Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

The Assassin   A retired assassin reunites with her estranged son, but her dangerous past catches up with them, forcing them to go on the run together while uncovering a dark conspiracy that threatens their relationship (ThreeNow).    Outrageous  In the 1930s, 6 sisters refuse to play by the rules, and their often-scandalous lives make headlines around the world. Their tales involve betrayal, scandal, heartache, and even imprisonment (Neon).    Murder in a Small Town   Karl Alberg moves to the idyllic coastal town of Gibsons to become the new police chief and soothe a psyche that has been battered by big-city police work. Unfortunately, the gentle paradise has more than its share of secrets, and Karl needs to call upon all the skills that made him a world-class detective in solving the murders that, even in this seemingly idyllic setting, continue to wash up on his shore (TVNZ+).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It Was Just An Accident   What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences. A co-production between Iran, France, and Luxembourg and explores political repression in Iran and morality.     Bank of Dave 2: The Lone Ranger   Dave Fishwick takes on a dangerous and formidable opponent than the big banks: Payday Loan Companies. Dave recruits Jessica and Oliver to his cause. Together they embark on a journey that will bring down an entire industry of predatory corporations.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An apple pie, plain and simple, with no sugar added – these are a real favourite served with ice cream, cream, and cinnamon.   Makes 6 individual pies      Ingredients  1 kg apples, granny smith   1 cup water    2 x 400g blocks sweet short pastry   Ice cream to serve    Cream to serve   Cinnamon to serve      Method  Set the oven at 200 C fan bake with an oven tray already in the oven to heat up. Grease large-sized (Texan) muffin tin.    Prepare the apples by peeling, coring, and slicing, and placing with 1 cup of water into a saucepan with the lid on and gently cook for about 15 minutes. They should retain their shape without turning into pulp.   Drain in a colander, reserving the juice which can be reduced to a syrup by simmering it for 5-8 minutes. Cool the apples completely before you start filling the pies. Please note apples do not need added sugar, as they are sweet enough.   Now roll your pastry out

The Tour de France is reaching its final legs, with drama, gruelling climbs, and triumphant podiums all playing out across the world.  Craig Geater is up close and personal with the professional cycling world, a bike mechanic with over 20 years of experience working with the Tour de France.  He’s worked with some of the sport’s greatest riders and most successful team, and his currently the head mechanic for Australian outfit Team Jayco AlUla.  Geater joined Jack Tame to break down what it’s like working on something as grand as the Tour de France, his time as Lance Armstrong’s personal mechanic, and the unique nature of the competition.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taking care of babies can be complicated.  With so many new tasks and new things you have to teach to a child, it can be tough sometimes to try something a little bit different.  Since she gave birth, Kate Hall has been using Elimination Communication, otherwise known as infant potty training, and she joined Jack Tame to give an update on how that’s working.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fifth studio album from British singer-songwriter Billie Marten, ‘Dog Eared’ is an album filled with nostalgia.  The title comes from the practice of dog earring books, Marten having a fondness for marking up the books she reads – underlining passages, scribbling ideas in margins, and folding corners.   It tells the story of who she was as she wrote and recorded the album, each song touching on a different childhood memory.  Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to give her thoughts on the release.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Few British cities can match eye-catching York and its wondrous layers of history. Northern England’s walled city was founded by the ancient Romans, was conquered by the Vikings and also boasts a trove of medieval riches. The city’s storied history is woven into virtually every brick and beam. All these ingredients underpin York’s star-power, serving up a stirring sense of Ye Olde England, when tripping the UK. But it’s so much more than just a living museum." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Forsaken by Matt Rogers   In the twilight of his career, Logan learns he has been a vessel for furthering government interests, not a rogue hitman for a band of vigilantes. The revelation destroys him.  But when Jorge Romero – an investigative reporter and Logan's oldest friend – is brutally and inexplicably murdered, Logan allows his fury to deliver him from despair.  With an ally in Alice Mason, a homeless witness with a target on her back, Logan goes to war. Against whom, he isn't sure, but he knows powerful forces are at work behind the scenes.  Now, to deliver justice, Logan and Alice must confront their demons and win a savage battle that could destroy their lives... even if they survive.     Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson   In seven days Jet Mason will be dead.  Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. I’ll do it later, she always says. She has tim

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 26 July 2025, a man with up close and personal access to Tour de France, Kiwi bike mechanic Craig Geater joins the show to discuss his 21 years of experience on the Tour, his former years as Lance Armstrong's personal mechanic, and what it's like to travel behind his Jayco Ulula crew as they ride the mountains.  Jack considers the unstoppable force of a viral moment.  Francesca Rudkin gives her thoughts on whether the new Fantastic Four film meets expectations.  Mike Yardley shares the sights and sounds of ancient British city York.  And Estelle Clifford shares her favourite tracks from Yorkshire-born musician Billie Marten's new album Dog Eared.  Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Times are tough, many businesses unable to survive the cost of living crisis and downturned economy.  Cultural institutions and smaller businesses alike are closing up shop, and Kevin Milne is dismayed by the loss of Kiwi enterprises.  One in particular, the colourful Matakana ceramics firm Morris & James, is particularly saddening for him.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The number of Kiwis making withdrawals from their KiwiSaver due to hardship is on the rise.  In the year to June, more than 50,000 were made, compared to 18,000 five years ago.  Early withdrawals can have compounding effects on someone’s financial future – so what other options are there?  Lisa Dudson joined Jack Tame to delve into the topic and offer up some other ideas.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week we started to look at the jobs bugs do on Earth. This topic was launched by some teachers during the Blake Inspire sessions, out there in Nature. It became a bit of a game to question what their role is in ecological systems – especially critters that are usually perceived as a pain in the bum.  Gardeners often complain about almost every creature that inhabits the soil; holes and tunnels, little hills of clay, and messy poos in vegetable gardens, lawns, and orchards are often not seen as beneficial; but many certainly are!   These insects are the larvae and pupae of Crane Flies. Soil cleaning and dead wood in the soil – recyclers maintaining soil health.   Pollinators are everywhere: butterflies, flies, native bees, wasps, parasitic wasps, hoverflies, beetles, thrips – it’s a huge gig on the planet!   These laay eggs in their hosts. Population control.  Geotrupes spiniger – the Paua dungbeetle, introduced in New Zealand to put dung back into the soil. It not only puts

