Monday, 9 November, 2020
History made in US election; the wild wallabies of England; the winning Wallabies of Australia; and when pop-stars meet politics.
LINKS
Beyonce’s Kamala Harris pic: https://www.instagram.com/p/CHTQRkbH_W1
National Recycling Week: https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/nationalrecyclingweek/
Vote for Squiz Kids in the Australian Podcast Awards: https://australianpodcastawards.com/vote
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]
Squiz Kids is proudly supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
——————-
History was made yesterday when Kamala Harris became the first female Vice President-elect of the United States of America.
In the 231 years that there have been Presidents and Vice Presidents of the USA, a total of 92 men have held down both of those very important jobs. But on Sunday, with Democrat Joe Biden claiming victory in the US elections, America had elected a woman to the second-most powerful office in the land.
And there were celebrations in the streets.
Vice President-elect Harris, who is 56 years old, is the daughter of immigrants: her mum, a scientist, came to America from India and her dad, an academic came from Jamaica.
Joining President-elect Joe Biden on stage in Delaware, after the counting of votes in the crucial states of Pennsylvania and Nevada delivered the pair victory, Vice President- elect Kamala said: “Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message. Dream with ambition. Lead with conviction.”
Meanwhile: all eyes are on the outgoing President Donald Trump who says the election was unfair and launched legal proceedings in several states where the contest had been especially tight.
—
In happy news on the home front, Victoria took another important step forward out of lockdown yesterday, when the Premier Daniel Andrews announced a lifting of the 25 kilometre travel limit for Melburnians and a dissolving of the so-called ‘ring of steel’ separating Melbourne city from regional Victoria. Hoorah!
Gyms are allowed to reopen and – happily for Melbourne kids – indoor sports complexes, gymnastics centres and dance schools will this week be flinging open their doors again! Back to ballet you all go!
SPIN THE GLOBE
————————-
Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops – and today we’ve landed in England … where wallabies are on the loose and authorities are trying to find them all.
No – I don’t mean the Australian rugby team – I’m talking about the marsupials – the super cute furry critters that are usually found hopping around the Australian bush. Well – over the years, enough wallabies have been transported to England – by zoos and private collectors – and let out into the wild, that the hills and dales of bonny England now have plenty of wallabies roaming about them. And a couple of scientists there have launched an appeal to the public to help them count how many wallabies there are and how far they have spread throughout the country.
And so far, there have been 95 sightings – in all corners of the countryside. It appears that they are thriving …
SPORTS TIME
—————–
On the subject of Wallabies thriving – the Australia rugby team of the same name pulled off an unexpected victory on Saturday night, beating the All Blacks 24-22 in a thrilling game at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
After the Kiwis beat the Aussies by a record 43-5 a week ago, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie overhauled his team and gave a bunch of rookies a shot at playing for their country: and they delivered.
Before an ecstatic home crowd, the boys in green and gold set the pace early with a stunning try in the first five minutes – and held off a resurgent All Blacks counter-attack to win the game.
The Bledisloe Cup is on its way back to New Zealand nonetheless – but a little fire seems to have been lit within the Australian side, which it’s hoped will be the start of an exciting new era for the game.
POP CULTURE CORNER
———–
It’s not often that the worlds of politics and popular-culture cross-over – but the victory in the US Presidential election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over the weekend has seen a flood of pop stars take to social media to celebrate the win.
Lizzo posted an emotional video to her 9 million followers saying she had hope for the future, Lady Gaga told her 45 million followers she had ‘nothing but love’ for the new Prez and VP – while Beyonce simply posted to her 145 million followers a simple black and white photo of Kamala Harris as a little girl.
VOTE 1 SQUIZ KIDS
—–
Vote for Squiz Kids in the upcoming Australian Podcast Awards.
The Listener’s Choice award is an open vote: meaning the podcast with the most votes wins. There are a whole bunch of adult podcasts vying for the prize – but i reckon if we all band together – we can win this one for the kids of Australia.
Visit australianpodcastawards.com/vote to cast your vote – or see the link in today’s episode notes.
https://australianpodcastawards.com/vote
THE S’QUIZ
—————–
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What’s the name of the woman set to become the first female Vice President of the United States?
- What animal, native to Australia, has been spotted in the wild all over England?
- Which team did the Wallabies, Australia’s national rugby union team, beat in the final match of the Bledisloe Cup in Brisbane on the weekend?
SHOUT OUTS
——————-
It’s November 9 … a birthday for Aussie songstress, Delta Goodrem.
It’s also the start of National Recycling Week – and i’ve stuck a link in today’s episode notes for anyone wanting to get involved.
It’s also only 46 sleeps ‘til Christmas … I can almost taste the candy canes…
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Alec from Crookwell, Salman and Liam from Bathurst, Maranatha from Brisbane, Fraser from Randwick, Emilee from Karalee, Milly from Vaucluse, Annabelle from The Gold Coast, Jessica from Frenchs Forest, Rosie from Welland, Jasmeh from Gleddening, Tristian and Blake from Port Stephens, Lydia and Lilya from Mortdale and Aaron from Wahroonga.
And some belated birthday shoutouts…. Oliver from Albany Hills, Alexander from Hawthorn, Chloe from Melbourne, Olive from Mount Gambier, Mackenzie from Yarraman, Leana from Wallumbilla and Lucas, Pippa and Wei Qi from Canberra.
Classroom shoutouts… all the kids and staff at Barmedman Public School, Class 3/4S at Broken Hill North Public School, Room 10 at Sheoak Grove Primary with Mr Edge, class 6NK from West Ryde Public School and Mrs Carriage and 3C from Shell Cove Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Kamala Harris
- Wallabies
- New Zealand All Blacks