Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Horror is having its moment.  It’s dominating the film industry, with ‘Sinners’ recieving a record 16 nominations and four wins at this year’s Oscars – Frankenstein and Weapons getting their nods as well.  And a man who will forever be synonymous with horror is Robert Englund – the original Freddy Krueger.  Even though he’s long since hung up his fedora, striped sweater, and razor-fingered gloves, he’s still involved in highly influential thriller projects, including Netflix’s Stranger Things.  “I’m so proud of Sinners for, for kind of being one of the first horror films since ‘Silence of the Lambs’, then before that, perhaps ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, to really kind of be taken seriously at its time by the academy,” he told Jack Tame.   “I think Sinners has really begun another kind of renaissance,” Englund said.  “I sort of thought for a minute there that maybe all the zombie projects had sort of exhausted the audience, you know, for a while, but you know, Sinners was so fresh and so wonderful.”  Some may take a view that horror is a lower form of art, that the actors just turn up and snarl, unaware of the training many horror actors have. Englund for example, was classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.   “What it does is it gives you a technique if you need it,” he explained.  “I sometimes get parts, I can’t believe they want me for these roles ... so then you have this technique to rely on. It’s an opening.”   Performing for stage is also quite different than performing for screen – on stage you have to exaggerate things, perform to the back of the room, whereas screen acting requires a more naturalistic performance.   But for Freddy, he brought those elements of stage acting into his performance.  “I didn't worry about my thinning hair, and I didn't worry about my good side or my bad side, and I was able to change my voice and I was able to move differently than Robert Englund would normally move on film because Freddy occupies this sort of surreal imagination,” Englund told Tame.  “I don’t like to use the word dance, but I was able to physicalize him more, kind of paint him into the frame of the imagination of whoever was having a nightmare about him, and that was really liberating.”  “Playing Freddy for all those years was actually a very liberating thing for me, and it kind of gave me a career on the other side that I know I wouldn’t normally have had because I had been established as a genre star.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11/04/2026 • 15:28

One of the most well-known music festivals in the world is currently taking place.  Coachella is a ten-day festival that takes place in the California desert, with dozens of the biggest musical acts performing on its stages. The festival is also livestreamed, free to watch on YouTube.  Chris Schulz isn’t at the festival physically, but in his opinion, watching the streams is the TV event of the year. He joined Jack Tame for a chat about Coachella.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11/04/2026 • 06:26

The Keeper by Tana French   On a cold night in the remote Irish village of Ardnakelty, a girl goes missing. Sweet, loving Rachel Holohan was about to be engaged to the son of the local big shot. Instead, she’s dead in the river.  In a close-knit small town, a death like this isn’t simple. It comes wrapped in generations-old grudges and power struggles, and it splits the townland in two. Retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper has friends here now, and he owes them loyalty, but his fiancée Lena wants nothing to do with Ardnakelty’s tangles. As the feud becomes more vicious, their settled peace starts to crack apart. And when they uncover a scheme that casts a new light on Rachel’s death and threatens the whole village, they find themselves in the firing line.     The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon   In a self-running, smart house, a young and sentient Roomba listens as her owner, Harold, reads aloud to his dying wife, Edie. Mesmerized by To Kill a Mockingbird and craving the human connection she witnesses in Harold’s stories, the little vacuum renames herself Scout and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.  But when Edie passes away, Scout and her fellow sentient appliances discover that there are sinister forces in their midst. The omnipresent Grid, which monitors every household in the City, seeks to remove Harold from his home, a place he’s lived in for fifty years.  With the help of Adrian, a neighborhood boy who grows close to Scout and Harold, as well as Kate, Harold and Edie’s formerly estranged daughter, the humans and the appliances must come together to outwit the all-controlling Grid lest they risk losing everything they hold dear.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11/04/2026 • 04:21

"If you’re keen to savour a bite-sized sampler of America’s Mother Road, Arizona’s Route 66 is a bumper section, tightly packed with time-honoured attractions and kitschy Americana curios. A century on from its launch as the nation’s first cross-continental route, the pioneering highway endures as a metaphor for the pursuit of new possibilities. Route 66 was officially decommissioned forty years ago by the multi-laned march of the I-40, but the evocative, retro-wreathed, roadside towns remain." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11/04/2026 • 09:05

