The Mint Chicks are a seminal slice of New Zealand’s indie music scene.

Fronted by Ruban Nielson and his brother Kody, the noise rock and art punk band swept the Aotearoa Music Awards back in 2007 with their sophomore album “Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!’.

And now, twenty years on from its release, the album is being recognised at the Taites – receiving the IMNZ Classic Record.

It’s one of New Zealand’s most respected prizes, and the type of honour Ruban is appreciating more as he grows older.

“I used to not really understand how important these things are,” he told Jack Tame.

“I guess it’s like in any job, you’re sort of like, just doing stuff all the time, and then it’s nice to reflect and be like, oh, we kind of like, achieved something.”

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Foo Fighters have dropped their twelfth album.

‘Your Favorite Toy’ is a return to their punk-rock roots. It’s high energy and fast and is the band’s shortest album – beating ‘Medicine at Midnight’ by nine seconds.

Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to share his thoughts on the album.

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All around the world, people are commemorating Anzac Day.

Thousands of people are attending the Dawn Services, parades, and other commemorations for the ANZAC forces who died at Gallipoli.

But something many people may not have done is visit the graves of those soldiers in Europe. This is the first Anzac Day since Kevin Milne visited his great uncles’ graves to pay respects, and joined Jack Tame to discuss the moving experience.

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The Model Murder by Amanda Hampson

Never underestimate a tea lady.

Sydney, 1968. When a popular local man is murdered, police are quick to pin the blame on his glamorous model fiancée, who has since disappeared. But Hazel suspects a criminal cover-up and rallies the tea ladies to investigate; a quest that brings danger right to her door.

Meanwhile, Merl’s long-buried family secret threatens to unravel her carefully constructed life. When she stumbles on evidence that her detective son-in-law is corrupt, she’s forced to swallow her pride and reunite with the other tea ladies, enlisting their help to expose him.

Betty becomes immersed in a local theatre group where there is more drama offstage than on it, further complicated by her infatuation with the enigmatic leading man. Irene aspires to a new career as a debt collector but her first case has more frustrations and obstacles than she bargained for, even with the help of a new weapon.

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke

Six authors.

One private island.

Seventy-two hours to write the ending that will change their lives.

Arthur Fletch, one of the world’s bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead . . . and his last book is unfinished.

Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch’s agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter––for a mind-boggling sum––they will also help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just seventy-two hours to finish Fletch’s magnum opus.

It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.

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"The pint-sized Texan city of Grapevine certainly struck it lucky with the location Gods. Bounded by the sprawling immensity of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), its mighty aviation neighbour prevents the threat of urban sprawl swallowing up Grapevine into the metroplex. DFW, with its seven runways, encompasses a greater area of land than Manhattan Island. This plucky little city remains safeguarded in its own compact bubble, like a world apart, while offering transit passengers at DFW the chance to enjoy an indelible dabble with the delights of Grapevine."

"At first blush, I thought I had arrived at a highly seductive tourist trap, but it’s actually the real deal – a totally authentic thriving Texan town that has proudly safeguarded and restored its irresistible main street and historic district. Walt Disney would be seriously impressed by its historic, charismatic good looks, which pulses with mixed-use vitality."

Read Mike's full article here.

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Building sustainable habits can not only help save the planet, it can help save you time.

Sustainability doesn’t have to mean more effort, so Kate Hall joined Jack Tame to run through some of the habits that can make your life easier, including:

• Batch cooking - cook once, eat multiple times
• A capsule wardrobe - fewer clothes, easier choices
• Bulk buying staples - fewer trips to the supermarket (e.g. misfit produce boxes and bulk bin stores)
• Unsubscribe from marketing emails - less temptation to buy and less time spent wading through emails
• Own less stuff - less to tidy, clean, organise (this is especially relevant with kids stuff! Rotate their toys instead of buying new ones)

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On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 25 April 2026, Ruban Nielson of the Mint Chicks joins Jack to discuss being a seminal slice of New Zealand's indie music scene and the band's sophomore album being recognised as Classic Record at the Taite Music Prize.

Jack reflects on the changing recognition of Anzac Day and speaks to Maritime Component Commander Commodore Shane Arndell.

Francesca Rudkin shares her thoughts on the new Michael Jackson biopic.

And Nici Wickes has an amazing Anzac treat with a little difference.

Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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A couple of months ago our tunnel house got smacked by the wind.

Young tomatoes were rescued from their spot and some of them survived in medium-sized pots.

It was a matter of getting rid of that ancient, 8-meter-long tunnel house and replacing it with a new one – half the length but double the strength.

The whole renovation took a few school holidays’ weeks, but it looked pretty darn good.

I decided to plant the few tomatoes that were still struggling in the pots and have a go in the new tunnel house. Plant them in fresh soil with Wet and Forget SeaWeed Tea as a potash-rich fertiliser.

By the time they started getting into good growth again, the plants created tomato flowers with the idea of becoming tomato fruit in the future.

With the tunnel house door open during the day and the odd Bumblebee inspecting the new flowers (getting nectar and pollen) the new tomatoes were getting their treatment known as “pollination”.

Pollination with bumblebees is generally different from the technique of other pollinating insects. Bumbles literally vibrate the flowers in a clever and consistent matter; this allows the pollen to become dislodged and fertilise the flowers.

When autumn arrived the numbers of bumblebees reduced dramatically, I needed to find an alternative assistant “pollinator”. On top of all that, the door of the tunnel house had to be closed from time to time due to rubbish weather.

Did a bit of research and found that the flowers did not care a lot about sequences and electric frequencies.

All you need is an electric Pollinator Wand that would vibrate and loosen the pollen within a few seconds – just move up-and-down the row.

Toothbrush? Shaver? Take your pick!

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