she won’t be changing MIQ until next year. But in going door-to-door, visiting positive cases, I was again reminded of the ongoing double-standards with our system. There is simply no scientific justification why a double-vaccinated person with a negative test, travelling from a comparable country, somehow presents more of a risk self-isolating at home than the thousands of people who are already self-isolating having tested positive the virus. Dr Michael Baker even says as much! Every week we are confronted with stories of Kiwis who want to visit dying loved ones and are being denied. I was recently in contact with a young doctor, double-jabbed, with multiple negative tests, who was granted an emergency MIQ spot, but then denied an exemption to leave and visit her dying grandad. He was the man who raised her. Every night, watching the news from MIQ, she would be reminded of the hundreds of positive cases who were isolating at home. She wasn’t granted the same level of trust. She wasn’t granted compassion. Her grandad died and was buried while she sat...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/19/20216 minutes
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Estelle Clifford: Silk Sonic's new album

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album from Silk Sonic, an American R&B super-duo consisting of recording artists Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20216 minutes, 20 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Lemon tree maintenance

Lemon treesThey love a warm, sheltered spot in full sun – protected from wind; usually not good with heavy frosts. (Meyer lemons possibly a few degrees below zero); protect the trees from heavy frosts with frost-cloth….…or grow them in a large pot that can be moved under frost shelter!Most citrus varieties are gross feeders – honestly: they’ll reward you with lots of fruit if you fertilise at least THREE TIMES per growing season (Oct – Dec – March); general fertiliser perhaps with some added sulfate of POTASH; “little and often” is the mantra.Good MULCH (past the drip-line), keep watered; they hate drought!They’re not good with root competition/crowding; (shallow rooters); keep grass away, especially Kikuyu.Pollination is usually not a problem; most varieties are “self-fertile”, but watch Meyer Lemons: when they are grown nearby a “seedless” orange, there will be pips – often heaps of them!Fruit maintenance: Don’t let young trees set too many fruit – prune some off to let the frame-work develop; next year let a few more grow as the tree strengthens its branch system.(Meyer) Lemons have a habit of fruiting well every second year (usually in winter and spring months); therefore it’s best to plant two or three lemon trees to have a continuous supply of lemons!Pruning regime: if you need to shape your tree, do it in period March-early September when lemon tree borer are not around to lay eggs on the pruned surfaces. Use Sharp, clean secateurs.Remove branches from within the bush/shrub/tree – let wind go through it – dries out – less rot.Pruning cuts don’t need a sealant, but if you’ve had history of die-back (fungal attack) then it will not harm to seal the wound...Disinfect secateurs from time to time – bleach or janola.Sooty Mould; If you have sooty mould (fungi growing on sap sucking insect’s excrement) now’s the time to use some spraying oil (Conqueror Oil) to get rid of the cause: scale/mealybug/whitefly)Neem Oil is often a good, organic suffocator of small sap-sucking insects. Use the Oils frequently (every two weeks or so) and spray both sides of leaves and branches.There are some root rots (Phytophthora) that can kill a citrus tree very quickly, in a matter of six to eight weeks the leaves go yellow, droop, turn brown and…fall off!Phytophthora is often spread through ground water (the spot is too wet for too long!).Dig the tree out and don’t plant another citrus in the same spot.Maybe put a plum in your Campari?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20213 minutes, 58 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Update on COP26

Eco-man Malcolm Rands updates Jack Tame on how the COP26 Summit is going. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20218 minutes, 42 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: New bank lending legislation

Finance expert Hannah McQueen takes Jack Tame through the new bank lending legislation.The new credit contracts and consumer finance amendment is resulting in the banks going through your spending with a fine tooth comb and often declining lending you’d expect to be able to get because you earn a good salary, based on the way you spend.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20215 minutes, 13 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Portside delights in Lyttelton

Travel expert Mike Yardley talks about the portside delights in Lyttelton, Christchurch. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20218 minutes, 50 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Instagram's trying to prevent overload

Instagram's trying to prevent overloadSpending too much time on Instagram scrolling through pics or Reels? You could soon get a warning to take a break. But, the first step though is to choose you actually want one. A new feature being tested will ask users if they want a reminder to put the device down after 10, 20 or 30 minutes. The designs so far just show it appearing in your feed, so it seems to be pretty easy to swipe away. Apple's app time limit is a lot more of a blocker.Love a moment in a show, Amazon Prime wants you to share itMobile apps like Netflix actually prevent you from sharing anything from a show - even screenshots, but Amazon Prime wants to change that. Starting with some of their newer shows, they'll now let 30 second clips be shared. Just pause, and then select the moment you want to send to a friend. It's free marketing! They say more shows on the app will allow this soon.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20214 minutes, 22 seconds
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Tara Ward: Dopesick, Belgravia and a new doco

Tara Ward joined Jack Tame and shared her picks for this week: Dopesick: Starring and executive produced by Michael Keaton, “Dopesick” examines how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. The series takes viewers to the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Big Pharma, to a distressed Virginia mining community, to the hallways of the DEA (Disney+). Belgravia: This six part limited series by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes is a story of secrets and scandals amongst the upper echelon of London society in the 19th Century (TVNZ OnDemand, from Monday). Old People’s Home for Four Year Olds: A feel good Australian documentary series about a group of pensioners living in retirement homes, who get together with preschool children and engage in a number of interactive activities (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20216 minutes, 17 seconds
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Ruby Wax's 'A Mindfulness Guide for Survival'

Ruby Wax is the larger-than-life comedian, TV writer and performer, whose career has spanned stage and screen with comedy favourites like Girls on Top and Absolutely Fabulous.  She’s since turned her hand to mindfulness and mental health and gained a Master’s degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in 2013.Ruby joins Jack Tame to talk about her new book, A Mindfulness Guide for Survival.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/202114 minutes, 13 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Grilled pineapple on the BBQ

Grilled pineapple with basil & honey sesame sauceDon’t limit your bbq cooking to savoury food – grilled fruit can be a real winner. Served with ice cream, it’s the most delicious way to finish a BBQ meal.Serves 4-6One fresh pineapple2 big tablespoons of honey2 teaspoons sesame seedsSmall handful of basil leavesIce cream to serveSkewers to serve1. Peel pineapple and cut in half lengthwise. Cut into wedges, then cut these in half lengthwise too, removing the tough core of each. Cook on a grill until browned on at least one side – it gets such a lovely caramel flavour.2. Make a little boat out of foil and spoon the honey into it. Pop this on the BBQ and heat until it’s bubbling and foaming. Remove very carefully!3. To serve; Skewer each piece of pineapple with a wooden stick and arrange on a platter with balls of ice cream. Drizzle the whole lot with warmed honey and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and basil leaves. Eat up!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20215 minutes, 4 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Red Notice & Tom Hanks in Finch

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Red Notice and Finch, a sci-fi thriller starring Tom Hanks. She said Red Notice is meant to be two hours of endless fun and is mindless entertainment.Rudkin said Tom Hanks' Finch is set in a post-apocalyptic world and aims for a bit of subtlety but is quite predictable. "It's not quite as deep an complicated as it wants to be."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20214 minutes, 34 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The greatest sports injury story since Beaver

Kevin Milne predicts we're about to see the greatest sports injury story since Beaver won us the 2011 Rugby World Cup with the drama of cricketer Devon Conway's broken hand.He says a movie may well be made of this. "Our chances of winning are now less... What an extraordinarily driven sportsman Devon Conway must be."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20215 minutes, 15 seconds
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Jack Tame: The Black Caps are surely the best team in the world?

I got up at 5am. It seemed a good compromise. I missed the first innings but I was well set up for the business end of the World Cup semi-final as the Black Caps clawed their way on an awkward wicket towards England’s total.You know what happened next. The game waxed and waned. But in the end, the Black Caps were triumphant. They confirmed their spot in the T-20 World Cup final: Three formats. Three finals. Three good reasons the Black Caps can call themselves the best all-round men’s cricket team in the World.Just a few years ago, this would have been unthinkable.I’m too young to remember the 80's and the other golden patch in Black Caps history. I grew up and grew to love the game in the nineties and aughts when supporting the Caps was a bit more... testing.Our’s was a team of scrappers. Every now and then they’d pull a surprise performance out of the bag. But the joy of those wins was pretty regularly offset by the pain of underwhelming performances and choking on the big stage.I distinctly remember attending a game at Lancaster Park in which New Zealand was so soundly, comprehensively outclassed by the Australian team, some nearby drunken fans began burning an effigy of Shane Warne just to entertain itself. What Black Caps fan could ever forget Tuffey’s 14-ball over? Or the time we were bowled out for 45? The path to World domination has been paved with bricks of mental fragility and athletic inadequacy, squandered potential and all-round inadequacy.That’s why I’m determined to be present for this golden moment in New Zealand cricket. I want to soak up every second, every success, in the knowledge that nothing lasts forever. It’s like when you injure yourself or find yourself with a throbbing headache, and you promise yourself that when you feel better, you won’t take good health or comfort for granted, ever again. But then of course, you do. We cannot let the same thing happen. Because when, inevitably, the men’s cricketing World order rearranges itself again, it could be decades or even centuries before the Black Caps are back on top.One final thought. I was watching the other night when Darryl Mitchel bumped into Adil Rashid, got into a bit of a pickle, and turned down the subsequent single with his batting partner. In one sense, it was a pretty minor little exchange. But it was a run that at that late stage of the game would have been particularly valuable. I’ve got to be honest, as a fan, my impulse was ‘Take the run! Take the run! Are you kidding me?!’But they didn’t. Just as the Black Caps didn’t bleat and moan after the ODI World Cup Final, which they lost on an obscure technicality, they prioritised the spirit of the game above winning the game. This time it paid off.In a sport with big egos, where it’s perfectly normal and acceptable to slag off and unsettle your opponents, the Black Caps have proved that nice guys don’t always finish last.And compare that with our closest neighbours, our opponents in the T-20 World Cup final. In the same period the Black Caps have developed a reputation as the nice guys of World Cricket, Australia has seen its captain banned from the sport for cheating.There’s just so much to be said for NOT being dicks.With all that in mind I’m waiting keenly for the T-20 World Cup Final. Maybe we’ll win. Maybe we’ll lose. Either way I’ll savour being there. The first ball’s at 3am on Monday morning. This time there will be no compromise. I’ve already set the alarm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/12/20214 minutes, 34 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Jack Reacher is back!

Our book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Dave Grohl's memoir, The Storyteller. Jack Reacher is also in Better Off Dead by Lee Child and his younger brother, Andrew Child. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/6/20215 minutes, 4 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Hollie Smith's new album review

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Kiwi artist Hollie Smith's new album, Coming in from the Dark. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/6/20214 minutes, 59 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to help partners with addiction

Steven Dromgool speaks to Jack Tame about how you can help a partner who has an addiction. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/6/202111 minutes, 8 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Piquera - a 2019 Spanish red

Our wine expert Bob Campbell has been sipping on a 2019 Piqueras Black Label from Spain - a perfect accompaniment to your summer BBQ dishes. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/6/20212 minutes, 59 seconds
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Mike Yardley: coasting it in Kaikoura

Mike Yardley has some travel tips for the best little seaside town of Kaikoura.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/6/20217 minutes, 50 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: passionvine hopper time!

Scolypopa australis is quite a charming name for an Aussie bugger in the garden. This hopper is extremely common in the northern warmer parts of the North Island but has been known to be a problem as far south as Nelson and Marlborough. The overwintered eggs hatch in spring (October-November) as tiny little "fluffybums", a name which describes exactly what they look like: small, frog-like bug nymphs with an ornate tuft of "nylon" tail fibres, implanted in their bottom. If you look at them under the microscope, you'll suddenly see that these fluffybums have a somewhat melancholic look on their faces; the inherent sadness of an Australian, out-of-place, in a foreign country. As soon as the little nymphs hatch they will suck plant material through their tubular mouth parts. The phloem is where it's all at: sweet nutritious sap that courses through the veins of the host plant. Of course the excreta of the fluffybums is that sweet sticky honeydew, an unmistakable diagnostic symptom of so many sap-sucking insects. From late January onwards the nymphs go through their final moult and turn into adult insects (passionvine hoppers), complete with wings. You can find these adults well into May. The adult hoppers are a wee bit more mobile than in their larval stages: not only can they still jump, but they now also have the power of sustained flight, albeit feebly. The damage caused by both the fluffybums and the adult hoppers can be substantial. Distorted growth of the plants they attack is merely one result of their mainlining activities, the deposit of honeydew and secondary sooty mould causes severe headaches to growers of export produce. It is unclear as to whether the bugs transmit virus diseases from plant to plant, but the possibility can as yet not be ruled out. When they feed on the poisonous sap of the native tutu (Coriaria arborea), they literally pass on the toxic substances and add it to the honeydew. Bees that may forage on this honeydew incorporate it in the honey stored at the hive, and although the tutu sap is not toxic to either passionvine hoppers or bees, it is pretty dangerous to humans! CONTROL/PREVENTION It’s almost impossible to “spray” the passionvine hopper in summer – they simply avoid the spray by “flicking and flying” away. But in the early weeks of development the nymphs are so small, that no-one really notices them, yet this is the time when chemical or even organic control would work the best. A simple misty spray with Pyrethrum or even synthetic pyrethroids would control the majority of the very small, and still susceptible nymphs. When you try to spray them at a later, larger stage, you'll notice that they try to escape the toxic clouds by simply jumping away from the danger zone. So, have a look at your plants that are usually covered with passionvine hoppers and see if they need treatment; Now is the time to do it! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/6/20214 minutes, 17 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: self-driving cars in the Big Apple (3)

Google is getting NYC ready for self-driving cars Their autonomous vehicle company Waymo is sending a fleet of cars to the big apple equipped with high tech sensors and cameras to start capturing detailed street information. NYC is a concrete jungle full of construction, double parked delivery trucks, terribly maintained roads, heavy rain, snow and poor signage - so it's going to be a challenge. These cars will be driven by humans to prepare for driverless services in the future.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/5/20214 minutes, 32 seconds
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Tara Ward: three big dramas to indulge in

Here are Tara Ward's three picks for the week: Bloodlands: James Nesbitt stars as Northern Irish police officer DCI Tom Brannick, who connects a kidnapping with an infamous cold case with enormous personal significance (TVNZ OnDemand, from 7 November). Chapelwaite: In the gothic-horror starring Adrien Brody, Captain Charles Boone relocates his family to their rundown ancestral home in Maine, where he must fight a darkness that has plagued the Boones for generations. Based on Stephen King's short story Jerusalem's Lot (TVNZ OnDemand) The Long Call: Detective Inspector Matthew Venn returns to his small hometown in North Devon to lead a shocking murder investigation that casts a shadow of doubt over the whole community. Based on the novel by Ann Cleeves (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/5/20215 minutes, 33 seconds
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The life and times of artist Dick Frizzell

Iconic Kiwi artist Dick Frizzell has created some of New Zealand’s most recognisable artwork over the years and there’s no slowing down for the 78-year-old just yet. Jack Tame catches up with Dick to hear how he's getting on in lockdown and what he's been working on lately. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/5/202114 minutes, 20 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: the NZIFF films to watch

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been eyeing up some movies included in this year's New Zealand International Film Festival. She speaks to Jack Tame about Night Raiders, the documentary The Return: Life After ISIS, and Sisters with Transistors. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/5/20217 minutes, 2 seconds
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Nici Wickes: it's time to bake the Christmas cake!

It’s time (actually we’re a bit late this year) to make the Christmas cake. We’re going gluten free because why not?Here’s other ways to serve Christmas cake:· Warmed with custard· Fried in butter and served with fresh blueberries and yoghurt· Alongside decent aged cheddar (like Eccles cakes)· Crumbled and stirred through softened vanilla ice creamOvernight soak:1 ½ kg mixed fruit½ cup sherry or brandy or whatever1 apple, grated1 tbsp honey or golden syrup1 cup firmly packed brown sugarCake:1 ¾ cup gluten free flour1 tsp baking powder1 tsp mixed spice½ cup orange juice4 medium-sized eggs, beaten lightly250g melted butterAlmonds for decorating1. Set the oven at 130 C. Line base and sides of a 20-23cm square cake tin, first with a few layers of newspaper then two layers of baking paper.2. Soak fruit, liquid, honey/syrup and apple in a large bowl over overnight.3. Add sifted flour, baking powder and mixed spice to soaked fruit and mix well. Stir in eggs and orange juice. Lastly, add in the melted butter and mix to combine. After mixing, let it sit for 5 minutes and should the mixture be a little stiff add a bit more orange juice. You’re aiming for a sloppy batter as gluten free flour absorbs more liquid than regular. Scrape into the prepared tin. Decorate top with almonds.4. Place cake in oven on a magazine (it won’t burn at this temperature) and bake for 3 ½ hours with a piece of baking paper loosely covering it to stop it burning on the top but uncovering it for the last 30 minutes.5. Allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing to cool fully on a cake rack.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/5/20215 minutes, 32 seconds
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Kevin Milne: 'not psychologically up for' pensioner milestone in our household

There's a milestone in the Milne household this weekend - Kevin Milne tells Jack Tame his wife becomes a pensioner this Sunday. "The issue I'm grappling with is what is it going to be like sharing the bed with a pensioner?""I'm not sure I'm psychologically up for it."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/5/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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Jack Tame: why do comebacks usually suck?

What is it with comebacks?What does it say about us as audiences? What does it say about the authors and musicians, the creators and artists we love, when after a decade or four in solitude, they decide to triumphantly come back and try to nurse cold embers into a blazing fire?Most of the time it’s for money. And most of the time, it’s a flop.My Dad is a huge fan of the band, Cream. Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker. We grew up with their music blasting around the house. Apparently I’m named after Jack Bruce!But Cream broke up in 1968. Dad never saw them live. So when the band announced a reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 2005, we all assumed Dad would do anything to go.‘Go on!’ We said. ‘We’ll remortgage the house, if that’s what it takes.’But Dad decided not to go. And whether or not this is true, he gave me a really interesting reason.‘I don’t want to spoil the image I have of my favourite band.’I think about Harper Lee. She published To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most loved and influential novels of the 20th Century. And then she went quiet. For the best part of 55 years she said she wouldn’t publish another book. That was, at least, until 2015, when her publisher announced to fanfare that it would soon release Harper Lee’s ‘Go Set a Watchman.’To be fair, this wasn’t a pure comeback as such. The official line was that the book was a previously undiscovered manuscript, although that seemed a bit cute. Some people reckoned Harper Lee had been manipulated or taken advantage of. Either way, Go Set a Watchman was no Mockingbird. It seemed a shame.Why am I telling you this? Well, I’ve just endured ABBA’s new album. Their first in forty years. And although I’m very much of the opinion that any one person’s music tastes are as legitimate as anyone else, ABBA’s Voyage is... awful. Just awful. You’re free to make up your own mind but I really cannot foresee even the most die-hard fans truly preferring ‘When You Danced With Me’ to ‘Dancing Queen,’ or preferring ‘I Can Be That Woman’ to ‘Man After Midnight.’This is the problem with comebacks. They give you a rush of nostalgia when they’re first announced, but they almost never recreate the magic, the je ne sais quoi of the past. I can only think of one recent example of a production that’s turned out better than the original. Funnier, smarter, more authentic.Bravo, Celebrity Treasure Island.It might be the best reality television New Zealand has ever made.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/5/20213 minutes, 43 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Control of the pesky house borer is tricky

House borer has been with us humans from the day we made our dwellings from dead timber. Before that time, the insects concerned themselves solely with tunnelling into (and recycling) fallen logs in the forests. A very useful occupation, I’d say.Untreated timbers are still perceived by pregnant adult borer beetles as a very suitable fodder for the larvae, especially when there is a wee bit of moisture and yeast around to aid in the digestion of all that cellulose.She will lay her eggs in old nail holes, exit holes, or cracks in the wood, and particularly loves the end grain of a piece of timber. The larvae emerge and bore straight into the wood; their entrance holes are too small to be noticed by a mortal human being.Inside they subsist on a very boring diet for at least two years (if the timber is very suitable) – in some cases they’ll take four years to complete their life cycle. It probably pays to stress the fact that bone-dry and yeast-free (or fungus-free) timbers are not great food sources for these destructive beetles. Relatively wet timbers on the south side of the house or in the vicinity of bathrooms are a different story!When they are ready to pupate, usually in autumn time, they tend to tunnel towards the surface of the timber, so that their exit in spring can be swift and effortless. In November the adult beetles (small dark brown, about 4 - 5 mm long beetles) start chewing their way out, leaving the characteristic, small but visible borer holes behind. Emergence can take place from November until well into summer.Although the beetles do not feed, they may live for four weeks, in which they find a partner and ensure that preparations are well under way to create a new Generation of domestic borer larvae. Often you can find the beetles in large numbers, dead on a windowsill after they have forcefully tried to exit through a closed window.Control is tricky. Injection of borer fluids into the exit holes is absolutely useless: the borers have already left and only few exit holes will be used as oviposition sites by the gravid females.The idea is to cover at risk timber (untreated, non-tanalised timber) with a residual material that kills either the emerging beetles and egg laying females, or the hatching first instar grubs of the borer. But since DDT went out of fashion, this is not easily achieved.Perhaps a good soaking with diesel is exactly the lethal barrier you might be looking for, although the stench will wear anybody down, after a while.If you can be bothered, a “borer bomb” could cover most surfaces with a residue, but you’ll need to use a number of them for your average house size to get a good deposit. These days those borer bombs are basically aerosol cans that self-discharge after triggering.A permethrin aerosol can, used to residually treat airplanes will work quite well too (contact Safeworx); aim at the exposed timber and spray the surfaceRemember to start your first treatment on 31 October, so that the first emerging borer will literally hit the ground running (or flying) on the 1st of November. Often a second deposit may be necessary in early December to cover the total emergence period.The idea here is to let the emerging beetles come in contact with this lethal substance, be it permethrin or the active ingredient of the bomb.Of course, you can always call in the professional pest control operator, but you now know to book them at the right time.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20214 minutes, 29 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Ed Sheeran's new music is here

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford gives Ed Sheeran's new album '=' a rating. She says it sounds like Ed is more "settled" in this album. "In this one, he's in love, he's a dad and he's lost some people - it's all here. It's a love album to his wife."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20218 minutes, 24 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Facebook is now Meta Platforms

Facebook is now MetaFacebook, the company, is now going to be known as Meta Platforms Inc or Meta for short. Why? Because it's now thinking of itself as a 'metaverse first' company, building immersive social platforms. Zuck says it has nothing to do with the bad news in the press or his intentions to step away from the 'big blue' app. The 'family of apps' including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Oculus will now be brands under Meta. Reality Labs will be the name for the 'future' focused segment of business. What I took away from interviews was that Facebook is seen now as the old person's app. They want to be doing things that are innovative, with users who are open to change and new experiences - which are 18-25's. Their expectations about what to expect on the internet are very different. This move better positions Meta to be a company offering a range of 'social' solutions for the internet.What is the metaverse? It's a virtual reality and or augmented reality space where there's a digital version of you. You can hang your digital art in your digital living room, interact with friends, visit new worlds, do business. Facebook is building the foundations for this new experience - the software and the headsets, motion sensors and more.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20213 minutes, 51 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Billy Connolly's new book and The Judge's List

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Judge's List by John Grisham and Billy Connolly's autobiography, Windswept and Interesting. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20215 minutes, 39 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Culture and kai in the seaside town of Kaikōura

Travel expert Mike Yardley has been in Kaikōura and shares his tips to get the best out of the seaside town with Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20217 minutes, 40 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Movember is here, let's talk the prostate

It’s Movember – that is Men’s Health Month in November, so our resident doctor Bryan Betty is talking about the prostate. Bryan Betty is a GP and medical director for the College of GPs. He’s also on the Covid-19 advisory committee.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20214 minutes, 25 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: important changes you can make to help our planet

With the climate summit beginning this weekend, eco-man Malcolm Rands goes over the most important changes you can make to help our planet.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20218 minutes, 34 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Larkins, Unusual Suspects and Woodstock 99

The Larkins: Bradley Walsh (The Chase) stars in this reboot of The Darling Buds of May, about a working class English family living in Kent in the 1950s, led by Pop Larkin and his wife Ma (TVNZ 1, begins Sunday)  The Unusual Suspects: An Australian drama about the theft of a multi-million-dollar necklace and the women from different walks of life who come together to ensure that justice is served (Rialto, from Friday).  Woodstock 99: A fascinating HBO documentary that looks back on Woodstock 99, the infamous three day music festival that was marred by intense heat, overpricing, violence, sexual assault, looting, vandalism, and fires (Neon). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20215 minutes, 41 seconds
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Geoff and Justine Ross: Brand gurus take on their biggest challenge yet

Remember 42 Below Vodka? It was one of New Zealand’s most successful alcohol brands that was sold to global giant Bacardi in 2006 for hundreds of millions. It’s founders, Geoff and Justine Ross, have since grown powerhouse brands such as Ecoya and Trilogy. But their latest venture is perhaps the most challenging yet. The pair swapped the boardroom for gumboots and bought Lake Hawea Station near Wanaka in 2018. The pair speak to Jack Tame about life on the farm.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/202113 minutes, 31 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Gorgeous strawberry crumble slice recipe

New season strawberries have hit the shelves and they’re at last priced sensibly. Make this gorgeous slice and serve it warm with vanilla ice cream for a dessert that tastes of summer. Makes 12-16 squares 1 cup whole almonds 415g (about 3 ¼ cups) plain flour Decent pinch salt 250g cold butter 3-5 tablespoons cold water ¾ cup raw sugar 500g fresh strawberries (or use 250g each strawbs and chopped rhubarb)  Grease and line a Swiss roll tin (23x33cm), leaving some of the baking paper hanging over the long sides. Rub/grate chilled butter into the flour and salt (or do it in a food processor). Toss the butter in the flour. Divide this mixture equally into two bowls. Into one, pour 3-5 tablespoons ofice coldwater, stirring first with a knife to a scraggy mess then add a bit more water before turning out to knead briefly so it comes together. Flatten to a disc, wrap and chill for 20 minutes.  Blitz almonds in a food processor until it’s a coarse crumb. Add this crumb and the sugar to the other half of the flour/butter and mix to combine to a crumble. Roll chilled dough on a well-floured bench to fit your tin, big enough to come up the sides, and carefully transfer to your tin. Press into the corners and up the sides. Cover with chopped berries then spoon over crumble topping. Bake at 180 C fan bake for 50 minutes or until browned on top and juice from the fruit has started to bubble through. Cool in the tin until just warm then slice. Eat with scoops of ice cream. YUM!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20214 minutes, 51 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Reviews Green Knight, Juniper and I'm Your Man

Our movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching The Green Knight, Juniper and I'm Your Man. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20216 minutes, 37 seconds
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Kevin Milne: how lucky are we to have so much land?

Kevin Milne speaks to Jack Tame about how lucky we are to be born in a country with so much land and open spaces but it might not be long before we have to share it.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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Jack Tame: It's our own fault the Govt needs Three Waters

Honestly, I did not expect Nanaia Mahuta to pull the trigger.Opposition to the Three Waters reforms has exploded in the last few months. That bit isn’t a major surprise. Anything that involves the future of water assets and the belief in some circles that Māori are getting a special deal is always going to stir people up. Upon reflection, the Government’s multimillion-dollar TV advertising campaign might have done more to galvanise opposition than to offset it.Facing widespread scorn and criticism, and pushback from mayors around Aotearoa (including those of Christchurch and Auckland, who just happen to be former Labour Ministers), I thought it most likely Nanaia Mahuta would gently back down from pursuing her agenda.But she didn’t. The Minister is planning to mandate. Can you think of any other time in the last four years that Jacinda Ardern’s Government has forged ahead with such an unpopular policy?At the end of the last term, the Government was criticised by its supporters as not having pursued a bold agenda. The Prime Minister talked a big game but wasn’t prepared to spend political capital. Polling ruled the policy.Three Waters is different. It’s one of several big reforms the Government’s handling at once and it’s comfortably the least popular. The plan to shift the management of water out of the hands of local councils will fundamentally alter the future management of our most precious resource.You can hate the policy all you like but you can’t say it isn’t bold.I’m open-minded about what ownership and governance structures will ultimately solve our water infrastructure problems. I can see some merit with Three Waters. I can see some potential issues. I’m yet to see detail behind credible alternatives.Above all though, I think much of the public debate so far has minimised the scale of the crisis. We have pipes bursting and sewage in the streets of our capital city. Every time there’s a storm in Auckland, beaches in the city’s fanciest suburbs are contaminated with sewage overflow. In Havelock North people died!And this is risky, but for all of those who say the Three Waters reforms are anti-democratic, it’s worth remembering it’s democracy that got us in this pickle in the first place. We elect our councils. For decades, many councils around New Zealand haven’t properly invested in water infrastructure because voters whinge and moan over the subsequent rates increases, even as homeowners watch their properties balloon in value. Do we elect politicians to make bold, difficult decisions? Or do we want them to be dictated to by the short-term whim of the polls?You don’t have to support Three Waters, but you can’t argue New Zealand doesn’t face a looming crisis. And if our leaders aren’t prepared to make some tough calls, one way or the other, soon enough we’ll all be in the shit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/29/20213 minutes, 44 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Elton John's Lockdown Sessions

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to Elton John's new album - The Lockdown Sessions.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/23/20217 minutes, 51 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Cloud Cuckoo Land & The Lincoln Towers book reviews

Our book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (author of All The Light We Cannot See) and The Lincoln Towers by Amor Towles. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/23/20213 minutes, 15 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to deal with the vaccine sceptic in your life

Our resident relationship expert Steven Dromgool speaks to Jack Tame about strategies to deal with the vaccine sceptic in your life. He says to approach the vaccine-sceptics in your life with an open mind. "You don't have to lose your relationship with them."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/23/20218 minutes, 48 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The ‘do-s’ and ‘don’ts' of garden design and maintenance

Just looking at how nature operates, we can find quite a few ‘do-s’ and ‘don’ts' when it comes to designing a garden or operating such a space. Here are my top tips – some of which are also reflecting my personal loves and hates: Go with the Flow - curved lines in landscapes! In nature there are very few straight lines (if any!). The old French and Dutch Gardens (17th century etc) look spectacular but remember, they were designed to show off the wealth of the landowners, especially those that were driving the economy…economists have never been able to work with nature. Minimise the amount of hard surfaces on the ground. Water that falls from the sky habitually has a tendency to soak into the soil where it benefits invertebrates, fungi, plants, trees and shrubs, as well as algae, bacteria and soil critters. The moment you create hard surfaces, you’ll create flooding down the line somewhere...which is why I think we need to de-seal our roads in suburbs where we can. Create wildflower areas. I have never understood the use of lawns. Monocultural deserts of green nothingness and with very little biodiversity. Petrol-driven lawnmowers are noisy and time consuming. In a wild-flower meadow all you may need to do, from time-to-time, is cut some ‘pathways’ in between the meadow full of flowers. Besides, how cool would it be for the All Blacks to play their matches in a wildflower field? Practice pest control with organic technology. Life-friendly chemistry is a heck of a lot healthier for the applicator, the garden and the planet. Allow predators, parasites and pathogens to do the balancing job for you! You’ll never eradicate a problem critter or fungus – nature often operates on a control system, whereby balances are restored naturally. Be nice to your birds, insects and fungi. Not every bug you find is automatically a pest. In fact, most of them are very useful indeed. Biodiversity is not just a few species that linger in your garden – it’s a massive number of organisms that form a complex ecosystem. That system grows your plants, it cleans the air and the water, nurtures the soil and feeds you through the vegetables you grow. Look after your soil. It’s what grows everything! Use compost to add organic matter - don’t use PEAT! That stuff will make clay a lot more friable and better draining. It also allows sand soils to hold water more efficiently. That black organic matter also gives nutrients for the plants a place to ‘sit on’, so they can be released slowly. Avoid plastic if you can…pots, tags, plant ties and tray. Plastic has slowly become the material that will never go away from our natural areas. As it erodes it becomes smaller and smaller and smaller and those particles finally become molecular in size – invisible, but still present. There are stories of molecular plastic in the oceans, eaten by fish – and eaten by us. The molecular plastic often has positive and negative ions that link up with viruses and other disease-like organisms – imagine: plastics being the carriers of our pathogens! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/23/20213 minutes, 43 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Google's Pixel 6 will debut the Google made chip

Google's Pixel 6 will debut the Google made chipJust like Apple, Google's flagship phone will now have a chip made to blend the software and hardware in a full Google experience. They say it's designed to be 80% faster than the Google Pixel 5, offers more accurate speech to text, and better image processing. They've got a three camera array on the back of the device in a horizontal strip, offering a 4x optical zoom.But to me, the coolest thing about the release is their features for calling customer service lines.They'll be able to tell you how long a call to the bank, or an airline is going to take before you even dial. They're using data from others users, like on Google Maps, to help provide these insights. Didn't quite catch what option you're meant to press for a new account? They'll display the options on your screen.Facebook to change its nameThe corporate company will be named something different to Facebook, which will still be the name of the 'big blue' app. Google did something similar when they created a parent organization called Alphabet.Apple's Macbook Pro will now have a notchJust like the iPhone, the laptop's will now have a camera that drops down into the screen. Apple did that on the phone to offer FaceID, but that won't be on the laptops - which is kind of confusing. TouchID will remain, even though the touch bar is (finally) being ditched. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/23/20212 minutes, 47 seconds
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Tara Ward: Flying Doctor, Invasion and Good with Wood

Here are Tara Ward's picks for the week:RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service:  The beloved Australian drama from the 1980s is back for 2021. Based on remarkable real-life stories, RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service is a gripping new Australian action-drama that portrays the modern-day heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, starring Stephen Peacocke (Home and Away) (TVNZ1 and TVNZ OnDemand, from Monday). Invasion: Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos around them. (Apple TV+) Good with Wood: It’s like the Great British Bake Off, but for…woodworkers? Sure, why not. (TVNZ1 Fridays, and OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/23/20215 minutes, 13 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Lamb and A Glitch in the Matrix reviews

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Icelandic film Lamb and the documentary A Glitch in the Matrix. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/22/20217 minutes, 39 seconds
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Kevin Milne: the joy of daily newspapers

Kevin Milne recently won a competition for the Dominion Post to be delivered to the door for a month. He speaks to Jack Tame about how it's reminded him and his wife of the joys of a daily newspaper. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/22/20216 minutes, 1 second
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Hannah McQueen: Enable Me Founder says Government's announcement was a 'dogs breakfast'

The Government is providing up to $940 million per fortnight to support businesses through the challenging Delta outbreak, particularly those in Auckland.Enable Me's Hannah McQueen told Jack Tame the Government's announcement yesterday was a dogs breakfast."There is a misunderstanding around what small businesses need at the moment."She said the business support package is "too little too late".Hannah McQueen is available at www.enable.me  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/22/20215 minutes, 55 seconds
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Mike Dawson: Extreme kiwi kayaker's award-winning documentary on Africa's wild Kwanza River

Mike Dawson is the definition of an adrenaline junkie. Not only is he a former Olympian and New Zealand's best in the canoe slalom, he's also an extreme kayaker.He speaks to Jack Tame about his award-winning documentary of his treacherous trip down Africa's Kwanza River - facing crocodiles, landmines and stand-offs with police. Watch Mike’s award winning documentary Kwanza - The Drowning Diamond of Angola.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/22/202112 minutes, 51 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Easy long-weekend pizza

It’s the long weekend and you feel like pizza but you really can’t be bothered with the whole rise the dough phase or making a tomato base sauce. No problem – this easy mushroom pizza is an absolute doddle to whip up in under 30 minutes. Get to it! Makes one large pizza Base dough 150g self-raising flour 80mls water ½ teaspoon sea salt Topping 2 cups sliced mushrooms 1 tablespoon butter or oil 1 tablespoon each fresh thyme & rosemary ½ cup creme fraiche ¼ cup grated parmesan Pinch salt and decent grind black pepper Heat oven to 240 C fan bake. Mix all the dough ingredients together in a bowl until it forms a soft dough ball. Turn out and knead for 2 minutes only, then leave it to relax. Fry the mushrooms butter or oil and herbs for 5 minutes or so. Mix creme fraiche, cheese, salt and pepper together. Roll dough out to about 20-25cm circle and transfer to a lightly oiled tray. Spoon over creme fraiche mixture and spread evenly. Tumble over mushrooms. Drizzle over some oil. Place on the very bottom of your oven and bake for 10 minutes or until crispy and golden.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/22/20213 minutes, 14 seconds
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Jack Tame: Vaccine Certificates should have been ready months ago

Vaccine certificates are about to become a big part of our lives. In much the same way we use the Covid-19 Tracer App to scan-in at different premises, we’ll be scanning the QR codes on our vaccine certificates almost everywhere we go. Under the government’s new traffic light plan, hospitality and retail businesses have massive incentives to demand proof of vaccination from all of their customers. Personally, the certificates make a lot of sense. They’ll make it safer for people to gather in groups and they’ll incentivise some vaccine hesitant people to go and get the jab. But when will they actually be ready? A month ago, when Grant Robertson first confirmed the government was planning to use certificates, he said they’d aim to introduce them at the start of November. Two weeks later, Dr Ashley Bloomfield had a different date in mind. The vaccine certificates, he said, should be ready in ‘late November.’ Yesterday, the timeline appeared to change again. ‘From mid-December, everyone in New Zealand should be able to access a digital vaccination certificate,’ said the official Covid-19 website. After the discrepancy in dates was questioned, the wording on the Covid-19 website was promptly changed. ‘From later this year, everyone in New Zealand should be able to access a digital vaccination certificate,’ it said. Then, late last night the website changed again, this time to ‘the end of November.’ So, is it mid-November, late-November, or mid-December that vaccine certificates in New Zealand will be downloadable and fully-functional, where an individual’s QR code can be scanned and cross-checked against a national database while protecting their private medical information? I might be accused of splitting hairs except for a couple of reasons. If we take the latest of those different dates and vaccine certificates aren’t fully functional until mid-December, there’s a chance Auckland’s DHBs will reach the golden 90% vaccination threshold before the certificates are ready to go. But fundamentally, if you think I shouldn’t be quibbling over four or six weeks, you’re right! It’s astonishing New Zealand doesn’t have a fully-functional vaccine passport system already developed and tested. Almost every developed country has a system in place. Israel launched its vaccine passport system in February. New York introduced vaccine passports in March. As National’s Chris Bishop pointed out yesterday, Cuba has a vaccine passport system. Burkina Faso has a vaccine passport system! But as recently as the start of August, in an interview with The Herald’s Claire Trevett, Jacinda Ardern ruled out using vaccine passports in New Zealand. This was at a time when New South Wales was already recording hundreds of new infections a day. Naivety or hubris? Why wouldn’t New Zealand need vaccine passports when everyone else did? What makes us so special? At the very least, the delay points to complacency. The development of a domestic vaccine passport system should have been a priority from the moment we placed our order with Pfizer, even if it later proved New Zealand never needed to use it. That vaccine certificates aren’t already functional tells us officials did not sufficiently prepare for a scenario in which New Zealand couldn’t eliminate the virus. We’ve been caught flat-footed with vaccine certificates because we thought we were different to everyone else. We thought we were better. We were wrong. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/22/20214 minutes, 19 seconds
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Screentime: Succession, Angela Black and Bad Sport

Tara Ward joins Jack Tame to discuss the latest in television and streaming series'.Here are her picks for this week:Succession: At last, season three of the award-winning drama about an American global-media family comes to Neon. The Roy children rich, they’re powerful and they’re powerfully dysfunctional, and they’re all fighting for control of their father’s media empire amid his declining health (Neon, from 18 October).  Angela Black: Joanne Froggatt stars in this dark British thriller about a woman - who on the outside appears to have it all - but is hiding a life of domestic abuse and decides to fight back (TVNZ OnDemand).  Bad Sport: True crime and sports intersect in this Netflix docu-series that examines global sporting controversies and scandals with firsthand accounts from those involved.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/16/20215 minutes, 35 seconds
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Latest music: Shihad return with a new album

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to rocker's Shihad and their new album.She joins Jack Tame to discuss the Kiwi band's latest work.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/16/20215 minutes, 13 seconds
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Movie reviews: The Alpinist and The Donut King

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin speaks to Jack Tame about a pair of films, one in the cinemas in The Alpinist, and one available on streaming services in The Donut King.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/16/20216 minutes, 51 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Great new reads for the Armchair Traveller

With the prospect of international travel remaining a hopeful but still distant aspiration, and much of the country straight-jacketed by Covid-19 alert travel restrictions, satisfying your wanderlust can feel rather problematic at present. But whether you’re itching for some great escapism in prose, or staking out some travel-related Christmas gift ideas, here’s a round-up of some excellent new release books that will satisfy and stimulate your travel cravings.Gone Bush is Paul Kilgour’s first-hand account of life in the New Zealand backcountry and beyond. It’s the inspiring story of a wanderer, long-distance tramper and hut-bagging legend. Paul Kilgour was bitten by the tramping bug early. He began going on epic trips as a young boy, beyond the North West Auckland farm and out along the coast.During these wanderings, he met old folk living simply in tiny huts out the back of farms and on clifftops, and swaggers walking in remote and beautiful locations. Even at that early age, deep inside Paul stirred the spirit of adventure and a longing to go further. And further he went.Gone Bush is about a lifetime of walking the backcountry – Paul has clocked up 50 years of it. He tells stories of the eccentric characters he met along the way, some of the 1200 huts he’s visited and his most unforgettable journeys. In 2007 and 2008, Kilgour walked the length of the South Island – his long walk home – an epic 1550-kilometre tramp from Fiordland to Golden Bay via backcountry huts and off-track routes. Gone Bush is a charming, meandering read – like setting off on a serene tramp in the mountains, a heavy frost underfoot and the sun on your back.The Wild Twins is the real-life story of Amber and Serena Shine on strength, survival and a lifetime seeking adventure. From their first steps, the twins set out from their family farm in rural Waiuku with the bush and mountains in sight. Together they've run the world's highest marathon on Mount Everest, walked jaguars in the Amazon, sailed treacherous seas from Hawai'i to San Francisco, navigated ice falls while climbing Mount Cook, raced 322 kilometres on a dogsled, and survived naked in the African wilderness for twenty-one days on the hit Discovery show Naked and Afraid.In The Wild Twins, Amber and Serena share their most extreme achievements, the secrets behind their strength and endurance, and advice on living life to its fullest. With go-getter attitudes, perseverance and fearlessness, these inspiring sisters are all about getting outdoors and reaching your potential - returning home covered in mud and with a story to tell.Amber and Serena Shine were born and raised in a small rural town in the North Island of New Zealand. Together and apart, they have lived, explored and adventured abroad while juggling careers, from the New Zealand Army to Australian mining, Alaskan dog sledding and much more. Their love of the outdoors keeps them constantly adventuring – they have taken on mountains, sailed across the Pacific and survived in the wilderness, to name a few. They are passionate about inspiring others through their experiences, adventures and life philosophies. This is their first book.The Spirit of Cardrona is a stirring business story about a young woman who pursued her unlikely dream of setting up a world-class distillery in Cardrona. It is the story of Desiree Reid-Whitaker’s upbringing, of her persistence and resilience, of overcoming life’s trials, tribulations and natural shyness, to succeed on a path-less-travelled. Desiree spent two and half years visiting the world’s greatest whisky distilleries and learning from some of the world’s great masters before risking all she had to make her dream a reality. Her quest to produce a single-malt whisky that would compete with the best whiskies in the world is a classic story of Kiwi persistence, self-sacrifice and dedication to excellence.The Spirit of Cardrona. (Photo / Harper...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/16/20216 minutes, 41 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Snails and Slugs - Escargot, Anyone?

Slugs and snails are a real pest in the garden at this time of the year - moisture and new plant growth encourages them, while egg shell barriers don’t work at all. Control measures that work: Weed control will expose them to predators such as thrushes. Give your local song thrush an ‘anvil’ to smack the shells of snails on - a large flat (decorative!) rock is perfect. Using bait pellets in a pottle dug into soil. Try a take-away container with the lid on and bait inside. Cut holes in the side of the container to let slugs and snails in but prevent dogs and cats from getting at the bait. An alternative version is to use some off-cuts of plastic waste-pipe - 15-30 cm long and a diameter of 50 to 75 mm. This allows access for slugs and snails but not to birds. Put some bait in the pipes and anchor them down with a heavy brick. They also love to hide in half grapefruit skins (upside-down). Encourage Carabid Beetles (ground beetles) - they often feed on slugs, snail juveniles and eggs. (Photo / Ruud Kleinpaste)‘Hunt-and-kill evening’ with the kids (at full moon?) – always a good excursion after dinner. Grab a headlight and a bucket to collect them in…night sleuthing! Remember: these hermaphrodites can produce a few hundred eggs each! Reducing populations now makes good sense. Trapping – under cloth, planks and other artificial cover. Slugs and snails love that cover as it increases relative humidity and stops them from drying out. Around the wooden outside of raised beds place a strip of copper foil, almost all the way around, plus a sizeable six-volt battery providing power to both ends of the copper strip. This creates a nice current that they are reluctant to cross and it protects your vegies/seedlings. In France the brown garden snail (originally from North Africa) is the second-preferred species of escargot for human consumption. Collect the fattest ones and eat them! That will make you an INVASIVORE. Escargot - pourquoi pas? Cantareus aspersus is, to us, an exotic species of snail. It is commonly accepted that it was introduced to New Zealand by the French around the early 1860s. The reason for this is really simple - the brown garden snail is highly prized as escargot in the Mediterranean region. In fact, it has always been the preferred back-up for the slightly larger but closely related vineyard snail (Helix Pomatia). Recently I read that European populations of Cantareus have become depleted as a result of non-sustainable over-harvesting of wild specimens. These days the species is the subject of heliciculture, the captive rearing of these delicacies, also known as snail farming. I suppose there may be a few people out there who can set aside the horrific idea of eating invertebrates (quelle horreur!) and who would like to be part of the latest ecological craze of harvesting a truly wonderful resource that yields fat-free, cholesterol-free protein from the comfort of your own back yard. I have tried this recipe many times and demonstrated it on live television with consenting adults (Good Morning Show) and absolutely wildly enthusiastic kids (What Now?). Snail control á la Gourmet involves collecting the finest, fittest and fattest garden snails from the threatened garden areas. Put them in big jars and "starve" them for four to five days on old white bread. This ‘starving’ is an important procedure. As you will undoubtedly remember from experiments carried out at your primary school's nature table, the snails have a habit of excreting dark stringy poopy-plops. I think it's time to inform you of the fact that these dark stringy...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20214 minutes, 12 seconds
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Sonya Wilson releases teen adventure book 'Spark Hunter'

New Zealand author Sonya Wilson has released a teenage fiction book called Spark Hunter - an epic Kiwi adventure-fantasy and story of survival in Fiordland, one of the world’s last great wildernesses.Sonya has been speaking to Jack Tame about her first novel.(Photo / Supplied)LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20217 minutes, 33 seconds
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Kevin Milne updates his three strikes law story

Kevin Milne updates Jack Tame on a story he told him last year about a man with mental health issues, who had been sent to jail for seven years under the three strikes law for kissing a stranger on Cuba St, Wellington.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20214 minutes, 51 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Chocolate and plum ripple cake

Nici Wickes joins Jack Tame, bringing to the table her recipe for a delicious chocolate and plum ripple cake.LISTEN ABOVEA little cake for a big celebration.Layer cakes don’t have to be just for large groups of people. This small celebration cake is perfect for 2-4 people but it still screams ‘show stopper’! Serves 2-4 2/3 cups self-raising flour 2 tablespoon cocoa ¼ teaspoon baking soda Pinch salt 50mls neutral cooking oil, I use grapeseed oil 50mls natural yoghurt 1 small egg 1/3 cup white sugar 1 heaped tablespoon brown sugar 75mls strong coffee or hot water Filling 300mls cream 1 tablespoon icing sugar 4 tablespoons plum puree (I used tinned Black Doris plums, pureed) 70g white chocolate  Preheat oven to 170 C fan bake. Grease and line a two 10cm springform tins. Place all the ingredients up until the coffee or hot water in a bowl beat to just combined. Add the coffee/hot water and beat for one minute. Scrape into the prepared tin. It’s quiteliquidybut don’t worry.  Reduce oven temperature to 160 C and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Once cooked, allow cake to settle for 5 minutes in the tins before removing and allowing to cool completely. If the cakes have domed up (most likely) cut to a flat top and then halve each cake through the middles so you have 4 layers in total. Finely chop or use a food processor to break down the chocolate to a crumb. Whip the cream with icing sugar to stiff peak stage. Gently fold in the plum puree and 2 tablespoons of the white chocolate crumb, so it’s marbled throughout the cream. The trick to getting the swirls is not to overmix it. To assemble: Layer cake with plenty of cream and finish with a shower of chocolate crumb. Chill for an hour or longer to setLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20213 minutes, 52 seconds
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Yotam Ottolenghi: New book Shelf Love and raiding the kitchen cupboards

Yotam Ottolenghi is the trailblazing Israeli-born, British chef whose name has become a cooking style of its own.He spoke to Jack Tame about his new cookbook, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love and raiding the kitchen cupboards to cook with what's on hand.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/202114 minutes, 17 seconds
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Jack Tame: Super Saturday is super Kiwi and I'm here for it!

I’ll be frank.If you’re due for one of your vaccination shots and you PAY for a coffee today...well, sorry, but you’re an idiot. Because no matter where you are, in what corner of this wonderful country of ours, I can pretty much guarantee you that a vaccination centre near your place is giving away free coffees to everyone who gets the jab today.Call it double shots for double shots! I’ve gone through the plans in every single DHB in the entire country and my main takeaway for Super Saturday is that we are in for some serious caffeine crashes.If you need something to compliment your Java Jive on this most Kiwi of occasions, the good news is New Zealand has the smorgasboard to match.Cromwell Pharmacy has home baking. Life Pharmacy on Manners Street has free donuts. Newton School has Halal sausages and in Rotorua they’ve cooked up hangi. Get the pfizer, see a geyser!Actually, one of the things I enjoyed while researching all of the Super Saturday events was playing ‘match the free food to the DHB'.Guess where you’d find the vaccination centre offering a free ‘big block’ of Whittakers chocolate. And be advised, they actually go out of their way on the District Health Board website to clarify it’s definitely a big block of Whittakers. That’s in Lower Hutt.Where would you get delicious bacon and egg fry bread? Moturoa in Taranaki.What Rotary Club is putting on coffee and a slice? No word if it’s ginger or caramel or tan, but you know it’s gonna be delicious coming from the fine bakers in Whanganui.Free icecream? Greymouth, baby.Here you go... guess this one: Where can you get a vaccine and a free glass of refreshing, lightly-carbonated, gut-friendly kombucha? That’s at Wellworks Pharmacy in Wellington, of course.You get vaccinated on an Air New Zealand jet. There are competitions galore. If you’re in Hawkes Bay you can win an iPhone. If you’re in up North in Whananaki you can win a stay at a fancy resort. If you’re in Richmond you can get free tickets to the speedway. In Dunedin if you get vaccinated, you can win a wax treatment. Increased viral resistance AND a pubic spruce! Two birds with one stone.It’s easy to be facetious about all of this stuff. It’s easy to mock Super Saturday and the Vaxathon. Maybe it feels a bit silly to you. I must admit, the pragmatist in me wonders how many people who haven’t had a jab yet are going to be won over by a vaxathon. And after all, it’s the first jabs that matter most in the battle for vaccination.But today, on Day-whatever-it-is of lockdown in Auckland, I’ve made a conscious decision to be positive. Super Saturday is about more than just jabs. It’s bigger than that. It’s an occasion to unite us a bit. A common cause at an extremely stressful time.And fundamentally, I think we should do whatever it takes to get as many people vaccinated as possible. Whatever it takes. If that means a few thousand coffees and chocolate bars and Mr Whippy soft serves, good! If someone is incentivised to be vaccinated by a chance to rip some unwanted hair off their nether regions, a sack-back-crack-wax-and-vax, great! If it means watching Ashley Bloomfield get dunked in a vat of congealing gunge, fantastic!And if all of that stuff still isn’t enough to incentivise you to get vaccinated, maybe the less silly stuff will get you or someone you know over the line.In most cases, one vaccine dose will keep you alive. Two vaccine doses will keep you out of hospital. They’ll help to keep your family safe. Your friends. Little kids who can’t be vaccinated. It’s the safe thing to do. It’s the civic-minded thing to do. It’s the Kiwi thing to do. And whether we’re vaccinated or not... the virus is coming.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/15/20215 minutes, 8 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Melissa Etheridge's album One Way Out

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to US rocker Melissa Etheridge's album One Way Out.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/9/20214 minutes, 17 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Facebook Outage Shows How Reliant We Are

Paul Stenhouse joins Jack Tame to talk about the major Facebook outage on Monday that left many unable to access the social media giant, along with Instagram and WhatsApp.Monday's Facebook outage showed just how big Facebook's footprint is Monday's outage, which disconnected Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApps's servers from the internet, showed just how reliant we are on this private service. Families couldn't text each other, news couldn't get out, businesses lost revenue, others couldn't sign into their smart TVs because they used Facebook's login system. It was pretty extensive. This outage was caused by a single engineer making an error. Frances Haugen - the Facebook whistleblower who was testifying on Capitol Hill - would say that the country had never been safer.  The questions have popped up again this week... Should all these services, which are now basically digital infrastructure, be more regulated? Should they all be allowed to be supported by the same data centres? The biggest question - should Facebook be allowed to be one company?  Snapchat wants to get young people running for office They've created a series of mini-apps inside Snapchat to showcase positions in local government which match your interests, such as the environment, or education. They connect you with an organisation to help you get the resources you need. The app also lets you suggest positions to friends, then when you decide to run, of course let you help engage your network to get to the polls. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/9/20213 minutes, 32 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How Men Can Build More Love in Relationships

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool joins Jack Tame, and has some tips on how men can build more love into their relationships.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/9/202110 minutes, 4 seconds
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Tara Ward: Maid, Murder at the Cottage and Great Kiwi Bake Off

Tara Ward joins Jack Tame to talk about the latest in television and streaming series'.Maid: An American drama about single mother Alex, who turns to housecleaning to make ends meet as she escapes an abusive relationship and overcomes homelessness to create a better life for her daughter, Maddy (Netflix). Murder at the Cottage: A true crime docuseries that examine the murder of French TV producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork, Ireland in 1996. Discovered brutally murdered at her holiday cottage, the murder rocked the quiet Irish town and 25 years later the case remains a mystery (Neon). Great Kiwi Bake Off: In cheerier news, the feel-good baking show is back for a new season, this time on TVNZ1. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/9/20214 minutes, 11 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: What is Osteoarthritis?

Our resident doctor Bryan Betty has been talking to Jack Tame about osteoarthritis which affects 10% of the population.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/20215 minutes, 23 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Magnificent Stays in the Mackenzie Country

Hankering for a blissed-out wilderness escape to blow out the cobwebs in the Mackenzie and savour wide open spaces? The year-round beauty, glorious topography and sweet seclusion of the Mackenzie powers its magnetic appeal. Here’s a recommended line-up of tried and tested signature wilderness stays to stimulate your senses and leave you feeling refreshed and revived. Just four hours’ drive south-west of Christchurch, Aoraki/Mt. Cook is permanently cloaked in a glistening snow coat – even in the height of summer, so the promise of postcard scenery is all part of the package. In fact, much of the Mackenzie region, which enjoys an altitude over 700 metres above sea level, boasts snow-draped landscapes deep into spring.Proudly New Zealand & family owned, the Hermitage Hotel, Aoraki/Mount Cook is a hotel legend with a stirring history spanning 137 years. The first Hermitage was built in 1884, under the direction of Frank Huddleston, who was appointed ranger for the Mount Cook area because of fears that local vegetation would be destroyed by grazing and burning. This initial accommodation house was set near the base of the Mueller Glacier, beside White Horse Hill. Successive building took shape to cater to the swelling demand, with the latest addition being the spectacular high-rise Aoraki wing, that took shape 20 years ago. The present Hermitage looks out past White Horse Hill to the Hooker Valley and Mount Cook.Exterior of the Hermitage Hotel. (Photo / Hermitage)The Hermitage is an unrivalled base to intimately explore the natural wonders of the national park, with a variety of accommodation, dining and activity options. The on-site Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre comprises a museum and theatre, lustily showcasing the colourful history of Aoraki/Mount Cook, our most famous adventurer and the backstory of this illustrious hotel. Hillary was involved in the development of the centre before his death and don’t miss the statue of Hillary permanently gazing towards Aoraki/Mount Cook, one of his favourite peaks, stands outside the hotel. The ascent of Mount Cook’s difficult south face in 1948 was Hillary’s first great mountaineering achievement, and also became the training ground for his Everest triumph five years later and subsequent Antarctic expeditions. Enjoy some cinematic alpine thrills in the custom-designed theatre, which also includes a Digital Dome Planetarium. Dine in style in the Panorama Room, for an a la carte dinner experience, where locally-sourced New Zealand cuisine is paired with premium views of Aoraki.You can’t go wrong with the Mt Cook Alpine Salmon Chowder or Mount River Farms Venison Loin. Book a Premium Plus room, on the 9th and 10th levels of the Aoraki Wing, for an elevated and unobstructed perspective on the mountain magic. Even the chronically lazy can feel at one with the scenic splendour from this pampered perch.Routinely decorated as New Zealand’s greatest day walk, the Hooker Valley Track is a gentle 3 hour jaunt. Leading up the valley with unbelievably good viewpoints like Alpine Memorial, you’ll traverse golden tussocks, swing bridges, get up close with the Mueller and Hooker Glacier, and be rewarded with celestial views of Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps. In summer, the added spectacle of wildflowers like the famed Mount Cook buttercup, heighten the spectacle.Interior of the Hermitage Hotel. (Photo / Hermitage)I also love the Kea Point Track, which starts from The Hermitage, and can be easily knocked off within 2 hours. It’s also a relatively flat walk, emblazoned in golden tussock and subalpine grasslands, leading you to the Mueller Glacier moraine wall. The walk culminates with a close-up panorama of Mt. Sefton, The Footstool, Aoraki and the Mueller Glacier lake. As I experienced, the monastic silence is only pierced by the thunderous booms of calving ice, breaking away from the glacier at its terminal.Another must-do walk is in the...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/20216 minutes, 35 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Codling moth caterpillars in apples

Codling moth caterpillars in apples are a real nuisance: the young caterpillars tunnel straight into the developing tiny apple (known in old English language as a “codling”) and consume the growing fruit and seeds that form inside. It’s not nice to bite into one of those caterpillars! To keep the caterpillars out of your crop there are a few tricky things you can do. The first thing is to employ a codling moth pheromone trap. This often triangular contraption has a sticky base and a small rubber cap full of artificial pheromone, that leaks a good dose of sex-attractant for the local male population. The guys will get very excited about this smell and literally race towards the trap, while preparing for the mating sequence in mid-flight. Of course, it all ends in tears for the poor blokes as they may find themselves stuck with their Family Benefit on the sticky surface. The technical term for this is "mating disruption". But it also allows us to precisely time the peak mating flight period of the first generation – about now to late October! Approximately 10 days after peak flight the resulting eggs will hatch and it’s time to put a spray on your apple trees. Traditionally it was the organophosphates (maldison) and carbamates (carbaryl); these days (without those insecticides) it could be Yates Success or Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki - a bacterial gut disease of caterpillars). They’ll work to stop the caterpillars in their tracks, but they are not always 100 percent effective in preventing the caterpillar to start the tunnelling, still causing some damage and rots. These days there's a codling moth granulosis virus that will affect the small brutes before they enter the apple. The name of that virus-in-a-spray is MADEX 2. It is now available for home gardeners and not just for commercial growers. Have a look at your local garden centre or PGG Wrightson and Mitre 10 to see if they stock it. Last season I sprayed my apples with Madex from late-October until the end of February every two to three weeks and had no codling moth inside the hundreds of kilos of apples I harvested. Previous years – before using this technique - were an absolute disaster. Just be aware that crab apples and walnuts are also among the codling moths' favourite hosts so spray them as well with Madex 2. In the myth department: note that cardboard bands and grease traps around the apple trunk are an absolute waste of time. Just keep on monitoring those pheromone traps... and keep grinning! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/20215 minutes, 2 seconds
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Journalist Stephen Davis: British Airways Flight 149 was a "trojan horse"

On August 1 in 1990, British Airways Flight 149 departed Heathrow for Kuala Lumpur but it never made it. The flight stopped in Kuwait to refuel - the very same day Saddam Hussein invaded.The nearly 400 passengers and crew, including two Kiwis, were trapped by Iraqi soldiers and used as human shields.(Photo / Supplied)An explosive new book on Flight 149 called OPERATION TROJAN HORSE has been written by Kiwi journalist Stephen Davis. He’s uncovered proof that Margaret Thatcher authorised a team of intelligence officers to travel into Kuwait on 149 while all other flights were rerouted.Stephen Davis speaks to Jack Tame about his investigation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/202114 minutes, 46 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Versatile Picnic Tart

Nici Wickes joins Jack Tame to talk about a delicious recipe for a picnic tar, which she describes as a favourite and best served at room temperature, making it perfect for taking on a picnic.A PICNIC TARTThis tart is a favourite of mine and it’s good served at room temperature so perfect for taking on a picnic. Serves 6-8 2 sheets short crust pastry 3 eggs, beaten with a fork 200g cream cheese or crème fraiche, room temperature 1 cup roughly chopped herbs – any or all of parsley, coriander, basil ½ tsp sea salt + ground black pepper 1-2 zucchini, or use asparagus or broccoli, sliced thinly 75 g parmesan, grated Chutney to serve  Preheat oven to 180 C and place an oven tray in to heat. Grease a 26x34cm shallow roasting dish or tart tin. Press pastry into tin, moistening the joins and pressing firmly to seal. Trim edges. Whisk together eggs, cream cheese and seasoning. Add herbs. Pour into pastry case. Lay vegetable slices on top and sprinkle over parmesan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until set and pastry crust is crisp. Cool in tin. Wrap in a tea towel and take to the picnic!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/20214 minutes, 33 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Show Me Short, The Guilty and The Rose Maker

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin speaks to Jack Tame about the Show Me Short Film Festival, Netflix's The Guilty starring Jake Gyllenhaal and French film The Rose Maker.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/20216 minutes, 12 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Stunning photos of Mars, millions of miles away

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to talk about the latest pictures of Mars, taken by Perseverance.Images captured by the rover have allowed scientists to peer back in time at what Mars was like billions of years ago.Jezero Crater, the rover's exploration site on Mars, was a quiet lake 3.7 billion years ago. A small river fed into the lake, sometimes leading to flash flooding that was so energetic, it could carry large boulders from miles upstream and drop them into the lake. The massive rocks are still there today.These findings, which were published Thursday in the journal Science, come from the first scientific analysis of rover images that show outcrops of rocks inside the crater.The new information shows the importance of sending rovers to explore the surface of Mars. Previous images captured by orbiters had shown that this outcrop resembled the kind of fan-shaped river deltas we have on Earth. Perseverance's images show definitive proof of the river delta's existence.(Photo / CNN)"It helps us understand so much more about the water cycle on Mars," said Amy Williams, study coauthor and University of Florida astrobiologist, in a statement. "From orbital images, we knew it had to be water that formed the delta, but having these images is like reading a book instead of just looking at the cover. This is the closest I will ever get to going to Mars and doing this work in person. Seeing these rocks as I would in real life, looking up at them, is really staggering and really beautiful."When Perseverance landed at Jezero Crater on February 18, it was just over a mile away from the delta. Before the rover's wheels ever started rolling, it immediately began taking pictures and sending them back to Perseverance's science team on Earth -- like Martian postcards with high scientific value.The images showed tilted layers of sediment that were likely created by flowing water, rather than flat, even layers that would have been due to wind or other processes.The top layers of the delta outcrop include large boulders, some as wide as 3.2 feet (1 meter) across that likely weighed several tons. Given their location on the top layer of sediment, they had to have originated from outside the crater. The scientists believe they originated from bedrock on the crater rim -- otherwise, they came from 40 or more miles upstream of the lake.But flash flooding, flowing at a rate as high as 29.5 feet (9 meters) per second, could have carried them down."You need energetic flood conditions to carry rocks that big and heavy," said Benjamin Weiss, study author and professor of planetary sciences in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a statement. "It's a special thing that may be indicative of a fundamental change in the local hydrology or perhaps the regional climate on Mars."The fact that the large boulders sit on fine layers of tilted sediment also illustrates that the lake was largely calm until it was hit with flash flooding events before drying up. Then, billions of years of wind eroded away at the dry lake bed and delta."The most surprising thing that's come out of these images is the potential opportunity to catch the time when this crater transitioned from an Earth-like habitable environment, to this desolate landscape wasteland we see now," Weiss said. "These boulder beds may be records of this transition, and we haven't seen this in other places on Mars."While the cause of this shift in climate remains unknown, the rocks could tell the tale -- part of a larger story about why the Martian climate changed from warm and wet to cold and dry."If you look at these images, you're basically staring at this epic desert landscape. It's the most forlorn place you could ever visit," Weiss said. "There's not a drop of water anywhere, and yet, here we have evidence of a very different past....See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/20215 minutes, 35 seconds
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Jack Tame: We should use Vaccine Passports nearly everywhere

It couldn’t have been simpler.I logged into the new ‘My Covid Record’ website. A big banner up the top warned me the website is still under development and might have a few hiccups, but it was seamless for me. I entered my identification details and soon the confirmation stared me back in the face.Jack Renfrey Tame. As of Thursday October 7th, 2021, officially doubled vaccinated for Covid-19. I could show my name and a little QR code. My NHI number. Proof of vaccination. Easy as that.The development of a vaccine passport (or whatever you want to call it) is another little milestone in our response to Covid. In my opinion, it’s taken far too long to get to this point. The passport system should have been under development as soon as we ordered vaccines, if only as an insurance policy. Despite similar systems being used in countries all over the World. as recently as August Jacinda Ardern was ruling out a requiring a vaccine passport in New Zealand. But Delta and the drop-off in our vaccination rates has changed all that. At the very least, you’ll need confirmation of your vaccination status to attend big events over summer.Personally, I think we should go even further. With a few exceptions, all businesses and organisations should have the right to deny access to people who have chosen not to be vaccinated. We should allow legitimate medical exemptions. And regardless of their vaccination status, Kiwis should be able to access essential services. Everyone should be able to go to the supermarket or the doctor. But any discretionary venue – restaurants, cafes, theatres, libraries, retail shops, – should be allowed to demand proof of vaccination before letting someone inside.This is already the setup overseas. Two weeks ago, Brazil’s President staged a photo-op in New York, for which he ate pizza while standing on the sidewalk. As an unvaccinated person, he wasn’t allowed inside. But that was his choice. Good riddance, as far as I’m concerned.It’s important to note a vaccine passport system is quite different to a flat-out nationwide vaccine mandate. We won’t be forcing everyone to be vaccinated. You can still choose not to get the jab. But there will be consequences for the choice.The way I look at it, refusing a vaccine is a bit like smoking. As far as I’m concerned, you can choose to smoke a cigarette. The health impacts are well-documented, but that’s on you. However, the moment your choice impacts upon my health, the moment I’m sucking in second-hand smoke, we have a problem.Your freedom to smoke a cigarette in a restaurant impacts my freedom not to get lung cancer.The primary reason someone should get vaccinated is because the science is clear – vaccinations protect our health.But a person’s choice not to get vaccinated impacts us all. If someone’s not prepared to contribute to the greater good of society, why should they benefit from a society’s collective rewards?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/8/20213 minutes, 49 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Reb Fountain's new album - IRIS

Released Friday, New Zealand alternative folk artist, Reb Fountain’s 2021 record IRIS is the award-winning artist’s second release with Flying Nun Records. The perfect extension of her 2020 self-titled record, IRIS elevates Reb Fountain’s music to new heights. Reb effortlessly combines pop elements with her trademark noir folk-punk sound; weaving authentic and anthemic tunes that create an instant and indelible impression. Reb also has released the visual counterpart to this week's lead single, and title-track 'Iris'; the video directed and filmed by Lola Fountain-Best. IRIS is out now via Flying Nun Records on both black and turquoise vinyl, CD and digitally. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/2/20216 minutes, 4 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Great Pie & Pastry Stops on the NZ Highway

Mike Yardley has been taking a road trip to find New Zealand's best pie and pastry stop.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/2/20216 minutes, 59 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Three Sisters and Madhouse at the End of the Earth

Three Sisters, Heather Morris The breath-taking new novel from the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, based on a powerful true story of hope and survival. ‘I want you to make a promise to me that you will always take care of your sisters. That you will always be there for one another. That you will not allow anyone to take you away from each other, ever. Do you understand?’ When they are little girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to their father – that they will stay together, no matter what. Years later, at just 15, Livia is ordered to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Cibi, only 19 herself, remembers their promise and follows Livia, determined to protect her sister, or die with her. Together, they fight to survive through unimaginable cruelty and hardship. Magda, only 17, stays with her mother and grandfather, hiding out in a neighbour’s attic or in the forest when the Nazi militia come to round up friends, neighbours and family. She escapes for a time, but eventually she too is captured and transported to the death camp. In Auschwitz-Birkenau the three sisters are reunited and, remembering their father, they make a new promise, this time to each other: That they will survive. From Heather Morris, the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, which together have sold eight million copies worldwide, comes an astonishing new story that will break your heart, but leave you amazed and uplifted by the courage and fierce love of three sisters, whose promise to each other kept them alive in a place without hope. Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship’s occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness. In Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton unfolds an epic story of adventure and horror for the ages. Drawing on the diaries and journals of the Belgica’s crew and with exclusive access to the ship’s logbook, Sancton brings novelistic flair to a story of human extremes, one so remarkable that even today NASA studies it for research on isolation for future missions to Mars. Equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror, Madhouse at the End of the Earth is an unforgettable journey into the deep.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/2/20214 minutes, 1 second
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Sowing and Planting time!

