Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

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.

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 conce

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.

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.

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.

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 suppo

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.co

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.

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.

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 loc

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.

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.

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 ha

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.

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 an

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.

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 ov

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.

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 w

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.