Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL SHOW: What was Jono carrying around that turned out to be a serious fire hazard?

Episode Date: April 6, 2025

ON THE SHOW TODAY: Megan gets called out for doing this with her hubby at a restaurant! We chat with NZ singer Tina Cross about becoming the voice of the Shortland Street theme song – and whether she ever got credited! Ever wondered how the iconic Country Calendar theme song came to be? We talk to the producer to find out! Ben gets called out as a boomer for his questionable password habits! Our Italian correspondent Daniella reveals a hidden talent that blows us away! Jono’s algorithm is starting to get really weird! Is Megan secretly ashamed of her love for Liam Lawson? Facebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & Megan Instagram: THEHITSBREAKFAST  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jono, Ben and Megan podcast, thanks to Dilma. Goodness really does taste great. Dilma, making the world a better team. Hey, welcome to the podcast on a Monday. Thanks for tuning into the podcast. Someone just said, because I banged on about the fact that I, which you'll hear on the podcast, writing down my passwords like a boomer. Someone's writing them down, taking a photo of it,

and then have it in a weirdly named folder on their phone. Oh, it's like the vault. Yeah. The photo vault that I have. Yeah. It disguises itself as like random apps and it always changes. Oh, really? It's actually a good idea. It's for your naughty pics, you and Andrew, right?

I must get those vault photos. You get the vault pics up on the Hits Breakfast Instagram, on the old story there. No. God. Can you pick one vault photo? One. Absolutely not.

One photo from the vault. The most You know The safest option I think there might be some like Before Like gym photos You know when you're doing Like a transformation

Before and after Oh okay I'll put that one up No no It's alright The vault The vault We must unlock the vault

You know I want a hacker To get in No you don't Alright well you're gonna Enjoy the podcast We started with something That producer Ellie Told me before And I was like I won't forget that I know it's want a hacker to get in. No, you don't. All right, well, you're going to enjoy the podcast. We started with something that producer Ellie told me before, and I was like, I won't forget that. Oh, no, it's Megan sitting next to Andrew.

That's right. This is before the vault photos. Oh, okay, Brimmer. Distracted by the vault, of course. All right. There won't be any photos of them sitting side by side on the vault, but there is an interesting debate that takes place. Have a look.

John O'Byrne and Megan. The podcast. The hits. but there is an interesting debate that takes place. Dua Lipa had a couple of sold-out concerts that looked epic over the weekend. She performed on Friday night and Neil Finn came out on stage with her. Oh, they do Don't Dream It's Over. How cool is that? It's incredible. So it's great to have her in the country. So cool is that? It's incredible. So it's great to have her in the country.

So good. Yeah, good on her. Major FOMO, not going to that. Sometimes we just have conversations and things get dropped into the combos that you immediately regret. And this was one of them for me because I mentioned that when I go out for dinner with my husband we sit side by side so like if you're at a table if it's like a full stop laughing you're in a full table show like a chat like a breakfast tv show or something you're waiting for a job interview look back to because they they put you at a table and they will set it for you opposite and we always take the thing and we put it side

by side especially if it's in a booth. We'll both sit side by side in the booth, and then kind of watch and survey the situation. Do you look like you're waiting for other people to turn up at the table? I guess so. And it must be quite confronting when you're the waiter or whatever, and you're coming up, and you're like, okay, I'm coming to meet the judges.

Do they have to rearrange the plate system and the knives and forks for you? We do it. We do it. We do it. Okay. We've caused this. We just, I thought maybe more people would do it. The boo thing's okay to me, but I feel like just a normal stock standard table

in the middle of a restaurant. I feel like that's quite a bit of a stretch. You want to go opposite each other. Yeah. I don't know why. You just kind of prefer it. Depends how long you've been married. I mean, the longer you're married, probably the further apart you sit at the dinner table.

I wouldn't blame Jen if she's like, I'm going to sit at a whole other table at this restaurant. Yeah. So, I mean, we do occasionally. Like, if it's only a two-person seat, then you sit opposite. But if there's the choice, we'll sit side by side. So, if you went to a table, there was four seats around, and it was just the two of you, you would sit together. Sit side by side. Sit side by side. Sit side by side together.

Yeah, it would. It would seem like the waitstaff would be like, oh, there are more people coming? Yeah. No, it's just us. Come up to the judges' table. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it does look like a master chef.

The chef brings in. Present the food. I would have thought you two all loved up, would have been wanting to stare each other in the eyes and all sorts. No, it might be because we like to like, I don't know, like touch. Oh, you're fondling. Like whole hands or whatever. You're fondling under the table.

Oh, yeah. I reckon there's a lot. We've got to start something right now. We've got this wonderful song from Sam Smith. Great philosopher, Sam Smith. I know I'm not the only one. Because I reckon I'm not the only one who does this. So table's empty.

It's you and your partner, husband, whatever. And you're going to, and you're not sitting opposite, you sit side by side. Well, you're one out of three here. Yeah, okay, but are you one out of how many people, let's not get into the details of how many people are listening, but at least 12.

Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. I'm going to find out if Megan's a bit of a weirdo or not, or is she in the room? Is she the only one? I know I'm not to find out if Megan's a bit of a weirdo or not. Or is she in the room? Is she the only one? I know I'm not the only one who sits next to their partner at a restaurant instead of opposite. If we have the choice, we'll sit beside each other. With no other people on the table.

No, it does look like a judge's table and MasterChef. You were complaining about a sore neck the other day too. And I feel like if you're having to fully rotate your torso to hold a conversation, that might be the cause of your issues. You were lying on the, remember you were lying on the ground. Lower back issues.

Could be this. You're right. You might be right. But it doesn't seem like you're the only one. So many people have come through on the text machine. Me and my guy sit side by side too. There's lots of different reasons. Karen says she does it because she doesn't speak loudly,

so it's easier to converse. It's probably quite true. Actually, sometimes yelling in a noisy restaurant across the table. Why can't Karen lift up her vocal tones, though, just a touch? She's like, I'm a quiet talker. Take it or leave it. Because she can sit side by side instead. Kim, morning to you.

Good. We sit opposite each other. You ever thought about sitting side by side? Normal people. That's right, the way intended. Have you ever tried it though, Kim? In a group situation, we'll sit side by side. Yeah, we've got other people

there that are filling out those other empty spots. I love you guys, like yeah, she's a weirdo. She's a, well Kim's a normal one. And Kim, we're going to reward you

for being normal. $100 petrol service station voucher thanks to gas petrol service stations. Epic, thank you. You should try it. Gas,

of course, part of the everyday rewards family. Tell you what, that petrol's so good you'll want to drink it. you'll want to drink it. You'll want to drink it. 92% on the text sit across from each other.

8% side by side on the group poll. Sorry, the group poll, sorry, on the Instagram. At the moment, still 8%. Brent, are you a side by sider? Yeah, you're not weird, Megan. You're normal. Thank you. Why do you do it?

Do you say? Quite often, it's a bent seat, and a bent seat's more comfortable, or you find one of you do it? Do you say? Quite often it's a bench seat and a bench seat's more comfortable or you find one of you's staring at the wall and we like the people watch and sharing food's easier. Yes. For a lot of reasons, really. Okay, you know, that's fair enough. The bench seat seems like the preferred option of the two, you know,

if you've got like a normal chair or you've got the comfy couch bench seat. So you're just sharing that for your buttocks. We like to share food too and I agree it is easier if you're side by side. And people watching. Yeah So you're just sharing that for your buttocks. We like to share food too, and I agree. It is easier if you're side by side. And people watching. Yeah, you're right, Brent. We're smarter. Smarter of a species.

Hundy Mundy, you're going to get $100 petrol voucher thanks to gas, my friend. Have a good day. Thank you. Thanks, Brent. Megan. Yep. Another Megan. Morning, Megan.

Hi, how's it going Do you sit side by side Or opposite Side by side Always have Another side by side Widow She swayed the votes

I know Now I'll ask you An honest question Are you just phoning up For free petrol You just say Whatever Megan said No no no

It's so we can Touch each other Oh He's just like My hands on his leg and his hands on my leg. Oh, do you do it,

she can't help it if she's in love. Wait till you get home, you guys. Do you do a gentle caress of the thigh, do you, Megan?

Indeed. Okay. See, that would do too much for me. All right, we're going. We're going home. Okay. All right, we're going to hook you up With $100

Why is he not standing up? It's a hundy mundy gas petrol service station So thanks so much for your call Have a good one mate Megan you're not the only one You're not the only one You're in the minority but you're not the only one Alright we're there

The podcast The hits And we've managed to track down Anyone? Right with it. The Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. And we've managed to track down the singer of this, Tina Cross. This must be very triggering for her. It is iconic. It just takes you back there. What do you think of when you hear that?

First of all, if I'm going to get picky, it sounds like a really young me. It was 1990 or thereabouts. Just come back to New Zealand. I've been living in Australia for nearly 10 years. And I was called in to do a demo, basically. So when I walked in, they sort of were kind of deciding how they wanted to do it. Graham Bollard wrote the tune, really talented guy, and I had no idea.

I basically walked in as a session singer. They wanted to trial it. I think they were using a few different voices. So when I hear that back, it just, it's actually a really, it invokes a really emotional kind of response. It was perfect for the show at the time. I don't know how long it lasted. They pulled the vocal. Yeah, that's right.

Well, we all remember the vocal. We know all the words, so it must have lasted a long time. Because I was reading that Graham Bollard, as you mentioned, I think he wrote it in his car, he was saying. He wrote it for a show they didn't know much about, but he was having some sort of trouble in a relationship, and he was like, is it you or is it me, was kind of the line that he thought about with his relationship.

Yeah. He told me that too. It's had a few incarnations because we did a longer version as well at some point. The original version is the one. It's haunted you for 34 years. It's actually quite haunting. That's the word.

That version that we just heard, was that you doing a demo? Or did you go back in and re-record it? Well, I don't think I did. I think that was the demo. How long did that take you? I don't know, half an hour? Really? So an hour.

And then when did you, like, did you know it was made into a TV show? Or did it suddenly just pop up on TV and you're like, oh, that's me? I was told that, yeah, hey, look, this has gone through. It's going to happen. Yeah, look, this has gone through. It's going to happen. Yeah, look, who knew? And it's still going. It's still, yeah. The show is.

The show is going. I wish they hadn't chucked the vocal. That's a shame. Yeah. Neighbours, home and away. Everyone knows all the words. But we, Tina, we still sing it even if there's no vocal. We fill in the vocal.

I'm really glad about that yeah i understand also too that you know you didn't get credit i guess in the credits at the end for a while and then they finally let you have one day a week is that right did you did you know that i went and had a meeting with the producer at the time and i said look this is you know everybody else has got a credit why don't you credit the singer and it kind of it was one of those things out of our hands and um yeah finally i got a credit on Why don't you credit the singer? And it kind of was one of those things out of our hands. And finally I got a credit on a Friday. Just Friday?

Just one day a week? Friday. One day a week. I know. What's that about? You're like, there I am. There it is. Well, you didn't need credit, Tina, because we all knew it was you.

We all remember that it's you. We still credit it to you to this day. I'm interested to see how this competition, you know, yeah, okay. We're going with the OG version, right? We're going with your version in the theme tune. Oh, awesome. And it's taking on, however, it's taking on Country Calendar, both the icons

of the TV theme tune game in Aotearoa. I love Country Calendar, Steve. Wait, so who are you voting for? Who are you going to vote for? Are you going to vote for you? Oh, gosh. All right. We'll put you down for one vote for country calendar then, Tina.

No lyrics in country calendar. I'm going to vote for Shortland Street. Yeah. Nice. Now, this is not in the same ballpark, but I get asked a question to do with, I helped create the Novus Windscreen Show Us Your Crack ad. Like that was me singing on that.

Not that I can sing and also writing that as well. But everyone always asks. Can you say Show Us Your Crack? Oh, Novus is Show Us Your Crack. You know, that was me and we wrote it. Oh wow, I'm impressed. Everyone always says that, you know, how much you get paid?

What's your rollover? How much you get paid? And it's like, no, I got paid at the time as part of my job, no extra. It was part of my job. Now, do you get the what's your rollover how much you get paid and it's like no i got paid at the time for as part of my job no extra as part of my job now do you get the same question asked to you for the shortland street song well yeah and it i have i have been asked that question and you're right it's it's a one-off fee isn't it and it really pisses you off when it gets sold overseas you know when it gets sold overseas and you go gets sold overseas and you go, well, why did I do that? Lovely to meet you, lovely to

chat and thank you so much and good luck to Shoreland Street in the competition. Jono, Ben and Megan. The Podcast. The Hits. What I love as a parent who is embarrassing for their kids, like every parent is, is that even when celebrities have kids they still get embarrassed by their parents.

Mariah Carey, her son was playing a video game he was conversing online with some of his friends uh over video and she came into the room and this happened i know you said you had the audio but then i've completely lost it okay where was the audio grace sorry it was a really good lead yeah it was a good lead i was like got the audio yeah good and then i deleted it that one right there there we go thank you grace mom let can see you okay

we're saying hi Mariah I love you oh my god hello Mrs. Carey hi Mrs. Carey can y'all please get out please please

hey Mrs. Carey get out of my room I love Mrs. Carey too yeah they're very polite but you can hear Mariah Carey start just go please mom it's embarrassing

your mom's Mariah Carey I know but even when Mariah Carey's son just go, please, Mum, it's so embarrassing. Your Mum's Mariah Carey. I know, but even when Mariah Carey's your Mum, you still get embarrassed by it. There we go. So that makes parents around New Zealand feel pretty good. In the middle of Fortnite, though, you can interrupt. Exactly. Mum, it's so embarrassing. But what I was embarrassing, I did something embarrassing over the weekend,

apparently, and I got called a boomer from my kids, was writing down my password in my phone. Now, they were like, do you know the password for this? I'm like, yeah. And I got out my phone, and I got called a boomer from my kids, was writing down my password in my phone. Now, they were like, do you know the password for this? I'm like, yeah. And I got out my phone and I read it out. And they're like, do you keep passwords written down in your phone? I'm like, well, yeah, because there's so many these days. There are.

And it's all a scam. It's all a scam. You know, back in the day, you'd just have, you know, your name, 1, 2, 3. Then when you need to update it, your name, 1, 2, 3, 4. Password. Yeah, well, you had the same password for everything. And you just kept adding a number to it. And that system worked great for everyone

until these scammers started to get too scammy. Now, capital letters, lowercase, extra symbols, all sorts of stuff. Oh, I know. That's how you're supposed to remember when you've got to basically use wingdings. Yeah, this workplace every six weeks or something, you have to change your password to something else. I just did mine this morning and it was like, no,

it doesn't match your history because I tried to repeat it. You can't do one from before. No. That's right. I always go into that process 90% thinking this isn't going to work. You know, then the few times that you actually have a seamless transition of password, boy, that feels good.

Full disclosure, one of my passwords has been, I don't know. Oh, you've actually written I don't know. I don't know. I don't know oh you've actually i don't know i don't know i don't know i like my password yeah well like i like same as you i'm like forget my password and then they're like oh you go you've used that one before i'm like well you remember my you know they're remembering my password the computer but i can't it's like in your defense i think that because i've written mine down on my phone too i think the boomers use like the little notebook like a physical notebook. Oh yeah, I think I've got a dock.

My parents have that beside the computer. LastPass is very good. My wife uses it on her computer as well where you've got one password and it remembers it all which is really,

really handy as well. Sometimes my computer like it's got a little thing I can use my fingerprint which is really good. Are you fingerprinting? Yeah, it's fingerprint and then from there.

So that's really handy so I don't have to remember passwords but when it comes outside that, I'm like, oh Jesus. Also also how many passwords do your daughters at their age need to remember instagram yeah snapchat tick tock and all the social media things one for all of them my netflix password my disney plus password when you're a bit older you got a million yeah have you ever taken the gamble on the one, the autofill one,

that was just like 29 different Egyptian holographics? Have you done that one? I've always wanted to, but I'm like, there is no part of me that's ever going to remember that. Well, my wife does it when she has last passed. She's like, oh, well, give me whatever. But you're right. There's no way she actually physically can remember that, because you're like, who's going to remember that? They're like

strong. And then they shame you with weak. Weak. And it's in the three bars. Too wank. Too wank. But I'm with you. I think I've even got them all conveniently located in a document on my desktop called

Passwords for Every Facet of My Life. So, yeah, we all write them down. Ben, you're not alone. Go back to the good old days, eh? Yeah. The good old days. Speaking of... John O'Ben and Megan.

The podcast. The hits. Carrying around a huge fire hazard. Gee whiz. My laptop charger. And it's one of those things that sort of falls into the category, if you've got an empty tank of petrol, you can't be bothered going to the petrol station. There's no convenient time.

No. There's no convenient time to buy a new laptop charger. It's just one of those items you don't want to be bothered replacing, you know? Everyone's laptop charger gets a little frayed at the edge. It does, yeah. But this thing you have... Yeah.

And I'm looking online right now, because you can buy them online. $29. $29? You can get one for a Mighty 8. Wonderful Mighty 8 for an Apple charger. So you don't even have to leave your house. You could have just gone on any stage. I rode this thing to the bitter end. It was just exposed copper and cable by the end. It looked like a dog had chewed it up.

The whole thing was torn apart. Yeah, it was a lot of wires poking through it. It was just surviving off willpower by the end. Did you ever leave that plugged in unattended? Yeah, overnight. We charged up the old lappy. It gave by the end. Did you ever leave that plugged in unattended? Yeah, overnight. We charged up the old lappy. Oh, great. But, yeah, no, it gave up the ghost.

And I just want to thank it for many years of good service. Five years. Five years that thing lasted. Good Lord. Yeah. But it gets to the point where you're like, this didn't smell safe. Right. It didn't scream safety, did it?

And I didn't want to be responsible for burning down an entire radio station. When you could have replaced it for $29. What's the hardest you've ridden something out to? Some guys with dads, like old men with underpants, they will go to the bitter end, the last thread of those underpants. You're right, actually. I'm pretty good at replacing things, to be honest. Especially if they look like that.

Although. I like the way he's like, I couldn't bear it to be a fire, but you didn't actually stop using it until it stopped. No, you're right. How much time through the five years did you go, I won't stop using it? It was only when it stopped working that you went, oh, now I can't use it.

Yeah, you're right. So maybe I could bear it. Were you getting electric shocks? No, it was safe. It. Yeah, you're right. So maybe I could bear it. Were you getting electric shocks? No, it was safe. It's gone to a better place. So it's gone to a random drawer full of other discarded cables. You never know when you might need an exposed laptop charger, Megan. Got to hold on to it.

Do you ever get a random drawer of just cable chargers? Oh, yeah. In a shelf, we kind of have a whole lot of chargers. I really wish that I'd tied some string around them and put a label on what they were for. Yes. Because I've got no idea. Yeah, just save them all.

Because they come with spares with printers and things. Yeah. You're like, we'll need that one day. I know. I never once have I needed any of those cables. Those 500 cables I have stored in that drawer. And then you finally need to charge something. You're like, I don't know.

I'll give them the cable. And then you get a phone. You're like, Grant, I can use this old charger. Then it's a whole new to charge something. You're like, I don't know. I'll give them the case. And then you get a phone. You're like, great, I can use this old charger. Then it's a whole new port of something. You're like, what? When did this happen? Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast.

The hits. And we've managed to track down the voiceover artist from Country Calendar. His name's Dan, Henry. Dan, good morning. Morning, team. How are we? Morning. I can tell.

The voice takes me straight there, Dan. How many years have you been doing it? Doing the voiceover for nine years now. Producing the show for three. Been directing on the show since 2008. So long, long time. Well, you're speaking of a long, long time. I mean, the show, I was reading this morning, 1966.

Yeah. Country calendar. I mean, that's the it'd have to be our longest running TV show in New Zealand, right? Absolutely, Ben. Yeah, we turn 60 next year. So we're fixing to make a big cake and celebrate that. When you're handed the mantle of producer, director, voiceover artist, are they like

this is yours to screw up? Don't screw up the longest running TV series in New Zealand history. Every day we're mortified that we will. No, the show stands on the shoulders of giants, all the people who've worked on the show over the last six decades gathering stories. Megan, you're kind of, you're on the fringe of rural, aren't you?

You've got some trees you planted, orchards, well, a couple of trees. I've got some fruit trees. I'd love some chickens. Oh, you know what? You could come and do a whole episode on Megan's fig tree.

Well, how many figs are we talking, Megan? I'm like hundreds. If you get the chooks and have you got a dog that might round them up or something? Oh, I've got a really little

cute dog. We could get an hour out of you, mate. Now, it's a great show, of course. There's no denying that. But the theme tune is what it's up against. It's up against another big banger on Shoreland Street. Talk us through the theme tune.

Because I used to write commercials, radio commercials. And I'm pretty sure it popped up on a disc that we used to have when we were writing commercials. Yes, we don't own that music. I feel like the people of New Zealand own it. But actually, it's EMI Sydney. So we licensed that tune. It was written by Alan Morehouse. Hillbilly Child is the name of the track.

And written in 1970. So for the first four years of the programme's tenure, it was an entirely different theme tune. Really? Yeah. Spoiler alert, it's not very good. I'd love to hear the OG version. Yeah. No, it's not very good. I'd love to hear the OG version. No, it's not that good.

Hillbilly Child, it's just ingrained. The number of people who have said to us, I've got it on my cell phone ring, or we got married, we walked down the aisle. People got married to it? Yeah. I can imagine it could be at a few funerals as well. Well, there was.

Someone mentioned to me the other day they sent off their granddad to the tune of Country Calendar. You must get so many yarns. Yeah. Jeez, you must be like the bloody Brad Pitt of the rural community. Oh, I don't know about that, mate. No, no. The heroes of our shows are the farmers and the people on the programme, of course.

They are very much front and centre, and I think that's the secret to the show's success, is seeing these amazing, hard-working New Zealanders just out there doing it, and not bragging. They're just kind of passionate about what they're doing, and they're not trying to win a prize or sing the best song or make the best cake. They're just doing what they do, and it's good to celebrate them for that you know oh dan congratulations on all you do and thank you so much for joining us this morning really fascinating

and keep up the great work can i ask you how do you find these people do they get in touch with you or do you have to find them oh all sorts of different ways yeah we've got an amazing researcher who um who's out there sort of um turning over rocks and digging up these stories but we get a lot of people writing in um we're on the tick tock now guys so yeah you can put us up on the tick tock yeah i can't imagine there's too many farmers out there doing the woe and dancing to renegade but you would be surprised your for you page will change if you go and take a deep dive on the rural stuff. Well, maybe that's a market we need to get into. That's for sure.

Oh, well, hey, congratulations on all the success of the show. It is one of those programs that if you're watching it, you don't turn off. That's it. Hey, well, good on you. Oh, look, we've timed this beautifully. Here we go. See you, Dad. Thanks, team.

Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Originally from Italy, now living in Tauranga, she is our Italian correspondent, Daniela. Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chao. Ciao, guys. Ciao.

How are we? Ciao. Is that ciao in honor of Formula One? Cha-chao, cha-chao. Okay, you've got three versions now. You've got cha-cha-cha-cha-chow and you've got

ka-chow. Or kachow. That was a quick one. I love it. Danielle, I love it. Catch up with you. How are you this week?

Amazing, except what's happening with this rain? I don't like the rain. You don't like the rain? Atmospheric river. I don't know. Sometimes it rains.

The garden does need the rain but not human people, you know? Okay. Now, I was in the supermarket the other day, Daniela. Jeez, you've got probably more varieties of pasta than we do apples here in New Zealand. So, without Googling, I want to know how many varieties of pasta you can name. Fettuccine. Fettuccine. Spaghetti.

And after we've got lasagna. Oh,ine. Fettuccine. Spaghetti. And after we got lasagne. Yeah, that's right. Gnocchi. Conchiglie. Fusilli. Penne. Rigatoni. Oh, good.

Mezze penne. I can go forever, guys. Keep going, though. This is good. Cannelloni. I love it. Cannelloni, yeah. Each is delivered with the same tone as well.

Ravioli. Ravioloni. I love how each is delivered with the same tone as well. Ravioli, ravioloni, raviolini. Can you see how you guys put the button here? And tortellini. Does every pasta go nennini? It ends in I? Nettuccini, linguini, yeah. I've got one for you that doesn't. I've got one different.