My vege garden awaits the species that germinate from seeds…sowing is what you do right now. Peppers comprise the capsicum group. They go from the colourful reds, yellows, orange to the green “Bell” Peppers. My standard colour to a salad. The hotter members of the family are the chilli peppers. These plants require quite a good, high temperature to germinate, so there’s little point in sowing them outside while we still encounter cool nights. If you can give them more than 20 degrees Celsius you’re ahead of the game. Sow in pots or seed trays and don’t bury the seeds deeper than a centimetre. Seed-raising mix Not Too Wet! I often “mist” them with a water bottle, rather than “gluk-gluk- gluk” them with a watering can. All are relatively easy to grow and don’t require a lot of space. They’ll take at least 7 weeks before you can transplant them into a glasshouse, tunnelhouse or out in a frost-free environment outside. Staking is a good idea… let them “grow up”! They are Gross Feeders that would appreciate regular liquid fertiliser treatments when on their way. There are many varieties of Bell Peppers (check Kings Seeds catalogue!) some have a surprising range of colour mixes and keep an eye out for the smaller variety Jingle Belles. Chillies are very similar in horticultural treatment and they totally vary in “hotness”. They can even have flavours other than “oh-My-God”! If you’re not sure about their strength, get one of the macho male grandkids to pre-taste a little bit … That leads us nicely to YANG When you’ve been “done” by peppers or chillies or sambal (my parents schooled me in hot Indonesian food!) don’t drink water (or beer), but use yogurt or cucumber (or “ketimun”) to balance the fire attack in your mouth. Now’s a good moment to sow the seeds of cucumbers and we have a great range of choices here: Some great varieties on the market: My fave: Iznik F1 (see catalogue Kings Seeds) nice and small – just 10 cm long – easy in lunch boxes and you simply use the whole thing in one salad – no wrapping of remnants in the fridge. Lebanese are always useful as you eat them skin and all; spacemaster is a great producer. Diva F1 is another smaller variety and rather resistant to powdery mildew Green apple is a round cucumber; something different! And the gherkin-like Home-made Pickles is used to pickle them when still small Transplant in mid-November: Plant them in free-draining and fertile soil; keep them well- watered. My trick is to mulch the root-zone with at least 5 cm (pref: 10 cm!) of decent mulch – it keeps the subterranean roots nice and cool and stops too much evaporation To save space: plant them under a sturdy “trellis” in which they can climb up – help them along, from time to time by tying them up the structure. If you let them flop all over the ground they require a lot more room. I liquid fertilise them (like my tomatoes) every week or two: water and fertiliser at the same time! Selamat MakaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/20215 minutes, 12 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Finally, clarity around property investment tax

Finally, some clarity emerging about the changing rules on property investment taxation – given the Government this week released the draft legislation that will bring the rules into force.  The Governmentt originally announced that there would be changes about six months ago, but so much about them was unclear because it hadn’t actually been worked through (until now) – so it left a lot of people in a flap. It’s particularly relevant now, given that from tomorrow it will start costing most property investors more to own their properties, as the rules start to change in a phase out from October 1st. Enable Me now called ‘enable.me – financial strategy & coachingWebsite: www.enable.me LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/20214 minutes, 50 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Instagram for Kids is on hold

It was controversial since it was first announced, but now with Facebook's internal research on the harm Instagram is having on teens, a dedicated kids version is on hold. The app, with its photo filters and daily popularity contest, is a source of body image issues and depression. Instagram is in a tough spot because it knows kids under 13 are using the app, so wanted to create a dedicated version for 8-12 year olds that had more protections built in. But that then promotes the usage of the app for that age group. It certainly doesn't help that trust of Facebook seems to be at an all time low. Republicans and Democrats ripped into a Facebook executive testifying on Capitol Hill for not doing more to combat mental health issues in teens caused by its app, especially when its own research had highlighted the problem.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/20212 minutes, 37 seconds
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Sir James Dyson: Man behind vacuum empire on autobiography

Jack Tame has been speaking to a designer and entrepreneur worth around a reported $30 billion. His name, Sir James Dyson, is the giveaway. He’s the man behind the vacuum cleaner empire. He’s just released an autobiography called Invention: A LifeLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/202113 minutes, 4 seconds
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Tara Ward: Pact of Silence, Back to Life and Diana: The Musical

Pact of Silence: A new British thriller about the unexplained death of a young brewery boss and five friends bound together by a secret that will change their lives forever. What really happened that night in the woods? (TVNZ OnDemand) Back to Life: a second season of the British comedy about Miri Matteson, a woman who returns to life in her quiet hometown after 18 years in prison. In season 2, Miri is optimistic about her future, but can she survive a further descent into small-town madness? (TVNZ OnDemand) Diana: The Musical: Just when you thought they’d made all the TV shows they could about Diana, along comes the Broadway musical (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/20215 minutes, 42 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Ainbo, The Starling After and Ride the Eagle

Ainbo  In the spirit of Moana and Frozen, 'Ainbo - Spirit of the Amazon' is the epic journey of a young hero and her Spirit Guides, "Dillo" a cute and humorous armadillo and "Vaca" a goofy oversized tapir, who embark on a quest to save their home in the spectacular Amazon Rainforest.  The Starling After Lilly suffers a loss, a combative Starling takes nest beside her quiet home. The feisty bird taunts and attacks the grief-stricken Lilly. On her journey to expel the Starling, she rediscovers her will to live and capacity for love.  Ride the Eagle  Leif is left with a conditional inheritance when his estranged mother Honey dies. Before he can move into her picturesque Yosemite cabin, he has to complete her elaborate, and sometimes dubious, to-do list. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/20215 minutes, 51 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Your Generation and Mine

Kevin Milne talks to Jack Tame about the difference in their ages, what happened in his lifetime before Jack was born, and what's likely to happen in his lifetime after he's passed on - celebrating the span of their combined years.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/20217 minutes, 35 seconds
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Jack Tame: Good riddance to the cycleway

It’s official!Even if it comes as the least surprising news to anyone. Auckland’s $785m proposed cycleway across the harbour has been scrapped and the money allocated elsewhere.I say it’s unsurprising because from what I could tell, almost no one thought the standalone cycle bridge was a good idea. $785m! Even in the age of cheap money and rock-bottom interest rates, that’s a massive chunk of change. These sorts of projects never stay on budget.A few weeks after it was announced, I asked the late Michael Cullen for his thoughts.‘Folly!’ the former Finance Minister replied.‘The sooner they scrap it, the better.’One of the curious footnotes in the cycle bridge’s brief history is even most cyclists didn’t think it was a good idea. They actually hadn’t been asking for a standalone structure. Indeed, in conspiratorial circles, some felt that maybe the government had backed the idea as a way of fostering resentment against cyclists. A Newshub Reid Research poll in August found only 12% of respondents actively supported the idea. I wonder if even those people misunderstood the queston.Transport Minister Michael Wood has acknowledged there wasn’t the public support for the project to continue. Good on him for not trying to spin. I imagine it’s been a bit of a harsh political lesson, but I just hope the experience doesn’t put him off finding some cheaper pragmatic alternatives for helping cyclists get across the harbour.Because when you pause and think about it for a moment, it’s absolutely ridiculous that in 2021, cyclists and pedestrians can’t easily cross from the North Shore to the City and back again. At its closest, the gap is only a few hundred metres! You can swim it, for goodness’ sake! At a point in time when our roads are clogged, and we should be doing everything in possible to promote cleaner forms of transport, there’s no straight-forward option for cyclists to skip across the Waitematā.This solution was not the answer, but the core problem still exists and it’s more acute than ever.It’s a great shame that for some reason the debate over cycling infrastructure has become a mini culture war. Compared to roads, we spend embarassingly little on cycle lanes and dedicated infrastructure. After all, every person you get on a bike is a car you get off a clogged street, and emissions out of the atmosphere. It’s in motorists’ personal interests for more people to ride bikes!One of the silver linings of this lockdown is that in riding my bike around the city, I’ve felt safer than ever on the road. I pedal up Maungawhau Mt Eden for a bit of exercise. I head West for a few kilometres on the North West bike path, and I ride my bike to work. I won’t miss the cycle bridge, but whether it’s a dedicated ferry, a bike bus, or a roped-off lane over the current bridge on weekends, I’m looking forward to the day I can finally take my bike an explore the North Shore.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/1/20213 minutes, 48 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Does Lil Nas X live up to the hype?

Lil Nas X found fame with his country-rap Old Town Road, which ruffled the feathers of country purists who didn’t like his new take on the genre. It was released at the end of 2018, and it’s now joined with other tracks like a queer take on Dolly Parton’s Jolene in his new album Montero.   Estelle Clifford’s been sharing her thoughts with Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/25/20217 minutes, 46 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Beautiful World, Where Are You and What Comes After

Catherine Raynes has been reading Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney, and What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/25/20213 minutes, 46 seconds
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Mike Yardley: The Waitaki Lakes District

Travel writer Mike Yardley has some tips for travelling in the The Waitaki Lakes District.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/25/20217 minutes, 17 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Supporting a partner with depression

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been talking to Jack Tame about the best ways to support a partner who has depression.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/25/20218 minutes, 22 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: It's time to mulch and plant

Mulch and plant and plant and mulch… These are busy, busy, busy times in the garden. Even though we may still get some frosts here in the South Island, I am lucky to be able to chuck seed-trays and germinating plants in the tunnel house or, if I behave nicely, in Julie’s glasshouse.  But first, think ahead to summer. We often get seriously dry conditions here on the South Island’s East Coast. Grab yourself a heap of mulch, pea straw is often the go-to material down south. You can also use a load of good compost or a pile of last autumn’s dried leaves, compressed in an old wheely bin. Autumn leaves into leaf-mold.   You can also get a chipper that creates mulch from your pruning wood. I love my Hansa chipper, as it always allows me to keep the carbon “waste” and turn it into an investment for my soil. It won’t leave the property! Some mulch ends up in compost bin, coarse mulch is fabulous for the patches in the garden.  Mulch covers the soil, making it difficult for weeds to germinate and it keeps the moisture in the soil as it reduces evaporation. Think ahead to summer, remember! Reduce your water bill.What to plant in your garden? Well that’s up to you, really. My Julie is keen on beautiful flowers and stately plant forms. Late winter we had gorgeous violets all over the place (grown in shaded parts of the “woodland” garden). That garden was covered in mulch and also yielded plenty of hellebores, narcissus and tulips; in a month or two there will be blue Himalayan poppies. Now we’re seeing Amelanchier blossom contrasting with Chaenomeles flowers. On the other side of the garden our native Clematis is absolutely covering the old, dead trunk of an impressive birch. Clematis needs its “head” (the flowers) in full sun but the roots need to be in total shade, covered with at least 20 cm mulch, to keep it moist and cool.  If you haven’t got a great deal of room, consider creating a raised bed with some quality topsoil, covered with a decent layer of mulch to keep it from desiccating. Then you can grow carefully pruned fruit trees, beans and colourful silver beet in amongst your favourite ornamentals: Planning, mass-planting and mulching! START NOW!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20214 minutes, 43 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Prestigious grape variety at a rock-bottom price

This week Bob Campbell has been drinking Yalumba 2020 The Y Series Viognier $16.95.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20213 minutes, 35 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Microsoft's new Surface lineup is here

Microsoft's new Surface lineup is here for Windows 11 October 5th is launch day for Windows 11, and the the new range of Surface devices.  Their new lineup focuses even more on the design and creative aspects with a more responsive pen that includes haptic feedback to make it feel more like you're writing on paper. For the WFH era, there are upgraded mics and cameras.  Surface Pro 8  The tablet-first computer's display has smaller bezels and a faster refresh rate, it's got Thunderbolt 4 and upgraded Intel processors. The keyboard and pen are sold separatelyS  Surface Laptop Studio Their most laptop laptop is powerful enough for gaming and now has three 'modes' for using it.  There is the regular "laptop" mode where the keyboard is fully exposed. The laptop screen slides down over the keyboard to create "Stage" mode designed for presentations, gaming or watching movies.  The screen can then continue to slide to go flat in "studio" mode, so you can draw more easily. It's some very cool engineering.  Surface Duo 2 This is the follow up version to their dual screen Android-powered phone, that folds like a book. It can even turn inside out like a book too! The Surface Pen works with it to allow you to scribble notes and doodle on the go. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20214 minutes, 31 seconds
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Tara Ward: Vigil, The Morning Show and Reservation Dogs

Vigil: A tense new British drama that’s been called “Line of Duty in a submarine”. The mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and a death on-board a Trident nuclear submarine bring the police into conflict with the Navy and British security services (starts Sunday on TVNZ1, also on TVNZ OnDemand)  The Morning Show: Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carrell return for a second season about the behind the scenes dramas of an early morning television show (Apple TV+)  Reservation Dogs: Take Waititi’s new show is a comedy series about four Native American teenagers growing up on a reservation in eastern Oklahoma, who turn to crime as a way of escape (Disney+) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20214 minutes, 45 seconds
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Tami Neilson: The 'f word' of country music

Country Music has a lot of connotation, but one that might not come immediately to mind is feminism.  But it actually has a proud feminist past. And our very own country star Tami Neilson’s made that the centre of her new show, The F Word.   Partnering with Professor of Musicology Dr Jada Watson, she’s come up with a setlist of the Songs of Feminism in Country Music.   That’s songs like Dolly Parton’s 9-5, which was actually about sexual harassment in the workplace.   The tour’s supposed to start mid next month, but of course all hinges on Covid alert levels. But that uncertainty hasn’t stopped fans snapping up tickets. In fact she’s added another Auckland show during lockdown, showing there are still optimists among us.  Tami Neilson has been speaking with Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/202115 minutes, 30 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Flash fried asparagus & prosciutto

Flash fried asparagus & prosciutto  I’m prepared to spend good money on new season asparagus as it’s such a treat! It’s doesn’t need to be fussed with, just a lick of olive oil, flash fried in the pan and a few toppings and you’re away. This makes a such beautiful side dish, light lunch or dinner.  Serves 2   2 bunches asparagus  2 tablespoon olive oil + extra to serve  4 tablespoons currants, soaked in hot water 2 tablespoons pine nuts  2 tablespoons red wine vinegar  2 tablespoons 2-3 rashers prosciutto  4 tablespoons crème fraiche  Lemon juice  Salt and pepper to season  Snap tough ends off the asparagus spears – they will naturally snap where they need to. Pour boiling water over the spears and let sit while you heat a pan to medium-high. Splash oil into pan and transfer asparagus from boiling water into the pan. Cook until blistered in places and cooked though still firm to the bite. Drain the currants and toss these and the pine nuts into the pan along with the red wine vinegar. Briefly toss everything together then remove from the heat.  Spread crème fraiche onto a serving dish. Heap on the asparagus, top with the currants and pine nuts. Drape over the prosciutto, squeeze over some lemon and season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20213 minutes, 52 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: PIG and SAS: Rise of the Black Swan

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching PIG, a drama about a truffle hunter's missing pig, and Netflix's SAS: Rise of the Black Swan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20216 minutes, 44 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Stop the Covid negativity

Kevin Milne's getting sick of the relentless negativity about the way we've handled the COVID response.He's been speaking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20215 minutes, 24 seconds
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Jack Tame: Are you really that excited for McDonalds?

This is the first show I’ve broadcast in more than a month in which Auckland has been out of the dreaded Alert Level 4.And honestly, I thought this time, things *might* be different. I thought after more a month of sitting at home, more of us in the big city might have taken stock, kicked the habit, and set our aspirations a little higher for the move to Level 3. Aucklanders might have learnt from every one else around the country. A new start. A new dawn. A new opportunity to refresh our routines.But no. We all went to McDonalds and Burger King and Wendy’s and Carl’s Junior, and KFC, instead.Well, not all of us. I’m not trying to be all high and mighty but I haven’t had any of that Worldwide-franchisey-plastic-additivesy-supersize-me shit in almost fifteen years and I’ll be damned if a move to Level 3 was going to convince me to spend half an hour with an idling engine waiting for some chicken nuggets in a drive-through queue.What’s wrong with people? On Wednesday I could see queues down the street for my closest franchise. Addicts waiting for a fix! Honestly, big brand fast food franchise marketing has to be one of the greatest media swindles of all time. Because in case you haven’t noticed, the food’s really not that good.It’s ok I guess. A bit of sugar, salt, and saturated fat plus however many hundred additives. Call me old fashioned but I prefer my food to be prepared with ingredients, not random numbers.And before you accuse me of elitism, know this: I’m not a vegan. I’m not a health nut. I eat sugar and salt and saturated fat. But if I’m going to enjoy some takeaways as a bit of a treat, I’d much rather spend my money on a roti canai at the Malaysian hole-in-the-wall down the road, or on a scoop and a piece of cod at the local fish and chip shop. Independent small businesses need all the help they can get right now.I know we love to joke about it. Haha! Two guys got caught trying to smuggle buckets of K-Fry over the Auckland border. Hilarious. I just think sometimes the fixation is a bit... lame. Apparently health officials have been considering setting up a vaccination system at KFCs, Piza Huts, and Taco Bells. Part of me thinks it’s smart. Part of me thinks it’s funny. Part of me thinks it’s pretty sad state that there are apparently people in our society who would rather get a Cheesy Gordita Crunch than a vaccination for a deadly virus.I saw Population Nutrition Professor Boyd Swinburn on Breakfast this week, lamenting the fast food ‘culture of craving’ that has dominated Covid-19. I totally agree with him. It’s a conversation our society don’t really want to have and you shouldn’t need me to make this point: If you think Covid-19 puts pressure on our health system, just wait until you hear about bad nutrition!There are plenty of reasons I hope we never go back to Level Four. Plenty. Top of the list: I’m sick of people treating a quarter pack or a McChicken combo like a sweet sip of water after a long march through the desert.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/24/20213 minutes, 54 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New music from the Las Vegas rockers Imagine Dragons

Las Vegas rock band Imagine Dragons have released their fifth album: Act 1.  One review has said “There are a few songs you might like here, but a few you’ll violently hate”.  Estelle Clifford's been giving her thoughts to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/18/20216 minutes, 19 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: A Rodger Federer biography and The Turnout

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The long run and beautiful game of Rodger Federer by Christopher Clarey, and The Turnout by Megan Abbott.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/18/20214 minutes, 3 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Spring swing through the Wairarapa

Mike Yardley's got some tips for a spring swing through the Wairarapa.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20219 minutes, 47 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Organics week

This week is organics week, which is a chance to look at what organic actually means.   What is it good for us? It’s about what’s NOT in a product, rather than what is. Organic farmers don’t use synthetic chemicals including fertilizers, pesticides, weed sprays and antibiotics. The products are also free of GMOs and artificial ingredients. Eating organic drastically reduces your exposure to pesticides. Many studies have now shown the health risk from pesticides and especially important for pregnant women and children.  Why is it good for the environment? Organics creates less pollution, especially protecting the health of our waterways. Good organic soils store significant amounts of carbon which is so important in our fight against climate change.  But it’s too expensive! Latest research shows it’s only 7.5% more expensive than conventional food. And there’s ways to make it cheaper. Firstly, eat quality but less of it. For example the cheap chicken or bacon has a much higher water content. Being tricked into thinking you have more is rife in the grocery industry. You can also grow your own. Fresh vegetables, minutes from being picked out of your own organic garden, is like a health explosion. You won’t need those supplements if you eat fresh organic nutrient dense food.  It’s good for our economy. The Organic sector is a fast and sustainable growth area for NZ exports. Many countries are looking for safer foods.  How do you know if something is organic? Organics has an international certification system. Certified producers are audited every year by respected certifiers, who themselves are audited by international peers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20219 minutes, 49 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Pollinator-Friendly and beneficial Plants

This is a good weekend to get into the garden and plan ahead for crops and fruit...and gratis pest control. Fruit Trees and crops need pollinators. It pays to always have a mixture of useful pollen and nectar sources flowering when you want to attract pollinators to your garden. The idea is simple: have a little “meadow” of flowering plants that will anchor the native bees, flies, beetles, butterflies and moths to your patch. Insects do have a “memory” for where the best meals are to be found: pollen (protein) and nectar (sweet boost of energy).  But wait, there’s more! Quite a few of these insects are also good pest controllers of small sap-sucking and chewing critters on your crops, shrubs and trees. What they do is passive biological control. It’s a good strategy: instead of having to spray against the various pests on your plants, why not let the natural predators and parasites do it?  The animals you’d want to attract to your place are insectivorous birds, of course, like silvereyes. But they can only do so much, they are often quite omnivorous and will eat a range of insects: pests as well as beneficial insects! How about getting some specific parasitoids on board; small parasitic wasps that will lay their eggs inside the nuisance caterpillars, in mealybugs, scale in sects and aphids. These parasitoids need to feed as adult insects before they can mate and lay their eggs. Flowers with just the right mix of pollen and nectar will do nicely: it fattens up the parasitoids and keeps them in perfect condition. Some of the predacious insects (like larvae of hover flies, ladybird beetles) are also useful to have on your side. They, too, feed on pollen and nectar, especially in the adult stage! See the attraction? My friends at Kings Seeds have put together a wildflower blend called the Beneficial Insect Blend that contains phacelia, borage, buckwheat anise, coriander, bishops flower, anise, alyssum, cosmos, bergamot, anise hyssop and crimson clover. Some of these are true heroes when it comes to drawing in pollinators and beneficial insects.  Phacelia (blue Tansy) is great for predatory hover flies that devour aphids. Sow the seeds now, but watch out if this plant is getting a bit weedy in certain environments. Buckwheat is a nice small plant with white flowers. It fits in empty spaces and under fruit trees, in berry gardens and productive vegetable gardens and feeds parasitoids. Flowering Umbelliferous plants like corriander attract a wide range of beneficial insects. Alternatively, you can leave your parsley go to flower and “seed”, carrot flowers, Queen Anne’s lace and such nice umbels of flowers, are usually full of parasitoids and predators too. Anise, alyssum, bergamot do exactly the same stuff. Similarly: try some dill and fennel. Finally, there are a heap of native flowers that seem to be attractive to the beneficials. Hebe is such a flower, but also Manuka and Pohutukawa. Not something you’d sow and utilise within a few weeks or months, but worth thinking about for long-term planting to facilitate free pest control! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20212 minutes, 58 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Embracing lockdown laziness

Kevin Milne's been letting things slide - he's embracing his lazy side in lockdown.Kev's been speaking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20214 minutes, 54 seconds
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Tara Ward: American Rust, Scenes from a Marriage and Back to the Rafters

American Rust: Jeff Daniels stars in this compelling drama as complicated and compromised chief of police Del Harris (Daniels) in a Rust Belt town in southwest Pennsylvania (Neon).  Scenes from a Marriage: Adapted from Ingmar Bergman’s 1973 Swedish classic, and starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, Scenes from a Marriage re-examines the show’s iconic depiction of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage, and divorce through the lens of a contemporary American couple (Neon).  Back to the Rafters: The popular Australian family drama returns, picking up six years since we last saw the Rafter family. Dave and Julie have created a new life in the country with youngest daughter Ruby, while the older Rafter children face new challenges and Grandad Ted struggles to find his place (Amazon Prime Video). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20214 minutes, 35 seconds
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Michael Caton: The Castle and Packed to the Rafters star on his return to the screen

Iconic TV series Packed to the Rafters is back, and what else could it be called than BACK to the Rafters.  Most of the cast is back, including legendary Aussie actor Michael Caton who's back in his role as Grandad Ted.   If you don’t know the name Michael Caton, you’ll almost certainly recognise some of his most famous lines from the ‘97 film The Castle. He's been speaking with Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/202113 minutes, 24 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Kate, Schumacher, The Lost Leonardo

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has some flicks for those in lockdown, and those in level 2.Aucklanders can watch action flick Kate, and documentary Shcumacher on Netflix. If you're out of Auckland, she's been watching documentary The Lost Leonardo which is in cinema.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20217 minutes, 14 seconds
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Jack Tame: The most important week in our Covid response

I got up early, drove out to the airport, and joined the lines of cars slowly crawling between the big marquees.  It was simple. It was fast. The staff were friendly and efficient. It felt oddly momentous.  Significant. A bit like I feel when I cast a ballot on election day. One day I’ll tell my kids about the time I first got vaccinated for Covid-19. That’s the thing. We don’t just get vaccinated to protect ourselves. My jab wasn’t just for me. It was for older people who might be more susceptible to the virus. It was for the kids who aren’t yet eligible for the jab. It was for my nephew, Ren, and my niece, Elsie. It was for my colleagues. My friends. Anyone and everyone with a compromised immune system. My jab was for all of us.This is going to be one of the most important weeks in the history of our Covid-19 response. And not just because of Cabinet’s lockdown decision. This is one of the most important weeks because we’re at the point in the pandemic response where we’ve reached our absolute lowest barriers to vaccination. Our vaccination numbers over the next few days will give us the clearest insight yet about the levels of vaccine hesitancy in New Zealand, and our chances of reaching an 85% or 90% vaccination rate for the population. Think about it. As of today, anyone over the age of twelve can be vaccinated. For free. The safety and efficacy of the vaccines have been publicised widely for months. You don’t need a booking. You don’t even really have to queue. There are drive-in centres operating and mobile vaccines buses doing the rounds. With shipments from Spain and Denmark, we have absolutely no concerns about supplies of the Pfizer vaccine. Everyone in every part of the country has had a good taste of lockdown, so I don’t think the pandemic or the vaccination program will come as breaking news. You would hope that even the hardest workers or busiest parents, or people with mobility issues might have been able to work out how to get a jab. Of course, there will always be a few exceptions and people in tiny little remote places for whom access is incredibly difficult. But if eligible New Zealanders haven’t received at least one jab by the end of this week, what more can we do? In short: if not now, when?As for lockdowns, I don’t know what the powers-that-be will decide on Monday but it looks pretty likely Auckland will be moving down to Level Three. It tells us a few things. First of all, the tools for Covid-19 containment are a whole lot better than they were at the start of last year. More people are vaccinated. Contact-tracing and genomic sequencing make tracking the spread of the virus easier. Perhaps more than anything... we’re over it. The social contract is fraying. I don’t think we need opinion polls or comprehensive population analysis to confirm it. We feel it in our bones. People who’ve had kids at home for the last month are pulling their hair out. Parts of the country that haven’t seen Covid in more than a year are really sick of restrictions. If our politicians had the same risk tolerance as they did for Covid-19 during the lockdowns last year, there’s no way on Earth that Auckland would be shifting. But New Zealand is fed up. And the Prime Minister knows it.Some modellers think it’s quite possible we don’t get to absolute zero for Covid cases in the community for several weeks, if we ever get there at all. I know a lot of the cases are linked, but we are still seeing people with the virus active in the community. And even if we do stamp out this outbreak, it’s only a matter of time before we have another one. Hence... vaccines vaccines vaccines.If you’ve been holding off for whatever reason, what are you doing this morning? Treat it as an outing! Roll up your sleeve. Relax your bicep in the knowledge that you are contributing to the greater good.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/20215 minutes, 22 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New music from Halsey

Singer Halsey has a new album called “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ and it traverses a topic that’s not so common in pop music: Pregnancy and Childbirth.  Estelle Clifford’s been giving Jack Tame her thoughts.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/11/20216 minutes, 51 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Count the Ways, When Things are Alive They Hum

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard and When Things areAlive They Hum by Hannah Bent.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/11/20213 minutes, 26 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to hug your partner

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has some tips on how to get the most out of hugging your partner. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20216 minutes, 54 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Blooming in Christchurch

For those needing to stay a bit closer to home, Mike Yardley has some tips for spring festivities in Christchurch.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20218 minutes, 27 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Time to plant tomatoes

Tomatoes on track  Now’s a good time to start sowing your tomatoes in little pots, inside, so you can release them into the garden when it gets a bit warmer and when frost dangers have disappeared. You can also grow some suitable varieties in large pots or sizeable containers on the north-facing balcony.  Tomatoes come in many varieties and in two distinct growth strategies:  The Indeterminate varieties keep on growing to become long, long climbers… meters long, sometimes! In commercial glass houses, these vines are carefully “trained” to keep on growing on extensive support structures. Indeterminate tomatoes are usually grown in good garden soil and tied to climbing frames  The Determinate varieties do not become long vines, but are more like a bush that grows no higher than 50 centimeters and flops all over the place; they do not tend to need staking at all and are good for growing in large containers or patio pots  Some are adaptable to growing in hanging baskets, as their short-ish vines can simply hang down and produce their tomatoes on the vertical vine-lets.  A few things to be aware of when growing tomatoes in pots, containers or hanging baskets:  1) they use a heap of water (transpiration is key to good photosynthesis and production of sugars for the fruit.  2) Never let them dry out, because the root systems do not re-store themselves easily once they were allowed to dry out.  3) Use fruit/flowering fertiliser sparingly and perhaps best as a liquid fertiliser. “Small doses and often” is the key; do not use high-Nitrogen fertiliser as it will only promote a lot of leaf material and not much fruit!  4) keep the plants in good day light. Eight or more hours of sunlight per day is very good! (works on 6-10 hrs per day)  5) Use the best tub and container mix you can get: nice and friable with good drainage.  Get your seed sown: get a seed catalogue and select your chosen varieties to grow this year. Germination of seeds are best in temperatures of 21-24 degrees during the day (16 degrees at night) and don’t “bury” the seeds. Keep them in moist (not wet) seed raising mix, just below the surface of the soil. THEY WILL GERMINATE IN THE DARK!  Here are some cracker determinate varieties to look for: * Window box red specially bred for pots/containers; cherry tomato size * Baxter’s Early Bush is very compact too * Container Choice Red grows up to 60 cm and is a larger “beefsteak”-sized tomato * Patio Choice yellow F1 hybrid is a yellow cherry tomato: heaps of fruit on short, hanging branches; ideal for hanging baskets! * Best Boy Bush is something that keeps low and sprawls all over the ground. Should be good in large tubs. Produces red, medium sized tomatoes * Two rather cold-hardy varieties that would grow well in cooler climes: Oregon Spring is parthenocarpic and can self-pollinate when a short season doesn’t allow for many pollinators and Sub-Arctic Plenty was allegedly bred for the US military base in Greenland; very small plant, but tough as heck!  And some indeterminate varieties: * Artisan Blush did well for me, last year: stunning yellow/orange smallish fruit with a grand taste. * Chef’s Choice yellow is a nice, large yellow fruit – fabulous taste. Its stable mate Chef’s * Choice Green is brilliant too – you’ll quickly learn to tell when it’s ripe – green tomatoes can be a trick for young players! * My absolute all-time favourite and totally versatile variety is Tigerella. It ends up in salads and as the bulk of all my frozen tomato sauce packets * Andiamo is low acid and apparently great for Bolognes * A good, meaty and slice-able variety (large and ribbed) is Thessaloniki. My good friend Mike usually ends up with 80% of them for his Scottish tomato sandwiches. * If you are after smaller cocktail tomatoes (cherry tomatoes) try the standard F100 hybrid which seems to be a bit variable, sometimes. Mind you, on the other hand I have been getting some fabulous miracle off-spring from these cherry tomatoes and I w...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20214 minutes, 11 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Turnaround your finances in lockdown

Lockdown can be very financially damaging, especially for business owners. But for some people, it's a change to actually improve your finances. Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been been talking to Jack Tame, and explaining how you can make this happen. If you want more help, visit www.enable.meLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20214 minutes, 47 seconds
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Tara Ward: Turning Point, Halifax: Retribution and Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo

Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror - It's the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and there are plenty of 9/11 documentaries about the attacks on television this week, but his documentary series on Netflix goes deep into the history behind the attacks, documenting Al Qaeda’s roots in the 1980s to America’s response, both home and abroad (Netflix)  Halifax: Retribution:Rebecca Gibney returns as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax as she faces the most thrilling and dangerous case of her career, hunting down a killer terrorising an entire city (TVNZ OnDemand)  Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo:  In this Netflix reality series, Marie Kondo brings her joyful tidying tactics to people struggling to balance work and home life — and shares her own world. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20214 minutes, 32 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Amazon's making its own TVs

Amazon now has its own brand of TVs They want full control of the second most important screen in your home - the big one in your living room. After partnering with TV manufacturers with Fire TV collaborations, they're now branding TVs as their own. There's the Fire TV Omni and the Fire TV Series 4. The Omni model has a higher resolution screen and voice control. Even when the Omni is off, you'll be able to use it like an Alexa. The Fire TV Omni will integrate with your Ring doorbell so the moment someone pushes the button, their video will appear in picture-in-picture. Amazon says there are other smart home integrations coming too.  Spotify wants to make your playlists better If you've got a playlist that needs some new life, the new Enhance feature is for you. Based on the songs already in the playlist Spotify will recommend more music you should add. They'll appear in the list with a big green sparkle next to them to show they're auto-magically added, but you can make them permanent additions by clicking the plus button. You'll see the 'Enhance' button at the top of your playlists over the next month.  Microsoft admits it doesn't know when offices will reopen The Delta variant has forced companies to change their office mask policies and their return to office plans so many times that Microsoft has kind of given up. They've pushed their October 4th date seemingly indefinitely, not giving employees a new date to work with. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20211 minute, 58 seconds
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Elias Kanaris: A Kiwi's 9/11 story

Today is the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. The terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda killed almost 3,000 people, and countless more have died from the environmental impacts of being near the collapsed Twin Towers. The attacks prompted the invasion of Afghanistan, we all now know how that ended. They also changed the world as we know it. Can you remember the feeling of waking up that morning and hearing the news?   The attacks also upturned the lives of the thousands of people who were travelling that day. Kiwi Elias Kanaris is one of those people. He was flying Chicago to London, when his plane was diverted to the tiny Canadian town of Gander. The town’s population was doubled when 6,700 people were stuck there after panes were grounded following the attacks.   Elias is a Resilience and Leadership keynote speaker, and he’s written a book about what he learned from the experience, called “Leading from the Stop”. He's been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/202113 minutes, 39 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Infinite and Respect

This week, Francesca has movie picks for everyone. If you're in lockdown, Infinite is available to stream on Neon. If you're luck enough to be heading down the alert levels, there's Respect. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20217 minutes, 15 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Caramel apple cake

Caramel apple cake  This cake has it all going for it – quick to make and bake, soft and moist, incredibly delcious with a thick caramel icing – it’s like a nog soft comforting pillow!  The recipe makes a very large sheet pan cake, enough to give away so cheer up someone’s day.  Makes 25x35 rectangle cake  220g butter 1 cup water  2 cups plain flour  1 teaspoon baking soda  Pinch salt  1 teaspoon cinnamon  1 cup sugar  1 cup brown sugar  ½ cup yoghurt or buttermilk  2 large eggs, lightly whisked 200g (about 2 medium) chopped apples  Icing:  1/3 cup sugar  Splash water 120g butter  ¼ cup milk  3 cups icing sugar  Preheat oven to 200 C. Grease and line a shallow 25x38cm rectangle tin. You could use 2 x swiss roll tins. In a medium pot bring the butter and water to a boil.  Sift in dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugars – until combined. Add in yoghurt and eggs and stir to combine then fold in the chopped apples.  Pour batter into the prepared tin spreading it into the corners. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until it springs back to the touch. Cool for 10 minutes then ice while warm. For the icing: in a small pot make a caramel by heating, without stirring, the sugar and a splash of water until it simmers rapidly then turns a golden brown colour – about 5-7 minutes. Swirl the pot, don’t stir it. Once it is dark golden remove from the heat and add the butter and milk, careful as it will spit! You can stir it now. Cool it slightly. (if it solidifes, mix in some more milk and warm it slightly) Heap icing sugar into a large bowl and add the caramel sauce and stir to a smooth, pourable icing.  Pour icing over warm cake and leave to set.     LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20214 minutes, 40 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A lockdown discovery

Kevin Milne's made rediscovered something during lockdown: the joy of nature documentaries. And it's made him see climate change in a new light. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20214 minutes, 45 seconds
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Jack Tame: 20 years on - did the terrorists win?

I was a Year Ten high school student. I remember my friends talking about the attacks as we rode out bikes to school. In social studies, our teacher pulled a TV to the front of the class and we sat and watched in silence. I must have spent eight or ten hours watching TV that day. More than anything, I remember the dust.That’s my recollection of 9/11, one of those moments where you remember where you were.  And as we all think back to our own experiences of 9/11, the anniversary makes for a good opportunity to sit back and consider the attacks from the eyes of the people who organised them.19 fanatics, armed only with box cutters and a few weeks’ training at a flight school, arguably changed the course of history more than any other people this century. The domino effect from those burning towers is extraordinary. Would the Iraq War have ever been fought if 9/11 didn’t happen? Would the U.S have fought in Afghanistan for twenty years? Would George W. Bush have been re-elected President? Would Donald Trump have ever made it to the White House? Would we have born witness to a series of terrible soft target attacks, the London underground bombings, the Bataclan theatre attack, the Boston and Manchester bombings? Would ISIS, Al-Shabaab, and however many other Islamic-inspired extremist groups have ever been formed?In many ways, our World has changed for the worse because ultimately, sadly, the 9/11 terrorists achieved their awful objective. And some. They killed a lot of people. They brought down the towers. But they achieved more than that. Even though we knew their ultimate goal was to drive America and other Western democracies into a state of perpetual fear, even though their ultimate objective was spelt out clear as day in the name we used to describe them; terrorists, we couldn’t help it. For the last twenty years, Western democracies have lived in fear, and it’s only made the risk of terrorism worse.A few nights ago, I watched a film about the late Middle East foreign correspondent, Robert Fisk. It included a clip of him in a debate about the root cause of the 9/11 attacks. ‘It’s evil, pure and simple!’ said the person he was debating. ‘Evil! Evil! Evil!’. Fisk argued that actually, life doesn’t work that way. It’s not so simplistic. No one wakes up and has a cup of tea and says ‘I’m going to do something really evil!’One person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. Think of all the conflicts America was involved with in the decades before 9/11. Consider it from the hijackers’ perspective. Why is it just for American soldiers to invade and bomb distant lands – often Muslim majority countries - but evil when a group of people attack New York in response?Scared people act irrationally. The wars that spun out of 9/11 didn’t eliminate the risk of terrorism. They increased it. With every civilian wrongfully killed by a rocket or a drone, every village torn up by an armoured troop carrier, another dozen potential enemies were created.And here we find ourselves, twenty years on. Is our World any safer than it was on September 10, 2001?  For me, I think it’s the saddest thing about those awful events twenty years ago: The plan worked.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/10/20214 minutes, 24 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Is Kanye's album worth the wait?

We’ve been waiting for a few weeks now. There’s been fire, an ex-wife in a wedding dress, and a lot of unfinished music...but Kanye West has finally released Donda.  Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/4/20218 minutes, 10 seconds
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Mike Yardley: The Great Alpine Highway

Before we went back into lockdown life, travel writer Mike Yardley was touring The Great Alpine Highway. He's been giving Jack Tame some hints for when we can get on the road again.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/4/20219 minutes, 7 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Firewood friends

Firewood Collections  For those of us lucky enough to have an ultra-low emission burner as a cosy heating source, the yearly job of gathering and stacking firewood is an excellent hobby that keeps us fit and creates interesting opportunities for discovery of organisms.  I love looking at tunnels in wood bark beetle scribbles under pine bark and macrocarpa which are elegant sites for caterpillars to pupate (over-winter), and locating the winter hiding spots for native cockroaches, slaters, booklice, barklice, millipedes and centipedes.  The reason I study my firewood before bringing it inside to be burned is sometimes you get critters in there that perhaps need to be rescued from a firey end. Native Grassgrub beetles (Odontria) often hide between stacked logs. Outside they are dormant and won’t move a lot at all until temperatures go up in a month or so. But when you take the logs inside, they wake up and fly around like miniature lawnmowers (same sort of noise) in your living room. Lifecycle is completed on the roots of plants, often grass species.  These are what you’d expect when you take in Eucalyptus wood. Epithora dorsalis is a longhorn beetle from Australia, relatively recently discovered as an interloper here in New Zealand. The grubs of these beetles create substantial tunnels in gum tree wood.  If you find our native huhu grubs in your fire wood, you might have left it too late. The wood is in a state of decay, quite moist and un-burnable! This can happen to the bottom row of wood, in touch with the ground/soil for a long time. A firey end might be human consumption!  Spiders are also taking advantage of a place to hibernate: here’s a common jumping spider: Trite auricoma, the Golden-Brown Jumping Spider. White-tailed spiders also turn up frequently; they’ll wake up in the warmth of your lounge. Not very harmful at all, by the way!  But the invertebrate that I obliterate immediately on discovery is the queen Vespula wasp, in this case a German wasp. These girls are sitting out the winter and will start a new nest in spring. They are a real pest and their impact can be avoided by getting rid of them before they start building.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/4/20214 minutes, 43 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Making a kids' garden

Kids garden  The children are our future and one of the best ways to instil them with healthy eco values is through gardening. It will also change their attitude to food, and may even make some of the old ‘I won’t touch’ foods into favourites.   This can be a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone and provides unlimited learning opportunities for kids and adults.   Here are some tips:  Keep it simple, and probably small. Gardening doesn’t need much space and in fact many successfully garden out of containers. Use just a few easy to grow vegetables, maybe some flowers. Simple means less stressful and more likelihood of success. Choose the right plants. Some veges you can plant straight into the soil because of their large seed size. I suggest peas and bush beans. These both can be eaten raw straight from the plant. Peas have the wonderful ‘open a present’ thing happening. Watch them become a kid’s favourite. If you have room you could try a rambling melon, rock melon or watermelon. Radish are easy and produce very quickly but may be too spicy for some kids. Other easy plants include lettuce, sunflowers, marigolds, carrots, cherry tomatoes and parsley.  Make the layout suit the kid. You can have raise beds, containers, or just walk between rows. Make sure the rows are close enough together that your child can reach the middle of the garden without stepping on the soil and compacting it. And make one area which they have complete freedom to experiment themselves.  Let them have their own tools. These don’t need to be expensive or new. Can get kid sized gloves, shovel and watering cans.  Get them to decorate the garden. Seed markers, special rocks and shells, drift wood. This can be an art project as well. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20217 minutes, 21 seconds
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Bob Campbell: A crunchy, punchy sav

Our Master of Wine Bob Campbell is recommending The Ned 2021 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $18.99.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20214 minutes, 53 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Branson's spaceship grounded

Richard Branson's spaceship has been grounded  It turns out the test flight wasn't as successful as we thought it was.  The New Yorker reports that after the craft detached and was blasting off to space traveling at twice the speed of sound, the onboard pilots got yellow and red warning lights to indicate the spaceship wasn't vertical enough to make it back to earth safely. The plane uses the momentum of the accent to then set it up for its glide back to the runway on earth. The FAA says the plane veered outside its approved airspace for over a minute. They're now investigating,  Their first revenue generating mission, with the Italian Air Force, is now on hold.  Twitter looking to archive your old thoughts Tweets from deep on the timeline have caused people numerous problems over the years. Opinions evolve, cultural moments happen and society's social contract changes but the Tweets live on. Twitter needs fresh content every minute, so needs to assure people that posting their thoughts and happenings is a good idea. They're reportedly looking at a feature to archive Tweets from public view after 30, 60, or 90 days or a full year after they're sent. LISTEN ABOVE      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20214 minutes, 42 seconds
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Art Green: Forced fasting on Celebrity Treasure Island

Back in February, when lockdowns were just a distant memory, a group of Kiwi celebs headed to Kerikeri to compete in Celebrity Treasure Island.  Little did they know that when it would be released, we’d be stuck at home, and ready for some light viewing.  One of the contestants on the beach is reality star, Art Green, who joined Jack Tame for a chat. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/202112 minutes, 23 seconds
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Tara Ward: Impeachment, The Flight Attendant and Only Murders in the Building

Impeachment: American Crime Story: The third season in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story series examines the national crisis that led to the first impeachment of a U.S. President in over a century through the eyes of the women at the center of the events: Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and Paula Jones (SoHo, from 8 September).  The Flight Attendant: A reckless flight attendant with an alcohol problem wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man - and no idea what happened. Unable to piece the night together, she begins to wonder if she could be the killer (Neon).  Only Murders in the Building: Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez star as three strangers who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth (Disney+).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20215 minutes, 26 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Fathers' Day Breakfast Traybake

Fathers' Day Breakfast Traybake Is your dad a fan of sweet or savoury for breakfast? If he’s savoury, try this fabulous way to cook up “The  Big Brekky” – it’s so much easier than cooking up hashbrowns, eggs and bacon separately. Do it for dad this weekend!  This is easy to make for one or a crowd – just scale it up or down to suit you!  Serves 1  ½ large potato per person, thinly sliced ¼ onion, sliced thinly 2 rashers bacon, chopped roughly  Sprig of fresh rosemanry or sage or basil  ¼ tsp sea salt + pepper  Slash of olive oil  1 egg per person Small handful of parsley, chopped  Heat oven to 200 C. Line a large oven tray with baking paper, twisting the corners to give it a lip.  Scatter potato and onion slices over the lined tray. Add bacon and rosemary, the seasoning and a drizzle of oil and toss to coat. Spread them out so that they cover the tray in a thin layer. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 10-15 minutes until potatoes soften and begin to crisp.  Tease a gap (or gaps if making for more than one person) in the potatoes and break an egg into it. Cook for 10 minutes or until egg is done to your dad’s liking!  To serve, season again with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the parsley. Eat up!       LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20213 minutes, 53 seconds
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Franceska Rudkin: Cinderella, Infinite and Class Action Park

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has some flicks you can catch from your couch this weekend. The musical comedy version of Cinderella starring Camila Cabello, Neon's Infinite, and Neon documentary Class Action Park. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20215 minutes, 11 seconds
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Jack Tame: Could we have stopped the terror attack?

What more could have been done to stop the attack? We don’t know enough yet to answer that with the certainty the gravity of this attack deserves. But we understand a few things.This man was known to Police and authorities. He was known to the Prime Minister. Judging by previous monitoring when he was arrested for buying a hunting knife, I think it’s safe to say he didn’t have the freedom to plan a more sophisticated attack. That’s not to say he wanted to plan a more sophisticated attack – we don’t know that yet. It’s not to say his spree at the New Lynn Countdown wasn’t terrible. But it also wasn’t particularly well-planned. Compared to the Christchurch terrorist, who was able to plan an attack for a long period of time without ever being bothered by the authorities and who used an assault weapons to kill as many people as possible, we are fortunate that yesterday’s attack wasn’t as sophisticated. Part of that may be because this man was being monitored. I thought it was interesting the Prime Minister was so enthusiastic about getting the suppression orders lifted from this man’s case – it suggests to me that she and her advisers feel confident there was nothing more the security agencies could have done to stop the attack.From what we’ve been told, you would have to say Police responded incredibly quickly. 60 seconds, if indeed that was the length of time between the start of the attack and Police shooting the man dead, is a very short period of time. Not short enough for those people who were attacked, but pretty quick.Clearly this will draw attention to New Zealand’s anti-terror laws. In 2017 the man tried to travel overseas to fight for ISIS. He had fundamentalist material at his home. But two days after he was bailed he purchased a hunting knife and was arrested again. Authorities tried to prosecute him under the Terrorism Suppression Act. But a ruling judge said under the law as it stands, the purchase of the knife could not be considered a triggering act. The judge took the unusual step of forwarding his decision to the Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, and the Law Commission. He felt, as many others and the Royal Commission felt, our laws had a gaping hole when it came to the planning of a terrorist attack.This is being changed. New terrorism laws are passing through parliament at the moment. It won’t be absolutely clear until those laws are finalised if they could have prevented this attack. Sadly the change has come too late.One last point: We need to be sure that Police and authorities did everything possible within their powers to prevent the attack happening in the first place. But we also need to accept that power has limitations. Limitations are important. Police and security agencies can’t just lock someone up forever without following a scrupulous judicial process. Sadly, regardless of our terror laws, there will always exist the possibility for an individual to go out and harm innocent people. We should take every prudent step to prevent it from happening. But an independent judiciary and appropriate limits on power help to give us the freedom and security that events and people like this, threaten. They are part of what make New Zealand a good country to live in.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/3/20214 minutes, 57 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Free-roaming Central Hawke's Bay

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been dreaming of getting out and about. Recently he was free-roaming in Central Hawke's Bay.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20218 minutes, 22 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New music from Fat Freddy's Drop

Seven piece Kiwi band Fat Freddy’s drop has released a new album – and it’s the chill vibe we probably all need in lockdown. It’s called Wairunga, and music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20217 minutes, 26 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The rising tide and One Ordinary Day at a Time

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Rising Tide by Sam Lloyd, and One Ordinary Day at a Time by Sarah J Harris.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20213 minutes, 44 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How to read your partner's mind

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been giving Jack Tame some tips on how to read your partner's mind. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20219 minutes, 38 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The smallest things in the air

There are heaps of particles that fly in the air (apart from molecules of Oxygen, Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide, of course). For instance, sea-salt is a biggie near the coast. Others are smoke from bush fires, soot, pollutants, dust. You name it and it flies.  We all know about birds, insects, flying fish and sugar gliders, flying squirrels and such critters, plant seeds and helicopter seeds from maple trees. Then there are bio-aerosols (micro-organisms). I’ve read some amazing statistics about fungal spores in the air. Take a puffball. Drop some water on the outer skin and see it release its spores. It looks like smoke. Millions of spores float in the air – amazing dispersal! Fungal spores are very common in the air – you might not see them as easily as the “smoke” from puffballs, but there are estimates of concentrations as high as 10,000,000 spores per cubic meter!  Fungi in the groups Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes can cause allergies in humans with over 13,000 spores per cubic meter considered a high concentration. Allergies for some humans! There are many different allergic troubles, such as rhinitis (nasal membranes inflammation), asthma and the famous hay fever.  The density of spores in the air is also a pain in the neck for gardeners. Some plant pest fungi distribute themselves through airborne spores. These spores usually appreciate landing on wet leaves – the moisture allows them to “germinate” nicely on the leaves and will then penetrate those leaves.  Rust species are probably the best adapted to aerial bombardment. Look around for those orange rust pustules on you garlic/onions/spring onions at this time of the year. Prevention is to try and keep leaves dry, or regular treatment with organic fungicides such as Copper/Sulphur mixtures. These do not allow fungal spores to develop on the leaf surface.  A recent walk in the nearby forest during lockdown showed me the famous late-winter pollen dump. Pine flowers are out right now and the pollen which are shed are bright yellow and everywhere. This pollen is very noticeable on the ground, especially where there was the remnant evidence of rain flooding. The pollen literally stick to the “side” of the old “stream bed”. Pollen  salso visible as a fine, yellow-ish film on your cars.   Mind you – it’s not just pollen from pine trees – other trees are full of it too. Have a look around for flowering trees and shrubs. People can be allergic to all sorts of plant species, including grasses; especially when they are flowering. Christmas plums in flower… a wonderful surprise awaits around the festive season! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20213 minutes, 29 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease

Dr Bryan Betty has been speaking to Jack Tame about COPD – Chronic Obstructive Airways disease or Emphysema.He's s GP, Medical Director for the College of GPs, and member of the Covid-19 advisory committee.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20216 minutes, 23 seconds
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Mandy Hose and Kate Jones: "Too Peas"- Finding a parenting podcast community

The world of podcasting has given a voice to some pretty niche communities. When Aussies Mandy Hose and Kate Jones started their show Too Peas in a Podcast, they had an extremely specific community in mind: parents of multiples, and kids with additional needs.  They’d met, and bonded, a decade before over their crazy lives as mums to twins with disabilities.   But what they found was a community far, far larger than that.  They now have a hugely successful podcast with more than 10-thousand listeners a week, which has also seen them produce live tours, work as public speakers, create a merchandise line and now a book "The Invisible Life of Us".Mandy and Kate have been speaking to Jack Tame.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/202111 minutes, 12 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Defeated, Clickbait and Celebrity Bake Off

It's never been a better time for a weekend of screentime, and Tara Ward has some tips:The Defeated: Historical drama set in post war Germany. Max McLaughlin is an American cop who arrives in Berlin in the summer of 1946 to help create a police force in the chaotic aftermath of the war (Netflix)  Clickbait: a tense thriller about when family man Nick Brewer is abducted in a crime with a sinister online twist, those closest to him race to uncover who is behind it and why (Netflix)  Celebrity Bake Off: some comfort food for the lockdown soul. Celebrity contestants take part in a special version of the popular British baking competition (Neon). LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20217 minutes, 33 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: OnlyFans reverses adult content ban

Apple's internet tax may be in jeopardy  One of the conditions for having an app on Apple's App Store was that you must use their payments service where they take up to 30% of your income. You can't even email users with data you've collected from users using your app promoting a different payment method.. that's about to change. A class action lawsuit from US app developers has won a $100 million payout from Apple and a changing of the rules. So now you can email or text users with information collected from the app. Critics say it's just the first step and Apple should re-think the forced in-app payment method because it an anti-trust violation.  OnlyFans has reversed its adult content ban In what was likened to Twitter removing the ability for people to Tweet, OnlyFans told its community that adult content would be banned. Apparently there are also musicians, fitness trainers and beauty influencers on the platform doing classes and providing a way for fans to connect. OnlyFans said its banks wouldn't support their business, but news reports suggested they were also struggling to find investors despite being projected to double their revenue to $2.5 billion next year. There is concern about the legal liability for illegal content on the platform. Well, the money must be speaking now because they've reversed the decision and OnlyFans is continuing as is.  Afghanistan refugees are being gifted Airbnbs Airbnb is pledging to house 20,000 refugees for free, "as long as is needed". Airbnb's CEO Brian Chesky tweeted that hosts who are open to making their homes available to get in touch.  Airbnb launched a non-profit a few years ago to help people displaced by natural disasters and providing essential workers a place to stay away from their families during the height of the COVID pandemic. If you want to help house refugees, you can visit airbnb.org.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20213 minutes, 21 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Lunch in lockdown

LOCKDOWN ONE BOWL CHEESY HAM & EGG BAKE This is a one bowl winner of a lunch! It’s a crustless pie that the whole family will love. Serves 4  1 ½ cups milk  3 large eggs 200g shaved ham, diced  1 medium onion, diced fine or grated  1 cup grated cheese ½ cup plain flour  1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons powdered vegetable or chicken stock  ¼ teaspoon black pepper  ¼ cup chopped parsley (optional)  Heat oven to 170 C. Generously butter a medium-sized oven proof dish. In a big bowl, lightly whisk together milk and eggs. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Scrape into prepared dish and bake for about 45-55 mins or until golden and cooked through. It will puff up and deflate once removed from the oven.  Serve hot or cold with chutney and some salad greens TIP: Bacon or salmon could be used in place of ham. Other lockdown lunch ideas: Tacos Quesadillas  Toasted sandwiches Fried rice Buttery noodles / spaghetti Fritters Roasted chicken wings  The good old sandwich!   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20213 minutes, 50 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: More movies in lockdown

Francesca Rudkin has some movies to watch at your house this weekend: Vacation Friends on Disney+, Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed on Netflix. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20217 minutes, 32 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Thoughts for Chris Cairns

Yesterday we learned Chris Cairns suffered a stroke during life-saving surgery, and now has paralysis in his legs.Kevin Milne has been talking to Jack Tame about the news. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20215 minutes, 16 seconds
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Jack Tame: It's too late to set vaccination records

It’s the right decision to extend the lockdown for the whole country. It sucks. But we simply don’t have enough people vaccinated to expose our health system any more cases than we already are.To me, what’s interesting about the daily stats is the Covid-19 case numbers versus hospitalisations. This Delta outbreak totals 347 people according to the latest figures. 19 of those people are in hospital. About 5.5%. Admittedly it’s not a great sample size, but you can see how quickly our health system might be overwhelmed with a few thousand cases, especially if they were centred in one region. Delta would get away on us *incredibly* quickly. For areas outside of Auckland and Northland, I think sacrificing the weekend and a few extra days at Level Four is worth it for the security of knowing there is no Delta in the community. Again, it sucks. But it’s like turning around to double-check you locked the front door when you’re leaving town on holiday. You’re pretty sure you remembered. You’re 98% sure the door is locked and everything is safe. But sometimes the inconvenience that comes with being certain is worth it for the peace of mind.I say that as someone who looks enviously upon a move to Level 3. It’s obviously not happening anytime soon, in Auckland. Again though, I think this is pretty much the government’s only option. And as much as I didn’t want to hear it I’m glad they’re being straight up about the likelihood we’ll be at Level 4 for another few weeks.So, then, reasonable decisions about the lockdowns with the information they have available at this moment. But it would be remiss not to point out that we find ourselves in this moment because of decisions made by the same people and their officials earlier in the pandemic.For whatever reasons – and I think there are like many, some of which were out of officials’ control and some of which weren’t – we have found ourselves woefully behind in the vaccination programme. Ministers are incredibly defensive whenever they are challenged on this. But you can’t take credit for one part of the response and shirk all responsibility for another. The vaccination rates speak for themselves. All I can think, anytime someone stands up at the start of a press conference and says ‘First, some good news...’ is actually now isn’t the time to be setting vaccination records. That time was months ago.Delta is insidious. I’m not saying more vaccinations would have meant we didn’t need some lockdown restrictions. But a much higher vaccination rate would have reduced the likelihood of people getting hospitalised or dying of Covid-19. And isn’t that the government’s long-stated goal?One last thought. By my count, before this outbreak, areas outside of Auckland had spent a total of 51 days locked down in either Level 3 or Level 4. Auckland had spent 79 days at Level 3 or Level 4. That’s right, before this outbreak, Aucklanders had spent four weeks in lockdown more than the rest of the country. If we do manage to eliminate Delta this time, that margin is going to extend a whole lot further. Aucklanders will take the biggest hit.So, with that in mind, a suggestion: Let’s all send our latte-sipping, Lululemon slinking, urban-tractor driving, Waiheke weekending, Ponsnobby-bungalow-flipping mates some good will for a change. Yes, they’re fun to tease! But if we do beat Delta this time, the ‘09’ will have made the biggest sacrifice, once again. I never thought I would say this. I never thought I would utter these words.Let’s all spare a thought...for Auckland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/27/20215 minutes, 7 seconds
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Mike Yardley: City Sights in Napier

Remember when we could move around the country to our heart's desire? Well when that was a thing, our resident traveller Mike Yardley had some fun in Napier. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20219 minutes, 58 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Lorde's new album

Lorde’s third album Solar Power is out today, and our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been in possession of something that all music fans want: a special early copy of the album. She's been telling Jack Tame what she thinks. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20213 minutes, 37 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Garden escapees

Escapees from the Garden  There are quite a number of plants that have become “pests” due to garden escapes. You’ve probably heard of them: Mexican Daisy, Bear’s breeches, Agapanthus, Clematis species, esp. vitalba (Old man’s Beard!). www.weedbusters.org.nz has a heap of them on their website PLUS: alternatives you can plant (“plant me instead”).  I am aware that not all “weeds” behave like “weeds” in all places in NZ. For example, agapanthus in Christchurch seem to be reasonably well behaved. Many gardeners dispute biosecurity thinking around invasive weeds: “My plants are not that bad! (a bit like “my cat only brings in dead birds”). In our bathroom we grow “Spanish Moss” (Tillandsia possibly usneoides). it’s a weird plant that hangs from branches in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Americas. Think Florida, Mexico and the Jungles of Equador and Panama. We grow it as a “curtain” in front of the south-facing window.  It doesn’t need a lot of care: once a week we dump it in a batch of cold water and hang it back up. Once a month a sit gets a sight spry/misting with some seafood soup and it just keeps on growing. Tillandsia belongs to the Bromeliad plant Family Bromeliaceae (Close relative of the Pineapple!) and it is an epiphyte: imply hanging from tree branches and not harming the trees at all.   Recently I was made aware that it is moving into the New Zealand landscape. These pictures (courtesy of Dave Holland – iNaturalist) are from Whangarei where Tillandsia seems to be doing well in established trees. The debate is now whether or not Spanish moss is having an impact on our Native ecosystems. Time will tell, but I have the feeling that it may not be a great idea to let it just roam the New Zealand landscape. We simply haven’t got enough scientific data on this. Birds use it as nesting material and that may spread it around. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20214 minutes, 25 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Plot and All Her Fault

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz and All Her Fault by Andrea Mara.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20213 minutes, 37 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Green activities for lockdown kids

Green kids in lockdown Lockdown is a special time - It can be an opportunity to reevaluate what’s important. There are plenty of eco habits we could start, and it’s a special time to spend with the kids.   We are going to look at some fun and educational games, projects to do with the kids.   Kumara in a jar  You can grow beautiful green vines anywhere you want them, and any time of year.    You need: kumara, toothpicks, a jar or glass, non-chlorinated water.  1. Wash the kumara thoroughly but gently 2. Make sure the kumara can fit at least a third of its length into the jar 3. Insert the toothpicks a third the way down it 4. Place in jar and fill with water  5. In-between 10-14 days the kumara will start to bud. Make sure the kids are aware of this process.  Now for three to six months vines will grow from these bud. You can let them dangle or train them to go where ever you choose.  Egg shell people   There is a long tradition of starting your seedling in empty egg shells. The egg shells are a fertiliser and will add calcium to the garden - plus you are recycling!  Our idea is more for decoration.   1. For a week or so be careful how you crack eggs, leaving half to two thirds and put back in the carton.  2. Wash the eggshell seed pots with warm soapy water and punch a hole in the bottom with a heavy needle or similar, for drainage. 3. Use non-toxic makers and get the kids to draw faces on them. Maybe of people you know like granddad or grandma.  4. Put them in egg cups or the old egg cartoon and explain that the strength they have is because of the shape of the egg even though the egg shell is very delicate.  5. Fill with sterile seed raising mix, and seeds that will come up with lots of small stems, like mustard, cress, or alfalfa. This will look just like hair! 6. Place them in filtered light and keep the water up, and wait for the results. You can do exactly the same thing to start your spring vegetables, herbs and flowers. With these, once they have more than 2 true leaves, they could be transplanted into your garden.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20217 minutes, 43 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: How will lockdown affect interest rates?