Especially in this economy, catching up with someone doesn’t have to mean spending over $40 at a cafe or a bar.  Kate Hall has a few suggestions on how you can turn your social time into something fun, practical, and a bit cheaper.  Ideas to try:   Seed or plant swap – everyone brings seedlings or cuttings, go home with a garden upgrade   Baking swap – make one thing, leave with a full spread   Meal prep swap – cook one big dish each, swap portions = dinners sorted   Clothing swap – especially good for the autumnal seasonal change or kids clothes   Pantry swap – jams, chutneys, sourdough starter, bulk goods   Home goods swap – books, decor, kitchen extras   Why it works:   It saves money   It reduces waste   And it builds actual connection (not just sitting across a table spending money)     LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11/04/2026 • 05:32

Just have a look, will you! Just when you think the Dahlias are on their way out, you’re asked to come to the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch or a local beauty garden, somewhere nearby.  A series of colourful plants that shows you a range that’s totally unexpected – how do you get these at your place?  From left to right: Mick’s Peppermint, PomPom Rusty Orange, Le Baron, and KennemerLand Cactus. Currently it’s still “growing time”, or seriously, keeping the plants producing before the beginning of winter. Generally speaking, the Tubers won’t be available until mid-winter.  Some varieties are able to be planted slightly earlier, others a bit earlier – just ask the people who produce the next generation.  That means we have still plenty of time to go and visit the various Dalianthic “Hot Spot” and order the beauties you are looking forward to growing – Oderings, Dahlia Tubers, Stillwater Flowers, DahliasNZ.com, Mitre 10, Apollo Farm, etc.  Bluetiful Dahlia    Springtime is the planting time of the Tubers – no more frosts, etc.  Plant about half a meter apart in well-drained soils, containing good compost with great fertilisers in the soil, where the new plants will benefit from the next level of NPK. All the fertilisers will be used to create new parts of the plants. Support them if they grow upward in a hurry, as some often do…  Give them a good watering from time to time. They can be grown as Potted Dahlias, especially if the potting mix is of great quality.  Once you start with Dahlias, you’ll never forget this colourful movement ever again!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11/04/2026 • 04:19

Čuvar Iris Pinot Noir 2024, Marlborough RRP $29.99   A ripe and fruity expression with core varietal flavours of cherry and raspberry, red flowers, and boysenberry. There are some wood spice moments and earth-smoke suggesting clay.    A dry wine with fine easily dissolved tannins along with a refreshing acid line. Balanced, well-made and ready to drink from day of purchase through 2029.   The Food:   A vegan or vegetarian risotto that is also gluten free. The tipping point in flavours is often what style of cheese to use. For vegans I suggest either the Veesey grated mozzarella or Epic brand Cheddar. For regular vegetarians a standard parmesan or similar. Also good to mention is using a whole leak, lots of peas and corn if you have any, and any other veges makes this an ideal match to the Pinot Noir from Čuvar.   The Season:   Rather epic for Pinot Noir from Marlborough. The region enjoyed warm to hot days and some cool night allowing for ripeness and acidity and ripe skin tannins too.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11/04/2026 • 03:46

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 11 April 2026, the original Freddy Kreuger actor Robert Englund joins Jack to discuss the popularity of the horror genre and his visit to New Zealand for Armageddon.  Jack shares his thoughts on the Artemis II mission to the moon.  Chef Nici Wickes shares a hearty soup recipe for the stormy weather.  And Chris Schulz chats mega music festival Coachella.  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.

11/04/2026 • 117:06

The next level of AI is about to be released, and there are major concerns   The models just keep getting better and better and now Anthropic, the maker of Claude, says its software engineering capability is now so advanced that it's finding thousands of vulnerabilities in software that no one knew existed.   Anthropic says "the fallout for economies, public safety, and national security could be severe". Anthropic has shared its new model Mythos with an alliance of cybersecurity companies as well as another 40 organizations. The CEO of Cisco, the maker of networking equipment, says AI has reached a level where critical infrastructure needs to be protected. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with critical US banks in the wake of the model's preview release.     Three quarters of parents fear their child could not make safe online privacy choices   The survey by the UK's data watchdog shows we need to be teaching kids about online safety just like we would road safety, because it's an essential life skill.   35% of parents think their child would share personal information in exchange for game tokens.  22% of children had shared health details with AI tools.  24% of children had shared their real name or address online.  and 21% of parents had never discussed online privacy with their children.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10/04/2026 • 05:08