There is a lot, eh? There is really a lot. What's your favorite? Everything. Oh, everything. You don't ask this to an Italian woman because we absolutely adore pasta. It's like a devotion, you know? Oh, my God.

Over 350 types of pasta. Wow. Correct. Good luck. We will stay here all morning. But then some say maybe up to 600, depending on the region. Correct.

Then at the moment, what they're doing, because they try to attract you guys when you go there as a tourist, they make all these different shapes. They're not really recognized. Do you have the wagon wheel pasta yeah correct yes do you have the one water do you have the one that comes in a packet and you put the milk and uh like half a cup of boiling water and a little maybe a little bit of butter you know two minutes pasta sauce right pasta side sauce

it comes in a packet it's got all the sauce and flavouring. You just add milk and water. You know, you'd be so disappointed in me. I have that at least once a week. Do you? And I love it. I love it. Creamy Cavanaugh pasta from a continental.

Oh, yuck. I'm so disappointed in you. I don't believe you. Bravo, Megan. You are my friend. These two boys are not my friends anymore. I was just winding you up. Do you have alphabet pasta?

Yes, we do, but that's for the kids, you know? It's all in Italian there too as well. It's a lot harder for you to read over there, Megan. They have little macrons. I'm just reading this article and this is a fact which surely

this isn't true. This is a true fact that Italians can identify 47 types of pasta simply by the sound they make when they hit the pot. I'm sorry. I think it's just a little bit of a first April Fool, so to speak. Yeah. The sound of it hitting the pot seems like. Sorry, no, that's a little bit too much.

We're not that smart. Come on. Maybe taste or something you might be able to identify, but yeah. Yeah, I mean, if I touch them with my fingers, yes, I can identify them. Yeah, 100%.

Touch them. If we blindfolded you. Yeah, let's go. Are we having a date in Auckland? I'm coming, guys. I'm coming. Blindfold, and then we'll get Daniela

to taste all 350 types of pasta with her fingers. It will take a month. It's like an expedition somewhere. Oh, that is brilliant. Hey, Daniela, I always love catching up with you. You go and have an amazing week. You have a lovely week also.

Stay dry, please. Daniela. We'll catch up with you next week, of course, Daniela. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. The algorithm hits. You know, something, I don't evena. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. The algorithm hits. You know, something does.

I don't even know. What is the algorithm? It's a whole bunch of stuff that figures out what. It jumps to conclusions as to what content you want. Yeah. Online. It follows your progress online and then feeds you content that it thinks you'll like. But sometimes you're like, I don't follow.

Why do you keep sending me this? You get something really twisted and you're like, whoa. Why do they think I'm going to like this? But anyway. But I'm watching it. Yeah. But you just have to click on it once and they're like, this is all this person, you know, people getting arrested on full courts of petrol stations.

This is all this guy wants. I'm just going to keep feeding it to them. But sometimes I clicked because they're interested or not. Sometimes I went, no. I went, no, I'm not. I'm not interested. But they still keep feeding me it. So it was this guy that tips buckets of water over these people

in Hollywood Boulevard. And I was like, hey, each to their own. Oh, it's pranks. Yeah, but I feel like everyone's in on it. Surely. Yeah. And then someone always slips over as well. And one guy really bashed his head.

I think they went, this worked well. You're watching them all. Well, now in these other videos, yeah, yeah. It's like, well, they all try and, you know, like have a little blooper. But anyway, I'm like, stop feeding me this. You're like, this guy's a prankster. He'll love this.

Yeah, and I do it. I'm like, I'm not interested. But yeah, you're right. I keep watching it. Yeah, it sounds like you've watched the whole season. So I've been fed this one. Now, this comes from South Africa. It's a news story out of South Africa,

just out of Johannesburg. There's a church where everyone drinks, including the bishop. Okay. Like, sits at the front having a beer. Right. Do you remember us saying that the algorithm knows you? Yeah. It knows that I'm religious and love drinking.

So it's combined my two loves. Countless of our members are dressing like ladies and gentlemen in our church. That's the bishop talking. He sounds like a guy who's had nine beers but trying to get his mouth around his words. But countless of them also smoke and drink? Countless of them are smoking and drinking. Inside the church? Even the bishop is doing likewise because he's leading by example.

He's leading by example. He's leading by example. Wow, that's good. So, you know, getting drunk, telling made-up stories, that's church. Amen. Yeah. So that's what's in my algorithm. So they're a bit upset that this guy's basically just opened a pub and he probably doesn't have to pay tax on, I imagine,

because a lot of those religious institutions avoid tax. Well, there's always like, in some services, right, people get a little sip sometimes, don't they? Yeah, you share wine, you're drinking the blood of Christ. No, you try and take a big slurp.

They're like, hey, hey, hey. I don't know what's happened to that now after COVID. Right. At some stage they were doing little, weren't they doing little... Shot glasses. Shot glasses or something.

Oh my God, I'd love to play. Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot. Here I'm at it. Maybe at this pub church they do. Maybe you're right. Maybe that's what they do. They're drinking the Holy Spirit at that church. Jono, Ben and Megan.