We all know interest rates were about to skyrocket, but lockdown could change that. Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been talking to Jack Tame about what to do if you were abotu to re-fix your mortgage. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20214 minutes, 42 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Lockdown bread rolls

Little breakfast sesame bread rolls  To get us through lockdown, here’s a recipe for baking soft, fluffy, yeasty deliciousness every time!  Makes 12 small rolls  1 cup warm water 1 teaspoon active dried yeast granules 1 teaspoon honey or sugar 4–5 tablespoons olive oil 2½–3 cups plain or high-grade flour  1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash sesame or poppy seeds  Heat oven to very low, just warm — say 50°C.  Step 1: In a large glass or ceramic bowl, mix water, yeast and honey or sugar. Cover with a damp cloth and leave for 10 minutes until frothy. Step 2: Add olive oil and 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture and mix with a knife until it starts to come together. Knead it in the bowl using a strong spoon or knife, only adding more flour if it is really too wet. This will take about 5 minutes or until the dough comes together in a ball. Tip out onto a well-floured bench.  Step 3: Oil the bowl then pop the dough back into the bowl and flip it so it’s coated in oil. Place bowl on a folded tea towel in the warm oven. Turn oven off. Leave dough to double in size, about 30–45 minutes.  Step 4: Carefully plop dough out on bench and shape into 12 rolls. Tuck them into a lined roasting dish so they’re just touching. Cover with a plastic bag and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 30–45 minutes. Egg wash surface then sprinkle over seeds.  Preheat the oven to 220°C and bake for 15–17 minutes until golden brown. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20215 minutes, 2 seconds
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Tara Ward: Lockdown screentime

Let's face it, there's not much else to do during lockdown, so it's time to embrace some screentime. Here are Tara Ward's picks for this week:Nine Perfect Strangers: Starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy and based on Liane Moriarty’s best selling novel, "Nine Perfect Strangers" takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living (Amazon Prime Video).  The Chair: Sandra Oh stars in this new Netflix academic drama as the first female English department chair at a major university (Netflix).  Superstore: five seasons of the excellent American sitcom about a group of people who work in a mid-Western chain store is on Netflix - and it will take you a full two days to binge watch every episode this lockdown (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20215 minutes, 32 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Holding a virtual meeting on Facebook

Work from the virtual office If we can't all physically be in the office together, could we all be together in a virtual meeting room instead? That's what Facebook is pitching with its new "Horizons Workplace" app which allows participants to put on their Facebook Oculus headsets and be transported to virtual reality. In the meeting you can see the 3D avatars of colleagues (who are also joining by wearing their headsets). Those who join by webcam or phone are displayed on a virtual version of a tv screen. When you're in the meeting, you can look down to your virtual laptop which is where you can make notes, or draw something to share with your colleagues. The whole experience looks very cartoon-ish at the moment. Facebook wants to be the home of the immersive digital experience - they're dubbing the "metaverse".  Microsoft to raise its prices for Office365 That will bring it inline with Google's recent price hike too, with basic email and collaboration services going from $5 to $6 USD per person. The prices will come into effect next year, so adjust those IT budgets now. It's the first substantial price increase since Microsoft launched Office365 in 2011. Since then they've added a bunch of additional apps and features like Teams, OneDrive and more.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20212 minutes, 36 seconds
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Bexy Cameron: Growing up in a cult

Bexy Cameron grew up in one of the most infamous cults ever The Children of God.  It was started in the 60s by a charismatic evangelical preacher who merged religious beliefs with increasingly depraved sexual and physical abuse, sometimes involving tiny children.   High-profile members included Rose McGowan and her family, River and Joaquin Phoenix and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Jeremy Spencer.  Bexy Cameron is now a film-maker, and has written a book about her experience, called "Cult Following".   She's been talking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/202115 minutes, 8 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Movies in lockdown

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has some movies you can watch in lockdown: An American Pickle which is on Neon, documentary The Last Cruise on Neon, Luca on Disney+, The Kissing Booth 3 on Netflix.LISTEN NOWSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20216 minutes, 24 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Sticking up for journos in lockdown

This week, there's been a bit of criticism of the journalists at the daily COVID briefing. But Kevin Milne has some praise for the journos of NZ.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20215 minutes, 14 seconds
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Jack Tame: Thanking Cullen for Kiwisaver

I visited Sir Michael Cullen at his home a couple of months ago and had the great privilege of a few hours of his time, at a moment when it was clear his time was very limited. We spoke about all sorts of different things: Rogernomics, the monarchy, the foreshore and seabed. He talked about God (or, in his opinion, the lack thereof). He spoke frankly about his illness and death. For an egalitarian, Sir Michael Cullen lived a very rich life. And upon news of his death yesterday I found myself thinking of one specific policy, one piece of his work that we discussed, that really stands out to me. Kiwisaver is amazing. It’s such a good idea. Simple. Boring. But incredibly effective. More than the Super Fund and more than interest free student loans, I think Kiwisaver will define Sir Michael Cullen’s legacy for generations to come. There is currently about $60 Billion under management in New Zealanders’ Kiwisaver accounts. Just think about that. $60 Billion. For a nation of notoriously bad savers, a nation with ludicrously high house prices and massive personal debt, Kiwisaver could be the difference between dignity in older age and a pretty miserly existence. In a way, the beauty of it is that half of us don’t even know we’re saving. We don’t think about funds or providers. We never consider the power of compact interest over time. If we’re automatically enrolled, it’s much more hassle to organise a Kiwisaver holiday than it is to just keep on contributing. I’ll be honest, as a younger person, I sometimes feel resentful about the future my generation faces. Many people my age will be locked out of home ownership. The sustainability of superannuation is seriously under threat. Climate change is baked in, and we’re the ones who’ll have to live with the effects. And truthfully, we won’t really see the true scale of Kiwisaver benefits for a few more decades, when people who’ve been enrolled in Kiwisaver for the whole of their working lives can access the money they’ve tucked away, when they finally turn 65. There it's my generation, for all the things we feel short-changed by, who will most benefit from Kiwisaver.  All of us who are lucky enough to make it that far and who have been in Kiwisaver since the beginning of our working lives will have Sir Michael Cullen to thank for giving us a materially better retirement. A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. I hope we remember him then as we do today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/20/20213 minutes, 43 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Teenage superstar Billie Eilish's new album

Billie Eilish has released her second album, "Happier than Ever". Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/14/20216 minutes, 48 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Red Traitor and The Echo Chamber

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Red Traitor by Owen Matthews and John Boyne's The Echo Chamber. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/14/20213 minutes, 35 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Roaming Palliser Bay

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been keeping things domestic, and this week he's got some tips for roaming Palliser Bay.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/20217 minutes, 33 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Tackling Japanese Quince

Chaenomeles japonica  Gardeners often have a love-hate relationship with plants, shrubs and trees - there's nothing wrong with that. For me it‘s bulbs. I love them when they flower in early spring, but hate them when I forget where they are and inadvertently dig them up. Then there are roses. Some are brilliant flower-producing specimens, but generally they’re a real bugger to prune, especially climbers, when you haven’t got a great deal of hair left on your head!  This all brings me to Japanese Quince, Chaenomeles japonica, a deciduous shrub native to Japan, related to both true quinces and Chinese quinces.  In the middle of winter, mid-July onwards, this shrub flowers a brilliant orange/red/coral. It’s a beacon that says: “Pollen right here! Nectar available” for those bugs and birds that dare to come and get it. It’s the promise that there will be a spring… at some stage.  For six weeks or so it has gorgeous flowers with yellow stamen – the look of fecundity. No leaves yet, just flowers on branches older than a year.  It’s hardy (in freezing conditions it’ll thrive) and can be grown in large pots/containers. Chaenomeles also sets fruit, usually smallish and yellow – very hard and bad eating before the frost! After frost it is softer, but still not too great, really. It’s best to use for making marmalade and jellies, and some folks create liqueurs! The fruit is seriously high in pectin and are therefore useful for preserves and jam with other fruit sources. Chinese medicine mentions arthritis and muscle cramps. Japanese Quince likes full sun but will also grow in part shade. Well-drained soils and preferably nutritiously fertile growing conditions. I think a hand-full of sulphate of potash in spring might be useful for flower set next winter.   The traditional red flowering variety is my favourite – it can be espaliered against a wall/fence. But that’s where my problem starts: This thing is murderously prickly. Pruning is diabolical, you need welder’s gloves! Using hedge clippers is not recommended either (the plant doesn’t like that at all – it’ll stop flowering because you cut off all the potential flowering wood for next season!). The shrub doesn’t grow that high, but it can become quite dense with branches inside the shrub. Down the road from me, near the entrance of the Halswell Quarry is a nice specimen from which I cut flowering branches in winter. I reckon they are wonderful on someone else’s property. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/20215 minutes, 7 seconds
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Bob Campbell: An intro to French wine

This week, Bob's Best Buy is Guigal 2017 Cotes du Rhone, $22 LISTEN TO BOB'S REVIEW ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/20213 minutes, 23 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Samsung unveils Galaxy Watch 4

Apple shuts down surveys on pay  Apple's employees aren't usually in the press - they're good at holding company secrets and keeping internal matters internal but lately we've seen a couple of things spill over. First it was around work-from-home and return-to-office policies and now around pay. Employees say they've been shutdown with efforts to gather data on employee salaries, working locations and diversity information. They say they're trying to ensure minorities aren't being discriminate against. Apple says the surveys are prohibited because they collect personally identifiable information.  Samsung's unveils the Galaxy Watch 4 There have been watches to track steps, to measure your heartrate, blood oxygen levels and now.. your body fat percentage. They call it 'body composition'.  The tech is a shrunken version of the same sensors used already in smart scales or palm devices, and Samsung says its trials show it's more accurate too. It works by sending a weak electric current into your body - known as bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) - which measures the amount of water you're holding. Fat holds more water than muscle. It's not a perfect measure, but beats out things like BMI.  Back to the office delayed.. again. It was after July 4th, then September, some are now hoping for October. Facebook and Amazon are now pushing the return date back to January 2022. That'll be 22 months working at home. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/20214 minutes, 47 seconds
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Michael Pollan: Revered author turns to psychedelic substances

Author Michael Pollan has long been a hugely respected name for his ideas about eating.  You’ve almost certainly heard the advice ‘Eat food, not too much, mostly plants’. That’s  Pollan, who has written a series of fascinating books about what we’re eating, and where that food comes from.  But now he’s turned his mind to psychedelic substances, starting with 2018’s “How to change your mind” where he looked into the scientific revolution around psychedelic drugs.  His latest book “This is Your Mind on Plants” looks into the effects of opium, caffeine and mescaline.  He's been speaking with Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/202115 minutes, 1 second
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Francesca Rudkin: Free Guy and Coming Home in the Dark

Our movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching "science-fiction action comedy film" Free Guy, and Kiwi thriller Coing Home in the Dark. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/20214 minutes, 35 seconds
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Jack Tame: Tax subsidies don't buy loyalty

Controversial opinion: I don’t like Lord of the Rings. Gulp. I know! Sorry. I understand that’s a potentially treasonous admission. I don’t have a problem with anyone else frothing over Tolkien’s Worlds and I can appreciate the talent that goes into bringing the stories alive on screen. But I don’t know if it’s the Elves or the Hobbits or the mystical flying beasts but in the sage words of Billy Connolly, I personally prefer stories with human-beings in them. In some ways there are similarities between Amazon’s production of Lord of the Rings and the America’s Cup. Both received a lot of public money, whether in cold, hard cash or in extremely generous tax subsidies. And the benefits of both can be a little messy to calculate. A programme like Lord of the Rings does more than just employ a lot of New Zealanders in the film and production industry. It also (presumably) shows off the country and promotes our landscape on a scale that’s hard to calculate. Again, like the America’s Cup, the indirect benefits of New Zealand looking sexy on a few million TV screens overseas may be nixed for the time-being by the pandemic. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings will premier in September next year. Who knows what – if any - tourists we’ll be letting in by then? Will those tourists and the production jobs supported be worth the roughly $130m we’ve given out in subsidies? We’ll have to wait to find out. Certainly it wouldn’t stick so much in the taxpayer’s throat if the company we’ve subsidised wasn’t founded by a guy who just funded his own trip to space.I think there is one really important point to remember: From most of the reporting so far, it seems Amazon didn’t leave New Zealand because of money. They didn’t leave because the subsidy wasn’t big enough. They left because our ongoing border restrictions are likely to make it difficult for them to operate in the future. This time last year our closed borders were an incentive for big international productions. I interviewed the producer of Avatar as he stepped out of isolation, positively delighted in the middle of a global pandemic to be in a country where he could continue shooting when everywhere else was locked down. That situation has flipped. The full 180. In this case, our hardline Covid-19 approach isn’t so attractive.It might not be safer to make Lord of the Rings in the U.K, but Amazon’s betting it’ll be easier.We should be clear-eyed about this. A cautious re-opening makes a lot of sense, but our strategy won’t be without its own costs. Amazon probably won’t be the last company to decide it’s easier to spend money and do business elsewhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/13/20213 minutes, 33 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Prince's posthumous album

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford's been listening to Prince's posthumous album "Welcome to America". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/7/20214 minutes, 48 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Cellist and Thursdays at Orange Blossom House

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Cellist by Daniel Silva and Thursdays at Orange Blossom House by Sophie Green.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/7/20213 minutes, 36 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Waiting for You in Surfers Paradise

If you're dreaming of a winter holiday, Mike Yardley has some tips on what's waiting for you in Surfers Paradise. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20219 minutes, 19 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: De-clutter your life

De-clutter your life (and help the planet)   There’s no denying that most of us are buying too much stuff. It’s fun to go shopping! But this mindless consumerism is bad for the planet, and it’s cluttering up our homes. This issue has spawned a whole new industry, storage facilities, where we can leave all this excess stuff that we’ve bought. Many a friend has retrieved the things they spent a fortune storing only to find they don’t really want this ‘treasure’.  So let’s look at a few areas where we can reduce clutter, and help the planet at the same time.   BOOKS This is going to earn me some criticism from my friends and family. I love books, they are a valuable resource, and we can only encourage kids to read more. But do we have to buy them all? How many books that you own have never been opened? I’m afraid that to actually achieve personal growth, you need to do more than just buy the latest book on how to change your life.  If you LOVE a book, especially kids’ books that you will read often to them at bedtime, then definitely buy and treasure them.  But you can use the library for books you’ll only read once or borrow them from friends.   Clearing out books you don’t want * Sometimes your local op-shop will take them.  * Drop them at one of the local small free libraries that are in parks and community centres for someone else to enjoy. Pick up something new to read while you’re there!  KIDS CLOTHES AND TOYS This is another category that can quickly get out of hand, thanks to kids that just keep growing!  If you’re wanting to clear things out, there are always the usual suspects: passing on to friends and families, op-shops, and Trade Me.   Clearing out kids’ items you don’t want * There’s a great charity called Little More (www.littlemore.co.nz) that will take used items for kids 0-12 months for families that need them. * Sometimes your local maternity ward will take newborn clothes.  * Your local toy library will often take any good quality toys. Extra points for this option because then you're cycling toys through many different families.  FASHIONIn the thirties, women had an average of nine outfits, now it’s over thirty. In England there are an average of 22 unworn items in a woman’s closet.   Here is a method to figure out what you aren’t wearing anymore.  At the start of the year turn all your hangers the opposite way that you usually have them. Swap them over as you water that piece. At the end of year, you will see what you actually wear.  Clearing out clothes you don’t want * Same thing as kids clothes – they can be sold or donated.  * For work clothes, Dress for Success (dressforsuccess.org) will take new or near-new clothes that women can borrow to wear for job interviews, or to help them re-enter the workforce. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20217 minutes, 36 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Growing rhubarb

Rhubarb  This is a great crop if you’re into crumbles and fruity bits for breakfast with muesli and yoghurt and soaked sultanas, and dessert’s like Nici Wickes’ Rhubarb and Vanilla Bread and Butter Pudding. Rhubarb is pretty easy to grow. It can stand quite a bit of frost. I saw it growing in Mongolia’s permafrost, and in the deserts with big weta-like critters hiding underneath!  In really cold areas it will go dormant in winter, and in hot summers it might take a break. In hotter areas it might pay to allocate a cooler spot and some shade for the warmest period of the day to stop it “bolting”. That leaves excellent growth in spring, early summer, late summer and autumn.   It requires a sunny location and nice fertile free-draining soil. If you’ve got heavy clay soil, break it up and add heaps of compost to make it friable. Alternatively, plant it above the soil level in a raised bed. I reckon you can even grow it in a big container with good mix, but keep it well-watered.   Rhubarb loves compost and manure (yes – some rotted cow poo/sheep/pig or horse – preferably gone through a composting cycle).   Keep the plant base free of weeds. Pests and diseases are usually of no great concern, slugs and snails are your main problem and they will only go on the leaves. Copper sprays may prevent leaf-spots, but they’re not a big deal, usually.  To Harvest: cut the stems for consumption and use leaves in compost bins. Alternatively, the large leaves are great on the ground as “weed mat”.   Look around for various cultivars – if you are lucky you might find some of the old-fashioned bright red varieties that look fantastic: Moulin Rouge; Crimson Crumble; Cherry Red; Ruby Red; Glaskin’s Perpetual...but in terms of TASTE, they all taste the same. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20215 minutes, 5 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: How to avoid migraines

Our resident doctor Bryan Betty has been giving Jack Tame some tips on how to avoid, and treat, migraines. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20213 minutes, 30 seconds
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Lucy Lawless: How she moved home - and brought a TV show with her

Lucy Lawless is back on our screens on Monday and this time, she’s bringing an Aussie series home to Auckland. She’s starring in the second series of My Life is Murder, where she plays a charismatic crime investigator.    It was originally set in Melbourne, but it’s moved to Auckland, and it’s designed for a Kiwi audience as well as online audiences around the world.  Lucy Lawless has been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/202113 minutes, 53 seconds
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Tara Ward: Hit and Run, Mr Corman and My Life is Murder

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some TV picks for your weekend:Hit and Run: Made by the team behind Israeli drama Fauda, this thriller follows a man determined to find out the truth about his wife’s death in a mysterious hit-and-run accident in Tel Aviv (Netflix).  Mr Corman: Joseph Gordon-Levitt wrote, starred and produced this drama about the days and nights of fifth-grade teacher Josh Corman as he struggles with anxiety, loneliness, forfeited dreams of a music career, and the sinking suspicion that he sucks as a person (Apple TV+)  My Life is Murder: Lucy Lawless returns as fearless private investigator Alexa Crowe for a second season of this crime-solving drama, with this new season moving from Melbourne to Auckland (TVNZ 1, Mondays).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/202113 minutes, 53 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Rhubarb & vanilla bread and butter pudding

Bread 'n' butter pudding but not as you know it! Think croissants studded with sharp rhubarb and held together by a creamy baked custard.   Serves 6-8   6 croissants 300mls milk  300mls cream  4 large eggs ½ cup sugar  1 tablespoon vanilla extract Soft butter to butter croissant 2 cups chopped rhubarb  Icing sugar to dust   Heat oven to 160 C fan-bake (180 regular) and butter an oven proof dish. Slice each croissant into 3-4 thick slices. Butter each slice on one side and pack them into the prepared dish, rounded side up. Scatter and tuck rhubarb in and around the croissant.  In a large bowl whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Pour over croissant and leave to sit for 30 minutes to one hour to allow the croissant to soak up the custard. Help it out by pushing the croissant down into the mixture every now and then.  Bake for one hour or until the middle is set.  Dust with icing sugar to serve.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20217 minutes
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Francesca Rudkin: The Suicide Squad and The Mole

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin's been watching superhero film The Suicide Squad, and undercover thriller The Mole. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20217 minutes
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Kevin Milne: The problem with our Olympic success

Kevin Milne's been loving the Olympics - but he's got one problem with the success we've been having.He's been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20214 minutes, 7 seconds
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Jack Tame: Don't like 'Aotearoa'? Don't say it

The housing crisis. The Covid-19 vaccination rollout. Asset inflation further widening the gap between rich and poor. Poverty. Coal imports. Fiji’s health crisis. What actually constitutes safer policing. The painfully slow rate of change in the mental health sector. Families separated by our closed borders. Three waters. China’s increasing influence in the Pacific. Climate change mitigation. Superannuation. The immigration backlog. Treaty settlements. Financial support for the survivors of March 15 attacks. Our slipping achievement in mathematics education. Local government reforms. The nurses’ strikes. Disabled people’s appalling ove-representation in poverty statistics. Crown-Māori relationships. The future of farming in New Zealand. Hate speech. Hate crimes. Significant Natural Areas. Public transport infrastructure.There you go. Bam! Just off the top of my head: 25 issues that should be far more important to our politicians than a debate over whether we should call New Zealand, ‘Aotearoa.’National MP Stuart Smith supports a referendum on the use of the word by people in the public sector. Judith Collins made no effort to quieten the debate. Talk radio has been wild with people who feel the name ‘Aotearoa’ is being shoved down their throats.Please, regardless of how you feel about Aotearoa, ask yourself this: in the age of a global pandemic, growing sovereign debt, climate change, and an historic housing crisis, is this *really* the issue you want our policymakers to prioritise?Because you’re being used. You’re being played. It’s cynical. They know this sort of issue stirs people up. They know that by throwing a few cans of gas on the fire, they can briefly be absolved of working on the issues that actually impact our lives and the future of our country.I must confess, I was in two minds about whether or not to raise the subject. I know that in a way I’m playing into the game. But this is not an effort to stir up the debate. This is an effort to cauterise it. Here goes.If you don’t like people on TV and radio using the word Aotearoa, you should familiarise yourself with an amazing power: agency. If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it. Grab your remote and turn it off. Watch or listen to something else. It’s really as simple as that. And if you truly feel threatened by a perceived growth in the use of the word Aotearoa, you feel it’s worthy of a national debate and even a national referendum, might I gently offer you a solution to get you through these dark times?If you don’t like the name Aotearoa, don’t use it. No one’s forcing you to. No one’s holding you at gunpoint or at the threat of legal action. You won’t be hauled off in cuffs or stripped of citizenship if you choose to say New Zealand. You won’t even be misunderstood.Don’t like it? Don’t say it! Ao-tea-no-a.But know that just ‘cos you don’t use it doesn’t mean you’re not being used.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/6/20213 minutes, 43 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New music from Leon Bridges

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to ‘Gold-diggers Sound’ from American Soul singer Leon Bridges. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/31/20215 minutes, 59 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: When the Grass is Greener and The Perfect Family

Catherine Raynes has been reading the latest novel from Devil Wears Prada author Lauren Weisberger; When the Grass is Greener. She's also been reading The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20213 minutes, 41 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Dreaming of the Gold Coast Hinterland

Remember how, for a brief period, we could hop across the ditch?  Travel reporter Mike Yardley took the oppourtunity while the bubble was open, and checked out O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in the Gold Coast Hinterland.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20217 minutes, 32 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Managing loss in a relationship

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been looking at how to manage loss in a relationship.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20217 minutes, 38 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: How to grow your own strawberries

Strawberries to take your mind off winter  I tend to totally ignore my winter feelings when the weather is rubbish. In fact, there’s nothing more positive than planning the next summer fruit extravaganza: STRAWBERRIES!   The young plants are available in shops now – many varieties. For me in Canterbury, a good producer is Cama Rosa; It actually fruited until June! Royal (also known as Camino Real) works good too. I am tempted to track down Sundae (large and vigorous plants that fruit well into late summer). And also Temptation, which is “day-neutral” (means: it will flower and fruit no matter what the day-length is). Now’s the time to put the beds together. After all the winter rain you can quickly assess where the garden is prone to inundation (not good!). Often raised beds (just a foot or so above ground level) can solve the wetness problems. Be careful not to compact the soil when it’s soaking wet – aerate it and add organic matter. Weed-free, good drainage, slightly raised. Work in good, rotted compost so it’s all nice and fluffy. Mulch is seriously important to keep ripening berries off the soil, because it’ll make them rot.  Black plastic? Pros and cons – I’m not a fan. My solution is Dark compost mulch with perhaps some barley straw on top of that. Anything to keep fruit off the soil: bark, crushed shell, gravel. NETTING is also very important. Birds love strawberries and they’ll eat them before they are ripe. Either build a low cage so you can drape bird net over the top, or use hoops to make a netted space. Keep the patch weed-free as it reduces shading and competition in the root zone.  If you haven’t got a lot of space, use a large wooden box to grow them in. At least 25cm deep. Fill it with good potting mix and let the strawberries “hang over the edge, if you like. The disadvantage of this method is you have to water them constantly, especially when the rain has stopped and temperatures are rising!  See: these thoughts are great to combat the drab winter! Now get into your garden centre and get some new, fresh plants. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20215 minutes
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Hannah McQueen: Is it time to sell your investment property?

We're seeing signs property investors are getting the jitters, after recent law changes.Enable Me's Hannah McQueen's been speaking to Jack Tame about whether it's time to sell your investment property. If you want more help, she's available at www.enable.me  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20214 minutes, 33 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Cauliflower, cheddar and ale soup

Cauliflower, cheddar and ale soup  Recently I sat a friend’s kitchen bench and watched her make this soup. As she ladled it out into big bowls my mouth was watering with anticipation. It’s like the best cauliflower cheese you’ve ever had, in a soup form! 2 tbsp olive oil + extra for drizzling  1 onion, finely chopped 1 leek, sliced thinly 4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled  3 cups chicken or vegetable stock 150ml pale ale ½ a large cauliflower, broken or chopped into florets 3 tablespoons of picked thyme leaves  150mls cream 150g cheddar, grated 1 tsp wholegrain mustard  ½ tsp smoked paprika to serve  Finely grated rind of 1 lemon Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add onion, leek and whole cloves of garlic and sauté until softened. Try not to get too much colour on them as it will brown your soup.  Pour on stock and ale, add cauliflower and thyme leaves, cover and simmer until tender – about 20 minutes once it’s come up to heat. Blend with a hand-held blender until very smooth, add cream, cheddar and mustard, and stir until cheese melts. Season to taste. If it’s too thick at this stage add a little more stock to thin.  Serve up in bowls, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with lemon zest, a pinch of paprika and a decent grind of black pepper.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20215 minutes, 9 seconds
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Jack Antonoff: Lorde collaborator on his new Bleachers album

Bleachers is an indi-pop act you might not have heard of ... yet.     It's the stage name for Jack Antonoff, who is variously-known for his role in the band Fun; as well as a collaborator with our own Lorde, Taylor Swift and a laundry list of other stars as a writer and producer.   But recently, he's been working on a new album as Bleachers, called ‘Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night', and he's been speaking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20219 minutes, 58 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Tech companies are requiring vaccination

Zoom calls on your TV The days of huddling around a laptop or propping up your phone on a table to chat with your friends is over. Finally you'll be able to sit back on your couch and have a comfortable Zoom meeting! With Amazon's FireTV Cube device, you can now plug in a webcam and use your TV as a Zoom display.  There were ways to utilize your TV today, but it always involved a computer. With this, you'll be able to ask Alexa to join your meeting and you'll be connected. This has been a massive gap in the market - and I'm expecting to see more in the space.   Tech companies are requiring vaccination Silicon Valley's tech companies are planning to reopen their offices to staff at the end of Summer and many of them will require everyone to be fully vaccinated. Facebook, Google and Lyft are some of the big names leading the charge. Just when the offices will be fully open though is still in flux. The Delta variant has already pushed back many September reopening plans to October.  What's still unclear is what happens to those who are unvaccinated. Do they stay working from home? Or do they face disciplinary action for not turning up to the office?   Facebook is just printing money Despite being the home to misinformation and being in the firing line from various angles, Facebook's business continues to boom. It's second quarter saw revenues up 56% to $29 billion and its profit was up 101% to $10 billion. That means FB is growing faster than Apple or Microsoft. It's daily users are up over 10% too. Why? Facebook says it's because of the lockdowns around the world and is cautioning investors not to expect this type of growth in the second half of the year. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20214 minutes, 6 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Pursuit of Love, Smother and Zomboat

The Pursuit of Love: a new British drama starring Lily James, Emily Mortimer and Dominic West. Set in Europe before World War II, the story follows the adventures of the charismatic and fearless Linda Radlett, and her best friend/cousin Fanny Logan. Consumed by a desire for love and marriage, they both seek out the ideal husband (Amazon Prime Video).  Smother: An Irish drama set on the rugged coast of County Clare. When Val Ahern's husband is found dead at the foot of a cliff the morning after a family party, the matriarch starts to dig into the family's secrets to find out who might be responsible (TVNZ OnDemand, from Sunday).   Zomboat: a quirky British comedy. A Zombie apocalypse is unleashed in Birmingham and sisters Kat and Jo, together with unlikely travel companions Sunny and Amar must flee for their lives...by canal boat (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20215 minutes, 9 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Justice of Bunny King  and Warrior Queen of Jhansi

Francesca Rudkin's been watching new Kiwi drama The Justice of Bunny King; and historical film Warrior Queen of Jhansi.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20216 minutes, 18 seconds
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Jack Tame: Struggling athletes deserve support, not criticism

Ben Stokes is taking a break. The Christchurch-born English cricketer and hero of the 2019 Cricket World Cup is certainly one of the biggest stars in the game. But his mental health isn’t great. Understandably, the death of his Dad last year has had a really big impact on him. Because of Covid-19, and at the behest of his Dad, Ben Stokes couldn’t make it back it back to Christchurch for the funeral. Now, he wants to take some time. The break is indefinite.That’s three very high-profile sportspeople then, in the space of just a couple of months. Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, and now Ben Stokes, have all come out and said they need to step back.I’ve heard some pretty lousy takes on Simone Biles’ decision, this week. It was suggested to me by a colleague that the young American gymnast lacks resilience. I would have thought that getting up in the small hours of the morning almost every day for your entire life to manipulate your body in extreme and painful ways, surviving being sexually abused by your coach, winning thirty Olympic and World Championship golds, becoming so good at gymnastics that judges don’t know how to score you and they literally have to brainstorm for the names of the things you are performing, then using your platform to go public about your harrowing sexual abuse in the hope it will help other survivors, all by your early twenties, actually displayed a level of resilience that most of us could only dream of.I wish she was competing. Simone Biles is the biggest star of the games. And unlike basketball or tennis, the Olympics represents the pinnacle of the sport in gymnastics. Her choice not to compete would not have been made lightly. I respect her decision. What do Naomi Osaka, Ben Stokes, and Simone Biles all have in common? All three have excelled in their respective sports. All three have been at the very top of their respective games. Perhaps there is something to learn from this about the pressures on athletes to maintain elite levels of performance. Excellence brings with it the expectation of continued excellence.We can’t, in one breath, bemoan the mental health crisis in this country, and then criticise these athletes in the next. They deserve our support, not our criticism. Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, and Ben Stokes have all pulled off superhuman athletic performances. It doesn’t mean they’re not human.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/30/20213 minutes, 15 seconds
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Thomasin McKenzie: Kiwi actress on her wild ride

Kiwi actress Thomasin McKenzie has had a wild ride.  She was called one of the “Fifteen rising stars poised to dominate 2021” by Vogue Magazine.And she’s living up to that, starring in handful of upcoming films.Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, Psychological thriller Last Night in Soho and Kiwi film The Justice of Bunny King. Thomasin joined Jack Tame from MIQ, where she’s been since returning from London. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/24/202111 minutes, 48 seconds
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Jack Tame: When is the right time to reopen the bubble?

It was the right decision to open the Trans-Tasman bubble and it’s the right decision to close the Trans-Tasman bubble.I don’t think any of us was particularly surprised at Cabinet electing to shut things down for a couple of months. Disappointed? Sure. It sucks for those of us with family on either side of the Tasman Sea. I was fortunate to visit Australia last month and I had been hoping to go over again in September. I don’t know when I’ll see my brother or Grandma next.But given just how infectious the Delta strain is proving to be, and given our low levels of vaccination, it’s a responsible and entirely reasonable call to close things down and reduce the threat of importing infections.Remember – this is the way the bubble was designed to function. From the word go, there was risk for anyone who decided to go to Australia. You bought a ticket. You chose to travel. You assumed that risk. I actually think the people who’ve come back from New South Wales and into MIQ should consider themselves very lucky they haven’t had to pay for the privilege when everyone else does.When the Government established the bubble, the Delta strain wasn’t causing nearly as many issues as it is right now. They made the decision with the best information they had available. You could argue they actually could have opened much earlier with a similar level of risk. They’re now acting on the best information they have available in shutting it all down.I also recall that when the bubble opened, National promised not to try and score political points if it was later forced to close. The opposition has stayed true to its word. They think it makes sense to shut down.There are valuable lessons in all of this. New South Wales has neatly demonstrated just how quickly things get out of hand with the Delta strain when you don’t lock down hard, especially when a majority of the population hasn’t yet been vaccinated.We can use this downtime to consider what changes we should make to the bubble when it does come time to reopen.Should we establish special short-term quarantine facilities for people travelling in the bubble?Should we only let vaccinated people travel without MIQ?And maybe the most obvious question: Given the bubble will be closed until at least the end of September and we’re all supposed to have had a jab by the end of this year, does it actually make sense to reopen the bubble before all adult Australians and all adult New Zealanders have had access to a vaccine?For the sake of a few months, I reckon a majority of Kiwis will be quite happy to see it closed until Christmas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/24/20212 minutes, 54 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Jack Antonoff - Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night

Next week Jack Tame has a very special interview, legendary musician Jack Antonoff. He’s part of Fun and is a producer who works with musical heavyweights including Taylor Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Rey and P!nk.  He also has a solo project, making music under the name Bleachers and his new album is Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night.  Estelle Clifford has been listening to the first few tracks. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/24/20215 minutes, 37 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Tsarinas Daughter and The House of Kwa

The Tsarinas Daughter, Ellen Alpsten  Born into the House of Romanov to the all-powerful Peter the Great and Catherine I, beautiful Tsarevna Elizabeth is the world's loveliest Princess and the envy of the Russian empire. Insulated by luxury and as a woman free from the burden of statecraft, Elizabeth is seemingly born to pursue her passions.  However, a dark prophecy predicts her fate as inexorably twined with Russia. When her mother dies, Russia is torn, masks fall, and friends become foes. Elizabeth's idyllic world is upended. By her twenties she is penniless and powerless, living under constant threat. As times change like quicksand, an all-consuming passion emboldens Elizabeth: she must decide whether to take up her role as Russia's ruler, and what she's willing to do for her country – and for love. The House of Kwa, Mimi Kwa  Mimi Kwa ignored the letter for days. When she finally opened it, the news was so shocking her hair turned grey. Why would a father sue his own daughter? The collision was over the estate of Mimi's beloved Aunt Theresa, but its seed had been sown long ago. In an attempt to understand how it had come to this, Mimi unspools her rich family history in House of Kwa. One of a wealthy silk merchant's 32 children, Mimi's father, Francis, was just a little boy when the Kwa family became caught up in the brutal and devastating Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. Years later, he was sent to study in Australia by his now independent and successful older sister Theresa. There he met and married Mimi's mother, a nineteen-year-old with an undiagnosed, chronic mental illness. Soon after, 'tiger' Mimi arrived, and her struggle with the past - and the dragon - began ... Riveting, colourful and often darkly humorous, House of Kwa is an epic family drama spanning four generations, and an unforgettable story about how one woman finds the courage to stand up for her freedom and independence, squaring off against the ghosts of the past and finally putting them to rest. Throughout, her inspiration is Francis's late older sister, the jet-setting, free-spirited Aunt Theresa, whose extraordinary life is a beacon of hope in the darkness.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/24/20213 minutes, 11 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Tripping around Tarawera

Resident traveller Mike Yardley gave Jack Tame the rundown on what's hot and what's not in Tarawera.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/24/20216 minutes, 12 seconds
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Malcom Rands: Composting loos

In Nature there is no waste, one’s systems waste is another systems food. Humans’ diets are so varied we have all the minerals and elements needed in farming. But this combination of wonderful elements usually becomes pollution, and we have to set up expensive industrial plants to try and mitigate any damage.   The answer? Composting toilets. I first came across a simple system when I visited the artist Hundertwasser in the early eighties at his home in the Bay of Islands. He just had a simple bucket that he added a handful sawdust to it at each use. There was no smell!   If any organic matter is left submerged in water it makes for anaerobic decomposition. It's smelly – you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever left even grass clippings in a wheel barrow of water by mistake. If you keep the water out and you have aerobic decomposition, there is very low smell, especially if the composting loo is well ventilated.  We have been using this system since we moved into the eco village in 1986. I still remember the kids were ashamed to bring their friends home from school because of our weird toilet! We soon moved onto a more sophisticated outhouse which is basically two large compost bins with a room above them and a tall chimney that means air is constantly sucked through the compost keeping it dry and evaporating the urine that ends up in it. After one year, the active waste and sawdust pile is moved into the second chamber to compost again.  I have to service this once a year. It takes about 2 hours, and that includes transporting the compost from the second chamber to spread under my fruit trees as mulch. When you see this compost you wouldn’t know it wasn’t straight from a garden shop.   Commercially, you can buy units that use a similar system but are much more compact. We have one of these as well now as our second toilet. The other system, we affectionately call the ‘poo fryer’, has an element that dries out the feaces and urine. These are often found at DOC huts along with a small solar power panel to run it. Unfortunately, with our current system once human waste is combined with a lot of water it becomes very hard to extract the nutrients again. The other problem is that often chemical, pharmaceutical and heavy metal contaminants end up in the mix as well.  At present, composting loos are mainly found at homes of bioneers like ourselves, remote areas and outdoor festivals. We set up 4 bucket composting loos for my daughter’s wedding last year and they went without a hitch. We just used the bucket and lid combo the sell for chemical toilets for caravans and boats. Much nicer using sawdust and easier to empty too.  Internationally, compost loos are coming into urban areas as well, in offices and blocks of flats. The compost is being used in gardens or to make biogas for heating or cooking. I predict in twenty years’ time you will be using one too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/24/20219 minutes, 3 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Recyclers 2 - The famous carpet beetle

A few weeks ago we dealt to the clothes moths and their caterpillars;The conclusion was that their ecosystem service is to recycle keratin: hair, fur, wool, nails and skin. This is part of the decomposition job that many invertebrates do when an animal dies,Keratin is really hard to digest; Mammals and Birds can’t do that (cat’s fur-balls; owls ejected pellets, etc); these moths are therefore valued members of the RECYCLING SQUAD.This appears to be the most common carpet destroyer in Aotearoa; probably because our houses are a lot more “open” than – for instance – in Europe.Less insulation (especially in older homes), more moisture inside, not well sealed, wooden structures and draughty windowsWe also have this habit of living outside a lot: leaving windows and doors open in summer time, so that there is an unlimited indoor-outdoor flow.Carpet beetles are quite different from the clothes moths – different family of insects.Also a different life-cycle and different tactic of chewing on carpet.The adult beetles (those with the ability to reproduce) have a real beetle “look”… a little bit like miniature ladybird beetles: the membranous flight wings are hidden under some sturdy forewings:They are actually quite beautiful little beetles: patterned in browny-orange, white and black; a couple of millimetres in size that’s all they are.But these beetles are not really your problem at all! In fact they are pretty useful pollinators in your garden.In mid-summer you can find dozens of them in your marigolds, yarrow and even pohutukawa flowers; I bet you that the vast majority of New Zealanders rarely notice them there!Later in summer when the beetles have mated, they fly into your home through the open door or window and lay their eggs in your woollen carpet.Little larvae will start gnawing at the keratin (wool), especially on the underside of the carpet backing, so that the woollen strands become loose and are easily sucked up the vacuum cleaner.They look a little like “hairy maggots” and they are pretty resilient down there.And just like the clothes moths, their habitat of choice is birds nests, lined with feathers and fur, as well as carcasses of dead rodents, hedgehogs and birdsBreaking down the keratin is their gig!The trick is simple. All you need is a clever enzyme that chops the protein into bits and you will have earned your reputation as one of the few insects that are literally able to split hairs.Like is the case with clothes moths: control can be achieved with some residual insecticides – active ingredients such as permethrin and other synthetic pyrethroids will do the job well; (Safeworx aerosol cans)It works well and is residual for 6 to 8 weeks, as long as the substrate treated is not exposed to direct sunlightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/24/20214 minutes, 5 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Giesen 0% Rosé

Giesen 0% Rosé, Marlborough $17.99 Why I chose it:  Growth in low or zero alcohol wines and spirits80% less calories than full strength wineBest of the three 0% alc. Wines on offerFull strength Rose with alcohol removed (less than 0.5% alc) spinning cone.Nice to have a glass of wine at lunch without feeling drowsy afterwards.What does it taste like? Subtle strawberry flavours. Dry, fresh and clean. A bit simple but has good purity and a good acid/sweetness balance.Why it’s a bargain: Not so much of a bargain as a niche wine for certain occasions.Where you can buy it?  Online from Giesen.co.nz/wineNewly released so not widely available yet. Food match?  Smoked salmon. Fairly versatile food matchWill it keep?   Drink it within a year. Having said that, I opened a Giesen 0% Sauvignon Blanc released a year ago recently and it was still drinking well. Check out Bob's website www.therealreview.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20214 minutes, 57 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Jeff Bezos, Internet Outage and Tokyo 2020 goes 4K

Jeff Bezos goes to space This Blue Origin launch was so much more impressive than the Virgin Galactic launch. The take off was dramatic, the landing of the booster rocket was flawless, and the return of the capsule was uneventful - exactly what you want! The tech behind this unmanned launch is unreal. Plus Wally Funk got her dream to come true. A large chunk of the internet went down Again we're shown just how centralized the internet has become. Akamai - an internet infrastructure company - tried to update a configuration, but it didn't go to plan. Instead, it took the DNS service offline which broke services for some of the biggest brands and internet services in the world. Everything from airline check-in kiosks, banking systems, 911 call centers and more went down until it was reverted.  There are a handful of companies which, over time, have come to provide critical services everyone relies on.  The Olympics go 4K Every drip of sweat will be able to be seen this time around as 4K feeds of the Olympic action is being made available. It's a huge technical feat because it requires every part of the system to be upgraded - from cameras, to production equipment, to broadcast systems - not to mention people's TVs at home. Surround Sound will also be broadcast to make you feel like you're there in the stadium. Unfortunately it won't be available in New Zealand's broadcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20215 minutes, 48 seconds
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Tara Ward: Dr Death, Girls5eva and Sexy Beasts

Dr Death: Starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater, this drama is based on the terrifying true story of Dr Christopher Duntsch, a charismatic neurosurgeon whose patients ended up permanently maimed or dead after routine surgeries. As victims piled up, two doctors and a prosecutor set out to stop him (TVNZ OnDemand)  Girls5Eva: When a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 90’s gets sampled by a young rapper, its members reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot. They may be grown women balancing spouses, kids, jobs, debt, aging parents, and shoulder pain, but surely they can also be Girls5eva?  (TVNZ OnDemand)  Sexy Beasts: The latest “I can’t believe this is actually a thing” reality show. Hoping to say goodbye to superficial dating, real-life singles sport elaborate makeup and prosthetics to put true blind-date chemistry to the test (Netflix).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20215 minutes, 20 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Tamarillo & chilli jam

Sweet and spicy, this is the perfect accompaniment to roast pork or to have with cheese and crackers.  Makes 2 small jars  10 medium tamarillos, skinned and roughly chopped 1 red pepper, sliced thinly 2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped or ¼ tsp chilli flakes  2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 2 cups sugar  ½ cup apple cider vinegar  2 tbsps balsamic vinegar Squeeze lemon juice  ½ tsp salt  Bring all ingredients to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer for 40-60 minutes or until mixture thickens and becomes syrupy. Test a cooled teaspoonful for heat and add more chilli if you want it hotter.  Spoon into warmed, sterilized jars and place lids on. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20216 minutes, 3 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Girls Cant Surf and Waiting for Anya

Girls Cant Surf  It's the 1980s and the world of professional surfing is a circus of fluro colours, peroxide hair and radical male egos. GIRLS CAN'T SURF follows the journey of a band of renegade surfers who took on the male-dominated professional surfing world to achieve equality and change the sport forever. Featuring surfing greats Jodie Cooper, Frieda Zamba, Pauline Menczer, Lisa Andersen, Pam Burridge, Wendy Botha, Layne Beachley and more, GIRLS CAN'T SURF is a wild ride of clashing personalities, sexism, adventure and heartbreak, with each woman fighting against the odds to make their dreams of competing a reality. Waiting for Anya   During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20215 minutes, 52 seconds
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Andrew Saville: Tokyo 2020, Travel Bubble and the Wallabies

Andrew Saville joined Jack Tame to discuss the comings and goings at Tokyo Olympics 2020 and the pause of quarantine free travel with Australia, and what that means for the scheduled Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20215 minutes, 55 seconds
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Kevin Milne: What is there to celebrate about a daughter's teenage years?

The last member of Kevin's family turned 20 this week. What is there to celebrate about a daughter's teenage years? Isn't it all bad? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20214 minutes, 1 second
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Jack Tame: Human beings are not very good at listening to Mother Nature

For all our species’ achievements and all our billionaires blasting off to space, a few events this week have reminded me of one our fundamental shortcomings. Human beings are not very good at listening to Mother Nature.  Take the Olympics. It’s very obvious to anyone with a scintila of intelligence the Olympic Games should not be going ahead. I love sport. I love the idea of the Olympics in theory. But for goodness’ sake, could there be a less-appropriate time than in the middle of a global pandemic to have people from all corners of the Earth travelling to gather together in one place? (Anyone would think there are billions of dollars on the line, and that concerns over that money might have outweighed every other concern). Infection numbers are surging once again in Japan. Mother Nature is telling us something but the organisers of the games blunder on with their eyes squeezed shut and fingers in their ears.  My second point is this: I feel sad for Toa, Wellington’s orca calf, and I really sad for those who’d grown close to Toa throughout the rescue effort. I know this is delicate and I’m not trying to upset anyone, but unfortunately there was a sense of inevitability about the situation. It’s heartbreaking to see a little calf like Toa separated from its pod and it’s only natural for us to anthropomorphise, but I was personally a bit uncomfortable about it all. I just worried that a lot of people (And a lot of children) were getting caught up in the romance of the story and a bit caught up in false hope. Mother Nature can be cruel and sometimes all the will in the world cannot defy her.  My third point on Mother Nature regards the weather events of the last week. This time last Saturday, I started the show by speaking to you about the Groundswell farmer’s protest. As I was on air, the rain was falling heavily in Buller and parts of the Upper South Island. Things were starting to look really bad. But by the end of the weekend, the scale of the destruction was clear. Westport was inundated in what was apparently a once-in-a-century weather event. The image that stuck with me was of cow carcasses being scraped up off the beach. Cows that’d been swept off their land and to their deaths.  To be honest, I’m a little surprised more people haven’t noted the irony of the situation. The Groundswell protest was followed almost immediately by an historic flood that absolutely hammered farmers. I understand Groundswell was about a lot of different things. But some of the central issues people protested were government climate change policies. I’m not saying last week’s flood was totally attributable to climate change. But the main reason we have emissions reductions targets and a rebate scheme that taxes big, fossil-fuel burning vehicles is to ultimately try and prevent traumatic weather events like last weekend. Perhaps Mother Nature is telling us something. Perhaps it would pay to listen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/23/20213 minutes, 34 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New music from John Mayer

John Mayer’s got a new album out, and he seems to be making fun of it before the rest of us get the chance  It’s got an 80’s soft rock vibe so what’s he called the album? Sob Rock.  Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/17/20215 minutes, 32 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Last Thing He Told Me and When The Stars Go Dark

Our book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave and When The Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/17/20213 minutes, 21 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Teenagers driving you crazy?

It's school holidays, and you might have teenagers around more than usual. Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has some tips for what to do when teenagers are driving you crazy.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20218 minutes, 57 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Improving your soil

Improving Your soil   Mid-winter isn’t a great time to start digging in your sodden soil. It can be quite fragile, yet it provides us with organic materials that can:  1) Sequester carbon 2) Store moisture   3) Retain fertility   4) Grow trees that provide us with oxygen   5) Be a home to an amazing biodiversity   6) Feed us (vegie gardens!!)    Mulching and adding is the thing to do in winter.  Pea straw is a fab cover that suppresses weeds and keeps things “warm” in winter. It slowly breaks down it becomes humus and dark organic matter which is perfect! Pea straw should ideally be 20 cm thick.   Chipped branches and sawdust-like material do that too, but they often “steal” some Nitrogen from the soil to help it break down. A handful of Urea (50% Nitrogen) will speed that up and keep your soil fertile.  Old leaf-mold or dried, compressed leaves from last autumn are excellent cover too - like pea-straw.   Compost from your carbon-cycle compost bin is a step-up from just “mulch”. It contains a variety of nutrients that will become available when plants start growing again in September.  Lawn clippings are perhaps a bit too soggy to drape over the garden soil. Often they will lie there as a wet, damp mat, going slimy etc. If you use those around tree trunks, make sure they do not touch the base of the tree, otherwise you can get collar rots and such Fatal Fungal Fatalities. Best to mix them with sawdust/woodchips to create that “balance” of N:Carbon of 1:30.  Adding fertilisers? Not now! Still far too cold to be of any use and in rain it all washes off down-hill, polluting water courses – streams – rivers – oceans.  Coffee grinds? Not great as a mulch! Acidity will become too high. Also, fine particles will reduce the amount of air in the soil and hence increases water retention and “pugging”. It’s best to chuck your spent coffee grounds into a compost bin and let them do one cycle in there. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20213 minutes, 36 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: What RSV means for your family

A scary virus has been spreading through New Zealand, filling our EDs, and it's particularly bad for children.Our resident GP Dr Bryan Betty has been giving Jack Tame all your need to know about Respiratory syncytial virus aka RSV. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20213 minutes, 21 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Joe Biden wants iPhones to be easier to fix

Joe Biden wants you to be able to fix your iPhone  He signed an Executive Order directing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prevent manufacturers from imposing restrictions on independent repair shops and do-it-yourself repairs. Basically, devices we buy are having their lives cut short because the hassle to repair them makes it easier to just buy a new one. Take it somewhere that isn't authorized and you'll void the warranty. But it's not just cellphones or laptops - it's also farm equipment, hospital devices, cars and more.  Biden says this is anti-competitive and the "right to repair" movement wants to see more competition in the repair space, devices designed to be easier to maintain and more information from manufacturers about how to fix them yourself.  Google Calendar is designing for a hybrid workforce Google is now allowing folks to rsvp to invitations with more details about how they plan to attend. The new dropdown allows attendees to indicate if they’ll be in person, or virtually. That’s going to be important as US offices begin to open back up in major cities in the next couple of months.   Bye bye Fleets They were Twitter's answer to Stories, but they didn't get people to post more as Twitter had hoped. They thought that if they disappeared quickly then people might feel more inclined to share more, but maybe this is a sign that people are learning that nothing ever disappears from the internet. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20212 minutes, 59 seconds
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Tara Ward: Travels of a Lifetime, Ted Lasso and Heist

Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime: Beloved actor and TV traveller Michael Palin revisits some of his popular travel documentaries. Through intimate conversation and his own personal archive, Palin reflects on how he got addicted to travel and the challenges he faced making the shows (Neon). Ted Lasso: It scored 20 Emmy nominations this week, and the second season drops of this charming series about an American football coach who is hired to manage and English soccer team - despite knowing nothing about the sport - lands on Apple TV+ this week.  Heist: Millions in stolen cash. Missing luxury bourbon. Watch ordinary people almost get away with these extraordinary heists in this lively true crime documentary series (Netflix).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20214 minutes, 23 seconds
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Bill Edgar: My life as a "Coffin Confessor"

Bill Edgar has a job you’ve almost certainly not heard of before - he’s a ‘coffin confessor’. For $10,000, he will spill your secrets at your funeral.  Bill actually has a laundry list of other descriptions too, all of them worth of an interview in their own right. He's a former street kid, a prisoner, a sexual abuse survivor and an inventor. That’s when he’s not being one of Australia’s leading private detectives.  He’s written a new book about his unusual life, and occupation, titled “Coffin Confessor”, and a movie’s being made about him too. Bill Edgar has been speaking with Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/202113 minutes, 45 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Chicken & leek family pie

Chicken & leek family pie  The pie is all about minimum fuss and maximum deliciousness! The flavour and creaminess of this pie belies the simplicity of making it and it’s a fabulous pie for the whole family.  Serves 4-6  1 free-range ready roast chicken 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil  2 leeks, sliced thinly  200g crème fraiche ½ cup vegetable or chicken stock ¼ teaspoon black pepper   300g flaky pastry (or 2 sheets ready rolled)  1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash  Parsley to garnish  Heat oven to 190 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.  Strip chicken meat from cooked chicken and cut up any larger pieces, like the breasts, and crumble stuffing if it comes stuffed. Set aside.  Heat butter or oil in a large pan and gently fry leeks for 10 minutes. Add crème fraiche, stock and black pepper and bring to a simmer, stirring until you have a creamy sauce. Turn off heat and add chicken, stir to combine and cool.  Roll out to a large rectangle about 30x40cm. Transfer it to the lined tray.  Pile cooled filling down one half, lengthwise, of the pastry rectangle, leaving a border clear of filling. Brush edges with egg and fold over pastry to encase filling, pressing the edges together all the way around to seal. Trim any excess pastry. Makes some cuts in the top for steam to escape and brush all over with egg wash. Cook for 45 minutes or until golden brown and the bottom is cooked through too.  Grind over some pepper and leave pie to stand for 5 minutes or so before cutting into thick slices. Garnish with parsley.     Nici’s note: When cooking with stock hold off on adding extra salt as it’s often salty enough. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20215 minutes, 5 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Godmother and Gunpowder Milkshake

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching French film The Godmother, and female-led action movie Gunpowder Milkshake.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20215 minutes, 23 seconds
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Jack Tame: Protesting farmers are hypocrites, but so am I

Two weeks ago, a heatwave in Canada and the U.S caused one thousand deaths. Yesterday, floods in Germany killed at least 125 people. As we go to air, hundreds of people in Buller are being evacuated because of massive rainfall. And New Zealand’s farmers are back home.You’d have to agree, for the most part the protest was a good bit of theatre. There were a few loopy extremists with whack-job signs, but the majority of tractor drivers are normal and presumably decent people who turned out because they feel unfairly picked on. Freshwater regulations, a ute tax, emissions reductions; they feel they’re being subjected to special treatment of the worst kind.Speaking of special treatment, did those protesting farmers feel the same way when their industry received the best part of a billion dollars in support for Mycoplasma Bovis? Did they take to the streets to protest hundreds of millions of dollars they received in irrigation subsidies? Did protestors turn out in anger at drought relief packages, or flood relief, or the Covid-19 wage support? If the agriculture sector is concerned about special treatment, just wait until it hears about the Emissions Trading Scheme.I’ll stop there though because honestly, ALL of us are hypocrites. As the farmers were protesting, I was on a plane. I landed and enjoyed a flat white. I eat meat a few times a week. I’m not so naive as to think dinner just falls out of the sky. All of us, regardless of where we live and regardless of what we do, are hypocrites of varying degrees. And all of us have to make sacrifices if we are to stop plundering the World for the sake of a quick hit and at the expense of the generations who follow us.For people in urban centres, it’s obvious. We have got to get used to living in neighbourhoods with high-density housing. We have got to stop moaning about bike lanes and start using the bus a whole lot more. For people in rural areas, the changes and sacrifices are just of a different nature.I understand that for many farmers it’s all just a question of proportionality. Farmers accept they have to make sacrifices but feel the things they are being asked to do are disproportionate to the sacrifices of people in towns and cities. It’s never going to be absolutely perfectly equitable but – take my examples above - if we’re honest, the sector has been well-supported for a very long time.I don’t think a few thousand extra dollars for a ute and some environmental compliance expenses are going to be so devastating that they fundamentally threaten farming communities’ way of life. So many farmers are already being proactive about adapting for the future, and it’s on government and the rest of us to make sure they are supported as they continue to do so.One last point: on Thursday, my sister had a baby daughter. I became an uncle for a second time and as my sister sent through photographs, I felt the wonderful, glorious rush of pure love run through my chest.Sometimes we get way so caught up focusing on what climate change adaptation and environmental protections will cost us as individuals, we don’t pause and consider who we’re making the changes for.All of us are hypocrites. All of us have sacrifices to make. And all of us have good reasons to make those sacrifices. Mine is called Elsie. She’s two days old.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/16/20214 minutes, 11 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Nature Connections

Nature Connections With school Holidays coming up and winter days often variable, here are some of my observations on how to connect kids with nature. I’ve noticed that bombarding kids with science and scientific principles is usually not a great intro into working in and with nature. Each person has different interests and those are the ones that allow a connection to be made.  Image from Ruud KleinpasteIf you have kids there’s no doubt that each one is different – one may enjoy running around outside. While the other is content playing with lego; or building roads with trucks, setting possum traps; technology. Another loves to draw or paint pictures, read a book or engage in role-play….  When I work with students or teachers, I often tell stories, use language, or play piano. And all these activities have a really nice connection to our natural world. Image from Kate Parker - Kowhai and the Giants For example, last week I got a book by Kate Parker “Kowhai and the Giants” and basically it’s about Predator-Free NZ via a historical journey in story format. Well – that’s what I see in this book...but you can also interpret it as an indigenous history of discovery of Aotearoa. It’s about a magical creature “Kowhai” who gathers light for the giant trees, in a land in complete, ecological harmony. “Kowhai” is climbing trees and living in that ecosystem with all the – now - rare birds of our country. These scenes were originally designed as three-dimensional dioramas, lit from behind. Carefully cut-out trees and vegetation in which you can get totally “lost”, and inspirational images that take you back in time. And then the ships arrive… with people… and rodents; lots of ships, lots of people and lots of pests…scary stuff. As far as I can see, we are the only species (on the planet) that can tell stories and that – in my opinion – is one of the most powerful ways to get us out of the trouble we are in.  Painting – for the curriculum: A few years ago I saw some real early drawings by a very famous New Zealand painter; he made these drawings when he was 7, 8, or 9 years old  Here are a weka, a kiwi and a tui and note how he wrote a “W”, a “K” and  “T” on these pictures – just as if he discovered the alphabet though his art! By the way – if you look at these drawings you may recognize the very beginnings of Don Binney’s art career!  Music Listen to the sounds of Nature – what do you recognize? Who’s singing? Can you transcribe the notes of the bellbird, the blackbird, or the yellow hammer?  Theatre Some teachers are capable of creating school productions from the stories you find in nature. Connections between caterpillars and their host trees, predators that chase their prey and weta utilising second-hand dwellings made by a borer, deep inside a tree … much more exciting than Shortland Street! LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/10/20213 minutes, 23 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Cairns & the Reef

Mike Yardley has been doing some real-life international travel, and he has some tips for trips to Cairns & the Reef.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/10/20217 minutes, 35 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: A kids album from Ziggy Marley

Estelle Clifford has some special music for the school holidays, Ziggy Marley’s new children’s album “More Family Time”.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/10/20216 minutes, 48 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Buying for a lifetime

By Malcom RandsYes we do live in disposable times. I heard managers at big box stores saying they wanted the public to be able to buy anything they wanted out of one pay packet. So that meant a radical decrease in quality to make this possible. So things don’t last long, and hey, for the retailers and manufacturers it means you will be buying from them again, real soon. And the eco impact of manufacturing and transportation all these products that soon become waste is enormous.  Back in the day we bought from a local store, often only one of each item, and the retailer wanted it to be the best, so they were looking after you, their valued and regular customer. When I was young I thought these cheap prices were amazing, bought some garden tools, some only lasted a few days before they bent. As an alternative, I still have some tools from my great grandfather, manufactured over 125 years ago, and still in great condition. And we call this progress.  So what do we look out for in buying something that will last. And to be fair, you may have to save up for a few week to afford it, but in the  long run it is much much less expensive.  1. What are the materials and workmanship that make this more durable than its competitors  2. Look into reviews from customers and independent commenters 3. Is it manufactured ethically and has sustainable materials  4. Is there an aftercare program, including spare parts  5. Is the design timeless, especially around items that are fashionable like clothing or interior design  6. Can you buy it second hand, maybe left over from somebodies else’s great grandparents  7. How long is the guarantee, some are lifetime.Some examples Kitchen:  Cast iron cookware: I first went flatting with this awful aluminium cooking set. And I wondered why cooking was hard work and I keep burning things and hated the dishes. I love cooking on quality cast iron fry pans and casserole dishes. The heavy bottoms smooth out and retain the heat . As they hardly every burn I will just rinse them out in hot water then hang them in the kitchen for next time. And yes, definitely able to be passed on one day. We even have a new business, the Ironclad Pan Company, making the highest quality cast iron ware here in NZ.  Knives: We recently bought top range Japanese cooking knives. It’s like a revolution, the blade just slipping through those tomatoes.   Toasters, electric jugs, mixers: There are now brands that will replace parts and repair. Often stainless steel will be the go-to for many kitchen tools.  Home:   Quality pens Linen Covers  Leatherman or Swiss army multi tool   Garden:  Strong and guaranteed   Mens: I don’t shave much now, just cheeks and lower neck, but when I’m finally finished with the refill pack I’m into an old fashioned razor and razor blade set. A good friend swears by it and he has a very thick beard when it grows.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/10/20219 minutes, 47 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Mrs England and Yours Cheerfully

This week, our book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Mrs England by Stacey Halls and Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/10/20216 minutes, 19 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Is our retirement age realistic?

This week, treasury warned us the government’s on an unsustainable debt track, partially due to the aging population and the cost of superannuation. Enable Me's Hannah McQueen's been talking to Jack Tame about whether we need to raise the age of eligibility. If you to get in touch with Hannah, head here.LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20214 minutes, 35 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: The security update you need right now

If you own a PC, you need to install a security update now  The exploit is codenamed PrintNightmare because of a flaw in a pre-installed system application that manages the printer functions. It’s in every version of Windows. The bug allows someone to remotely take over your PC. Microsoft has issued patches for all the latest operating systems as well as some of their older unsupported operating systems. Look out for the update and make sure you install it.   Google Calendar is designing for a hybrid workforce Google is now allowing folks to rsvp to invitations with more details about how they plan to attend. The new dropdown allows attendees to indicate if they’ll be in person, or virtually. That’s going to be important as US offices begin to open back up in major cities in the next couple of months.  The Billionaire space race blasts off this weekend Branson is off to space this weekend. It’ll happen Sunday here, Monday NZ time but the exact timing hasn’t been announced. We just know that the live stream will start at 9am (1am NZT). Apparently we’ll be able to watch the whole thing from the comfort of our couch.   Where does space begin though?  NASA says it starts 50 miles up which is where Branson is headed. However, the international standard is 62 miles up which is where Bezos is headed.  62 miles is the international standard. So if Bezos is going to get up higher than Branson.. does that make him the winner?       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20215 minutes, 32 seconds
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Tara Ward: We Are Lady Parts, White Lotus and Big Timber

We Are Lady Parts: A British comedy that follows the highs and lows of Muslim female punk band Lady Parts, as seen through the eyes of Amina Hussein, a geeky PhD student who is recruited to be their unlikely lead guitarist (Neon).  White Lotus: HBO’s new drama is a social satire set at an exclusive Hawaiian resort, and follows the vacations of various hotel guests over the span of a week as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise (Soho from 12 July, Neon from 19 July).   Big Timber: An oddly compelling reality series that follows the dangerous work of Canadian logger and sawmill owner Kevin Wenstob, as he and his crew go to extremes to keep the family sawmill and their way of life alive (Netflix).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20214 minutes, 53 seconds
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Nici Wickes: School holiday baking

My kitchen rules for reluctant adults letting non-adults into the kitchen:  * Understand that there will be mess! Give kids a lesson in how to wash up + BE prepared to act as kitchen lacky and tidy up after them (controversial I know but it does save you getting bad-tempered).  * Don't let them cook whatever they want, guide them into cooking what you want. Kids will always want to make fancy cakes (because making and eating icing is the attraction) and elaborate desserts which are often not practical. Give them some recipe choices to choose from.  *Get them to read out the ingredients as you get it out of the cupboards to ensure success and minimise food waste (from missing out ingredients) and it saves on the constant "where's the XXX"  *Tackle some savoury recipes too even though kids will nearly always prefer baking sweet items.  *Always let them lick the beaters!  Baking biscuits or cookies is a school holiday right of passage if you ask me! These cookies/biscuits are so fabulous – chock full of oats, raisins and chocolate chunks!   Makes 20-24   85g butter, melted ½ cup white sugar  ½ cup brown sugar  1 large egg 1 cup + 1 tbsp flour  1/3 cup rolled oats ½ cup raisins 1/3 cup chopped dark or milk chocolate   Preheat oven to 180 C. Line 2 trays with baking paper.  Pour melted butter into a mixing bowl. Use a fork to whisk in sugars then add the egg and whisk until incorporated then stir in remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Make sure the flour is well mixed in.  Roll large tablespoonfuls of dough into a ball and place on tray, leaving plenty of space between each to allow for spreading. I usually get about 9-10 on each tray. Flatten with your palm and bake for 6 minutes. Remove tray from oven and tap firmly on a bench top to take the air out of the cookies, then return to oven for a further 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool for a few minutes before transferring biscuit to a wire rack to cool completely.  Enjoy these crispy edged-chewy-in-the-middle cookies!  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20216 minutes, 34 seconds
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Troy Kingi: My decade-long musical journey

Kiwi artist Troy Kingi has just released his fifth album in the 10-10-10 series, where he’s producing 10 albums in 10 years in 10 different genres.  Called “Black Sea Golden Ladder”, this is his ‘folk’ installment.  He's been in the studio talking to Jack Tame about the album, and his upcoming tour.Sat 7 August @ Turner Centre, KerikeriSun 8 August @ Leigh Sawmill, LeighTue 10 August @ Forum North, WhangareiThu 12 August @ Clarence St Theatre, HamiltonFri 13 August @ Theatre Royal, New PlymouthSun 15 August @ Opera House, WhanganuiTue 17 August @ Theatre Royal, NelsonSat 21 August @ James Hay Theatre, ChristchurchSun 22 August @ Regent Theatre, DunedinSat 28 August @ Opera House, WellingtonSat 4 September @ Town Hall, AucklandLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/202114 minutes, 49 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Moon Bound and Black Widow

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has one for the kids and one for the adults.For the school holidays, she's been watching animated movie Moon Bound. And for the adults, and maybe some of the older kids, the new Marvel movie Black Widow. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20218 minutes, 16 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Want to jump the Covid vax queue?

Kevin Milne has had his Covid vaccination this week, and he's got a tip for anyone wanting to get there's a little earlier than planned. He's been explaining to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20215 minutes, 13 seconds
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Jack Tame: David Seymour is one of the best pollies we have

The pollsters say it’s unprecedented.Act leader David Seymour is doing better in the latest Preferred Prime Minister rankings than the leader of our second biggest party. But I’m not surprised at all, because I think David Seymour is one of the best politicians in Parliament.Let me qualify that. I’m not saying necessarily I agree with him on stuff. It has nothing to do with ideology or policy positions or anything like that. I just think in terms of actual politicking... he’s a canny and cunning operator who is milking every inch of advantage out of a unique political moment. For starters, Seymour knows how to pick his fights. Gun restrictions? Bam. He was on it in a moment. Hate speech laws? Same thing. Regardless of your personal position, the End of Life Choice referendum will be chalked up as a significant political victory for many years to come. David Seymour attracted people from right across the political spectrum to the cause. In this term, it was his probing in the house that opened up the He Puapua Pandora’s box. Again, I’m not saying I agree or don’t agree with Seymour’s positions. By he plays a strong political game. He knows how to get in the news. He’s not afraid to make a dick of himself in order to get a bit of publicity, and he’s able to laugh off a bungled cha-cha in one breath, and earnestly argue about a terminally ill person’s right to choose their own death, in the next.From a media perspective, ACT is incredibly proactive. In May, they published an alternative budget when National didn’t. We’re about to go into the parliamentary recess... ACT will have policy announcements every week that the house doesn’t sit, knowing there might be a little bit more space in the political news columns than there would be when the house is sitting. Will Labour, National, and the Greens do the same? I dunno. Again this is nothing to do with policy, but ACT’s press releases are often really funny. They’re objectively much more entertaining than anyone else's. They send them out really quickly, and it’s clear the releases haven’t been watered down through a committee of media advisors. Seymour is good at speaking in soundbites, or what we in broadcast media call ‘grabs’. Does that mean the party gets more publicity than it might otherwise? I can’t speak for all media, but maybe.I also think it’s interesting how closely David Seymour has managed his new MPs. Apart from him, Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden and maybe Nicole McKee... can you name any of ACT’s ten MPs?Exactly. There are plenty of pundits who would have thought a couple of those new MPs would have put their foot in it and messed up somehow, by now. But National’s the party of scandal, right now. For the time being, ACT’s MPs have their heads down and their leader does pretty much everything outward facing. That’s smart.Will it last? Nothing does forever. At some point National will get itself together, and we shouldn’t get too excited about a preferred Prime Minister poll more than two years from an election. But for now, David Seymour and his colleagues are doing everything an effective opposition should. Outwardly at least, they’re a cohesive unit. Their criticisms of the government are many and varied. Their policy positions are relatively coherent.I think it’s extremely unlikely David Seymour will ever be Prime Minister.. but right now, his party is the strongest it’s ever been.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/9/20214 minutes, 12 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Nancy Business and When You Are Mine

This week, book reviewer Catherine Raynes hass been reading a sequal to RWR McDonald's hilarious The Nancys; Nancy Business. She's also giving her thoughts on When You Are Mine, Michael Robotham.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20214 minutes, 59 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Tasty Bites in Port Douglas

Our travel editor has finally left the country! Mike Yardley has been in Queensland, and has some ideas for Tasty Bites in Port Douglas.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20219 minutes, 18 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Avoiding clothes moths

After 34 years of talkback radio, the biggest fear of householders is finding heaps of moths. Any moths! And everyone believes that moths are bad, simply because they have to be clothes moths!  Okay. If you find a beautiful, very small moth which has golden wings (held like a roof structure over the body) and with a bright orange hair-do, you might be looking at the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella. It is no longer than 7 mm. This “webbing” cloths moth is really a recycler of woollen materials: yes, clothes, but especially carpets! It seems to like open spaces with keratin – lots of keratin. Our house is the archetypal “mechanics car”. In my case that means it’s usually full of pests and insects that gnaw away at soft furnishing, clothing garments, carpets and timber. Carpet is removed right to the backing and the woollen yarn ends up in bits and pieces, often sticking up from the remainder of the carpet. They usually end up in the my vacuum cleaner.  There is a second species of clothes moth: the Case-making Clothes moth, Tinea pellionella. The caterpillars make tiny cases from silk and their own excrement: a cosy house to live in! I reared some on some old carpet, after I found an infestation in some of my woollen socks. The case-making clothes moths are not as glittery-gold as their relatives, but basically brown with golden scales and some dark spots on the wings. Same size, though!  Life-cycle of these moths is similar in length and variable. In warm conditions they go through a life cycle (egg-larva-pupa-moth-egg) in 6 weeks or so. When it’s cold in winter this may take 4 to 7 months. They belong to the Family of Tineidae. Their ecosystem service is to recycle keratin: hair, fur, wool, nails and skin. This is part of the decomposition job that many invertebrates do when an animal dies. Keratin is really hard to digest. Mammals and Birds can’t do that (cat’s fur-balls; owls ejected pellets, etc). These moths are therefore valued members of the RECYCLING SQUAD.I usually leave them to carry out their job (we’re going to change the carpet anyway….). But control can be achieved with some residual insecticides – active ingredients such as permethrin and other synthetic pyrethroids will do the job well (Safeworx aerosol cans). It works well and is residual for 6 to 8 weeks, as long as the substrate treated is not exposed to direct sunlight.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20214 minutes, 44 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Happily Ever After, possible? Fairytale?

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been looking at whether Happily Ever After is possible, or just a fairy tale. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20217 minutes, 13 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: The answer to your LEGO issues

Parents with Lego.. here's an app you need!  Stuck for ideas on what to create with your kids? Download the coolest app I've seen in a very long time. You tip your Lego onto the floor, the camera scans the pile, recognizes the pieces adn then suggests things for you to build - step by step!  It's called Brickit. It's not made by Lego, but by fans! Lego needs to make it official!   It's only for iOS right now, but will be coming to Android soon. Battle of the billionaires Richard Branson is going to beat Jeff Bezos to space!  Virgin's rocket-powered plane will now take Branson to space on July 11 — nine days before Bezos's planned July 20th launch. It's a change of plan that I'm sure will annoy Bezos.  Bezos will blast off from earth's surface though, where Branson's rocket will be deployed from a plane in the air. Branson says when he gets back he'll announce a plan to open "space for all" so more people can become astronauts.   Trump's former aid has launched a social media platform It's called "Gettr" and is basically a Twitter ripoff. It says it exists to fight cancel culture, promote common sense, defend free speech, challenge social media monopolies, and create a true marketplace of ideas. It sounds awful and at the moment just looks to be people doing lots of hashtags trying to get discovered and followed.  Apparently this isn't the social media service Trump is still planning to 'solve' some of these same problems. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20216 minutes, 41 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime Eden, Sweet Tooth and Happy Birthday Mr. Bean

Eden: In the idyllic coastal town of Eden, Australia, the disappearance of a young woman triggers a devastating chain of events which lays bare the dark, hidden heart of the community. Beneath its beautiful veneer, this faltering Eden can never be the same again. One missing girl. Eight stories. Who do you believe? (Neon)  Sweet Tooth: Filmed in New Zealand and based on a comic book, this unique Netflix drama follows a young boy who is half-human and half deer as he survives in a post-apocolyptic world, searching for a new beginning with a gruff protector.  Happy Birthday Mr Bean: TVNZ 1 screens this celebratory documentary which looks back at the 30 years since comedy legend Mr. Bean landed on our screens. With classic clips and interviews from key creators, including star of the show Rowan Atkinson, hear how Mr. Bean has gone on to become a global superstar with an animated series, two top grossing feature films and an online phenomenon, with more than 110 million online fans and growing. (Tuesday, 6 July). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20214 minutes, 41 seconds
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John Volanthen: Thai Cave rescuer on finding 12 kids alive in Tham Luang

John Volanthen was at the absolute epicentre of one of the biggest global stories in 2018. Before COVID took over the international news cycle, 12 boys and their soccer coach became stuck in a flooded Thai cave, and the world watched the increasingly desperate rescue effort.  The first person to reach the boys was John, a cave diver, who then helped to get them to safety.    He’s an IT consultant by day, but also a world record-holding British caver and diver.Jack Tame has been speaking to him, and started with claustrophobia was ever an issue when he was first learning to cave dive.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/202113 minutes, 4 seconds
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Nici Wickes: The Perfect Toastie

The Perfect Toastie  Some of the best combinations:Cheese & onion & kasundi (Indian tomato chutney)  Sausage, mustard & edam  Tomato, basil & parmesan (my childhood fave was always creamed corn, cheese & onion)   Tips for the perfect toastie: The bread; for once I'm not going to advocate for using a quality ingredient because frankly, thick white toast bread will still produce a great toastie! But a sourdough will add a tang and good texture and a rye could offer up a great flavour. Avoid bread that has big holes in it, like ciabatta.  Butter or mayo; Mayonnaise is full of oil so will give you a golden crust and it's less likely to burn than if you butter the bread. However butter does have the edge when it comes to flavour in my view. So, both are good.  Fillings: anything goes but consider the soggy factor and more is not necessarily better. Try to have a balance of dry (meats, beans, onions) vs wet (chutneys, tomato, cheese, pickles) ingredients The cut; the cooked toastie should always cut on the diagonal in my opinion a. to reveal the filling and b. there's something about tucking the sharp corner into your mouth for that first bite.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20216 minutes, 20 seconds
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Kevin Milne: An insurance company doing the right thing?!

Kevin Milne's been looking at a case where he thinks an insurance company has been very generous with a home owner. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20214 minutes, 47 seconds
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Jack Tame: Where does Aussie's Covid strategy leave us?