Grand Designs New Zealand  Tom Webster meets aspirational New Zealanders on their daring, determined and sometimes perilous journeys to build the residential homes of their dreams, using innovation and a Kiwi can-do attitude to overcome the odds (TVNZ1 7.30pm Sunday April 12, TVNZ+).     My House, My Castle  A local television classic return to our screens to tackle a very different housing market to the one it left behind. A mix of relatable consumer stories, jaw-dropping home transformation, aspirational designs, and a masterclass of expert opinions (Three, Three Now).     LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10/04/2026 • 05:59

Undertone   A podcast host covering spooky content moves in to care for her dying mother. When sent recordings of a pregnant couple's paranormal encounters, she discovers their story parallels hers, each tape pushing her toward madness.      The President’s Cake   As people in Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year-old Lamia has been selected to prepare a cake to celebrate the president's birthday. In a landscape of fear and scarcity, she sets out on a journey through the big city in search of eggs, flour and sugar.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10/04/2026 • 08:20

This hearty soup is full of comfort and takes full advantage of the late-season, cheap tomatoes available right now. As for canned beans, they are pure nourishment – affordable, varied, and yummy.   Makes 8-10 servings     Ingredients    4 tablespoons olive oil     1 medium onion, diced    2 carrots, diced    2 stalks celery (or small bulb fennel), chopped     2 litres water    4-6 fresh tomatoes, grated (see note)     1 x 420g can crushed tomatoes    1 bay leaf     5 handfuls of dried pasta shells or macaroni     2 x 400g can mixed beans, drained and rinsed     salt and pepper to taste – use plenty of each    chopped parsley to serve     crusty bread to serve        Method  In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion, carrot, and celery for 5–10 minutes or until softened.     Add water, fresh and canned tomatoes, and bay leaf and gently bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the pasta and continue cooking until the pasta is almost cooked —about 12 minutes— before adding in the beans to heat through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and add more water to thin if you feel it needs it.  To serve, garnish with chopped parsley and serve with lovely crusty bread.       Nici’s Notes:     Use a box grater to grate fresh tomatoes – you will end up with a lovely pulp and the skin leftover which can be chopped and added to the soup.    Add chopped chorizo or bacon to enrich.     Serve with grated cheese on top.     Feel free to add frozen vegetables like peas, corn, etc.         LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10/04/2026 • 06:00

Kevin Milne has music on his mind.  Paul McCartney released a new single last month, Days We Left Behind, the lead from his upcoming album ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane’.   It’s a nostalgic song, and got Kevin thinking about a story a friend of his son tells about meeting the musician.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10/04/2026 • 07:59

Nine days, 22 hours, and 32 minutes.    That’s how long the Artemis II crew has been away and as we speak this morning, they’re entering the final, critical hours of their mission. All going well, by the time Jason Pine welcomes you to Weekend Sport after the midday news, the capsule will have splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. The four people who’ve travelled further from Earth than any other human beings ever will be fished out and whisked off, home to NASA in time for supper.  As someone who wasn’t here for the Apollo missions, Artemis II represents the most exciting crewed space mission of my life. There have been other big moments: rescue missions to the International Space Station, perilous repair jobs that have needed specialist, highwire space walks. But Artemis is the first crewed mission to leave low Earth orbit since Apollo 17, 54 years ago.  For me, that’s what’s significant. When many of us think of the view of Earth from space, we think of something from the movies. We think of Earthrise, a marble hanging in space. I have that photograph hanging on our wall at home. It’s seductive to pause for a moment and think of our planet in the context of the big black.  But that’s not what most astronauts see. I’ve done the maths. Well, no. I’ve looked up the geometry. The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a distance of about 400km. About 10 or 12 times the cruising altitude of a passenger jet. That’s high, sure, but if you look out the window at that altitude, the Earth is right in front of you, and rather than a sphere floating in space, it looks like a giant curved surface.  You’ve got to go more than twice as far to see the whole Earth as a sphere. At 1000km, it still fills a huge part of your visual field, but you have to scan your eyes from left to right to take it all in. At 10,000km you can see the whole Earth, the whole sphere, the whole she-bang without moving your eyes. I reckon this is when the most significant shift must take place. It’s a view no one’s had in more than fifty years.  Artemis II travelled 400,000km from Earth. What are you doing? Can you extend your arm out? Reach out and put your thumb up in the air. In the context of your whole visual field, look how small it is. That’s how big Earth would have appeared from that distance.   I sat at the dinner table with our nine-year-old this week as the Artemis crew prepared for their 40 minutes of unbreakable solitude, the little window of uncontactable-ness as they passed by the far side of the moon. He had so many questions. He was so full of wonder. And almost every time he started with “but how do they...” my answer was “Well... maths.”   I can only imagine what the Apollo missions must have been like to follow from Earth. It must have been extraordinary. The difference this time around is the technology. The photos sent from the crew are beamed back to Earth and almost immediately shared by NASA. The interactive tools online let you plot capsule’s route.   You don’t have to be a nine-year old to feel the wonder. You don’t have to be 400,000km from home to have a little sense of what those crew members must feel when they look back at our planet as a distant sphere in the epic vastness of space.    It must make of our quibbles and disputes seem so petty and trivial. Simultaneously humbling and profound. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10/04/2026 • 05:50

