Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Their 27th album and their most theatrical yet, Phantom Island is the latest release from Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. 

It’s a partner to their prior album, Flight b741, and was recorded during the same sessions, continuing on with the same themes, but with a more orchestral sound.  

Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to share her thoughts on the album. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See ...

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid  

In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins training to be an astronaut at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond; mission specialists John Griffin and Lydia Danes; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer. As the new astronauts prepare for t...

"Do the Galapagos sea lions know how good they have got it? Sprawled across the pristine beaches, they wallow, snooze, and frolic across the powder-white stretches of sand, blissfully unconcerned by curious passers-by entering their slice of paradise on a goggle-eyed shore excursion. In fact, some of the sea lions waddled up to greet us into their realm of unrivalled wonder. The Galapagos grips you good, and doesn’t let go. I’m fre...

Nearly a million people in New Zealand are currently receiving Superannuation, getting payments of between nearly $600 and just over $1000 every fortnight.  

But in this cost of living crisis, how easy is it to survive on the pension? 

Ed McKnight tried living on it for a week and came to a couple of conclusions around what it would be like to retire. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Oral hygiene is incredibly important for maintaining your health, but when you’re brushing twice a day, you can burn through brushes pretty quickly. 

With dentists recommending toothbrushes be replaced every three months, New Zealanders send an estimated 20 million toothbrushes to landfill every year.  

Is there a better option? Kate Hall offers a few tips that could help bring down the waste. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See ...

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 14 June 2025, legend of the screen and stage Alison Quigan joins Jack to discuss directing a brand-new theatre production from Roger Hall. 

Jack considers what real life skills we need in the world of AI. 

Kevin has a few thoughts on what skills we should be nurturing and hopes they might translate to more original ideas. 

Francesca Rudkin dishes o...

Damage in the garden can strike at any time.  

Serious leaf damage (chewing and molesting of foliage all the way down the branches of a tree or shrub) is not something that small birds tend to do.   

At ground level you can rightly guess that sparrows and quail are the possible delinquents, but when it really looks like full-on destruction you will need to do a bit of research:  

Large bites in leaves: classic ...

Disney and Universal are suing AI image and video generator Midjourney  

With just a couple of sentences you can create your own scene starring Homer Simpson, a Minion, or a Star Wars character. That's cool, but a problem for the studios who own the IP for that content.  

The studios call Midjourney a “virtual vending machine” and “bottomless pit of plagiarism” in their suit.   

Many of these AI companies have b...

David Attenborough: Ocean 

David Attenborough explores the planet's undersea habitats, revealing the greatest age of ocean discovery and emphasising the ocean's vital importance while exposing its problems and highlighting opportunities for marine life recovery (Disney+). 

Titan: The OceanGate Disaster  

OceanGate's Titan tourist submersible imploded in 2023 on a deep-sea dive to the Titanic. This documentary ...

Materialists  

A young New York City matchmaker's lucrative business gets complicated as she finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex. 

Dangerous Animals 

A shark-obsessed serial killer holds Zephyr, a rebellious surfer, captive on his boat. Racing against time, she must figure out a way to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below. 

LISTEN ABOV...

Nici Wickes has been out at Fieldays for the last few days, checking out a few products and cooking up a storm. She joined Jack to round up some of her foodie highlights, as well as share her ‘super simple’ Korean-style rump steak recipe that’s been popular among the other visitors. 

Korean Beef and Spring Onions   

If I have to pick a steak to cook, I’ll go with rump every time as it’s so darn tasty! It’s great for ...

I still remember the exact seat where I was sitting.   

It was 20 years ago, and I was primed for one of the key exams in my tertiary education. I’d passed Teeline shorthand at 40 words a minute. 50 words, 60 words, 70 words. To progress on my journalism course and ultimately earn a degree I had one final challenge: I had to pass a Teeline shorthand exam at 80 words a minute.  

We learnt Teeline from a wonderful tuto...

Nadia Lim is a chef with a finger in every pie. 

She’s a MasterChef New Zealand champion, cookbook author, TV personality, dietitian, entrepreneur, and an inspiration for many in the kitchen. 

Her recipes and passion have shaped the way many approach food, the release of her cookbook Easy Weeknight Meals inspiring plenty of people to take up utensils. 

To mark the 10th anniversary of that very cookbook, a special edi...

Britpop legends Pulp are back after 24 years. 

They released their 8th album, More, which was recorded over the span of three weeks, starting in November of 2024. 

In the Bandcamp description for the album, Jarvis Cocker writes:  

“We hope you enjoy the music. It was written & performed by four human beings from the North of England, aided & abetted by five other human beings from various locations in the Bri...

The Surf House by Lucy Clarke  

Wish you were here? Think again... High on the wave-pounded cliffs, far from the bustling souks of Marrakesh, sits The Surf House. A hidden gem on Morocco's shores, the house is a sanctuary for the surfers, travellers and dreamers who wash in. But the idyll is built on something rotten. And when Bea arrives, relieved to find refuge after a dangerous encounter in a Marrakesh alleyway, she soon ge...

"Nestled on the western flank of the Andes, three hours northwest of Quito, I was swathed in the finery of the Chocó rainforest. Mashpi Lodge is an eco-tourism jewel, a five-star oasis within the wider Mashpi Reserve that serves up a resplendent rainforest encounter with the mighty Chocó. Truth be told, because the reserve traverses a wide altitude range, from 550 metres to 1400m, there’s the rainforest and the cloud forest. There’...

At some point in their life, most women will experience menopause.  

It generally impacts women between the ages of 45 and 55, with the average age New Zealand women will begin to experience menopause being 52. 

At menopause, the ovaries stop releasing eggs and menstrual periods stop. In most cases, if someone hasn’t had a period for 12 months in a row, they are considered post-menopausal.  

Significant symptoms are ...