Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

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Jack Tame’s crisp perspective, style and enthusiasm makes for refreshing and entertaining Saturday morning radio on Newstalk ZB.News, sport, books, music, gardens and celebrities – what better way to spend your Saturdays?

1d ago

Robert Vennell: Ecologist and natural history author on his new book 'Song of the Birds'

Kiwi ecologist and best-selling natural history author Robert Vennell is back with a new book. He published his first book seven years ago – 'The meaning of Trees' looking at the history and use of New Zealand's native plants. Since then, he's published 'Secrets of the Sea', 'The Forgotten Forest', and just last month released 'Song of the Birds', looking at the history of our native birds. In the book, Vennell looks at both how humans have impacted and shaped the lives of birds, and also how birds have shaped the lives of humans. "They've shaped our culture, and our, our language, and our worldview in lots of different ways," he told Jack Tame. "The book kind of explores the influence of birds on Te Ao Māori, sort of through the culture, through how birds have influenced the language, through whakapapa, through waiata and poetry..." "But also how birds have come to be this kind of shared New Zealand identity, a big part of how we think about ourselves is these kinds of distinctive, unique creatures in this little island in the South Pacific." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1d ago

Kevin Milne: An Election Night conundrum

Kevin Milne has a conundrum. The Election is officially one week away on November 7th. Also on November 7th is his wife Linda's birthday. This puts Kevin between a rock and a hard place, as he loves watching the Election Night coverage, whereas Linda's not so keen. He put it to Jack Tame whether he should join her and their daughter for celebrations, or spend the night in front of the television. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1d ago

Chris Schulz: TEEKS - Lovers Comet

Five years after releasing his debut album, Kiwi musician TEEKS is back with something new. 'Lovers Comet' explores desire, intimacy, identity, and love through the lens of celestial bodies and cosmic phenomena. Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to share his thoughts on the album. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1d ago

Mike Yardley: History, artistry, and nature on display in Ōamaru

"Ōamaru and the Waitaki District is undoubtedly having a moment. It is basking in the global spotlight. Not only has the destination been lauded as a must-visit in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2027 guide, but set-jetters will be stimulated by the town’s gorgeous historic district, as lavishly depicted in the major Netflix production, East of Eden. "I have long believed that Ōamaru stands tall as one of New Zealand’s finest towns, with its stately and seductive good looks, stirring local wildlife, astonishing heritage treasures, and alluring artisan verve. And it’s all anchored with a striking sense of community pride and passion. Even the public gardens are next-level, with so many artistic flourishes, including the much-loved Humpty Dumpty wall statue. The heritage streetscapes are bewitching, housing a hive of temptations, from the science fiction meets Victoriana fun of Steampunk, to the creatives, craft brewers and boutiques within the harbourside precinct." Read Mike's full article here. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1d ago

Catherine Raynes: Chain Reaction and London Station

Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child Jack Reacher is a hard man to track down. And that’s just the way he likes it. But General Susan Turner, based deep inside the Pentagon, has the means, and the motive, to do so. She needs his help. A member of her team has been brutally murdered on covert duty. She can’t trust anyone she works with, not even her deputy. She needs someone from the outside. Someone who solves problems and disappears without a trace. Reacher heads to Summertown, Colorado. A town as remote and bizarre as it gets. One diner, one motel, five massive data centres, two giant solar farms humming away in the dust. Total population: four people. And one of them is watching him. But Reacher isn’t built to run. He’s built to finish things. General Turner knows: if they come for him, they'll regret it - all the way to the top of the chain. London Station by David McKloskey A new US administration has taken office, installing a brash and unconventional CIA director skeptical of old alliances and determined to disrupt the Agency. When the axe falls on the chief of London Station, the agency veteran decides to spy for the Brits―a betrayal uncovered by his replacement, Artemis Aphrodite Procter. Caught between a turncoat spymaster and a ruthless new boss back at Langley, Procter must now navigate a tense environment as old friends become adversaries and no one knows whom to trust. Adding to the chaos is a new breed of private intelligence agency: a secretive and powerful company run by a reclusive billionaire with a very different agenda than the two old allies who are suddenly at each other’s throats. When assets begin dying, Procter and her team in London Station must find out who is leaking the sources’ identities―and why―before both agencies go blind. Soon they will have to decide whether loyalty to the Mission means disobeying the Agency they serve. Immersing readers in the technological revolution upending intelligence tradecraft, London Station explores the changing nature of the spy business and what happens when politics threaten to destroy the special relationship between America and Britain. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1d ago

Dr Dougal Sutherland: Does taking paracetamol make you feel less fear?