Stephen K. Amos does the talking so that audiences can do the laughing.  Many will know the British comedian from his regular spots on UK television shows like ‘Live at The Apollo’ and ‘QI’.   Right now, he’s working the festival circuit in Australia, before he heads our way in May with his new show deconstructing the science of laughter.   The show is called ‘Now We’re Talking’, and it delves into what exactly laughter does to a person, physically and emotionally.  “And then I talk about how it’s important for us to keep talking in a world where there’s a lot of noise out there, and people aren’t listening enough,” Amos told Jack Tame.   But why is laughter so infectious? Amos says it’s do to with human connection.   “The mirror neuron – you see somebody laugh, you laugh.”  “It’s a shared experience, and on your own, I suppose people don’t want to look odd if they’re just sitting by themselves and then guffawing like a bit of a lunatic.”  “But it is, it’s good for the soul.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04/04/2026 • 13:32

Humankind is returning to the moon.  NASA launched its first manned mission to the moon in over fifty years earlier this week – sending four astronauts on the Artemis II on a ten day journey to circle the celestial body.  And though many young kids dream of being an astronaut one day, Kevin Milne isn’t sure he could hack it.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04/04/2026 • 05:23

UK singer-songwriter Arlo Parks has released her third studio album – Ambiguous Desire.   It’s a departure from her previous albums, both of which held more rock and alternative elements, whereas this one is filled with the sounds of nightlife – house, garage, and techno.   Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to share his thoughts on the album.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04/04/2026 • 04:23

Bonfire of the Murdochs by Gabriel Sherman   When Rupert Murdoch made a fateful decision about who should inherit his media colossus, he believed that pitting his children against each other would produce the most capable heir. Twenty-five years later, that gamble would tear apart one of the world's most powerful families and trigger a multi-billion dollar reckoning in a succession battle featuring betrayals, lawsuits, and revenge plots.  In Bonfire of the Murdochs, bestselling author Gabriel Sherman tells the inside story of this epic family war, one whose seeds were planted a half-century ago in Australia when the complicated patriarch left his homeland to conquer the world and please the ghost of his judgmental father. That quest culminated in a media empire that controlled Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and tabloids on three continents, which wielded more political and cultural power than any single company in modern times.  But Rupert's plan to rip up the secret trust controlling his empire and anoint his conservative firstborn son Lachlan as successor set him on a collision course with his three more liberal children. What price would Rupert pay to secure his legacy? For the aging patriarch, this would be his final and most personal deal.  Based on interviews with more than 150 sources, Bonfire of the Murdochs is a richly textured narrative where each child plays their predestined role in a blood feud that explodes in a courtroom showdown. There, Murdoch's children weaponize his own secrets against him. It is a tragedy Shakespeare would have appreciated, where getting everything you want costs everything you love.     Hooked by Asako Yuzuki   Eriko really wouldn't mind being savaged, if it was her best friend doing the savaging ...  Eriko's life appears perfect - devoted parents, spotless apartment and a job in the seafood division of one of Japan's largest trading companies. Her latest project, to reintroduce the controversial Nile perch fish into the Japanese market, is characteristically ambitious. But beneath her flawless surface she is wracked by loneliness.   Eriko becomes fascinated with a popular blog written by a housewife, Shoko. Shoko's posts about eating convenience store food and her untidy home are the opposite of the typical Japanese housewife's manicured lifestyle.   When Eriko tracks Shoko down at her favourite restaurant and befriends her, Shoko is at first charmed by her new companion. But as Eriko's obsession with Shoko deepens, her increasingly possessive behaviour starts to raise suspicion. As Eriko's carefully laid plans begin to unravel, how far will she go to hold on to the best friend that she's ever had?   Beautifully translated by Polly Barton, Hooked is a thrilling and unsettling story of the line between friendship and dangerous obsession. A delicious exploration of food, loneliness and womanhood in contemporary Japan, Hooked brings together all the ingredients for which Asako Yuzuki is so adored.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04/04/2026 • 05:28

