Friday, 26 November, 2021
English Channel tragedy; Spiders on the menu in New York; Australia favourite for rugby world cup; and The Kid Laroi does it again.
LINKS
Deep fried tarantula: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/chef-joseph-yoon-brooklyn-bugs-insect-diet-spc-intl/index.html
Ted Ed animation on eating insects: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/should-we-eat-bugs-emma-bryce
Gorgeous food photography of edible insect meals:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/chef-joseph-yoon-brooklyn-bugs-insect-diet-spc-intl/index.html
Circle Harvest, Australia’s first edible insect farm. https://circleharvest.com.au/
How To Become A Squiz Kids Correspondent
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FH2HA28InnLU6UxE91wrLBAbCMT40Mua/view
Squiz Kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squizkids/?hl=en
Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Send us an email at [email protected]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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The countries of France and Great Britain will spend the coming weekend in emergency talks, trying to work out how to stop the problem of people smuggling across the English Channel.
The English Channel is the bit of sea that lies between the two countries – and yesterday morning the world woke to the news that 27 people had died – including mums, dads and children – trying to cross the Channel in a rubber dinghy.
The people were from lots of different countries. They were all trying to get across the Channel and into The United Kingdom in the hope of starting new lives there, many because of war and violence in the countries they came from. But the thing is: you can’t just set up in a new country without being given permission by the government of that country. And there is a process, and sometimes queues of people ahead of you, and always the chance you might be refused permission. Which is where people smugglers come in: offering to sneak you into the country for a large sum of money – and usually in a really unsafe way, like on an overloaded rubber dinghy.
So far this year, more than 25,700 people have attempted to cross the English Channel in small boats. On Wednesday alone, French authorities rescued 106 people adrift in various boats in the English Channel, while more than 200 others made the crossing successfully.
It’s a big problem – and one without an easy solution.
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin, and find a news story from wherever it stops. And today we’ve landed in New York City … my kind of town … where spiders are on the menu.
Chef Joseph Yoon is making a name for himself in the city that never sleeps by serving up tempura tarantula .. that’s a tarantula spider dipped in batter, deep fried and served up on a plate. Hairy legs and all.
Euuuuugh …
Believe it or not, about 2 billion people on our planet regularly eat insects, and there’s a big push to get more of us on board.
In Thailand, kids will often catch crickets after school, and bring them in the morning to have them cooked in a stir fry for school lunch. In Oaxaca (pronounced Wa-ha-ka), Mexico, people enjoy their burritos with chapulines, which are a type of edible grasshopper. There are more than 2,100 types of edible insects in the world, and they need six times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and half the feed needed by pigs and chickens, to produce the same amount of edible protein. They also need a LOT less water.
I’ve popped a link in your episode notes to photos of the tempura tarantula, plus a whole lot of other resources about edible insects. And if you’re a Squiz Kids for Schools member, today’s classroom activity gives you more information on eating insects, and sets you up to debate about whether we should, or should not, cook with crickets. And if you’re not a member, jump into our free trial at squizkids.com.au.
SPORT TIME
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It was a big day for sports yesterday … first up, Australia learned it was in the box seat to be the host country for the Rugby World Cup in 2027. Being in the box seat is an expression meaning you’re in a good position. And following an announcement yesterday by the sport’s governing body – it looks like we have beaten the United States to the right to host the big event in 2027 – with the US having a turn in 2031. Gives me plenty of time to work on my line outs…
Meanwhile, for the first time in 11 years, a player who is NOT from Victoria was chosen as the first pick in the AFL draft. Eighteen year-old Jason Horne-Francis from Adelaide was picked by North Melbourne at the draft ceremony on Wednesday night and will head to Melbourne on Monday to take up training with the Kangaroos. Put him on your list as a name to watch for the future.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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The ARIA awards – for the best bands, artists and songs in Australia this past calendar year – were handed out on Wednesday night – and it was a hip-hop and R+B fest.
The Kid Laroi won Best Artist, beating the likes of Kylie Minogue, Vance Joy and Tones and I. He also won best Pop Song for his Justin Bieber collaboration, Stay.
SQUIZ KIDS CORRESPONDENTS
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In this segment, we travel the world – and explore our backyard – with the help of Squiz Kids listeners. We have so many listeners living in interesting places all over the world – and here at home – that we’ve decided to give over a bit of the podcast each week to find out what life is like where you live.
So if you live somewhere interesting – we’d love for you to join the growing network of Squiz Kids Correspondents. Send in the story of your life and we’ll play it on the podcast.
There’s a link to an information sheet in today’s episode notes – explaining how to get involved.
In the meantime, allow me to introduce this week’s correspondents, Milla and Ziggy, who have spent the past three years living on a sail boat exploring the east coast of Australia … take it away girls …
THE S’QUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- Which AFL team had the first draft pick on Wednesday?
- What sort of spider is being deep fried for dinner at a New York restaurant?
- Which Aussie hip hop artist won Artist of the Year at the ARIAs?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s November 26 .. it’s National Shoemaker Day in Russia, National Cake Day in the USA and Buy Nothing Day in Canada … i’m definitely down with the cake day.
It’s also a Friday – and you know what that means? An extra long birthday shout out segment … for which I’m going to crack out the birthday reggae tune .. hit it ..
It’s a happy birthday today…Joseph from Northbridge, Oscar from Erskineville, Emre from Oran Park, Felix from Green Valley, Mila-Jean from Bronte,, Alexa from Barnawartha, Scarlett from Anna Bay, Max from Abbotsford, Jodie from Mt Pleasant, Zara from North Turramurra, Ciara (pronounced Kirra) from Wavell Heights, Violet from Ivanhoe, Jett from Como West. — and last but not least my good buddy Dexter, from Narbethong Special School in Brisbane.
Not forgetting of course all of those Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday over the coming weekend …Asha from Gosford East, Sonny from Leichhardt, Nathan from Fairfield Heights, Kayla from Dubbo, Banks from Termeil and Evelyn from Adelaide,
And we don’t normally give classroom shoutouts on a Friday – but it’s a shout out to Mrs Bradshaw at Illaroo Road Public School in Nowra, who is celebrating her birthday tomorrow.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- North Melbourne Kangaroos
- Tarantula
- The Kid Laroi