The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is a globally acclaimed celebration of military tradition, music, ceremony, and cultural performance.

It has been running for 75 years and in that time has only ever been performed overseas on five occasions.

And for the first time in a decade, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo will return to New Zealand – performing for the very first time at Auckland’s Eden Park in February with the theme ‘The Heroes Who Made Us’.

Staff Sergeant David Fiu is a standout member of the NZDF Army band and will be taking part in what is set to be a phenomenal event.

He told Jack Tame he’s been fortunate to attend the Tattoo in Edinburgh seven times during his career with the NZ Army.

“I certainly do not take that for granted,” Fiu said.

“I really check myself when I’m there because it’s probably easy, midway through the season, to sort of get a little bit complacent.”

It’s a bucket list moment for many, Fiu explained to Jack Tame, and many people come at that time to experience Edinburgh itself.

“So you only can give, give off your best, otherwise you’re sort of selling them short.”

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An ode to a Kiwi-created sport.

The Manu World Champs are currently underway, with the Grand Final taking place in mid-March.

It’s such a quintessentially Kiwi sport, and Kevin Milne would love to see it grow even further.

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January is nearing its end, but there’s plenty to come throughout the rest of the year.

Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to preview some of the albums set to release this year, and delve into some of the rumours floating around the music scene.

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The Winner by David Baldacci

The Dream

She is twenty, beautiful, dirt-poor, and hoping for a better life for her infant daughter when LuAnn Tyler is offered the gift of a lifetime, a $100 million lottery jackpot. All she has to do is change her identity and leave the U.S. forever.

The Killer

It's an offer she dares to refuse...until violence forces her hand and thrusts her into a harrowing game of high-stakes, big-money subterfuge. It's a price she won't fully pay...until she does the unthinkable and breaks the promise that made her rich.

The Winner

For if LuAnn Tyler comes home, she will be pitted against the deadliest contestant of all: the chameleonlike financial mastermind who changed her life. And who can take it away at will...

On the Edge by Kate Horan

Desperate people do desperate things...

Sixteen years ago, teenage Maddie Marshall's body was found on a desolate beach near her hometown, Carrinya. Vibrant, feisty Maddie was the only daughter of a high-profile politician. The case was the talk of the town but was ultimately never solved.

Nel Foley, daughter of the town doctor and Maddie's best friend, was the last known person to see her alive, and the Carrinya rumour mill was vicious. Nel fled the town and has never been back. Until now.

Now a 32-year-old city GP, Nel returns after her father's sudden death, determined to get in and out as quickly as possible. Begrudgingly, she agrees to run his clinic for a few weeks, but during that time she meets local mum Sophie Warner and that changes everything.

Sophie's husband Ryan, a prominent local real estate agent, was Maddie's boyfriend and Nel is certain he played a role in her death. When Nel discovers that Ryan is not the loving husband and father that he seems, she decides she must prove what he did all those years ago. But as she starts to unravel the past, she discovers the truth is far more complex than she could have imagined.

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A spree of global travel industry specialists have been reading the tea leaves, seeking to map out what are the trends to look for, in the way we travel, where to travel to, and what we're travelling for.

Mike Yardley sifts through the lists of touted travel trends to identify the most commonly pinpointed features.

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On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 24 January 2026, standout member of the NZ Army band SSGT David Fiu joins Jack ahead of their performance in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, set to take place in Auckland next month.

Jack shares the change of perspective becoming a parent has had on his reaction to natural disasters.

Nici Wickes shares comfort food with a summer twist.

Mike Yardley tracks the hottest trends in travel for 2026 and explains why grocery stores are becoming hot spots.

Plus, Oscar nominations are out. Francesca Rudkin gets stuck into one of the high hitters 'Marty Supreme' and shares her thoughts on the Best Picture picks.

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

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Turns out that not only is swearing good for pain, but it may also increase performance.

In many situations where physical effort or performance is required, people often hold themselves back, and holding back emotionally can lead to underperforming physically as well.

Dr Dougal Sutherland joined Jack Tame to discuss the growing evidence that “letting it all hang out”, aka shouting, grunting, and even swearing, can benefit your performance.

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In my Gum trees I have a good colony of Aussie Silk Moths, aka gum emperor moth caterpillars – they live and feed on gum trees (but also on liquidambar).

Now’s the time to look for them in the “wild” – in the South Island they occur all the way down to Canterbury (Lincoln and Banks Peninsula is as far south as they get). The smallest caterpillars are quite dark in colour – almost blackish and about 8mm long. As they grow (and shed their skins) they change their colours and cause distinct chewing marks on the lower gum leaves.

In a few weeks they’ll grow bigger and bigger until they end up being 12 centimetres long and absolutely gorgeous. If you think that daddy longlegs are fascinating, show the kids these caterpillars!

The growing caterpillars move further and further upwards in the tree, often preferring the freshest leaves. In the meantime, caterpillar colours have become green and blue with stunning legs, feet, tubercles and nodes in orange and red, pretending to be “poisonous”.

After about three weeks they’ll spin a cocoon, brown and rather hard. Ironically this moth belongs to the silk moth family, but this Aussie silk is of rather inferior quality – not soft enough to make clothes from.

The moths will spend most of their time in chrysalis/pupa/cocoon overwintering. What happens inside the cocoon is that remarkable phenomenon of “metamorphosis” – think of it as totally re-arranging the molecules (which made a caterpillar) and forming those into the shape of a moth.

In November/December/January, the chrysalis opens and out comes this amazing brown and pink moth with eye spots. It’s a big moth, with a 15 cm wingspan! These moths mate and the females lay whole strings of relatively large, creamy-white eggs on gum leaves – the eggs hatch in summer and that’s where we are now!

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