Thursday, 17 December, 2020
Talking kangaroos; Fiji’s big cyclone; Addo-Carr’s a Bulldog; and Among Us meets Elf On The Shelf.
LINKS
Chatty kangaroos: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-55312356
Elf On The Shelf meets Among Us: https://www.popsugar.com/family/among-us-elf-on-shelf-ideas-48040813?stream_view=1#photo-48041081
Check out our parent podcast and daily news email for adults: The Squiz: www.thesquiz.com.au
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
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Smarter than your average roo … that could become the catch cry for kangaroos everywhere following the news yesterday that kangaroos can communicate with humans.
University researchers have just spent the past few months testing the problem solving abilities of Australia’s favourite marsupial. And it turns out that when they’re presented with a problem with which they need help – like getting food out of a sealed box – they will turn to the nearest human and, through eye contact, touching and body language – ask for help.
Why is this even a thing? Because until now, it’s mostly been domesticated animals – dogs and cats – believed to be capable of meaningful interaction with humans.
But now we know roos like to talk to us too. Dr Doolittle, move over!
There’s a link in today’s episode notes to video of the experiment.
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 Fiji and Tonga … where two separate cyclons are brewing and threatening widespread damage.
Tropical cyclone Yasa was expected to smash into Fiji this evening. It has been classified as a category five cyclone, with winds of up to 270km/h expected to wreak havoc across the popular holiday island. Some sort of Christmas present that is …
Meanwhile, cyclone Zazu is behaving itself just that little bit more. Yesterday, it was building to a category one storm – with winds of 90km/h. Which is still really strong.
Yesterday, Fijians were being urged to board up their homes, prepare emergency supplies and have a route planned to their nearest evacuation centre. Which sounds serious.
Stay safe over there Fijian and Tongan friends.
SPORT TIME
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The Fox is moving on … Not Fantastic Mr Fox, not the Fox in Socks by Dr Seuss – but the footballing fox – otherwise known as Josh Addo-Carr – with news yesterday the star rugby league winger will be moving from the Melbourne Storm to join the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Addo-Carr will play one more season with the premiership-winning Storm next year, before scooting up the Hume Highway to Sydney to join the Doggies.
Meanwhile – all eyes will be on the Adelaide Oval today to see who will be opening the batting for Australia as the cricket Test match kicks off against India. With David Warner off injured, speculation has been swirling all week whether Queenslander Joe Burns will be tapped to lead the batting charge – despite a run of ordinary form. Find a spot on the couch and settle in …
POP CULTURE CORNER
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For our final PCC for the year, we couldn’t think of a better combination than the hugely popular online game, Among Us and the terrifyingly popular Christmas tradition Elf On The Shelf.
Because a merging of the two on the internet is exactly what has happened – with clever folks all over the world combining their love of the Elf with their obsession with the Imposter – creating clever posts and cross-over memes.
Could the Elf on the Shelf – that twinkly eyed little Christmas member of so many households – really be the ultimate Imposter? You be the judge? There’s a link to some of the best cross-over memes in today’s episode notes.
SUMMER PROGRAMMING
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This is the last daily episode of Squiz Kids for the year, folks. I know, I’m going to miss you too!
But don’t worry – I’m not abandoning you completely. Because you’ve all been such good kids throughout the year, there’s a whole bunch of Squiz Kids summer programming coming your way.
Starting tomorrow with the First Annual Squizzie Awards – where we cast our eye over the year that was and announce the winners of the Squizzie for the Weirdest, Smelliest, Cutest, Funniest and Most Inspiring news stories of the year.
Then, next Monday .. keep an eye out for the Kids v Adults Bumper Holiday Quiz … a test to see who’s smarter in your household – the big people or the little people.
And then, every Monday after that – and continuing each week until you’re all back at school – we’ll be dropping a new quiz … to test your knowledge of everything from pop culture to sports, world news to Australiana. Perfect for those long family road trips, or to play over dinner or at the beach or around the campfire this Christmas.
And the best way to make sure you don’t miss out is to subscribe to Squiz Kids in your preferred podcasting app – to receive notifications each time a new piece of content lands.
All of it fun, free, fresh.
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 …
- Name the popular holiday destination in the South Pacific bunkering down in the face of a cyclone?
- What’s the name of the Melbourne Storm player heading to the Canterbry Bulldogs in 2022?
- What’s the name of Santa’s little helper who visits households all over the world in the lead up to Christmas and is being implicated in a bunch of Among Us internet memes?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s December 17 …. Birthday of Aussie Rules players Jack Silvagni and Nathan Brown. Have a very footy birthday fellas.
Plus it’s also only 8 sleeps ‘til Christmas … Santa Claus is comin’ to town, people!
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today .. Happy birthday to… Tiana from Lysterfield, Dylan from Eastwood, Tishya from Wellington Point, Corey from Casino, Willow from Deniliquin, Oscar from Cornubia, Asher from Westmead, Lorelee from Mt Martha, Elsie from Murwillumbah, Emmaline from Dingabledinga, Gabriella from Claremont, Dimitri from Darwin, Noah from Naremburn, Celine from Narwee and Willa from Newcastle.
And some belated birthday shoutouts to Miranda from Abbotsford and Zeke from Melbourne.
And because it’s our last show of the year — we’re going to make sure EVERY kid celebrating a birthday between tomorrow and the end of the year DOESN’T miss out on their birthday shout – we’re going to do an EXTRA SPECIAL LONG birthday shout out.
If you’ve got some wallpaper to hang or a fence to paint or some grass to watch grow – now might be a good time to do that. Meanwhile, I’m going to need the birthday reggae tune to help me out here … hit it.
Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday between now and December 31 include … Lydia from Hurstville, Mia from Bolwarra, Lincoln from Darley, Elisha from Lake Munmorah, Miles from Dromana, Amos from Wellington Point, Isabelle, Emily, Elise, Xavier, Lilah and Logan from Sydney, Natasha from Jindalee, Gemma from The Gap, Gracie from Albany Hills, Sam from Ainslie, Francis from Fawkner, Emmanuella from Adelaide, Cian from Seven Hills, Thomas and Olivia from Moonee Ponds, Katie from Killara, Cyprus from Wallacia, Ruby from Bowral, Kya and Bella from Blacktown, Alexis and Ochako from Perth, Mack from Baldivis, Logan from Lowesdale, Felicity from Upper Mount Gravatt, Aadarsh from Wentworthville, Lucas from Hurstville, Owen from Oran Park, Alice from South Hurstville, Mei from Walpole, Abi from Jindalee, Milly from Baldivis, Billy from Mt. Martha, Ava from Morningside, John from Brunswick West, Glenn from Maitland, Brooke from Abbotsford, Shakira from Victoria, Keeley from Gembrook, Holly, Darcy and Caitlin from Redlynch, Evelyn from Camberwell, Yuqi from Towradgi, William from Kingaroy, Matilda from Ferntree Gully, Max from Alstonville, Lucas from Maroubra, Hadley from Yarralumla, Steven from Broken Hill, Axel from Canberra, Ollie from Durran Durra, Zola from Double Bay, Rocky from Allambie Heights, April from San Remo, Jake from North Curl Curl, Amisha from Seven Hills and Xavier listening all the way over there in Fengyuan in Taiwan.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Fiji
- Josh Addo Carr
- Elf On The Shelf