News Club

Over 60 million people have watched the massive Netflix hit, Baby Reindeer. Made in the UK, it’s described as a dark comedy drama-thriller miniseries, but it’s the label it gave itself that has thrust the show into the news - ‘this is a true story’. Cue a debate about entertainment and the truth in the era of streaming platforms that aren’t necessarily putting much stock in compliance with broadcasting codes of conduct. It’s an issue that has made it all the way to the UK’s Parliament… Club Picks: An interview with Richard Gadd in GQ from early April outlining where he is coming from… This piece in the Free Press called Baby Reindeer Is a True Story - But Whose True Story? The Hollywood Reporter’s report on some comments made by Russell T Davies. He’s the guy behind the most recent Doctor Who series and he’s got a lot of experience in complying with broadcasting standards.

Hosted by the OG team of Claire Kimball and Kate Watson, it's all about helping you stay on top of the news + we give you some talking points for the week ahead. Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram. LINKS The most clicked link in Squiz Today was a link to Horseshoe jeans Claire recommends watching The Holdovers Kate recommends this episode of Conversations with Troy Cassar-Daley Listen to our News Club episode with BackTrack founder Bernie Shakeshaft. And you can listen to our episode with James Chessell about making and reporting on the Federal Budget here. Hosts: Kate Watson and Claire Kimball Producer: Annelise Taylor

With all the news of late about youth crime, gendered violence, and incarceration rates, we have found ourselves asking - I wonder what Bernie thinks? Bernie Shakeshaft is the 2020 Australian Local Hero of the Year recipient and the founder of Backtrack. It's a community-led organisation for young people who are having a tough time. In this chat, he delves into what helping those kids who need it most means and why it makes a big difference. Club Picks: This piece on the ABC looks at the data around youth offender rates and the various solutions being offered. This Moree report, written by Adam Harvey in March, paints a picture of what it is like to live with the issue of youth crime on your doorstep. We interviewed Adam Harvey previously on News Club about reporting on conflict zones. This is the documentary made in 2018 about BackTrack and a recent update to it. You can also watch the trailer here. This is Bernie featured in the AFR’s Philanthropy edition. If you don’t have time for the doco or our News Club interview, this is an easy way to get across what he has built/is building. Find out more about BackTrack here Host: Kate Watson Producer: Annelise Taylor

Hosted by the OG team of Claire Kimball and Kate Watson, it's all about helping you stay on top of the news + we give you some talking points for the week ahead. Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram. LINKS The most clicked link in Squiz Today was a gallery of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower Listen to our News Club episode on making and reporting on the Federal Budget Larissa recommends this viral tomato soup recipe Kate recommends this episode on HECS from our How Far We've Come series Listen and/or read our Shortcut on the Nuclear Power debate Hosts: Kate Watson and Larissa Moore Producer: Annelise Taylor

With Treasurer Jim Chalmers set to hand down the Federal Budget next week, we thought it would be a good time to dive into the process of how it gets made and how the media reports on it. James Chessell, a Walkley Award-winning journalist and former Managing Director of Publishing at Nine Entertainment, is well-versed in covering budgets. Plus, his former time working as a staffer for Joe Hockey makes him uniquely qualified on the topic. Club Picks: This episode of Politics with Michelle Grattan with economist Chris Richardson. She’s the doyen of political coverage out of Canberra’s Press Gallery, and he’s the go-to guru for anyone looking to make sense of the Budget. Ahead of its release, they set the scene for what’s on the government’s economic plate. This piece from 2017 by Dr Denis Muller, a journalism expert from Melbourne Uni, goes into the art of the leak… And speaking of leaks, the mother of them all came about in 1980 when then-Ten News political reporter Laurie Oakes got access to the Budget in a dark Canberra car park 2 days ahead of its release… This clip of how it unfolded on air is fun, if only for then Treasurer John Howard’s reaction…

Hosted by the OG team of Claire Kimball and Kate Watson, it's all about helping you stay on top of the news + we give you some talking points for the week ahead. Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram. LINKS This episode of The Daily on the pro-Palestine student protests at Columbia University Listen to the Eurovision entry from Electric Fields here Larissa recommends this doco that goes behind the scenes for the 2015 Met Gala Kate recommends this episode of The NYT's new podcast series called The Interview Listen to our News Club episode on ultra-fast fashion with AFR fashion editor Lauren Sams You can sign up to our Squiz Today and Saturday Squiz newsletters here Hosts: Kate Watson and Larissa Moore Producer: Annelise Taylor