What's the news?  Fonterra has announced an On Farm Services incentive programme for qualifying farmer-shareholders.   The scheme allows farmers who meet their cooperative difference standard, a baseline performance and efficiency standard, to receive what is effectively a $1,500 yearly subsidy to invest in on-farm technology or services.   Ranges from animal performance tools from genetics companies, as well as pasture and data optimisation tools, and on-farm planting to improve carbon sequestration.   Pasture Management: Apps and dashboards, AI and satellite imagery to manage and optimise pasture on farms. Data optimisation: Farmers deal with so much data flowing in through so many on-farm touchpoints, some services aggregate all that info into key insights farmers can rely on to make good decisions.   Animal performance: Animal testing on their cows.     Why it matters   Obviously a massive deal – this contributes so much to on-farm costs and gives farmers a co

Washington Black   Follows the 19th century adventures of George Washington "Wash" Black, an 11-year-old boy on a Barbados sugar plantation who must flee after a gruesome death threatens to turn his life upside down (Disney+).     The Game   Detective Huw Miller is haunted by one case he failed to solve. As he settles into retirement, he suddenly thinks he has found the elusive killer in the shape of his new neighbour Patrick Harbottle (ThreeNow).    The Hunting Wives   Sophie trades city life for East Texas and falls into a wealthy socialite's magnetic orbit - where a clique of housewives hide deadly secrets (TVNZ+).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s no other way to say it – this cake is magical! The way the simple batter settles into layers of custard and sponge seems impossible and yet it works, and the tamarillos are all tart and jammy and YUM.        Ingredients  3 large eggs, room temp   2/3 cup sugar   90g butter, melted   1 ½ cups milk, lukewarm   1 tbsp vanilla extract   Generous 1/2 cup plain flour   1 ½ cups scooped and chopped tamarillos (about XX)    Icing sugar for dusting cake   Whipped cream or yoghurt to serve      Method  Preheat oven to 190 C. Grease and line a 20x20cm cake tin with baking paper.   Put a saucepan on with milk and butter and heat to lukewarm – this will melt the butter.   Separate eggs into two mixing bowls.    Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and light. Add in flour and mix until combined. Slowly add warm milk, beating until everything is well mixed together.    Beat the egg whites unt

The Fantastic Four: First Steps  Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, the Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.    Four Letters of Love  Nicholas and Isabel are made for each other, but as destiny pulls them together, family, passion and faith drives them apart. As they embark on journeys of heartache and misplaced love, fate soon contrives to pull the threads of their lives together.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the end it was only a matter of time.   It took a day or two of virality for the CEO caught cheating in the now truly infamous Coldplay kiss cam to publicly announce his departure from the company. I’m frankly surprised it took much longer for the woman caught canoodling in his arms to do the same thing. She was, after all, the Chief People Officer for the same company. On top of what I can only imagine is a personal calamity, the incident strikes me as a fairly grave professional conflict of interest. Indeed, the company that employed them both has announced that she is now gone, too.  I’m not gonna pretend to be all high and mighty. Like however many hundreds of millions or billions of people around the World, I found myself titillated by the video. It’s so dumb. So clumsy. Perfect fodder for a viral sensation.  But in the last few days, as the stories have continued, I’ve also found myself thinking a bit more about what the whole thing says about us more generally.   As consumers and

Who else could pull off the animal transformation of one of the world’s biggest rockstars but Wētā FX?  Wētā is well known for its visual effects mastery, and so when Robbie Williams said “make me an ape!”, it’s only natural that they were the ones for the job.  The man responsible for Williams’ simian visage in Better Man was Visual Effects Supervisor Luke Millar, who was nominated for an Oscar for his work.  A visual effects supervisor is responsible for coordinating all the different elements that comprise the visual effects of a production – most of which is invisible in many movies.  He told Jack Tame it’s about balance – everyone always wants more for less, and so being creative and efficient is the name of the game.  When it comes to Better Man, Millar got involved after working on the pre-visualisation work for the musical sequences before shooting began.  “After seeing a couple of those sequences, I read the script, and that was me,” he said.  “I was all in at that

Written over the course of twenty years, from 1993 to 2019, 'Strange Visions 1' details the apocalypse in a sci-fi infused, post-modern satirical manner.  It’s the work of underground artist, producer and engineer Quaint, part one of a project called 'Polar Extremes'. Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to give her thoughts on the album.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"It’s undoubtedly Britain’s equivalent to our Queenstown Lakes district. Windermere and the Lake District is England’s favourite national park, a sprawling tourist honeypot that stretches across hundreds of square kilometres of rugged Cumbrian countryside, woodland valleys, shimmering tarns and lakes – all backed by strikingly craggy mountains. It was the 18th century Romantic poets who captured the world’s imagination, igniting the region’s first tourism wave. Since then, the stature of the Lake District has only grown as a getaway destination, the wave has never crested, culminating in the district securing World Heritage status just eight years ago." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.