News Weakly

NEWS WEAKLY 164 – 21st JUNE 2025Hi, did you know you can support News Weakly by giving it a 5-star rating and review in the Podcast app? You can also join my Patreon, where you’ll find the ad-free version of every episode along with the entire script formatted as a newsletter—plus you get short stories and updates on upcoming shows! So support free-range, cruelty-free news satire over at patreon.com/samishah.TOP STORIES OF THE WEEKDestruction in Tel Aviv! Tehran! Preston?Also, the Mad Bastard Theory of International Relations!And, if everyone has a nuke then no one has a nuke!All that, and more, on NEWS WEAKLY.Quote of the Week"Northland is no longer a shopping centre. It’s an immersive theatre experience in chaos. A Westfield-themed dystopia." – Sami ShahClosing CreditsSami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music "Historic Anticipation" by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY 163 – 14th June, 2025This week on News Weakly, it’s bombs, bullets, and broadcast farewells as Israel goes full Mission: Impossible in Tehran, Donald Trump liberates LA from the tyranny of democracy, and Australian TV finally kills the panel show—freeing up at least 40 vaguely progressive journalists to start Substacks.Top Stories of the Week:Everything is fine in the Middle East! Israel totally didn’t just bomb another country! Why are you even worried?Also, America invades LA!And, Australian TV forces more journalists on the dole! Quote of the Week:“If your security plan requires bombing five countries before breakfast, you might not be the victim—you might be the geopolitical equivalent of a guy who’s been through five messy breakups but insists all his exes were crazy.”Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY 162 – 5th June, 2025This week on News Weakly, an editorial edition that's more of a dramatic reading of a short story I've written. It's about how a utopia slides into dystopia with the best of intentions.Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul MottramSound design: 'Creation' by Dana HaDani & 'Winterlight' by Brianna TamThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY 161 – 31st May, 2025This week on News Weakly, Tony Abbott emerges from the political crypt, COVID returns for its remix tour, and Gaza and Sudan redefine “humanitarian aid” into a phrase meaning “good luck, you’re on your own.” All that, plus Sussan Ley's factional juggling act and a Rick Astley variant you can’t get out of your lungs.Top Stories of the Week:FRONT BENCH PRESS!NEW VARIANT, OLD COVID!FAMINE, FLOUR & FRIENDLY FIRE!Quote of the Week:“Tony Abbott wants to fix the Liberal Party the way a chainsaw fixes a jigsaw puzzle: loudly, destructively, and while muttering something about the glory days of John Howard.”Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY 160 – 24th May, 2025This week on News Weakly, we dive into a whirlwind of political betrayal, retirement robberies, literary cancellations, and Oval Office psychodramas—with more twists than a Barnaby Joyce comeback tour.Top Stories of the Week:ARE LIBS AND NATS ON THE NEXT SEASON OF MAFS?TAXING MODELS MODEL TAXES!TRUMP FINDS A GENOCIDE HE CAN ACKNOWLEDGE!Quote of the Week:“Michael McCormack says he’s ‘ambitious for’ David Littleproud—the same way Brutus was ambitious for Caesar.”Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY 159 – EDITORIAL EDITIONA podcast where we punch the news in the headlines… weakly.Title: The Hypernormalisation of Journalistic Jingoism Summary:A few weeks ago, India and Pakistan were one bad decision away from nuclear war. But you wouldn’t know that from the news coverage. You’d think Karachi had been flattened, Pakistani generals were surrendering en masse, and Indian fighter jets had laser-blasted their way to the gates of Islamabad—if you watched Indian TV news, that is. Spoiler: none of it happened. What did happen was a masterclass in disinformation, state propaganda, media jingoism, and the dangerous, ridiculous, terrifying theatre of war-as-content.In this special editorial edition, Sami Shah takes a blowtorch to the concept of hypernormalisation—where fake news becomes realer than truth, and everyone knows it’s bullshit but plays along anyway. From the USS Maine to Vietnam, from Colin Powell's slideshow to Karachi’s imaginary destruction to from Pakistan’s own delusions—we trace the long, painful, deeply stupid history of war narratives shaped not by fact, but by flag-waving fantasy.And we end where it matters most: here in Australia. With one last bastion against this wave of reality-denial. A flawed, bald-headed, beige-toned but vital institution: the ABC. Why public broadcasting matters more than ever. And why we lose it at our peril.Quote of the Week:“I don’t know why but there needs to be a study into whether approving another season of Hard Quiz results in male pattern baldness or being bald predisposes one to approving another season of Spicks and Specks.”Support the ShowLike your news satire free-range, cruelty-free, and ad-free?Join the News Weakly Patreon at patreon.com/samishah for scripts, exclusives, and bonus content.CreditsSami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music “Historic Anticipation” by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY 158 – 17th May, 2025A podcast where we punch the news in the headlines... weakly.Top Stories of the WeekLiberals and Greens crowd the glass cliff!Donald Trump goes shopping for Gulf influence and possibly a jet!Instagram’s algorithm recommends children to predators!Quote of the Week“Women aren’t being given opportunities for leadership—they’re being forced into disaster babysitting.”Support the ShowLike your news satire free-range, cruelty-free, and ad-free?Join the News Weakly Patreon at patreon.com/samishah for scripts, exclusives, and bonus content.CreditsSami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY 157 – 10th May, 2025A podcast where we punch the news in the headlines... weakly.Top Stories of the WeekIndia and Pakistan compete in new drone-catching sport!A collection of post-election misconceptions!A Woke Pope!Quote of the Week“NewsCorp is the herpes of media empires: just because you can’t see it right now doesn’t mean it’s not about to flare up again.”Support the ShowLike your news satire free-range, cruelty-free, and ad-free?Join the News Weakly Patreon at patreon.com/samishah for scripts, exclusives, and bonus content.CreditsSami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.

NEWS WEAKLY – 156 (5th May, 2025): Post-Election Dissection and ErectionEvery week, Sami Shah (ABC, The Gadfly)—comedian, journalist, and award-winning writer of words—copies the news stories off of a website then pretends like he wrote them himself, then starts a debate about who actually does own the news, while claiming he didn't copy, just takes inspiration very very literally.TOP STORIES OF THE WEEKPeter Dutton gives orgasms!The Greens are green with envy!Who polls the pollsters!QUOTE OF THE WEEK“A man whose idea of unity was dog-whistling so loudly even actual dogs said, ‘Mate, bit much.’”– On Peter Dutton's leadership styleSUPPORT THE SHOWLove News Weakly? Keep it funded by joining the Patreon:patreon.com/samishahSami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster.For more: http://thesamishah.comTheme music ‘Historic Anticipation’ by Paul MottramThis podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah.