Michael Morpurgo is a literary treasure.

The author of War Horse and Private Peaceful, he’s written around 150 books, loved particularly among children and young people.

He’s returned with yet another novel, Cobweb following a little dog heading to London in the aftermath of Britain’s triumph at Waterloo.

Morpurgo told Jack Tame that much like many of his stories, Cobweb was inspired by a friend of his who walked 250 miles from the West Coast of Wales to London on a drovers’ road.

Drovers’ roads are the paths farmers would use to bring their livestock from their farms to the market, as back before vehicles and public transport became common, walking was the only way to reach the big cities.

While researching drovers’ roads, Morpurgo realised that their stories, and the stories of drovers’ dogs in particular, aren’t well known.

“And I thought, that's a story that mostly no one knows, so why don't you tell it? Tell that tale? So that's what I did.”

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A painful form of arthritis, gout is the second most common form affecting New Zealanders.

A major international study involving around 2.6 million people, has revealed that genetics are a major cause, not lifestyle choices.

Dr Bryan Betty joined Jack Tame to run through the study, what gout looks like, and how it impacts people.

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Kiwi musical icon Kimbra is back with another album.

Idols & Vices (Vol. 1) is a collaborative album, featuring the likes of BANKS, Dawn Richard, DRAM, Skrillex, and Sahtyre, and while Kimbra doesn’t stray too far from her experimental pop sound, there is more R&B and hiphop influences in this work.

Music Reviewer Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to give her thoughts on the release.

“It grows on me day by day, this album.”

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