"One of life’s great truths is that Las Vegas never rests on its laurels. It is constantly in a state of evolution and reinvention, unfurling ever brighter and more ambitious embellishments to enrich its entertainment arsenal." "No matter how you tackle Sin City, Las Vegas requires a suspension of disbelief, as you’re swallowed up within the whirling, swirling haze of escapist gratification. Blend the best of new and old Las Vegas, sampling the latest and greatest hits in town." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04/04/2026 • 07:51

As we approach the Easter break —a time typically filled with texts, chocolate, memes, and quick check-ins— new research from 2degrees suggests Kiwis may be craving something more meaningful. The study reveals a modern contradiction: Kiwis have more ways to stay in touch than ever, but two thirds say meaningful conversations are harder to come by.   While texting and social media have become the default, a phone call still has the greatest emotional impact - 77% say they feel meaningfully better after speaking to someone close to them, yet only 15% regularly pick up the phone.   Always on, rarely connected:   67% of Kiwis say meaningful conversations are harder to come by despite having more ways to stay in touch than ever   Nearly one in three (32%) are making fewer calls than five years ago    23% of Kiwis can't recall a single phone number apart from their own    How Kiwis use their phones to communicate:   68% say text-based messaging is their primary way of keeping in touch vs just 15% who default to a phone call    When asked where their thumb instinctively reaches in a spare moment, 45% said social media vs just 5% who make a call, meaning Kiwis are nine times more likely to scroll than call.   Top reasons Kiwis don’t call more:   Messaging feels easier (31%)  Not wanting to interrupt (27%)  Feeling too busy for a proper conversation (20%)  Or a phone call feeling too awkward or unexpected (19%)    The case for calling:   77% feel better after a phone call with a loved one   59% say there is someone in their life they wish they called someone more often   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04/04/2026 • 08:44

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 4 April 2026, British comedian and tv personality Stephen K Amos joins Jack to talk about the joy in connecting through humour and why it's important not to take it all too seriously.  Jack reflects on the gift and simplicity of being in nature.  Chef Nici Wickes has the perfect easter treat, Easter Rocky Road.  Economist Ed McKnight looks at the house buying trends that happen every election year.  Plus, travel contributor Mike Yardley is in Las Vegas and has all the latest and greatest from Sin City.  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.

03/04/2026 • 116:29

We all know about the direct effects of elections —financial, policy, crime— but they also seem to effect the housing market.  Ed McKnight analysed 11 elections going back to 1993, and discovered a few patterns that appear in the housing market around that time.  He joined Jack Tame to discuss his findings.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/04/2026 • 05:33

It might not be obvious in Aotearoa, but there’s something like 1400 different species of snails! They’re in many groups and with many different jobs to do, in the forests, in liquid habitats, on tree trunks, and in your garden.  Native snails consume dead and decaying leaves, fungus, and algae (they don’t eat your veggie garden) and leave behind nutrient-rich poo for soil health.  The Leaf-veined slug is one of those Molluscs that slithers around in the evening and at night. Their movement can be relatively smart, especially when they cruise on outdoor furniture or on leaves. Here they clean surfaces – literally! I’ve always called them the Wet & Forget slug, simply because they leave those clean tracks where-ever they went.  Paryphanta the kauri snail. A serious native snail with almost 80 mm diameter shell. It occurs from Kaitaia to the southern parts of Northland. It’s even distributed to Titirangi and Laingholm, where I used to have it on our lawn, especially at night. I’ll never forget having to remove these massive snails before mowing the lawn! They are carnivorous: eating worms, insect larvae, and other snail species. The way they catch the worms is akin to sucking up spaghetti from the layers in the soil!  Limax maximus (literally: “the largest slug”) also known as the leopard slug. Introduced into New Zealand and has a habit of getting inside our homes, especially when there’s a cat with milk in its bowl. The slurping by this slug can be heard by the neighbours!  And here is one of those introduced snails that can cause a lot of damage to your garden: Cantareus Asperses, the Brown Garden Snail. It’s originally from Northern Africa and taken to France, a long, long time ago, it was introduced to NZ with European settlers. Troublesome eater of leaves etc in massive numbers; hiding under pots during the day and always more numerous than you think.  One of the so-called “control” measures is spreading sharp chicken eggshells around the plants, so that the snails can’t walk over those sharp items. This picture shows one of those snails crossing over a brand-new, super sharp knife…  One historical story is far more important than sharp knives: this snail species is one of the preferred snails that French people cultivate and use to create Escargot. Snail farming in New Zealand might not be a bad idea – it makes that protein a lot cheaper with the rising prices of our food!  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/04/2026 • 04:43