What comes next? Isn’t that the gazillion-dollar question for Covid-19?! But now that we’re officially in the second half of 2021, the year in which all adult New Zealanders should be vaccinated for the virus, it is an increasingly appropriate and pressing question.What happens in a few short months when we’re vaccinated? What do we do at the borders? What do we do for vaccinated people arriving in the country? What do we do when there’s an outbreak in the community?Scott Morrison caught a few people by surprise yesterday in announcing the roadmap for Australia’s Covid-19 future. It’s not a plan that has heaps of detail in terms of timings. It’s more of a framework, really. But at the centre of it is one giant shift.Australia will move from a suppression strategy – the Australian version of elimination - to a management strategy. Scott Morrison has basically told Australians that in the years ahead, living in a country with no Covid-19 is not feasible. Even once the population is vaccinated, there is going to be risk. The virus will exist in the community. And unless things get really, really bad... Australia’s state premiers have agreed they will not lock down.The timing of ScoMo’s announcement is pretty interesting given the outbreak in Sydney at the moment, but Singapore came out with a similar plan last week. The U.S and Europe have never even really considered a scenario where they would have zero cases of Covid-19 in the community.From what we know about the virus, I think a change in strategy is inevitable for New Zealand at some stage, and in all likelihood it will probably come pretty soon.At the moment, we’re not shifting. Our government has a specialist group headed up by Dr David Skegg, which is advising it on border and public health settings. Jacinda Ardern has talked a little about establishing other bubbles. But a bigger shift in the coming months will depend on whatever the international data tells us about the various Covid-19 variants and how they are affected by different vaccines. It’s fair that we have as much information as possible before committing to our next steps.That being said.. if the vaccine rollout ramps up in the way our government promises it will, we are going to be confronted with these issues very quickly indeed. If everyone’s had the opportunity to be vaccinated, do we let other vaccinated people into the country without two weeks of quarantine? Like Australia, could we trial at-home quarantine for vaccinated citizens? Can we extend the use of saliva testing? These are really important questions, and my impression is that few Kiwis are really considering what the answers will mean.In a way, we are victims of our own success. Elimination has been incredibly effective so far. We’ve had very few deaths compared to other countries. Our economy has performed extremely well, given the circumstances. Psychologically I think many Kiwis have come to expect that because of that success, zero tolerance for Covid-19 risk is sustainable in the future.Australia says it’s not. Even with vaccines, Covid-19 is here to stay. And as they take the first steps in changing their strategy, it’s only a matter of time before I think we do, too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7/2/20214 minutes, 7 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Introducing Kiwi soul singer Louis Baker

Kiwi singer-songwriter Louis Baker has racked up 25 million streams for his brand of soul, and his second record “Love Levitates” was out this week. Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/26/20216 minutes, 33 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: While Justice Sleeps, When They Find Her

Catherine Raynes has been reading US politician Stacey Abrams' new politican thriller “While Justice Sleeps”, and thrilled When They Find Her by debut novelist Lia Middleton.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/26/20215 minutes, 29 seconds
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Mike Yardley: What's up in Brisbane

Travel editor Mike Yardley has made it out of the country! He's been giving Francesca Rudkin some tips on what's happening in Brisbane.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20217 minutes
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Malcolm Rands: Making soap at home

Until around 1916, making soap at home was commonplace. Using wood or plant ashes and leftover animal fats, families produced their own soap for cleaning their clothes and themselves.During World War I, when animal fats were in limited supply, German scientists developed synthetic detergents — and commercial soap was born. Homemade soap became less of a necessity, and gradually the practice dwindled. In recent years, back-to-the-landers and simple-living adherents have revived the homemade soap-making process. It’s not only in favor with those who leave the big city for rural life or those with an anti-commercialist bent. For anyone interested in living as self-sufficiently as possible, it makes good sense to make your own soap.  Homemade soap is good for your wallet: you can make big batches of soap from scratch for less than it costs to buy bar after bar at your local drugstore, and you can reuse leftover bits to make new soap. It's good for your body, without all the potentially harmful chemicals in commercial soap, homemade soap is of superior quality. People with sensitive skin often find relief when they stop using store-bought soap and start making their own.  Homemade soap is good for the environment: it lacks the synthetic materials in conventional bar soaps that eventually accumulate in our waterways and put natural resources at risk.  There are many recipes on the web and lots of different techniques. Here are some general tips: * Make sure you have all the ingredients and tools assembled before you start. It is quite an exacting process and you don’t want to be running around looking half way through.* Rubber gloves and protective eyewear, such as goggles or glasses.* Two large mixing bowls made of a material that will not react with lye: strong plastic, stainless steel, glass, enamel. Do not use flimsy plastic, aluminum, tin or wood. One bowl with a lip for pouring will be helpful. * Accurate measuring tools and good stirrers.  * Sodium hydroxide, which is used to saponify the oils is very caustic. You’ll probably buy stuff normally used to clean toilets or drains. Always add the caustic to the water, not the other way around. This will then start warming up from the reaction with water.  * Measure every ingredient accurately. Getting it wrong and you end up with foul smelling or sloppy soap.  Once you have done this a few times then you can start experimenting with different techniques including hot mixes. And then you can also invent new shops using different added ingredients and essential oils.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20217 minutes, 49 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: School holiday entertainment with birds

Bird Feeding stations and Bird Counting We’ve often talked about the food of birds, especially in winter. Many folks have got bird feeders that will attract a range of native and introduced birds: Seeds (on seed dispensers or stuck to solid blocks of dripping) are preferred by sparrows and finches (chaffinch, green finch)  Nectar feeders in the form of SUGAR Water attract tui, bellbird, silvereye (and kaka if you’re so lucky to have them around – Yes Wellingtonians, you’re lucky.  Fruit feeders love those bits of apple, orange and banana; tui bellbird kaka and Kereru are some of your guests, but I have literally seen wars break out when silvereyes spot a peeled banana! Education and Observation  In the school holidays these feeding stations could be great subjects for a little bit of Citizen Science and education. Let’s see who comes to which feeding station and observe their behaviour. Do they travel in flocks, like silvereyes tend to do? Is there any animosity? Can you identify the local “owner” of the territory that is trying to chase away the interlopers? Tui are good at that!  See the different types of territorial behaviour, or even hear the different types of territorial behaviour.  Primary feathers (flight feathers) of tui and bellbird have oddly-shaped notches that create that whirring sound in flight: “listen, mate! This is MY territory!” Calculate landing rates of certain species – guess how much they eat; How long does it take for a flock of silvereyes to demolish one of those lard balls you can get from your local butcher’s? How many birds of a certain species can you count at one time on your feeding station – it’s all maths and statistics, but it’s also art and joy and creative writing!!  What to look out for  Of course a lot of birds feed on insects and invertebrates, but at this time of the year they may be hard to find, also for the birds. Here are some ideas of what to look for! With the recent rain you’ll find lots of earthworm holes and casts on lawns and bare soil. This is food for blackbirds, thrushes, starlings, magpies and even owls and harriers. Note how these casts are often found in association with rabbit poo! Starlings have a habit of probing into the soil at this time of the year: they leave heaps of distinct holes, all over the place. I reckon they are looking for the larvae of grass grubs, who are settling just below the surface during raining periods, within easy reach.  And then there are the various shrubs and trees that still bear fruits, berries and seeds. Always good for a nibble! While you are at it: count the number of birds you see within an hour and record those for the Annual Garden Bird Survey. Find it on the LandcareResearch website: https://gardenbirdsurvey.landcareresearch.co.nz/ LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20214 minutes, 14 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Commons, This is Pop and Talkback

The Commons: A futuristic Australian drama starring Joanne Froggett (Downton Abbey). In a future beset by environmental crises and dwindling supplies, one woman grapples with the decision to begin a family (TVNZ OnDemand).  This is Pop: A new documentary series that takes a deep dive into the nostalgic world of pop music, sharing the untold stories and big moments that shaped our pop culture (Netflix)  Talkback: A brand-new local comedy-satire to TVNZ. Talkback is shot in a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary style and follows New Zealand’s leading right-wing radio host Malcolm White and his team as they fight to resurrect his flagship breakfast show, which has fallen to number two in the ratings for the first time in over a decade, and regain his title of King of the Airwaves (TVNZ OnDemand from 30 June). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20216 minutes, 9 seconds
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Dolly Doctor and Yumi Styles: Tackling consent with your kids

Anyone with kids, of almost any age, is likely to be talking the thorny issue of how to teach consent. In fact in the age of #metoo, it's something we’re all talking about more.   Enter Doctor Melissa Kang and broadcaster Yumi Stynes, who’ve just written a book called ‘About Consent’. Melissa and Yumi didn’t know when they started writing it 2 years ago that the topic would be so big by now.   As one twitter user put it ‘It’s out! Get this book into the paws of kids, teens and federal parliamentarians you know" - of course referencing federal parliamentarians after the recent sexual abuse scandals in the Aussie parliament.  Dr Melissa Kang will be known to women of a certain age as the real-life Dolly Doctor, to the rest of you, she’s a doctor and academic who specializes in sexuality and sexual health.  She's been speaking to Francesca Rudkin alonside co-author and broadcaster Yumi Stynes.   LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/202112 minutes, 51 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Microsoft announces Windows 11

Microsoft announces Windows 11  The biggest change - the start menu and task bar has been redesigned and centered making it look a lot more like macOS. Microsoft has really leaned into the one operating system for both laptops and tablets and the centered start menu makes it easier to adapt to various screen sizes. It also brings search front and center with results available from your device, your OneDrive and the web. Windows Widgets are just a swipe away with real time information and quick actions.  There are changes for power users too: There is now support for multiple desktops - so you could have one for work vs home There are better transitions when you connect a monitor that's a different ratio, or using a second monitor. You can now snap windows to a layout to make it easier to bounce between apps.  Microsoft Teams is directly integrated with the operating system replacing Skype for calling and connecting with your friends and family.  Android apps can also load on Windows 11 through the Windows App store. That's huge for developers who suddenly got access to a massive market.   It's expected current Windows 10 users will get a free upgrade to Windows 11 before the end of the year, and new devices installed with Windows 11 will be available from October.  The Tamagotchi is making a return  This time, your digital pet will live on your wrist as a smart watch! You'll never need to leave it behind! It's getting some other improvements since it was released 25 years ago - like a color screen, a touch screen so you can pet it, voice recognition so you can interact and wireless connectivity so it can communicate with nearby Tamogotchi! You'll be able to buy addons for it too which you load into your watch via mini keys. They're expecting it to be so popular it'll first go on sale via a lottery system before being opened up to regular sales. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20215 minutes, 46 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Fresh flounder with caper & horopito butter

Fresh flounder with caper & horopito butter  Horopito is a native shrub, which is also known as the pepper tree and it lends a lovely spicy flavour to flounder in this dish.   Serves 6-8  3 fresh flounder 4 tablespoons butter, softened   3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley  2 tablespoons, capers ½ teaspoon horopito 1 teaspoon sea salt 1-2 lemons, sliced thinly  Heat the oven grill to high.  Lay flounder onto a large shallow baking tray. Make a few cuts in the grey side of each of the flounder. Mix together butter, parsley, capers, horopito and salt and rub this into the cuts and skin. Scatter over lemon slices. Grill on high for 12-15 minutes or until butter is bubbling and fins crisp a bit. Change oven from grill to bake 180 C and cook for a further 7-10 minutes or until flesh is cooked through.  Squeeze some of the cooked lemon over and serve at the table!   Nici’s note: Horopito is great for relieving stomach aches and toothache and it is available from various specialty or online food stores. I get mine from www.rhayne.co.nz   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20216 minutes, 48 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Hope for Sir Bob Parker

This weekend, TVNZ is running at story about former Christchurch mayor Sir Bob Parker and his recovery post-stroke. Kevin Milne wants to take the opportunity to share the love for his mate. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20214 minutes, 45 seconds
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Chris Schulz: In the Heights and Murder by the Coast

With Francesca filling in for Jack this weekend, we've brought in Chris Schulz to do this week's movie reviews. He's been watching Lin-Mnuel Miranda's new movie, In the Heights, based on the stage musical of the same name - and Spanish true-crime doco Murder by the Coast. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20216 minutes, 32 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Olympics are a Covid opportunity

This week Black Ferns Sevens Captain Sarah Hirini and two-time Olympic champion rower Hamish Bond were named New Zealand’s flag bearers for the Tokyo Olympics.Two thoughts spring to mind. Firstly, congratulations. How cool that a change in Games rules means that for the first time we’ll have a male and female athlete jointly carrying the New Zealand flag at an Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. It’s not the first time two athletes have shared flag carrying duties. In 2016, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke were both announced as flagbearers, but only Burling got carry the flag. I’m presuming this year Hirini and Bond will have a flag each?My second thought was, how is it possible these Olympics Games are happening at all? A world full of medical experts and epidemiologists, and the people of Japan, have been asking the same question for months. For good reason. It’s simply absolutely bonkers for thousands of athletes, officials and journalists to travel from all over the world to Japan at this time.The Japanese Prime Minister may have recently lifted the state of emergency in Tokyo, but health officials have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases since. On Friday, the Japanese Emperor announced he’s "extremely worried" about the Tokyo Olympics and the potential spread of COVID-19 it may cause.But in one of the most stoic examples of ‘keep calm and carry on’ the Toyko Olympics are set to open on July 23rd. If you’re wondering why it hasn’t been postponed or cancelled; it comes down to a mix of money, pride and pressure. The IOC can’t afford to lose revenue from broadcasting rights and advertisers.When it comes to pride, the Olympics is a branding exercise for the host country. It would also be hard to justify a controversial $15.4 billion investment in a new stadium which never got its day in the sun.And then there’s the pressure and expectations from the athletes; about 11,100 for the Olympics and another 4,400 for the Paralympics who have already put their lives on hold for a year waiting for these Games. Taken together, it’s all led to common sense being abandoned. Ignored, thrown over the back fence – pick your description.But, given it is going to happen maybe it’s time for an attitude adjustment.Instead of anticipating the worst perhaps we should put our optimist pants on, cross our fingers, and consider this a global study into how the world re-integrates.The questions confronting countries who took an elimination approach are around how we live with a virus which isn’t going away? How do we open up to the rest of the world?  When should we feel safe to get on with our lives – make plans, go visit family or friends around the world?The Olympics will be an incredible test for vaccine efficacy. A group of people are volunteering to travel from around the world to spend time together. So let’s watch and learn as they embrace social distancing, mask use, vaccination, and testing.Imagine if the Olympics became more than stories of glory and dreams come true. What if, and I know it’s a big what if, the Covid impact wasn’t what we fear.Could Tokyo 2021 be a much bigger story of hope and progress. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/25/20213 minutes, 53 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Debt-to-income ratios

The government's agreed to add debt-to-income lending restrictions to the Reserve Bank's bag of tricks. They haven't been introduced, but the prospect is making property investors AND first-home buyers nervous. Enable.Me's Hannah McQueen has been speaking to Jack Tame about the impact they may have. LISTEN ABOVE government have been discussing debt-to-income ratios. The RBNZ now has a mandate to impose limits on how much people can borrow as a multiple of their income –will they go ahead with it? It would have implications for first home buyers, depending on where they set it, as much as it will have an impact on investors who are leveraging based on the value of their properties. Enable Me now called ‘enable.me – financial strategy & coaching’ (rather than financial personal trainers) Website: www.enabletghg.me       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/22/20216 minutes, 21 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Is Maroon 5's new album as bad as they say?

Maroon 5 has a new album, Jordi, and it’s brought out some brutal reviews.Pitchfork says “The most you can hope for from Maroon 5 is oblivion. The band hummed and strummed their way into perpetual background music, cooing sanded-down soft rock in every Starbucks. It was anaesthesia. Levine became a bland, steady presence in pop culture, preaching banalities and judging TV singing competitions.”   Even worse from Paste Magazine “The new Maroon 5 album Jordi makes me fear for the future of civilization.”  Estelle Clifford’s been giving her take to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/19/20216 minutes, 46 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Three Weddings and Proposal and Husbands of Evelyn

Catherine Field has been reading Three Weddings and a Proposal by Shelia O'Flanagan, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20213 minutes, 25 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Helping a partner with anxiety

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool's been giving Jack Tame some tips for helping a partner with anxiety. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20217 minutes, 57 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Fruit tree maintenance

Fruit tree maintenance Here are a few quick-fire ideas to get the best out of your fruit trees in the future… and it all starts by planting (and some pruning) in the winter!  1) Do your home work – select tree varieties you actually like to eat! (or like the look of – blossom?)  2) Buy good stock from good nurseries and check if they need specific pollinators (ie Plums!!)  3) Dig your holes in the garden and prepare the soil with organic material (compost). If your soil is sometimes too wet, perhaps think about raising the planting area a bit.  4) No need to fertilise until spring truly starts (23 Sept) when the soils warm up and trees start to “function” again.  5) When you plant your trees, either from potted specimens or “bare-rooted” trees, a light prune will help the tree survive the planting shock. Think about the fact that the amount of root mass should be more-or-less the same as the branch mass above the ground. 6) If you plant a new tree, think about how you want that tree to grow in a three-dimensional way: create a branch structure that will be the tree’s future “look” – not too high (so you can harvest easily) and think about wind and sun-direction (maybe espalier the tree? If so, does it need support?)  7) Talking about support: any tree that’s planted on an exposed site will need a stake to stop it from wiggling-to-death. Tie it down to the support system.  8) Handy tip for gardens with limited space: either get a multi-grafted tree (with two or three different varieties grafted onto one root-stock) or plant a few varieties (of the same fruit: apple or pear or plum or peach) in the same hole and treat them as “one tree”.  9) if you have planted a tree already, you may need to prune the fruit machine. Pomefruit (apples & pears): Think about the ultimate shape of the tree: an open frame of branches growing outwards – this is going to be a multi-year goal Learn to tell the two types of “buds”. There is a flowering bud that becomes a fruiting spur; they are usually larger and fatter and often covered with a fine, hairy “down”; fruiting spurs provide you with the fruit. The wood buds tend to be smaller and end up much closer to the stem on which they sit; these buds will grow a new branch or twig (and are therefore determining the spatial form of the tree) Remember to cut to a wood bud that faces outward. When your tree is a few years old, remember to leave a few fruiting buds, so you get some fruit! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20213 minutes, 34 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: The Tamagotchi is making a return

Lawmakers want to take away the surprises from subscriptions Everything is a subscription these days and companies have made it very easy (and appealing!) to sign up for a trial, only to then sign you up at full price without a reminder. A group of bi-oartisian US lawmakers want to change that. The Unsubscribe Act does it in a couple of ways: + it would require sellers to allow customers to cancel a subscription in the same way they signed up.. no more phoning a busy call center to cancel if you signed up online. + it would require the company to notify the user the trial or intro price is ending + it would ban automatically moving people from a trial to a contract with a term of more than a month.  The Tamagotchi is making a return  This time, your digital pet will live on your wrist as a smart watch! You'll never need to leave it behind! It's getting some other improvements since it was released 25 years ago - like a colour screen, a touch screen so you can pet it, voice recognition so you can interact and wireless connectivity so it can communicate with nearby Tamagotchi! You'll be able to buy add ons for it too which you load into your watch via mini keys. They're expecting it to be so popular it'll first go on sale via a lottery system before being opened up to regular sales. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20211 minute, 56 seconds
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Steve Biddulph: The importance of trusting your gut

A whole generation of parents have turned to Steve Biddulph for parenting advice.  The author of classic books Raising Boys and Raising girls as well as around a dozen other parenting titles. He’s described as one of the world’s best-known parent educators.   After a career of helping us raise kids, Steve’s turned his hand to helping the rest of us, with a new book “Fully Human”. It's billed as ‘a new way of using your mind’.  Steve has been talking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVE      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/202112 minutes, 10 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Pear, blue cheese & walnut tart

Pear, blue cheese & walnut tart  Pears pair with tangy blue cheese and honeyed walnuts in this gorgeous tart. Makes 26cm tart  Pastry  200g wholemeal flour  100g chilled butter ½ teaspoon salt  6 tablespoons ice cold  water  2-3 pears  2 tablespoons butter  ½ cup brown sugar  3 heaped tablespoons cream cheese  75g crumbled blue cheese (I used Kapiti creamy blue) 3 tbsp walnuts, roughly chopped Make the pastry by combining flour, chilled butter and salt in a food processor until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Don’t over work it – lumps of butter are ok. Drizzle in the ice cold water and pulse a few times until it starts to come together in a ball. Turn out and with a light hand press it together into a flat disc, wrap and chill it for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 180 C and place a tray in to heat up. Line a 26cm tart tin with baking paper. Roll out pastry and line tin with it. Try to get a thin pastry shell and just patch any holes or tears, it’s very forgiving. Prick all over with a fork and return to the fridge.  Make the filling by cutting each pear into quarters and each quarter into 3 or 4 slices. Place the pear, butter and half the brown sugar in a pan on medium and until the pear is softened and the pear juice has mixed in with the butter and sugar to form a syrup – about 5-7 minutes. Mix cream cheese and remaining brown sugar to a paste. Spread this over chilled pastry base. Using a slotted spoon pile the pear mixture into the pastry case, drizzling over some of the syrup and reserving some to serve.  Bake for 25 minutes on the preheated tray, then toss on the walnuts and bake for another 10 minutes or until the edges are well cooked and the pears are golden.  Crumble blue cheese over the tart while still warm and it will melt into the tart.  Serve warm or cold with an extra drizzle of the syrup.   Nici’s note: This tart keeps well and is still as fantastic on day 3 as it was fresh out of the oven, maybe even better. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20216 minutes, 9 seconds
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Kevin Milne: What will become of renters?

New figures around rental costs released were released this week - and its bad news for renters. Kevin Milne's been talking to Jack Tame about where they leave those who can't afford a house.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20215 minutes, 55 seconds
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Jack Tame: Winston's right, the vax rollout's too slow

Winston Peters has ended his long-running media hiatus by appearing on Australian morning TV and giving the vaccine rollout in New Zealand a bit of a kicking. It’s been too slow, he says.Easy to criticise when you’re out of government of course, but is that fair? I think it’s worth considering a really basic question: What was the primary aim for New Zealand’s vaccine rollout?Was the aim to safely vaccinate New Zealanders as quickly as possible? As a developed country heavily reliant on open borders, it was in the best interests of our collective health and economy to get us all vaccinated as soon as possible. The virus is mutating fast. It’s becoming more infectious. As lucky as we are to be living life free of community transmission, you need only look at Melbourne or Sydney or Taiwan, to know how quickly that can change. With those kinds of risks, there’s a good argument to be made that New Zealand should have done whatever it took to get as high up the vaccine list as possible, even without community transmission. If that meant paying more dosh or negotiating better deals with the big pharma companies, then so be it.But if the goal of the rollout was to safely vaccinate New Zealanders in the fastest possible time, the government and our health ministry have surely failed. We can’t look back at the initial response to Covid-19 and toot our horns, comparing ourselves favourably with almost every other country on Earth, whilst conveniently ignoring the fact that we are making the amongst the slowest progress with vaccinations in the developed World.Perhaps you’d argue that vaccinating Kiwis as quickly as possible wasn’t actually the goal. Call it the moral argument. Because New Zealand is free of community transmission, you might argue, we should ensure that poorer high-density countries vaccinate their populations first. If that was the goal, noble as it might be, no one in the general population would be getting vaccinated this year at all.It seems to me we’re in a funny middle ground. We haven’t done the noble thing. And for whatever reason, we haven’t done the fast thing, either.To be fair, I think we owe the government a few concessions. The decision to stick with one vaccine – Pfizer – is a good one, that has meant supply has been slower than if we’d chosen multiple vaccines. But from the start, the detail on the rollout has been wishy-washy at best. Despite promising a World-leading response, the government refused to publicly release any proper information around its targets and timelines. Confusion and speculation have filled the void. They published a graph showing the rollout plan that had used no real data points. Vast numbers of border workers didn’t get vaccinated when we were told they were. Then it turned out, large numbers of their family members might not have been vaccinated, except the Ministry of Health couldn’t really say, because of issues with data collection. Even though the Ministry of Health is ahead of its nationwide targets, our most vulnerable city, Auckland, and our most vulnerable DHB, Counties Manukau, have been behind their vaccination targets almost from the very start.What has interested me most is how different people’s anecdotal experiences have been. I know of some older people who’ve been proactively contacted and vaccinated and don’t have a complaint in the World. Smooth As! I know of other people who are more vulnerable and presumably higher up the vaccination list who’ve not heard a thing. Everyone’s got a mate who just went and asked for the vaccine, or phoned up the local DHB, and it worked. Others know people who’ve spent hours on the phone without luck.The whole thing has at times felt a bit ramshackle and inconsistent.I’ve heard politicians say it’s not where we start but where we finish. It’s true that we won’t be entirely safe until our full population is vaccinated. Even then, we face a risk. But the speed of the rollout does matter. Every day someone in our community...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/18/20215 minutes, 22 seconds
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Mike Yardley: 3 Great Wellington Neighbourhoods

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been checking out three great Wellington neighbourhoods; Thorndon, Newtown and Lyall Bay. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/12/20217 minutes, 29 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: The return of The Veronicas

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listen to new music from twin-sister pop group The Veronincas. Their new album is Godzilla, and it's their first since 2014 and follows a whole lot of personal drama.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/12/20217 minutes
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Catherine Raynes: Still and Fall

Catherie Raynes has been reading Australian thriller Still by Matt Nable; and a true-life account of the rise and fall of media mogul Robert Maxwell, Fall by John Preston.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20213 minutes, 54 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Busting supermarket myths

Busting supermarket myths   Most of us believe certain things about the cleaning products we buy, but they’ve actually been planted in our heads by years of advertising.   So let’s bust some of those myths.   Myth 1: The best shampoos, toothpastes and dish liquids foam well. In many cases scientists figure out how to do something, then make a feature out of it. Lots of research has gone into foam, and making it last as long as possible. It doesn’t make things any cleaner, we have just been taught to think so.Myth 2: My clothes need to smell clean to actually BE clean: No, you are just smelling the persistent synthetic perfume added to the laundry product. And for people with allergies perfumes are one of the worst offenders. Then, these chemicals in your laundry products don’t all rinse out and are up against your skin 24/7. Even if you sleep naked, they are in your sheets and pillow slips.  Myth 3: Whiter than white. For many generations there was a competition about who had the whitest clothes. Early twentieth century there was an ingredient called Blueo, that you added to the final rinse to get this affect. Then in the fifties scientists came up with optical whiteners / brightners. These clever chemicals stick to your clothes. When invisible UV light hits these chemicals, they have the ability to change the waves length of the light into the visible spectrum. Suddenly, a lot more light comes off your clothes. Whiter and brighter. Especially new clothes in a store everyone is attracted to the brighter not dull garment. Make sure you wash these when you get hone as these chemicals will also stick to your skin.  Myth 4: Super sized and low priced, what a bargain. At one stage, I managed to get the category manager for Woolworths Australia to right one of the these  problems. Supersize and cheap is misleading because brands just water down the liquids and fluff up the powders. A one kg of laundry powder used to have only four washes in it when I started. We had 32 washes in one kg but people thought we were the expensive one. So I convinced him to demand the number of washes should be printed on the pack. He did this and it meant that everyone in Australasia changed as they didn’t want to print two different packs. That’s the power of the supermarket....if they do the right thing.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20219 minutes, 15 seconds
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Bob Campbell: A rich, dry chardonnay

Bob Campbell's wine pick for this week is the Church Road 2020 Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay $14.99 (on special).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20213 minutes, 53 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple announces their latest tricks

Apple's new features for 2021 have been announced at their developer conference.Apple is coming after ZoomLots of big changes to the Facetime app, including the ability to schedule FaceTime for meetings. You can share the link with folks using Windows PCs and Android devices too and they can join through their browser - which is a big deal for Apple. They're leaning into make FaceTime more friendly and more personal than Zoom with the ability to watch videos and listen to music with your friends and even text chat along at the same time.  Apple is up-ending the Ad Tech industry  Emails will no longer tell the sender if they've been read by blocking tracking pixels.  The Safari internet browser will block trackers and make your browsing anonymous by running data through two proxy servers.  They're also offering burner email addresses so you can keep your real email address private. Ad tech companies are going to find it harder to tie your different data together.  You'll be able to add an ID to your digital wallet Apple is partnering with states to offer the ability to store a secure digital copy in the secure chip in your phone. They're working with the TSA to allow it to be used at airport security. You'll soon be able to add your car key, office keycard as well as hotel keys.  Siri will no longer need the internet Siri will be able to do many phone functions without sending the data to the cloud for processing. It'll happen on your device which not only makes it super fast, it also is better for privacy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20215 minutes, 47 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime; Time, Domina and The Brokenwood Mysteries

Time: Sean Bean and Stephen Graham star in this gritty British drama by Jimmy McGovern about a husband, teacher and father who is sentenced to four years in prison after accidentally killing a man. Consumed by guilt, Mark openly accepts his sentence but is quickly confronted with the harsh realities of life inside (Prime, Saturdays at 9.30pm).  Domina: a new historical drama. In the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination, Livia Drusilla - the golden girl of the prominent Claudii family - is forced into exile. Ten years later, Livia returns, determined to avenge her father, secure power for her sons, and regain everything that was stolen from her (Neon).  The Brokenwood Mysteries: New Zealands’s most successful international series, watched by millions of people around the world, has found a new home on TVNZ 1 (Sunday, TVNZ 1, 8.30pm).  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20215 minutes, 20 seconds
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Kate Herron: Directing the new Marvel smash

The latest Marvel installment isn't a mega-budget movie - this time it's a miniseries.   If Marvel is your thing, this is charismatic villain Loki played by Tom Hiddleston, getting his very own series, and it's streaming on Disney Plus.   The series is being directed by Kate Herron, who’s been one of Forbes’ 30 under 30, and described as a huge comedy voice in the years to come". She describes herself as ‘Your friendly neighbourhood dork’.  She’s a relative newcomer to the diecting scene, breaking through for her directing in the first season of Sex Education, and Kate's been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/202113 minutes, 31 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A sausage sizzle on an aeroplane?

Kevin Milne's been pondering what the best fit for Air New Zealand's in-flight snacks might be.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20216 minutes, 26 seconds
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Jack Tame: They Are Us sounds awful

I’m not a fortune teller. I don’t have a five-year plan. I can’t tell you what I’ll eat for dinner tonight, let alone anything I’ll be doing in two years’ time.  But I can tell you right now with a very strong degree of confidence I will not be paying $21 to go to They Are Us, the film that apparently focuses on Jacinda Ardern’s response to the Christchurch massacre.    I have nothing personal against the filmmaker. Andrew Niccol has actually written or directed two of my all-time favourite films. I think The Truman Show is genius. I love Gattaca.  They Are Us, on the other hand, makes me squirm.  It’s not that I’m fundamentally opposed to a film about the events in Christchurch. I actually saw it as an inevitability. After all, we have a film about Aramoana. There’s a Hollywood film about the Anders Breivik massacre in Norway.  But if the production of this film had actually considered the meaning behind its title, They Are Us, we wouldn’t have seen so many people affected by the massacre respond in disgust. There is a more sensitive and tasteful way to go about these things. The filmmakers say they’ve sought scripting input from a few of those affected, but clearly many of those in what is a pretty small Muslim community here have been caught completely by surprise. It takes a lot of nerve to call a film ‘They Are Us’ when you clearly haven’t consulted sufficiently with the ‘They’ you’re talking about.   There’s another thing. They Are Us. If the filmmakers believed those words, there’s no way Jacinda Ardern would be the central character.   Here’s a terrible tragedy committed by a white supremacist. Instead of focusing on the authorities’ limited interest in white supremacy in the lead up to the massacre, instead of focusing on those who lost their lives, or the heroics of those in the mosque who tried to stop the gunman, we focus on Jacinda Ardern.    She did a good job in the heat of the crisis. But I’m sorry, she isn’t the hero of this story. And as comforting as she might have been to the survivors and victims of the shootings and to the New Zealand public at large, her actions in those days could never have been enough to  heal the pain of those who clearly had been let down grievously by the wider government she represents.   You can just imagine the scene now: the actress Rose Byrne, standing alone, an exhausted and broken expression on her face, staring into a mirror. The music builds... orchestral strings. She looks down and picks up a simple scarf, wrapping it around her head.  ‘What are you doing?’ asks one her advisors.   ‘They are us.’ Says Jacinda Ardern. Eurgh.    Honestly, that whole ‘They Are Us’ phrase really bothers me. I know many disagree with me and I’m not gonna’ fight the fight again, but if we really meant ‘They Are Us,’ the Crusaders would have changed their name. If we really meant ‘They Are Us,’ then we might not have planned massacre anniversary commemorations, knowing that most Muslims don’t mark anniversaries.   If they were us then we wouldn’t us the word ‘They’ at all.   But here’s an easy one. An opportunity to live up to those words in a small way. If the Muslim community in Christchurch, the survivors of the attacks and the families of those who died, don’t support this film, then They Are Us. I’ll save my $21. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/11/20214 minutes, 43 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Dreamers are Waiting from Crowded House

This is new music from Crowded House, from their seventh studio album Dreamers are Waiting. It sees them reuniting with producer Mitchell Froom for the first time since 1991.  Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen and have Jack Tame her thoughts on the album.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/5/20218 minutes, 16 seconds
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Katherine Raynes: Before You Knew My Name and The Missing Sister

Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline BublitzThis is not just another novel about a dead girl.  When she arrived in New York on her 18th birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city's latest Jane Doe, an unidentified murder victim.  Ruby Jones is also trying to start over; she travelled halfway around the world only to find herself lonelier than ever. Until she finds Alice's body by the Hudson River.  From this first, devastating encounter, the two women form an unbreakable bond. Alice is sure that Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her life - and death. And Ruby - struggling to forget what she saw that morning - finds herself unable to let Alice go. Not until she is given the ending she deserves.  Before You Knew My Name doesn't ask whodunnit. Instead, this powerful, hopeful novel asks: Who was she? And what did she leave behind? The answers might surprise you. The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley  The six D’Aplièse sisters have each been on their own incredible journey to discover their heritage, but they still have one question left unanswered: who and where is the seventh sister?  They only have one clue – an image of a star-shaped emerald ring. The search to find the missing sister will take them across the globe – from New Zealand to Canada, England, France and Ireland – uniting them all in their mission to complete their family at last.  In doing so, they will slowly unearth a story of love, strength and sacrifice that began almost one hundred years ago, as other brave young women risk everything to change the world around them.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/5/20213 minutes, 53 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: 5 dating traps for women

Steven Dromgool offers some advice for women on what to look out for when dating men.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/5/20217 minutes, 55 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: How to deal with Grass Grubs

Grass grub have always been a “problem” in NZ gardens and lawns. They are c-shaped grubs that live underground, feeding on roots of grasses and other plants/shrubs. There are a number of species in the Beetle Family Scarabeidae (scarab beetles), but the native grass grub, Costelytra zealandica has always been in NZ. It’s traditional habitat and host plants were native grasses, such as tussocks, and they occur at quite high altitudes. There is no doubt that these beetles considered the new, high-nutrient imported grasses as ice-cream, especially when we started planting whole paddocks full of that stuff! Tiny larvae emerge from eggs and slowly grow larger, shedding their skin as they grow. Each growth phase is an “instar”. Larvae creamy coloured and shaped like the letter C.   Their damage pattern is grasses losing roots and becoming stunted and leaves yellowing – in bad situations these plants die en masse. If you can literally roll the dead grass mat up (as if it were a carpet), your problem is likely grass grub. The beetles emerge in spring and are attracted to bright lights; the beetles feed on foliage of many plants, shrubs and trees. Even succulents are on the menu. But they do love lawns. Some species (on pastures) are tolerant of grass grub infestations: tall fescue, cocksfoot, yorkshire fog, prairie grass, birdsfoot trefoil, phalaris and chicory.   In the old days we used to spray lawns with soil insecticides, such as Diazinon, but apart from the fact this is tricky to obtain for garden use, the grass grubs have shown some resistance to that active ingredient (organo-phosphate). Since the 1990s some biological control mechanisms have been trialled and found to be quite useful:  * The bacterium Serratia entomophila, causes amber disease in grass grub. When grubs are infected they stop feeding in a few days and die rapidly; the bacterium stays in the soil for prolonged periods of time (years!) to kill the next generations.  * Bioshield is the name of the material https://biostart.co.nz/bioshield-grass-grub-liquid/. Spray this according to label recommendations in February, March and the first two weeks of April. That’s your window of opportunity, because the grassgrub larvae are in late second to mid-third instar and rather susceptible to infection.  I realise this information is a bit too late for people’s lawn treatment; this year has been pretty bad in many places in New Zealan.especially Canterbury.  The larvae are pretty fat right now (and beyond the third instar) but because of the downpours they have come to the surface of your lawn (to avoid drowning)  Here’s a reasonably good idea: get an old, water-filled heavy roller and squash the living daylight out of them while the soil is still soft and squishy. Not recommended for steep Wellington sections on a distinct hill! Your insurance company will not be impressed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/5/20214 minutes, 4 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: New bowel screening initiative to be rolled out by end of year

The programme will be rolling out across the country by the end of the year. The idea is to to detect the early signs of changes in the bowel which could indicate bowel cancer. Bryan Betty is a GP and medical director for the College of GPs, he’s also on the Covid-19 advisory committee and he talked Jack Tame through the ins and outs of the initiative.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/5/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Twitter launches subscription service

Twitter's subscription service has launched The $3 a month service is starting in Australia and Canada.  It comes with an "undo Tweet" feature (which really just delays the posting of your Tweet for 30 seconds), a more robust bookmarking feature for saving tweets and a "reader mode" to make threads of Tweets easier to read. These features feel more like evolutions of the core product, rather than being unique enough to build a subscription business around. Apple's updating the AirTags to address privacy concerns The tech is great at finding your keys, but it also makes it very easy to track a person without them knowing. At launch, the trackers would only make a sound if they were away from their owner for three days - which Apple has now recognized was too long. It'll now be between 8 & 12 hours. They're also working on an Android app to allow people to detect when an AirTag is traveling with them - something that's currently only available on iPhone. Facebook's u-turn on political speech Facebook is now going to treat world leaders the same way it treats regular citizens when it comes to their posts. They had previously operated under the assumption that their posts were newsworthy and part of the public debate, but that won't be the default. They still have the ability to use the newsworthiness carve out, but when they do, those posts will be clearly labelled.  This is really in regards to the incitement or glorification of violence, because they won't be changing their policy when it comes to misinformation - they'll still be able to post whatever lies they choose, especially in campaign ads. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/20214 minutes, 15 seconds
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Tara Ward: Too Close, Bump and Why Women Kill

Too Close: Emily Watson stars as a forensic psychiatrist who has to assess a woman accused of a heinous crime, who claims she can't remember a thing (UKTV, Mondays). Bump: From the team behind Love My Way comes Bump. The series centres around Oly, an ambitious and high-achieving teenager who has a surprise baby; and the complications that ensue for two families (Monday on Vibe/Sky Go, Neon 13 June) Why Women Kill: A second season of the darkly humorous American series that details the lives of three women living in three different decades: a housewife in the '60s, a socialite in the '80s, and a lawyer in 2019, each dealing with infidelity in their marriages. The series examines how the roles of women have changed, but how their reaction to betrayal has not (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/20214 minutes, 41 seconds
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Emma Outteridge: From the America's Cup to Uganda

Kiwi Emma Outteridge was born into a life a million miles away from Uganda.   Growing up in an America’s Cup family, she spent her 20s running Louis Vuitton’s international sailing hospitality programme, totally comfortable in a world of celebrity athletes and billionaire sponsors.  But a six month trip to Uganda to work at a school has led to a life switching between the glossy world of international sailing, both working there and supporting her sailor-spouse Nathan Outteridge, and time spent growing Kiwi support for the St Paul KAASO primary school for orphans.  She’s written a book about her experience, aptly named “Between Two Worlds” and Emma Outteridge joined Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/202115 minutes, 37 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Mandarin & sultana cheesecake

This dessert celebrates mandarins and will make you feel better about the weather getting cool! Instead of the usual biscuit base I use a circle of crisply-baked sweet short pastry – try it, you’ll like it!    1 sheet sweet short pastry  2 tsp caster sugar  500g cream cheese  ¾ cup caster sugar  2 tbsps brown sugar  1 heaped tbsp plain flour (gluten free is fine)  3 large eggs ¼ cup cream  2 tbsps brandy  Zest from 4 mandarins + juice from 2  ½ cup sultanas    Topping  1-2 mandarins, peeled and thinly sliced to garnish  Olive oil for brushing  1/3 cup sugar  Juice from remaining 2 mandarins    Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 20cm spring form tin. Lightly flour and roll pastry sheet to slightly larger than it comes. Sprinkle with first measure of caster sugar and sandwich between baking paper and 2 oven trays. Bake until crisp – about 15-20 minutes. Set aside to cool then cut into a circle to fit base of tin.Make the filling by beating cream cheese until smooth. Add sugars, flour and eggs and continue mixing until well combined. Pour in cream, brandy and mandarin juice and beat again until combined. Stir in zest and sultanas. Scrape into tin and smooth top. Reduce oven temperature to 150C and bake for 45 minutes or until it has a touch of colourand wobbles only in the very centre. This will firm on cooling. Leave to cool completely in the oven then chill for 2-3 hours or overnight. Make topping: brush mandarin slices with olive oil and brown each in a small pan. Remove and cool. Add sugar and juice to pan and simmer until sugar dissolves and becomes syrupy.  Cool.Serve cheese cake with grilled mandarin and syrup.   Nici’s note:  To get pastry to remain so crispy and flat, cook it sandwiched between two oven trays. Weigh the top one down if you need to.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/20214 minutes, 30 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Dream Horse and Lapsis

Dream Horse  The true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely racehorse bred by small-town bartender Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream and compete with the racing elites. Their investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks and becomes a beacon of hope for their struggling community. (Toni Collette and Damian Lewis)  Lapsis  In a parallel present, delivery man Ray Tincelli takes a job in the gig economy. He begins pulling cable to link together the new quantum trading market. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/20216 minutes, 53 seconds
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Andrew Saville: Devon Conway and Naomi Osaka

Black Caps debutant Devon Conway has continued to wow British media after breaking a slew of records on his way to a maiden double hundred at Lord's against England.Conway was the final wicket to fall in New Zealand's 378-run first innings, with dismissal by run out the only way England managed to find to end his score at a well-rounded 200.On Thursday, after posting a century on day one of the opening test of this two-match series, Conway's performance was lauded by local media with adjectives such as stunning, skilful and lovely. After converting that start into a double-century, the acclaim only continued.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Searching for Life Hacks online

This week, Jack and Kevin talk about "life-hacks"...those little gems of advice you find online that make life so much easier.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/20216 minutes, 14 seconds
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Jack Tame: Ask For Their Stories While You Can...

‘Paddy is a black sheep dog, but is no good for sheep. Daddy says we have spoilt him. We have a big bell near the kitchen; Paddy will jump up at it and ring it with his nose. The cook gets cross with him because the men often come for their meals before they are ready. We taught him to do it.’ My Dog Paddy was published in the Australian Correspondence School Magazine in 1935. It was written by an eight-year-old girl, living on a remote sheep station in the South Australia outback. The Magazine credited her as third-grader Barbara Kidman. I know her as Granny.  I spent this week with her in Adelaide, the first time I’ve been able to visit Granny since the start of the pandemic. The 8-year-old author of My Dog Paddy is now 94. And on my last evening with her, she fetched a plastic folder with photos from those early years way out in the middle of nowhere, a child mucking about in the red and the dust.  “I remember being scared when I heard rainfall on the roof,” Granny told me. “Just a normal rain shower. It was so rare. I didn’t know what it was.” The station was vast, but it was tough country. My Great-Grandad bought it when he returned from the Great War. In Granny’s photos, there were barely any trees. Just desert and scraggy little crops. A couple of farmhouses and a shearing shed with a crude wooden crane. Somehow, her Dad and his men managed seven thousand sheep.  Once a week a train would come by with a few basic supplies. They called it the tea-and-sugar train. Granny rode a horse called Dumpling. Her brother, Pete, had a horse called Bluey. Their Dad taught them to ride with just their toes in the stirrups, in case a horse bolted and they got dragged along the ground. There were photos of the sheep. Photos of Paddy the naughty dog. My favourites were some of Granny’s oldest pictures: they showed massive bales of wool piled on a wagon-wheel cart, being hauled off for sale by a train of camels.  “Oh yes,” said Granny. “Of course, they didn’t need to drink.” Granny’s Dad – my great grandad - eventually sold the station and moved closer to the coast. Granny was happy to go to bigger schools and read more books. In the 1940s she became the first woman to study physics at Adelaide University. She and my Grandad went to Oxford. They completed their respective doctorates and threw themselves into computer science.Over lunch this week, Granny told me how she taught herself to program punch card computers when a single machine still took up an entire room. I explained to her the mechanics of modern VPNs, IP addresses, and cloud systems. We talked about various applications for 5G. Granny kept up, no sweat. Maybe I’m just a sentimentalist but off the back of the pandemic, with a tenuous bubble, there was something particularly precious about deliberately taking time to share in Granny’s memories.At one point, the little girl born on an outback station, who once watched camels taking wool to market, used my iPad to video call her great-grandson, 92 years her junior. She’s still fit and sharp but any way you consider it, Granny has lived a rich life. I thanked her as we packed up the photos. I folded up the photocopy of My Dog Paddy, first published 86 years ago, and quietly decided that I might publish it again.  ‘Thanks Granny.’ ‘You’re welcome, dear.’  She left me with advice for us all. ‘Remember... with your parents and your Grandad, too: Ask for their stories while you can.’See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6/4/20214 minutes, 48 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Sour by Olivia Rodrigo

This week’s album is at the centre of yet another millenial vs Gen Z debate.It’s “Sour” by Eighteen-year-old Disney Channel alum Olivia Rodrigo.  Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/29/20218 minutes, 47 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: A Quiet Man and The Pact

A Quiet Man - Tom WoodOne day a man arrives in town. Unassuming. Quiet.  The assassin known as Victor is hiding out in a small motel in Canada after a job across the border. A few days laying low and he'll be gone and leave no trace behind.  He doesn't count on getting to know a mother and her boy who reminds him of his own troubled childhood. When both vanish, only Victor seems to notice.  Once he starts looking for them, he finds himself at odds with the criminals who own the town. They want him gone. Only Victor's going nowhere until he discovers the truth and to them he's just a quiet man asking the wrong questions.  But that quiet man is a dangerous man. The Pact - Sharon BoltonA golden summer, and six talented friends are looking forward to the brightest of futures - until a daredevil game goes horribly wrong, and a woman and two children are killed. 18-year-old Megan takes the blame, leaving the others free to get on with their lives. In return, they each agree to a 'favour', payable on her release from prison. Twenty years later Megan is free. Let the games begin . . .See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/29/20213 minutes, 10 seconds
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Malcom Rands: How to eat like your grandparents

Modern factory farming and processed food have bought the cost of some food right down. But the price we pay with our health, and loss of good soils, is far too much. It’s a bad deal and there are alternatives.Malcom Rands told Jack Tame how we can make small adjustments to improve our diet and wellbeing. We know they’re full of ‘bad’ stuff – but why else should we avoid processed foods?  Processed foods are “hyper rewarding,” leading to overconsumptionMany people become addicted to junk foodThe majority of processed food products are low in nutrients and fibre Less time and energy is required to process these foods – again leading to overconsumptionIn the last 40 years, Earth has lost a third of its farmable land to human-caused industrial farming erosion and pollution. Soil is now blowing or washing away 100 times faster than it can form, and without that soil humans may not be able to feed their growing populationWhat can we do? Michael Pollen has some great advice Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. "When you pick up that box of weird coloured stuff, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?" Pollan says.Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot. "There are exceptions -- honey -- but as a rule, things like Coca Cola that never go bad aren't food," Pollan says.It is not just what you eat but how you eat. "Always leave the table a little hungry," Pollan says. "Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. Islamic culture has a similar rule, and in German culture they say, 'Tie off the sack before it's full.'"Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. "Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?" Pollan asks.Don't buy food where you buy your petrol. A huge amount of food is eaten in the car.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/29/202111 minutes, 23 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Worms are cool

In NZ, we have more than 200 described species of Earthworms, and we’re still finding new ones!   Most of them, about 170 species, are NATIVE earthworms belonging to 3 families. They are more or less restricted to native habitats; forests and tussock-lands. We know relatively little about these species – some may be very rare.   INTRODUCED species are in pasture and modified landscapes. They got here in plants and soil material from overseas. Some were deliberately introduced as they were found to improve pastures for farming. These introduced species are the ones you find in your garden.  How do they move?Let’s go back to their Classification and we find a clue: class oligochaeta. From Greek "oligos", few, and "chaite" , hair. That means that these worms have “few hairs”. I tend to disagree with that: when you pick up an earthworm and stretch it a bit between your fingers, the skin often feels like an “un-shaven face”. There are many hairs per body segment to give it friction and “purchase” to move through the soil. Many worms are not that smooth and slippery at all!  Worms have 2 different sets of muscles that help it to move forward. In each segment are circular muscles that, when contracted or released, can make a worm thinner or fatter (longer or shorter). They also have longitudinal muscles that allows the worm to become longer or shorter. The handiest features are those little “hairs” (chaetae) that can “anchor” themselves in the soil at the front of the worm, while the longitudinal muscles literally pull the rear part forward. Very handy indeed!   Their jobBroadly speaking two different types. “Compost worms” that usually live in litter layers and the very tops of the soil profile. They assist with the decomposition of the fallen leaves and branches etc. Some of these species are the ones you put in your “worm farm”, and they are usually dark/red in colour, like “tiger worms”.  Just be aware that if you have a “worm farm” there will often be other invertebrates there that are also doing some recycling job, but target a slightly different food source. No need to panic when you see tiny white “spring tails” in your worm farm. They simply complement the tiger worms’ ecosystem services.  Earthworkers (usually lighter or pale in colour)are the ones that take organic matter deep into the soil profile. They move vertically and are quite sensitive to moisture gradients in the soil.  They create tunnels by literally swallowing the mineral soils and organic matter and pooping out loose, friable material as “casts”. Some species actually grab dead old leaves and drag those into the soil. At this time of the year you often find earth-workers’ miniature “towers” of worm casts.   Habitats Many of our native worms are small and live in litter layers. A few are large, up to 1.3 meters long, and live deep in the subsoil. Some worms are aquatic, some live under bark of dead trees and others live way up in epiphytes in trees or in the crooks of tree branches at considerable height. They simply climb up at night, with relative humidity preventing them from drying out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20215 minutes, 12 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Is it time to review your KiwisSaver?

Hannah McQueen told Jack Tame it’s a great time to review not only your contributions, but your settings and provider.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20215 minutes, 9 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: What can we learn from the Waikato DHB hack?

What can we learn from the Waikato DHB hack? Ransomware is usually added to a system by an individual. There was a very good chance that someone either clicked on a bad link, or opened a bad file (it could even be a Word or Excel doc) which infected the network. It only takes one person to do this. It's crucial that people are on the lookout for phishing scams - you should be very careful about opening things sent to you by unknown senders. These actors will sometimes appear to be legitimate by emulating well-known brands, but you need to be on the lookout for that too.  You can finally password protect your Google history Google has a rather transparent activity page which shows you all the things you've searched for, videos you've watched, places you've been, things you've said to your google assistant and more.. but it's always been quite easy to access which is obviously problematic for a vast range of reasons.  Now though, you can be forced to re-login before you see that activity. That way you need to verify your identity before getting to see what could be very sensitive data. It's a setting you should turn on today. To do that, activity.google.com and you'll be prompted through it. Facebook is taking steps to stop misinformation spreading They're making two changes. First, they're going to limit the distribution of posts from people who regularly share things that FB's independent fact checkers have classed as misinformation - I'm surprised this wasn't something they would have been doing for some time. Secondly, they're going to put up a warning before someone follows a page that is known to share misinformation. The message explains why the warning is there, but you'll still be able to follow the page anyway.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20215 minutes, 11 seconds
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Screentime: The Me You Can't See, In Treatment and Start Up

Tara Ward takes you through her top picks on the telly this week.The Me You Can’t See: Exec-produced by Oprah and Prince Harry, this docuseries explores mental health issues and emotional well-being with special guests (AppleTV+)In Treatment: Ten years after the last season of this Emmy award winning drama, In Treatment returns for a new season. Starring Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black), the series focuses on a therapist in session with various patients, and now the office is her home due to the pandemic and she’s in crisis herself (Neon).   Start Up: this American drama series is currently sitting in Netflix’s top 10 and is about a desperate banker, a Haitian-American gang lord and a Cuban-American hacker who are forced to work together to unwittingly create their version of the American dream - organized crime 2.0 (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20216 minutes, 18 seconds
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Chris Gardner: The real-life dad from the film 'The Pursuit of Happiness'

Anyone who’s watched the movie Pursuit of Happiness will know the story of Chris Gardner.   The movie is based on his best settling book and details his life sleeping rough with his young son while he was doing an internship as a stock broker.  Chris eventually founded his own brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co and has now written a new book, 'Permission to Dream.'   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/202111 minutes, 38 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Simple Egg Curry

Eggs are a wonderful source of protein and they’re often included in curries in countries where meat and poultry is more scarce, to add protein to the dish. This super simple curry is perfect for a quick dinner. Serves 2 4 free-range eggs, hard boiled & peeled ¼ cup cooking oil 1 onion, sliced thinly 2 tbsps red curry paste 1 cup crushed tomatoes, canned is fine 1 cup coconut milk  Heat a pan and fry boiled eggs in hot oil until brown and crispy on all sides. Remove and set aside. Fry onions in oil until golden. Add curry paste and cook until fragrant. Pour in tomatoes and coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Add eggs, some halved and stir gently. Serve curry with rice and roti or naan bread.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20215 minutes, 17 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Cruella and A Quiet Place 2

Cruella  A live-action feature film following the evil exploits of Cruella de Vil, the villain from the Disney film, "101 Dalmatians'.  A Quiet Place 2  Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20217 minutes, 32 seconds
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Andrew Saville: Is Super Rugby Trans-Tasman worth it?

Surprise, surprise. Another transtasman match, another blowout result.On a cold and dewy night in Napier the Hurricanes banked their third bonus point win from as many matches in this lopsided competition, improving New Zealand's dominance to 11-0, with Salesi Rayasi producing a standout performance from the left wing in a record victory over the Western Force.After two competitive outings in home defeats to the Chiefs and Highlanders, this was a reality check for the Force as the conceded seven-tries-to-none.With the Crusaders and Blues in New Zealand to round out the competition it sure doesn't get any easier for the men from Perth, either.As the tally moves to 11-0 in favour of the Kiwi sides over the Australian counterparts, questions are being raised as to whether the competition has value.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20216 minutes, 50 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Prince Phillip's children told they can 'take what they like' from 13,000 book collection

After the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, many were wondering how his large fortune would be divided up.The Duke, who passed away at 99, had amassed quite a large fortune throughout his lifetime, much like his wife and monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.Prince Philip left an estimated $58.5 million when he died last month, and it was reported on Friday that "three key men in his life" were left money from his will, according to a royal insider.While the majority of his estate is likely to have been left to the Queen, a source close to Buckingham Palace claimed the Duke also recognised his closest aides."Unlike some other royals, Prince Philip will be generous to the three men who looked after him," the insider told Fabulous."These include his private secretary Brigadier Archie Miller Bakewell, his page William Henderson and valet Stephen Niedojadlo."All three men were hugely supportive of the Duke in his final years with Mr Bakewell frequently standing in for Philip when he couldn't make an engagement.Before the Iron Duke became the Queen's husband, Philip was born into royalty as the Prince of Greece and Denmark.His parents, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, were in line for the Greek throne, before they were exiled when Philip was 18 months old.His parents, Philip, and his four eldest sisters Princesses Cecilie, Margarita, Sophie and Theodora fled to France.It was in France where Philip was educated (in Paris, and later in Germany and the United Kingdom too), before he joined the British Royal Navy in 1939 when he was 18-years-old.Prince Charles leads the royals at Philip's funeral. (Photo / AP)Come March 1939 and Philip was a British citizen, adopting the last name Mountbatten which came from his mother's family. He had abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles.This was the significant year that Philip began exchanging letters with Queen Elizabeth II, whom he later married in 1947.By the eve of their wedding, Lieutenant Mountbatten was formally named Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron of Greenwich, also given the title of His Royal Highness.While he inherited these royal titles, Prince Philip gained a large amount of money and assets.Prince Philip left an estimated $58.5 million when he died last month. (Photo / Getty Images)Prince Philip was given a salary, a royal allowance from the Sovereign Grant which was an official expense account which was paid for by British taxpayers. This was around $686,000 per year.Prince Philip retired from his official royal duties in 2017, but it is unclear whether or not he continued to receive this allowance.The Duke maintained access funds which were earned by a private portfolio of properties and land, as well as assets set up by the Duchy of Lancaster in 1399.Prince Philip and The Queen are said to share a portfolio that includes stocks and land which was inherited by the Queen's family, including their Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham Estate in England.The insider claimed that Philip's grandchildren, including Prince Harry who has launched a number of scathing attacks on the royal family in recent months, will have been "sorted out quite a while ago" when it came to money.They said: "Philip was not the sort of character to punish a grandson [Harry] for misbehaving. He was a very fair, even-handed and lovely man. Never held a grudge."They added: "Philip had plenty of time to sort out all the legal stuff so it wouldn't attract inheritance tax. He was no more of a fan of leaving his cash to the Treasury than anyone else."The source added that the Duke's children – Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew – have been told they can "take what they want" from his collection of 13,000 books in his library at Buckingham Palace.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20215 minutes, 7 seconds
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Jack Tame: Opera Drama Underscores Operas Problems

When was the last time you went to the opera?No, here’s a better trivia question: what two shows are being staged by New Zealand Opera this year? Can you tell me? I’ll give you a hint. One of them’s among the best-known operas of all time. The other is the name of a character from The Matrix. Tough? Hmm. The answer is The Marriage of Figaro and (M)orpheus.  If you didn’t get it, don’t beat yourself up. I didn’t either. And I’m gonna hazard a guess and suggest... most of us don’t know what operas are being shown by New Zealand Opera this year, just as most of us didn’t know what operas were being shown by New Zealand Opera last year, or the year before, or the year before that.  This is the whole reason the head of New Zealand Opera is taking some risks. This is the whole reason he’s decided to shake things up and try to bring in some new audiences. This is the whole reason New Zealand Opera has commissioned a work on the tragi-comedy that was the Unruly Tourists. Now.. I have to admit to a conflict of interest. It just so happens that one of the writers of Unruly Tourists the Opera is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I’ve known about the project for ages. And the very first time he told me about it, I lit up.‘Out. Standing.’ I said. That is a piece of commissioning genius. Forget stuffy 17th and 18th Century pieces in foreign languages, I want something fresh! And I should say... I’m probably a good gauge of a fairweather opera fan. I’ve attended and enjoyed various operas at various venues. I watched Wagner’s Ring Cycle performed by some of the best in the World at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. I loved it! And I don’t want to be a dick, but I’d gently suggest that simply knowing who Wagner is and being remotely familiar with the Ring Cycle probably puts me in a minority of New Zealanders.  And yet... for all that. I haven’t been to see a New Zealand Opera production in yeeeears. For whatever reason, it just hasn’t been a priority in my life. Apparently, getting more of us to the opera is not a huge priority for a fair whack of the the New Zealand Opera Board, who’ve resigned in protest of the Unruly Tourists opera and New Zealand Opera’s new direction. Except that - of course - the resignations have only underscored the director’s point. Get this: one of the opera crowd quoted in news stories moaning about the Unruly Tourist opera said teasing the tourists was “middle-class snobbery.’Middle-Class Snobbery. If he’s concerned about middle-class snobbery just wait until he hears about... OPERA: that art form so  famously accessible and popular amoungst the lower-classes. Middle-class snobbery?! The temerity! Give me a break.  NZ Opera receives grants from Creative New Zealand and various councils worth millions of dollars a year. One of the complaints from the old opera crowd is that the new direction will be a waste of taxpayer money. I would have thought producing art that very few people see, for an small section of generally elite and very wealthy New Zealanders, was a much more egregious use of taxpayer dollars than trying something new. Nowhere have I seen a suggestion that New Zealand Opera will never again stage the classics. These resignations have been submitted before anyone has even seen the show! And what is the purpose of art but to reflect our society? To tickle us, and challenge us?  The resignations from New Zealand Opera have only served to prove how out-of-touch the organisation is. I bet the director is rubbing his hands with glee and crying “Good Riddance” in his richest baritone. There has already been more hype and interest in the Unruly Tourists than anything New Zealand Opera has done in years. That has to be a good thing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/28/20214 minutes, 49 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Book picks (2)

This week, Catherine Raynes has been reading China by Edward Rutherford and Northern Spy by Flynn Berry.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/22/20213 minutes, 32 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New from Twenty One Pilots

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album from Twenty One Pilots, Scaled and Icy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/22/20217 minutes, 7 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Garlic planting

It's garlic planting time - you can be earlier than “that shortest day” myth! Usually people say: plant on shortest day and harvest on the longest day. That gives a bit of an indication of how garlic “likes it”. But over the past decade I noticed a few problems with garlic that are difficult to control and the most important one is rust disease. It’s a fungal disorder that hammers the bulb-forming members of alliums (onion genus group of the family amaryllidaceae). The fungus enters the long, soft leaves of shallots, onions and garlic and causes yellowing of the leaves, ill-thrift and sick-looking plants towards the end of the growing season, when temperatures rise in spring. The most significant diagnostic sign are the bright yellow “pustules” that form on the leaves – these pustules are easily rubbed off by your finger.So I have been trialling a much earlier planting regime: This year I started planting my first row on 2 May, second row on 15 May; third one goes in on 22 May...today! I can monitor their health and how fast they grow towards maturity. In early May we still had warm soil temperatures and plants sprouted quickly. With a bit of luck they will mature a month or 7 weeks earlier than normal, hopefully escaping a significant period of rust infection. Which variety should I plant? Printanor is the common old garlic variety you buy at “New World”. Often it is imported from China and treated to stop it sprouting, that means no good for planting! Buy some planting cloves that are either organic or simply not treated. At farmers markets you can sometimes purchase interesting varieties: Californian Red Turban: Can grow into huge bulbs (15 cm diameter bulbs) Macedonian: Strong flavour and somewhat oily West Coast Miners: Rather good, large cloves too Hard-neck garlic: Lets little flowers/bulblets up the stem, edible as soft green salad component, in mid-spring Elephant garlic: This is actually a leek, with a swollen stem. Has a very mild flavour Shallots can also be planted now! Use well-drained soil, shallow planting (tip, just above the ground) and 15 cm spacing. Cover with ground sheep dags (KINPACK) or fine, rich compost. Keep moist, but not overly moist, because that encourages rotting. Harvest when the foliage dies down (Mid-November or December if my timing works out!).LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/22/20213 minutes, 56 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Building male friendships

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been looking at more platonic relationships this morning, with some tips on how men can build male friendships.MenzShed  https://menzshed.org.nz/Mankind Projecthttps://www.mkp.org.nz/Men Being Real Weekendhttps://www.essentiallymen.net/menbeingrealSteven Dromgool020 4735283Book Steven online hereCheck out our amazing online resource for couples - Love in a Time of Covid Learn how to improve communication, de-escalate conflict and deepen your connection LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20219 minutes, 58 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Whanganui River adventures

It had long been on my wish list to grasp a flavour of one of our most evocative rivers, carving its way through the heart of the North Island. The mighty Whanganui, New Zealand's longest navigable river, stretching for 290km from its genesis as an alpine stream on the slopes of Mount Tongariro. My first foray with the awa began by following its lower reaches, from Whanganui to Pīpīriki on the winding trail of the Whanganui River Road. It’s an intimate, authentic and picturesque 64km-long riverside romp that feels charmingly removed, aloof – even defiant to the bustle of modern life, where small river communities steadfastly beat to their own pace, while honouring their natural and cultural heritage. With the visual panorama of the Whanganui National Park enrobing you, there’s no other riverside scenic driving route in New Zealand quite like it. It took 30 years to construct and finally opened in 1934.An early frisson is driving over the crest of the hill from Upokongaro to be greeted by the Aramoana Viewpoint, serving up ravishing views of the grandeur of the river valley, the fiord-like march of the river, and Mt. Ruapehu, gleaming on the eastern horizon. You’ll pass by a multitude of Whanganui River marae starting at cute-as-a-button Pungarehu, where the whare tupuna was built in 1905 and houses one of the last historical waka used on the river. I shimmied by Oyster Cliffs, an aptly captivating name for the sheer cliffs that dramatically rise up from the road. They are layers of fossilised oyster shells, as the region was once seabed that’s been uplifted. Before long, I arrived at my riverside roost for the night, the Flying Fox Retreat. No accommodation experience that I’m aware of cuts such a striking first impression, quite like this place. After entering the driveway to park the car on the eastern banks of the river, your means of access to the retreat is by suspended cable car, strung across the river. Sound the gong and the cable car soon whisks across to meet you. Being hoisted across the moody waters, with my luggage in toe, is quite the opening act! Exceptionally hosted by Jane and Kelly, they took over the retreat five years ago, after it was originally established as an accommodation venture by the former Whanganui Mayor, Annette Main. Quirky, eccentric and rustic, there’s also a touch of the storybook to this whimsical retreat, wrapped in such a splendidly primeval setting. Gnarly chimneyed cottages are perched high on the riverbank, nestled by a mini-forest of fruit trees, groaning with avocados, figs and apples. Perky hens free-range the orchard, while Jane’s magnificent home-baking wafts on the breeze. I half expected to spot some forest goblins on the curving paths through the bush to the river.There are some venerable old buildings on-site, including the century-old Koroniti post office and the grand old homestead, where Jane and Kelly served up a hearty home-cooked dinner of wild venison. My fellow guests for the night were a vivacious group of women who were undertaking the Mountains to Sea Cycle Trail. The retreat is also popular with canoeists, whether it’s to drop in for the day or overnight. Jane and Kelly offer a variety of packages to incorporate those outdoorsy pursuits. There’s also a handy on-site shop selling food, treats, preserves, produce and the couple's artwork; Kelly paints, sculpts and carves while Jane felts and is a photographer. Do they ever rest in their oasis? The Flying Fox offers a variety of accommodation options, but it’s the three self-contained cottages that are prize draws, hand-built from reclaimed materials and comfortably furnished with carefully restored and upcycled items.I stayed in the Riverboat Cottage, which was originally conceived by the previous owner as a place to brew manuka beer. The cottage has now been recast to honour the venerable river boats that previously plied these waters, as a lifeline to the river valley. The cottage...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20218 minutes, 10 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Broaden your wine horizons

Bob Campbell's wine pick this is La Multa 2018 Garnacha at $19.99.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20214 minutes, 42 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Fords says move over Tesla with new EV pickup

Move over Tesla: Ford's hitting the electric scene Not just with any car, but America's best selling vehicle the F-150. It's a massive ute - known over here as a "pickup truck" - which has the same shape people love and is less than $40,000 USD brand new. There's hope that this model will be the magic that pulls the masses over to electric.. so much so it's being compared to Ford's Model T which did the same thing with petrol automobiles in 1908. Electric cars are much cheaper to maintain, so now that the up front cost has lowered it's making it much more attractive.  It can drive around 370km on a single charge, gets from 0 to 100 km/hr in around 4.5 seconds, has 11 power outlets for devices/appliances and with no large gas motor it's got even more storage under the 'hood' aka the "frunk". Here's the coolest thing - when it's on the high power charger hooked up to your house, and your house loses power due to a storm or heatwave - your car starts powering your house.  Pfizer's covid vaccine doesn't require ultra cool temperatures One of the biggest challenges with these new high-tech mRNA vaccines are that they require ultra cold storage but Pfizer now says that's only needed for the long term storage. For up to two weeks they can now be stored at regular freezer temperatures of between -25°C to -15°C. This is amazing news because it will make distribution to remote areas much easier now they can use more conventional storage. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20218 minutes, 24 seconds
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Jack Tame: A plea to NZ Rugby

May 22, 2021. Mark Robinson, CEO NZ Rugby. 100 Molesworth Street, Wellington. Dear Mark, I get it. I know it’s been an ugly few weeks. I know that every Tom, Dick, and Harriet has been texting and ringing you at all hours of the day, pleading this way and that, for you to make a final call on the Silver Lake deal. I know you’ve needed one of those special battery packs that you carry around to charge up your phone when the battery gets low, and you’ve been in so many meetings that you accidentally used your wife’s name when you were talking to Brent Impey the other day. I know it grinds that everyone has an opinion. Honestly, there can only be a handful of people in this country who are sufficiently-informed about the business side of your sport, who understand the implications of a private equity deal with Silver Lake versus an alternative with Forsyth Barr, as well as the cultural and social elements that are unique to rugby in New Zealand. It doesn’t stop them from charging around the place making bold statements and calling up The Herald, does it? Everyone’s an expert. But here’s the thing, Mark. I’m worried you’ve been led astray. You’ve been distracted. You are running the risk of being blinded by all of this fancy private equity Wolf of Wall Street smack, nd missing out on inking the single-most important deal in New Zealand Rugby today. Mark. You really, really, really need to re-sign Scott Robertson. I know I might seem biased. I’m a Canterbury man through and through. And it’s easy for everyone outside of Crusaders country to roll their eyes every time we win a competition. It’s become one of those inevitabilities in life, eh? The Crusaders winning another title. Scott Robertson breakdancing. It’s as predictable as taxes or Hosking moaning about a Labour government. But just because we’ve become normalised to Scott Robertson lunging and whirling, spinning and worming in celebration across the steaming Canterbury turf, doesn’t mean he’ll be here forever. He’s not a spiteful guy. Yes, he’s a bit unusual. He might not be cut from that slick, polished, and dare-I-say DULL template New Zealand Rugby appears to value. But sometimes different is good. Weird is good. And though I really don’t expect Razor’s big on grudges, he's off contract. And we all know he was disappointed not to get the All Blacks job. So, then; this is my plea to you. Re-sign Razor. Pay whatever it costs. See if Silverlake can chuck in an extra few million if that’s what you need to get him over the line.  Because as painful as these last few weeks might have been for everyone with an interest in New Zealand rugby... can you just imagine how it might feel in a few years' time watching Razor doing the worm having just defeated the All Blacks?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20213 minutes, 52 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime (6)

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some picks for your weekend watching. Whitstable Pearl: A light British drama about single mum Pearl (Kerry Godliman, After Life) who starts a private detective agency, which she runs from her family restaurant in the coastal town of Whitstable. Drawn by her caring nature, locals soon flock to her with all kinds of cases. But when a friend dies suspiciously, Pearl finds herself in conflict with gruff new cop in town DCI Mike McGuire (Acorn TV, 24 May).  Solos: An anthology science-fiction series about a group of characters who set off on a thrilling adventure in an uncertain future, and realise that during our most isolated moments, we are all connected through the human experience. The impressive cast includes Dame Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and Anne Hathaway. (Amazon Prime Video).  Friends: The Reunion: The beloved show is back for one more episode. Known as "The One Where They Get Back Together”, the cast of Friends reunite in an unscripted special of the American sitcom. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20215 minutes, 53 seconds
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Teeks: Taking soul on tour

Kiwi muscian Teeks' incredible soul voice has taken the world by storm.He released his album “Something to Feel” earlier this year, and he’s about to tour the new music. Teeks has been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20218 minutes, 28 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Artist’s Wife, and The Woman in the Window

This week, Francesca Rudkin has been watching drama The Artist’s Wife and thriller The Woman in the Window. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20216 minutes, 36 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Whole Banana Bread

When thinking about food waste the focus is often on how we’re wasting money and vital resources but there’s another element to it; Wasted food ends up in landfill which has adverse effects on our environment. So, here’s a recipe for banana bread that’s not only 100% delicious but it also uses the WHOLE banana, skin and all! Makes 8-10 slices ¾ cup sultanas ¼ cup boiling water 125g butter, softened ½ cup brown sugar 2 large eggs 2 large very ripe bananas, rinsed in water ½ cup walnut pieces (optional) 1 ½ cups self-raising flour ½ tsp baking soda ¼ cup milk  Preheat oven to 170 C and line loaf tin with baking paper. Soak sultanas in boiling water, to plump up. Peel bananas and chop skins roughly before putting in a food processor to reduce to a chunky pulp. Mash banana flesh separately with a fork. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy, then add the eggs and continue to beat for 2-3 minutes. Sift in dry ingredients (flour, baking soda), add drained raisins, banana skin pulp and mashed bananas and stir to combine. Mix in enough milk to get to a stiff dropping consistency. Scrape batter into tin and smooth top. Bake in middle of oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out of tin to cool completelyLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20214 minutes, 29 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Could you raise 17 children?