This week on News Club, we talk with Lauren Sams, fashion editor at the Australian Financial Review, about the rise of ultra-fast fashion and how businesses like Temu and Shein manage to offer such cheap clothes. In Australia alone, they are on track to record more than $2 billion in sales this year and they’re fast grabbing a huge chunk of market share both here and overseas. But there are plenty of questions about the ethics of what we’re buying from these sites. Club Picks: Two videos from the Wall Street Journal - ‘How Temu’s Explosive Growth Is Disrupting American E-Commerce’ and ‘How Shein Built a $66B Fast-Fashion Empire’ - are less than 10 mins each and very informative. A 2022 investigation by Wired, ‘Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: Inside Shein’s Sudden Rise,’ explores the problems facing the company. This Money Talks podcast episode by The Economist called ‘Why Amazon should be afraid of Temu’. Lauren Sams recommended this book - Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes. And here is The Devil Wears Prada clip Kate mentions from The Devil Wears Prada Host: Kate Watson Producer: Annelise Taylor

Weekly Wrap is a look at the week in news and what’s coming up. Hosted by the OG team of Claire Kimball and Kate Watson, it's all about helping you stay on top of the news + we give you some talking points for the week ahead. Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram LINKS The most clicked link in Squiz Today was about the Aurora Australis Unmade's article on why the Arj Barker story went viral Kate recommends ABC's Australian Story on Aiden Dix Listen to our News Club episode on Ozempic Hosts: Kate Watson and Claire Kimball Producer: Annelise Taylor

Ozempic, designed for type-2 diabetes treatment, has garnered widespread attention for its potential to aid weight loss in obese individuals. In Australia, where obesity affects 30% of the population, it has sparked significant interest and Novo Nordisk, the company behind it, has seen its share price surge by almost 500% in 5 years. While there are other similar drugs on the market, Ozempic is the OG. Which is why we are delving into it for News Club... Club Picks: This podcast on ABC Radio National’s Life Matters program includes an interview with podcaster Claire Murphy. S The invention of these drugs has had - and will continue to have - economic impacts. This episode of The Economist’s Money Talks podcast goes through that, and the industry that’s booming off the back of them. You can’t go far in this discussion without mentioning Oprah Winfrey… The US multi-media legend has had a decades-long struggle with her weight. She’s even made a show about it - Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution - a clip is here. Hosts: Claire Kimball & Kate Watson Producer: Annelise Taylor

Weekly Wrap is a look at the week in news and what’s coming up. Hosted by the OG team of Claire Kimball and Kate Watson, it's s all about helping you stay on top of the news + we give you some talking points for the week ahead. Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram LINKS The most clicked link in Squiz Today was about the floods in Dubai Listen to our News Club ep with Adam Harvey on a reporter's perspective on the Israel-Hamas war Check out our Shortcut on Iran and Israel Claire's recommendation is this Vegemite butter recipe Hosts: Kate Watson & Claire Kimball Producer: Annelise Taylor

Adam Harvey is a reporter with ABC TV’s 7.30 and their former Middle East correspondent. We sat down with him to talk about his experience working in the Middle East, what it was like when he returned to Israel late last year, and how journalists get their information. Plus, we ask whether he would ever have thought the events of 7 October were possible and if he is surprised by Israel’s response. Club Picks: This article that was written by Adam himself. He talks about it in the podcast because it was published 24 hours after the 7 October attack. He also discusses CNN reporter Clarissa Ward, one of the only reporters who has been able to enter Gaza without an escort. Here is a piece she produced after doing so. Adam recommends this podcast by Yonit Levi of Israel’s Channel 12 News and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian - 2 prominent journalists - called Unholy: Two Jews on The News. Finally, Adam pointed us in the direction of 3 books called ‘Jerusalem’ as background to a city he and so many others love: Simon Montefiore’s biography Jerusalem* Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collin’s O! Jerusalem*, which covers the events surrounding the creation of the state And Ottolengi’s famous Jerusalem cookbook* *Purchase using this link, and we may earn a little commission

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram Links: The most clicked link in Squiz Today was about these 2 unlikely friends Listen to our News Club ep on The business of Bluey The Daily's podcast episode on Arizona and Trump's abortion dilemma Kate recommends this episode of The Fin podcast with Lauren Sams Claire recommends Season 2 of Loot and Not Dead Yet Hosts: Kate Watson & Claire Kimball Producer: Annelise Taylor

Bluey is one of the most-streamed TV shows in the world. But whilst Bluey is owned and produced by Ludo Studios - an Aussie outfit based in Brisbane - the commercial rights are owned by the BBC. It’s all a bit interesting, so this week, News Club will be about the juggernaut that is Bluey. Club Picks: An interview in The Independent with the creator of Bluey, Joe Brumm. A piece in the Financial Review from a few years ago which goes through how the ABC missed out on the commercial rights to Bluey. A recent piece by Bloomberg that throws up the possibility Bluey won’t continue forever. You can listen to the transcript of that for free here. And ahead of the Bluey ‘movie’ on Sunday, an interview in the Weekend Australian with Melinda Zanetti aka Chilli.

