26 October 2024 - Saturday Squiz

We’re back and looking good... This Saturday, if you’ve got a favourite piece of artwork, a memorable book from the 80s to recommend, or anything else you’d like to share, hit reply.

⏱️ Reading time: 8 minutes

🎧 Get the Weekly Wrap podcast with Kate Watson and Claire Kimball

🤷‍♀️ IDK: Have you ever heard someone call it ‘trickle treat’ instead of ‘trick or treat’? That happened to us this week…

This week's top stories

1. Their Majesties cop a serve… It was King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit to Sydney and Canberra that well and truly led the news this week. For a couple in their 70s, they pushed through a fair bit - but it was the visit to Parliament House that made international headlines following an outburst by Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe that’s landed her in some hot water... The latest twist in the tale is she was under pressure yesterday to explain a long absence from parliament this year - she said she took the time after a serious assault.

2. Eleven sleeps to go… - If we’re excited, imagine how Americans feel… It’s been an action-packed week for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on the 2024 election campaign trail with a stint on Maccas drive-thru and an appearance by Eminem. And get ready for Harris to play a Beyoncé-shaped Trump card as the former president gets set to go Rogan…

3. Talks back on the table - It’s not a week in the news at the moment without the war in Gaza and growing conflict in the Middle East landing in the top 5 stories… As we ended the week, there is some hope of Gaza ceasefire talks resuming. Officials from the US, Israel and Qatar have agreed to pick things up in Doha in the coming days - no word yet on getting Hamas to the table. 

4. A scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games - They say that less is more - but maybe not for fans of the sports that won’t feature in Glasgow… We’re going to have to make do with 10 sports - athletics and para-athletics, swimming and para-swimming, artistic gymnastics, track cycling and para track cycling, netball, weightlifting and para powerlifting, boxing, judo, lawn bowls and para bowls, and 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball.

5. A flying start for sacked Qantas workers - Qantas is facing a huge payout to 1,700 workers it illegally sacked when COVID pretty much grounded Australia’s aviation industry after the Federal Court yesterday ruled in favour of 3 of those ground staff. The national carrier could be on the hook for as much as $100 million, but analysts point out the company saved $580 million by laying off the workers…

S’Quiz me real good…

Reckon you know what Mickey the cockatoo feasted on while he was hiding out in a Coles supermarket? Have a crack at the Squiz Quiz here.

Picture of the Week

This is from inside the exxy acquisition - the Ouroboros - made by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. After some careful manoeuvring from Brisbane, the snake sculpture by Lindy Lee is now open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And yes, you’re able to walk inside the sculpture too. If travelling to the nation’s capital isn’t in your future, this video does it some justice…

Question of the week

What’s the strangest place you’ve dropped your phone?

We can’t stop thinking about the Aussie woman who was stuck between 2 boulders for 7 hours after trying to retrieve her phone. It turns out that pockets and phones are more of a liability than we expected…

Iconic - “Down the toilet at a festival. I didn’t realise at the time so I went crazy looking for it - I thought it had been stolen, purchased a new one, and blocked the old SIM. The next day, the portaloo cleaner contacted the festival to say he’d found it in his clean up… It’s now known as the #2 phone, and it still works!”

Creative - “I dropped it down the gutter on the top of Parliament House in Canberra. It took 3 groundsmen, a crowbar and some Blu Tack to get it out.”

Happens to the best of us - “I was swimming for about half an hour before I realised it was in my pocket...”

In the Kitchen

As you know, we’re Nagi fans - and for good reason… This cauliflower salad is a really lovely side dish. Better yet, it’s only got a handful of ingredients but packs a flavour punch. Talk about a win-win…

You look lovely, deer

Summer is coming, so it’s a good time to refresh your beauty game. Kotia is the world’s first skincare range made with 100% pure New Zealand deer milk. It sounds wild, and it is because it naturally contains vitamins A, B, D, and E, zinc, iodine, and protein to hydrate your skin for a healthy glow. Kotia products also use peptide technology to minimise imperfections, fine lines and pigmentation to renew your complexion. Check out the full range here. Squizers can use the code GLOW15 for a 15% discount.

What we’re Squizin’

We’ve been busy for Media Literacy Week... - First, our Squiz Kids team launched Newshounds 2.0 - a new/improved version of the acclaimed media literacy resource for primary school classrooms. We also pulled together the findings from the big survey more than 6,000 Squizers did for us earlier this year. And, if you’re wondering what media literacy is and why it feels like a bit of a buzzword at the moment, in the latest News Club interview, Kate Watson chatted with Associate Professor Tanya Notley to help you understand it. And breathe…

The latest US Election Shortcuts on international issues - OG hosts Claire Kimball and Kate Watson get you across America's support for nations at war, the candidates' positions on China and our Indo-Pacific region, and where they stand on immigration. Watch the Shortcuts episode on YouTube.

Squiz the Week

Saturday - If you live in Queensland, treat yourself to a democracy sausage today (right after you vote, that is) 

Sunday - Across the ditch, it’s Oz v Kiwiland in the Rugby League Pacific Cup. The women play at 3.35pm and the men at 6.05pm, who are looking to redeem themselves after last year’s loss… Watch it on 9Now

Monday - If you live in a regional/remote area or know someone who does, you might want to make sure you’re across the Optus/Telstra 3G network shutdown that begins today. We’ve done a Squiz Shortcut on it…

Tuesday - Rory Stewart from The Rest is Politics podcast is in Australia for his Politics on the Edge tour, which kicks off at the Sydney Opera House

Wednesday - Whip out your best prank for Mischief Night…  

Thursday - And it’s your yearly reminder to stock up on the lollies because you might have some little gremlins knocking on your door for Halloween 👻

Friday - Another PSA - it’s that time of the year when people let their lip hair run free… It’s the start of Movember

*All times in AEDT

Double-Tapping

A few years ago, the internet was obsessed with the chemistry between Chicken Shop Date host Amelia Dimoldenberg and actor Andrew Garfield in this Golden Globes red carpet interview. Two years later, fans got the Chicken Shop Date episode they’d been waiting for.