The podcast. The hits. Over the weekend, of course, the Formula One, which you've been following very closely. Megan, you're a huge fan of Formula One and we're all big fans of Liam Lawson here in New Zealand. Obviously, it was a shame that things didn't quite work out with Red Bull. But, hey, he's still in Formula One, which is awesome. He's in the Racing Bulls team, which is the junior Red Bull team.

So I was asking, why can't all the cars go as fast as the other cars? Money, money, money, money. The more they win and end up the front in the Constructors' Championship, the more money they get. So does that necessarily mean that the team with the most amount of money is going to have the fastest car? Generally. Generally.

That's why Red Bull and McLaren and everything are up there. You know what I was thinking over the weekend is you've got cycling, you've got cyclists, piano players, you've got pianists. Yeah. Why aren't car racing?

I don't know where you're going with this. Racist. Racist. Oh. You know, the structure of that format would lead them

to being racist. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I don't want to say it. Max Verstappen, racist. You're like,

oh, is he? Champion racist, Max Verstappen racist Champion racist Max Verstappen In that context That's exactly what they should be called So over the weekend As I was saying on Friday You were backing him publicly

You were getting involved In all comments He gets slammed on social media It's so rude And we're all hoping he'd go well over the weekend and we'll start a really well friday night right he uh outqualified the guy that replaced him is the easiest way to say it so everyone was like haha you thought you could do better i mean he only qualified one ahead of him so they lined up

together when she says everyone she means her on our group text. No, the internet loved it. They were like, ha ha Liam, I qualified over you. But he didn't do amazingly. He ended up 17th out of 20. There was a bit of a gamble they took with tyres or something. Yeah, if you want to get into it. I don't know why they put him on soft tyres when everyone else went on to hard tyres. There's lots of things like that that go on and you can't, you don't know why they do it. It's up to the pit team and they said they took a gamble

and all of that. So maybe it didn't pay off. Maybe it's not anything to do with his driving. Here was champion racer Liam Lawson. He's not a racer. He's not a racer. Post race. I mean, yeah, it's a tough one.

Unfortunately, the result really doesn't show. I think the potential we had today was a decent first 10, especially towards the end. We tried something. It didn't really work. But from where we were, it was going to be hard anyway to overtake. So, yeah, positives from the weekend to take Fordham to Bahrain. Also, yeah, he says it was hard to make headway of where they were.

It's a really narrow track, so they can't overtake much. So yesterday there was 53 laps of people just following each other around. People didn't really overtake. Oh, it wasn't that exciting, was it? No, it was a very boring race. It was very hard to overtake. It's a dog legged. It was Friday night.

I was out with my daughters and we went to an arcade place and we were playing Mario Kart. I was like, I wonder how Liam Lawson would go on this. That's a great idea yeah it's quite touchy that steering wheel and I'm going around there

and I'm throwing all sorts of bananas and all sorts of stuff and I was like I wonder how he'd go on this he's what they need things to throw if we ever get him

for something I'd love to take him to Mario Kart that's a great idea something like that just to see one of those games can we beat him at Mario Kart

it's really good well it feels like he's got some other stuff on his plate at the moment. Yeah. Once that's all done, I would love to challenge him in a game of Mario Kart. Jono, Ben and Megan. The Podcast. The Hit. The Zealand Herald

Daily Quiz with our quiz queen producer Ellie, who's officially having her last week with us this week. Last week, is it? Yeah. But then we're trying to haunt her to come back for a couple of cheeky weeks here and there, aren't we, Ellie? Yes, yes.

I'm coming back a few times. Well, Miss, have you got a job to go to? No. No. Are we that bad? Yeah. I just would rather not get paid. It's true.

Oh, my God. At least she's going to something better. Oh, she's not. Okay. She would rather be... She just doesn't want to be here. Homeless. She would rather be homeless

than work with us. Yeah, well, yep. That's the way it is. But anyway. That's the way it is. It's the early mornings, eh? Yeah. It's that.

It's that. All right. Question number one. I will say this week is a little bit, this little quiz is a bit hard. Or I found it hard anyway. But you might be fine. What was banned from being mailed via the US Postal Service in 1914? Was it poisons, durian fruit, or children?

Well, you don't want to be... Could you post male children, could you? Courier a child. Well, easier too. You're like, I've got netball today, we'll just sit there on a one hour. That would actually be a great service, wouldn't it? Just a child courier.

Maybe there's a hole in the market. Uber. Yeah, that's Uber, you're right. Uber sounds a lot nicer than child courier too Maybe there's a hole in the market. Uber. Yeah, that's Uber. You're right. Uber sounds a lot nicer than child courier too. Sounds like human trafficking. Okay. It does. Jeez.

1914. So you say the US. Yeah, so via the US Postal Service in 1914, what was banned from being mailed? Because durian fruit is, you know, like Southeast Asia and stuff, right? So what are the options again? Sorry?

Poisons, durian fruit, or children? The children's... I don't know what durian fruit is. It's the big smelly ones. You can get them in Southeast Asia. You can't get them in America. I see, I don't think it's that one. At least people are sending them there.