Paracetamol is one of the most widely used over-the-counter medications we have and most of us probably use it for common things such as headaches, muscle aches, etc. Unlike anti-inflammatory medications which work directly at the site of pain by reducing inflammation, paracetamol acts on our brain and nervous system to reduce our perception of pain or the strength of the pain response in our brains. Given it works directly on our brains, it may not be surprising that if could have other effects on us as well, for example, impacting our emotional response to pain. In fact, previous research has found that paracetamol reduces emotional responses to things like their own social rejection and empathy for others' pain. New research looked at how paracetamol might impact people’s sense of fear, an emotion which is linked to pain, as it can keep us safe by making us more careful around potentially dangerous situations. To test this out, researchers gave participants either paracetamol or a placebo an hour before doing a task. Their task was to play a VR game called “Richie’s Plank Experience”. In this game people go up to the 80th floor of a skyscraper and walk as far as they can along a 2-metre plank. To make it even more real, the researchers got people to walk on an actual plank while playing the game. In the game itself you can jump off the plank and fly around the city putting out fires. The researchers measured a variety of characteristics indicative of fear and found that those people who took paracetamol: Stepped onto the plank sooner Walked across the plank faster Had a smaller increase in heart rate while on the plank Interestingly, participants did not report dramatically lower fear levels when directly asked how frightened they felt. However, their behaviour and physiological responses suggested they were reacting less cautiously to the threatening situation. The researchers believe that paracetamol may influence brain regions involved in evaluating the significance of events. If dangers seem less threatening, fear responses may become weaker. This could explain why people on paracetamol moved more quickly and appeared less cautious when doing this task. The findings raise an important question: if paracetamol reduces fear-related caution, could it influence behaviour in real-world situations? Fear often serves a protective purpose. It encourages people to: Slow down Assess risks carefully Avoid dangerous situations Pay attention to threats If a medication reduces some of these protective responses, it could theoretically affect decisions in situations such as driving, operating machinery, working at heights etc. BUT – it's important to say not to stop using paracetamol based on the strengths of this one study! Nor should people try and use more as a way of self-medicating, as there are considerable dangers in overusing paracetamol, particularly liver damage. However, it is interesting to be aware that side effects of a common medication could be much wider than we initially think and it’s good to understand these. Here’s the reference in case anyone is interested: Behavioural consequences of blunting fear with acetaminophen. Emotion, 26(6), 1315–1322. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1d ago

Full Show Podcast: 31 October 2026

On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday October 31 2026, Kiwi ecologist and best-selling natural history author Robert Vennell joins Jack to explain how you can train a tūī, what pūkeko tastes like, and the things he's optimistic about with the future of our native bird life. Jack casts his vote in favour of getting onboard with Halloween. We hear Francesca Rudkin's take on the psychological thriller films Clayface and Primetime. We're off to sample what Oamaru has to offer with our travel buddy Mike Yardley. And our book reviewer Catherine Raynes gives us a debrief on the newest instalment of the Reacher series: Lee Childs' 'Chain Reaction'. 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.
1d ago

Ed McKnight: Why did the Reserve Bank keep the OCR on hold?

Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank voted to hold the Official Cash Rate at 2.75% instead of raising it. The decision was counter to what many economists were expecting – so why did they decide to stick with it? Ed McKnight joined Jack Tame to dig into the details that likely drove the decision, and discuss where interest rates could go next. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Jack Tame’s crisp perspective, style and enthusiasm makes for refreshing and entertaining Saturday morning radio on Newstalk ZB.News, sport, books, music, gardens and celebrities – what better way to spend your Saturdays?