Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

A Kiwi company is flipping the bird, pivoting from making environmentally friendly wool shoes to AI. 

After years of losses, Allbirds sold all its assets this month and now plans to lease GPUs – chips used to train AI software. 

It's revised its moniker to NewBirds AI. 

Kevin Milne joined Jack Tame to talk about the rise and fall of the company. 

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"After taking in the retro charms of Route 66’s on a romp across northern Arizona, the desert was calling. I pointed the car south, driving through the achingly gorgeous Oak Creek Canyon route to Sedona, bound for Scottsdale. Towering red sandstone cliffs and an undulating quilt of ponderosa pine create a riveting scenic medley.

"Situated on the eastern flank of the sprawling Phoenix metroplex, Scottsdale has been dubbed “the Bever...

English singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone has released her second studio album, ‘Cruel World’. 

It’s a shift for the artist, delving into a more upbeat pop sound, whilst dealing with themes of belonging, steadiness, repair, and discipline. 

The atmospheric style and intimacy of Humberstone’s musical style has seen her compared to artists like Lorde and Bon Iver, and she herself has described her style as “quite self-exp...

Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise  

In the wilds of Donegal, Ireland, 1999, Saoirse is an artist living an outwardly idyllic life. Her tender husband Daithí and two beloved daughters are regular subjects for her work, and in them she has found the safe home that she has always longed for. She tends not to talk about her past, and those that love her have learned to accept that the full story is too painful for her to disclose.&nbs...

Disgust is a basic human emotion, probably designed to keep us safe and well as it makes us avoid icky things.  

Yet as a parent of a baby we are constantly exposed to disgusting things – known officially as “effluvia” (think anything that flows out of a baby). It would make sense that constant exposure to baby ones, twos, and vomit would have some impact on our sense of disgust, otherwise we probably wouldn’t ever get near th...

Ecosystem Services... sounds awfully like an Economical Job! 

Thank goodness it’s not an ecological gig: Ecosystem Services are the ecological contributions organisms make to the smooth running of our planet. 

Invertebrates, spiders, birds, trees, shrubs, fungi, whales, and insects, etc, do a variety of jobs that help us and all other creatures we share this Earth with. And we often forget about this! 

Pollinatio...

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 18 April 2026, one of New Zealand’s sharpest comedic minds, Tim Batt, joined Jack to chat about his major podcast success and return to the festival circuit. 

Jack reaches a Duolingo milestone. 

Chef Nici Wickes was in studio with a delicious dark chocolate and feijoa recipe. 

Francesca Rudkin reviews the latest instalment in 'The Mummy' franchise....

What is testosterone?  

• A hormone ‘anabolic steroid’ produced by the testes and ovaries  
• It’s important for energy, libido, muscle mass, and bone health  
• It’s becoming more common – being marketed on social media as “anti-ageing” or performance-enhancing  

When is testosterone use appropriate?  

• It’s intended for replacement therapy, not body enhancement  
• Clinically confirmed ...

Spotify is... selling books?  

Spotify has been in the audiobook business for two years, now operating in 22 markets with 700,000 titles to listen to.   

They say users want a 'multi-format reading experience' which allows them to go from listening to being able to pick up a real book. Their 'Page Match' feature allows you to take a photo of that page of the book to instantly jump to the audio version, or vice versa....

Beef 

The Emmy-winning series returns with a brand-new story of two couples whose blackmail war upends a country club, starring Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan (Netflix). 

Margo's Got Money Troubles 

The daughter of a former Hooter's waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo is a recent college dropout and aspiring writer. Faced with a new baby, mounting pile of bills, and dwindling number of ways to pay them, Mar...

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy  

The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace. Eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she's returned to them. However, what should be a joyful reunion soon turns into a living nightmare as she starts to transform into something truly horrifying. 

Outcome  

Beloved Hollywood star Reef Hawk becomes the target of an extortion plot when he rece...

This chocolate cake is rich yet light and spongey too and it’s studded with gorgeous chunks of feijoa.  

Makes a 20cm cake   

Ingredients  

• 150g butter, softened + extra for greasing the tin   
• 1/3 cup dark cocoa  
• ½ cup boiling water   
• ¾ cup brown sugar   
• 2 large free-range eggs  
• 1 ½ cup self-raising flour  
• 1 tsp baking soda  
• ½ cup sour cr...

361 days.   

That’s how long my streak on Duolingo is. This week, all going well, I will pass the 12-month mark on the world’s biggest language learning app. A year of consistent daily Español.  

Although of course, if you’ve ever used Duolingo, you might know that a 365-day-streak does not necessarily mean a full year without missing a lesson. The thing about Duolingo streaks is that if you happen to miss the occasi...

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...

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 f...

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 detect...

"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 ...

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 pr...

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 “grow...