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram Links: The most clicked link in Squiz Today was about this Gucci wallet in Big W The Daily's podcast episode on Israel's airstrike on the World Central Kitchen Claire recommends The Rest is History's 2-part podcast episode on Captain Cook Kate recommends watching Oppenheimer on Netflix Read Kate's op-ed in Mumbrella here Hosts: Kate Watson & Claire Kimball Producer: Annelise Taylor

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram Bryce Corbett is the director of Squiz Kids. In this special episode, he discusses the challenges facing the next generation of news consumers and how we, through our media literacy program Newshounds, are doing our bit to help. Bryce also discusses his life as a journalist, his work as a ghostwriter on two best-selling biographies, and how his journey from gossip columnist to deputy editor at the Women's Weekly, to author, and more personally to father led him to be at the forefront of helping the next generation become critical news consumers. Host: Kate Watson Producer: Annelise Taylor

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram. If you have 2 minutes, we'd love if you could complete our survey Last week, several major news stories highlighted the tension between governments wanting to host big sports events and the substantial cost to taxpayers. Cue plenty of opinions and analyses about whether it's worth it. So, we're delving into the debate in this week's News Club Club Picks: Want a presentation with arrows? You got it… This link takes you to the International Olympic Committee’s thinking on the expense of hosting the Games and how they’re trying to solve it. Some analysis from John Verano from Oxford Uni on the risk and reward of hosting the Olympics, and why emerging nations/those with reputation problems are willing to pay the price. And what’s happening with the Brissie Olympics? The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age’s Chris Barrett looks at the money and the people involved in deciding how to pull it off. Melburnians are no strangers to the cost-benefit discussion around big sporting events… This article by Chip Le Grand in The Age dives into the economics of the Australian Grand Prix, an event which has been angering/delighting locals since 1996. Hosts: Claire Kimball & Kate Watson Producer: Annelise Taylor

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram If you have 2 minutes, we'd love if you could complete our survey Links: Sign up to the Squiz Today Newsletter here Watch ABC's 730 report on Trump's possible running mate here Claire recommended The New York Times' The Daily episode on the Trump campaign and the US Wildlife Bald Eagle cam Kate recommends subscribing to Galah Listen to our News Club interview with ITV's royal producer here Hosts: Kate Watson & Claire Kimball Producer: Annelise Taylor

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram If you have 2 minutes, we'd love if you could complete our survey Lizzie Robinson is the royal producer for ITV in London. When we asked Squizers about the recent coverage of Princess Kate and that photo, 65% said the situation had been blown out of proportion. It left us with lots of questions about royal PR strategies and their interactions with the media. So, we sat down with Lizzie to delve into the dynamics of the British media's relationship with the Royals. Listen to Lizzie's podcast The Royal Rota here

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram We ummed about this week’s News Club topic. Questions like ‘are people still interested?’, ‘is it too old?’, is it too gossipy’ and ‘can we all just leave Kate alone?’ were the kinds of conversations we were having. But the news around Princess Kate, her whereabouts and that photo just keep on keeping on - so here we are... If you have 2 minutes, we'd love if you could complete our survey Club Picks: This interview with BuzzFeed News’ former royal reporter on how the game works between the palace and the press. A piece in The Scotsman about why this is more than a photo editing fail A video of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answering questions about Kate’s pic. It got us thinking about the difference between ‘digitally altered’ and deep fakes and how it relates to the upcoming US election.

Support News Club by signing up to our newsletter and following us on Instagram If you have 2 minutes, we'd love if you could complete our survey Links: Our most clicked link in Squiz Today was about this mysterious silver monolith Claire recommends the US Wildlife Bald Eagle cam Kate recommends this podcast by The Free Press in Israel Our News Club episode on 'Meta's beef with news' and listen to our interview with Tim Duggan here Hosts: Kate Watson & Claire Kimball Producer: Annelise Taylor