Thursday, 11 February, 2021

Trump on trial; flying cars in China; Tennis champ’s cut-price tee; and BTS unplugged.

 

LINKS

Vote for a new Mr Men or Little Miss character: https://vote.mrmen.com/

 

Squiz Kids Survey …. help us make Squiz Kids bigger and better!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QC6G9GZ

 

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

 

THE LOWDOWN

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By the time your day is under way today, on the other side of the planet, a drama will be playing out in the capital city of the United States, Washington DC.

It’s the impeachment trial of the former President Donald Trump. And because you’re going to hear the word impeachment plenty in the next week or so – let’s quickly break it down. But don’t worry – we’ll keep it brief.

First up: impeachment has nothing to do with peaches – which are delicious. Instead it’s America’s process of holding someone like a President accountable for their actions. And in this case: it’s about whether Trump encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol Building last month – an event that led to the deaths of five people and produced terrifying scenes of mob violence inside America’s equivalent of our Parliament House. And if so: whether that act amounts to a betrayal of his country and behaviour that was inappropriate for a President. 

Put simply: even though he lost the election, he still has to answer for what happened during his time in office. And that’s what they’ll be debating in the Senate before voting on whether he did the wrong thing. 

So now you know.

 

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 find ourselves in China – where one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers has announced it’s getting into the business of flying cars. 

Right now, cars powered by electricity are the big new trend. But in decades to come, car makers reckon we’re all going to be getting around in cars that fly. Imagine that!

The car company Volkswagen announced yesterday it had started work on a flying car at its research facility in China – and it follows similar announcements from car makers Toyota and Porsche.

A flying Porsche …. I could definitely see myself in one of those..

 

SPORTS   TIME

Aussie tennis player, Thanasi Kokkinakis caused a bit of a stir at the Australian Open on Monday when he played in a Kmart t-shirt. 

Why were people on the internet so worked up about this? Because the top ranked tennis players are often paid lots of money from sports companies – like Nike and Adidas – to wear their clothes. It’s called sponsorship. 

Because of injuries, Thanasi has slipped down the world rankings in the past year, and he doesn’t have a sponsor. So he chucked on a $6 Kmart tee for his match. A match that he won. The first match he has won at the Australian Open for six years. 

The moral of the story: you don’t need all the flash gear to be good at a sport. You just need guts and skill and raw determination. And maybe a six buck tee shirt.

 

POP CULTURE CORNER

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Hands up who loves a Mr Men or Little Miss book? I’ve still got my original copies of Mr Tickle and Mr Bump from when I was six. In exciting news for fans of the book series – which has sold more than 250 million copies since it was first created back in the 1970s – two new characters are going to be added to the collection – and YOU can help decide which ones go on to join the Mr Men & Little Miss family. 

Competing for the two spots are Mr Brilliant, Mr Calm, Little Miss Energy, Little Miss Brave and Little Miss Kind. There’s a link in today’s episode notes to a voting page with descriptions of each character. 

And in other pop culture news, Korean boy band BTS will play a special MTV Unplugged session in a fortnight’s time. It’s the boys singing all their hit tunes without any electronic bells and whistles – just some musical instruments and them. Sounds dynamite…

 

Q+A SHOUT OUT

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It’s that time again! Time to crank up the Squiz Kids Q+As – a chance for you, the kids of Australia, to ask questions directly to people in the news. We’re going to get really creative this year with the people we stick in the Squiz Kids Q+A hotseat – from scientists to sports-stars, musicians to mathematicians. But to ease into proceedings, and embrace the summer vibe – we’re excited to announce our first special guest for the year is none other than former yellow Wiggle, Sam Moran. 

Sam’s just put out a new single with Guy Sebastian called Pool Party. His TV show, Play Along With Sam, is still a top rating favourite and his last album went to number one on the iTunes charts. 

If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask Sam – now’s your chance. Send it through to [email protected] by next Tuesday. It’s going to be fun.))

 

SURVEY TIME

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Attention parents, carers and teachers of Squiz Kids. Have you had a chance yet to fill out the survey we’ve launched to help us develop new programming and resources? To make this podcast of ours bigger and better.

Thanks to all of those who have taken part in the survey already. We have an awesome community here at Squiz Kids – and we really appreciate your support. If you haven’t yet had a chance, but like to have your say on how we grow, check out the link in today’s episode notes. Thanks! 

 

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 …

  1. What sort of cars are being developed by the car maker Volkswagen?
  2. Name the children’s book series favourite that’s launched a poll to choose its next two characters?
  3. What’s the name of the Korean boy band about to play a special Unplugged gig? 

 

SHOUT OUTS

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It’s February 11   … the International Day of Women and Girls in Science – celebrating all the girls all over the world who are awesome at science and are going to help change the world for the better. 

It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Logan from Goomalling, Lawson and Krittiq from Sydney, Eliza from Richmond, Hayden from Spreyton, Stella from Warrill View, Elayna from Nambour, Hayden from Mernda, and Jack from Kellyville. 

Happy birthday one and all!

And a belated birthday shout out… Milla from Invermay

Classroom shoutouts…  Year 5/6 with Mr Laingmaid and Miss Butler at Southern Vales Christian College, Class 3/4 Blue at North Wagga Public School, class 5/6D and Miss Binstead at Woodhill State School, Mr Page’s Year 6 class at Mark Oliphant College, and a very special shoutout to 5/6 at Yarraman State School, with their teacher Mrs Blanch whose birthday it is today. 

 

The S’Quiz Answers:

  1. Flying cars
  2. Mr Men & Little Miss
  3. BTS