Monday, August 7, 2023
Garma Festival backs the Voice; Twitch streamer Kai Cenat in hot water; India shoots for the Moon; and the Matilda’s big night out out.
LINKS
The great sun bear debate: VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHBra3gfMDM
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THE LOWDOWN
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There have been traditional dances, celebrations of Indigenous culture and speeches galore – including by our very own Prime Minister – as a big festival takes place over the weekend in the Northern Territory.
Called the Garma Festival, it’s an annual event that takes place in Arnhem Land – way up the top of Australia as you look at it on map – on the traditional lands of the Yolngu people.
With record numbers of attendees at this year’s Garma – PM Anthony Albanese and Indigenous leader Noel Pearson both made big speeches about the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
This is the big vote that all Australians will be invited to take part in later this year about whether to make a change to the Constitution – which is the rule book by which Australia is governed – to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a say in issues that directly affect them and their communities.
Sound confusing? Don’t worry – in the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing a special two-part guide to referendums – where all will be explained ..
In Yolgnu language, Garma means “two-way learning process” – which by the time the festival ends later today, let’s hope there’s been lots of learning going on …
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Have you got your cheering pants on? Have you got your green-and-gold outfits ready and warned the neighbours there might be some excessive screaming coming from your house tonight? Or are you one of the lucky ones who will be heading to the stadium in Melbourne this evening to watch the Matildas take on Denmark in their first round of the knockout competition part of the Women’s World Cup?
Sam Kerr has confirmed she will actually be taking to the field tonight – to get her first touch of the football in the entire World Cup campaign … let’s hope it’s a touch that leads to a goal. Or four …
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 where YouTuber Kai Cenat has caused a mini-riot by staging a PS5 giveaway.
Police arrested more than 60 people and are considering pressing charges against the hugely popular Twitch streamer and Instagram influencer himself after he posted he was planning to give away 300 Playstations – prompting thousands of people to rush to Union Square in the hope of nabbing one.
Kai Cenat has more than 10 million social media followers – and has broken records for the number of subscribers on Twitch … what’s Twitch, I hear your parents asking. It’s a website where people play video games and stream the action while chatting to viewers. It’s a total thing.
Lots of people were hurt in the Playstation giveaway frenzy over the weekend – and ol’ mate Kai will now have to face court on charges of inciting a riot. Oops a daisy.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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It’s the debate that has gripped the zoological world … the is-it-or-isn’t it question that has animal experts all over the world studying video footage from a China zoo of a sun bear standing and waving to crowds – with some people suggesting it’s not really a bear but a human in a bear suit.
I’ve stuck video of Angela the Malayan sun bear in today’s episode notes .. and hilariously, when she stands upright on her two hind legs and waves her paw at zoo visitors, she looks very much like a human.
Right down the saggy folds of skin on her bear bum which – from behind – looks like the folds in a bear suit.
Experts have however weighed in over the weekend to say that Angela is in fact a bear, that sun bears are very intelligent creatures and that the ones in zoos especially have learned to mimic humans because it often results in getting food.
As Yogi himself would say: smarter than the average bear. And yes, I am acutely aware that’s a cartoon bear reference that none of you will get, but I’m chucking it in here for your parents nonetheless.…
SPACED OUT
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Way up above your heads, somewhere up near the Moon, a little bit of history is about to be made as India’s latest moon mission prepares for touchdown.
Called Chandrayaan-3 – the mission is hoping to land a spaceship on the surface of the Moon which will the plonk down a lunar rover to start scuttling about the place and collect scientific data.
What’s this lunar word all about, i hear you ask? Luna is the Latin word for the Moon .. the French called the Moon ‘la lune’ and the Italians call it ‘la luna’ .. in English, lunar – L-U-N-A-R is the adjective we use to describe anything to do with the Moon.
So what makes India’s mission different from other country’s missions to the Moon? Well that would be the fact that the rocket ship they’ve sent up is planning to land on the south pole of the Moon – which is a part of the Moon no other country has visited before.
India tried to land a lunar rover there back in 2019 – but it crashed on landing. Fingers and toes crossed this one’s a success.
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 …
- What sort of a bear is Angela – whose upright antics in a China zoo last week caused a viral sensation?
- What was Twitch streamer Kai Centai giving away that caused chaos in New York?
- In Yolgnu language, what does Garma mean?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s August 7 – today’s Picnic Day – a public holiday in the NT – and it’s also the start of Dental Health Week … have you brushed your teeth this morning?
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today and tomorrow … Anouk from Bolwarra, Obe from Newrybar, Peto from Armidale, Sarah from Hope Island, Claire from Munno Para, Lilly from Campbelltown, Kaysha from Victoria, Hanna and Charlie from Oyster Bay, Isis from Ivanhoe, Tanik and Josie from Forster, Adelina from Ruse, Sophie from Lavington, Saanvi from Carlingford and Aili from Sydney.
Classroom shoutouts today go to … class 4TT and 4SS with Mr Dunstan and Mrs Shepard at Mt Carmel School in Yass, 5/6m at Turvey Park Public School in Wagga Wagga, class 5B and Miss Gabriela at Villa Maria Catholic Primary School in Hunters Hill, class 3/4C and Mr Catley at West Wallsend Public School, year 2 and Ms Potts at St Paul’s Primary School in Mount Lawley and class 1RH and Ms Rachel at Kew Primary School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Sun bear
- PS5
- Two-way learning