Australia's social media ban's first report card is in and there’s room for improvement   The regulator says the big social media companies are not doing enough to keep children off their platforms, particularly having insufficient measures to prevent kids from creating new accounts, not providing effective ways to report under-16s, and allowing those who said they were under 16 before the ban to say they were actually over 16.   Social media companies Meta and Snap say they are doing the best they can to comply, but it's very difficult to know how old a person is. Meta suggests that the App Store is the best place for age verification, which would effectively move the problem to Apple and Google.     Amazon's adding a fuel surcharge to orders   The 3.5% fuel surcharge will be added to orders that are fulfilled through its distribution centres. It'll come into effect on April 17th. The company says it can no longer continue to eat the additional cost, adding that this surcharge will only partially recover the cost.   This is not the first time – the war in Ukraine pushed oil prices over $100 a barrel and a surcharge was added then too. Amazon says the surcharge is temporary but will be in place for the foreseeable future.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/04/2026 • 03:05

Something Very Bad is Going to Happen   A bride has a feeling that something horrifying will happen at her wedding — and the closer to the altar she gets, the worse it becomes (Netflix).    Your Friends & Neighbors   When a financial titan suddenly finds himself divorced and jobless, he starts robbing his wealthy neighbors to stay afloat. Stealing from his own social circle strangely exhilarates him -- but he gradually gets tangled in a deadly web (Apple TV+).    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/04/2026 • 07:01

With the price of Easter eggs through the roof this year I’m making this rocky road as the ultimate sweet treat for the long weekend!    Makes one tray      Ingredients  200g dark chocolate, chopped     200g milk chocolate, chopped    50g butter    1 tablespoon golden syrup or maple syrup   100g roasted almonds, chopped roughly    ½ cup chopped dried apricots    1 cup chopped marshmallow eggs   1 cup mini eggs, some chopped some left whole       Method  Line a shallow 20x20cm dish with baking paper.   Gently melt both chocolates, butter, and syrup in a pot over a low heat.    Stir in the almonds, apricots, and pieces of marshmallow eggs. Scrape into the dish and smooth the top as much as possible.   Push the mini eggs down into the surface and chill for 3 hours or overnight until set.    Cut into squares.      Nici’s note:   You can get inventive with this recipe and use any type of nut and dried fruit really – try hazelnuts and golden raisins or walnuts and prunes.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/04/2026 • 05:18

The Drama  A happily engaged couple get put to the test when an unexpected revelation sends their wedding week off the rails.     Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice  Two friends navigate the dangerous world of organized crime, testing their loyalty and survival skills as they get deeper into the criminal underworld.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/04/2026 • 08:06

