Wednesday, 9 March, 2022
Floods smash Sydney and beyond; Bangladesh’s YouTube village; Squiz E sniffs out propaganda; and putting the bat in Batman.
LINKS
Bangladesh YouTube village mega cake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3SLS7WLCKk
The Batman movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqqft2x_Aa4
Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/fresh-food-kids/discoverytours
Squiz Kids for Schools: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
How To Become A Squiz Kids Correspondent: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FH2HA28InnLU6UxE91wrLBAbCMT40Mua/view
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]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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Roads turned to rivers, bridges became temporary waterfalls, sides of hills slid away and cars and homes went under as the same sort of flooding rains that brought havoc to Queensland last week, turned large parts of NSW into a great big, churning puddle yesterday.
Suburbs of inner Sydney were brought to a standstill by flash flooding, residents near Manly Dam were told to evacuate as the dam filled up and started to spill over – and at one school on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, students watched on as the carpark outside their classroom filled with water and cars simply floated away.
A huge stretch of coastline from Newcastle in the north, to Bega in the south was subject to the drenching, as another east coast low pressure system hovered above the state and dropped its watery load – making it the wettest start to a year on record.
There were landslides in the Blue Mountains, rivers broke their banks in Sydney’s western suburbs while in Wollongong and throughout the Illawarra and Shoalhaven districts, residents were told to evacuate as flood waters rose.
Meanwhile, up north in Kempsey – on the NSW north coast – the River Macleay broke its banks and flooded the central business district – as New South Welshpeople in that part of the world continue to deal with the devastating fall out of last week’s rains.
And if it feels like all we ever do here is talk about the weather – it’s because we’re in the midst of an extraordinary weather event. La Nina … you don’t do things by halves …
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 Bangladesh … a tiny country with an enormous population just next to India … and specifically in the small village of Shimulia – which has become known around the world as the YouTube village of Bangladesh.
Why?
Because for the last five years or so, a man with a digital camera has been filming locals cooking local dishes for the entire village to eat, then riding his motorbike six hours to the capital, Dhaka and uploading those videos to his more than 4 million Youtube channel subscribers around the world.
There’s his 400 Chicken Roast video, his 106kg monster tuna preparation recipe, and a rather tasty looking cabbage masala recipe using 140kg of cabbage.
The YouTube channel has proven so popular, it now provides jobs for no fewer than 50 villagers – including 17 local women.
How did they celebrate their 2 millionth subscriber?
By baking an 83 kg vanilla cake, of course. Complete with candles and icing. I’ve stuck a link to the video in today’s episode notes …
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Hey – speaking of spinning the globe … a reminder that if you’ve signed up to our Squiz Kids for Schools program or are a Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber that a brand new Squiz The World drops today – the excellent new podcast where Amanda takes us on an audio excursion to a different country each week … and this week, we’re off to South Korea, where a presidential election is taking place today. Learn all about this remarkable country: how kids there go to school for 11 months of the year, why fermented cabbage is the national dish and how it’s the K-Pop capital of the world … did someone say BTS? Dynamite!
If you’re not yet onboard the Squiz Kids Super-Fast Supersonic Jetliner and keen to join the weekly forays into foreign lands – then sign up at squizkids.com.au – or on Apple podcasts. There are links to free trials in your episode notes …
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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The new Batman film has opened, to soaring reviews and some high-flying box-office sales… see what I did there? Soaring? High flying? Bat – man? Sorry.
Anyway, people going to a recent screening of The Batman in Texas, in the United States got even more bat for their buck when a real live bat was spotted swooping around the theatre! The movie, starring Robert Pattison and Zoe Kravitz, was paused while animal rescue experts were called to try to remove the bat. They were unsuccessful, and although movie goers were offered their money back, most of them decided to stay and watch the rest of the movie .. with their special guest in tow.
Wonder if bats like popcorn? Hmmm.
Animal experts say only about 1% of bats in Texas carry diseases – and thankfully no one was bitten during the screening – so there was no great safety risk.
The authorities are pretty sure that someone released the bat intentionally, and have said they’ll be checking bags in the future. Talk about fun police …
I’ve stuck a link to The Batman movie trailer in today’s episode .. with a note that it’s a PG rated movie in the US and has an M rating here in Oz .. so, you know the drill … make sure you check with the adults in your life before diving in..
NEWSHOUNDS
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Every Wednesday, Squiz E the Newshound ambles into Squiz Kids HQ and reports back on any fishy stories he’s found on the Internet.
And his nose has been twitching overtime this week, following the news yesterday the Australian government is taking action against Russian propagandists.
What’s propaganda? It’s information that’s not necessarily true – arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies – that are spread to try and influence the way people think.
It happens a lot during wars – like the one we are seeing unfold in Ukraine at the moment.
And yesterday Australia’s Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, announced ten Russian propagandists – who are people that spread misinformation – will be subject to sanctions: which means the Australian government will be applying pressure to try to shut them down.
Misinformation is everywhere on the internet – not just during war time. In Snapchat social media postings, on your favourite Tik Tok channels, in every second Google search.
Which is why its really important to become a critical consumer of information …and remember – as Squiz E always says – to Stop, Think and Check whenever you come across a piece of news on the internet.
FARMER Q+A CALL OUT
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Have you ever wondered why a banana is curved? Or how a potato starts its life if it has no seeds?
Well now you can find out, thanks to our podcast partner, Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours!
Over the next few weeks we’ll be strapping on our gumboots and heading out to the farm to talk to Aussie farmers to find out where our food comes from.
First up – we’ll be heading to South Australia, where farmer Marco will walk us through the process of growing potatoes. And the week after that, we’re off to Victoria to meet orange and mandarin farmer Tommy.
And like the digital Discovery Tours – these farm visits are interactive: meaning we want to ask the farmers questions you’ve sent in.
So if you have a question for Marco the potato farmer or Tommy the orange farmer – send it through now to [email protected].
Meanwhile: teachers head over to Woolworths.com.au/DiscoveryTours now to request a free classroom kit – and bring the fantastic world of fresh food to your classroom.
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’s the name of the country where a YouTuber has gathered 4 million subscribers posting videos of locals cooking?
- What sort of animal made a surprise appearance in a screening of The Batman?
- What’s the name given to information that is not true but spread to try and influence the way people think?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 9 … on this day 61 years ago, a spaceship called Sputnik 9 returned to Earth carrying a crew of a dog, a frog and a guinea pig … wonder which one was in charge of the landing?
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Joey from Canberra, Amber from Melbourne, Nathaniel from Hervey Bay, Miles from Dingley Village, Ivan from Cambodia and Christopher from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.
And belated birthday wishes go to Aden from Forest Lake and Xavier from North Perth.
Classroom shout outs go to …Year 6 and Mr Roberts at Good Shepherd Primary School in Canberra, class 3H and Ms Harris from Sunshine Beach State School and class 5MM at Norris Road State School in Bracken Ridge.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Bangladesh
- Bat
- Propaganda