No, I'm stuck. Should we leave? Yeah, we'll go to the phone. Someone's calling through. Oh, 800 the hits is our number, of course. And thanks to Gas Petrol Service Stations. Everyone that gets on the air today, it's a hundy monday, wins $100 to spend there.

And hopefully this person will help us out. Hello. Hi, it's your favorite person, Fiona. Fiona. Oh, Fiona, you are going to be our favorite person if you know the answer to this one. What is the answer? Believe it or not, it's children.

That is correct. Children! Crazy! Fiona, you're a fountain of knowledge. Wow. As deep as the ocean, that knowledge. Well, Fiona, thanks to Gas Pestful Service Stations, it's a hundy-mundy, baby,

and we're going to throw some petroleum your way, okay? The lifeblood of life, petrol. That's amazing. Thank you so much. No worries. Thank you for helping us out. Otherwise, we would have been out on probably question number one. All right, question number two. Okay, which of the following was not a role held by Alexander Hamilton during his lifetime?

Was it military general, US president, or secretary of the treasury? He was never the president. That is correct, Ben. Well done. Oh, well done. I've been to Hamilton The musical What a great musical I know but it sings

Really fast I don't get a lot Of those details The daughter's obsessed With the soundtrack Yeah she just plays It all the time And she didn't even

Go to the show It's just a banger Yeah because he's The only one I think That's on the notes That's not a president Oh There you go

Someone paid attention During the musical And they paid The $10 founding father Without a father. Yeah, so anyway, I can carry on. All right, question number three. Which revolutionary leader founded the Republic of Turkey

and implemented sweeping reforms in the early 20th century? Jeez, you're busting our chops this morning, mate. I know, right? Is it Mahatma Gandhi, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, or Gamil Abdul Nasser? I think it's Mustafa because Gandhi was Gandhi was Indian. What are we talking about?

Turkey, right? Turkey, yeah. So that wouldn't be well Gandhi wouldn't have anything to do with Turkey. No, I wouldn't have thought so. No, so let's eliminate Gandhi from there.

Should we think about it and come back? Jono, Ben and Megan The Podcast The Hits Rihanna over the plane intercom when Megan was on there. I can hear you, but we can't see you. Megan not very happy.

I went on a flight with her. Seven countries, seven days on a 777. But we didn't see her much. You saw her once. Saw her once. And then obviously you were quite salty. Got a bit scratchy. Got a bit scratchy with Rihanna.

Who put on the whole thing. Who bankrolled the whole thing. Anyway, see you in seven countries in seven days. Yeah, but where is she now? We can hear you but we can't see you,

Rihanna. All right. The New Zealand Herald Daily Quiz is how we like to start our day. We have so far scrambled our way to what question? This is three.

Three, okay. The question was, which revolutionary leader founded the Republic of Turkey and implemented sweeping reforms in the early 20th century? The options are Mahatma Gandhi, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, or Gamal Abdul Nasser.

Now, while the Rihanna song was playing, we sort of went through a process. Well, you guys did. Of elimination. Of elimination. And you sort of landed on who? Mustafa. Yeah, he just sounds Turkish.

Okay. Turkish. I think it's just Turkish. Well, Gandhi's sounds, he sounds Turkey-ish. Okay. Turkey-ish. I think it's just Turkey. Or Gandhi's India, right? Yeah. All right, let's lock it up there, Kirsten. That is correct. Well done. Well done.

All right, question number four. Which type of whale is known for its distinctive tusk resembling a unicorn horn? Narwhal. Well done, Megan. Correct. Love those little dudes. Nice. Unicorn whales. All done, Megan. Correct. Love those little dudes. Nice. Unicorn whales.

All right. Number five. In Olympic archery, how many arrows are shot by each archer per end in the ranking round? Oh, jeez. Raw dog in this one. What have we got? It's either 12, 3, or 6. Oh, jeez.

Archery feels like 6, maybe? You'd have 6 cracks at the thing? That is correct. Oh, is it? Yeah, well done. Great. Oh, yeah the thing? That was correct. Oh, well done. Great. That was a nice. You were blinding.

Yeah, good. Before we can talk ourselves out of it, that's good. Just lock it in. I think like 12 feels like it would drag on. Yeah, it feels like a lot. Yeah. Amen. All right, question number six.

Which creature in Slavic folklore is known to live in forests and is considered a guardian spirit of the woods? Is it a Rusulca Russel car A leshy Leshy Or a dombovoi Sorry I've definitely Said those wrong Can you show me

None of those I've really heard of This would be the hardest one We've ever encountered This quiz I agree This is hard aye We're going to have to

Take a guess here Take a stab You go Ben Take a stab No one's No one's right or wrong I like the D one You like that one

The dombovoi You want to go with that one? Yeah. That is incorrect. It was the Leshy. Oh, the old Leshy. Yeah, that was a hard one. We gave it our best.

We did. We did. Sometimes your best is not good enough. We'll be back tomorrow. Bigger, stronger, and better, won't we?