Monday, November 13, 2023
Your daily kids news podcast.
Protests in the streets; India’s festival of light; Aussie surfer rides brachiosaurus wave; and the bear who came to dinner.
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THE LOWDOWN
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It’s been a tough old weekend on the world news front as continued fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East has sparked protests around the globe.
More than 300,000 people took to the streets of big international cities like London and Paris over the weekend, and there were protests here in Australia too yesterday, as people on both sides of the conflict marched to show support for their side.
What’s a protest? Often it’s a gathering in a public place of a group of people who all share the same views about something. In this case: the war in the Middle East.
In Sydney and Melbourne thousands marched – some in support of Palestine, others in support of Israel.
And while the unfolding situation in Gaza is distressing – and passions run high on both sides of the conflict – peaceful protests are a sign of a healthy democracy – which we can be grateful we live in.
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 India … and in fact, all over the world, where Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Newar Buddhists have been celebrating one of the most important dates on their calendar, Diwali.
What, I hear you ask, is Diwali? It’s a celebration, broadly speaking, of the triumph of light over darkness, of good over evil, of knowledge over ignorance.
And given what’s been going on in the world of late – it’s a timely celebration indeed.
In homes all over the world, lamps and candles are lit, gold and silver are bought, gifts are exchanged and families share food and celebrate being together.
Festivals are held right across India for the major holiday – with great big celebrations in cities and towns all over the country incorporating fireworks and elaborate laser shows – plus the creation of rangolis outside homes – an intricate mix of powders, flowers and rice – to ward off evil spirits.
Be sure to wish your Hindu friends Happy Diwali this week ,… and here’s to the triumph of light over darkness.
SPORT TIME
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Speaking of triumphs – there were plenty of sporting ones to celebrate over the weekend … starting with Australia advancing to the cricket World Cup semi finals after beating Bangladesh in their final pool match.
Aussie batsman Mitch Marsh led the Aussies to their convincing win. Just four days after his teammate Glenn Maxwell walloped ten sixes in an extraordinary double century against Afghanistan, Marsh hammered nine sixes, along with 17 fours, scoring 177 not out from just 136 balls. Wowsers.
A big Squiz Kids shoutout too to Aussie cricketer Meg Lanning who announced her retirement on Friday – after a stellar career including serving as Australian captain in what has been the team’s most successful period of international competition ever.
And congrats also to Aussie surfer, Laura Enever. Over the weekend, the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed a wave she rode in Hawaii earlier this year as the biggest ever ridden by a female surfer … measuring a whopping 13.3 metres. That’s higher than a telegraph pole … or for the dinosaur lovers among you, about the height of your average brachiosaurus. A dinosaur wave … cool.
And finally: the AFLW season is in serious semi final mode after the Swans beat the Suns, the Lions just edged out the Crows, the Cats beat the Bombers and the Kangaroos beat the Demons in Melbourne local derby. And if none of that made sense to you: ask one of your AFL loving friends to translate.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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A family in Florida, in the United States, got the shock of their lives over the weekend when a big black bear walked up to their front door and stole their Uber Eats.
The family was looking forward to meal of home-delivered takeaway – and the food was dropped at their front door.
But before they had a chance to wander out and collect it – a black bear sauntered up the garden path, had a sniff and decided it smelt pretty good. The bear scooped up the Uber Eats bag and walked off into the bushes.
Hey – who’s to say bears don’t like a bit of takeaway every now and then?
JOKE-A-THON
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(SEAGULL SOUND) .. Can you hear that? That’s the sound of summer holidays. And they’re not far away! Which is why we here at Squiz Kids are getting ready for the looming school holidays by putting together a bunch of cool summer content – including our Bumper School Holiday Quizzes, Shortcuts and Squiz The Worlds – and – announcing the return of the Great Big Squiz Kids Holiday Joke-A-Thon. The perfect pod for those lazy summer days, holidays and road-trips. Do you have a cool joke you want to share with the kids of Australia? Then put it in an email and send it pronto – along with your name, age and where you live – to [email protected].
Christie and I will collect your jokes and turn them into a podcast of unprecedented, side-splitting, jaw-hurting hilarity. Because who doesn’t like a laugh?
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 team did Australia’s men’s cricket team beat at the weekend to advance to the cricket world cup semi finals?
- Aussie surfer Laura Enever entered the Guinnes Book of Records for riding a wave which was as big as which dinosaur?
- Name the big Hindu festival being celebrated this week with the lighting of candles and lamps?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s November 13 … today is World Kindness Day … a day for random acts of kindness. Because a little bit of kindness can brighten even the darkest days – so put your kind pants on today.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today AND tomorrow… Sarghi from Cannon Hill, Layla from Launceston, Archer from Freshwater, Sajjad and Fatima from Sefton, Django from Lismore, Lilia from Dubbo, Isabella from Hornsby, Mahd (pronounced Ma-Hard) from Schofields, Hannah from Brentwood, Lucas from Oran Park and Grek from Donvale.
Belated shout outs go to… Elsie from Hawthorn East, Jessica from Caringbah, Aarya from Perth, Poppy from Adelaide, Joseph from Riverwood and Madden from Tregear.
Classroom shout outs go to … class 6B and Ms Lang at Alamanda College in Point Cook, class 4/5M and Miss Murphy at Hamilton North Primary School, class 5L and Miss Leon at Beverly Hills Public School in Sydney, class 5 Blue and Mr Rickwood at Holy Rosary Catholic School in Claremont, classes 3 – 6 with Mrs Price at Nundle Public School, the year 4 classes with Ms Schmitzer and Ms Thompson at Googong Public School, class 5 Blue with Mr D’Silva at St Mel’s Catholic Primary School in Campsie, the Friendship class with Miss Prime at Minlaton District School, and Miss Honner’s class at St Columba’s Memorial School in Yorketown.
And finally to Austin, Elyssa and their Mum who listen to the podcast every morning on the way to school and to Isabella Lee who is ten years old, lives on the Central Coast of New South Wales, and has been listening to Squiz Kids for three whole years!
Thanks guys!
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If you’d like shoutout, give us some stars and tell everyone how much you love us on the Apple or Spotify podcasting apps, tell us you’d like a shoutout, and we’ll oblige at the end of Thursday’s podcast, because we appreciate you!
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Bangladesh
- Brachiosaurus
- Diwali