New Zealanders need to have more babies. This week, we've learned the average family size needs to rise from 2.1 to 2.4. Kevin Milne's been talking to Jack Tame about a family he knows with 17 kids - and what we could learn from them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/21/20216 minutes, 13 seconds
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Tim Minchin: Australian satirical musician returning to New Zealand

Aussie musician, comedian, actor and composer Tim Minchin is defying Covid by planning a tour of New Zealand - and even more bravely, the UK. His tour will include work from his first studio album “Apart Together”, which, while being perfectly named for 2020, was written before Covid really hit.  It's a return of 2019’s sell-out visit to our shores and it’s called “BACK”,  billed as “Old Songs, New Songs, F*** You Songs”. Minchin, who is also known for writing the musical Matilda and the TVNZ On Demand show Upright, joined Jack Tame to discuss his return to live shows. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/15/202114 minutes, 25 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Uplift yourself in the Hutt Valley

By any measure it’s a heritage-heavyweight, a blockbuster trail and a star specimen of Upper Hutt’s sparkling outdoorsy credentials. The Remutaka Cycle Trail is one of New Zealand’s Great Rides and the flagship section of this riveting circuit is indisputably the Remutaka Rail Trail, for the intimate experience with the Remutaka Incline. Built in 1878, this historic inter-provincial rail route between the Hutt Valley and Cross Creek, Featherston is now a politely graded 18 km walking and cycling track. Easily conquered by bike within two to three hours, I made my way to Kaitoke Summit Road in Upper Hutt, which is the official start point of the Remutaka Incline section.Under a bright blue sky and bathed in soft autumn sunshine, there were hordes of weekend cyclists and walkers striking out on this storied track, which many locals consider as their glorified open-air gym. After parking up the car, I hired a bike from Wildfinder, who operate a Kaitoke base adjacent to the trailhead, open from 10am- 6pm, weekends and public holidays. They’ve got a great range of mountain bikes and e-Bikes for hire, plus a shuttle service back from the Wairarapa to their Kaitoke base. As much as I’ve become immensely infatuated with e-Bikes, the Remutaka Incline’s oh-so-gradual gradient impelled me to go old-school and plump for a “manual” mountain bike, a super comfortable Trek mountain bike, with gel saddles, front suspension and ergonomic grips. www.wildfinder.co.nzPlus, Wildfinder kitted me out with a trusty helmet and a handlebar-mounted torch that you’ll definitely be switching on when traversing the pitch-black old railway tunnels. The first stretch of the trail ever so gradually hoists you up to the Summit of the Remutaka Ranges, blazing through the verdant grandeur of the Pakuratahi Forest, as the glistening Pakuratahi River burbles to your side. There are some idyllic picnic spots sprinkled along the way. The ascent from the Kaitoke side is so gradual, you’ll barely even notice the gradient, unlike the hellfire ride uphill from the Wairarapa side, where the 1 in 15 gradient is an unrelenting gut-busting ordeal – vividly reinforcing the prowess of those Fell engines, back in the day.From Kaitoke, the ride to the Summit is pepper-potted with a series of information panels, showcasing the revered railway heritage of this line.  I learnt how the rail route was established in 1878 between the Hutt Valley and Featherston, hauling passengers up and down the steep incline between the Remutaka summit and Featherston for 77 years, until the opening of the Remutaka rail tunnel in 1955. The innovative Fell mountain railway system pulled trains up the formidably steep slope of the Incline. A tunnel was always the preferred option but couldn’t be afforded initially, so the 77 year 'temporary' solution was this steep mountain railway, to link the agricultural hinterlands with Wellington. In 1863, the English engineer John Fell had patented the first drive friction system, and it had worked on Mt Cenis in the European Alps.New Zealand chose Fell's system to traverse the 4.8 km Remutaka Incline – the third and last Fell system to be built. (You can visit Featherston's Fell Museum which houses the rebuilt H 199 - the only remaining Fell engine from the six that serviced the line.) From the late 1870s’, the railway captivated the attention of the community as a scenic mountain journey – until sparks from the locomotives caused fires and burnt off all the bush. Over time, traffic steadily grew and the incline operation, once a marvel, became a slow and expensive bottleneck. The trip up the incline was so gobsmackingly slow, passengers would regularly clamber on and off the moving trains.Today, the incline is regarded as a special part of New Zealand's history and is recognised as one of the significant railway heritage sites in the world. Highlights along the...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/15/20217 minutes, 21 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: The Black Keys' new album Delta Kream

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to new music from The Black Keys: the new album Delta Kream. She joined Jack Tame to share her thoughts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/15/20217 minutes, 6 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Duchess, Countess and The Road Trip

Catherine Raynes has been reading Duchess, Countess by Catherine Ostler and The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/15/20214 minutes, 15 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Recycling pro-tips

Not everything can be recycled ...  We’ve talked about things you can recycle, here are the things to keep out: Plastic bags, food and garden waste, hazardous waste and chemicals, polystyrene trays and packaging, coffee cups, batteries, nappies, clothing window glass, mirrors or light bulbs, cookware, electrical items, building waste and medical waste.  But even things that can be recycled will go straight in landfill if you’ve put it into plastic bags, because no one wants to puts their hands into these.  Washing containers is important. Make sure they’re empty of liquid or residue. They need to be rinsed out but not spotless. Clean enough for optical sorters so they know which type of plastic it is.  ...but these things can be!  At the moment, manufactures are getting off scot-free. When the new plastic and packaging started coming out, business managed to talk local government in thinking it was their problem, so there was no economic reason for brands to make it easy to recycle.  But some brands are starting to make it easier to get rid of trickier packaging.  * Terracycle’s website has details on how you can recycle Gilette Razors, schwarzkopf products, alt and vape products, colgate, Gillette colgate, sealed pouches … to name just a few. What happens to them? Things like the Sealord pouches are shredded, cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products. Razors are broken down and separated by material. Plastics are cleaned and pelletised to be recycled into new products, and metal materials are sent for smelting and conversion to new alloys. If you go onto their website, you can find your local collection point or create your own. * Expol collects polystyrene, collection points on their website. They collect over 300 cubic metre per month. * Nespresso takes back coffee pods - although it’s better to just use a reusable one in the first place. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20219 minutes, 51 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Keeping cash under the mattress - is it a good strategy?

An unexpected side effect of COVID is lots of people have been hoarding cash. Around $600m more cash seems to be in circulation. enable.me's Hannah McQueen has been talking to Jack Tame about why we want to have cash on hand - and whether it poses any major issues.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20214 minutes, 55 seconds
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Tara Ward: The Underground Railway, Halston and Secrets Bridesmaids Business

The Underground Railway: a 10 part adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a young woman named Cora who escapes a Georgia plantation and boards a train on a harrowing trip as she seeks true freedom while being hunted by a notorious slave catcher (Amazon Prime Video)Halston: Ewan McGregor stars in this drama based on the life of American designer Halston, as he leverages his single, invented name into a worldwide fashion empire synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame. (Netflix)  Secret Bridesmaids Business: An Australian drama about a woman's perfect wedding that takes a dark turn when one of her bridesmaids inadvertently brings a malevolent stranger into their lives, opening the door to the hidden world of their intimate secrets (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20215 minutes, 55 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Trillions of cicadas about to emerge in 15 US states

Love is in the air this spring in the eastern United States, where billions of cicadas will soon appear in the biggest emergence event since 2004.The insects are part of a group called Brood X — also known as the Great Eastern Brood — which is expected in a geographical range stretching from Tennessee to New York.These cicadas have been subterranean for 17 years, tunneling and feeding beneath the soil. When they are back above ground, finding a mate will be, understandably, a top priority. The loud, buzzing drone cicadas make is actually a mating song emitted by male insects, flexing a drumlike organ called a tymbal."It's all boys calling girls," said entomologist Eric Day of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University extension. "First you get a few here and there, then what happens is they start chorusing — there's so many of them that the cicada calls all combine in this huge chorus."While cicadas can be a nuisance for some orchardists and farmers, witnessing them is also an awe-inspiring experience, Day said."This is a real treat. This is an unusual biological phenomenon. Periodical cicadas only occur in the eastern United States; they don't occur anywhere else in the world," he said. "It's just going to be an amazingly big, big show."When and where will the cicadas emerge this year?That show doesn't kick off until the ground warms up. Cicadas, which are not harmful to humans or animals, begin to emerge when the soil reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit, Day said.A few individuals will probably come out in mid-to-late April, Day said, stragglers that the entomologist nicknames "lonesome Bobs," who call and call to no avail. The true, large-scale emergence might happen in the first or second week of May, depending on location.Scientists differ about the precise range of Brood X cicadas, but entomologist Gene Kritsky, dean of behavioral and natural sciences at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati — and the unofficial dean of Brood X cicadas — expects to see them in 14 states plus the District of Columbia.Brood X — the "X" is the Roman numeral for 10 — is the largest group of 17-year cicadas, said Kritsky, author of the new book "Periodical Cicadas: The Brood X Edition." (Other periodical cicada groups emerge on a 13-year cycle.)Scientists don't know the precise reasons behind the cicada schedules, or why both kinds of periodical cicadas have prime-numbered life spans. Emerging en masse, though, helps the bugs survive predation and mate successfully, as birds and small mammals only can pick off so many cicadas at once.When it comes to such reproduction strategies, this year's cicadas have a lot in common with other broods. What sets Brood X apart from other cicada emergences, however, is proximity to large metropolitan areas."About 35 million Americans will have the opportunity to interact with Brood X," Kritsky said, noting that they will likely be spotted in Philadelphia; Washington, DC; Baltimore; Cincinnati; and Indianapolis. In the past, Brood X cicadas have even emerged in New York City's Central Park.Early signs of cicadas include finger-size holes in the ground near the base of trees. You might also spot a chimneylike tunnel poking out of the soil.Subscribe to CNN's Wonder Theory newsletter: Explore the universe with weekly news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.When the insects do appear, they make an impressive amount of noise. Once, Kritsky said, he recorded a cicada chorus while sitting in a cemetery below the flight path for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Kentucky.The insects clocked in at 96 decibels, drowning out the sound of passenger jets passing directly overhead. The chorus won't last long, however. Cicadas usually die just four to six weeks after emergence.Will cicadas harm your garden?When cicadas emerge, gardeners may see the...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20213 minutes, 22 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Hackers force closure of a vital fuel pipeline and Clubhouse shows

Ransomware attacks draw headlines when they take down major operations: hospitals, cities and most recently, a US fuel pipeline. Not only do cybercriminals scam businesses demanding large sums of money or they'll wreak havoc on their computer systems, this week's gas shortages showed how it can also have broader impacts.But ransomware against individuals — specifically, anyone who uses the internet — can also be very damaging. Hackers can lock computers and threaten to delete or expose sensitive information and photos in exchange for money.The concept predates the widespread adoption of the internet. In the late 1980s, the inventor of ransomware attacked the attendees of the World Health Organization's international AIDS conference with infected floppy disks, asking for $189 to decrypt files on their computers. Nearly three decades later, the US Justice Department recently said 2020 was "the worst year to date for ransomware attacks." Security experts believe attacks against both corporations and individuals will only continue to grow because they're easy enough to execute and people are paying.Here's what to do if you've fallen victim and how to protect yourself.How it happensCriminal organizations behind ransomware attacks don't care if the victim is an individual or a business — they just want to get paid. Ransomware is often obtained through social engineering — an act of someone stealing personal data by using information gleaned from their social media account — phishing emails or getting someone to click on a link on a website. It's especially prevalent on pornography and pirate websites that promise free viewing. Ransomware kits are also sold on the dark web, a part of the internet not detected by search engines where cybercriminals often sell and buy illicit materials.Older computers running operating systems that are no longer supported by the manufacturer, such as Microsoft's Windows 7, and don't offer security updates are more susceptible, as well.Once the ransomware has been clicked, a hacker can gain access to that computer and demand a ransom to relinquish control. Because the system locks as soon as it's infected, it's not possible to negotiate with the criminal. Many times, hackers will urge people to pay with cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, which can be received anonymously and is harder to trace.The biggest motivating factor behind these incidents is money, and sometimes a criminal will use fear tactics, such as threatening to publicly expose sensitive photos, to entice people to pay. "When criminals attack individual users, they often ask for small amounts of money, as they know most individuals can't or won't pay thousands of dollars to get their data back," said Randall Magiera, cybersecurity expert and professor of information technology at Tulane University.What to do if you've fallen victimThe FBI's general guidance is that victims should not pay a ransom. "The FBI does not support paying a ransom in response to a ransomware attack," according to the FBI website. "Paying a ransom doesn't guarantee you or your organization will get any data back. It also encourages perpetrators to target more victims and offers an incentive for others to get involved in this type of illegal activity."If a hacker gets a credit card number and goes on a shopping spree, a bank can often reverse the charges, but the use of cryptocurrency makes funds nearly impossible to get back. Some common malware infections can be reversed with existing cybersecurity tools but many cannot."Ransomware groups evolve their tactics generally when they see that cybersecurity tools can counter them," said Michela Menting, research director at ABI Research. Some security researchers have tools to decrypt ransomware, but they're not always reliable because many ransomware versions exist.People who are hit with ransomware should treat their computer as though it's...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20214 minutes, 48 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Bread basics and no knead focaccia

If you’re new to bread making then making this simple Italian slab bread is a great place to start.2 ½ cups warm water2 tsps instead yeast2 tsps honey or sugar600g (just shy of 5 cups) high grade flour¼ cup olive oilFresh rosemary1 tbsp sea salt 1. In a large bowl gently stir together the water, yeast and honey. Let sit for 5-7 minutes until it’s foamy.2. Add flour and salt and mix until a scraggy dough forms and no dry flour remains.3. Add a decent splash of olive oil to another large clean bowl. Scrape the dough into this, turn to coat in oil, cover with a plastic bag and leave for at least 3 hours at room tempt or 8-12 hours in the fridge. Pull it out one hour before you want to cook it to allow it to un-chill.4. Generously oil a roasting dish or shallow sided tray. Keeping the dough in the bowl, imagine it’s a clock face and systematically gather the edges up and fold these into the centre, starting at 12 o/clock, then three o’clock, then six, then nine, then repeat this 2 times. Transfer dough ball to the well-oiled roasting dish. Let rise in a dry, warm spot until doubled in size – about 1 hour.5. Heat oven to 220 C. Lightly oil your hands. Gently stretch the dough to fill your tray/baking dish. Dimple it all over with your fingers, pressing your fingers all the way to the bottom of the pan. Drizzle with remaining more olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt. Bake until puffed and golden brown all over, about 20–30 minutes.6. Brush with more oil when it’s out of the oven and serve!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20216 minutes, 29 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Calling out call centres

You know when you call a business, and they're experiencing 'higher than normal call volumes'? Kevin Milne doesn't believe them. Jack Tame's been asking him why. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20215 minutes, 35 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Those Who Wish Me Dead and Finding You

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching new Angelina Jolie thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead, and Irish romcom Finding You. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20218 minutes, 35 seconds
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Jack Tame: My childhood memories of David McPhail

When I was a kid, one of the greatest treats in my life was to be allowed to stay up and watch TV with my mum and dad. It didn’t happen all that often. It might surprise you, given I’ve spent half my life working in TV, to know that we weren’t really a big TV family.My parents liked what they liked and disliked pretty much everything else. And instead of trying new stuff, they would get a VHS and record their favourite programmes, then watch them over and over and over again. In the 1990s, that meant watching about three shows on repeat. Inspector Morse, Letter to Blanchy, and McPhail and Gadsby.One of my earliest TV memories is of sitting in our lounge and watching Letter to Blanchy. Specifically, I remember the gag with the jetboat and I remember how it made my parents laugh and laugh.Honestly, as a kid, nothing makes you feel safer than seeing your parents so happy that they are properly weeping with laughter. Dad used to rock back and forth on the couch watching David McPhail and Jon Gadsby. Mum would squint her eyes super tight. I was so young that I only understood some of the jokes but I understood that it was really funny, and I loved it.David McPhail comedies bookended my childhood.Just before I moved away from home, TVNZ produced Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby. It was a cult hit and although I don’t think it ever had massive mainstream success in New Zealand, it apparently did extremely well on ABC in Australia.It was a very non-PC satire poking fun at New Zealand and the education system that honestly probably wouldn’t and couldn’t be made today. It followed McPhail as an old-school teacher brought in to relieve a classroom of boys in the lowest stream of a state high school. The Māori teacher couldn’t actually speak Māori. Instead of his surname, the guidance counsellor insisted everyone call him Steve.And David McPhail was at his absolute best. He marched up and down the hallways, a baton under his arm, the perfect characterisation of a teaher transported directly from the fifties, except he always made the effort to correctly pronounce his students’ names.As a family, we’d hang out for new episodes. We watched both seasons through and through again. Dad would rock back and forth on the couch as he laughed. Mum would squint her eyes super tight. We constantly had to shush each other so we wouldn’t miss the next joke.David McPhail gave us those moments.He will be missed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/14/20213 minutes, 43 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New music from Amy Shark

Amy Shark is an Aussie indie pop singer-songwriter, but don’t let that make her sound small-time.   She’s just released her new album ‘Cry Forever' which features collaborations with Travis Barker and Ed Sheeran.  Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen for Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/8/20215 minutes, 14 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Blazing Trails in Tasman Bay

If you’re crafting plans for some fresh and sublime adventures this spring and summer, sun-splashed Tasman Bay, at the top of the South, is a spell-binding proposition. Tickle your toes in the golden sand, savour drool-worthy food, feast your eyes on the burgeoning arts trail, graze from the vineyards and famed craft beer scene or try your hand at some enthralling soft adventure. Cable Bay Adventure Park certainly ticks all the boxes for thrilling outdoorsy adventures. Champion multi-sporters Richard and Elina Ussher took over the 400-hectare site three years ago – and it’s continuing to charge ahead in leaps and bounds. Their vision is driven by an abiding desire to be great custodians of the land. Their nursery is pumping out over 50,000 native seedlings a year, powering the afforestation programme, complementing the remaining ancient native forest which enrobes much of the property, boasting some seriously impressive old-growth podocarp specimens.Totara was previously felled extensively on the site. I stopped to admire a magnificent carving of Tane Mahuta, carved out of a totara that was felled on the property 50 years ago. One of the best ways to appreciate the verdant splendour at Cable Bay is to enjoy a fling with the park’s signature attraction, the Skywire. The tour starts with a 4km ride in one of their 4-wheel drive vehicles, passing through pristine native forest. The Skywire is set 300m above the base café, serving up delirious views of Cable and Delaware Bays, the western ranges and north towards D’Urville Island. Billed as the world’s longest flying fox experience, this 3.2km ride hoists you across the canopy, 150 metres above the forest’s wondrous mosaic of green.The Skywire seats up to four “flyers” at a time, not dissimilar to a chairlift, with around 1000m of gravity assisted free-wheeling, reaching speeds of up to 100km, before the ride beats to a more sedate pace allowing you to drool over the scenery, while filling your Insta-feed. Then you do it all again – backwards. I adored it. There’s no other ride in New Zealand quite like it. The park also boasts its own dedicated paintball area, Argo amphibious vehicle rides, quad bikes tours and bike trails – which are constantly expanding. Remarkably, access to the park’s MTB trails is free, so you either bring your own bike for a blast, or hire a bike from their full fleet of suspension trail capable e-bikes, mountain bikes and kids’ bikes.There’s even a shuttle service to whisk you to the top of the trails. All of the trail networks are built by a small and passionate group of volunteers with a real focus on minimising the environmental impact on the areas they’re traversing through. Just 15 minutes from Nelson, Cable Bay Adventure Park is an escapist destination in its own right. https://www.cablebayadventurepark.com/Eager to hit the pedals around the shoreline of Tasman Bay, I hooked up with Andrew Schwass and the team at Kiwi Journeys. This locally owned and operated family business is the region’s trusted local cycle tour operator, specialising in self-guided and supported tours on Nelson’s Great Taste Trail and the West Coast Wilderness Trail. They have handily located bases strung across the region, at Nelson, Mapua Wharf and Kaiteriteri. They are the go-to for everything you need to enjoy these rides - including the region’s biggest range of quality bikes, including new e-Bikes, trail bikes, mountain bikes and family equipment. Andrew kitted me out with an Avanti e-Bike for my fabulous foray on the Great Taste Trail from Richmond to Mapua Wharf. The entire trail is a whopping 174km-long circuit, bit it’s tastily arranged into manageable sections, including my romp which was an easy 20km ride.After fortifying myself with a delicious Tahuna Light Pilsner and pizza at Eddyline Brewery, I struck out on this splendidly designed trail, traversing the languid...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/8/20218 minutes, 3 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Tall Bones and Sharon Stone's new book

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Beauty of Living Twice by Sharon Stone and Tall Bones by Anna Bailey.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/8/20213 minutes, 51 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Caring for kids post-separation

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has been talking to Jack Tame about the best ways to care for kids post-separation. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/202110 minutes, 57 seconds
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Ruud Klein: Growing fruit in small spaces

Planting fruit producing systems in small spaces  Last week, we looked at saving space in the garden and still grow fruit trees. One of the topics was grafting fruit tree wood on a root stock that supressed growth. Some fruit trees are available as multiple-grafts: imagine a plum tree with two or three different varieties grafted on different sides of that one tree! You can add a pollinator and an extra variety for extended plum harvests. You can get triple-grafted apples, nectarines, you name it. Each variety tends to look slightly different in terms of leaves and branches. You can often pick exactly where the graft is – that is quite crucial for when it comes to pruning the tree (so you leave all varieties on the tree in roughly equal amounts of leaves and branches and fruiting spurs). For your balcony, you could get one of those multi-grafted trees and plant it in a large wine barrel on the 16th floor. Different ripening times stretch your harvesting season. Remember though: you can only graft apples on apples and nectarines on nectarines. You won’t be able to create a fruit-salad!  The multi-tree hole trick works nicely too. Imagine you want to plant an apple tree somewhere, but can’t decide which of two or three varieties look like best. Well buy all three plants and chuck them in the same planting hole! Angle them slightly outwards, so that when they start growing they’ll each occupy their own  - roughly one-third – space. You’ll find that these three trees tend to share their hole quite well (unless you have a super-dominant variety amongst them that out-performs the other two; in which case you’ll have to discipline that one through more vigorous pruning).  Another way to save space with fruit trees is to plant them as a “Hedge”, close together and pruned carefully as a hedge. Take care to prune each plant right from the word “go”, so that the bottom branches are allowed to lengthen and fill up the base of the “hedge”. Imagine an apple hedge with different varieties, ripening at different times of Summer to late Autumn. A multi-varietal feijoa hedge is easy to keep going and it delivers fruit over a long time.  A variant on the “hedge idea” is to have a few fruit trees espaliered on a pre-contructed set of posts and wires; this could be in front of a wooden fence, or as a structure that defines a long pathway, which will in future be lined with a fruit tree wall. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/20215 minutes, 50 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Trump's social media ban

Trump is forced to stay off Facebook & Instagram for nowThe basics of the ruling was that the board believes that Facebook did the right thing - suspending the account for enough time to protect against "imminent harm". Facebook has a pretty clear policy and approach to this. Here's something odd though.. there's a bit of a technicality. At the moment Trump's ability to post is turned off indefinitely, but he's not permanently suspended. THey have a policy which allows for a permanent suspension, but not the ability to prevent someone from posting indefinitely. So that has given the Board the ability to send this decision back to Facebook to basically re-sentence Trump within the rules of the policies - and to provide reasoning - within six months.   Clubhouse is trying ShowsClubhouse started as an app to allow you to effectively be a talk back radio show host. It's only been around a year, and it's valued at $4 billion. The trouble with the app though is that when you open it up, you're at the mercy of the live content at that very moment. Something fantastic might have just happened, but since it was live you missed it. So now they're paying to create 50 'shows' - giving selected 'creators' on the platform $5k a month to create. I imagine they'll try and schedule these so there is always something they like when you open the app. Facebook & Twitter have already launched their clones, which aren't too bad. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/20215 minutes, 42 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime Ronald and Beatrix, Utopia and The Masked Singer

Roald and Beatrix: Dawn French and Rob Brydon star in this heartwarming TV film inspired by the true events of Roald Dahl’s childhood meeting with Beatrix Potter (Neon).    Utopia: An Australian satire set inside the offices of the "Nation Building Authority", a newly created government organization responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects (Netflix).  The Masked Singer NZ: based on the South Korean series King Of Mask Singer, The Masked Singer NZ is a reality singing competition where 12 celebrities compete against each other in song, masked head to toe in extravagant costumes that completely conceal their identities (Three, from Sunday). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/20215 minutes, 12 seconds
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Sue Brierley: Mum from the movie "Lion" on why she chose to adopt

To celebrate Mother's Day, here is an incredible true story about an Australian mother, her adopted child from India Saroo, and his life-long search for his birth mother.   Saroo became an orphan aged five, after accidentally boarding a train to a different city. He barely remembered anything about his family, but managed to find them after a search using Google Earth. His story is depicted in the book A Long Way Home, which was later made into the movie Lion.  His Mum, Sue Brierley, was played by Nicole Kidman and has since written her own book about the experience, "Lioness", and she's been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/202111 minutes, 1 second
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Francesca Rudkin: Locked Down and Twist

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudking has been watching COVID-themed heist movie Locked Down, and modern take on Oliver Twist; Twist.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/20218 minutes, 47 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Mother’s Day Sticky buns

Mother’s Day Sticky buns  This is one of the simplest and quickest sticky bun recipes I know and the buns are top notch.  Makes 9 large buns  Topping ½ cup brown sugar 3 big tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons maple syrup  Filling 2 tablespoons butter ½ cup brown sugar 3 teaspoons mixed spice 1 cup walnut pieces  Dough 3 tablespoons warm water 2 teaspoons instant yeast 1 teaspoon sugar  3 cups plain flour 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup plain yoghurt  1 large egg 100g butter, softened  Preheat oven to 190 C. Line a 22x22cm baking tin with baking paper, making sure it comes up the sides.  Melt brown sugar, butter and maple syrup and simmer for 1 minute. Pour half of this into the base of the lined tin.  Make the dough by stirring the yeast and warm water together and leaving to froth for 5 minutes. While this happens whisk together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together frothy yeast mix, yoghurt and egg and pour this into the dry ingredients. Mix together - you can do this in a beater with a kneading attachment or with a knife  - until combined. Add in butter, a tablespoon at a time and keep mixing until it’s incorporated.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to bring together. To assemble buns: Roll out dough to a 20x30 rectangle. Butter with softened butter then sprinkle over sugar, mixed spice and ¾ of the walnuts. Starting from the long side furthest away from you and roll up tightly, bringing it towards you. Use a sharp knife or, my preferred technique, dental floss or thread (see note) to cut into nine equal portions. Place in lined tin, evenly spaced to allow for expansion, cut side down. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove buns from oven and let settle for a few minutes before turning out onto a serving dish or board. Peel off paper to reveal the syrupy buns!   To serve, top with remaining brown sugar, maple and butter mixture and sprinkle over remaining walnuts.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/20215 minutes, 22 seconds
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Kevin Milne: How COVID's affecting my personal style

Kevin Milne's made a special purchase this week - and he's got a high-profile epidimiologist to thank for his new personal style. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/20215 minutes, 36 seconds
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Jack Tame: Joe Biden's quiet success

He’s only been in the job three months but once again this week Joe Biden showed why he might actually accomplish more change than any President in decades. Biden spoke out against the big pharmaceutical industry that for so long has weilded massive lobbying power in U.S politics. When it comes to the Covid-19 vaccines, Biden said, intellectual property rights should be waived. If the WTO agrees with Biden, all manner of vaccine producers will be able to take up production to help out the parts of the World that aren’t as lucky as the increasingly-vaccinated US.And yes, you can be cynical about the whole exercise. It’s true that Biden is only making the call now that the US is well into its vaccination programme. A truly moral response might have ensured the likes of Delhi and Mumbai were vaccinated well before Chicago or Miami. But Joe Biden’s first few months in the gig have been far more successful than many of us imagined they could possibly be. He’s been brave, at times. He’s been strategic. He’s picked fights he can win and kept out of the fights he can’t.His massive $US1.9 trillion economic stimulus package has already been enacted and enjoys the support of a majority of Americans. His family and infrastructure plans, which would cost about $US6 trillion, are also really popular. But because Donald Trump didn’t give a toss about the deficit and only a few months ago mailed out checks to the whole country, Biden’s massive spending plans don’t seem so controversial. How’s he going to pay for it? Biden plans to crack down on the big American corporates that have been using offshore tax havens to avoid paying their share. What average American voter could possibly have a problem with that?  Despite the rich relationship history of Biden’s foot and Biden’s mouth, in his first three months in the Oval Office he hasn’t made a major gaff. He’s back in the Paris Climate Accord. He’s introduced a no-Twitter policy for his advisors and they’ve managed to keep clear of the culture wars that have consumed so many of his political colleagues over the last few years. He’s walked a careful and delicate line on police brutality and race relations. Some of his gun reform laws, which would impact gun producers rather than gun owners, are particularly cunning.And I reckon there are two other significant reasons fo Biden’s success: The first is the stark contrast with his predecessor. Who could honestly argue that these few months in the U.S haven’t been a whole lot less politically stressful than at any time during Trump’s Presidency? Biden’s reforms sound boring compared to the daily outrage from Trump’s office, but if you look closely, some of them have the potential to signficiantly change American society. The second reason is perhaps even more significant. Biden is governing like a man who doesn’t have to worry about a re-election campaign. Will he run again in four years? Maybe. But probably not. Usually Presidents are at their most powerful in the first half of their first term, before the mid-term elections erode their power in Congress. But any desire to tackle the big stuff is tempered by the fact they want to get a second term. Biden doesn’t look like he has those concerns.    Imagine a World where every leader made decisions with the same freedom: Stuff the polls. Stuff the focus groups. One term to make a difference and that’s it. Biden can afford to take risks and push the limits. Who would have thought that a Joe Biden Presidency could feel so incredibly refreshing?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/7/20214 minutes, 27 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Land and James and Isey

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Land and Kiwi documentary James and Isey.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20216 minutes, 27 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Bone Code and Empire of Pain

Book reiewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keffe.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20216 minutes, 1 second
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Fruit trees for a smaller garden

Fruit trees for the smaller garden (and balcony!) With the tinyfication of backyards, sections and driveways there is often no room for a grand-old apple tree, or grapefruit tree, let alone a majestic pear tree or Plum.  Which is why many growers designed the dwarf varieties in apples, plums/nectarines/peaches and other types of fruit trees. These trees are grafted on normal rootstock, giving the tree a good spread of roots underground; but it is the dwarf varieties that limit their own growth. It keeps them small and dense/compact in growth habit, saving heaps of space.  Another way to achieve this is by growing “normal” varieties on dwarfing rootstock. Yes, that rootstock inhibits the normally expansive growth of the fruit tree. Some of these dwarfing rootstocks really limit heights to a few meters only, making it easy to pick the fruit at harvest. Oh, by the way: the fruit is normal size! We often had “Flying Dragon” rootstock under our lemons and mandarins – that’s been around for ages!  The two methods described allow you to have a dwarf tree on your balcony too! The grafted trees can easily sustain themselves in large pots (think half wine-barrel size) as long as they are planted in good quality container mixes. I think it pays to add some mineral soil (loam) in there, amongst all the good, dark organic matter (compost). The mineral soil gives the mix a better structure. One thing to look out for is regular watering, as potted or containerised plants/trees are much more prone to drying out.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a “normal” tree that you can restrict in growth when you plant it in the garden, without having to prune the living daylights out of it twice a year? Well you can! “Bonsai it” If you can restrict the roots of a tree, it will become dwarfed – think of how Chinese and Japanese garden masters have been doing “bonsai” for thousands of years! (they prune the roots every year or so and re-plant their babies back into the mix).  We now have bags that restrict root growth (“root control bags”). Plant your fruit tree in such a bag and dig the whole lot (Bag, mix, and tree) in your garden. You basically treat it like a normal tree in terms of watering, fertilisers etc. It’ll grow and produce fruits, but it will stay a lot smaller! Remember to utterly prepare your soil before planting any tree. Make sure the planting hole doesn’t run full of water that gets stagnant – it will rot your roots. Make it therefore well-draining, perhaps raise it slightly above the ground level. Good soil mix with some loam and lots of organic matter will support your tree for a long time. NEXT WEEK we carry on with these space saving ideas. We might even achieve a three-apple-varieties-in-one-pot system for the 16th floor.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20213 minutes, 4 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Stratford & Egmont National Park

Richly blessed with world-beating nature trails, my first dose of outdoorsy soft adventure was on New Plymouth’s universally feted Coastal Walkway, the envy of many a New Zealand town. It was the perfect balmy autumn’s evening, and the shoreline trail was a hot ticket, with hundreds of folk lustily embracing a twilight stroll, as the slanting light of day’s end gilds the shoreline.The award-winning path which skims the Tasman Sea for 13km, not only offers celestial coastal vistas and world-class surf breaks, but is crowned with some compellingly large works of art. Keep walking north of the city to encounter the dramatic wave-like Te Rewa Rewa Bridge (freshly repainted), while Len Lye’s iconic breeze-bending kinetic sculpture, the Wind Wand, remains a much-adored city landmark.A botanical oasis at any time of year is the time-honoured sanctuary of Pukekura Park. Previously, I’ve savoured the city’s annual illuminated extravaganza, the TSB Festival of Lights, which transforms the park into a spangled wonderland. Transcending the summer holidays, Pukekura Park comes alive after dark with theatrical lighting installations and ingenious artworks.But regardless of the time of year, this inner-city paradise boasts exquisitely landscaped gardens, the lustrous Fountain Lake and a staggering variety of native and exotic plant collections. Change it up with an anecdote-rich guided tour to ensure you don’t miss the park’s star specimens and hidden gems, like the 2000 year old Puriri tree, the oldest hospital still standing in New Zealand, and a major film location for Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai.Ever since our pioneering days, Taranaki has been nicknamed the Garden of New Zealand and I revelled in some of the region’s botanical stars, including Tūpare. Nearly 80 years old, the restored Chapman-Taylor Arts & Crafts homestead and garden is a stately sight to behold. Sculpted from a hillside overlooking the Waiwhakaiho River, walk the winding paths cut into the hillside for sigh-inducing vistas and intimate garden rooms.Grand coniferous trees such as dawn redwoods, kauri, rimu and giant redwoods set the framework for the garden. They are supported by beautiful deciduous specimens such as the dove trees, tulip trees and liquidambars – the autumn show at Tūpare is very special. Smaller trees, typically maples and magnolias, are favoured alongside rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and hydrangeas, all carefully planted by Sir Russell Matthews in 1932.Further afield, in the shadow of Taranaki Maunga, Hollard Gardens is a botanical bucket-lister, a Garden of National Significance that was established in 1927 by Bernie and Rose Hollard, now in public ownership. Bernie believed that the best plants were the ones worth waiting for. The plant that he bred and was well known for was the Rhododendron Kaponga which took 12 years to flower.The gardens remain an abiding legacy of almost a lifetime of tireless work by a private individual. It is a quintessential woodland garden, a joy to leisurely free-roam. Head gardener, Shannon, led me around its finest features, from the mature and intimate Old Garden to the buzzing diversity of the New Gardens. Hollard has recently been accentuated by the wonderfully popular family corner, complete with playground, free barbeques and kitchenette.Just east of Eltham, I ventured to the barnstorming conservation success story at Lake Rotokare. Home to the Lake Rotokare Scenic Reserve, this sublime 230 hectare predator-free environment is a cradle of native and endangered flora and fauna. It is the largest lake and wetland protected by a ring fence, which was constructed in 2008. (Rotokare translates as “rippling water.”) Alongside the8km long fence, their pest-trapping programme has eradicated 12 million mammals, allowing 9 threatened species to be reintroduced to the sanctuary.They include the North Island brown kiwi, North Island saddleback, North Island...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20218 minutes, 17 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Recycling made better

Reuse, Reduce, Rethink, Recycle. Recycle is at the bottom of the chain as there are much better ways for cutting down on waste. But when we do recycle then let’s do it well.  Different councils have slightly different rules. Often smaller councils don’t have the infrastructure to handle some products. In the bottom of South Island, they find it’s not worth shipping glass all the way to Auckland. Unless they pay the extra, it is use as aggregate in roading material or capping dumps. It can even be ground right to back to sand. Same with the tetra pack family of containers, only big councils have the gear to recycle these which are then sent overseas to be processed.  What do we recycle easily?  Plastic bottles, containers, and clear food containers 1 to 7. 1: PET plastics, soft drink bottles the most famous. These are recycled in NZ. The clear ones can be made in to anything. Coloured ones are less useful. They can be made into clothing , polyester etc. 2: HDPE, bathroom and laundry products. Slightly cloudy variety, often in milk bottles, is the most valuable. As soon as colour is added then these have more limited use. Ecostore uses recycled and carbon capture sugar based HDPE for its range. 3-7: Less wanted, often baled and exported or even sent to landfill for PVC and 7’s All bio plastics, unless going to a specialist collection, goes to landfill.  Soft plastic This can only be recycled at soft plastic recycling stores, never in the recycling bin. Auto equipment means plastic bags gets wrapped around gear and workers have to go in with angle grinders to fix this every day.  Aluminium and glass Can be recycled infinite times because they are pure elements, aluminium and silica. Steel cans are also fine.  Paper Products like mail, newspaper and magazines, paper and cardboard packaging and egg cartons.  Keep these out of your recycling Plastic bags, food and garden waste, hazardous waste and chemicals , polystyrene trays and packaging, coffee cups, batteries, nappies, clothing window glass, mirrors or light bulbs, cookware, electrical items, building waste and off course medical waste.  You need to think of the workers and machines that are sorting this stuff. Stuff you have sorted already into plastic bags, and put the whole thing in the bin will go straight to landfill because no one wants to puts their hands into these. Washing containers is important. Make sure they’re empty of liquid or residue. Rinsed out but not spotless - just clean enough for optical sorters so they know which type of plastic it is.  Pizza boxes: a bit of grease is okay, a few crumbs is alright - but masses of cheese no good. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20216 minutes, 44 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Kidney disease

Dozens of patients who spend at least 12 hours a week hooked up to a life-saving machine are devastated Greenlane Hospital's renal unit is closing.For them it's a "safe haven" and a lifeline.Instead, the majority of these dialysis patients say they will have to travel further to Kereru Kidney Centre in Glen Innes - a $7 million Auckland District Health Board 12-year project opening later in the year.While the DHB says the Greenlane clinical centre is no longer fit for purpose, many patients spoken to by the Herald were heartbroken, with one saying "it sucks, for me time is precious".Patients who need dialysis treatment have entered the end stage of kidney disease and nearly all their kidney function is lost.A letter to the DHB, signed by 35 patients and seen by the Herald, said: "We have no issues with building more dialysis capacity but this is NOT achieving that, at HUGE cost."Greenlane unit needs to be kept operating as it also offers good dialysis plus proximity for the people who rely on its services."Auckland DHB director of adult medical, Barry Snow, told the Herald it was a priority for the DHB that the people in the Auckland central catchment had access to dialysis care that was close to home and in a unit that was fit for purpose."We are replacing the Greenlane Clinical Centre dialysis unit as it is no longer fit for purpose and we have been told by our patients that they wanted their care closer to home."The Herald was told by a source the decision to open Kereru Kidney Centre was based on a 2011 survey which showed 25 out of 38 patients lived closer to Glen Innes but that was no longer the case. Now, 10 years later, the majority of patients live closer to Greenlane.When the Herald put this to Snow he said: "We've positioned the new unit where there is higher need. Our mapping shows that the majority of Greenlane patients live within a short drive of Glen Innes, and the majority of those who don't, live within a short drive to Pt Chevalier."In response to patient concerns about potentially waiting longer due to capacity, Snow said the DHB was not expecting this."There will be one patient to one machine on each shift, the time available on each machine will be same and the staff-to-patient ratio will remain the same."Patients who used Greenlane would also have the option of using Carrington dialysis unit in Pt Chevalier.Nora van Der Schrieck, chief executive of Kidney Society Auckland, said she really felt for these Greenlane patients because it would affect them the most."Some patients won't get the benefit that others will and I can understand it because my own husband was on dialysis for many years and I know what it means to be shifted around and to have things change when you are doing well the way things are."When they move they are likely to come across different staff so it's a big, big change, so I absolutely sympathise with them."But she credited the DHB, saying it had done "a superb job"."The project had involved more consultation with patients than I have seen with any other DHB."It's unclear what would happen to the Greenlane unit.Snow said the DHB understood that a change in location was an adjustment for many patients and it sympathised with them."We will be providing support to help them on this transition."Meanwhile, dialysis care across New Zealand continues to be a "postcode lottery".For example, Whanganui dialysis patients have to travel 75km to Palmerston North at least three times a week to be hooked up to a machine for hours on end.Our resident doctor Dr Bryan Betty has been giving Jack the lowdown on kidney disease.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20216 minutes, 13 seconds
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Garance Dore: Renowned style blogger makes Wellington home

About a year ago, internationally renowned fashion blogger Garance Dore’s travels suddenly stopped.   Nothing unusual about that, except the French-born and usually US-based writer happened to be in New Zealand at the time.   Garance is a photographer, illustrator and author, who’s worked with everyone who is anyone in the fashion world.  The New York Times once described her as the "guardian of all style".  She’s loved her new pace of life here so much that she’s stayed - and is about to do a show at the Auckland Writers’ festival.  She's been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/202112 minutes, 17 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Move over e-scooter - here comes the moped!

First there were Lime Scooters, now there are Lime Mopeds  After a successful launch in Washington DC, Lime is starting the rollout of electric mopeds in New York City. They are bright green, parked on the street, and ready to ride with just a click of an app. They work just like a Lime Scooter charging an unlock fee plus a ride per minute fee. There is a helmet locked in the back for riders to wear - and you need to submit a photo of yourself wearing the helmet before you can start. When you sign up for the service you also need to take a rider safety course and submit your drivers license for verification.  Electric mopeds are already super popular in NYC. They launched a couple of years ago by a startup called Revel. Lime will be the second provider.  Microsoft Word is changing its default font But to what.. you can help decide. Calibri took over from Times New Roman in 2007 but now it's time for something new. Microsoft has commissioned five new fonts - which are available now in Office 365 for you to try. So will it be an industrial style typeface, a serif, a sans-serif, something more contemporary, or traditional? The default won't change until the launch of Office 2022.  Amazon is crushing it What pandemic? They just released their Q1 results and they're 44% up on last year with net-sales. Profits have gone from $2.5 billion this time last year, to $8.1 billion in Q1 of this year. Amazon Prime has 200 million members. My Robinhood stocks app has Amazon as a 96% buy rating, 4% hold. That would suggest analysts think there is a LOT more potential for growth yet. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20215 minutes, 23 seconds
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Colin Bryar: What we can all learn from Amazon

Amazon's profits more than tripled in the first quarter of 2021, as the pandemic continued to boost its online retail, cloud and advertising businesses.The tech giant on Thursday reported a whopping $8.1 billion in quarterly net income, up 224% from the same period in the prior year, crushing Wall Street analysts' prediction of $4.98 billion. Earnings hit $15.79 per diluted share.Total net sales from the quarter grew 44% from the year-ago period to $108.5 billion, also beating the $104.5 billion analysts had projected.Amazon (AMZN) shares spiked as much as 4% in after-hours trading."Amazon has the almost perfect business for the world right now," James Harris, global chief strategy officer at Mindshare Worldwide, said in an email following the report. "The world's leading e-commerce platform, a growing cloud business and a smaller but growing advertising capability all working in unison. It's a compelling offer."The company's cloud unit and biggest money maker, Amazon Web Services, posted net sales of $13.5 billion during the quarter, up 32% year-over-year. That's an acceleration in growth from the prior quarter as more companies adopt the technology to help manage hybrid workforces.Among the other highlights from the quarter: Amazon now has more than 200 million paid Prime subscribers and streaming hours on Prime Video are up more than 70% year-over-year.Despite a tough year-over-year comparison because of the surge in demand the pandemic caused in 2020, Amazon still expects net sales between $110 and $116 billion, up 24% to 30% from the same period in the prior year, during the second quarter of 2021. That's assuming that its annual Prime Day event occurs during the quarter as normal.On Wednesday, the day before the earnings report, Amazon announced it would spend $1 billion to raise wages for more than 500,000 hourly workers by as much as $3 an hour as it continues its hiring push that has elevated its global workforce beyond 1.3 million people globally. The company will not, however, increase its $15 per hour minimum wage.Earlier in the first quarter, Amazon faced a landmark union drive at a warehouse in Alabama that drew intense scrutiny to its labor practices. Despite popular support from celebrities and even US President Joe Biden, the union vote was unsuccessful.The latter part of this year will bring a major leadership shakeup at the company, as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos steps down from his role as chief executive, to be replaced by current Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy, and the cloud unit gets a new leader.Today, a share in the company costs about $US3,500. Back in 1998, when they were just $US18, a man called Colin Bryar joined Amazon in the Senior Leadership Team, becoming Jeff Bezos’ “Chief of Staff” aka “Jeff’s shadow”.   After 12 years, he left Amazon, and with colleague Bill Carr set up business coaching company Working Backwards. They’ve now written a book of the same name, and Colin's been speaking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20216 minutes, 11 seconds
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Tara Ward: Life in Colour, Waiata/Anthems and RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under

Screen Queen Tara Ward has some TV picks for your weekend. Life in Colour with David Attenborough: Using the latest camera technology, David Attenborough’s latest nature documentary reveals the extraordinary ways in which animals use colour: to win a mate, to fight off rivals and to warn enemies (Netflix).  Waiata / Anthems: A new short documentary series about iconic musical artists from Aotearoa who translate and record their songs in te reo Māori, sharing untold stories of fear and discovery along the way. Featuring Drax Project, Katchafire’s Logan Bell, Bic Runga, Che Fu, MELODOWNZ, Annie Crummer, Hollie Smith and Don McGlashan, each episode tracks the artists path through the origin of the song to its translation and meaning, exploring how it came to be. Each episode ends with a powerful live performance. (TVNZ OnDemand)  RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under: Start your engines Aotearoa and may the best queen win! 10 queens from across Australia and New Zealand with the most charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent have been selected to compete in the first ever RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under (TVNZ 2 & TVNZ OnDemand, from Saturday) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/1/20215 minutes, 1 second
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Kevin Milne: Cellphone driving fines not enough

Kevin Milne's spent a bit of time at the panel beater recently - and he reckons a good proportion of car accidents are caused by drivers who're using their phones. The fines have been upped this week, but could they go higher?LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/30/20215 minutes, 32 seconds
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Jack Tame: My run for National party leadership

I’m broadcasting to you from Wellington this morning. I was here celebrating with my colleagues last night for the Press Gallery’s 150th anniversary celebration. I was very well-behaved but I’m not totally sure that can be said of all of my colleagues.I was listening to Tix Roxburgh on talkback a couple of weeks ago. The subject was the National Party leadership, and a lovely caller rang up and offered up Tim a suggestion for who might make a good adversary for Jacinda Ardern in the next election. She was clearly a listener of fine taste and significant intelligence, and Tim handled her suggestion with perfect broadcasting poise. If you want to beat Jacinda Ardern, she said, there’s only one person for it. Jack Tame.I must admit, I felt a little flattered. Although, ruefully I note the suggestion hasn’t had a great deal of pick up or support, either on talkback or amongst my drunken colleagues at the Press Gallery bash.Nonetheless, in light of the National Party’s review into its devastating election loss, and in light of Judith Collins’ hard turn towards lazy race-baiting this week.I’m going to close my eyes and pretend that caller was right; imagine myself as leader of the National Party and offer a little advice to my colleagues as we make our way forward.First of all, forget the anti-Maori separatist stuff. As tempting as it when you’re seeking relevancy and frantically clutching at thin air... don’t fall for that tired race-baiting messaging. It’s lazy. It’s cheap. It’s desperate. You lost the last election because you lost the middle. You lost moderate voters. They aren’t the kind of people who are going to immediately switch back if you take extreme positions on anything. Second of all, focus on a consistent, coherent message. In the lead up to the election last year, it was sometimes impossible to know where the National Party stood on the pandemic response. Should we open up or close down our borders? Lockdowns or no lockdowns? It’s similar with other issues now. Take some of those Maori issues - National will run in the Maori seats but opposes the legislation around Maori local boards. National established Whanau Ora but calls a Maori Health Agency a separatist institution. It’s inconsistent. It’s incoherent. People have got to know what you stand for.I’ve got to say over the last six months, I think a couple of National MPs have excelled in this area. For me, Chris Bishop has probably been the standout National MP. His efforts on the Covid portfolio have been constructive. His criticisms have been reasonable. Above all... his messaging is largely coherent. His colleagues would do well to follow his lead.My third and final piece of advice is just wait. Hold your horses. Exercise a little patience and a little discipline. You don’t need to be at 40% in the polls right now. You don’t need to be concerned with leadership. What you need is for your MPs to go away and work on policy, and wait for Labour to make mistakes.This government hasn’t yet demonstrated the capacity to deliver on its promises. There will be scandals and failures. There will be opportunities.These are not exciting or sexy recommendations. But if you can show you are a cohesive and disciplined centrist party, with a coherent message, and not one that barks at every car or desperately says inflammatory things to try get in the headlines. I think you will be well-positioned to contest the next election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/30/20215 minutes, 3 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: Churchill and Son, The Castaways

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Churchill and Son by Josh Ireland, and The Castaways by Lucy Clarke.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/24/20213 minutes, 39 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: London Grammar release new album

British indie-pop band London Grammar are planning to play Vector Arena in March next year. If you want to take a listen and get on board the hype around a real-life international act playing at Vector, their new album is California Hil, and our music reviewer Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/24/20217 minutes, 11 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: When your parents come before your partner

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has been talking about caring for your parents - and the impact that can have on your other relationships. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/24/20217 minutes, 19 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Free-roaming South Taranaki

Mike Yardley has been sharing his tips for the best way to go free-roaming South Taranaki. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/24/20218 minutes, 35 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Influencers could be taxed for their loot

The IRD's sent a warning shot to influencers - you could be liable to pay tax on your freebies. Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been looking into who might be at risk. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/24/20217 minutes, 1 second
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Time to plant winter crops

Winter crops need planting  There’s still some warmth in soil so it’s a good time to get planting. If you are in south, maybe get some punnets, rather than sowing seed.  Brassicas do well in winter: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, (Chinese cabbage for stir-fries) Brussels sprouts (but hurry!); these crops will stay “cool” and can be harvested during winter. Fabiaceae – a science word for beans and peas… Peas are good to grow now – harvest them when your conditions have allowed them to set fecund pods.Broadbeans are an acquired taste (I think) but autumn planting will allow them to be ripe in spring. Spinach (the real spinach, as discussed a few weeks ago) and silverbeet are also good to plant right now. But my favourite winter crop (and one that goes on to well into Summer 2022!!) is the “Perpetual Spinach” that looks like a silverbeet but is a lot milder and not so crunchie. This goes well into my favourite rice dishes (in the oven): Cook your rice; fry onion and mince (or bacon – or shrimps – or bits of steak) mix it into your rice. Then chop up raw perpetual spinach a dash of sweet chilli sauce, and work it all in a large ceramic pot (covered with lid) with parmesan cheese; whack in the oven at 180 degrees for an hour, while you open a beer or two.  Beetroot is another one that will grow slowly in winter without bolting - plant them now. And because I still cannot let go of summer “greens”, I will continue planting a 6-pack (or 9-pack) of Cos lettuce in a sheltered place every now and then, to keep supply going. The same goes for Coriander. To be frank: this brilliant stir-fry green doesn’t really like our Canterbury heat at all (it bolts like the proverbial), but grows well in cooler temperatures. I always get a flurry of queries when mentioning asparagus. If you are really committed to growing asparagus then perhaps now is a good time to start working on a permanent asparagus bed – honestly: a few days’ work will get you at least 20 years of crop and the joy of cutting asparagus every spring. Select a suitable site: in sunny position on great soil. If you haven’t got great soil, raise the bed (at least 30 cm) and fill with weed-free topsoil, mixed with organic matter (compost). Begin the project now and get your plants (roots) when they show up in shops in July. Weed-free is the key and so is “well-drained”. Start work now and I’ll give you a picture that you can look forward to for decades.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/24/20212 minutes, 53 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Apple launches the AirTag

Apple's launched a brand new product: AirTag If you lose things, or want some added peace of mind, then Apple's AirTag is for you. It's a small tracking device you can attach to your things so if they get lost you can locate them. You can use the FindMy app to make it play a sound, or you can use your phone to direct you to the Tag. The Tag sends out a beacon via bluetooth and an arrow appears on your phone directing you to the object. The magic feature though is when the item is far away from you, outside of bluetooth range. If someone else's iPhone detects the beacon, it'll use their connection to send you the location. So imagine you leave your backpack at a bar, then a patron's iPhone would anonymously connect to the Tag and you can see your bag's location on a map.  The battery should last about a year and is user replaceable.   Of course it wouldn't be an Apple product if you didn't need to buy an accessory! There is no way to attach it to something without an accessory - it doesn't have a loop.  Could someone use an AirTag to track you?  Yes, but there are safeguards built in. If your iPhone detects that an AirTag is moving with you it will send you an alert.. but that doesn't help Android users. From the mockup of the app, you'll be able to make that AirTag play a sound to help you locate it. If it's been away from its owner for three days, it'll start making a sound on its own. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20213 minutes, 3 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Mare of Easttown, Creamerie and Starstruck

Tara Ward's got some TV picks for your weekend. Mare of Easttown: Kate Winslet stars in this gritty drama about a detective from Pennsylvania who tries her best to prevent her life from falling apart while investigating a mysterious murder (Neon). Creamerie: A darkly funny dystopian New Zealand series set eight years after a plague has killed all men, and where three women who run a dairy farm accidentally run over the last surviving male human on the planet (TVNZ OnDemand). Starstruck: The brand new six-part romcom created, written by and starring Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian, writer and actor Rose Matafeo kicks off this week on TVNZ. Starstruck follows Jessie (Rose Matafeo), a millennial living in East London juggling two dead end jobs when she discovers the complications of accidentally sleeping with a famous film star (from Wednesday 28 April, TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20214 minutes, 43 seconds
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Chris Parker: Finding fame in felting

Comedian Chris Parker spent 2020 getting famous in the most 2020 way possible: making vidoes about life in lockdown and posting them to instagram.   Specifically he learned to felt, made characters like Ashley Bloomfield, and pulled them together into a hat .. while tens of thousands of people watched along online.   The hat was later sold to the Auckland museum. But it wasn’t all felting and Covid. On his Instagram page he perfectly captured the weird and wonderful about last year, with viral sketches about modern life from pay wave to why everyone suddenly owns a cavoodle. He’s created a show around his felting "This is how I felt" and it’s part of this year’s Comedy Festival. Chris has been in studio with Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/202116 minutes, 28 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Greek sweet cheese pies

GORGEOUS GREEK SWEET CHEESE PIES  This recipe is inspired by the Greek tradition of using soft, fresh cheeses in sweet pastries – in fact it was the way I started every morning when I travelled in Crete, along with a puddle of very strong coffee. Bliss. These are perfect for brunch, dessert or for party nibbles.  Makes 6 small pastries  3 sheets filo pastry 100g feta 50g cream cheese 3 Tb caster sugar  1/2 egg, beaten lightly  30g butter, melted 2 TB Honey  Zest from one lemon or orange Heat oven to 180 C.  Mix together the feta, cream cheese, caster sugar and egg in a food processor. Pulse until just blended but still with little lumps of feta as these provide creamy, salty bursts of flavour in the end result.  Cut each sheet of filo down the middle, lengthwise, so that you have rectangles with the short edges at the top and bottom. Assemble the parcels one at a time by brushing the pastry with butter then dolloping two tablespoons of the cheese mixture onto the pastry, then rolling/folding the parcel, tucking in the edges, until you have a snug parcel. Place on a tray. Brush the top with butter. Work quickly if you can, as filo dries out when left exposed to the air for too long.  Bake the parcels for 15-20 minutes or until golden.  Serve drizzled in warmed honey. Eat warm. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20216 minutes, 29 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Six Minutes to Midnight and Stowaway

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Eddie Izzard's war thriller Six Minutes to Midnight and Netflix movie Stowaway.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20217 minutes, 34 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Lip reading royals is a gross invasion

Kevin Milne's been watching coverage of Prince Philip's funeral, and he's unimpressed at the attempts to lip read Princes Harry and William's reunion. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20214 minutes, 57 seconds
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Jack Tame: Super Rugby's the winner on the day

It was the 81st minute. A dewy-looking night in the ‘Tron and the Chiefs were behind by one point. They had posession at about halfway. The Hurricanes defended desperately. Penalty Chiefs. One last play. One last kick. 45 metres. A game of Super Rugby to be decided by Damien McKenzie’s boot. If you were watching last night or listening to Nige... you’ll know what happened next. McKenzie did his trade mark little set up. He leaned forward, gave that slow turned-up little grin. He stepped up, and he slotted it. You didn’t need to wait for touch judges to lift their flags... the crowd told you everything you needed to know. Damien McKenzie slotted it. The Chiefs, at home, were victorious.It’s hard to keep up, but by my count it was at least the fourth or fifth time in the last few weeks where a Super Rugby game was decided in the last seconds of the game. A fortnight ago we had two golden-point deciders in one weekend, including another Damien McKenzie clutch play. Last weekend, the Crusaders went down to the Chiefs in the narrowest fashion – it was anyone’s game until the final whistle. Maybe with one or two exceptions, you feel at this stage of the competition that almost any of the five teams could quite reasonably be expected to beat any of the other five teams.And I just want to pause and acknowledge how refreshing that is. I often start my show on Saturday mornings by having a big whinge or a bleat about something, and we in the media spend heaps of time beating up on aspects of professional sport. So here I am. Mr Positivity. I think Super Rugby Aotearoa is once again proving itself to be a really refreshing, engaging, and exciting competition. The contests are tight. It’s stylish, attractive rugby... and best of all... there are only two games every weekend!It makes an interesting little study in contrast to consider  Super Rugby Aotearoa competition and this week’s disastrous proposed Super League for European Football. Sometimes the best product, at least from a fan’s perspective, is not the format or competition that is going to make the most money.Who knows what we’ll go back to at the end of the pandemic. It’s great to think we might have a proper Pacific team, but there will be all sorts of financial incentives I’m sure to have teams jetting off everywhere. Beats me what the future of the game is in Australia.But as the Rugby Players Union and New Zealand Rugby continue to duke it out over the proposed Silver Lake private equity deal, I just think there are some basic lessons from Super Rugby Aotearoa that are worth keeping in mind in the future. For starters, less is more! I don’t want to be bombarded by games and teams with players I’ve never heard of. The Super Rugby Aotearoa format actually makes for a better competition than any other Super Rugby competition in years. You feel connected to the teams. It mightn’t be worth nearly as much money. But as a fan, come kickoff, I for one feel much more inclined to turn on the TV.Last night after Damien McKenzie slotted the winner, he was swamped by his teammates, and his captain Brad Webber was interviewed on the sideline about the last second win. “We’ve gotta stop doing that.” He said, smiling. “It’s not good for my heart!” he said. Maybe not. But it’s gotta be good for the game.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/23/20214 minutes, 5 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: New from The Offspring

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listen to The Offspring’s first album in over a decade: Let the Bad times Roll.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/17/20216 minutes, 19 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Getting rid of E-waste

Getting rid of E-waste Oh, we love our phone and laptops, our toasters, blenders, vacuums, hairdryers, smoke detectors and everything that plugs in. We couldn’t live life without them! They unfortunately aren’t necessarily made to last a long time, and at the end of their lives they are all e-waste - you can’t put any of these in your recycling and shouldn’t put them in your normal rubbish. This is obvious with the larger items like TVs and washing machines , but smaller items need careful disposal as well.  We are looking at around 80,000 tonnes of e-waste generated each year and only about two percent is recycled. This is one of the highest per capita amounts in the world. Also New Zealand is one of the only countries in the OEDC without a national e-waste scheme.  The Ministry for the Environment has an initiative to create a product stewardship process for electronic waste, with results expected later this year. The insides of electronics are full of toxic materials. A Cathode Ray tube TV or monitor may contain up to 3kg of lead.  With the rise of technology, we are seeing more fires from Lithium-Ion batteries. When these get compacted in the rubbish or recycling truck, the casing breaks, and the battery mixes with whatever else is in the truck. The same thing can happen with car parts or gas canisters from barbeques. This puts everyone including the fire service in danger.  But electronics are also full of treasure, the rare metals that products and the new generation batteries need. Specialty recyclers are growing their capacity to take electronic waste in New Zealand. There are lots of places that are eager to get your computer or TV screen, refurbish it, and pass it on to a small business, school, or charity in need. They help keep these materials out of landfill, which also lessens the demand for new rare earth materials. Items that can no longer be re-used are dismantled by recycling technicians. The components are separated and graded as either general scrap metals or e-scrap. All e-scrap is exported under Environmental Protection Agency permits to facilities in Asia and Europe to be return into base elements to be used again.  The other way to look at this issue is through product guardianship. In a circular economy there is no waste. So products are designed so that the manufacturers will welcome them back for the valuable components inside. This philosophy would completely change how we design our products. Some European countries are looking at only ever renting out large appliances, then the companies know they will take them back and make sure they are useful when they return.  Auckland-based company Computer Recycling is hosting 30+ e-waste drop-off days around the city in 2021, providing opportunities for locals to divert their e-waste from ending up in local landfills including one today (Saturday 17 April). Computer Recyclingis working with neighbourhood group to facilitate over 30 of these collection days – dubbed “CR E-days”. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/17/20218 minutes, 16 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Crocodile Hunter

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Crocodile Hunter by Gerald Seymour and Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/17/20214 minutes, 20 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Playing tourist in Auckland

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been playing tourist in Auckland. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/17/20218 minutes, 36 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Autumn's the time to look at your lawn

Lawns and their problems  Autumn time is a great time to work on “lawns”. This is the best time to “sow” a new lawn, after totally spraying the old grasses and weeds, leaving nothing but a bare soil. Of course you can also get yourself a series of rolled-up turf mats (ready-lawn) or, as I noticed some school principals prefer, create an “all weather” playing field from artificial grass. Spare me!  My definition of a lawn is a place where you can walk from one end of the garden to the other – a pathway, low growing and easy to maintain. It can have flowers and lots of perennials; the kids can play there and birds graze the grubs from under the roots. It certainly should not be a monoculture of grass plants – trimmed to an inch of their life and meticulously cut along the edges...  You’ve got it: I really am not impressed with lawns: few ecosystem services and very low biodiversity. I prefer a prairie, where different plants come to flowering fruition – a meadow of wild flowers with lots of perennials, carrying pollen and nectar and fibre for nests plus seeds for any animal that desires those seeds. There will be toadstools and puffballs, mycorrhizal fungi and mosses.  Now, look at that list! Most people ask me how to destroy those elements in their lawn! Monocultures are usually not very resilient – you’d struggle to keep such a monoculture going in Nature! Nature prefers a Biodiverse make up – it thrives on diversity. Perennials are plants that survive year after year – that makes sense in terms of “investment”; grasses are perennials too.  Flowers feed a lot of organisms and they also create organic matter, made from carbon that came out of the air, that will enrich the soil. The thatch is therefore not a problem but a God-send.   Mosses grow as the pH lowers. They are miniature forests in which an enormous range of caterpillars, millipedes, beetles and flies as well as mites and predators, parasites and other beneficial critters do their brilliant jobs. Moss in lawns is not really a “problem”.   The toadstools, puffballs and fungi indicate there’s a job to do to convert dead organic matter into deposits of slow-release fertilisers in the soil. Those circles of mushrooms in your lawn tell you there are still a lot of dead old roots down below that need to be composted in situ!  Many lawn-owners ring me to ask how to exterminate those fungi! The amount of selective weed-killers sprayed on lawns appears to be quite alarming too. The good news is: Now is also the best time to sow a complete wildflower meadow at your place. When it is a few months old, you can literally mow a pathway through your prairie, allowing you to walk from one end to the other. And design it exactly like nature would, with the flowing tracks of animals (not in a straight line).   Try it – You’ll like it!  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/17/20213 minutes, 24 seconds
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Wine review with Bob Campbell: A punchy Sauvignon Blanc

Bob Campbell has a Sav recommendation for the weekend, the Stoneleigh 2020 Latitude Sauvignon Blanc $19.99.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20213 minutes, 1 second
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Paul Stenhouse: An internet browser for kids

Microsoft's Edge browser is rolling out a kids edition If you share your laptop or desktop with a younger family member, now you can force the browser into a kids mode so they can only visit approved sites. The Windows version locks the browser so it's the only thing the kid can access. It comes with an 'allowed' list of 70 popular kids sites which you can modify. If they try to visit a site not on the list, the adult can approve that site with their password. It also forces kids into a safer version of Bing search.  Netflix has made kids updates too  It's trying to make the experience more visual - coz not all kids can read! The interface adds additional images of characters around the show art to help kids better identify what they want to watch.  Spotify introduces the 'Car Thing'  It's called a thing because it's a new kind of device.. it's a car screen or a car interface designed for cars that don't have the latest and greatest in connectivity options. Basically you connect it to your phone through Bluetooth - that's how it connects to the internet - then connect your phone to your car using Bluetooth or an auxiliary cable. The idea is your can put your phone away and just use this Spotify Car Thing to control your music. It's got a giant knob on the right hand side, and four physical buttons on the top to preset your favorite playlists, albums or podcast. It's got a dedicated mute button too. It responds to your voice too, using "Hey Spotify".   What is the purpose? I guess it means you can keep your eyes on the road with voice functions dedicated to Spotify. It's not super elegant though as you need to plug the Car Thing into 12V of power. Otherwise, mounting your phone is kind of the same thing.. which might be why it's launching as a free device, because it really just makes Spotify more prominent in your car. It's US only at the moment. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20215 minutes, 1 second
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Screentime with Tara Ward: The Nevers, Earth Moods and Younger

