Squeeze Kids acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we podcast the Turrbal and Combermary people.
Squeeze Kids!
It's your daily news fix.
Fun, free, fresh.
Hello and welcome to Squiz Kids Today, your fresh take on what's happening in the world around you.
I'm Bryce Corbett.
It's Monday, February 16 in Squiz Kids Today.
Gold rush in the mountains.
China's robot revolution.
Betongs bounce back from the brink and Ed Sheeran comes full circle.
That's what's making news, kids style.
The Lowdown There's gold in them thar hills.
That's a famous line from a famous book by a famous American writer called Mark Twain.
And thanks to a bunch of heroic sporting efforts in the mountains of Italy over the weekend, it's become something of a catch cry for the Aussie Winter Olympics team.
And that's because Australia is having its best ever Winter Olympics in terms of medal wins, thanks to the efforts of athletes including snowboarder Josie Baff and mogul skiers Cooper Woods and Jakara Anthony.
The Aussie gold rush began early on Friday, Australian time, when the NSW South Coast's very own Cooper Woods came seemingly from out of nowhere to claim gold in the men's moguls event.
Moguls is a downhill ski event.
Where you ski really fast over lots of bumps and throw in a couple of jumps and mid-air somersaults for good measure.
My knees hurt just thinking about it.
The gold kept flowing for Australia when Josie Baff from Cooma, down in the Snowy Mountains, beat the field in the snowboard cross event to claim her first ever gold medal.
A remarkable feat given that she'd stumbled in her heat and came into the finals ranked 17th.
And then it was Jakara Anthony's turn to claim the sweetest gold medal of Australia's Games yet.
Having already won a gold medal in the Women's Moguls event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing four years ago, Jakara went into Friday's competition as the favourite to win gold again in that same event.
But an uncharacteristic stumble on the course saw her tumble out of contention and she was devastated.
But, like all good champions, she picked herself up, dusted herself off and turned her attention to the next competition, the Jewel Moguls event, which is where you go down the same crazy bumpy run with somersaults whilst racing the competitor to see who gets down the mountain fastest.
It's properly nuts.
Anyway, Jakara blitzed the field and yesterday found herself standing once more on the winner's podium at an Olympic Games, kissing her second ever gold Olympic medal, making her Australia's most successful winter Olympian ever.
What a champion.
And a special shout out to Scotty James, who became the first Australian to win three winter Olympic medals at the weekend, grabbing another silver medal to add to the bronze and silver medals that he'd won at the last two games.
What a legend.
Spin the globe.
Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a new story from wherever it stops.
And today we've landed in China, where it appears a robot revolution is in the works.
Authorities in China are increasingly looking to robots to fill jobs, as the birth rate there slows down.
Now.
Fewer babies being born means fewer workers in the future to fill jobs, so the government is investing heavily in creating a future workforce of robots.
China get.
This is already home to half of the world's working robots, with factory floors all over the country filled with robots doing work that used to be done by humans, helping to make everything from electric vehicles to solar panels.
And with artificial intelligence getting more intelligent by the day, it's a trend that is expected to continue.
Now on the subject of electric vehicles, be sure to tune in to Squiz Kids tomorrow for our shortcut to e-bikes and e-scooters.
How they're suddenly everywhere on the streets and why kids have to be super careful when using them.
Animal Kingdom.
Alright, given that it's a Monday and we could all do with some super cute, super good news to kick off the week, try this on for size.
An endangered species of Ozymarsupial that's about the cutest thing you'll ever see is back from the brink of extinction, thanks to a conservation program in South Australia.
The brush-tailed Betong is a teeny tiny cousin of the kangaroo.
Cute as a button, but under threat, since Europeans came to Australia and the feral cats that accompanied them almost wiped out their numbers in the wild.
But an Indigenous-led conservation program on South Australia's York Peninsula has seen a resurgence in bettong numbers simply by creating a massive fenced-off area for them to thrive in, untroubled by feral cat predators.
Betongs 1, feral cats 0.
And we couldn't be happier about that.
The Ed Sheeran concert juggernaut has taken off in Australia, with the ginger-haired pop star packing out stadiums all over the country this week.
More than 70000 people packed into Accor Stadium in Sydney on Friday night to see the singer play 29 of his chart-topping hits with a massive crowd.
Sing along the order of the night.
Reflecting on the success that he's had right around the world.
The singer-songwriter told concert-goers on Friday night that he doesn't take a second of his success for granted, not least because he remembers how, 15 years ago, he was busking in front of the Opera House to a crowd of only 20 people.
From a 20-strong crowd to a 70,000-strong crowd, that is quite the improvement.
Sheeran's Loop tour will see him perform in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide later this month before he heads to South America and the United States later in the year.
Proof that if you have a guitar, a passion for music and a whole lot of determination, the world can be your oyster.
MUSIC Time for the quiz.
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you've been listening.
Question number one.
Name the marsupial who's enjoying a population surge in South Australia thanks to an Indigenous conservation program.
MUSIC
Well done if you said betong.
Question number two.
Which English pop star once busked outside the Sydney Opera House to a crowd of only 20 people?
MUSIC Yep, that would be Ed Sheeran.
Question number three.
Name the Aussie mogul skier who this weekend became Australia's most successful Winter Olympian ever.
MUSIC
Yep, that would be Jakara Anthony.
Yay!
Shoutouts.
It's Monday, February 16.
Birthdays today for Aussie sprinting champion Cathy Freeman and chart-topping pop star The Weeknd.
It's also a special day for these Squiz Kids, celebrating a birthday today and tomorrow.
And belated birthday shoutouts go to... And classroom shoutouts today...
Gosh, there's a lot of you.
Go to Year 5 with Miss Driver at St Bridget's Catholic Primary School in Rosewood.
Classes 5BR and 5RB with Miss Bates at Wellers Hill State School in Tarragindi.
Class 4H with Mr Hutchinson at St Ives North Public School.
And Class 5A with Mr Guy at Mansfield State School.
With a special mention to the students there studying animal adaptations this term.
And finally a shout out to Class 5-6-S with Mrs Spruce and Mr Scanlon at Morpeth Public School, who have just started listening to Squiz Kids and say that they're loving it.
Welcome aboard, Morpeth Public School.
It's great to have you.
Don't forget if you've got a birthday coming up and you want a shout out, or if you're after a classroom shout out, drop us a line at squizkids at thesquizcomau, or fill out the form on our website.
Well, that's all we have time for.
Thanks for listening to Squiz Kids today.
We'll be back again tomorrow with our shortcut to e-bikes and e-scooters.
A must listen for every kid and parent out there.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out.
Thank you.
