1 June 2024 - Saturday Squiz

Welcome to June. The months are whipping by quicker than this lady can pull the rug from under a variety of objects… This Saturday, if you’ve got some unexpected applications for honey, a professional partnership with your nearest and dearest, or anything else you want to share, hit reply.

⏱️ Reading time: 7 minutes

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🤷‍♀️ IDK: But you know where you’ll find us at 12pm Wednesday…

This week's top stories

In a flash out of the gates on Friday morning, the former American president is the week’s winner/loser…

Google Trends data - 25-31 May

1. Trumped by a New York court - As with many things associated with the political career of Donald Trump, the decision yesterday that he’s guilty of all 34 criminal charges in his hush money trial has set a couple of new firsts… A current or former president has never been convicted of a crime before. And he’s the first presumptive major-party nominee to become a convicted felon. Both President Joe Biden and Trump are using the moment to raise funds for their campaigns…

2. Civilian deaths in Gaza put Israel under pressure - Last Sunday, a camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah on Sunday night was hit by the IDF and at least 45 people were killed in the explosion and resulting fire. Israeli officials said they were targeting senior Hamas terrorists but it put “all eyes on Rafah”…

3. The search continues - A mobile phone was found on Wednesday during a new police search in the Samantha Murphy disappearance case. Her husband Mick told media outlets that her credit cards and driver's licence were also uncovered in mud at a dam outside Ballarat. It’s been almost 4 months since the Victorian went on a Sunday morning run and never returned home.

4. A mum and daughter meet a terrible end - Jennifer Petelczyc and her 18yo daughter Gretl were shot and killed in their own home in Perth on Friday night by Mark Bombara - he was looking for his estranged wife. His daughter Ariel said she did what she could to protect her mum and police had failed them - a claim Western Oz’s Police Commissioner Col Blanch denied. Reports say Bombara owned 13 guns…

5. What’s the French Open with Nadal? - We’re finding out - potentially forever… On the 115 occasions that tennis great Rafael Nadal had previously competed at Roland Garros, he had lost 3 times. This week made it the fourth, and sadly in the first round… Cue speculation that it’s the last time we’ll see the Spaniard at the grand slam tournament he’s dominated with a retirement announcement pending… 

S’Quiz me real good…

Reckon you know which Aussie topped the Financial Review’s Rich List for 2024? Have a crack at the Squiz Quiz.

Picture of the week

This portrait of Yolŋu rapper Baker Boy by Matt Adnate won the 2024 Packing Room Prize - an award handed out by the staff at the Art Gallery of NSW who receive, unpack and hang the entries. Now to keep our eyes peeled for next Friday’s announcement of the Archibald Prize winner.

Question of the week

Which Aussie band would you pay good money to see reunite?

Classic Aussie rock bands are a clear favourite with our poll respondents this week…

The pub is where they started - “I saw Cold Chisel in the early 80s at the Tathra Pub in NSW. Magic!”

Another NSW South Coast night to remember… - “Australian Crawl at the Merimbula RSL on New Year’s Eve in 1982!“

We’re cruel, aren’t we - “AC/DC, Chisel and Australian Crawl - being forced to select one is just not fair…”

Squiz Recommends

Listening - AI is changing the internet as we know it and this Search Engine: How do we survive a media apocalypse (Part 2) episode is a good explainer and isn’t too techy. Specifically, it’s good if you want to understand where Google’s heading with its search engine changes.

Reading (and watching if you want) - This long-read article from The Weekend Australian Magazine (paywall) gets into how the Aussie comedy series Colin From Accounts came to be and the anxiety about following through with a new season. It was created by/stars real-life couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall, and it gets into that dynamic too. Head to Binge for season 2, which kicked off this week. 

Watching - ABC TV’s Australian Story: Off-Menu with Kylie Kwong is a delightful watch. It’s a look into her life, family, career as a chef/restauranteur, and the changes ahead for her and her family. The episode is a 3-part series on interesting Aussie chefs, so there’s more where that came from.

In the Kitchen

This isn’t any ordinary pepperoni pizza, it’s a pepperoni pizza with hot honey. The hot honey is the secret weapon - you drizzle it on after the pizza is cooked and let the combination of sweet and spicy do its thing. Like, unbelievably good…

What we Squized this week

Your Shortcut to… Rafael Nadal - His dream of taking home a 15th French Open title wasn’t to be, but he has won a Squiz Shortcut on his legendary career. So it’s swings and roundabouts… Have a read or a listen here. 

News Club with Galah founder/editor Annabelle Hickson - Kate Watson talks with the brains and brawn behind the independent print magazine that captures Australia outside the capitals. The discussion about a new level of interest in the format is great, but (being the nerds we are…) the chat about perceptions of rural and regional Australians was illuminating - particularly in light of the Voice referendum result. Have a read or a listen here.

We want to get to know you a little better…

So we’re asking one last time for you to do our 2024 Newsletter Audience Survey. The response this week has been great, so if you’ve already done it - thank you.

We’ll be closing the survey for responses on Monday, so if you haven’t done it, we’d really appreciate it if you gave it a shake over the weekend. Or now. Now is fine too… Did we mention there’s a prize up for grabs?

Squiz the Week

Saturday - It’s the first day of June (yikes…) and the start of LGBTQ Pride Month, Migraine Awareness Month, and Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

Sunday - The ICC T20 Men’s Cricket World Cup begins in Dallas, USA (you read that right…) with a game between the US and Canada at 10.30am - you can catch it on Prime

Monday - It’s Mabo Day, World Bicycle Day and at 7.40pm the Matildas play China in a friendly game in Sydney. It’s live on 10Play

Tuesday - India’s election results are set to be announced. Help yourself to some of the good stuff on National Cheese Day. And it’s International Corgi Day (and to get in the zone here are a couple of famous floofs in backpacks…)

Wednesday - Set a reminder - at 12pm Cold Chisel tickets go on general sale. And at 8.05pm the Men’s State of Origin Game 1 kicks off in Sydney (live on 9now)

Thursday - At 10.30am, Australia has their first ICC T20 World Cup match against Oman in Barbados - you can catch it on Prime. And the Women's State of Origin Game 2 is on in Newcastle at 7.45pm (live on 9now)

Friday - We’re musterin’ quite a bit of enthusiasm for this… Aussie working dogs are in action at the 28th Annual Australian Kelpie Muster in Casterton, NSW. And the Barunga Festival begins in the Top End

Double-Tapping

Ah Betoota, you’ve nailed it again… There’s one person at Squiz HQ who fits the description 110% - we’re sure you know one or 2 too…