For my birthday this year, my wife went above and beyond.   I didn’t want a product. I didn’t want a thing. For the last year of my thirties, I asked for an experience. And a couple of months before the big day, I casually dropped it into conversation.   “How would you feel,” I asked.  “If for my birthday this year, you took on all of the family duties for a bit... So I can duck off for a couple of nights in the bush?”   I’ll admit to a bias —I’ve spent more time in that any other— but I reckon the Kahurangi might be our best National Park. Although Fiordland National Park obviously boasts the majesty of Milford, Doubtful, and Dusky Sounds, and Abel Tasman has the golden sand beaches, between the nikau groves meeting the Tasman and the true sub-alpine, I reckon nothing can rival the Kahurangi in terms of sheer variety of landscapes.    I was reminded of that diversity this week, when, for my birthday escape, I joined my brother and brother-in-law and drove up the Wangapeka River enroute to climb Mt Owen.  We started at the Blue Creek resurgence, where beautiful, perfect, clear water pours from the vast underground caves. Not too far away (as the crow flies) is the Pearse Resurgence, where cave divers recently set an extraordinary and terrifying record, diving 245m deep into the earth.    Like so many beautiful spots in the South Island, the Kahurangi had a gold rush. Unfortunately for the hardy souls who braved the Wangapeka River in the 1860s, the quantities of gold recovered were ultimately modest at best. The older I get, the more I marvel at the ridiculous, old, gold works, the huge bits of rusted iron machinery that once upon a time took were hauled up the least-hospitable valleys, only to be abandoned and left to be slowly consumed by the bush.    We climbed straight up. It was too steep for chatter and we soon fell into the rhythm of the bush. The crunch of our boots, the gasping, heavy breath, the birdsong. So much birdsong. Again, the older I get, the more I appreciate it. There were countless bellbirds, robins, piwakawaka, and my new favourite cutie of all the New Zealand natives: tomtits. We paused for a moment for a handful of pick-n-mix, and two tiny, sweet little rifleman came and perched on a twig right next to us.    We climbed above the bushline and then down into another valley, up an old creekbed to the tidy DOC hut. It was pretty busy and we still had legs, so we kept climbing, up another hour to a couple of tarns, where we pitched our tents for the night. We were surrounded by three mighty limestone mountains, a little plateau with spongey earth and tussock. Mother Nature’s colosseum. We dropped a couple of beers into the tarns to cool them off as we pitched our flies and cooked dinner.     We were at 1500m. Hardly Everest, but high enough for the temperature to drop fast. One minute your clothes are rotting with sweat, the next you’re double socking. We slept in puffer jackets and polyprops. Without any clouds or light pollution, the sky was so pure and bright. I had to pull a beanie over my eyes to try and doze off. Is it even tramping if you have a good night’s sleep?  In the morning we left our camp and started climbing before sunrise. From the little plateau, we worked up through the huge glaciated marble karst that builds to the mountain summit. You can see why these landscapes were chosen by the location scouts as Lord of the Rings country. Mind your step. Skip the crevasse. Up, up, up.   The views from the top were awesome. Not just ‘awesome’ as in good, but awesome in the true sense of inspiring awe. We could see incredible ranges on all sides, clouds sitting deep in the valleys below. In one, cloud spilled over the lip of an alpine ridge and down the otherside, like water tipping from a glass. Several times we all just stopped. How often in life are you ever in a time and place where we can’t see or hear any sign of human civilisation?   I’m impossible to buy for but for my birthday this year, my wife nailed it. I walked out with burning quads and a couple of blisters, so content, so full of gratitude.    And to think these landscapes are there for all of us. That it’s our home. What a gift, indeed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/04/2026 • 06:03

Comedy legend Eddie Izzard’s material has taken on a life of its own.   Now going by Suzy Eddie, she doesn’t just tell jokes, she’s rewritten history.   The comedian, actor, and politician has captivated audiences with a career that has constantly pushed forward, and now she’ll be captivating Kiwi audiences, gracing our stages later this year.   She’s bringing two shows to our shores that couldn’t be more different, the Remix Tour in May, and a one-person performance of Hamlet in July.   “Just like Shakespeare went from his comedies to his dramas and tragedies, so am I,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame.   The Remix Tour has Izzard performing highlights from her 35 year career in stand up comedy, and with so much material to pick from, every night will be unique.  “It lives – that's the thing,” she said.  “It lives as opposed to, oh it’s old and we pull it out and it’s the old prayer from before – it's got essences of that, but also new stuff as well.”   In contrast, Hamlet is a fair bit more structured – Izzard unable to shift things around from performance to performance, but that doesn’t make it a traditional rendition.   By its nature, theatre requires an audience to buy into the action more than with film or television, having to use their own imagination to fill in the gaps, and Izzard’s is no different.  “You get to concentrate, you get to see very clearly the text, the beauty of the poetry, the characters interplay,” she explained.   “We've worked very hard on moving ... the juxtaposition of me moving between different characters. There’s a subtle change – these are not caricatures, these are characters.”   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28/03/2026 • 16:43

Most people are aware that drivers licensing tests have changed over the years, but not everyone is aware of exactly how much.  Kevin Milne first sat his driver's test back in 1964, and in retrospect, the rules back then were much slacker.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28/03/2026 • 07:18