Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

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

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Land and Kiwi documentary James and Isey.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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 d

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 wonderlan

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 v

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."Au

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.

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

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 b

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 tale

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.

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, an

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ste

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