The Nevers: HBO’s new sci-fi fantasy series is an epic tale following a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world (Neon).  Earth Moods: a new documentary/travel/nature series from National Geographic that promises a visual and soundscape experience. Five unique episodes capture a vast array of colorful and calming corners of the world, from blue glaciers and arid deserts to lush rainforests and pulsating metropolises, paired with an inspiring soundtrack. Slow TV fans will love this. (Disney+).  Younger: The final season of the comedy-drama about Liza, a 40-year old suddenly single mother who tries to get back into the working world only to find it’s nearly impossible to start again at her age, and pretends to be in her 20s to kickstart a new career (Neon). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20215 minutes, 18 seconds
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Eddie Izzard talks Nazis, Judi Dench and using the right pronoun

Covid has done nothing to slow comic Eddie Izzard down.   She - yes she does sometimes go by she - has just finished 31 remote marathons and performing 31 remote stand up gigs in 31 days for charity.   She's also co-written and produced a new war thriller, Six Minutes to Midnight, based on the true story of German schoolgirls living in Eddie’s hometown on the south-coast of England.   Eddie has been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/202114 minutes, 1 second
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Nici Wickes: Quince and spice cake

Quince and space cakeQuince fruit are a wonderful autumn gift. Making quince paste or jelly is one use for them but poaching them to use in this cake is another and it’s simply gorgeous!   2-3  medium-sized quince ½ cup caster sugar 3 cups water  Cake batter 6 big tbsps golden syrup or maple syrup 125g butter ½ cup brown sugar 1 ½ cups + 1 tbsp self-raising flour 1 tsp cinnamon  ½ each ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground allspice 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 medium eggs 240ml poaching syrup from the quinces    1. Poach the quince: peel and halve fruit and put in saucepan with the sugar. Cover with water and bring to a boil briefly before reducing heat to a simmer and cooking for 40 minutes, or until flesh is softened. Remove the pan from the heat and let the quinces cool a little in their syrup then take them out. When cool enough to handle use a spoon to scoop out the core and cut each half into 3 pieces. Reserve cooking liquid. 2. Heat oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 22cm round cake tin. Arrange quince in the base of the cake tin. 3. In a saucepan melt together golden syrup, butter and brown sugar. When the mixture starts to bubble, remove from the heat.  4. Sieve flour, spices and bicarb into a big bowl. Make a well in dry ingredients and break in the eggs. Whisk lightly with a fork then pour in a scant one cup of the quince cooking syrup and beat gently to mix. Pour in butter and golden syrup mixture and stir to combine. It will be thinner than a regular cake batter.  5. Pour into prepared tin, over quinces and bake for 40-45 minutes until springy to the touch then remove from the oven and leave to cool before turning out and removing the paper. 6. Serve in thick slices with crème fraiche, whipped cream or plain yoghurt. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: The US vs Billie Holiday and Thunder Force

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching biographical film The United States v Billie Holiday, and Thunder Force. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20216 minutes, 8 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Why I put my hand in the dog poo bin

Kevin Milne has been putting his hand into the dog poo bin in at the dog park.He's been on the phone to Jack Tame, to explain why. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20215 minutes, 33 seconds
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Jack Tame: Border issues are utterly unacceptable

Kiwis should be angry about the lack of checks on border testingThis weekend marks a milestone of sorts. Australia, we’re coming at'cha! I’m excited to visit my family over there. My brother and I are really close and it’s been almost 18 months since I saw my grandma. She’s 94 as of last weekend. She’s vaccinated. From the way she’s been talking, she’s in a fearsome vein of gin-rummy form that I’m hoping to end before long. I know for others, this bubble is even an more critical and urgent development. But in a way, we’re lucky this thing is even happening. Not because logistically it’s too difficult – the Australian government has had a bubble up and running for months, now. But because once again, our border defences have been exposed as significantly more vulnerable than we’ve been led to believe. It’s outrageous that at this stage of the response, a border worker could contract the virus and come to work having apparently not been tested for Covid-19 for more than five months. It’s flabbergasting. It’s utterly unacceptable. To be honest, I’m surprised there isn’t more anger. Just imagine how different our Saturday morning might have been if the worker had passed on the virus to just a few more people and we had a wider outbreak. Forget the trans-Tasman bubble, it’s quite possible that we could have all been in lockdown this morning. If this were another country, I could understand why we didn’t have the checks and balances in place to give us certainty that every border worker was being regularly tested for the virus. Unlike other countries where Covid remains in the community, we don’t have to focus as keenly on the daily medical response. We’re not weighed down by debates over schools opening, or the logistics of getting ventilators and PPE to regions where they’re needed most.It’s precisely because we’ve done so well... it’s because we’ve stamped out Covid-19 in the community, that this negligence is so unacceptable.If you make sure the border is as close to perfect as possible, almost of that other Covid-19 stuff management stuff doesn’t matter. Our border protections should be our absolute focus and priority.From what we understand, the Ministry of Health has been relying on an honesty system to record border testing progress. An honesty system, where one little error can cost lives, jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars.In a way, we’re fortunate to have even learnt about the testing error. I don’t expect you to have tuned into the select committee this week where Ashley Bloomfield and top MBIE officials were asked about their response. Labour MPs spent the vast majority of the session deliberately soaking up time and asking rambling softball questions in order to protect their officials. Why? This isn’t a political issue, it’s a public health issue. It’s a public health emergency. If National’s Chris Bishop hadn’t been able to squeeze in the question about the worker’s last testing, who knows if it would ever have come to light. And don’t forget - This is the second time this border issue has come about. The second time it’s been revealed, that despite all the promises, border workers haven’t been tested regularly.  In August last year, we were assured workers everyone was getting swabbed, when almost two thirds had never even had a single test. I can’t believe that after that error, the Ministry of Health didn’t establish apply the highest level of scrutiny, possible. I can’t believe they are not micro-managing the shit out of our border.Maybe third time’s a charm. Chris Hipkins has just made the Border Worker Vaccine Register compulsory for frontline workers. Why it wasn’t mandatory beforehand, I don’t understand.Still.. it’ll be good to see those first flights take between here and Australia. Aussie... The Land Down Under. I’d call it The lucky country, but I’m wondering now if that’s us.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/16/20215 minutes, 1 second
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Demi Lovato's return

Our music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album by Demi Lovato. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/10/20215 minutes, 54 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Last Reunion and A Million Things

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn and A Million Things by Emily Spurr.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/10/20214 minutes, 12 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Bites & Brews in New Plymouth

Our traveller Mike Yardley's pretty excited about the prospect of some international travel, with this week's announcement of a travel bubble with Australia. But in the meantime, he's been checking out some bites and brews in New Plymouth. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/10/20215 minutes
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Keeping guava moths at bay

Guava Moth  It’s an Aussie moth which arrived in NZ 1997 – probably through wind-dispersal. In Australia its main host is a lillipilly – a member of the Myrtle Family, like Manuka, Pohutukawa/Rata as well as guava and feijoa. It’s not a big deal in Australia (kept in check by predators and parasites) but in NZ feijoa as well as citrus, nashi, macadamia, guavas (and plum, peach, loquats) are the main hosts – they are destructive! They are found Northland down to north Waikato/Coromandel at the moment, and they’re heading South.  Lifecycle takes about 8 weeks “from egg to egg”. These are laid on developing feijoa fruit; young larvae (tiny caterpillars) tunnel into the fruit (pinhole entrance) and eat the flesh. When full-grown the caterpillars come out and bungy-jump down to the soil to pupate. New moths emerge from these pupae, later in the season. They find each other through pheromone (males are very good at that!) they mate, and new eggs are laid.   Main options for control (None of them are very efficient – but it may help):  Cover your feijoas with FINE NETTING so that the female moth can’t lay eggs on the skin of the developing fruit. HYGIENE:  Remove all the fallen fruit ASAP; infected fruit ripen pre-maturely and drop early (danger!!) Don’t compost them unless you’ve frozen the fallen fruit for at least 24 hrs. Otherwise, plastic bag them and into the rubbish or get chickens or pigs to eat them ASAP.  Get a PHEROMONE TRAP (which catches the lusty males) BUT… DON’T RELY On them catching “all” the males – they won’t and you will not find any fewer infected feijoas. The pheromone trap is a TIME INDICATION of when the moths are flying (and hence mating) early in the season. You now know when to put a first spray on the tiny, developing fruit. My guess is to do that about 7-10 days after peak-flight!  SPRAYS: Cover the small fruits with either Success (Yates spray that kills mostly caterpillars, especially the small ones) or Neem Oil; I reckon you may need to do that every 10 to 14 days to be partially successful – further research might tell us how successful that would be.  Finally: there are (solar powered) light traps on the market that employ UV light to attract and catch moths when on the wing. (they drown in water or oil container underneath the trap) Not happy with that as the by-catch of native moths can be horrendous, especially in summer/autumn. Our native moths (and flies and beetles etc etc) are part of our garden eco-system and are valuable protein for many bird species. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/10/20214 minutes, 48 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Dealing with high blood pressure

Resident Doctor Bryan Betty has been giving Jack Tame some tips on how to deal with High Blood Pressure. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/10/20217 minutes, 1 second
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Gavin Grey: The UK prepares to farewell Prince Philip

UK correspondent Gavin Grey has been speaking to Jack Tame about the death of Prince Philip, and how the royals are preparing to farewell him. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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A former Kiwi royal staffer remembers Prince Philip

Kiwi born Jason worked closely with Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace, and was even invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham. He didn't want to use his last name, but has been speaking to Jack Tame about his experiences. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20214 minutes, 9 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Siri's gender is about to change

Siri's gender is about to change Ever since Siri was introduced, the default voice for US users has been female. That's about to change in an effort to promote diversity and inclusion. There are two new voices which sound far smoother and natural than the current voice. The big change here though isn't the actual voice, it's the selection of it. In the next version of iOS, when you're setting up a new iPhone you'll be asked to select which voice you want, with no default selected. That's important because a vast majority of people just leave the default settings. This is going to require an active choice. Interestingly, Siri's default voice in the UK has been male - maybe because of the butler culture?   Facebook launched its Clubhouse competitor: Hotline Clubhouse is an audio only live streaming service where people can host what are effectively call-in radio shows. People raise their hand, then the host turns on their mic. I don't understand the hype, but I'm clearly alone in that because it's been valued at $1 billion and it's just hitting one year old. Every company is now trying to replicate it and, I must admit I am surprised to say this, but from what I've read Facebook's clone - called Hotline - might actually be better than the original. The big difference - the host can stream their camera or show a presentation, making it feel more formal or conference/panel-like. It also allows people to submit written questions, which the audience can then up-vote to get the attention of the host. The host can then choose to read the question, or invite the person up to the 'stage' to get more involved. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20216 minutes, 38 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: This is a Robbery, The Serpent and Burden of Truth

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some picks for your weekend. This is a Robbery: The World’s Greatest Art Heist: a true crime documentary series about the events of March 18, 1990, when 13 works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Guards admitted two men posing as police officers responding to a disturbance call, and the thieves tied the guards up and looted the museum (Netflix)  The Serpent: The twisting real-life story of Charles Sobhraj, a murderer, thief and seductive master of disguise, who was a hidden darkness in the mid-70's on Asia's hippie trail (Netflix).   Burden of Truth: a Canadian drama about city lawyer Joanna Hanley, who returns to her hometown to take the case of a group of girls suffering from a mysterious illness (TVNZ OnDemand). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20214 minutes, 29 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: The Father and The College Admission Scandal

The Father A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.  The College Admission Scandal   Reenactments drive this documentary investigating the mastermind behind a scam to sneak the kids of rich and famous families into top US universities. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20217 minutes, 58 seconds
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Nici Wickes: New season Butternut and Chorizo

NEW SEASON BUTTERNUT & CHORIZO Though butternuts and other pumpkin is available year-round and we know it’s a good keeper, it’s fabulous to have it fresh out of the garden too.  Serves 2-4  1 butternut pumpkin 2 tbsps olive oil  1 tsp smoked paprika  2-3 chorizo sausages  2 spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths  Salt & pepper to season  Handful fresh coriander  Dressing:  ½ cup yoghurt or sour cream  1 tbsp pomegranate molasses  Squeeze of lemon juice Heat oven to 200 C. Line a shallow roasting dish with baking paper. Halve butternut, scoop seeds and cut each half into 3-4 slices. Lay in dish and drizzle over oil and paprika, toss to coat and arrange in a single layer. Pinch out sausage meat from casings into walnut-sized balls and add these to dish. Scatter over spring onions and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until butternut is soft and golden.  Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Serve with a handful of fresh coriander and drizzle in dressing.    Nici’s notes:  Butternut has quite thin skin and once roasted it’s fine to eat. Substitute the chorizo for chunks of bacon, adding it when pumpkin begins to soften. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20213 minutes, 53 seconds
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Robert Hardman: Royal expert on the extraordinary life of Prince Philip

The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip has died peacefully, just two months shy of his 100th birthday.  He lived a unique life, attending tens of thousands of events in his official capacity and in support of the Queen.  Covid-19 restrictions mean the Prince will be farewelled with a small funeral service.  Royal expert Robert Hartman is the author of Queen of the World and Daily Mail contributor and has been speaking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20218 minutes, 46 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Remembering Prince Philip

Kevin Milne has been talking to Jack Tame about his memories of Prince Philip, after the Duke of Edinburgh's death aged 99. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/9/20216 minutes, 15 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Justin Bieber’s new album Justice

Justin Bieber’s new album Justice it out, it hit number one in the US this week, making him the youngest solo artist to hit eight number one albums. One of the singles is Peaches, and he’s celebrated by getting a peach tattooed on his neck, to add to his already extensive collection. Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20215 minutes, 45 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Barbizon and Savage Son

The Barbizon, Paulina Bren Liberated from home and hearth by World War I, politically enfranchised and ready to work, women arrived to take their place in the dazzling new skyscrapers of Manhattan. But they did not want to stay in uncomfortable boarding houses. They wanted what men already had—exclusive residential hotels with daily maid service, cultural programs, workout rooms, and private dining.Built in 1927 at the height of the Roaring Twenties, the Barbizon Hotel was intended as a safe haven for the “Modern Woman” seeking a career in the arts. It became the place to stay for any ambitious young woman hoping for fame and fortune. Sylvia Plath fictionalized her time there in The Bell Jar, and, over the years, its almost 700 tiny rooms with matching floral curtains and bedspreads housed Titanic survivor Molly Brown; actresses Grace Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Ali MacGraw, Jaclyn Smith, Phylicia Rashad, and Cybill Shepherd; writers Joan Didion, Diane Johnson, Gael Greene, and Meg Wolitzer; and many more. Mademoiselle magazine boarded its summer interns there, as did Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School its students and the Ford Modeling Agency its young models. Before the hotel’s residents were household names, they were young women arriving at the Barbizon with a suitcase and a dream.Not everyone who passed through the Barbizon’s doors was destined for success—for some it was a story of dashed hopes—but until 1981, when men were finally let in, the Barbizon offered its residents a room of their own and a life without family obligations or expectations. It gave women a chance to remake themselves however they pleased; it was the hotel that set them free. No place had existed like it before or has since.Beautifully written and impeccably researched, The Barbizon weaves together a tale that has, until now, never been told. It is both a vivid portrait of the lives of these young women who came to New York looking for something more, and an epic history of women’s ambition.Savage Son, Jack CarrDeep in the wilds of Siberia, a woman is on the run, pursued by a man harboring secrets – a man intent on killing her.Half a world away, James Reece is recovering from brain surgery in the Montana wilderness, slowly putting his life back together with the help of investigative journalist Katie Buranek and his longtime friend and SEAL teammate Raife Hastings.Unbeknown to them, the Russian mafia has set their sights on Reece in a deadly game of cat and mouse.In his most visceral and heart-pounding thriller yet, Jack Carr explores the darkest instincts of humanity through the eyes of a man who has seen both the best and the worst of it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20214 minutes, 6 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Relationship advice

The Strategies of Masters of Relationships: Who this group is, and some of the things they do differently.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/202110 minutes, 30 seconds
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Mike Yardley: The perfect day on Waiheke Island

Our resident traveller Mike Yardley joined Jack Tame to talk about his recent trip to Waiheke Island.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20218 minutes, 13 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: What to know about the Daddy Longlegs

Use of “common names” in the biological world is not very helpful. Scientists describe all species according to nomenclature rules whereby each organism gets a Genus name and a Species name. Blattella germanica is the German cockroach; “Blatella” is the genus name (with a capital letter) “germanica” is the species name (starting with a lower case letter).There are other species that belong to the Genus Blattella (Blattella orientalis is a good example) and they are closely related to each other. These scientific names are accepted and adopted by all scientist in any language – there is no doubt what we are talking about – this name is connected to one species and one species only.But I’d like to put the use of the vernacular name (common name) in a “confusion basket”: New Zealanders often ask me about Daddy Longlegs… There are three different groups of invertebrates that are commonly called “Daddy Longlegs”The Pholcids: Pholcus phalangioides aka the cellar spiders; cosmopolitan and especially in sub-tropical regions of Europe, Asia and Africa – no doubt distributed with human movement. They make messy webs in houses (human-fabricated “cellars” or nice, warm caves), especially in the corners near the ceiling. They capture a wide range of flying and crawling insects and even spiders. Contrary to public myth, they will trap and kill white-tailed spiders with ease.Another Arachnid, distantly related to the cellar spiders, is the Harvestman, Phalangium opilio. This is the time of the year when you see them a lot in the garden, especially the vegetable garden. Harvestmen are probably so named because you see them around “harvest time”. They’re predators of a wider range of insects and other invertebrate organisms. They love caterpillars, but also the eggs of white butterflies on your newly-sown cabbages. A really characteristic feature is that harvestmen have their head, thorax and abdomen fused into one body part and the coolest thing to see is that their second pair of legs is much longer that all the other legs. They use these to find their way around your garden, not unlike a blind person with a stick.And then there are the Crane flies (Tipulidae). These are those large flies that often sit on a wall, sunning themselves. Some people call them “giant mosquitoes”, but they have little in common with those biting, blood-sucking insects, apart from the fact they belong to the fly Order “Diptera”. “Di” (meaning two) and ptera (wings) indicates they just have two functional wings (not four, like most winged insects). Their hind wings have been modified to small stalks with a little knob at the end. When (crane) flies fly these so-called “Halteres” gyrate to give the fly stability and control. When you see a crane fly at rest, these halteres are easily spotted.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20215 minutes, 6 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Remember the Casio G-Shock? It's back!

Remember the Casio G-Shock? It's back!This time though - it's a smart watch! Of course it's shock resistant and waterproof down to 200 meters. It's far more rugged than an Apple Watch, designed for outdoor activities from surfing to snowboarding. It's got a GPS, altitude sensor, heart rate monitor and a one and a half day battery. It'll run Android's Wear OS. It's not cheap though at $699 USD.We're starting to get a first look of how civilians will see spaceIf you're rich enough, or lucky enough, to be chosen to fly on Space X's Crew Dragon, you'll get an amazing view. The civilian passenger version of the space capsule will have a 360 degree view of space through a glass dome. It's taking the place of the dock which is used to connect to the Internal Space Station - because they won't be docking anywhere. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic "SpaceShip 3" looks more like a plane and doesn't have the unobstructed views that the Space X capsule does.You can now Slack someone at a different companySlack has expanded its features to allow people to send messages outside their group/organization - called "Slack Connect". So instead of sending an email to someone, you could simply send them a DM on Slack. The future is to allow people to contact others across a private business network - so if you have vendors you work with, or clients, then they could be added to your network for seamless communication. There is one hiccup - you can send someone an unsolicited message as you 'invite them to chat' which has been flagged as a harassment concern, but this same issue exists in email. Remember though - your organization can see your messages if they want to, so before you add your friends think twice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20213 minutes, 30 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: New rules on property investment

New rules on property investmentIt feels like property investors have been up in arms, talking worst case scenarios.Hannah McQueen joins Jack Tame to talk about the ways to help manage the cash impact on your personal finances of owning an investment property that is now going to cost you more, but you want to be able to hold on to it.Visit enable.me for more information.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20215 minutes, 36 seconds
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Lisa Genova: Neuroscientist releases her latest book on how the memory works

We all know what it’s like to walk into a room and wonder what on earth you’re doing there, a sudden lapse in memory. But as you get older, you'd be forgiven for starting to worry that perhaps it’s something more sinister. It’s literally brain science, so who better to look into it than The New York Times Bestselling Author and Neuroscientist Lisa Genova, who's just written a new book, Remember. She’s written several books about neurological diseases and disorders .. possibly the most well-known is Still Alice, a fictional story about dementia that was made into a movie. Lisa joins Jack Tame on the show this morning.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/202114 minutes, 9 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: The Irregulars, Line of Duty and Defending the Guilty

The Irregulars:  Set in Victorian London, the series follows a gang of troubled street teens who are manipulated into solving crimes for the sinister Doctor Watson and his mysterious business partner, the elusive Sherlock Holmes (Netflix)Line of Duty: with a brand new season starting on TVNZ 1 on Sunday nights, it’s a great chance to catch one of Britiain’s best police dramas (Season 6 on TVNZ1 from Sunday,  seasons 1-5 on Netflix). Defending the Guilty: a British comedy about an idealistic, young barrister who is shown the ropes by a worldly mentor (TVNZ OnDemand).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20215 minutes, 15 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Easter lamb shoulder with rosemary, lemons & capers

A lamb shoulder is such a succulent cut to use and with the sharpness of lemons and capers this is the perfect celebration dinner at Easter.Serves 6-81.5kg lamb shoulder½ cup white wine½ cup stock or waterSmall bunch rosemary, chopped fine6 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste½ tsp salt and grind of pepper1-2 lemons, skin on, thinly sliced2 tbsps capersPreheat oven to 170 C. Lay shoulder in a roasting dish. Add wine and stock (or water). Rub rosemary, crushed garlic, salt and pepper all over the shoulder then scatter over lemons slices. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1-1.5 hours.Remove foil, add capers and cook for a further 20-30 minutes, uncovered, until lamb and lemons are nicely browned and meat is falling from the bone. Remove shoulder and rest.To make a gravy, tilt the dish and skim fat, leaving only the cooking juices. Thicken these slightly with cornflour or flour and add more wine and stock/water to simmer for at least 5 minutes.Serve sliced lamb scattered with capers and drizzled with gravy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20214 minutes, 19 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Nobody and The Courier

NobodyHutch Mansell fails to defend himself or his family when two thieves break into his suburban home one night. The aftermath of the incident soon strikes a match to his long-simmering rage. In a barrage of fists, gunfire and squealing tires, Hutch must now save his wife and son from a dangerous adversary -- and ensure that he will never be underestimated again.The CourierThe true story of a British businessman unwittingly recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Forming an unlikely partnership with a Soviet officer hoping to prevent a nuclear confrontation, the two men work together to provide the crucial intelligence used to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20215 minutes, 58 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The end of daylight saving

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to talk about the end of daylight saving this weekend.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20215 minutes, 50 seconds
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Jack Tame: What can home owners do for the housing crisis?

I was flying into Auckland on Thursday after a spending the first half of this week on Aotea Great Barrier Island.It was a wonderful trip - I’ll tell you more about that soon - and the flight back to the mainland came courtesy of a little Cessna Caravan and Great Barrier Air. If you haven’t been before, flying Great Barrier Air is wonderful. Like other regional airlines, it's pretty much just as chilled out as you might imagine. All the passengers squeeze inside a cabin space about as high and wide as in a car. If you’re in Row A you can pretty much reach out and touch the controls. There’s no fancy safety video. There’s no inflight snack. There’s not even a co-pilot! It’s fantastic. And the views across the Hauraki Gulf are astonishing.But it was coming back into Auckland, flying at a low speed and at a lower altitude than you would in a big commercial jet, that I found myself really focusing a couple of features of our biggest city.For starters, and this is probably pretty obvious, Auckland is incredibly spread out. Just ridiculously spread out. From the far-Eastern suburbs to the outer reaches of the North Shore is a vast suburban patchwork. If it were an unfamiliar city you might think it was home to five million people.Except the other thing you notice, and this might also seem prettttty obvious, is that the houses are all one-or-two-storied. And almost all have backyards.Don’t get me wrong; I love a backyard. I love gardening. I love playing backyard cricket. I think it’s really important for kids to play outside and feel dirt underneath their fingernails. But at a time when we are lamenting the ludicrous cost of housing in this country, and Auckland is top of the pops, I couldn’t separate our crisis from that very simple and obvious observation: Auckland’s houses are too spread out for the city’s population. I understand that as Kiwis, most of us have grown up with a version of the quarter-acre dream. That dream might have been sustainable when Auckland only had half a million people. Indeed, our other big cities are only just starting to experience the pressures of endless sprawl.But it seems to me that one of the most important solutions to the housing crisis is our responsibility. Not the government's responsibility. Not the Reserve Bank's. We are responsible for a collective attitude change when it comes to intensification. That doesn’t mean fifty-storey tower blocks in every neighbourhood. But it does mean smart density. It means many more town houses and terraced housing options in our cities. It means making Auckland’s neighbourhoods look a little more London and a little less Gisborne in the 1950s.Of course, when developers try and bring about these changes, they’re often challenged by existing property owners who moan that more intensive housing will affect the ‘character’ of their neighbourhoods. These are the same people who complain about 5% rates rises even as their house values increase by $150,000 a year. They are acting against the collective interests of everyone else in their wider community. Density is the pay-off for choosing to live in a big city. With the right sort of development and public transport infrastructure, there are all sorts of benefits that come with living in higher density environments. And if you don't like it, simple! Move to a town or a region where space is at less of a premium. I agree with the government on one thing… the housing crisis is going to take a require a massive set of solutions. Many of those policies lie at the feet our elected officials. But there are things the rest of us can do to help ease the crisis. For starters, stand up to the NIMBYs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/2/20215 minutes, 8 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Teeks' highly anticipated debut album

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to Teeks' long-awaited debut album ‘Something To Feel.’ LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/27/20217 minutes, 32 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Second-hand shopping like a pro

Second-hand shopping like a pro Clothing is a huge part of our unnecessary consumer habits. I would have been shocked as a young person if someone bought a new outfit to wear only once (unless it was the school ball). Now it is quite common!   The International Panel on Climate Change has estimated that fashion is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, as well as excessive use of water and synthetic chemicals to produce and finish textiles.  Second hand clothes are an eco-answer to having the variety you need in your wardrobe. Here are some tips on how to buy well: Dress Comfortably: Wear clothes and shoes that are easy to take off. This might sound like strange advice, but if you're in and out of changing rooms, it makes a big difference to be able to try items on with ease. You can also wear clothes that you can try things on over – like leggings and a tank top. it is a good idea to know your body measurements by heart or have them stored on your phone for quick reference – and bring a tape measure.  Know What You're Looking For: Because there are so many options at a thrift store, keeping an ongoing list of items you need helps to narrow down the search. (It's still a good idea, though, to keep an eye out for those unexpected gems.)   Know Your Personal Style: Try saving pictures of looks you like to a private collection on Instagram or Pinterest. Reference this when in doubt about what might look good.   Look for Quality: You need to develop a critical eye when shopping secondhand. Scan items for stains (particularly underarm), spots, holes, loose threads, missing buttons, broken zippers. Make sure the seams are strong and check that the material isn't worn thin in places. Sniff the item to make sure it smell fresh and clean. Ask yourself, "Would I walk out of the store wearing this?" Depending on your style, many thrifted items can actually look better than new. Think of soft graphic tees, cozy sweatshirts, and trendy ripped jeans that already look like you've put in the years of wear.   Choose Natural Fibers Whenever Possible: Natural fibers, such as cotton, hemp, wool, and linen, tend to age better and pill less than synthetic and blended materials. They do not release microplastic particles when washed, and they will biodegrade at the end of their life. They're generally easier to repair, too. (Learn more about the benefits of natural fibers here.)  Seek Out Children's Clothes: If you have children, secondhand is a great way to dress them. Kids grow and go through clothing so quickly that it becomes prohibitively expensive to buy new items for them. Look for clothes, outerwear, sporting gear, boots, and shoes at the thrift store, and continue the cycle by donating whatever they outgrow that's still in good condition.   Go Online: You will be surprised what’s out there  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/27/20217 minutes, 6 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Has Hamilton become a cool city?

Our resident traveller Mike Yardley has been on a city break in Hamilton ... and asking himself whether it's now a cool city.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/27/20217 minutes, 57 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: Other Peoples Houses and Win

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Other Peoples Houses by Kelli Hawkin and Win by Harlan Coben.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20214 minutes, 7 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Tips for growing spinach

Growing spinachAs a kid I never really liked spinach. We had kid’s shows on tellie that were based on this vegetable, and I reckon it was to promote the green sludge to the younger generation. Popeye the Sailorman was the marketing tool – he was strong and healthy.And to be quite honest, spinach is a good source of iron and calcium, plus vitamins, protein and minerals. Good for skin, hair, nails (keratin) and calcium of course for bone health. It also contains Oxalic Acid (the stuff that makes the leaves of Rhubarb “poisonous”) and this has the habit of disrupting the uptake of iron and calcium.  Cooking spinach breaks down the oxalic acid and voila! All good again. Some people believe the marketing myth of “Super Food”. Absolute rubbish! It’s just good food. I prefer it over “silverbeet”.  It’s easy to grow, really. Either from seeds or from seedlings in punnets.   You’ll need good, well-drained soil mixtures with plenty of compost. Seeds usually germinate within 2 weeks. Thin to about 7 cm spacing in a row; 20 cm between rows.  Cover it to stop birds getting their beaks into your young leaves – netting over the rows will work nicely. Slugs and snails are also looking for good skin and health! I often go and look in the evening with a torch to pick up any molluscs heading for my crop. Beer traps are useless, by the way. Keep an eye on caterpillars too. Some loopers and “cutworm”-like caterpillars love to have a go at small, fresh leaves. There are quite a few varieties of Spinach; look at Kings Seeds catalogue and Yates’s range.  I love the harvest of them. When they are young, pick the small leaves and use in salads.  Because you pick individual leaves, your plant simply keeps on growing; multiple harvests! Just a reminder that when you keep on taking off leaves, the plant needs nutrient to replace them. Liquid fertilisers tend to be the way to go: every time you water, there will be some N-P-K dribbling into the root zone. A good, compost-rich soil will also sustain the plants. Continuity can be achieved by planting a Spinach row every 4 weeks or so. An alternative to spinach (that chalky feeling on your teeth!!) is cultivating the perpetual spinach. It’s not truly a “spinach”, but a chard (Beta vulgaris). Advantage: you won’t need to sow it in succession; a few plants will do you for more than a year, simply by plucking the leaves you need. They’ll re-grow. Taste a bit milder yet you can use it just like spinach. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20214 minutes, 14 seconds
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Wine review with Bob Campbell: A charming Rosé

Bob Campbell has a Rosé to recommend for your weekend. He's been drinking Yealands 2020 Baby Doll Rosé, Marlborough $18.95.LISTEN TO HIS REVIEW ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20214 minutes, 12 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Zoom's expansion continues

Zoom's expanding their reach They've released technology to allow developers to effectively build Zoom into their apps to create more tailored experiences instead of needing to use Zoom's app for everything. It's effectively turning Zoom into a platform. So now if you own a fitness studio, you can build you own app, with its own interface, but using Zoom's very scalable and reliable tech in the background. I'm excited to see what people build because we've got used to doing things over video now.  Space X's rocket made a dramatic re-entry There were plenty of people on Twitter who though it could be a UFO.. but no, it was space junk. The disposable part of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket usually burns up in orbit, but this didn't so as it came back to earth it put on a spectacular show over Washington & Oregon. This is the bit of the rocket that guides the satellite payload into its proper spot after the booster rockets land back on earth. You can now Slack someone at a different company Slack has expanded its features to allow people to send messages outside their group/organization - called "Slack Connect". So instead of sending an email to someone, you could simply send them a DM on Slack. The future is to allow people to contact others across a private business network - so if you have vendors you work with, or clients, then they could be added to your network for seamless communication. There is one hiccup - you can send someone an unsolicited message as you 'invite them to chat' which has been flagged as a harassment concern, but this same issue exists in email. Remember though - your organization can see your messages if they want to, so before you add your friends think twice. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20213 minutes, 28 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Total Control, The Gloaming and Formula 1

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has been testing out some TV for your weekend. Total Control: Rachel Griffiths and Deborah Mailman star in this Australian political drama about fearless Indigenous senator Alex Irving, who finds herself at the center of media attention after a shocking event and, barely weeks into her political career in Canberra, must deal with betrayal inside the government (Acorn TV). The Gloaming: An Australian crime thriller. When an unidentified woman is found brutally murdered, Detective Molly McGee teams up with fellow cop, Alex O'Connell, with whom she shares a tragic past, to solve the crime (TVNZ OnDemand, from Sunday). Formula 1: Drive to Survive: a new season of the gripping documentary series about Formula 1 racing (Netflix).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20214 minutes, 12 seconds
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Lauren Roxburgh: Gwyneth Paltrow's "Body Whisperer" on moving to Wanaka

With our relatively COVID-free status, plenty of people overseas are dreaming longingly of a life in New Zealand. One high-profile American, LA born-and-bred wellness expert Lauren Roxburgh, has been able to make that a reality. That's thanks to her Kiwi husband, producer and director Gus.  She’s got a big profile in the US. Lauren is known as Gwyneth Paltrow's "Body Whisperer" and can regularly be found doing media appearances including Good Morning America and E! And if that’s sounding a bit too woo-woo for you, among her former clients is a little known basketball player called LeBron James.   Lauren, Gus and their two kids have just made the move to Wanaka and she's been speaking to Jack Tame. And if you want to try her free 7-day body reset, head to this website: www.laurenroxburgh.com/body-reset-guideLISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/202115 minutes, 37 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Feijoa & toasted coconut strudel

FEIJOA & TOASTED COCONUT STRUDEL  This strudel recipe uses feijoas as well as apples and adds a hint of the South Pacific with toasted coconut which makes it an even more magical dessert!   Serves 2-4  1 cup feijoa flesh (scooped out of the skins), chopped small  1 granny smith apple, grated or diced very small  1 tbsp honey  2 tbsp golden raisins ½ tsp ground ginger  ½ tsp vanilla extract  ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs 2 tbsp long thread coconut, toasted  Zest from ½ lemon 50g butter, melted  4 sheets filo pastry Ice cream to serve  Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a tray with baking paper. Combine the feijoa, apple, honey, golden raisins, ginger and vanilla into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Cool. In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs, coconut and lemon zest. Drizzle in half the melted butter and combine. To assemble the strudel: lay out the filo sheets, one on top of the other, brushing melted butter between each layer. Work quite quickly when you do this so that the sheets don’t dry out. Brush the top layer with butter too. Spoon the breadcrumb mix along the long edge of the pastry, about 10cm above the bottom edge and 3-4cm shy of either side. Pile the cooled fruit filling on top of this. Start to roll your strudel up, bringing the edge of pastry closest to you up over the filling and continue to roll, tucking in the sides/ends about halfway through. Carefully place the strudel on the lined baking tray, seam side down. Brush the top with melted butter. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden.  Dust with icing sugar and serve warm thick slices with vanilla ice cream.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20213 minutes, 45 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: The Mauritanian and The Grizzlies

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Jodi Foster's Golden Globe winning The Mauritanian and The Grizzlies. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20217 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Farewelling a design legend

Kevin Milne's been remembering Colin Simon, whose funeral was last week. Colin was the man who designed the iconic logo for the Chch Commonwealth Games - where the Union Jack was made kiwi.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20215 minutes, 2 seconds
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Jack Tame: Housing changes are a gamble

It was a slow moving disaster. And now, at it’s worst, it’s a massive intractable problem affecting millions of people. It’s the sort of situation that could have maybe been averted if people had taken action a whole lot sooner, but they didn’t. No, I’m not talking about the container ship in the Suez Canal – far and away my favourite story of the week! I’m talking about the housing crisis, and the government’s new efforts to calm down the ludicrous changes in the housing market.I know I go on about housing but apart from Covid-19 it’s surely the most immediate crisis we face. What do I think of the announcement? It’s a punt. It’s a gamble. A bet. Jacinda Ardern wouldn’t say this week what the changes to the brightline test or interest deductability will do to house prices or rents. In an interview I did with Grant Robertson that will air on Q+A tomorrow, the Finance Minister is similarly non-committal. The government introduced these changes but they don’t honestly know what the effect will be. They hope it cools the market, but they don’t know. Labour was elected three-and-a-half years ago on bold promises to sort the housing crisis. They don’t talk about transformation much any more, but our housing market has certainly transformed, just not in the way they wanted. Since taking over in 2017, the median price nationwide has increased 47%. Of course, the pandemic has played a big role in that. But keep in mind, house prices increased 26% under a Labour-led government’s watch before the pandemic. And that kind of increase wasn’t enough for Labour to push the policies we’ve seen this week. Indeed I think it’s pretty obvious these policies have been put together in a rush. Treasury hasn’t had time to do its sums. They don’t have much of the detail about exemptions and new builds. The brightline extension and deductability changes were not included in Labour’s electoral campaign less than six months ago. Again... this is a gamble. This is a punt.All that being said, from a political perspective, I think it’s a good punt. Labour is doing a much better job of reading the public mood on this, than National is in opposition. They sense that even the so-called Mum-and-Dad investors of the World with a few properties up their sleeves are probably feeling a little uncomfortable with the market’s recent growth.When it comes to broken promises, they’ve clearly misled voters on the brightline extension but from the government’s perspective, it won’t matter. Grant Robertson is taking the fall. If his ruling out the brightline extension last year was really just a case of speaking too definitively, he could have clarified his comments at the time and before people voted. But Robertson will take one for the team. If it was Jacinda Ardern who had emphatically ruled a brightline extension in the same way her Finance Minister did, there’s no way they would have introduced that change this week.From an economic perspective, is it a good punt? It depends who you listen to. Every economist has a different forecast. Maybe the changes will be successful in just getting everything to chill out for a bit. Some forecasts have a drop of up to ten percent.For me, it’s simple. This problem has been left too long. The time to act wasn’t this week. It was years ago. We needed political courage but instead, for years, successive leaders have only introduced policies they were sure were politically popular. Policy-making by opinion poll. The ambulance is officially at the bottom of the cliff. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/26/20214 minutes, 40 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Roaming the mighty Waikato

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been Roaming Waikato's riches.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20217 minutes, 46 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Jon Batiste's new album

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to TV personality Jon Batiste's new album We Are.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20216 minutes, 21 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: When I Ran Away, and The Rose Code

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading When I Ran Away by Ilona Bannister and The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20214 minutes, 15 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: How relationships can impact your child’s resilience

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool's looking at how your relationship can impact your child's resilience. LISTEN TO HIS TALK WITH JACK TAME ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20219 minutes, 55 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Keeping your cholesterol in check

CholesterolOur resident Doctor Bryan Betty has some tips on keeping your cholesterol in check. He's a GP, and Medical Director for the College of GPs.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20216 minutes, 12 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: The nasties of Autumn

The biggies of Autumn Equinox is tonight at 10.37 pm. Autumn officially here and two little rotters are the “biggies” in your garden!  1) Tomato (and potato) Psyllid These have been working quietly away in your tomato patch. Many generations have gone before them, but what you see now is the culmination of their damaging activities. Yellowing leaves, covered with fine, white crystals that actually taste quite sweet. Many tiny hopping, aphid-like sap-sucking bugs everywhere (actually they look more like tiny versions of cicadas). Your plants will be looking poorly and tomato yield will seriously decline I used to rarely get them, simply because I am fanatical about pulling up nightshade weeds. I reckon the psyllids overwinter on these weeds, so removing them meticulously helps a lot to keep your patch clean.Sprays with insecticides need to commence well before you see the first psyllids, it keeps their populations down too. I don’t grow potatoes, but if you do: only use the early varieties. Pre-Christmas! Now is really too late for control. Regular neem sprays will keep them down, aim for the newer leaves/growth on the tomato plants, especially in late spring and summer.  2) Two-spotted spider mites In a warm, dry summer, these acarids (related to arachnids) are present in massive numbers on their favourite host plants: beans, buxus, frangipani leaves – they’re everywhere!. They come in groups of lots of tiny mites, often in plenty of mite silk (gossamer). They hate wet, cold feet. A spray with cold water in the evening is not appreciated! Better still, add some fatty acids like Yates Mite Spray or Mavrik. You’ll need to do that quite a few times. Biocontrol: fast-moving red predators can control spider mites! Buy them at Bioforce (on-line). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20213 minutes, 38 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: New kids' version of Instagram

Instagram is exploring a kids version of the app Apparently, kids under 13 are asking their parents for Instagram accounts but giving them those are 1) against the terms of service and 2) letting them off into the discover tab with no oversight.   Instagram says they want to change that.. by launching a kids app with parental controls and ways to give parents "transparency" - so I assume that means a look into what their kids are liking and following. It's still early days but FB says they'll share more later.  Messenger for Kids was launched in 2017.  Microsoft Powerpoint can now coach you to be a better presenter The AI robots can now watch you deliver a presentation and give you pointers on how to make it better. Speaking too fast? It'll tell you! Too many umms? It'll tell you! Are your eyes looking all over the place? It'll tell you! Reading your slides? Yep.. it'll tell you!  It's been available on the web version of Powerpoint for a bit, but is now launching in the Windows and Mac apps.  YouTube's trying to make a TikTok clone Save me. YouTube Shorts has launched in the USA in beta. You won't need to download a new app, it's available on your mobile YouTube app home screen. It'll have the same personalized feed like TikTok for you to get lost in, but won't have the advanced creator features like "duet". One benefit is that the videos are available across all of YouTube so can easily be shared and embedded too. The reviews haven't been hot.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20218 minutes, 17 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Operation Varsity Blues and Billy Connolly

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Following the events of 'Avengers: Endgame,' Sam Wilson/Falcon and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities -- and their patience (Disney+).  Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal: Reenactments drive this documentary investigating the mastermind behind a scam to sneak the kids of rich and famous families into top US universities (Netflix)  Billy Connolly: It’s been a pleasure: a special episode celebrating Sir Billy Connolly’s 50 year career and his retirement, featuring interviews with guests like Sir Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg and Sir Paul McCartney (TVNZ1, Monday 8.30pm).  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20216 minutes, 1 second
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Jon Batiste: Jazz legend on Oscars, Grammys, and working with Colbert

You’ve probably heard of, or even seen, Disney’s movie Soul. It's about a jazz musician, stuck in a mediocre job, who finally gets his big break.  What you might not know, is the movie’s animated lead Joe is partially based on real-life jazz musician John Batiste.   He’s just won a Golden Globe, and is nominated for an Oscar for his work on the screenplay. But that’s not the only thing he’s got on his plate. He’s also the bandleader and musical director at the Late Show with Stephen Colbert with his band Stay Human, and has a new album out: We Are.   He's been speaking with Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20219 minutes, 14 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: French Exit and Zach Snyder's Justice League

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin's been watching French Exit and Zach Snyder's Justice League.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20218 minutes, 38 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Chicken Tagine

Ingredients6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on or offOlive oil2 medium red onions1 ½ tsp cinnamon1 heaped tsp ground coriander1 tsp cumin1 heaped teaspoon gingerSalt and pepper1 preserved lemon - flesh & pith removed - chopped(or use 2tbsps lemon zest & pith) 5 cups (approx.) stock, vegetable or chicken1 tbsp honey1 cup pitted prunesHandful of fresh coriander, chopped, to garnishMethodHeat the oil in a heavy-based casserole dish or saucepan (that has a lid preferably). Add the onions and spices and cook until fragrant, then add the chicken, toss to coat in the spices and cook until beginning to brown on one side.  Add the preserved lemon, stock and honey.Give everything a good stir then put the lid on (or cover tightly with foil) and simmer on a low heat for about 1 hour or until the meat falls away from the bones. I check it after 45 mins and add more water if it looks like it needs it, and the prunes at this stage.Replace the lid and continue to cook. (Alternatively this dish can be cooked in the oven (170° C) for 1.5 hours).Before serving, baste the chicken well with the juices and taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper to season. Garnish with a handful of chopped coriander and serve with bread to mop up the juices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20215 minutes, 8 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Wellington parking proposal 'nuts'

Kevin Milne reckons the Wellington Regional Council proposal for commuter parking fees is nuts. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20215 minutes, 12 seconds
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Jack Tame: Aussie visitors would have been icing on America's Cup cake

It was December 17th that we first saw the America’s Cup AC75s racing in anger. Three months to the day from the first race on the Hauraki Gulf, to the race in which Emirates Team New Zealand tied up the Auld Mug.I’ve been in the viaduct for almost every single race day over those three months. So, while the powers-that-be squabble over where to host the next competition, these are my Good and Bads from the 36th America’s Cup. Let’s start with the bads: -It really hurt not having foreign tourists in Auckland for the competition. It obviously affected retailers and hospitality. Over three months, I had a lot of lunch breaks at the fantastic Pantry Cafe at the gleaming new Park Hyatt hotel (I Highly recommend the portuguese custard tarts). It’s maybe the closest cafe to the Team NZ base. But until the last few days of the cup, it didn’t come close to being full. And more than the economic side of things, no foreign visitors hurt the atmosphere of the America’s Cup. Nothing against Kiwis but we generally aren’t the most excitable or passionate sport fans. And I couldn’t help but wonder, in that last week, if getting a Trans-Tasman bubble up in time for a few Aussies to come over and party would’ve added another dimension to the event. -I think the sporting contest itself was a bit ‘meh.’ I know these are new boats and they’re only going to improve, but whether it was the port entry or the wind conditions or the relatively narrow passing lanes, a lot of the results from the Christmas Cup and the Challenger Series felt pre-determined. -My last ‘bad’ is the number of competitors. Covid-19 played a role. So too did the cost of entry. Hopefully one of the benefits of staying with AC75s for the next few America’s Cups will be an increase in the number of teams that are able to compete.As for the goods... I’ve got a few:-Even on the days when the racing was average, the boats looked incredible. I’m still beguiled by the physics. How does a 75 foot boat pop up and fly on a foil at 5 times the speed of the wind?! It’s madness.-You have to be a real misery guts to not see that as a television event being broadcast to different places around the World, the Cup was spectacular. I know the vast majority of us aren’t massive sailing fans and couldn’t explain the difference between a 49er and a Laser. I know most of the World doesn’t care either. I know that contesting the America’s Cup attracts the elite of the elite. But seeing those pictures of foiling monohulls on the Hauraki Gulf, in the shadow of Rangitoto, North Head, and Bastion point, interspersed with shots of Kiwi fans eating icecreams in the glorious sunshine, was really special. For Brand NZ Inc... the TV product makes for an awesome advertisement and even if it’s only watched by a few keen fans overseas, I think it can only have done our reputation good.-Finally... is it so bad to have something to celebrate? A lot of people love to bag on the America’s Cup but one look at the TV1 ratings will tell you, actually, it probably brought a lot of Kiwis joy at a time when things have been a bit shit. Ok.. it’s just sport. And it’s an off-broadway sport. And very few people will care about it in a few days. But when most of the World is virus-ridden, and air travel is super-difficult... it was nice to see a few Kiwis fly.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/19/20214 minutes, 58 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Exploring Manawatu

After taking his fill of Palmerston North’s urban enticements, the big backyard of Manawatu was calling Mike Yardley.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/13/20217 minutes, 54 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Financial mistakes

There’s some new research out of the US about financial mistakes. It’s not about the mistakes themselves, but the fact they all tend to start in the same decade – your 30s.  Hannah McQueen from enable.me joins Jack Tame to share her advice on the issue.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20215 minutes, 23 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Nick Jonas releases his new album

Before Nick Jonas was one third of the Jonas brothers, he released his own album.   And now, his third solo album Spaceman is out in the world.  Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20214 minutes, 59 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Saving water

Saving water  Now we’ve looked at collecting your rainwater (more detail here) and using rainwater (more detail here) let’s look at how to use less water in the first place.  Bathroom * Get tough on those who spend hours in the showers, have a timer with loud alarm so everyone in the house can hear. * Put a bucket in the shower as you wait for warm water, then use in the garden. I've been doing this for years, because when you manage your own water, and don’t rely on the council, you realise how precious it is.  * The bath is a luxury. If you have one share it someone you trust to be not too dirty. I also go second.  * Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. Wet the brush, turn it off, then rinse it at the end. This may save your household up to 750 litres of water per month. * Flush your toilet on the short flush where you can. If you have an old-fashioned cistern, you can get a bottle of sand and water, and put it in. Cuts down the water used each time. Laundry * Choose machines with good water ratings, definitely a front loader, as its uses only a fraction the water  of a top loader. You get a better wash too. * Only run loads when they are full.  Garden * If you know me I always say: “mulch mulch and then some more mulch”. It keeps the water in the garden and the weeds out. Nature hates bare soil and will put something in it if you do not. You never see bare soil in healthy nature sites. * Water long and not often. A little water with the hose of an evening fells like you are doing good but all you are doing is training the feeding roots into the top of the soil. Then these will suffer when you go on holiday or forget for a while. Long watering, penetrating the soil, trains the roots deep and then you can do it only once a week.  And while you’re at it …   * Wash your car with a bucket of soapy water . Only use the hose to rinse off. Use ecostore dishwash then you can wash the car on the lawn and the detergent will feed the soil rather than poison  * Check your house for leaks. Be suspicious if your water bill goes up suddenly. Some councils will even subsidise a repairman to come and fix your leaks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20219 minutes, 27 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The disappearance of Stephanie Mailer and The Family Doctor

The disappearance of Stephanie Mailer, Joel Dicker  In the summer of 1994, the quiet seaside town of Orphea reels from the discovery of two brutal murders. Confounding their superiors, two young police officers, Jesse Rosenberg and Derek Scott crack the case and arrest the murderer, earning themselves handsome promotions and the lasting respect of their colleagues. But twenty years later, just as he is on the point of taking early retirement, Rosenberg is approached by Stephanie Mailer, a journalist who believes he made a mistake back in 1994 and that the real murderer is still out there, perhaps ready to strike again. Before she can give any more details however, Stephanie Mailer mysteriously disappears without trace, and Rosenberg and Scott are forced to confront the awful possibility that her suspicions might have been proved horribly true. What happened to Stephanie Mailer? What did she know? And what really happened in Orphea all those years ago? The Family Doctor, Debra Oswald Paula is a dedicated suburban GP, who is devastated by the murder of a friend and her children by their estranged husband and father. Stacey and the children had been staying with her after fleeing his control, and Paula is haunted by the thought that she couldn't protect them when they most needed it. How had she missed the warning signs? How had she failed to keep them safe?  Not long after, a patient with suspicious injuries brings her anxious young son into Paula's surgery. The woman admits that her husband hurts her, but she's terrified to leave for fear of escalating the violence, and defeated by the consistent failures of the law to help her.  Can Paula go against everything she believes to make sure one woman is saved, one child spared? She isn't motivated by revenge. She's desperately trying to prevent a tragedy . . . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20214 minutes
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Ruud Kleinpaste: What is Mycorrhizal fungi?

Mycorrhizal fungi and planting tricks We are getting more and more information on how plants, shrubs and trees grow in association with other organisms in their ecosystem Yes: pollinators and biological control agents, as well as composters in the soil and the earthworms (earth workers) that aerate the soil and take well-produced organic matter deeper and deeper into the soil levels, where roots can pick up the nutrients.  But over the past decade or more scientists have made some grand discoveries around the role of fungi, assisting plants (Watch Susan Simard’s TED talk How Trees Talk to Each other)  Mycorrhizal fungi extending root zones of host trees and shrubs. They form Mycorrhizal networks that “connect” trees with each-other (sharing food, communication and warning neighbouring plants for bark beetle attacks etc).   Some of the orchids would do so much better if the mycorrhiza is included in the orchid mix; The way to achieve that is by mixing in some old mix in the new mix, when replanting your orchids. When I dig native trees and shrubs (beech, rata, Pittosporum, kawakawa, etc) into the garden, I often make a short journey to a nearby native forest to grab a large bag of moist leaf-litter and humus from the top-layer of the soil. That material is likely to contain quite a few beneficial fungi, including some mycorrhiza, that would help with the establishment and subsequent growth of the native trees. It facilitates the up-take of phosphorus and Nitrogen. Trick is to get the fresh leaf-litter and use it as soon as you can: I tend to mix that biodiverse leaf-litter into the top layers of the soil where I plant the new trees.  You can also use it as a moist mulch.  Recent research in NZ (Ngā Kākano Whakahau) explored how to re-introduce native mycorrhizal fungi in restoration projects; replanting old paddocks with native trees is tricky!) One of the interesting findings was that – just like in forests – a succession of organisms (almost from fast-germinating “pioneers” to slower germinating later developing species) is crucial for establishment.  That means that even Mycorrhiza have their time and place in the restoration and regeneration of forests! Maybe I should go to a young forest first and get some leaf-litter and humus from there before jumping straight to the old-growth forest!!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20214 minutes, 52 seconds
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Bryan Fogel: The story of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi

You might remember the story of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post reporter killed in a grisly manner by operatives of the Saudi royal family.   It sounds wild, but last week a US intelligence report was released, showing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself had approved Khashoggi's murder.  The killing is the basis of a new documentary by Bryan Fogel .. who is the director of Icarus .. The Oscar winning doco about the Russian doping scandal.   His new film is called The Dissident. Bryan joins Jack Tame to talk about the film.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/202111 minutes, 21 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Trapped, Last Chance U and Finding Joy

Trapped: An Icelandic crime-drama series following a police department as they try to uncover a mystery in a fjord nearby a small Icelandic town (TVNZ OnDemand)  Last Chance U: Basketball: the latest season of this sport documentary series takes an honest and gritty look inside the world of community college basketball (Netflix).  Finding Joy: a second season of the Irish sitcom about a woman dealing with a messy breakup who must take on a new work assignment that forces her to look for happiness in the most unusual places (Acorn TV).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20215 minutes, 17 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Honeyed figs with ginger sponge

A sponge pudding brings such comfort on a cold night and I adore the flavour combo of figs with honey and ginger!   Serves 6 8-12 fresh figs, halved  90g honey 50g butter 150g softened butter ½ cup caster sugar 2 eggs  1 tsp lemon zest 150g plain flour 1 ½ tsp baking powder 2 tsps ground ginger Custard, cream or ice cream to serve  Preheat oven to 180 °C and grease a deep ceramic pudding dish. Gently melt the honey and butter in a heavy based frying pan. Add the fig halves and toss them to coat in the buttery honey mixture and cook for one minute. Pour off syrup into a ceramic dish.   Beat second measure of butter with sugar pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating in before each addition. Add the lemon zest then sift in flour, baking powder and ground ginger and mix to combine.   Spoon batter over syrup the ovenproof dish. Press figs into the mix, cut side up. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden and sponge is cooked through..  Serve warm spoonfuls with lots of runny custard, or cream, or ice cream, or all three!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20215 minutes, 8 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Nomadland, Gaza and Judas and The Black Messiah

Nomadland  A woman in her sixties who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.  Gaza (documentary) A portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict and going beyond the reach of television news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters.  Judas and The Black Messiah  Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20218 minutes, 41 seconds
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Kevin Milne: An old menu from the Green Parrot cafe in Wellington

Kevin Milne has discovered an old menu he kept from the legendary Wellington cafe, the Green Parrot, which he assumes is from the 1970s. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20216 minutes, 7 seconds
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Jack Tame: How will the housing crisis end?

House prices in New Zealand increased last month by more than any other month in the last 25 years. More than any other month since March, 1996.Just think about that. We’ve had a residential housing crisis for years. House prices have been rising and rising and rising. We have our borders closed, our single-biggest export industry has been turned off and shutdown overnight. And yet... with inflation pouring into asset prices, median house prices increased more last month than in any other month since Braveheart won best picture at the Oscars.According to the Real Estate Institute, the median house prices in Wellington and Auckland increased by about $100 thousand dollars in February. The median price in Porirua – Porirua! – increased more than $270 thousand. Ten thousand dollars a day.When I hear those kind of numbers, I have a couple of reactions. Selfishly, I feel grateful that I have the security of already owning my own place. Secondly, I feel for people who don’t, and who’ve just seen their deposit requirements increase by tens of thousands of dollars.But most of all I wonder this: how will this end?Three years ago, Labour came to power promising to address the housing crisis. They failed. Kiwibuild was a disaster. House prices increased 27% in their first term before this even-crazier spike. They didn’t introduce any tax changes policies that meanfully changed the equation. No person in a position of political leadership publicly supported any policy that would significantly reduce house prices.And truthfully, that was the time to do it. I’m talking about the difference between policies that would simply slow price inflation and policies that actually go further and reduce property value. I accept that introducing dramatic changes now and wiping 15 or 20 percent off house values could be disastrous for our economy in what is already a temultuous moment. Cliches abound, but the horse has bolted. There is no putting the genie back into the bottle. You can reform the RMA and address supply-side issues. You can call on the Reserve Bank to consider loan-to-debt ratios and limits on interest-only loans. But it’s too late. House prices are already way too expensive.So. Back to my question.How will this end? What’s the end game for a nation with some of least affordable housing in the world, where according to the ASB Housing Confidence Survey, a record 73% of people expect house prices will keep rising over the next year? I will repeat this again. Last month, the median house price in Porirua increased ten thousand dollars a day. Nothing against Porirua, but does that sound right and balanced, to you?At some point there has to be a correction. Our politicians might not be prepared to take on the middle-aged voters who own all the assets, but corrections take many forms.Regardless of whether you own property or not... this will affect you. It will affect all of us.I worry it will be very ugly, indeed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/12/20214 minutes, 11 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Kings of Leon release new album

Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new Kings of Leon album, When You See Yourself. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/6/20218 minutes, 21 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Wrong Family and The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher and The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/6/20213 minutes, 42 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Three love lessons to learn by age 25

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has been explaining the three love lessons to learn by 25. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/6/20217 minutes, 57 seconds
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Neil Finn on the return of Crowded House

It’s been a long time since Crowded House did a full tour, so what’s a few more days?  The band was due to reform for a tour starting this week, but the first few dates have been postponed (cheers COVID).   Devising a tour during a pandemic isn’t the only thing they’ve been working on, the band is also about to release its first album in over a decade ‘Dreamers are Waiting’.  Neil Finn has been talking to Jack Tame. Click here for tour datesLISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/202112 minutes, 8 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A travel writer in Palmerston North

Our resident traveller Mike Yardley has been on a city break in Palmerston North. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20217 minutes, 42 seconds
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Wine with Bob Campbell: Torea 2018 Pinot Noir

Bob Campbell's Best Buy for the weekend is the Torea 2018 Pinot Noir, Martinborough $18.99.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20214 minutes, 15 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Compost tips

Composting I have a new compost bin, designed and made in NZ by the Carbon Cycle people. Their idea is to make good-looking bins that are so elegant that you don’t need to “hide” your bin, somewhere in a dark corner of the garden. And that means you use it more and make it your pride and joy. I also reckon that if you have a good system and good set of bins, you can create enough carbon “credits” to allow you to fly the odd sectors on your favourite airline. Hedge stems and branches = Carbon        Hedge leaves/foliage = Nitrogen Lawns/grass blades = Nitrogen Firewood and wood chips = Carbon Weed rough stems and hard roots = Carbon/foliage mostly  Nitrogen Sawdust from the odd DIY job = Carbon Twigs and branches = Carbon  Carbon to Nitrogen ratio is crucial for good composting. Carbon to nitrogen should be about 30:1 in mass.If you have far too much lawn clippings, your compost will get wet, dark green and slimy. Too much Carbon (and no Nitrogen), the woodchips/branches/twigs/stems will not break down  I love the bins, simply for the brilliant biodiversity, especially invertebrates. These critters simply do not know the concept of “waste". They all have a job to do in the recycling process.  Maggots (N)  Wood borers (C)  Slaters (C)  Millipedes (shredders of N)  Molluscs (N raspers)Beetles (do all sorts of things – can even be predators and fungal consumers)Springtails (run the finishing school of compost making – they prepare the friable black stuff) Earthworms (transporters of all the best organic matter down into the soil.  But I am not someone who walks around with just invertebrate-eyes. Compost is also made by Bacteria and such small organisms And most of all: fungi! After all some fungi literally soften up all the hard ingredients (bark, timber, hard-wood, nuts etc) so it can be broken down by other organisms (often insects). The number of species of fungi that can be involved is absolutely stunning. Inside a compost bin there are sooo many fungal species and each one does its job at the certain moment of compost developmen. This is why I always keep a good chunk of old compost in my bin when I start a new cycle: keep the spores in the system, together with things like insect eggs and pupae. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20214 minutes, 20 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Are you a Twitter 'super follower'?

