11 January 2025 - Saturday Squiz

January 11, 2025

Saturday Squiz 2025 reporting for duty 🫡… And we come with a promise that we’ll be more helpful than a new year wellness hack… This week, if you’ve got a welcomed discovery, a sauce you put on absolutely everything or anything else you’d like to share, hit reply.

⏱️ Reading time: 8 minutes

🎧 Get the Weekly Wrap podcast with Andrew Williams and Claire Kimball

🤷‍♀️ IDK: We think a break does more for clear thinking than a clean desk…

This week's top stories

Streem Leading News Stories - 4 January - noon 10 January

1. Terrible scenes in Los Angeles… - Conditions in the iconic Californian county are getting worse, not better. New fires have broken out, and authorities have a long way to go to tally up the damage done already as they battle to keep people and property safe. We’ve found CNN’s rolling coverage helpful in case you’re interested in the latest.

2. Sprucin’ up the Bruce - As PM Anthony Albanese hit the road for a tour of Northern Australia down to Perth, he kicked things off with a $7.2 billion commitment to up the safety of the road artery that connects Brisbane with Cairns. Coalition leader Peter Dutton says he’ll match it, but the CFMEU won’t participate in any projects if he gets a say… Did someone say ‘election campaign’?

3. Oh, Canada… - He’s been on the nose for a while with his Liberal Party colleagues and the voting public at large, but Justin Trudeau - the poster boy for progressive politics and a new form of political leadership for more than a decade - will soon be doneskis. This podcast episode from the New York Times’ ‘The Daily’ is a good listen if you want to know more about why.

4. Making Test cricket cool again - Winning will do that… If you were as engrossed as many members of Team Squiz was, you’ll know why. The Boxing Day and New Year’s Test matches between India and Australia were gripping, and the Aussie winners were grinners. Now onto the women’s Ashes…

5. South Korean politics picks up where it left off - 2025 has already produced quite a bit of drama after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached last year after his out-of-the-blue martial law declaration. Now, it’s moving to court to determine if he’ll be removed from office.

S’Quiz me real good…

Reckon you know what Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser called Keith Urban during the ceremony on Monday? Have a crack at the Squiz Quiz.

Picture of the Week

This is Hadi Nazari with the NSW Police Force Aviation Command team after he was winched from Kosciuszko National Park on Wednesday after he went missing on Boxing Day. Well done, 2025 - we’ll give you that one…

Question of the Week

Is reserving a spot at your local ok?

Like the sentiment we heard in the media this week, most Squizers also reckon staking out a spot at your local is not on. Here’s what they said…

When life gives you lemons… - “Feel free to sit under someone else’s cabana till they return… You can also get some shade out of it.”

Checkmate - “If you're going to set up a cabana on prime beach real estate, stay there with it… It's even nice and shaded.”

Finding the qualities… - “Whilst I'm not doing it myself, their organisation is impressive.”

Squiz Recommends

Reading - We got stuck into The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides over the break. It’s a gripping account of Captain James Cook’s voyage across the seas. It was kinda guaranteed to be a good read as one of the New York Times Top 10 Books of 2024, but we can now confirm the rumours, having read it ourselves.

Buying - Readers with anaphylactic tendencies - look away. Everyone else - get on Ridiculously Delicious peanut butter. We picked it up in our grocery store at Christmas and have purchased multiple jars since. It’s made in Queensland using Aussie peanuts - and as the name suggests, it’s ridiculously delicious…

Watching - It’s a yearly ritual that we’re sad to see come to an end as the fifth and final season of Bump aired on Stan on Boxing Day. It’s a classic Aussie series that follows the story of an ambitious school-aged girl who had a baby by surprise. The seasons follow the trials and tribulations alongside some varied and hilarious family dynamics. The episodes are all around 30 minutes - our preferred format, as you know…

Turning water into shine

If you’ve turned a new/clean leaf for the new year, Skipper’s #1 just-add-water home and body care range is for you. Chuck one of their tablets into some water, and you can save some cash and reduce waste. The range includes universal cleaners, body washes, laundry sheets and more, and you can build your own bundle and get up to $120 off. Skip to it...

In the Kitchen

Over the holidays, we enjoyed topping our food with this fresh chimichurri dressing. It’s best known as an addition to steak (as this recipe directs), but we’ve also been putting it on grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, and cheesy bread. Very fresh, very yum.

What we Shortcut for you this week

Squiz Shortcuts on the controversial case of Daniel Duggan - He’s the former pilot/flight instructor with the US Marines who is set to be extradited from Australia to America on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering. Yikes, right? We get you across the details in this podcast.

Kicking off our Year Ahead series with entertainment - Andrew Williams, the co-host of our Squiz Today podcast, is in the hot seat. He’s also a bona fide critic and an encyclopedia when it comes to the world of film, TV, books, podcasts, gaming, sport - whatever you call entertainment, he’s across it. If entertainment is your thing, this is a great podcast to dive into. Listen to the podcast here, or watch it on YouTube.

Squiz the Week

Saturday - The annual Lorne Pier to Pub open water swim is on. And remember to say grazie on International Thank You Day 

Sunday - The women’s Ashes series begins with the first ODI between Australia and England at 10.30am in Sydney - broadcast live on Kayo

Monday - Pave the way for clear thinking with National Clean Your Desk Day 🧹 

Tuesday - It’s the first anniversary of the coronation of King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark. We did a Shortcuts episode on Queen Mary this time last year - just sayin’…

Wednesday - Factcheck yourself on Wikipedia Day… One of our favourites is the list of common misconceptions 

Thursday - Emilia Perez snapped up a few awards at this week's Golden Globes award show, and it’s out in cinemas today

Friday - The 10-day Tamworth Country Music Festival begins in NSW, and the Santos Tour Down Under kicks off in South Australia

Double-Tapping

Get to know the faces behind the Squiz Today podcast… And that we’re not always serious news buffs…