Twitter’s rolling out “Super Followers” Imagine getting exclusive Jack Tame content via Twitter for $4.99 a month. A Jack Tame supporter badge could be added to your profile, with exclusive content, super follower only newsletters, special deals and access to the Jack Tame community. It’s a way to give back to creators you enjoy and keep those creators on the Twitter platform.  Twitter has also announced “communities” which you can join and follow, like Facebook Groups.   Both features are still to launch, but last time Twitter talked about subscription products and pro features their stock price jumped. It seems this is where the analysts want Twitter to go.  Zoom meetings get accessible Captions are coming to all accounts - including free accounts. You’ll be able to enable live ai generated closed captions. It’s a feature their pro accounts have had for a while and brings them up to parity with Google’s Hangouts. It’s a great feature for folks who are hard of hearing, but also for those who multi-task. If you miss what someone said, thankfully there’s a slight delay in the caption and you can catch the question on screen - perhaps that tip comes from personal experience!   Lyft has reinvented.. calling a taxi  Not everyone has a smartphone, but lots of people need rides. So what do you do? You use your phone to call Lyft and sort out a ride. Yes, Lyft has reinvented calling the taxi company.  They're trialing the service in Florida where there is a significant older population. They'll quote you an up front price, then when you book you'll get text updates with the status of the ride. What's old is new again! LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20217 minutes, 7 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: National Treasures, Zero Zero Zero and Back

National Treasures: Scotty and Stacey Morrison are joined by a panel of experts as they search for objects and taonga significant to New Zealand’s history (TVNZ 1, Sunday 8.30pm)  Zero Zero Zero: an Italian crime drama television series that follows the journey of a cocaine shipment, from the moment a powerful cartel of Italian criminals decides to buy it until the cargo is delivered and paid for, passing through its packaging in Mexico and shipment across the Atlantic Ocean (Neon).  Back: A British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb about a man set to take over the reins of the family business after his father’s death, until his plans are threatened by the arrival of a foster brother he has completely forgotten about (S1 TVNZ OnDemand, S2 Comedy Central, Tuesdays 9.40).LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20215 minutes, 9 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Amazing Tomato Sauce

Nici’s Amazing Tomato Sauce  Hot chips and homemade tomato sauce. Does it get any better? This rich tomato sauce is absolutely fabulous and I make a batch every year, some for my pantry, some for gifts.  Makes about 2 litres  2kg fresh tomatoes, chopped roughly 400g can crushed tomatoes  2 large apples, chopped roughly 2 large onions, chopped roughly  1 cup brown sugar  1 cup white or raw sugar  1 cup malt vinegar  1 cup apple cider vinegar  1 cup red wine vinegar  2 tablespoons salt  1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon ground all spice  ½ teaspoon ground cloves  Bring all the ingredients to the boil in a large pot and simmer it vigorously for about 2 hours until it is completely pulpy and it ought to have thickened a bit by then too.  In batches, put it through a blender until smooth. Try not to over blend as it will lighten the colour to an orange hue.  Sterilise bottles or jars by heating in an oven set at 100 C for 15 minutes.  Pour hot sauce into hot bottles and jars and seal with lids. Wipe clean and cool.   LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20214 minutes, 34 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Cousins and Raya and the Last Dragon

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Kiwi film Cousins, and new animated movie Raya and the Last Dragon. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20217 minutes, 27 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Forgetting my trousers

Kevin Milne's had a win at the dry cleaner this week. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20215 minutes, 2 seconds
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Jack Tame: Dr Seuss issue not black and white

The estate for Doctor SeussHas made a public call It’ll keep publishing his booksBut it won’t publish them all.  Six different titles  Will no longer be dispersed.  But is it a reasonable reaction? Or cancel culture at its worst?In case you missed it between the raging pandemic and urgent warnings over potential tsunamis, the second highest-earning dead celebrity has caused a few ructions this week.  The company that manages the catelogue for Dr Seuss has announced it will no longer continue to publish six of his titles because they contain racist or insensitive imagery.  Of the books that will no longer be published, the only ones I recognised were To Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street, and If I ran the Zoo. All the other real Dr Seuss classics – Greens Eggs and Ham etc – will continue to be published.Of course, those on the frontlines of the Twitter culture wars haven’t wasted time seizing upon the decision and working themselves into a state. Some politicians in the U.S say Dr Seuss is being cancelled. Others say Dr Seuss was racist.I think you always have to consider these things in the time and context in which they were created. Times change. People change. Attitudes change. Values change. Standards change. So, for example, if a white person dressed in black face make up at a party twenty years ago, I don’t think they should be judged strictly by the standards of today. People should be allowed to change. I think some modern outrage neglects to recognise the context in which people made decisions.It applies for dress-up parties, and it applies for artists. It applies for Dr Seuss. I don’t think he was deliberately trying to impart lazy racial tropes or images upon the World’s children. If he submitted those books for publishing today, I doubt the publishers would accept them. But like all of us, I think he was a product of his time. I’m sure there are plenty of artists working today whose work we’ll look back on in years to come, and think... whoa... actually, that wasn’t very cool.I also think that as far as problematic racial images go, Dr Seuss’ picutres were hardly the most offensive or damaging slights known to the literary World. Yep, Dr Seuss has been published extensively. Yep, I understand there is a collective weight to stereotypes when they’re repeated in society often enough. But perspective is valuable, and sometimes the term ‘racist’ becomes a binary label for historical figures. They’re either racist or they’re not.Last month, the San Francisco School Board announced dozens of schools should be renamed because they celebrated problematic racist historical figures. Among those to be renamed: schools named after Abraham Lincoln. That’s ludicrous, obviously. And it’s the sort of thing creates false equivalencies, gets disproportionate media attention, and undermines the greater effort to address racial injustice.  Of course there are now plenty of people who say that this is an open-shut case of books being banned. It’s not. No censor has stepped in and said children can’t read these Dr Seuss titles. There isn’t a Seussian bonfire being lit outside of Wellington’s poor old public library. They’re just not going to continue to publish a few of his books. Most of them, I’m guessing, you didn’t even know existed. If you really want to read them, you can. If you have these books at home, and you think showing your kids the offending images and using them as a learning opportunity is a better way to handle this kind of thing, that’s totally fine.  The problem with the culture wars Is everything becomes a fight And if Dr Seuss were alive today He’d say this issue isn’t black and white.    In the author’s mighty legacy This is just a little quirk Regardless of whether those books caused much offense,  They weren’t the Doc’s best work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/5/20215 minutes, 9 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Paramore's Hayley Williams releases new album

Hayley Williams is the lead singer of American band Paramore, and she’s just released her second solo album, Flowers for Vases.Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/27/20216 minutes, 24 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: Land and A Town Called Solace

Land, Simon WinchesterIn 1889, thousands of hopeful people raced southward from the Kansas state line and westward from the Arkansas boundary to stake claims on the thousands of acres of unclaimed pastures and meadows. Across the twentieth century, water was dammed and drained in Holland so that a new province, Flevoland, rose up, unchartered and requiring new thinking. In 1850, California legislated the theft of land from Native Americans. An apology came in 2019 from the governor, but what of the call for reparations or return? What of government confiscation of land in India, or questions of fairness when it comes to New Zealand's Maori population and the legacy of settlers?The ownership of land has always been complicated, opaque, and more than a little anarchic when viewed from the outside. In this book, Simon Winchester explores the the stewardship of land, the ways it is delineated and changes hands, the great disputes, and the questions of restoration – particularly in the light of climate change and colonialist reparation.A global study, this is an exquisite exploration of what the ownership of land might really mean – not in dry-as-dust legal terms, but for the people who live on it.A Town Called Solace, Mary LawsonA Town Called Solace–the brilliant and emotionally radiant new novel from Mary Lawson, her first in nearly a decade–opens on a family in crisis: rebellious teenager Rose been missing for weeks with no word, and Rose’s younger sister, the feisty and fierce Clara, keeps a daily vigil at the living-room window, hoping for her sibling’s return.Enter thirtyish Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, where he promptly moves into the house next door–watched suspiciously by astonished and dismayed Clara, whose elderly friend, Mrs. Orchard, owns that home. Around the time of Rose’s disappearance, Mrs. Orchard was sent for a short stay in hospital, and Clara promised to keep an eye on the house and its remaining occupant, Mrs. Orchard’s cat, Moses. As the novel unfolds, so does the mystery of what has transpired between Mrs Orchard and the newly arrived stranger.Told through three distinct, compelling points of view–Clara’s, Mrs. Orchard’s, and Liam Kane’s–the novel cuts back and forth among these unforgettable characters to uncover the layers of grief, remorse, and love that connect families, both the ones we’re born into and the ones we choose. A Town Called Solace is a masterful, suspenseful and deeply humane novel by one of our great storytellers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/27/20215 minutes, 50 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Exploring Cape Kidnappers

It’s a feathered frenzy of preening birds, theatrical mating rituals and rampant adultery. Pinned to the ocean edge of Cape Kidnappers, it’s the largest and most accessible mainland gannet colony in the world. Its very name is steeped in historic drama, stemming back to Captain Cook’s visit in 1769 and the young Tahitian he had on board the Endeavour, employed as his translator. As the young Polynesian interpreter tried to negotiate with local Maori for fresh provisions and water, they wrongly assumed that he’d been imprisoned. Tragically the misunderstanding forced Cook to fire his cannon, killing two Maori warriors, as they tried to kidnap him. The young Tahitian managed to escape, making his way back on the ship, prompting Cook to name it Cape Kidnappers. I explored the cape with Gannet Safaris, the award-winning sightseeing company.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20216 minutes, 9 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Everything you need to know about grey water

Once you pull the plug and the water disappears you are using your grey water system. This goes into the council system, and often to a treatment plant to take out chemical cleaners and other contaminants. It’s then discharged into the rivers or sea.For example, the chemicals that are put into products just to make them foam more are a pollution that has to be taken out. All of this process costs us as ratepayers, and we’re flushing away water you could use again: laundry, bath, shower and basin water. Don’t worry, we’re not walking about toilet (black water) or even kitchen sink and dishwasher, where there could be contaminants from food, e.g. old chicken germs. Why should we use grey water? Grey water use reduces the need for and reliance on the mains water supply system.Reduces the wastewater peak flows discharging to council’s wastewater system.Allows gardens to be watered during drought periods.How do you use grey water?The main uses are in the garden. Unless you are an extreme eco warrior I don’t recommend the vege garden or herb garden. This is because the chemicals in every day products can be quite toxic and eco-destructive. During my time at ecostore I spent a lot of time weeding these chemicals out because even some plant-based products are harmful, like the foaming agents I mentioned before. You can use this water on your lawn, hedges, ornamental gardens and orchards.Also best practice is to put in a storage tank with a filter that can take out the laundry lint and if you have synthetic clothes it can also capture the micro plastic that literally come out in millions of tiny particles with every laundry wash. But I’m sure you have all switched to cotton, wool, linen and other natural fabrics by now! This storage tank can then have an overflow that goes to the municipal grey water system, if you find yourself not using it all. You should contact your local council here as different local authorities have different rules. The other great use is to use this water to flush your toilet. This uses about 17% of your water use so there is a great saving right there.How much water could I save?So collecting your rain water should see around a 50% reduction on your water useage. Flushing with grey water would see 17% and using grey water on your garden could see 18% reduction. Those are some serious reductions on your water bill! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20219 minutes, 28 seconds
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Bryan Betty: GP explains the meningococcal vaccine

The COVID vaccine isn’t the only one we need to be thinking about right now! The government made the meningitis vaccine free to 13 to 25 year olds going into shared accommodation such as university hostels, boarding schools end of 2019. There is a low awareness of the availability.Bryan Betty is a GP and medical director for the College of GPs. He joined Jack Tame to explain everything you need to know about the vaccine.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20215 minutes, 21 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: A simple experiment with caterpillars

A simple experiment with CaterpillarsLast year I made mention of the abundance of Gum Emperor Moth caterpillars in the collective Eucalyptus trees around New Zealand; Well to be a bit more precise: from Canterbury north! These absolutely fascinatingly pretty larvae are huge, colourful and prickly and strong in their legs, and belong to the Silk moth Family. They feed on Gums, Liquidambar and (South American) Schinus molle trees (all are un-related to each other – how weird!).This year we had heaps of eggs again – big eggs in large strings, laid on the leaves. And we noticed that the tiny black caterpillars literally ate most of the leaf-surfaces around the eggs, but left the eggs alone!I suppose it’s a strategy to not kill your brothers and sisters before they hatch from their eggs… but how do these siblings know that? I think the mother moth secretes some oily substance around each eggs that she lays – you can see the shining discolouration around each egg. Even fully-grown caterpillars will chew around the site where eggs were laid, so the deterrent effect must work for weeks.The small “instar” caterpillars are black and extremely hairy and very visible on the blue-green Eucalyptus leaves. I think their hairiness protects them from predatory birds, although shining cuckoos are possibly not deterred by such hirsute prey. We observed them staying on the lower, smaller and younger leaves, often in large clusters of their cohort.Once they moulted their skin a few times, they started to disperse a bit more. They also lost their black fur and begun to look more like the older caterpillars: blue-green colour with spiky, coloured protuberances on each body segment.From this moment onwards we felt that they were being targeted by birds – we found fewer and fewer of them, so we (Julie’s idea!) took three inside the kitchen a reared them on Eucalyptus foliage which we refreshed every three days or so: one small caterpillar and two medium-sized ones.And they eat!!!  Eat!!! Suddenly you realise how much educational stuff you get from raising these critters:Swap Eucalyptus leaves for Liquidambar: They wouldn’t touch it! Not even when they got hungry!Theory: once they started their larval life on Gum trees they stuck with that host plant. Next year I start raising them on Liquidambar and see what happens if I reverse the choice to Gum.When the caterpillars change their skin (moulting) what happens to that old skin? You can’t find it anywhere!Many caterpillars eat their old skin and with this huge silk “worm”, it is no different; As soon as they have “walked” out of their skin, they turn around and start to nibble at it. They will not squander the micro-nutrients contained in that old skin – Nature does not know the concept of waste.There’s a video clip of the caterpillar eating its old skinThese caterpillars are constantly evacuating their slow-release fertiliser pellets – I collected them from the early days (1st instar) to the biggest (last instar) and you can now take measurements and average weight for the whole duration of the larval development – graphs, maths, statistics!And then there’s the chrysalis: You’d expect some soft silken cocoon (just like the oriental silk moths make)  No…  just rough, tough, brown Aussie stuff. I expect it helps them through the hottest times of the day and the coolest winter days, without losing too much moisture as metamorphosis takes places.There is a softer, “weak” spot in that sturdy cocoon: it is the spot where the hatching pupa pushes itself out of that cocoon in spring… to start life as a beautiful and impressive, large moth. I have seen the caterpillars spin their cocoon (see video), but haven’t had the time to sit there watching all night to discover how they make these “weak spots”.Another Day… another Night… another observational experiment!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20213 minutes, 53 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Twitter launches new features, Zoom meetings now more accessible

Twitter’s rolling out “Super Followers”Imagine getting exclusive Jack Tame content via Twitter for $4.99 a month. A Jack Tame supporter badge could be added to your profile, with exclusive content, super follower only newsletters, special deals and access to the Jack Tame community. It’s a way to give back to creators you enjoy and keep those creators on the Twitter platform.Twitter has also announced “communities” which you can join and follow, like Facebook Groups. Both features are still to launch, but last time Twitter talked about subscription products and pro features their stock price jumped. It seems this is where the analysts want Twitter to go.Zoom meetings get accessibleCaptions are coming to all accounts - including free accounts. You’ll be able to enable live ai generated closed captions. It’s a feature their pro accounts have had for a while and brings them up to parity with Google’s Hangouts. It’s a great feature for folks who are hard of hearing, but also for those who multi-task. If you miss what someone said, thankfully there’s a slight delay in the caption and you can catch the question on screen - perhaps that tip comes from personal experience! Facebook & Google & AustraliaIt’s a stupid law, trying to solve something the government shouldn’t be solving. Now Facebook and Google are going to pay for publishers to create “quality content”. Excuse me while I roll my eyes as “journalism” produces a story which is a series of reaction Tweets to royal rumors, or celebrity posted Instagram’s embedded in an article. The media should have solved this problem themselves by investing in their businesses years ago. There are also better ways to fund journalism - this isn’t it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20214 minutes, 48 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Behind Her Eyes, Informer 3838, Superman & Lois

Behind Her Eyes: A dark thriller about a single mother enters a world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife (Netflix).Informer 3838: A spinoff of the popular Underbelly series, this Australian drama tells the story of Nicola Gobbo, a lawyer who turned Informer and played both sides in the Melbourne Gangland War (TVNZ OnDemand).Superman & Lois: Our favourite hero is back, but this latest reboot of the classic story about Clark Kent and Lois Lane now sees them facing one of the toughest challenges ever: parenthood (TVNZ OnDemand).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20214 minutes, 28 seconds
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Ben Sanders: NZ author Ben Sanders talks about his latest crime novel

Auckland author Ben Sanders is living a double life. He spends half his week working as an engineer, the other half writing crime novels. And while his real life is based on the North Shore, his books are set in the US, which has allowed him a large audience and is attracting the attention of Hollywood. He’s got a new book out called The Devils You Know, and he joins Jack Tame on the show this morning.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/202116 minutes, 2 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Nectarine and Blueberry pie

NECTARINE & BLUEBERRY PIE  The combination of stonefruit and berries in a sweet pie is my idea of heaven. Before we know it berries and summerfruit will be done for the season so enjoy it while you can. Serves 6-82-3 sheets sweet short pastry1 punnet blueberries4 nectarines, de-stoned and roughly chopped2 tbsp plain flour2 tbsps caster sugar2 tbsp lemon juice50g butter, melted 1 egg, lightly beaten, for glazeCream or yoghurt to serveSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20216 minutes, 10 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: The Food Club and I Care a Lot

The Food ClubTHE FOOD CLUB is the story of three longtime girlfriends from elementary school, very different women, with one thing in common - they are in the fall of their lives.I Care A lotA shady legal guardian lands in hot water when she tries to bilk a woman who has ties to a powerful gangster.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20216 minutes, 57 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Why NASA's Mars landing was a little disappointing

Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to talk about NASA's Perseverance rover landing on Mars.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20215 minutes, 36 seconds
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Jack Tame: One year on from Covid-19 arriving into New Zealand

The public health experts knew it was coming. Senior ministers knew it was coming. Were they as prepared as they might have been? No. But then, who in New Zealand was back at the end of February 2020?And then it came through. A woman fresh back from Iran. Quite possibly not our first case, but our first confirmed case of Covid-19.That was a year ago.In that time, we have objectively enjoyed a much better life than most other people on Earth. Sure, we’ve had lockdowns. We’ve had community outbreaks. We’ve had deaths. People have lost jobs. Businesses have gone under. At an individual level, if you’ve suffered a dramatic change in your life, or lost a loved one to Covid-19, these words won’t be much comfort. But the can be no disputing the fact... the overall standard of living in New Zealand in the year since our first case, has been so much better than pretty much anywhere else. While Europe and America have been hunkered down in months-long lockdowns, and refrigerated trucks have been turned into overflow morgues, we’ve been at Six60 concerts or out for birthday dinners.To what and to whom do we owe that year? It’s obvious isn’t it?We’ve benefited from a few things. Circumstance. Good leadership. Good luck.We’re an island nation three thousand kilometres from anywhere else. We’re not jammed into cities like sardines. We’re also a nation of generally reasonable and sensible people. We have a few muppets, sure, but most of us are prepared to heed public health warnings and wear a mask if we’re told to.From the government perspective, they’ve done a few things especially well. Jacinda Ardern’s communication skills are her single-greatest strength and she has used those skills to maximum effect. The Director General of Health is a similarly talented communicator and together they make an incredibly effective tag team. The strategy around the Alert Level system seems so simple... but it’s a work of genius. It gives us all a common language. The viology of Covid-19 is super complex, but kids understand the Alert Level system. And even though the rules have changed and things have moved around... it doesn’t matter. The Alert Level system gives us a story. Together we can see progress.Grant Robertson was fast to act and our economy today is in a far, far better place than most analysts thought it would be. Unemployment is under 5%. GDP and government revenues are higher than expected. That wage support scheme, which had a very low barrier to entry, has been a godsend. Even TVNZ is in a position to pay $5 million back!Of course, it hasn’t been a faultless effort. The public health response has had snares and hitches. I still find it inexcusable that for months we didn’t have a better system for ensuring frontline staff were being regularly tested. That we didn’t have a greater outbreaks as a result seems pretty remarkable, given how insidious this virus is. As a result of our economic strategy, the housing market is experiencing wild inflation and we’ll be living with the impact for years to come. The people most likely to lose their jobs were the people who were already at the bottom of the heap.So. One year. Vaccine distribution has begun. The bubble with Rarotonga is opening. Progress comes slow, but it’s progress nonetheless.Clearly it’ll take years before we can truly judge the overall Covid-19 response. But you don’t have to look too far to see how bad things could have been. And no matter what happens from now, no matter how long it takes us to reopen borders and get back to life as it once was, no one can take that year away from us.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/26/20215 minutes
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Hannah McQueen: How viable is a 40 year mortgage?

In some countries, 40 year mortgages are becoming more common. Is it something that might catch on here? Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been giving her take on increasing mortgage terms.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: February gardening jobs

February Jobs in the Garden Raspberries: If you have spring-fruiting raspberries – they need pruning now. All fruit is picked and now’s the time to crawl on hands and knees and prune off all the old “canes”. It’s easy to see which are old, brown canes with yellow old leaves and which ones are the new, fresh ones that will fruit for you next year. Raspberries also have this habit of producing heaps of runners and canes far, far away from the original bed! Either mow them down of translocate these new runners to a new row. They’ll survive that easily if done now, while the soil is warm. Some fertiliser and everybody happy for next spring. But be careful, autumn raspberries still have a crop to go! Mid-summer is also the time to prune your plums when they have been harvested. I tend to do that now, with the summer heat still here. When you do it in late autumn or winter, the cooler, wetter weather can cause quite a few problems with diseases. Stonefruit bears its fruit on young wood, but the European plums (such as prunes, Damson and Greengage) tend to fruit heavily on 3-4 year old branches. In our garden the Damson and Greengage are our jam work horses, so they can be shortened back to the well-established branches. Japanese plums tend to fruit on new wood, which means you can’t be as ruthless.Vegies to plant: Carrots: Plant them in really good, stone-free soil. Well-drained and easy to penetrate for the roots.Swedes and beetroot: In well-drained soils that don’t stay wet too long (roots can rot in stagnant water). Leeks: Always a good winter vegetable. Start while soil is warm to help germination. Brassicas: These can allbe sown or planted now; cauli, broccolini, cabbages etc. Protect them from white butterfly larvae which are still very prolific in the warm weather. Use Yates “success” or fine netting that doesn’t let the mother whites onto the leaf surface.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20214 minutes, 32 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Finding fun in your relationship

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has some tips for funding fun with your partner. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20217 minutes, 48 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Haast Pass Highway

Travel writer Mike Yardley has been travelling the Haast Pass Highway.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20217 minutes, 45 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: Shiver and The Four Winds

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Shiver by Allie Reynolds and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20214 minutes, 10 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: New Aussie alt-rock

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album by Aussie alt-rock group The Rubens.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20216 minutes, 20 seconds
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James Comey: Former FBI Director on being fired by Trump

Usually, the Director of the FBI isn’t a household name, especially in New Zealand. That is, until James Comey came along, and was inserted into the middle of Donald Trump’s political pantomime.  In his role as the head of the FBI, Comey oversaw investigations into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, and into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.   He was then sacked.   James Comey’s written a new book "Saving Justice" and has been talking to Jack Tame.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/202115 minutes, 16 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime - Trial in the Outback

Trial in the Outback: in this documentary mini-series narrated by Sam Neill, Linda Chamberlain tells her own story about the death of her daughter and the trials and imprisonment that followed (starts TVNZ 1, Sunday, 8.30pm)  CB Strike: a new season of the British drama about war veteran turned private detective Cormoran Strike, who solves brutal murders with the help of his trusted assistant Robin Ellacott (Neon).  Framing Britney Spears: the documentary everyone’s talking about. This New York Times doco looks at the career of American entertainer Britney Spears, her celebrity and popularity within American culture, and the conservatorship that she has been living under since 2008 which sparked the fan-driven #FreeBritney movement (ThreeNow).  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20216 minutes, 32 seconds
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Kevin Milne: There's never been a better time to travel

Kevin Milne's been on his first ever international tourist-free trip in the South Island, and thinks all Kiwis should be following suit. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20214 minutes, 11 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Sushi sandwiches

Sushi sandwiches These little sushi sandwiches are easier to make than regular sushi and they’re popular with adults and kids alike.   Makes 8-10  1 cup sushi (short grain) rice or use short grain brown rice  1 tsp salt  105g tin salmon  2 tablespoons mayonnaise Salt & pepper ½ avocado  ½ red capsicum  1 packet seaweed snacks (small sheets of seaweed) 2 tablespoons sesame seeds 4 tablespoons tamari sauce  1 teaspoon sesame oil  Squeeze of lime or lemon juice To cook rice: rinse rice a few times then allow to soak for 15 minutes before draining and transferring to a saucepan and covering in twice as much water as rice (ie. 2 cups) and adding salt. Cover and bring to boil then simmer for 12 minutes, turn heat off and leave to steam for 10 minutes while you prepare fillings. Cool. Fillings: Mix salmon with mayonnaise. Slice avocado and capsicum into thin slices.  Assemble: Wet hands and take 1-2 tablespoons of rice, shape into a sausage shape, cover with seaweed and wrap, leaving one side unwrapped. Make a groove in the top of the exposed rice and add your choice of filling; salmon/mayo, capsicum or avocado. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Trust me, you’ll get better with each one and keeping your hands wet really helps.  Mix tamari, sesame oil and citrus juice together in a small container to pop in with the sushi sandwiches. Note: Cook the rice the night before for a quick assemble in the morning.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20216 minutes, 9 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: The Little Things and Boss Level

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching The Little Things, Boss Level, and News of the World.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20217 minutes, 21 seconds
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Jack Tame: I'm backing Aussie's fight with Facebook

Every Saturday morning I start the show with a little editorial. I give you an opinion on something. I ask for your feedback. And after I finish the piece, the written version lives on the Newstalk ZB website. You know the one! And from there, our digital teams will share a link on social media.  But if you just happen to be tuning in from Australia this morning - as I know many listeners do - and you log in to Facebook afterwards, you won’t see a link to this piece. The stoush between Zuckerberg and the Australian government shows no sign of being resolved any time soon.   Part of me is torn. I look at this issue from a few different sides. Part of me thinks, actually, we know that people get so much information from Facebook that if they aren’t able to access reliable news sources on Facebook, the information they will be accessing instead is going to be the dregs of the dregs. Part of me thinks I’d feel a bit better about the Australian government’s position and their proposals to make big tech pay for news, if it wasn’t Rupert Murdoch set to profit. And part of me thinks actually this could be good for the sort of stuff that gets published by newsrooms. Perhaps they’ll be a little less incentivised to publish click bait trash in the hope of spreading it across Facebook. Perhaps. Most of all though, I think good-on the Aussies. We know just how damaging some aspects of big tech and the social media platforms have been when it comes to misinformation. We know they’re pulling of triple backflip pirouette nip tucks with a difficult of 100 in order to pay as little tax as possible. Is it not a relief to see a government stand up to them, for a change?  One thing you can be sure of in this life is there is no such thing as a free lunch. Reliable news isn’t free. It takes work and resources. And as newsrooms around the World have been hollowed out and undermined, Facebook has grown stronger off their diminished outputs.  If you value reliable information and you want an honest picture of the World, Facebook isn’t the place you should be going in the first place.  Facebook has hooped people into opinion ghettoes, stoked their fears, contributed to the rise of conspiracy theories, and it’s manipulated the weakest parts of our collective psychologies. It’s made us feel like it’s serving us, when really it’s selling us.  I hope the Aussies hold strong. And I hope other countries follow their lead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/19/20213 minutes, 42 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Rain Harvesting

This time of year, we think about lack of water and extra water bills. Would having your own rainwater tank be wise or affordable?  Doing the numbers  An average kiwi homes use 150,000 litres a year. There is usually a fixed charge for being in the system then a usage charge for the number of litres you use.  In Auckland that’s $190 fixed and about $500 usage.   If you got a 5000L tank, this would be refilled every time it rains. Estimate this saving at least half your water use or around $250 per annum. A 5000L tank can be as cheap as $950. Or top of the line fancy slim tank that fits anywhere or maybe an in ground tank, $3500 So in 4-10 years (water prices are only going up) you have paid for it and you are saving that amount of money every year.  How to collect rainwater? My favourite way is to a system that collects water for a while, catching pollution and bird dropping sfrom the roof. You then ditch this, and the cleaner water is sent to your tank If you don’t trust the rain water then it can be directed to toilets, washing machines and  garden, or just put a water filter in the system.   Check your council bylaws about your rights here. I know Auckland city has just made it a lot less bureaucratic to install one. They need the help! Often all they ask for is a backflow prevention device to keep your water out of the common supply.  If you are just considering some extra water for your garden then you can go much smaller and simpler and cheaper of course.  It'll save your council money too If everyone did this it would considerably lower the city infra structure costs: piped water in and out of your property. That means lower rates for all?  You also reduce the stormwater runoff which in storm periods can mean the grey water invades the sewage system and this ends up in our public waterways and beaches.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/13/20219 minutes, 8 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Amazing butterfly project at Burnside Primary

Environmental Education in 2021  So what is this “environmental education” all about? Most people think of Enviroschools and waste minimization plus vegetable gardening at school. Quite a number of schools have compost bins, worm farms and chickens running around. For more than a dozen years, Project Crimson and Mazda Foundation have planted outdoor classrooms in school grounds – forest type vegetation. Hawkes Bay's Cape to City linked all this to a large landscape project around Cape Kidnappers and 20,000 hectares of surrounding land. It encourages school kids and teachers to do the learning outside, using the environment as a context for education. Putting it into practice  I got a request from a Christchurch teacher to help the school create a butterfly garden. Of course they had monarchs in mind. But I had other ideas! There’s this gorgeous deep purple Lycaenid butterfly which is native to Canterbury. We’ve just discovered (via Hamish and Brian Patrick) that it is different from all the other “boulder copper” butterflies and therefore it has no published scientific name, nor has it an appropriate common or Maori name. The species lives on very poor terrain: the gravel and stony outwash of the large braided rives. It has been ousted from Christchurch city simply through the expansion of this man-made habitat, called suburbia. Could we bring the boulder copper butterfly back into the city?  The kids and teachers of Burnside Primary had to do a heck of a lot of research. Food plants, sources of nectar, longevity, what do males and females look like... It covered all parts of the curriculum.PE: They decided to plant a garden full of host plants and nectar supportMaori studies: They contacted local iwi for their view on translocating this taonga back into the city and what would be an appropriate Maori name. Literacy: They sourced all the plants and wrote the script for the invites to local media. Maths: They worked out the number of males versus females. Arts: The butterflies are beautiful – both males and females  Last Thursday we did the first translocation from McLeans Island to Burnside Primary School. The kids caught the butterflies by hand and by net, and carefully transported them in flax-woven baskets, line with soft fabric, so that the butterflies could hang on during the bus ride to the new location.  We had a Mihi Whakatau in the school hall; a blessing for the taonga in their new place. The butterfly will officially be described by a small group of secondary school students from Burnside High School, together with two entomological taxonomists. That’s a cool job, with genetics, morphology and ecological Science. They’ll publish the new description and name in an international peer-reviewed journal.  If we are serious about our Planet and humanity’s future, we need NATURE-LITERATE Kids. We are re-writing the execution of the curriculum.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/13/20215 minutes, 7 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Ammonite and Minari

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching period romance Ammonite and Korean-American movie Minari.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/13/20218 minutes, 26 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Chanel Sisters and The Frenchman

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little and The Frenchman by Jack Beaumont.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/13/20214 minutes, 15 seconds
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Tara Ward: Screentime (5)

When a City Rises —The People’s Story: as the 10 year anniversary of the second Christchurch earthquake approaches, this documentary follows Christchurch’s recovery in the days, months and years following the devastating earthquake (TVNZ 1, Sunday 8.30pm and OnDemand)  Coyote: After 32 years of service, Border Patrol agent Ben Clemens finds himself helping people he has always tried to keep out of the United States (TVNZ OnDemand).  Men in Kilts: two stars from the time-travelling drama Outlander - Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish - team up in this lively road trip across Scotland, showcasing the very best of the country’s culture, history and traditions (Neon, 16 February).  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/13/20215 minutes, 16 seconds
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Bob Campbell: A Hawkes Bay Chardonnay

Bob Campbell's Best Buy for this week is the 2020 Clearview Coastal Chardonnay, which will set you back around $22.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/13/20213 minutes, 40 seconds
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Chloe Zhao: Oscar favourite's big year ahead

Movie director Chloe Zhao has a huge year ahead. She’s the hot pick for the directing Oscar for her new film Nomadland, which stars Frances McDormand. It was first movie to win the top prizes at this year’s Toronto and Venice film festivals.  If she did take the Oscar, she’d be only the second woman ever to take best director.   On a completely different track, Chloe has also directed new Marvel film, Eternals. As one critic put it ‘Acclaimed festival darling sails into the big-budget arms of Marvel Studios.” She's been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/12/202112 minutes, 10 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: A new album from Weezer

Weezer has a new album out, OK Human, and Estelle Cliffords been taking a listen. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/12/20217 minutes, 44 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Free-form potato & courgette pie

Free-form potato & courgette pie What to do with all those courgettes that keep threatening to turn into marrows? Make this, you’ll love it!  Serves 2-4  1-2 potatoes, sliced thinly  2-3 courgettes, sliced thinly  1/3 cup plain flour  1/3 cup grated parmesan  1 tsp sea salt  ½ tsp black or white pepper  Pinch chilli flakes  Big bunch basil leaves  Splash of olive oil  Heat oven to 190 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.In a big bowl, mix potato, courgette, flour, cheese and salt, pepper and chilli flakes until vegetables are well coated in flour. Drizzle over some oil. Pile half ingredients onto tray in a big circle, top with torn basil leaves (reserve some of scattering over once cooked), then add remaining potato/courgette mixture. Drizzle over bit more oil. It will settle down into itself as it bakes.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and crispy on the edges and potatoes are cooked through. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before scattering with basil leaves then slicing or scooping up portions. It’s also just as great served cold so an leftovers will be welcome. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/12/20214 minutes, 15 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Mini-break in Murchison

Mike Yardley has been taking a mini-break in Murchison. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/12/20218 minutes, 51 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Is Apple building a car?

Rumors are flying that Apple is building a car According to reports they've been talking to manufacturers about some kind of partnership. Bloomberg says Kia and Hyundai were in conversation with Apple, but those talks have now paused. These aren't new rumors - they apparently started working on a car in 2015 but have never confirmed or denied that. I don't see the upside for a car manufacturer. Apple is going to want epic control over every detail and you'll be stretched to the limit to produce enough cars to meet demand. Apple isn't known to be very good at sharing either so their partner isn't likely to get access to their tech.   Instagram is losing in its battle with TiktokThey have a problem.. they desperately want to be TikTok - the product - but don't want to be featuring TikTok content. That's most of what Reels is right now.. recycled TikToks, complete with the TT watermark on it. Instagram now says that any TikTok watermarked content will be downgraded in their recommendation engine to promote people who are making content natively on Reels.  Miss going to a bar? There's an app for that In the USA bars have been closed for about 11 months now and they're dearly missed. People are getting creative in their social distancing time and made an app to transport you to your favourite spot. imissmybar.com allows you to control the sounds of people talking, the ambience of the room, the street noise, the clinks and stirring of the bartender working away.You can flick on some music too.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/12/20213 minutes, 51 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Hunting for a hobby

Kevin Milne's on an unusual mailing list ....  and it's made him think he might be in the market for a new hobby.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/12/20215 minutes, 57 seconds
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Jack Tame: Opposition to Maori wards "extraordinary"

On Monday, the Māori Affairs select committee will consider changes to the laws around Māori wards on local councils, and it seems extremely unlikely at this stage the new proposal won’t be supported and passed into law. If so, it’ll mean any local councils that establish Māori wards won’t be able to scrap them for at least two elections. At just two days, the submission period  for the law change was unreasonably short. But given how few people care enough about local body politics to actually vote in local body elections, it seems extraordinary there’s much opposition to the law change, except of course this issue involves something Māori, and the perception for some people that Māori might be getting special treatment.Of course, both of those points are 100% right. The issue does concern Māori, and Māori don’t just deserve special treatment but are contractually guaranteed a form of special treatment under the Treaty. Martin van Beynan wrote a really thoughtful piece last week in which he asserted that New Zealand is in the midst of a period of profound change. At the centre of the change is the role of Māori governance and leadership in New Zealand’s day-to-day affairs. I won’t read you the whole piece, but I think Martin’s absolutely right. Sometimes it can be hard to recognise the significance of a moment when you’re in the middle of it, but chalk up Monday’s select committee hearing as another little sign. We are in a moment of sorts.We’re fortunate, I think, to live in a country that has been relatively assertive in at least trying to acknowledge and correct some of the wrongs of the past. I speak as both a New Zealand and an Australian citizen: when I compare the two, I'm proud that New Zealand is much more mature in recognising the complexity of its own history.The Treaty settlement process is imperfect, but it’s an earnest effort that I think benefits a majority of New Zealanders, Māori, and Pākeha alike. And more and more we are experimenting and embracing forms of Māori sovereignty in miniature. Take Whānau Ora, for example: A programme promoting Māori health solutions for Māori families established by the last National government and supported and funded by the current one. Rangatahi courts work like youth courts in a way, except sessions are held on local marae and follow Māori cultural processes. And honestly, has any Pākeha New Zealander’s life been drastically and disasterously affected by the establishment of Māori seats in parliament? Of course not.I have little doubt the next head of Oranga Tamariki will be Māori, and increasingly those agencies responsible for some of our worst societal problems will seek to find Māori-led solutions for Māori.Of course, there will be scrutiny of this leadership. There should be scrutiny. Māori leadership, like all leadership, deserves scrutiny.But non-Māori have nothing to fear. Māori are not taking over. They are not climbing in our collective bathroom window. Changing the law around Māori wards in local body councils won’t even guarantee that every council will establish the wards. It’ll merely remove an obviously-discriminatory provision.This is a good thing. It speaks to our values. It's a sign of a maturing country.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/12/20214 minutes, 16 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: New Foo Fighters album

The Foo Fighters have released a new album, Medicine at Midnight. Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/6/20218 minutes, 22 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Stopping a fight in its tracks

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has some tips on how to stop a fight before it's even started. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/6/20219 minutes, 1 second
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Terminal List and Girl A

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Terminal List by Jack Carr, and Girl A by Abigail Dean. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20214 minutes, 33 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Planting for autumn

Planting for autumn  I know, I know … it’s still summer. But now is the time to think of autumn onwards. It’s the perfect time to sow a heap of wild-flowers. Honestly, it’s always brilliant to get that major flush of colour when days are getting shorter and temperatures make you reach for the firewood in the wood shed. There are many suppliers of wildflower mixes in NZ: Wildflower World (Tauranga), Kings Seeds (Katikati), Yates, Egmont, Mr Fothergills. Take your pick! They tend contain a wide range of really pretty flower species: Calendula, larkspur, cornflower, eschscholtzia, nigella, poppy, anagalis, cynoglossum, stock, reseda, gypsophila, and cosmos. Some will flower in autumn, some might pop up in early spring. Soil temps of 15 degrees or more are ideal for germination. Wildflower sowing is optimal when you would re-sow lawns – they have similar requirements. Make sure the patch is weed-free as much as possible: then the wildflowers take over and shade the weeds out. Some light cultivation (especially on a hot autumn day) will expose the second-growth weeds – they’ll wilt and die. Water regularly; wild flowers love moisture! Especially in the first 6 weeks. If you want to go for a more “monotone” look, the following flowering plants need sowing in the next few weeks: asters and ageratums, stock, verbena, scabiosa, Californian poppies, marigolds and phlox, dianthus and daisies. What you really do with all these flowers is provide huge patches of pollen and nectar for our pollinators and our Parasitoid Wasps who will do some gratis pest control in your garden.  Edibles and Herbs Now is also the time the time to sow your last Coriander and Basil before winter – cooler temps: not much bolting! It’s still good for french beans and carrots. Lettuce, Spinach, perpetual spinach, radishes, spring onions – the usual suspects. And for the winter season… think of cabbage groups (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) in the next month or so. I reckon it pays to really think ahead by a few months for vegie gardens! While you have the warm soil, get the seeds to germinate, so you’re not struggling when it gets cooler. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20214 minutes, 6 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Concerns about Covid vaccines

This week, Medsafe conditionally approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in New Zealand. But there are lots of people who still have conerns about getting the jab. Jack Tame has been clearing these up with Dr Bryan Betty, who's the Medical Director for the College of GPs and on the Covid-19 advisory committee.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20216 minutes, 8 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Jeff Bezos stands down as Amazon boss

Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos is stepping down from CEO After 27 years, he'll step into the role of Executive Chairman and focusing his time on his charitable funds, space exploration company Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and his other passions - whatever those are. Andy Jassy, the current CEO of AWS, will be the new CEO. Currently AWS is 60% of Amazon's profit. Jassy has been with Amazon since 1997 after completing his MBA. It seems the markets approve of the change because the stock price is up on last week's close.  Bezos will still hold around 10% of the company so don't expect him to stop having an interest in what's next for Amazon!  Uber's getting into the booze business They've scooped up alcohol delivery platform Drizly which connects liquor stores to delivery people. They'll be folding it into their Uber Eats app. Haven't heard any plans for adding this to their NZ service just yet though. Uber has been more pragmatic lately - in the past year shutting down its flying taxi and autonomous car division and instead focusing on delivery in the present.  Microsoft is leaning into the future of remote work  It's launching a new platform called Viva - aiming to be the hub for the 'employee experience'. Think of it as an intranet with policies, company information, contact information and more mixed with Microsoft Teams and an internal community. It'll also have a learning hub with resources from LinkedIn Leaning. For managers, it'll also have insights to track employee performance so they can "see if their team is at risk of burnout and provide recommendations like encouraging your team to turn off notifications, set boundaries in their calendar, and set daily priorities to focus on what matters most". It seems like they're trying to breathe new life into their Sharepoint business, while also taking on Facebook Workplace.  GameStop has come back to reality It's currently trading at under $60. Eeeek. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20215 minutes, 20 seconds
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Book review with Tara Ward: Firefly Lane, Soulmates, Holey Moly

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some TV picks for the long weekend. Firefly Lane: Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke star in this sentimental drama about the lives of two very different women bonded by a friendship lasting three decades (Netflix)    Soulmates: This anthology series takes place 15 years in the future, when science makes a discovery that changes the lives of everyone on the planet - a test to show who your soulmate really is. (Amazon Prime Video, from Monday)  Holey Moly: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Holey Moly takes self-proclaimed mini-golf lovers from around the country and puts them head-to-head through an epic obstacle course. In each episode, contestants put their miniature golf -- and physical -- skills to the test and face off in never-before-seen challenges on a supersized miniature golf course (Three, from Monday). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20215 minutes, 24 seconds
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Kevin Milne: We've failed the legendary Sir Tom Moore

Kevin Milne can't work out how legendary NHS supporter Sir Tom Moore was allowed to get covid. Sir Tom became well known after raising $NZ60 million dollars for the NHS by walking laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday.But this week, he died of covid, and Kevin's wondering how that happened. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20217 minutes, 5 seconds
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Nici Wickes: An epic ice cream sundae

Summer has well and truly arrived, and Nici Wickes has been celebrating with an epic ice cream sundae. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20216 minutes, 7 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Shadow in the Cloud and Netflix drama The Dig

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Kiwi-directed action thrilled Shadow in the Cloud, and new Netflix drama The Dig. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20216 minutes, 58 seconds
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Chris Shiflett: Foo Fighters guitarist on their new album

After sitting on their completed album for a whole year, the Foo Fighters have just released their 10th studio album “Medicine at Midnight”.  It would have been released in 2020, which was their 25th year as a band, but we all know what happened there. Lead guitarist Chris Shiflett has been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/202112 minutes, 25 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Shadow in the Cloud and The Dig

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Kiwi-directed action thrilled Shadow in the Cloud, and new Netflix drama The Dig. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20214 minutes, 44 seconds
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Jack Tame: Forget your EV bias

What’s the plural of Nissan Leaf?Is it ‘Leaves’? Is it ‘Leafs’? Should we lose the ‘S’ all together and call more than one Leaf, ‘Leaf’? As in, ‘Look at that car yard, filled with Nissan Leaf”.This is something we need to consider, because if you take the time to spot them there are unmistakably more and more Nissan Leafs on our roads, and regardless of how you feel about electric cars, they’re only going to become more abundant.The Nissan Leaf, of course, is basically the Toyota Corolla hatchback of electric cars. It’s far and away the World’s best-selling electric vehicle and I’m not afraid to say I quite like them. They’re not as sleek and sexy as a low-slung Maserati, or nearly as tech’d up as a Tesla, but I reckon they’re not half bad. I’ve driven a few on a few different occasions now, and but for the silence you’d think you were driving any other mid-range petrol hatchback. The Climate Commission’s report makes for a humbling read with massive changes needed in almost every part of our economy. And it spelt out the obvious improvements to be made in transport.Of course, transport extends beyond our domestic vehicle fleet and the car that you drive to work or shuttle the kids around with from school. New Zealand needs to significantly improve its freight and rail infrastructure and public transport systems.But there’s no reason we shouldn’t get behind a smart incentive system for people who choose to drive electric vehicles. The climate commission recommends either a rebate scheme, where you tax cars that pollute more to subsidise electric vehicles, or a straight subsidy scheme, in order to make electric cars more affordable. New Zealand First blocked a rebate scheme for electric vehicles during the last government term, and National called it a ‘Car Tax’ but ongoing resistance is churlish when we clearly need to incentivise people into buying electric cars.A rebate system makes total sense to me. And we can be smart about it: For tradies or people in rural communities, we could look at excluding utes. But if you’re going to buy a 3.5L luxury sedan… maybe you get stung a bit more. If you’re buying an electric car, it’s a bit cheaper.I had a beer with a mate from the Netherlands the other day who was telling me about his government’s subsidy program. The Dutch government gave four thousand Euros in subsidies to people buying electric cars. It proved so popular, the initial $10m Euro pool was sucked up by people buying electric cars in just a few days.I get it. Electric cars aren’t perfect for everyone in every situation. And they’re not environmentally perfect, either. But they’re much cleaner. They’re much cheaper to run. And with every year, electric vehicle technology improves. If you’re scoffing at me, go online and do some research. I challenge you to check out a 30KW Nissan Leaf. The range is about 200KM, maybe a bit more depending on the battery life. The safety rating is excellent. Get one with a body kit and a BOSE stereo set up… honestly… you’ll be surprised at how tasteful they are.It doesn’t matter if I can’t convince you. It’s happening whether you like it or now. Combustion imports will be banned within 15 years and the resale value of petrol cars will diminish much before then. Even General Motors foresees a future without combustion vehicles.So, if you’re in the market for a new ride… it could be time for the switch.Take an EV for a test drive. Don’t get leafed behind. ZING.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2/5/20214 minutes, 44 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Perfect Guests and The Devils you Know

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous and The Devils you Know by Ben Sanders.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/30/20214 minutes, 18 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Zayn Malik's new album

Former one-directioner Zayn Malik’s just released his third album ‘Nobody is Listening’. So far, it hasn't done so well on the charts. So is that warranted? Music reviewer Estelle Clifford's been taking a listen. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/30/20216 minutes, 40 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Music, Another Round, Summerland

Music reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching singer Sia's new movie Music, Danish drama-comedy Another Round, and World War 2 drama Summerland. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/30/20216 minutes, 1 second
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Mike Yardley: Glacier Country in South Westland

Our traveller Mike Yardley has been checking out Glacier Country: South Westland.LISTEN TO HIS TIPS ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20218 minutes, 6 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Summer watering tips

Watering Techniques After a week with Temps of 37.7 degrees in the afternoon, it got quite hot for us on the Port Hills. Of course other parts on NZ had similar Australasian drifts of wonderful hot air and soil and plants dried out very quickly.  How to Water? I’ve never been a fan of sprinklers. I try to keep my leaves dry as much as possible; wet leaves often give fungal spores opportunity to settle on the plant, causing leaf-spots, rots, downy mildew and powdery mildew. Try to water the root zone of a plant, by depositing the water – gently – on the soil. A fierce jet of water can clog the porosity of the soil (not so good either!), so a nice shower-setting of your hose hand-piece is perfect  Evening or Morning? It doesn’t really matter a lot, I think. The water cools the soil remarkably and in the morning (when it’s cooler) most of the water will actually penetrate the soil. In the evening (with warmer temperatures) a proportion of the water will evaporate, become a “cloud” of H2O gas and meet its mates, somewhere high up in the sky. In other words it doesn’t do the plants much good. But watering in the middle of the day makes a huge percentage of the water disappear into the stratosphere.  Established shrubs and trees? Most Nature Nerds that go walking will see in dry summers how established trees show severe signs of dehydration or wilting. Even without any rain those leaves will often look a lot better in the evening. Wilting is simply a strategy to shut off the leaves’ stomata to save the moisture escaping from these openings in the heat of the day. This wilting can go on for weeks, sometimes. A thoroughly good soak (hours and hours of watering) can re-set the water deficit in the soil. This deep watering is far more beneficial to soil and shrubs/trees than daily “piddle-waterings”  Regular droughts? Which plants are suited for water-stressed areas? Think Mediterranean species that often don’t get much during the 5 months of summer in Spain and Morocco and Italia.  Often plants with blue-ish or white-ish colours or with thick hairs on the leaves (that stop water loss). Euphorbias, Echiums, Watsonias, cacti, succulents, phlomis, Jerusalem sage, rosemary, lambs ear.   Checking SOIL moisture of indoor plants Indoor plants are totally controlled by the owner; when to water? When they start showing signs of wilting. Stick your finger into the potting mix and when plenty of particles stick to your finger, there’s plenty of moisture still in the mix; when your finger emerges totally “clean”: time to water!  Plants that can NEVER dry out  Ferns have got a different vascular system in their stems and fronds; these bundles are not as strong and lignine-supported as other “Vascular plants”; So when a fern gets too dry, its bundles simply shrivel up and irreversibly collapse.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20215 minutes, 42 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Upgrading your house

Trading up There's been lots of focus on first home buyers, for obvious reasons. But for most people, your first home is not your dream home. With lots of anecdotes about the $3m house being the new $2m house, moving into the next house bracket might mean taking on an extra $500k or even $1m+ in debt. So what do you need to do if you're thinking about taking on a significant chunk more debt? Hannah McQueen has been giving her tips to Jack Tame, and if you want more detail you can get hold of her at enable.me – financial strategy & coaching.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20215 minutes, 30 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: The internet vs Wall Street

It's the internet vs Wall Street You've probably heard of this story. Millions of amateur traders, wanting to teach Wall Street a lesson, have poured money into certain companies to push their stock prices up. That affects traders looking to 'short' the companies. That's when they bet on a stock going down. One of the app based trading platforms has got caught up in the fight. RobinHood sells data on the transactions to the third parties executing the deals, then these Market Makers can then make money off the spread - the difference in pricing during the time between buy and sell orders. It might be just pennies of profit, but when you do that at volume there're serious money to be made.Amazon is ready to distribute vaccines The company sent President Biden a letter on his first day in office offering to help with distribution using its vast delivery network. They're uniquely suited to this task as in New York City, for example, they can deliver you almost anything in less than two hours. They can get packages to a vast majority of the population within two days. They have their own cargo planes, delivery trucks and even physical stores which could be utilized.  They also offered to vaccinate all their staff on-site (presumably at their expense) if they could get access to viles. They argue many of their 800,000 employees are front line workers and can't work from home as they're completing work in supermarkets, warehouses and data centres.   Facebook's Oversight Board has made its first rulings Of the five cases heard, the board agreed with Facebook on just one. The other four found Facebook had overstepped the mark and would need to reverse the deletion of that content. Each case was reviewed by a group of five randomly selected members, with the final decision approved by the full board. They have less than 90 days to make a decision about reinstating Donald Trump's Facebook access. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20217 minutes, 2 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Green sunscreen

Green sun safety  With the high temperatures of the past week, we've all been flocking to the beach. But what are the most environmentally-friendly ways to keep sun safe at the beach? First off, stay out of the sun between 10am-4pm, September to April. The beach is wonderful early in the morning or late afternoon. If you’re at the beach outside of these times, sun shades you put up are a good idea. Make sure you get a good one, not a cheap throw away.  If you need more protection, you'll be slapping on the sunscreen. But which kind? There are two varieties: chemical and physical. Chemical sunscreen absorbs UV light to prevent it from causing damage. But the chemicals; like oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, octisalate, avobenzone and homosalate, have been identified as being particularly dangerous for eco-systems. There's evidence they have been making coral more susceptible to bleaching, deforming baby coral and degrading its resilience to climate change. Hawaii is now looking at banning these chemicals. They are also proven hormone disrupters that can seep through human and animal skin into other bodily tissue.  And it’s not just the environment: Oxybenzone was recently found in 96 per cent of the population by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the US. That’s an alarming statistic when you learn that this chemical can affect a man’s sperm count and contribute to the development of painful endometriosis in women.  So you might like to consider physical sunscreen, which sits on top of the skin, using the minerals titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.  The Cancer Society says whether it’s a chemical or physical sunscreen, check the sunscreen you’re using does the job it’s meant to do. It needs to be broad-spectrum (which protects from UVA and UVB rays), water-resistant, SPF30+ and meet the Australia-New Zealand standard. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20217 minutes, 2 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: It’s a Sin, Critical and Blown Away

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some picks for this weekend. It’s a Sin: Five 18-year-olds move to London in 1981, where they all meet and form a gang and move into a flat together. They begin exploring their identities and become who they truly are, but a distant disease threatens their future (TVNZ OnDemand).  Critical:  Inside a major trauma centre, top surgeons work to save the critically injured and seriously ill in this British drama from Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio. Shot in real time, in a world where every second counts, life and death sits on a knife's edge (TVNZ OnDemand).   Blown Away: a new series of the gentle reality show about glassmakers competing to blow away the competition (Netflix) LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20215 minutes, 46 seconds
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Simon Baker: The Mentalist star's return to Australia

2020 took Aussie-born actor Simon Baker from a life in Hollywood, where he’s best known for his starring role in TV series The Mentalist, to laying low with his family at his second home on Sydney’s Bronte Beach.  The move also meant he took a break from the US, coming home to star in Higher Ground which a movie that’s being described as an Aussie version of a Western.   He plays Travis, a former cop who left the Northern Territory after his superiors covered up a massacre of Aboriginal people that left all but a little boy dead.   He's been speaking to Jack Tame about the impact the movie had on him as an Australian.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20219 minutes, 6 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Portuguese Piri Piri Chicken

Portuguese Piri Piri Chicken  Few countries do BBQ better than the Portuguese with their frango piri piri, chicken cooked over the coals with a spicy lemony sauce to go with it is just the best!  Seves 4-6   1.5 kg whole butterflied chicken 1 bunch thyme 2 lemons, halved 4 potatoes, boiled and cut into wedges  Piri piri marinade  100g melted butter  3 red chillies, seeds discard and roughly chopped 4 garlic cloves, crushed with 1 tsp salt  2 teaspoons smoked paprika  1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 bay leaf ½ cup olive oil To make the piri piri marinade, simmer the ingredients together in a small pot or pan. Allow to cool.at chicken dry with paper towel. Score breasts and thighs with a sharp knife. Rub marinade all over and into the cuts and place in a large shallow dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight if you can,  removing from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. If you can’t do this stage, not to worry! Heat barbecue to high. Place the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until well browned – about 10-15 minutes – before turning over and cooking for a further 15 minutes. Transfer to a roasting dish and add in the potatoes. If you BBQ has a hood, turn heat to medium and lower hood and cook for 30 minutes, basting with a bunch of thyme dipped in the marinade every now and again. Alternatively, transfer chicken and potatoes to an oven heated to 180 C and roast for 30 minutes. It’s cooked when the drum sticks can easily be teased from the carcass. Rest, breast side down, for 15 minutes before chopping up to serve. Cook lemons on BBQ until browned on cut side. Simmer excess marinade for 5-10 minutes.  To serve, squeeze lemon juice over chicken and potatoes and pour marinade into small bowl to serve on the side as it’s great for dipping! LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20215 minutes, 36 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Your 5 year old's first day at school

With some schools back next week, Kevin Milne's been thinking about sending his kids to school for the first time. Forget the kids, they'll be fine, he's got some tips for parents. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20216 minutes, 22 seconds
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Jack Tame: Get rid of cars on Queen street

A few years ago, I asked my Grandad about his impressions from when he first set foot in New Zealand. It was the mid-1960s. He’d sailed from the U.K with his wife and two boys on an Italian liner, when they drew up and docked in Auckland. Together, the Tame family went for a look up Queen Street.  ‘It was horrible!’ said my Grandad. ‘Just awful. We couldn’t wait to get out of the place.’ His midlands accent added an additional level of disgust at the state of Queen Street, back then. And needless to say it was all he could do to get on a train and make his way to the South Island. Queen Street must have been really bad. He’s held onto a grudge for almost sixty years and as far as I know, he’s never been back since.But to be fair to my Grandad, when was the last time you heard someone gushing with compliments for Queen Street? When was the last time you heard someone say, ‘Queen Street’s amazing! It has all the buzz and intrigue of a street befitting the centre of our biggest city!’.The Herald is reporting this morning that Auckland Transport is drawing up plans that will effectively ban cars from Queen Street. There will be a section where buses can travel north and south, but that’ll be it. After a controversial programme which removed two lanes of traffic from Queen Street last year, the authorities want to remove the two lanes of traffic that remain. Queen Street looks set to be pedestrianised.And I for one think the idea is worth exploring. I can understand why some retailers are concerned about change, but at the moment there’s nowhere easy for shoppers to park and the cars on Queen Street are already travelling at a pretty low speeds. I’d assert that most people shopping on Queen Street don’t arrive by car, as it is. And with the Central Rail Link, buses, and rental scooters, there are plenty of other ways to get in to the city. I did an interview a few years back with the chief urban planner in New York. It made a massive impact on me at the time. He talked about revitalising some of Manhattan’s most tired neighbourhoods after 9/11. The key to a good city, he said, is to consider everything from the pedestrian’s perspective. No great city has been designed around cars. Good urban space always puts pedestrians first. And if you build good public space, and nurture good public space, human beings will always use it.To be clear... I’m not suggesting we turn Auckland into an entirely car-free city. But I think the Queen Street idea has merit. As my grandad would probably say... isn’t it worth a crack? After all, it’s not like Queen Street could get much worse. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/29/20213 minutes, 40 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: New album from L.A.B

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the new album from L.A.B.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/23/20216 minutes, 11 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Dressmakers Secret and White Ivy

Catherine Raynes joins Jack Tame to share her book picks of the week.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/23/20214 minutes, 30 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: ​Managing a money hangover

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool joins Jack Tame to share his advice on managing a money hangover.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/23/20218 minutes, 46 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Looking after Monarch Butterflies

Gardening expert Ruud Kleinpaste joins Jack Tame to talk about Monarch Butterflies.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20214 minutes, 51 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Bannockburn in Central Otago

Rubbing shoulders with the bountiful fruit-bowl of Cromwell, sliced only by the Kawarau River and its confluence with the Clutha, Bannockburn beckons as a banger of a destination in its own right. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20215 minutes, 37 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Joe Biden starting from scratch on social media

Paul Stenhouse joins Jack Tame on Newstalk ZB to talk about the big tech stories making the news this week.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20215 minutes, 48 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Good Lord Bird, Tiger and Lupin

Can't decide what TV shows you should be watching? TV critic Tara Ward joins Jack Tame to gives us her top picks for your viewing pleasure! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20214 minutes, 49 seconds
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Jack Tame: Joe Biden's challenge to bring Americans together

Unity. Joe Biden, in his first official speech as the 46th President of the United States, says the thing he wants to do, perhaps more than anything else, is restore a sense of unity in the United States. But in watching everything over the last few months, from Trump’s denial of the election results to the riot at the capitol building, and in reflecting on Trump’s full term in office, I think there are two issues that require immediate attention if Americans are to be unified again.  The first, is the massive slab of Americans whose working dignity and standard of living have been eroded over the last thirty years.  It’s a natural expectations for all human beings that we will have a slightly higher standard of living than our parents’ generation. Just think about how your parents lived, the things they considered luxurious that perhaps we take for granted. How often would your parents have money to eat at a cafe? Would they have travelled much overseas? Progress happens slowly, and we often don’t notice it in the moment. But most of us are fortunate to have a higher standard of living that when our parents were the same age.  But think about all of those millions of Americans, who grew up in the Mid-West in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps Dad only had a high school education but back then, that was more than enough for a good manufacturing job. Mum didn’t have to work, but the family could afford healthcare and a car and a house in the suburbs. Two weeks at a lake house on vacation every year. For tens of millions of Americans, that the baseline expectation.  But now they’re at the same stage of life, their own experiences are so different. As a result of all sorts of things... globalisation and the changing World, those same opportunities aren’t available any more. If you're in the mid-West, in your fifties or sixties with only a high school education, what’s the best job and the best life you could hope for? For many, the answer is low paid, low skilled, often undignified work. Maybe a job at Walmart or 7/11. Poor healthcare options. No vacation at the lakehouse.  Those people and those concerns have been forgotten and ignored by politicians of all stripes for decades. It’s little wonder they were so drawn to Donald Trump’s anarchic political style and his nostalgic message, even if his leadership didn’t actually do much for them. Those people felt heard by Trump and empowered by Trump.  I worry what will happen to those people and many others in an automated World in a few years when self-driving cars are the norm. What happens, then? How will they live fulfilling and dignified lives? The solution is incredibly complex... it means a total change to education and training and economic systems. I really think Biden needs to prioritise finding a way to empower those people.  I also think maybe the biggest continuing threat to democracy in the U.S, and to unity, is the state of the media. I mean that in the broadest terms; traditional media forms and social media. Biden didn’t mention it in his inauguration and I haven’t heard plans for any drastic reforms, but for me... that attack on the capitol was a calcifying moment. A moment that showed us with smashing glass and gunshots just how much people’s perceptions of the World around them are being manipulated by the way we access and consume information. Is the solution to ban politicians and Presidents from Twitter? Personally, I feel uncomfortable with the idea that a few silicon valley executives can pick and choose who they want to have platforms. But we can’t stick with the status quo, either. So much media, from cable news to Facebook, thrives on a model that neatly divides people into bubbles, stoking their fears, reinforcing their opinions, and provoking them. Do we break up big tech? Regulate algorithms? I don’t know, but something has to change.  Regardless of how anyone might feel about Donald Trump, Biden is right...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20215 minutes, 38 seconds
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Elizabeth Day on her book 'Failosophy: A Handbook For When Things Go Wrong'

In her book Failosophy: A Handbook For When Things Go Wrong, Elizabeth Day brings together all the lessons she has learned, from conversations with the guests on her award-winning How to Fail podcast, from stories shared with her by readers and listeners, and from her own life, and distils them into seven principles of failure.She joined Jack Tame on the show this morning.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/202112 minutes, 45 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A special holiday reunion

Former broadcaster Kevin Milne joins Jack Tame to talk about a special 50 year reunion he attended during the holidays.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20215 minutes, 46 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Penguin Bloom and Sylvie's Love

Film reviewer and Newstalk ZB host Francesca Rudkin joins Jack Tame to share her movie pick of the week, Penguin Bloom and Sylvie's Love.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20217 minutes, 46 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Caramelised nectarines with homemade yoghurt curd

Nici Wickes joins Jack Tame to share her caramelised nectarines with homemade yoghurt curd recipe.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1/22/20214 minutes, 42 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Delta Goodrem's Christmas album

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to Delta Goodrem's surprise Christmas album.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20205 minutes, 47 seconds
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Books with Catherine Raynes: Top summer reads

Catherine Raynes has some picks for sumer reading:Fiction The Evening and the Morning - Ken Follett A Tine for Mercy - John Grisham  The searcher- Tana French This Tender Land - William Kent Kreuger Non- Fiction Bella - Annabel Langbien No Time Like the Future - Michael J Fox Troy - Stephen Fry A Promised Land - Barack Obama Searching for Charlie - Tom Scott  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20205 minutes, 41 seconds
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Mike Yardley: A year of Covid travels

Resident traveller Mike Yardley has been reflecting on a year of travels in Covid times.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20209 minutes, 27 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Wrap it up

Wrap it up Doesn’t it bug you to see the mounds of plastic ribbons going into the rubbish on Christmas morning? Or make you uncomfortable to wonder just how they make wrapping paper so shiny and colourful, who made it, and where? In fact, much of that glossy stuff isn’t recyclable. The glittery and metallic papers contain plastics, so they need to go into the rubbish. But gift wrapping gives us the same challenge as dressing fashionably. You want it to look sophisticated, neat, and stylish, just without all the waste, exploitation, and environmental impact. That is not always the easiest thing to pull off. * I love the Japanese tradition of furoshiki fabric wraps. and you are now seeing some progressive stores doing this for you. And much of the material may be found already at your home * Kids art work or get the kids to paint some the material that comes into your house , like online deliveries, paper grocery bags etc. Then decorate it with string and shells, greenery from the garden, or re-purposed pacific lei.  * Xmas cards can be changed to Xmas tags * Second hand store are a great start for packaging: Scarves, tea or kitchen towels, decorative brooches, vintage cards, old maps, jars and cookie tins * Mum always keep the best wrapping paper to use again in the future and we do the same. A secret to making this work is in how you wrap the paper so it is easy to salvage it again. For example, hemp string instead of cello tape overkill. Also having a special storage area saved for this purpose in your home to keep it out of the way and undamaged. we have old ribbons, cards and paper in a basket.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20207 minutes, 37 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Taking a closer look at the Pohutukawa

Air traffic Control  Heading towards summer there are soooo many shrubs, climbers and trees in flower, luring in pollinators and other organisms, interested in the protein of pollen and the carbohydrates of nectar. On some plants it simply is great entertainment to just sit or stand still and watch what flies there. And it all flies there without air traffic control!  Pohutukawa and some of the rata species flower around Christmas and they’re usually very busy indeed.  The usual suspects: honey bees (Apis mellifera) and at least two species of bumble bees: the common, large earth bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and the large Garden bumble bee (Bombus ruderatus). Their ideas are to gather nectar (it is merely sugar water, a quick energy fix with a kick) for energy and to store it as honey in the nest. They also collect pollen which is fed to the larvae (for growth)  The often unseen bees: Our native bee species (27 different species in all)! They tend to be small. Most species are so-called “solitary” bees; a pair (but really... mostly the female!) digs their own, narrow tunnel in the ground; there she makes a small nest for a few off-spring, raised on nectar and especially pollen. On the food plants they stand out as active little dark-coloured bees. You’ll find them on Manuka as well.  The unexpected pollinators: flies of all shapes and sizes, colours and descriptions. The idea of a free lunch is simply too good for most of these insects. Houseflies, blowflies, fleshflies and Dilophus nigrostimus, a native Bibionid fly which is black and red and has a rather long-ish head. You often find these flies feeding in large numbers on pollen of flowers along the road-sides. Bibionids are known overseas as “march flies”; we often call them Blossom Flies, which seems a lot more appropriate. Thrips: If you go to your optometrist regularly and look real close, you can even find thrips and such minute insects clambering around the pollen – it’s just part of the free-for-all. Many people think thrips are pests (and indeed, some of them are, but the majority are either predators of useful pollinators. Beetles and other invertebrates: When rata and pohutukawa leaves emerge from the buds in spring, a lot of them have small, often circular, holes in them. Blame a tiny native weevil (Neomycta rubida) for these activities. The weevil is already present inside the unfolding buds to take advantage of the freshest virgin foliage on earth. The weevils lay their eggs in the leaf stalks and the ensuing larvae mine the foliage. Of course, when the small adult weevils cruise the Metrosideros leaves, birds are quite eager to snap them up. To a silvereye, they are nothing more than convenient, bite-sized packages of protein.  Some beetle species are also frequenting pohutukawa and rata flowers; that includes some ladybird beetles. Pollen and nectar provide them with the nutrients to lay eggs in amongst aphids and scale insects in your garden In the rough bark live weta, large predatory flightless beetles and native roaches. You’ll see those at night. And although they might not fly around our Christmas Trees and rata vines, they are just as much part of the Aotearoa ecosystem of early summer.   LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20204 minutes, 2 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: Cutting back on sugar

It may be time for all the Christmas treats, but Dr Bryan Betty wants us to keep our sugar intake in check.He's a GP, medical director for the College of GPs and has been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20205 minutes, 44 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Avoiding holiday hackers

We’re going to be hearing a lot more about the hack of the US government  The more details that come out, the worse this is getting. US intelligence says Russian hackers are behind this highly sophisticated attack.  How’d they do it? Simply, they managed to first hack and embed malicious code in a trusted piece of software used to manage their IT networks. It was undetected, then activated and started sending data. US government agencies and branches of the military have all been infiltrated. Major Fortune 100 companies are also on the list. President Donald Trump hasn’t addressed this at all. Incoming President Joe Biden is going to need to deal with it. Speaking of hacks.. you have some items we should be adding to our holiday to-do lists + Change your passwords or even better use a password manager - 1Password, LastPass, Dashlane. At bare minimum have three passwords - your email password, a different password for important services, then a password for less important services.  + Turn on 2 Factor Authentication on your email account. Remember that if someone can get into your email, they can then reset any account on any service where you use that email address. You should use 2 Factor Authentication on any service that allows it.  + Make sure your files are backed up. Look into services such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox to store copies online. Get an external hard drive, fill it up, and store it somewhere secure that’s not your house.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20207 minutes, 39 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Bridgerton, Yellowstone, Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown

Bridgerton: Shonda Rhimes’ first Netflix production is a sumptuous period drama set during the Regency era in England, as eight close-knit siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family attempt to find love (Netlfix, Christmas Day). Yellowstone: A modern-day Western about the Dutton family, who control the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. Led by patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner), the family must defend their Montana property against land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first National Park (Neon, New Years Day).  Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown: a special VoD episode where Dawn French reprises her role as Britain's favourite vicar, delivering lockdown sermons to her parishioners via Zoom (New Years Eve, 7pm, TVNZ1). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20205 minutes, 22 seconds
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Delta Goodrem surprising fans with a Christmas album

If you’re after some new Christmas music, Delta Goodrem is here to deliver. She spent lockdown looking forward to the festive season with her family, and produced a surprise album of Christmas tunes including original song "Only Santa Knows".She's been speaking to Jack Tame.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/202010 minutes, 36 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Summer pantry essentials

Nici Wickes has got a list of things you should have on hand this summer:Dairy  Parmesan cheese Greek yoghurt Sour cream / cream cheese / creme fraiche    Pantry  Olive oil + sesame oil  Red wine vinegar Tins of guava, salmon, tomatoes, creamed corn  Sushi rice  - great for sushi & for rice pudding & risotto  Protein  Quality sausages Frozen prawns Eggs  Veges/Herbs/Fruit   Bunches of parsley & coriander - I'll let you know how to store these so they last all summer long  Garlic & onions or spring onions  Lemons lemons lemons Tomatoes Frozen berries  Fresh berries, stonefruit, watermelon   Other Flat breads: wraps/tortilla/lebanese bread LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20205 minutes, 32 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Movie picks for summer

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Wonder Woman 84, A Call to Spy, Blithe Spirit, and The Thief and the Painter.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20207 minutes, 59 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Was 2020 so bad after all?

Kevin Milne's not so sure 2020 was as bad as we're making out. He's been talking to Jack Tame about some of the good things that came out of this year.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20204 minutes, 59 seconds
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Jack Tame: My biggest takeaway from Covid-19

At the end of the nationwide pandemic lockdown, I sat down in my spare bedroom and recorded myself speaking for an hour. Maybe it sounds a bit silly, but I just figured we were living through a fascinating historical moment. I wanted to record my memories and experiences while they were fresh. I dunno; I thought it might help someone’s Year 11 History project in a few decades’ time.  2020. Yep. I was there for that.  I think I’ll do the same over my summer break. Record another little spiel with my memories of 2020. Because I feel that stuff  I had a great moment yesterday afternoon, luxuriating in the heat of Auckland’s summer sun in the centre of the Viaduct, with hundreds of people who’d come down to enjoy the America’s Cup. I sent a photo to friends overseas of Kiwi crowds, unmasked, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder eating ice cream and enjoying spectacular racing. ‘Summer in New Zealand!’ I said.  ‘I’m so jealous.’ Said my friend in New York. ‘That looks amazing.’  Most Americans can only dream of safely moving through crowds, but even in the worst-hit country, there is reason for optimism. It turns out my friend had her own bit of news. As a frontline health worker in a Manhattan hospital, she’s scheduled to receive her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday this week. America is staring down a bleak winter, no doubt. But maybe, she said, this is the beginning of the end.  So what have we learnt from this year? In what ways are we wiser than at this time last year? For me the single biggest takeaway from Covid-19 is that for many of us the pandemic brought our priorities more sharply into focus. This year has made think a little more than I did 12 months ago, about the life I actually want to live, and the people who are most important to me.  I dunno about you, but when life is normal, with the normal freedom we enjoy, I get kind of caught up in the noise and momentum and inertia of working and eating and sleeping, without actually pausing to consider how I want to live my best life and if I’m prioritising the right things. I’m not saying I’m gonna dedicate myself to a monastic existence and write a book on middle-class mindfulness. It was just a shock to me to realise all of the things we take for granted. It was interesting, for example, when the World shut down and all of a sudden I wasn’t able to see them, how much I missed my family and friends… even after only a couple of days.  So. How to make sure we change our behaviour, as a result of all of this? It’s actually not that easy… especially when New Zealand’s pretty mint right now. Little changes I guess. I’ve deleted Twitter off my phone. Sure it sounds silly, but I don’t know how many months of my life I’ve lost to mindlessly scrolling through people saying nasty things online. I don’t need that.  I’ve started group chats with friends who live overseas, so we’re all still sharing the same in-jokes. I’ll never moan about a long-haul flight ever again!  I want to think about some other things, too. Christmas and summer is a good time to take stock. To reset. And as we all bid farewell to the annus horribilis… maybe that’s a good question to ponder. What will your experience in 2020 change about the things your prioritise in 2021, and for the rest of your life?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/18/20205 minutes, 1 second
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: New album from the Smashing Pumpkins

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to the Smashing Pumpkins’ eleventh studio album "Cyr".LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/12/20203 minutes, 19 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Cultivating gratitude

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has some tips on cultivating gratitude in the festive season. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/12/20209 minutes, 26 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Dressmaker of Paris and Hidden in Plain Sight

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The dressmaker of Paris by Georgia Kaufman and Hidden in Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/12/20203 minutes, 19 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Summer in Cromwell

Travel writer Mike Yardley has some tips for summer in Cromwell.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/12/20206 minutes, 40 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Bag moths

Bag moths  Ever wondered what it's like, living in a bag? There are many different species that live in bags or cases for prolonged periods of time and the cool thing is, they make those bags themselves. Silk appears to be the material of choice in the majority of bag-builders. That silk can be really strong too. One of the most obvious (up to 80 mm long) insects that shows off its bag in our garden is the native bag moth (Liothula omnivora). They are often found hanging from conifers and hebes, flaxes, tea-tree, willow, cherry, you name it. Their grey cases don’t really move much during the day, but at night the inhabitants cruise the foliage and nibble; creating holes.  The bags are constructed “as they go and grow”. Crossed layers of sturdy silk: impenetrable! They also add “camouflage” to the bags: pieces of dead foliage, twigs and other locally-found materials. That can include bits of plastic bags or psychedelic coloured post-it notes (young scientists experimenting with drugs!).  The cases protect the caterpillar and also do well as a pupa cocoon for metamorphosis. Their lifecycle is like most Lepidoptera, but females (when they hatch from the pupa) are wingless and flightless and are fertilised by the male moths inside their cases. Males are black and fast-flying moths that detect females via pheromone scent.  But the craziest bags around (especially in the North Island) are the pieces of “dirt” that hang from walls, rocks and tree trunks at this time of the year. They are merely 20 mm long and have that untidy look that won’t get them any prizes in Fashion Week. This is the time of the year when they are most commonly seen. These silk bags are adorned with bits of dirt and lichen, wood and grains of sand. Inside, live caterpillars of an Australian moth species by the name of Cebysa leucoteles. It’s a critter that came across the ditch in the nineteen seventies or so, possibly on some agricultural machinery destined for MOTAT museum in Western Springs, Auckland. Cebysa is not like our native bag moth; it does not feed on foliage and it does not leave holes in leaves. Instead, it roams around mouldy old wood and green, algae-ridden trellises or south-facing walls and soffits, covered in slime, moss and algae. Cebysa is the living, breathing and reproducing version of “Wet and Forget”.  The adult moths are around in March and they look quite amazing: males: orange brown and fully winged Females are most iridescent blue and bright orange. Their wings are “distorted” and shaped like the elytra of ladybird beetles. They can’t fly at all, but often are found walking fast over pavers, decks and garden soil.  Like running jewels! And in the middle of the day! Males will track them down to mate with them. Look out for them, especially in the Auckland suburbs and further afield. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20203 minutes, 50 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Self-driving cars in San Francisco

Apple's expensive holiday surprise It was a genuine apple surprise - the AirPod Max headphones were announced on Monday.. just in time for Christmas shopping! But the price tag is wild. Even tech's biggest geeks were shocked at needing to spend $550 on the latest gadget. That's almost the price of the iPhone 11! Don't forget the $35 cable to allow you to plug them into a 3.5mm audio jack. In true Apple style, they don't have a power button. Instead they turn off when they're not on your head and go into an ultra low power mode when in their case.  The early reviews so far say they sound as good as other premium headphones.. just that they're more expensive. One reviewer said the aluminium shell looked like plastic - ouch. Cars are driving themselves in San Francisco Cruise, one of the self-driving car ventures, is now testing fully driverless cars in a dense urban environment. There's no one behind the steering wheel, but there is a safety operator in the vehicle who can press an emergency button to stop the car. There's also a team back at HQ watching a live feed who can do the same thing. It's taken over 2 million miles, five years of rigorous testing to get to this point. There are some rules though; there are only allowed to be five driverless vehicles on specified streets, and they can only go 30 mph.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20203 minutes, 56 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Fixing your finances in 2021

enable.me's Hannah McQueen has some tips for you, if you're going to put ‘finances’ on your New Year resolution list. If you want more personalised advice, you can get in touch with enable.me at www.enable.me  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20206 minutes, 43 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Your Honour, ESPN Films and Tiny Pretty Things

Screen Queen Tara Ward has some picks for your weekend watching:Your Honour: Bryan Cranston stars in this drama about a respected judge, who's son is involved in a hit-and-run that leads to a high-stakes game of lies, deceit and impossible choices (Soho/Neon, 15/12).  ESPN Films: TVNZ OnDemand welcome a new collection of intriguing sports documentaries, produced by ESPN and following the lives of a variety of renowned athletes (TVNZ OnDemand, from 12/12)  Tiny Pretty Things: Netflix’s new drama follows the world of an elite ballet academy, and charts the rise and fall of young adults who live far from their homes, each standing on the verge of greatness or ruin (Netflix 14/12). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20204 minutes, 32 seconds
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Rachel House on new Disney film Soul, lockdown and Kiwis in Hollywood

If you're looking for something to relax with on Boxing Day, look no further than the new Pixar film Soul. Featuring Kiwi actress Rachel House, it's about a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected .. until he travels to another realm and discovers "what it means to have soul".The film is released in New Zealand on Disney+.Jack's been talking to Rachel House about being a Disney darling.WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/202012 minutes, 41 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Mank, Ava and Amundsen

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Mank, Ava and Amundsen.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20208 minutes, 33 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Turkey with kumara & sage stuffing

Turkey with kumara & sage stuffing & roasted cherries Turkey sometimes gets a bad rap and I can’t fathom why. Cooked and rested properly it’s a wonderful centrepiece for the festive table and feeds a crowd beautifully.  Serves 10-12  Size 3.5-4.5 turkey  1/4 cup olive oil  2 tsp sea salt 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped roughly ½ cup red or white wine or water 2 cups fresh cherries   Stuffing 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs  350g kumara, steamed and mashed  1 onion, diced fine  50g melted butter (can use olive oil)  6-8 sage leaves, shredded Handful Italian parsley, chopped roughly 1 tsp salt + ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper Gravy 1/3 cup plain flour ¼ cup red or white wine  Water Salt and pepper to taste   Heat oven to 200 C.  Make the stuffing by mixing all the stuffing together.  Prepare the turkey by patting dry cavity and skin with paper towel. Stuff cavity with half the stuffing. Roll remaining stuffing into balls and set aside. Rub oil all over turkey and sprinkle with sea salt. For even cooking, always truss the turkey by which I mean tie its legs together (this helps keep the stuffing in place too) and secure wings into the body too. We chefs have fancy ways to do this (google it if you need a visual) but use kitchen string for the legs and/or tooth picks for wings - both will be removed once cooked so don’t worry too much how neat it looks.  Scatter chopped onions in a large, deep roasting dish (one with a lid is even better). Place turkey on the onions, breast side up. Pour wine/water around your bird. Cook for 30 minutes until breast is golden then cover with lid or double layer of foil and continue cooking for however long is recommended on your turkey packaging – usually about 2.5-3 hours for a turkey this size.  At 2 hour mark, add in stuffing balls and cherries around the turkey, baste turkey with pan juices and continue cooking, uncovered until cooked through. If breast and tops of drumsticks look to be getting too browned, cover loosely with foil.  Once cooked, carefully lift turkey, stuffing balls and cherries out of roasting dish. Rest turkey, breast side down, for at least 15 minutes during which you can make the gravy.    Make the gravy; Place roasting dish over medium heat on the stove top. Sprinkle over  flour and scrape up all the cooked onions and scrummy bits. I use a fish slice. Pour in wine and let sizzle and simmer for one minute. Add water (start with half a cup) and stir out any lumps as it simmers and thickens, but don’t stress you’ll pour it through a sieve later anyway. Keep adding water bit by bit to get the right consistency. It will need to simmer for at least 10 minutes to fully cook out all the flour. Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Strain into a warmed jug/gravy boat to serve.  Serve turkey on a large platter with stuffing, cherries and some cooked greens (asparagus of you can still find them or beans) on the side.  Enjoy!  Nici’s note:  The key with breast meat that’s moist and delicious is half in the cooking and half in the carving. Always rest the cooked bird with the breast side down as this enables the juices to run into the breast meat. Then, when ready to carve, remove the breasts and slice across the breast, rather than lengthwise and you’ll end up with lovely tender, juicy sliced turkey.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20205 minutes, 24 seconds
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Jack Tame: Make travel to Australia a priority

I’m going to start the show this morning by crossing my fingers and very publicly knocking on wood. I’m not trying to stress you out. I’m not trying to spook anyone. But. Have you imagined what would happen if there was an unexpected outbreak of Covid-19 some time in the next week or two?  EEEEE... ! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s a prospect so hideous I hate to even mention it. But it’s a possibility, right? We know our border control measures aren’t 100% fail-proof. And just imagine if the government was forced to decide on another lockdown a few days before Christmas. Something tells me that scenario might test the public faith in the NZ elimination strategy. So for goodness sake, please, don’t get sloppy now... use the Covid app! I understand with Christmas this close why the powers-that-be want to continue our conservative approach when it comes to Covid-19.  Kiwis are going to be travelling a lot internally over the next week or two. And I don’t sense that many of us have a big appetite for risk.But after Christmas and into the 2021, our leaders have to make the Trans-Tasman bubble an absolute priority. If it weren’t for Christmas and New Year, there’s little reason it shouldn’t be up and running now.I should say, I’ve been very careful with my words this year. Unlike a lot of my colleagues, I didn’t come on the radio in the early days of this pandemic and say ‘New Zealand’s being crazy... we need to open up now!’ I waited. I respected expertise. And I respected the fact we didn’t know much about Covid-19.  But it’s for the same reason I really think we need to get our As into G, after New Year. Epidemiologists here and in Australia – even the more conservatively-minded ones can see little reason why a bubble shouldn’t be established. Our contact-tracing capacity is vastly improved on where it was at the start of the year. The borders are effectively closed. And having been through managed isolation, I think the systems are well established. They’re pretty solid.But it’s not rational to use all of that resource on people arriving from places where there is little or no Covid-19. My aunt has just returned from Australia and spent two weeks in managed isolation. You can’t tell me she posed a bigger threat than the people on my plane arriving from the United States. So why would we treat her the same? We’re on top of things. We are managing the risk. We have the capacity to build nuance into the system. One of the main holdups according to the Prime Minister is Australia’s definition of what qualifies as a Covid-19 hotspot. It would take a state recording 30 cases across three consecutive days for a regional travel ban to be introduced. That means if a state had 28 or 27 cases across three days... hypotethically, people could still travel to New Zealand.  But there’s nothing to stop Jacinda Ardern and her advisors setting a different, tougher standard for entry into New Zealand. Why not establish a bubble with the broadly-publicised caveat, that if conditions worsen, the rules might very quickly become more strict. For example, say a state records 15 cases across 3 days... we then require anyone arriving from Australia to self-isolate. That would be part of the deal. People could travel without restrictions, but know that if things get bad, they’d be legally required to self-isolate. If an outbreak is really serious, we go one further.  We pause passenger flights until there’s space for travellers coming from Australia to go through the MIQ process again.Obviously, none of these scenarios is ideal. There is risk in every restriction we choose to loosen. But if we can get through Christmas and New Year – knock on wood – it’s time to set our ambitions a little further afield.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/11/20204 minutes, 47 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Kiwi singer Anna Coddington

Kiwi singer-songwriter Anna Coddington has just released her fourth studio album, Beams, and our music reviewer Estele Clifford has been taking a listen.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20204 minutes, 2 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: The Searcher and Law of Innocence

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Searcher by Tania French and Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20204 minutes, 9 seconds
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Mike Yardley: The Road to Milford

Mike Yardley has been travelling the Road to Milford, Fiordland.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20207 minutes, 5 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: 2020 Green Gift Guide

Green Gift Guide  Studies have shown that 25% of gifts and thrown out between Christmas and New Years’ Day, so lets give things that people can treasure and find useful.  Most people already have keep cups and reusable bags in their cars, so here are some new sustainable gift ideas:   * Beautiful container with lid that can sit on the kitchen countertop and you put your compost scraps straight into. * Reusable covers for bowls. Often now made with bees wax  * Solar powered phone charger * Natural based lip balms, hand creams or other beauty products.  * Collection of eco-cleaners. Ecostore does a gift bucket full. Start at the batch and end up using them everywhere .. people need to try to be convinced that they work as well. * Really beautiful shopping produce bags, preferably ones that can fold down and live in your bag or car.* Cookbook looking at no waste, reusing leftovers etc.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20208 minutes, 27 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: How to avoid mozzies this summer

How to avoid mozzies this summerGet rid of stagnant water in gutters and drains, saucers under plant pots, plastic kid’s pools, tarpaulins, dingies, canoes, drill holes in the bottom of tyre swings, and make sure weed mats don’t have ‘ponding’ happening.   If you have a swimming pool, keep chlorine up-to-date. Use goldfish in your pond – they eat the mosquitoes’ wrigglers, but don't introduce gambusia (mosquito fish) - they're a terrible exotic pest. Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) granules can kill the wrigglers in ponding sites you cannot manage: use the correct quantity for the size of the water body.But mozzies aren't all badAdult males are ace pollinators. All mosquitoes are great food for: Insectivorous birds like fantails, grey warblers, and swallows; insectivorous insects like dragonflies, robber flies, water boatmen, backswimmers; and food for larval fish species and adult small fishes like frogs and lizards. The “wrigglers” also do a great job eating bacterial slime and other micro-organisms. They keep lakes and ponds clear and clean, with less pollution.  Overall I reckon they do a great job and the least we can do is make the charitable donation of a few drops of our blood to fuel that whole ecosystem!LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20206 minutes, 6 seconds
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Wine with Bob Campbell: An organic Rose

Master of Wine Bob Campbell's Best Buy for the week is the Momo 2020 Organic Rose, Marlborough $19.99.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20203 minutes, 36 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Car license plates go digital

Your car's license plate could be the next thing to go digital  This has been a work in progress since 2009, but now California and Arizona are starting to adopt them. Why head down this road? + They can display messages to other cars to say "I'm stolen". + In the USA, your license plate follows you if you buy a new car, so you could very easily change it to your new one. + It could also broadcast "Amber Alerts" to alert motorists that there is a missing child. They could even broadcast other statewide important messages too, like "wear a mask" as is currently displayed on many electronic road signs today. If this catches on, you might even be able to buy your next car with built in digital plates. No more ugly add ons, they could be sleek and part of the design.   Apple's self-designed processor is blazing fast  This really is the next chapter of Apple's computers. The iPhone and iPad have been made possible thanks to Apple's self-made chips, and now they're coming to their computer lineup.  It's impressing the tech community.  The new chip delivers better processing performance than a fully tricked out $6,000 MacBook Pro using an old chip. It also runs cooler and uses less battery. The challenge is that all the software that currently runs on Macs but won't work natively on this new laptop until its been redeveloped, so it may pay to be a second or third adopter, rather than a first. It also means that iOS and Mac apps will be able to run cross-platform which will make app development more efficient. Twitter is ditching its conversations view They've been trying to make it easier to follow conversations on Twitter - because oftentimes, apart from fun memes and quippy lines, following conversations between two informed people can be super beneficial and enjoyable. But the interface they rolled out to try and do this actually made it harder. So now they're back to the drawing board. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20206 minutes, 15 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Being a God in Florida, The Wilds and Coronation Street

Being a God in Florida: Kirsten Dunst stars in this dark comedy drama about a minimum-wage water park employee who lies, schemes, and cons her way up the ranks of the cultish, multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme that drove her family to ruin (TVNZ OnDemand).  The Wilds - Amazon Prime Video’s new drama which was filmed in and around Auckland and drops on Friday.  Coronation Street diamond jubilee:  TVNZ celebrate 60 glorious years of Coronation Street with a special week of Coro programming, including a variety of daytime and primetime special episodes for fans of the beloved British drama to enjoy (from Sunday 6 December, TVNZ1) LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20204 minutes, 28 seconds
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James Bowen: From the streets to best-selling books and movies

It’s time to accept that Christmas is well and truly on the way. What better way to embrace the spirit of the season, than with a heart-warming sequel to 'A Street Cat Named Bob' - 'A Christmas Gift From Bob'. It's the story about a world-famous street cat and his owner, James Bowen. For those unaware of their story, James was fighting a drug addiction and surviving as a busker. Then, a video of him playing with Bob on his shoulders went viral. He was approached to write a book, which sold 8 million copies.   He's been speaking to Jack Tame about the journey from homeless man to best-selling books, and two movies. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/202011 minutes, 33 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Festive Wreath

Festive Wreath This dessert is always a standout at Christmas and it’s actually very easy to make! Dress it up with whatever gorgeous fruit and berries you fancy to suit your menu.   Serves 10-12  7 egg whites 340g caster sugar (about 1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons) 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar (can use lemon juice but I find vinegar more reliable)  Topping 400mls cream, whipped 100g mascarpone 2 teaspoons vanilla extract  Fruit – I used strawberries and thinly sliced mango  ¼ cup almond flakes or anything else you like (I added pieces of pistachio cranberry nougat)  Preheat oven to 130 C. Line a flat tray with baking paper. Draw a 28cm circle on the baking paper.  Make the meringue: Beat egg whites until soft peak stage. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, beating for about 20 seconds between each addition. It’s important to not rush this phase and to keep beating after all the sugar has been incorporated until it is stiff, glossy and the sugar has dissolved. At this point add the vinegar and beat for 1 minute more.  Assemble the wreath: Spoon out large tablespoons of meringue, arranging them to overlap slightly, around the drawn circle, leaving the inner area free. Aim for 12-14 large spoonfuls. Make an indent in each one with the back of the spoon as this is where the whipped cream will sit. Bake for 1.5 hours then leave in the oven to completely cool down. Do not open the oven or you risk the meringue cracking.  To serve: Whip the cream with the mascarpone and vanilla and spoon this into the little indents then creative with your toppings. I used thinly sliced mango and strawberries, some flaked almonds and some Christmassy cranberry and pistachio nougat. You could use lemon curd and candied orange, stonefruit and walnut, fresh cherries and dark chocolate…the options are endless!  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20203 minutes, 39 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Happiest Season and Misbehaviour

Movie reviewer Francescsa Rudkin has been watching Christmas movie Happiest Season, and Miss World comedy-drama Misbehavoiur.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20208 minutes, 4 seconds
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Kevin Milne: Is it possible to ban Crate Day?

Kevin Milne's worried about the damage done with 'Crate Day' every year - a day when young people get together to drink an entire crate of beer to mark the beginning of sumer. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20207 minutes, 5 seconds
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Jack Tame: Just give me the vaccine

I’ll take the vaccine. I’ll do it live on telly or live on the radio, if you like. I don’t care if I’m first or last in line. If the health authorities here deem it safe, I will gladly be vaccinated against Covid-19 at the first available opportunity.And you know what? I think most Kiwis will, too.I get it – there is a sense of anxiety in some quarters and in some countries about the safety of the vaccine. Not just with the usual anti-vaxxing crowds, either, but people who are all good with MMR but feel a little nervous about just how quickly the Covid-19 vaccines have been developed. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci managed to contribute to some of the anxieties around the vaccine by undermining the British health regulators who have approved it for distribution.But I feel comfortable. I feel confident. I trust that the incredibly speedy process of development and approval for the Pfizer vaccine in the UK is a product of the unprecedented urgent global demand, rather than shortcuts in the process. I might not be quite so keen to take that Russian vaccine that’s been knocking about, but if the British authorities reckon there one’s ok, that’s good enough for me. It’s clearly going to take a bit more effort in some other countries to get people to agree to be vaccinated. Even in those places hardest hit by the pandemic. Presidents Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, all say they’ll be vaccinated in public if doing so will help to make Americans more comfortable. The fact they feel that might be necessary speaks to just how much public trust in the American authorities, and trust in scientific expertise, has decayed over the last few years.That’s why I don’t see it being an issue here. Call us a nation of goodie-two-shoes or sheep or whatever you like, but for whatever reason, Kiwis have largely trusted the authorities and valued scientific expertise throughout this pandemic. And I think most of us hobnobbing at cafes this morning, or attending kids’ end-of-year school prizegivings, feel we have been rewarded for that trust.I’m in the somewhat unique position of having spent time this year in New Zealand and several weeks in the U.S as the cases numbers there spiked again. And I can tell you first-hand, that day-to-day life here is vastly more enjoyable right now than it is in the U.S.If trusting our scientists when they say a vaccine is safe, and taking it as soon as its available, means we can lock in regular life… I think most Kiwis will feel the same way I do.They’ll roll up their sleeves – ow! - and get on with it.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/4/20203 minutes, 17 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Neem Oil

Neem Oil Neem oil has become a popular insecticide and fungicide that is used by many gardeners. It is natural, organic, and relatively safe. It can be used to control or kill a wide range of pests, and it’s available on the NZ market.  There are a few different types of Neem Oil and - surprise surprise! – they have different modes of activity and control different organisms in different ways.  Neem comes from the neem tree (Azadirachta indica), (India, Sri Lanka, Burma, etc). The tree produces nuts which are ground and cold-pressed to extract their oil. The active ingredient in neem that harms insects is called azadirachtin and the cold press process ensures that it does not degrade. Further processing removes the azadirachtin from the rest of the oil. The remaining oil is called “clarified hydrophobic neem oil”.  How does Neem Oil work when sprayed on a plant? Well it may disappoint you, but when the leaves are coated, insects are not killed by the deposit, but it makes the leaves taste bad, so the damage is very much reduced. But when juvenile insects eat the azadirachtin-coated leaves, their metamorphosis can be severely disrupted – they simply can’t shed their skin! That means that neem oil sprays are not a quick fix.Azadirachtin is rapidly degraded in direct sunlight – it last less than a day, although the oily substance itself might linger a lot longer (until it gets washed off by rain).  When it comes to systemic activity: azadirachtin does not penetrate the plant very well, but as a soil-drench it appears to be a lot more effective, as long as the soil pH is below 7. It is absorbed by roots.  Azadirachtin is not an effective compound on adult insects so if they eat the sprayed plant parts then it’ll be business as usual. There about few hundred insect species that are affected by neem oil sprays – many “don’t give a toss”! Some of the species that are negatively affected are beneficials, such as lacewings, which are inhibited from laying eggs.  There are varying efficacy data for all sorts of insects when sprayed with Neem Oil; Whitefly might be OK (but target the underside of the newer leaves!) and aphids tend to suffer as well; hard-bodied and adult insects are largely immune, as are spiders and ants.   The Clarified hydrophobic Neem Oil (the stuff without the azadirachtin) is just like any other spraying oil: it suffocates insects when applied in dense-enough quantities to coat most insects. It works against things like scale, mealybugs, leafhoppers, mites, whiteflies and aphids, but it does not control many of the other insects that are controlled by neem oil. It can kill insect eggs. As with all spraying oils: repeated applications are crucial to cover future generations as well. (and remember to thoroughly coat the plants!Neem oil and disease control It’s the oil that does the work by sticking the spores on the leaves and drying them out (preventing spore-germination). What I read in literature is that ordinary conqueror oil does a much better job in sticking the spores to the plants, and a bicarbonate solution works even better! LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20205 minutes, 9 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Managing pre-Christmas stress

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool has some tips on managing pre-Christmas stress. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20209 minutes
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Sam Smith's new album Love Goes

Music reviewer Estelle Clifford has been listening to Sam Smith's new album, LoveGoes. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20207 minutes, 20 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: Stephen Fry and David Baldacci

Catherine Raynes has been reading Stephen Fry's new book Troy, and David Baldacci's Daylight. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20203 minutes, 43 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Te Anau Adventures

Mike Yardley has been on some adventures in Te Anau. FOR TRAVEL TIPS - LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20206 minutes, 46 seconds
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Dr Bryan Betty: When will we get the COVID vaccine?

We're getting some very positive news around new vaccines for COVID, but the question everyone's asking is when will we get our hands on it? Bryan Betty is Saturday morning's resident GP, as well as Medical Director for the College of GPs and he’s also on the Covid-19 advisory committee. He's been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20203 minutes, 36 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Something new for Apple nerds

Apple's self-designed processor is blazing fast This really is the next chapter of Apple's computers. The iPhone and iPad have been made possible thanks to Apple's self-made chips, and now they're coming to their computer lineup.  It's impressing the tech community. The new chip delivers better processing performance than a fully tricked out $6,000 MacBook Pro using an old chip. It also runs cooler and uses less battery. The challenge is that all the software that currently runs on Macs but won't work natively on this new laptop until its been redeveloped, so it may pay to be a second or third adopter, rather than a first. It also means that iOS and Mac apps will be able to run cross-platform which will make app development more efficient. Elon Musk’s wealth continues to grow The SpaceX and Tesla founder has now surpassed Bill Gates, the former Microsoft founder, to be the second richest person on the planet. He’s worth $128 billion - increasing $100 billion this year alone. That’s largely thanks to Tesla’s $400 billion increase in market cap. SpaceX has also had a very successful year sending 6 astronauts to the ISS. It should be noted that Gates would probably have more wealth than Musk if he hadn’t have given so much money to charity.  Amazon is starting a pharmacy “Amazon Pharmacy” is licensed for dispensing in all 50 states. Prime members will also be able to get free two-day shipping. You can use your health insurance, or they’ll have 80% discounts available on the retail price of generic drugs - which will likely cause some competition in the market. They’re making it easier to compare prices too. Share prices of pharmacy chains fell on the news. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE           See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20203 minutes, 39 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: Taranaki Hard, Industry, Dash & Lily

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some good tele for your weekend:Taranaki Hard: a new documentary series. In the heat of the beautiful Taranaki summer, a diverse group of characters all hope 2020 will be their year. Growing up in Waitara comes with as many blessings as there are challenges, and although the young people who live here may be on their own paths, they all share the same spirit of 'going hard' no matter what curveballs may come their way. (Three, Tuesday nights).  Industry: A group of young graduates compete for permanent positions at a top investment bank in London, but the boundaries between colleague, friend, lover, and enemy soon blur as they immerse themselves in their new world (Neon, from 2 December). Dash & Lily: A whirlwind Christmas romance builds as cynical Dash and optimistic Lily trade dares, dreams and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations around New York City (Netflix) LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20205 minutes, 4 seconds
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Betts Gee: Instagram's favourite cake entrepreneur

If you like a sweet treat like Jack, or got into a bit of baking over lockdown, you might have heard of Kiwi baking legend Bernadette Gee.  She was a teenage mother with no formal training. But thanks to a huge online presence and plenty of determination she’s now a caking-making entrepreneur.  Bets is the owner of café, cake business, and north auckland destination Magnolia Kitchen. She’s already produced one record-breaking cookbook, and her new book Magnolia Kitchen Design is out now.  WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/202013 minutes, 42 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Till the Lights Go Out and Made in Italy

Francesca Rudkin has been watching Six60 documentary Till The Lights Go Out and Liam Neeson's new movie Made In Italy. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20206 minutes, 29 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Homecoming Ginger Crunch

Homecoming Ginger Crunch  Here’s a treat for Jack as he’s out of MIQ! Ginger sesame crunch  Makes 16-20 squares 135g butter, softened ½ cup sugar  2 tbsps brown sugar  1 ½ cups plain flour  1 tsp baking powder 4 tbsps sesame seeds 1 tsp ground ginger  Icing  75g butter  1 tbsps golden sugar  1 cup icing sugar, sifted   5 tsps ground ginger Heat oven to 190 C. Line a swiss roll tin with baking paper.  To make the base, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix to a stiff dough. Press dough into prepared tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Make icing by melting butter and golden syrup together. Stir in icing sugar and ground ginger and stir to combine.  Pour icing over hot slice and encourage it to spread evenly.  Slice when cool and eat!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20205 minutes, 35 seconds
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Kevin Milne: What is business dress in 2020?

The dress code for men in the parliamentary chamber is being reconsidered. The current rules say that men should dress in a businesslike way. But what is "businesslike" in 2020?Kevin Milne has been discussing with Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20204 minutes, 22 seconds
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Jack Tame: My experience in managed isolation

One person from my plane tested positive for Covid-19. We knew pretty soon thereafter. The day three test results came back and everyone in our MIQ facility got a phone call telling them to stay in their rooms until further notice. No walks in the car park. No trips to the nurse. The poor soul who tested positive was picked up and taken to JetPark in Auckland. The staff called us a couple of hours later and said we were good to resume our normal schedule. I can’t say how typical my experience of MIQ was. People in different facilities in different cities have different experiences.I was at The Distinction hotel in Hamilton, and my experience throughout the two weeks was that the system in that facility was extremely well-organised. Despite the fact everyone when I was there was from the same flight… the hotel divided us into different groups, just as it does when people from different flights have to be separated. Every day, our dinner bag had a little piece of paper with the next day’s schedule. It would tell you what time your group could go for a walk, and what time you had to go and see the nurse to have your temperature taken. The idea was that the groups didn’t cross over each other. Despite living alongside them for two weeks, I wouldn’t recognise the vast majority of people who flew with me back home from the United States.A couple of days after I arrived, I felt a bit phlegmy. This isn’t the sort of thing I would usually burden you with, except that it was interesting to go through the experience in an isolation facility. Basically, it was the sort of sickness I would usually expect after a month of crazy work, two elections, no sleep, and travel around the World. Nonetheless, I told the nurses, and they immediately put me in isolation. For two or three days, I wasn’t allowed to leave my room for anything. A nurse would come up, in full PPE, accompanied by a soldier, to take my temperature and check in on me. Even though I tested negative on my Day three test, I wasn’t allowed to have any washing done or leave my room until my symptoms had gone and the medical staff were satisfied. How did I pass the time? Was it intolerably boring? This is the first question everyone asks. For me, the answer’s no. I had a bit of work to do, but in two weeks. I didn’t actually get half of the stuff done that I’d been planning. I didn’t get through half of my reading or watch half of my shows. And I was never bored. Part of that, was the MIQ kept us pretty busy. Each of our groups was assigned two one-hour walks in the carpark every day. As well as that, you could go for a run in the morning, and at a different time every day you had to go and visit the nurse and have your temperature taken. So, with three meals, on a typical day, my schedule might go like this:6.30am Wake up. 7am. Run in the carpark. 8am. Breakfast in my room. 10am One hour walk in the car park. 12.30 Lunch in my room. 2pm. Visit to the nurses. 4pm One hour walk in the car park. 6pm dinner. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. The walking space was definitely a major bonus of our hotel. I reckon there were people from our flight who probably left isolation fitter than when they arrived. I didn’t, because I was eating everything. The food was plentiful, hot, rich, and tasty. People in my group ordered in Dominoes and KFC. The first week I got a delivery from Countdown with chocolate and lollies. The second week I was feeling a bit guilty, and got fancy yoghurt and fresh blueberries instead. Again, I can only speak for my experience in MIQ. My auntie is in isolation in a fancy downtown Auckland hotel. She doesn’t have opening windows and she has to catch a bus to go for a walk every couple of days. That’d be tough. But here are my overall observations:When an MIQ facility is well-organised just as mine was, there aren’t many chinks in the armour. Yes, there will always be little failings, but at no time in my two weeks in Hamilton did I...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/27/20206 minutes, 51 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Benee's new album

Stella Rose Bennett, better known as Benee, was once again the darling of this year’s Aotearoa Music Awards. She once again won all four categories she was nominated in, including the Single of the Year Tui for her song Superlonely.   Estelle Clifford's been listening to her new album "Hey u x" which features collaborations with Lily Allen and Grimes.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/21/20206 minutes, 22 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: Barack Obama and Michael J Fox

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading No Time Like the Future by Michael J Fox and A Promised Land by Barack Obama.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/21/20205 minutes, 38 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: Tips for cleaning with vinegar

Vinegar  To make wine, the sugar has to be converted to alcohol in a process known as fermentation. After the sealed bottle has been opened, there’s a second kind of fermentation that happens. During this process, the alcohol is turned into acetic acid, the main compound in vinegar.  Acetic acid isn’t the only compound in vinegar, but it’s the one that makes vinegar acidic. In fact, with a pH of 2.4, distilled white vinegar is a pretty strong acid, more acidic than coffee or orange juice, but still less acidic than your stomach juices or, say, the liquid inside batteries (luckily).  Vinegar’s acidity is what makes it such a good cleaner. Because vinegar is so acidic, it can counteract some icky buildups. It can dissolve away soap scum, brines left by hard water, and glue left behind by stickers.  Vinegar is great for giving windows and mirrors (use a combination of vinegar and water and wipe with a newspaper instead of a paper towel to avoid streaks), no-wax floors, and wood paneling or cabinets an extra-clean shine.  Another use for vinegar? Getting rid of stubborn stains. Lots of stains, whether from sweaty armpits or grass, are slightly acidic, which means they will dissolve away in the presence of another acid, like vinegar. Cleaner recipes  Scented All-Purpose Cleaner One part white vinegar One part water Lemon rind Rosemary sprigs Combine the above ingredients together, pour into a spray bottle, shake, and then let infuse for a week before using. Once done, you can use the natural solution to remove hard water stains, clean trash cans, wipe away wall smudges, and much more. Besides a fresh scent, the lemon rind may help boost cleaning power. Caution: Do not use acidic cleaners on granite, as they will etch the stone. DIY Glass Cleaner 2 cups water 1/2 cup white or cider vinegar 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol 70% concentration 1 to 2 drops of orange essential oil for smell (optional) The next time you need to wash your windows and mirrors, combine these ingredients and pour them in a spray bottle. Hint: Don't clean windows on a hot, sunny day, because the solution will dry too quickly and leave lots of streaks. For mirrors, spray the solution on a paper towel or soft cloth first before wiping. De-clog a drain Clear a stubborn drain by pouring a 1/2 cup of baking soda down it, followed by a 1/2 cup of vinegar Cover with a wet cloth to contain the science fair-like effects (remember DIY volcanoes?). Wait five minutes, then flush with hot water. Stain and smell remover A paste of vinegar and baking soda can dissolve set red wine stains. Vinegar can even get cat or dog urine out of carpets or other cloths and, bonus, that pungent smell can keep pets away from places you don’t want them to go.    LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20208 minutes, 54 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Celebrating the beautiful Buller region

Mike Yardley's been celebrating The Best of the Buller region on this week's show. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20208 minutes, 29 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Let’s plant some beans

Let’s plant some Beans  A typical summer crop from the vegetable garden, it's always good to get ultra-fresh beans on the menu. They can be grown right around the country, although in cooler areas the growing season may be somewhat reduced.  Beans originate from Central and South America. I remember seeing them grown on tepee-like wooden structures in the Amazon jungle by the local tribes, in open patches where the dwellings received some sunlight. That suggested that the original varieties produced their beans in dappled sunlight. Our modern varieties require almost full sun to be prolific.  “French Beans” are my favourites. They require nice, well-drained soils with some fertility added. I often mulch the plants to stop competition from weeds. There are many different varieties, see Kings Seeds catalogue and pick the one that you like.Sow them about 12 cm apart in rows, and sow the seeds 3 cm deep in that friable soil. Sow them in their spot, they don’t really like transplanting a lot. Keep watering when weather gets dry and harvest the bounty regularly.Because these French Beans are small-ish plants (as opposed to the “climbing beans”) they tend to produce all their pods in rapid tempo and mostly all “at once” in a window of a few weeks. To continue the supply through summer. Repeat sowing the rows on a three-to-four-weekly basis. Even on Christchurch's Port Hills I can still sow the French Beans till early February. Climbing Beans are often true “perennials”. The common old “scarlet runner” (which I often find too tough and stringy) is one of those varieties that comes up every year if you leave the crown and root system in the ground. Climbers require a climbing framework. A tepee or a metal, tall “fence” structure. It pays to make these structures strong as the weight of a fully-grown bean plant can be quite substantial, especially in rough winds.  I prefer the Blue Lake in taste and texture. “King of the Blues” yields a lot too, and I reckon it’s closely related to the “Blue Lake”. The trick with climbers is to pick frequently (and don’t let the pods go too old and tough!!), which makes the plant produce more and more flowers and - hence – beans.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20204 minutes, 30 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Twitter gets into the 'stories' game

Fleets are the new way to Tweet Fleets are disappearing Tweets, or they're Twitter's version of Stories. Twitter says the fleets make people feel more comfortable posting, knowing it disappears. They tested this first in Brazil, then Italy, India and South Korea before rolling it out globally this week. It's also a way to try and stop harassment. The idea is that knowing that the messages are sent directly to someone and not public for others to see and 'like' makes it less appealing. There've also been changes to Instagram The homescreen has been redesigned to make it easier to access their Reels and Shop offerings. Reels is the TikTok competitor and Shop is something IG has been building up for some time now to allow people to buy products directly in IG. You can even tag items in photos for people to shop like an interactive catalogue. What makes this more sneaky, is that they've put these new icons in the spots where the 'create' button used to be! Muscle memory is going to be a mission.  Instagram is fast becoming ‘Facebook 2’ Apple's self-designed processor is blazing fast. This really is the next chapter of Apple's computers. The iPhone and iPad have been made possible thanks to Apple's self-made chips, and now they're coming to their computer lineup.  It's impressing the tech community. The new chip delivers better processing performance than a fully tricked out $6,000 MacBook Pro using an old chip. It also runs cooler and uses less battery. The challenge is that all the software that currently runs on Macs but won't work natively on this new laptop until its been redeveloped, so it may pay to be a second or third adopter, rather than a first. It also means that iOS and Mac apps will be able to run cross-platform which will make app development more efficient. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20205 minutes, 13 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Low interest rates are costing retirees

If you've got a mortgage, low interest rates can be a huge relief. But for those living off their savings, often retirees, it is making life pretty difficult. Enable.Me's Hannah McQueen has been looking at the impact with Jack Tame. If you want more help, head to www.enable.me  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20206 minutes, 41 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: His Dark Materials, Seachange Revisited and We are the Champions

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some tips for TV shows to get into this weekend: His Dark Materials: A new season of the HBO drama based on author Philip Pullman’s beloved trilogy of books. His Dark Materials follows Lyra, a brave young woman from another world, whose quest to find her kidnapped friend leads her to uncover a sinister plot of a secret organization, encounter extraordinary beings and protect dangerous secrets (Neon).   Seachange Revisited: Set 20 years on from the original Australian drama, SeaChange sees Sigrid Thornton’s character Laura Gibson return to Pearl Bay to attend the birth of her estranged daughter’s baby. Rising sea levels, community cover-ups and some very stormy weather conspire to convince her this town now needs her as much as she needs it (Acorn TV).  We are the Champions: a lighthearted documentary series that explores an array of unique competitions, from the quirky (cheese rolling) to the bizarre (frog jumping), and the passionate communities who compete (Netflix).  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20206 minutes, 36 seconds
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Guy Raz on his podcast series "How I Built This"

Phenomenally successful podcaster Guy Raz is best known for his series "How I Built This".In it, he quizzes the world's most successful business people about how they got to where they are. Now, he's got a new book out about what he's learned, called "How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World's Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs"He's been speaking with Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/202010 minutes, 36 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Making sensational salads

The weather is getting hotter, so Nici Wickes has some hints on how to make sensational salads. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20204 minutes, 46 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: The Secrets We Keep and Rams

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching post-World War Two drama The Secrets we Keep and Sam Neill dark comedy Rams. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20206 minutes, 14 seconds
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Kevin Milne: From recording to residence - remembering the Avalon TV Centre

Kevin Milne's old stomping ground, Avalon TV Centre, is being made into apartments. He's been reminiscing with Jack Tame about his time there. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20206 minutes, 12 seconds
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Jack Tame: Get on board with the America's Cup

In 2013, I was living in the U.S and charged with covering most of North America as a reporter for TVNZ. I remember ringing my manager early in the year and asking about our plans for the San Francisco America’s Cup.“No one really cares about the America’s Cup.” She said. “If it was here in New Zealand, maybe we’d do a bit more. We’ll have one reporter in San Francisco but that’ll be more than enough.”To be fair, my manager at the time was from overseas and had only been living in New Zealand for a year or two. Subsequently, I felt obliged to push back a little bit.“Ummm…” I said. “I think you’re underestimating what this competition means for New Zealanders. “I get it… sailing’s a bit off-Broadway. But there’s something about this competition in particular that Kiwis just LOVE. Between events, sure everyone’s a bit ambivalent. Some of us moan about the court battles and the politics. But just wait! Just wait. When the America’s Cup rolls around, every New Zealander is suddenly a match-racing, hydro-foiling, sail-trimming expert.”By the end of the Louis Vuitton cup a few months later, such was demand, about a third of our entire newsroom had relocated to San Francisco. But I’m sure that same pattern applied heading into the Bermuda competition. Call it the lifecycle of the average Kiwi America’s Cup fan.We love the event. We’ll plan our day around the regattas, and turn out at victory parades for our sailors. Then in the years the follow, we only pay a little attention to the new rules and the squabbling between different syndicates. Maybe we whinge a bit about how it’s a sport for rich guys and who cares about sailing anyway. And it takes us a good few rounds of match-racing to pay any attention to the next competition. Then, though, Team New Zealand starts winning. We’re reminded that their budget is a fraction of the budget some of the other big players enjoy. Jimmy Spithill gets a good couple of digs in our collective, and whattaya know?! Talk about fair-weather sailors. All of a sudden we’re all back onboard the boat.I’ve been in isolation this week, sitting in my hotel room, watching all the videos of the new Team New Zealand boat, Te Rehutai. The Ocean Spray. It looks spectacular. Several of the boats do, and when those monohulls are up and foiling, my mind boggles over the physics at play. And sitting here in managed isolation, I’m reminded of just how lucky we are to have an event like this to host, given the state of the World. An event where any and all of us can theoretically go and gather on the North Shore beaches or North Head, and watch those yachts compete. If ever there was to be an advertisement for New Zealand… however many million-people tuning in from shuttered countries, to a jewel in the South Pacific with glorious scenery and no community transmission (touch wood). This is a significant opportunity. So. Enjoy it. You owe it to everyone around the world counting down to a miserable winter of lockdowns. That’s my challenge. If you’re one of those who blushed just a little when I described the lifecycle of the average America’s Cup fan, and you usually leave it until the last minute to get on the Team New Zealand bandwagon… do it differently this year. This America’s Cup will not be without scandal. It won’t be without scrutiny. And nor should it. But let’s not be cynical for the sake of being cynical, as I think we sometimes are when it comes to the America’s Cup. We always say this competition is an opportunity to showcase New Zealand. But on and off the water, never has that sentiment been more true. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/20/20204 minutes, 31 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: Kylie Minogue is bringing back Disco

Kylie Minogue has a new album that's bringing back Disco, and Estelle Clifford's been taking a listen.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/14/20206 minutes, 24 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Advice for building your child's self-esteem

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has some advice for your relationships with the little people in your life: how to build your child's self esteem. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/14/20209 minutes, 51 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Tips for building your child's self-esteem

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has some advice for your relationships with the little people in your life: how to build your child's self esteem. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/14/20209 minutes, 51 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: Annabel Langbein and Dawn French

Catherine Raynes has been reading Annabel Langbein's new memoir Bella, and Dawn French's new book, Because of You. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20205 minutes, 17 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Controlling aphids

Controlling aphids It’s the time for aphids to explode in your garden. Whether you are growing roses, peaches, or at least another 400 different plant hosts, aphids will turn up at some stage in your life. Aphids are known as sap-sucking insects. But most importantly, aphids are great at transmitting virus diseases, from which a host plant rarely recovers. Aphids will continue to be a pain right through the summer and well into autumn, so get ready! Parthenogenesis is their game: females produce live young daughters who – in turn – will be able to produce their own off-spring within 10 days or so. This can explode quite quickly! Control has to be swift, to reduce female populations quickly. “Digital control” is the art of squashing the blighters between thumb and forefingers. It’s easy and organic – no pesticides! Biological control has many different versions: Buy yourself some parasitic wasps (Aphidius is the parasite to look for) and you can get them on-line. Alternatively, get some ladybird beetles that devour aphids, or some larval lacewings. Mind you the trick is to attract these goodies, by providing them with the right flowers with pollen and nectar, so they will breed and multiply and lay eggs among the aphid colonies. The right flowers are Phacelia (the blue tansy), buckwheat, parsley flowers and carrot flowers, as well as dill, fennel, borage, queen Anne’s lace, and such umbelliferous delights. Sprays are tricky, as they can kill the good buggers that will hunt your aphids. Organic sprays are pyrethrum (which will indiscriminately kill any insect, to be frank) and neem oil, which may not affect hard-bodied critters, such as parasitic wasps and predatory beetles. Spraying oil (Conqueror Oil etc) will often smother the aphids and sometimes also the beneficials, depending on the dose-age. Then there is Insecticidal soap, also known as “fatty acids”, containing potassium salts. This is the ancient version of abrasive soap; the stuff we used to see on TV commercials with “Madge, you’re soaking in it!!”. The more abrasive the soap, the more it rips the skin off an aphid; no wonder the insecticidal soap or fatty acids (knowns as “Yates Nature's Way Vegie & Herb Spray) works pretty well! This stuff is usually rather survivable for predators and parasitoids So far, I have only mentioned organic materials that would be great for food crops. The trick is to spray at the sides on which the aphids are active – often the under-side of leaves. The other thing to consider is that it pays to repeat the spray process at least three times on a weekly basis.That way you’ll get the next generation of sucking bugs that weren’t killed by the earlier sprays. It means you really reduce the populations on your plants…so keep at it!  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20204 minutes, 17 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Building your child's self-esteem

Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has some advice for your relationships with the little people in your life: how to build your child's self esteem. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20204 minutes, 13 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Wild Times in Turangi

Resident traveller Mike Yardley has been having some wild Times in Turangi.LISTEN TO HIS TIPS ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20206 minutes, 15 seconds
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Bob Campbell: Bubbles for the festive season

Bob Campbell has a special wine to share this festive season: HaHa Brut Cuvee, Marlborough $21.99 LISTEN TO HIS REVIEW ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20203 minutes, 21 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: How to store photos online

Google is starting to limit how much storage you get for free Google Photos currently allows you to store an unlimited number of photos - it's one of the reasons that people love it so much.  But as of June 21, 2021, any NEW photos you upload will start to be counted towards your 15GB Google account storage.   Once you start to go over that, you'll need to start paying. The same rule also applies to NEW or modified files in your Google Drive folder from June 21, 2021. Also, if you’re over your storage limits and not paying, then Google may delete files or documents you haven't touched in some time.  Instagram is changing up its home screen It’s going to make it easier to access their Reels and Shop offerings.  Reels is the TikTok competitor and Shop is something IG has been building up for some time now to allow people to buy products directly in IG. You can even tag items in photos for people to shop like an interactive catalogue. What makes this more sneaky, is that they've put these new icons in the spots where the 'create' button used to be! Muscle memory is going to be a mission.  Instagram is fast becoming ‘Facebook 2’ Space fans, there's another SpaceX liftoff this weekend The test earlier this year sending two astronauts to the ISS was a success, so now four astronauts are headed there on a SpaceX rocket. It's only SPaceX's second time sending humans on their rockets.  Crew-1 will also be the longest-duration human spaceflight mission ever launched from US soil expected to be at the ISS for half a year. The previous record was 84 days. The launch is planned for 7:49 p.m. EST on Saturday, so 1:49pm Sunday NZT.  Girlfriends are pranking their boyfriends  The PlayStation 5 is a hot hot commodity at the moment and a new Instagram lense allows you to place a virtual PlayStation 5 box anywhere you like.. so at your front door, at the foot of your bed, in the kitchen.. and then you can send that picture to an unassuming partner.  You can also send their response to social media.. and those responses have been joy, excitement and disbelief that their girlfriend would be so nice to them. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20204 minutes, 13 seconds
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Screentime with Tara Ward: The Comey Rule, The Crown and All Creatures Great and Small

Screentime queen Tara Ward has some suggestions about what to watch this weekend. The Comey Rule: a political drama miniseries based on former FBI director James Comey’s book about his experiences in the run-up to the 2016 election and the early months of Donald Trump’s presidency (Neon).    The Crown: season four of the royal drama hits the 1980s, this time starring Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher and Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth (Netflix, from Sunday)  All Creatures Great and Small: a heartwarming reboot of the classic British series based on James Herriot’s books about a trio of vets working in Yorkshire during the 1930s (Vibe, from Monday)LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20204 minutes, 32 seconds
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Jessica Townsend: Australian author on her new book and JK Rowling

Jessica Towsend is sometimes referred to as the “JK Rowling of Australia”...but it's no longer a name she relishes...more on that later.  The first three books of her young adult Nevermoor series was sold for a six-figure sum, and the rights have been sold to 20th Century Fox.  The series follows Morrigan Crow, who was born cursed - doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. She's forced to take part in near-impossible trials in order to join the Wundrous Society and escape her fate.   The third book in the series, Hollowpox, has just been released, and she's been talking to Jack Tame about the release. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/202014 minutes, 2 seconds
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Film review with Francesca Rudkin: Freaky and Charlatan

Film reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Freaky, which is based on the classic body swap premise, and Charlatan.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20206 minutes, 7 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Golden syrup & sourdough tart

Golden syrup & sourdough tart  There’s no other way to describe it, this tart is dead dreamy!  Makes one 20cm tart / serves 4-6  1 sheet sweet short pastry  Filling 2 medium eggs 50mls cream 1 teaspoon sea salt  350g golden syrup  70g butter, melted ½ cup sourdough crumbs 1 tablespoon lemon juice + 1 tsp zest  Ice cream or crème fraiche (or both!), to serve Heat oven to 180 C. Roll the pastry into a 5 mm thick disc to fit your tin. I used a 20 cm tin but you’d get away with a slightly larger, less deep one. Press the pastry firmly into the base of the tin and prick all over with a fork. Rest and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes  Next, blind bake the tart shell. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with dried beans or rice – fill it right to the top. Bake for 20 minutes, carefully remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10-12 minutes, until golden. Cool. Make the filling by lightly whisking the eggs, cream and salt in a bowl.  Add golden syrup to the melted butter and mix to combine then stir this into the egg mixture. Add breadcrumbs, lemon zest and juice and stir until well combined.  Reduce oven to 155 C. Place the tart tin on the heated tray and carefully pour in the treacle mixture, filling almost to the top. Slide it gently back into the oven and cook for 45minutes or until just set. The middle 3 cms ought to have a slight wobble.  Place on a wire rack to cool.  Transfer to a serving board or plate to serve and sprinkle over sea salt and serve just warm or cold with ice cream or crème fraiche. Nici’s note: Sometimes it’s worth blind baking a tart shell if your filling is quite wet, as with this tart, and you want that buttery crispness in the end result.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20204 minutes, 42 seconds
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Kevin Milne: A surprising new career

Kevin Milne's been looking at a new quiz that suggests career changes to those who've lost their job thanks to COVID.Keen to hear what the suggestions were?Listen to the audio aboveSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20205 minutes, 26 seconds
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Jack Tame: Life in managed isolation

This morning we’re making history together. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a nationwide show has been broadcast in New Zealand, from within managed isolation. Hopefully the technology holds. Hopefully my tests come back negative. But if you hear a bang on the door in the background...it might be my breakfast.  You don’t find out where you’ll be quarantining until the plane hits the tarmac in New Zealand. A policeman is the first person down the air bridge. He takes the microphone at the front of the cabin.  “Hi everyone, welcome back to New Zealand. On behalf of the New Zealand Government I’m in charge of organising your transportation to a Managed Isolation Facility. Today, we’re taking you to Hamilton.”  Bugger. Nothing against the Tron… but after schlepping across the states, and 13 hours over the Pacific, no one’s terribly keen for a bus trip.  Before we passed through customs, we were screened by a nurse. You know the little arrival cards where they ask if you’ve got fruit or veggies or items worth more than 10 thousand dollars? They’ve added an extra couple of pages just for Covid-19.  When we arrived at our Hamilton hotel, the army was waiting. A young captain dressed in camoflague, walked onboard the bus and explained that we’d all disembark, one by one, and be screened by another nurse. ‘I know it sucks,’ he said. ‘But it’ll be alright. You guys might not realise this, but the carpark here is one of the biggest exercise areas out of all the isolation hotels.’  A Tainui man came on and welcomed us with a waiata. ‘On the count of three, everyone say Kia Ora!’ A distinctly meek reply. ‘Come on! This is gonna be fun!’ he said. ‘We’re gonna do Zumba classes! Kia Kaha whanau’ Inside, they had trestle tables with KitKats, apples, and Whitakers Chocolate. Down the hall, there were five or six nurses set up. After each had them had finished screening a passenger, they sprayed down the chair with disinfectant.  There was a welcome pack in my bedroom. A journal. A pack of cards. And an 86-page guide to life in managed isolation.  One of our first priorities was filling out two weeks of meal requests. You get three choices for dinner and lunch. It arrives in a paper bag and someone bangs on your door. So far, it’s been great. Not Michelin starred, no. But good. Healthy enough, fresh, hot, and tasty. What have I eaten so far? Roast chicken, smoked salmon salad, chicken Caesar salad, vegetarian korma. You can order takeaways and get them delivered. My colleague had his Playstation delivered. I was walking down the hall when I saw a soldier and the hotel manager wheeling an exercise bike off to someone else’s room. For two hours a day we’re allowed to walk laps in the carpark. The hotel only has passengers from my plane and it’s split into five different groups. So for example, my group might get walking time from 9am til 10am. And then another hour from 7 'til 8pm. First thing every morning, ten people at a time are allowed to go for a jog.  The entire perimeter of the hotel is surrounded by security fencing. There are soldiers and private security guards… and they’re sticklers for rules. We asked if we could leave a little GoPro camera at reception for one of our colleagues from the outside world to come past and collect? It would have saved us hours of work and the camera’s only the size of a lemon - it could have been disinfected with a couple of wipes. Sorry.. they said. The rules say nothing comes out. Fair enough, too. There are all sorts of little things that many of us might not think of. You can’t get any washing done until after you’ve passed your Day Three Covid-19 test. There’s no recycling, instead you just have to put your plastic and cans in a big black bag.  One of the hotel managers told me that when we leave, it’ll take three days to do a deep clean of the whole building. Three days just to do the laundry from...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/13/20206 minutes, 10 seconds
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Jack Tame: Donald Trump’s still incredibly popular

Donald Trump may have lost the US presidency, but Jack Tame watched on in Washington, as 70 million people still voted for another four years of Trump presidency.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/11/20204 minutes, 26 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Two little suckers

If I could charge a dollar for every question I answer on talkback radio concerning spittlebugs and passionvine hoppers, I’d be retired and lying on a beach in the Bahamas – or perhaps more likely in Namibia or Amazonia, the high desert of Arizona. Characteristic patches of bubbles up (spittle) and down the stems of lavender, Coprosma and a heap of other host plants. Many of these are caused by the so-called meadow spittle bug (an exotic species from Europe. We have about 15 species in NZ - many native – few introduced ones. Most gardeners in southern regions will know these frothy bubble-houses and most gardeners think they are “disgusting”. I reckon they’re a marvel of engineering! The larval critters suck sap/fluids from the plant, excrete this through their bottom and add some glue-y excretion from a gland on the abdomen. Then they use their abdominal contractions as a “bellows” and pump air into the watery mixture, causing fine and coarse bubbles to form. Try that in the bath, next time!  When you wipe away the bubble, the green-ish creature is exposed and immediately starts “repairing” it’s home – that way it will remain in a moist environment and – more importantly: hidden from predator’s view!  Damage and consequences to the plants?  NIL  Ecosystem service: the adult froghoppers emerge with wings from that bubble, jump around the garden and usually end up as food for insectivorous birds. All good! The Passionvine hopper is a more northern sap-sucker, found Northland to Marlborough/Nelson. It can become very numerous indeed on some desirable plants, often climbers like wisteria and passionfruit vines, as well as perennials like salvia, hydrangeas, and camellias. Huge numbers can debilitate these hosts as both nymphs and adults relentlessly such phloem juices from the stems and lianes. They excrete honeydew which can cause a bout of black sooty mould deposit all over the plants. When that honeydew is splattered all over or native tutu vine in the bush, bees can pick some serious poisons, which are then incorporated in the honey produced! Very poisonous to people! In early November the nymphs hatch from their eggs. I call them fluffy bums – as their “nylon-filament tails” are prominent features.  Slowly they grow larger and larger shedding skins along their journey, until they reach adulthood: moth-like insects with delta-shaped wings, showing prominent vein-markings; they, too, suck plant sap. These insects have the ability to jump quickly and far and the adult passionvine hoppers also flick and fly very smartly, avoiding the insecticides you may want to spray at them! But there is some other trick you can play right now, to control the numbers of hoppers in your garden, this summer: The babies are just hatching now and climb to new growth in the top of their host plants. On still mornings, you can simply cull their numbers by using an aerosol spray can (that emits fine mist of insecticide) and spray the tiny nymphs in a misty cloud of spray. They can jump all they like, but won’t be able to avoid contact with that aerosol in the still of the morning; those new-borns are far more susceptible to insecticide sprays than in a week or so now’s the time! LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/9/20204 minutes, 20 seconds
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Malcolm Rands: The secret to eco-cleaning

Back in 3500 BCE, the Ancient Egyptians used baking soda as a cleaning agent and to dry out bodies for the process of mummification. Also known as sodium bicarbonate, it's actually a salt. Go ahead and try it; you’ll find that it tastes like a milder version of the salt in your shaker. It is slightly alkaline (the opposite of acidic), which is key to understanding why it’s such a good cleaner.  Keep your fridge smelling nice: Baking soda absorbs odors, so just leave a box of it in your fridge. That’s because most odors are acidic and, because baking soda is alkaline, it reacts with the acids in the air to neutralize them.  Unclog your drains: Baking soda reacts with vinegar, and this acid-base reaction is the reason baking soda and vinegar are cleaning partners in crime. The baking soda and vinegar volcano might be a science-fair classic, but that same explosive chemical reaction can do wonders in your kitchen or bathroom. Pouring baking soda and vinegar down a drain can unclog it; slathering a baking soda paste inside your filthy oven and then splashing a little vinegar on it cuts through grease and leaves it gleaming.  Use it instead of soap/jiff: It’s slightly abrasive. For some things, baking soda works better than typical soap. Although both are alkaline (not acidic), soap contains fat molecules that make it less harsh. Baking soda, on the other hand, is abrasive, which gives it the grit to dislodge particles and remove stains from a number of surfaces. Use it as a fire extinguisher: It passes gas, carbon dioxide, the same stuff you exhale. When baking soda is heated above 300°F, it releases the gas. That makes baking soda a great fire extinguisher (and the only way to put out a grease fire) because the influx of carbon dioxide cuts off the oxygen that had been fueling the fire. Use it for pest control: It’s a great nontoxic form of pest control, because when ingested by cockroaches or ants, gas builds up inside their hard-shelled bodies and causes their organs to fail. And that’s not all - it can also clean your veggies, revive stale-smelling sponges and scrub a BBQ. Recipe: Kitchen Cleaner and Deodorizer 4 tablespoons baking soda 1 litre  warm water To clean kitchen counters, appliances, and the inside of your refrigerator, all you need is baking soda. "It makes a great deodorizer and can be used to shine stainless steel sinks and appliances," says Carolyn Forte, director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab. To deodorize surfaces, use the solution above or pour baking soda straight from the box and into your drain or garbage disposal to remove odors. To shine and remove spots from stainless steel, make a paste of baking soda and water. Apply it with a damp cloth and rub gently in the direction of the metal’s grain. Rinse and buff dry. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/9/20207 minutes, 55 seconds
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Nici Wickes: Pink Icing Buns

Pink Icing BunsAfter the week we’ve had (all that US politics!!) I feel like we need something absolutely frivolous and fun and these cream and jam-filled finger buns do the trick!Makes 14-16Buns100mls milk50g butter1 heaped tablespoon caster sugar1 medium egg, lightly beaten2 tsps instant yeast250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting250g high grade flour175mls tepid water½ tbsp sunflower oil Icing1 ½ cup icing sugar1 tsp raspberry juice2 tbsps waterCoconut for sprinklingFilling300mls cream, whipped¼ cup raspberry jam Warm half the milk and butter together until butter is melted. Whisk in egg and sugar and remaining milk. Sprinkle over yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes.Sift the flours into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk/yeast mixture and 100mls of the water. Stir with a wooden spoon until you have a scraggy dough, adding more water as you go, to get a soft, sticky dough. You may or may not need all of  the water.Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins. Cover loosely with a plastic bag nd leave in a warm place for 1 hr or until the dough has doubled in size.Knock the dough back and divide into 14-16 pieces. Roll each into a finger about 12-14cm long. Transfer to 2 baking paper lined trays, spaced well apart. Cover again and leave in a warm place for 30 mins or until doubled in size.Preheat the oven to fan 180°C. Bake for 8-10 mins until lightly golden. Leave on the trays to cool completely.Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and stir in 2 tbsp water and raspberry juice for colour. Mix to a smooth icing that’s thick but a little runny too.Spoon the icing over the fingers, sprinkle with coconut and leave to set.Split each bun and pipe in jam then whipped cream. Eat and enjoy!!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/8/20204 minutes, 5 seconds
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Annabel Langbein reveals her wild side in most personal book yet

Most of us know plenty about Annabel Langbein’s professional life. More than 30 cookbooks down, including the wildly successful Annabel Langbein: The Free Range Cook, her recipes are staples in Kiwi kitchens.But there’s a huge amount more to her story than that - from living as a Maoist hippie to possum trapping for a living. She’s written about her adventures - with some recipes thrown in for good measure - in a new book “Bella, my life in food”. Langbein joined Jack Tame to discuss her former wild side!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/202012 minutes, 31 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Great Lake Taupō

With the borders closed, Mike Yardley has been getting out and about and travelling a little closer to home, seeing what New Zealand has to offer.He joined Jack Tame to talk about his latest trip to Great Lake Taupō, exploring the mountain biking tracks, trails around Huka Falls, the Wairakei Thermal Terraces  and discovering the best eats around. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20207 minutes, 38 seconds
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Tara Ward: Roadkill, A Suitable Boy and The South Westerlies

Roadkill: a British four-part television political thriller starring Hugh Laurie as a self-made, forceful and charismatic politician positioned in the cabinet as Minister for Transport whose public and private life seems to be falling apart – or rather is being picked apart by his enemies (TVNZ OnDemand, from 9 November).A Suitable Boy: based on the novel by Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy is a vast, panoramic tale charting the fortunes of four large families, exploring India and its rich and varied culture at a crucial point in its history (Netflix).The South Westerlies: A lighthearted drama about a town in the south west of Ireland that is earmarked for a Norwegian-owned offshore wind farm, and the woman who is tasked by her company NorskVentus to go undercover and quash local objections (Acorn TV).LISTEN ABOVE TO TARA WARD'S RECOMMENDATIONS.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20204 minutes, 42 seconds
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Bryan Beatty: What you need to know about paracetamol

Medsafe's medicines classification committee last month considered coronial recommendations about the sale of paracetamol made after the inquest into the death of a Dunedin student.Alannah Lee Spankie, 20, died from acute liver failure in June 2017, after the University of Otago science student took a large amount of paracetamol.Coroner David Robinson in September found that Spankie had not intended to take her own life, and recommended tighter sales restrictions be placed on drugs which can currently be bought without controls at supermarkets.The committee received 18 submissions on Robinson's recommendations before today's meeting, being held in Wellington.The National Poisons Centre, based at the University of Otago, said in advice provided to the committee that paracetamol was the most common single substance involved in cases of intentional self-poisoning, and the substance it received the most inquiries about.In the last five months of 2016 there were four cases involving people who took 30g or more of the drug, centre records showed.In 2020, up until October 12, there were 54 such cases.Dr Bryan Beatty joined Jack Tame to talk about paracetamol and what you need to know about this ongoing conversation.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20205 minutes, 5 seconds
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Kevin Milne: The one thing to note about the Northern Explorer

Looking for a trip around the country while the borders are closed? Kevin Milne has a recommendation for you - the Northern Explorer. After he and his wife went from Auckland to Wellington, Milne told Jack Tame that it is "first class service" and there is plenty to enjoy - from the wonderful scenery through to the commentary and the food on board.However, there is one thing he noted that could make the service far more enjoyable.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20205 minutes, 24 seconds
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Catherine Raynes: The Sentinel and A Time for Mercy

The Sentinel by Lee ChildJack Reacher gets off a bus in Nashville, Tennessee, in a quest for food, lodging and some good country music. But when he encounters a band of musicians who have been cheated by an unscrupulous bar owner, he steps in to help…A Time for Mercy by John GrishamClanton, Mississippi. 1990. Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Jake’s fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career, his financial security, and the safety of his family on the line.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20204 minutes, 46 seconds
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Estelle Clifford: Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You

Bruce Springsteen’s new album Letter to You released at the end of last month, he’s made history as the first artist to have a top 5 album on the Billboard 200 in six consecutive decades.Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen, and joined Jack Tame to discuss. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20205 minutes, 31 seconds
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Francesca Rudkin: Movie reviews - I Am Woman and Reunion

I Am Woman Tilda Cobham-Hervey plays Australian musician and activist icon Helen Reddy. In 1966 Reddy landed in New York with her three-year-old daughter, a suitcase and $230. Within weeks she was broke. Within five years she was a superstar, the first ever Australian Grammy Award winner, and an icon of the 1970s feminist movement.ReunionIvy is packing up an expansive old Victorian home after the recent death of her in-laws. Her husband Jack, wheelchair bound from a stroke, haunts the halls moaning and muttering incoherently.Ellie, Ivy’s estranged daughter, shows up at the front door. She has been away for years, teaching at university and now 6-months pregnant. Ellie says she has come back to be alone and finish a research book on the origins of medieval science. The mother and daughter’s initial awkward interactions gradually fall into the familiar dynamics of previous years.But the old house conjures disturbing memories for Ellie who is haunted by the ghost of her dead sister Cara. Ellie grows more erratic and confused as Ivy tries to comfort her and contain Ellie’s increasingly strange behaviours. But Ellie’s anxiety over her baby, Cara, her guilty past and the supernatural curse on her unborn baby send her over the edge. In the end, Ellie discovers horrors from her past that she never expected.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20207 minutes, 43 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: WhatsApp deleting messages and new 'big battery' in Victoria

One of the world’s largest batteries to store renewable energy is set to be built in Victoria to help drive down power costs for Victorians.The Victorian government on Thursday announced the 300 megawatt Tesla lithium-ion battery would be installed near the Moorabool Terminal Station, just outside Geelong, and would be ready by the 2021-22 summer.Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said it would be the largest lithium-ion battery in the southern hemisphere.She said an independent analysis had showed the battery would deliver more than $2 in benefits to Victorian households and businesses for every $1 invested.She said consumers would pay for the use of the battery through their power bills, but the reduction in wholesale energy prices delivered by the battery would mean Victorians paid less for power.The battery will help reduce wholesale prices by storing renewable energy at a time when the weather makes it plentiful and at its cheapest and then discharging it into the grid when power is needed the most, such as on a 40C day.The state government said the battery would also reserve a portion of its capacity to increase the power flow through the Victoria-New South Wales Interconnector by up to 250 megawatts to help reduce the chances of unscheduled power outages in peak summer months.Global renewable energy company Neoen will pay for the construction of the battery and for its ongoing operation and maintenance.Construction of the battery was expected to create more than 85 jobs, the state government said.Ms D’Ambrosio announced on Thursday she had directed the Australian Energy Market Operator to sign a contract with Neoen to deliver the new Tesla battery.“What we want to proof against is that lack of reliability when we’re in the middle of summer, when businesses need that power to keep running and Victorians need that power at home when they crank up their air conditioners to keep cool and to keep healthy,” she said.AusNet Services executive general manager of regulation and external affairs, Alistair Parker, said it was a “terrific idea”. AusNet will be responsible for connecting the battery into the electricity transmission network that they own and operate.“The particularly smart feature of this battery is the way it enables more capacity around the network day in, day out,” he said.Ms D’Ambrosio said the service was an 11-year contract worth $84 million, and the Victorian battery would be double the size of the one already installed at Hornsdale wind farm in South Australia.text by Jack Paynter, NCA NewswireSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/7/20204 minutes, 52 seconds
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Music review with Estelle Clifford: A posthumous album from Th' Dudes' Ian Morris

A posthumous album has been released by Kiwi legend Ian Morris from Th’ Dudes. Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20206 minutes, 11 seconds
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Book review with Catherine Raynes: Stan Walker's memoir and Breathless by Jennifer Niven

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Impossible: My Story by Stan Walker, and Breathless by Jennifer Niven. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20205 minutes, 42 seconds
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Mike Yardley: Touring South Westland

Resident traveller Mike Yardley has been touring Whataroa and Okarito in South Westland.FOR SOME TIPS, LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20207 minutes, 31 seconds
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Steven Dromgool: Christmas without loved ones

Christmas isn't always a time of joy, especially when you can't be with your loved ones. Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has some tips on managing the festive season while coping with loss. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20208 minutes, 55 seconds
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Ruud Kleinpaste: Birds in the garden

Birds in your garden. It’s breeding time! And although you may not realise it, there are likely some species making nests and breeding in dense bushes in your garden.  First the story of James Russell: he’s the scientists that works of predator control and subsequent translocations of birds to pest-free islands and restored native bush. During lockdown he decided to do some bird banding in his garden. He was keen to catch his resident fantail that would visit every late afternoon, and he did! Every late-afternoon he caught another fantail – until he realised there were 36 “resident fantails” I in his garden. Moral of story: There are far more birds in your patch than you realise! Bird-banding often reveals a lot about bird populations.  I have noticed, so far: 2 blackbird nests, 1 song thrush, 2 dunnocks (hedge sparrows), at least 1 gold finches, a green finch and a few chaffinches in the dense macrocarpa hedge. I also suspect a sneaky bellbird, and am hoping that the Californian quail like my dense wind-break at the bottom of the section.  Code of Conduct around nests: If you do stumble across a nest in some shrubbery, while pruning, for instance, have a quick look to see if there are any eggs or young birds in it. If so, back out and conceal the nest as much as possible. Put branches back in their position asap; that gives them privacy from prey-ing eyes of predators. Most bird species can cope with a bit of disturbance – depends on how far in the brood-cycle they are. Usually when they have young in the nest, parents will keep on feeding them. Eggs are a “rather new” investment for the parent birds and they may sometimes pull the plug on that nest.  Blackbirds and thrushes are often quite touchy: I noticed that as soon as the nest has been “discovered” and their privacy is breached, the young will fledge far too early and before they can actually fly away from cats and dogs!  This puts them in a much more vulnerable situation.During the breeding season, the young birds sometimes do silly things, like fly clumsily into your windows. If you find those top-gun fails sitting on the ground like a stunned mullet, carefully pick them up and put them in a dark card-board box for an hour or so. Out of the light and no interaction. No feeding, watering or handling. Keep them quiet for a while and you’ll be surprised how they recover from such a knock!  If your patient is a rare/endangered bird, please contact a local vet and organise some professional hospital care. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20203 minutes, 42 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Are LVRs coming back?

There's talk the Reserve Bank will bring back strict LVRs because the property market is so hot. If you're wanting to get in first, what do you need to consider first? Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been giving Jack Tame some tips - and if you want to get in touch with her in person, her website is www.enable.me  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20205 minutes, 30 seconds
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Hannah McQueen: Are LVRs coming back?

There's talk the Reserve Bank will bring back strict LVRs because the property market is so hot. If you're wanting to get in first, what do you need to consider first? Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been giving Jack Tame some tips - and if you want to get in touch with her in person, her website is www.enable.me  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20205 minutes, 27 seconds
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Paul Stenhouse: Need a loo break? There's an app for that

Where does your Uber driver go to the bathroomThere almost isn't a type of service that isn't available on-demand in the US.. getting a meal delivered, hanging a picture frame, restocking the booze cabinet, getting a lift somewhere.. but what do the estimated 55 million gig workers do if they're out and about and need to go to the bathroom? Especially in a pandemic when lots of public restrooms are closed? Now they can open Wizz. Whizz has been developed "by gig workers for gig workers" to not only help find them a restroom, but a meal too. They can use the app to get access to a nearby restaurant's bathroom and get a discount on a meal for while they're there. A win/win. Because sometimes, even if you're delivering food for a restaurant, they won't let you use their facilities!  It's starting in California, with plans to go national.What recession?! Just listen to these numbers.. Alphabet's Q3 revenue was up 14% on last years. YouTube alone bought in $5 billion.  Google made $46 billion in PROFIT last quarter. Amazon made $2 billion more in Q3 than it did in Q3 of last year. Net sales reached almost $100 billion. Apple's Mac division and its services division are posting record revenues, but total revenues are flat. That quarter doesn't include the usual iPhone bump due to coronavirus production delaysYahoo has launched its own Yahoo Phone It's in that wonderful Yahoo purple too and comes preloaded with all your favorite Yahoo apps. It's basically an Android phone with some Yahoo flair. It's yours for $50, but you'll also need to get a Yahoo Mobile phone plan - that's $40 a month. You might ask whyyyyyyyyy!? Well, Yahoo is now owned by Verizon a big US phone company, so it seems they really want to make the most of that IP. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/30/20203 minutes, 36 seconds