News Weakly with Sami Shah

This week on News Weakly : Tony Burke tells international students to leave the family at home, while British backpackers discover the migration system has a loyalty program. Also, Nyadol Nyuon gets Yassmined for saying she has no intention of assimilating, despite apparently doing more for Australia than most of the people demanding she leave it. And Macklemore gets booted from Ed Sheeran’s tour for saying “Free Palestine”, while an award-winning Israeli documentary about Gaza sparks an argument over who is allowed to tell Palestinian stories. Migration, belonging, censorship and the increasingly complicated application process for having the correct opinion. News Weakly is independent, ad-free and supported by listeners through Patreon. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twenty-five years after 9/11, everyone knows where Ground Zero was. But where did the blast radius end? This special edition of News Weakly follows one country through the aftermath: Pakistan. From the CIA-backed Afghan jihad and the rise of the Taliban, through Musharraf’s alliance with George W. Bush, suicide bombings, Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, drone warfare and the growth of Pakistani television news, all the way to the night Osama bin Laden was found living in Abbottabad. Pakistan didn’t carry out 9/11. No Pakistani was among the nineteen hijackers. Yet its modern history became almost impossible to separate from what happened that morning. The physical blast lasted seconds. The political blast radius is still expanding. News Weakly is independent, ad-free and supported by listeners through Patreon. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah revisits a 2022 argument about the Sydney Festival boycott after The Shot brands him a “liberal Zionist coward” for criticising two of its headlines as demonstrations of antisemitism. From Israel and Gaza to Mossad-payroll conspiracies, white saviour politics, audience capture and the invisible damage of online pile-ons, this episode asks what happens when political disagreement becomes a test of whether you are still allowed to belong. Criticising Israel and recognising antisemitism are not rival positions. So why does saying both increasingly get treated as evidence of betrayal? News Weakly is independent, completely ad-free and supported by listeners through Patreon. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone agrees the world is ending. The only disagreement is which catastrophe gets top billing. Starting with Jimmy Carter’s 1979 “crisis of confidence” speech, Sami Shah travels through Bangladesh, Munich, Chile, Watergate, oil shocks, coups, terrorism, information overload and nuclear panic to ask whether the present is uniquely doomed—or whether every generation mistakes its own crisis for the final shape of history. This is not a cheerful TED Talk claiming everything is secretly better. Gaza, democratic decline, antisemitism, climate change and AI-generated misinformation are real dangers. But helplessness is the con. News Weakly is independent, completely ad-free and supported by listeners through Patreon . Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NEWS WEAKLY 226 – What Is The Sentence? Last week, News Weakly opened with Jason Arday. This week, after his sudden death, Sami Shah asks a harder question: what is public accountability actually supposed to achieve? From Arday to Louis C.K., Warren Ellis and Neil Gaiman, this documentary looks at public shame, misconduct, cancellation, comeback and whether punishment without an end point eventually becomes something closer to appetite than justice. When should someone be allowed back? Who gets to decide? And if suffering itself isn’t the point, what is? Content note: this episode discusses death, possible suicide, sexual misconduct and public shaming. News Weakly is independent, ad-free and listener-supported through Patreon. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah goes long on artificial intelligence, authenticity and the increasingly difficult question: how was this thing actually made? From Cambridge professor Jason Arday’s disputed biography and Mahmood Fazal’s anonymous-source scandal at the ABC, to novelist Jerry Falade’s collapsed $2 million publishing deal and Hank Green reconsidering his own use of AI, The Story Machine asks what journalism, academia, publishing and creativity are really selling us. Is AI the problem—or has it simply exposed how willing institutions already were to reward compelling outputs without checking their provenance? News Weakly is completely ad-free and listener-supported through Patreon. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah watches Victorian Labor replace Jacinta Allan with her own deputy and announce a fresh start from inside the same government. Meanwhile, tens of thousands cross from Morocco into Spain’s African enclave of Ceuta, producing a humanitarian emergency, unstable statistics and some highly selective European geography. Plus, Trump announces Hamas’s complete disarmament—while Hamas, Israel and the English language remain less certain. News Weakly is ad-free and listener-supported through Patreon. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah follows India’s Cockroach Janta Party from a Supreme Court insult and viral meme to mass youth protests over examination leaks, unemployment and corruption. How did a cockroach holding a mobile phone become the symbol of a generation losing faith in education, employment and government? And why might satire be better at organising political anger than political parties are? Plus: India’s crackdown on comedians, the youth movements spreading across South Asia, and why Australians should understand the politics shaping the people they live and work alongside. News Weakly is completely ad-free and listener-supported through Patreon. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah follows two news stories through the online outrage machine. An ABC report about climate disasters increasing the risk of child marriage becomes “the ABC defends Muslim child brides”. Meanwhile, a review of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Gaza casualty database becomes both “all Palestinian journalists are terrorists” and “CPJ erased twenty murdered reporters”. It’s an episode about missing qualifiers, invented context, tense laundering, viral screenshots and why reading beyond the headline may now qualify as civic service. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah looks at how disasters become PR opportunities. Telstra somehow fixes a nationwide outage by creating another one, Narendra Modi gets the rock-star treatment in Melbourne while human rights concerns barely get a mention, and China reminds the Pacific what "friendly" military exercises look like. Plus, the Royal Commission into Antisemitism turns its attention to the ABC, and Iran transforms Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral into a masterclass in authoritarian image-making. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah marks America's 250th birthday by asking what its greatest populist, Huey Long, can teach us about Donald Trump, democracy, and why every generation keeps looking for a king. Plus, Australia's aged care system discovers that maybe humans should assess human beings after all, and the debate over journalists killed in Gaza descends into another battle over who counts as a journalist in the first place. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah explains why Donald Trump's favourite movie might also explain his foreign policy. From Jean-Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport to the Iran war, this episode explores the dangers of confusing spectacle with strategy, humiliation with victory, and refusing to flinch with actual courage. How did America win every battle but still end up negotiating over the Strait of Hormuz? And what can an '80s martial arts movie teach us about modern geopolitics? All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah takes a deep dive into Pauline Hanson’s first National Press Club address and the global rise of populist politics. From multiculturalism and immigration to childcare, abortion, transgender rights, and the meaning of “Australian culture”, Hanson’s speech offers a masterclass in the political lessons democracies keep refusing to learn from Donald Trump. What does “monoculture” actually mean? Is Australia already a shared civic culture? And why do major parties keep responding to populists by adopting parts of their argument? And one more thing: News Weakly is now completely ad-free. No sponsors. No mining companies. No meal kits. No cryptocurrency exchanges run by fugitives. Just listener support through Patreon and the ongoing collapse of civilisation. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah looks at how every political problem somehow ends up being blamed on immigrants. Comedian Dave Hughes goes viral railing against Labor’s housing policies, permanent residents, and falling property values, accidentally arriving at the same talking points that have fuelled One Nation’s resurgence. Meanwhile, anti-immigration riots erupt in Belfast after a violent crime becomes a vehicle for broader fears about migration, identity, and social decline. The episode explores why housing affordability, wage stagnation, and cost-of-living pressures keep getting reframed as migration problems instead of policy failures, and how media personalities help launder increasingly extreme ideas into “common sense”. Plus: Pauline Hanson’s political comeback, Barnaby Joyce’s confusion about what a permanent resident actually is, and the algorithmic pipeline turning ageing celebrities into grievance influencers. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah dives into the latest Australian culture war, where an autism podcast somehow becomes a referendum on Israel, Gaza, free speech, antisemitism, cancellation, and who should be allowed to work. The ABC finds itself under fire after commissioning a podcast hosted by Grace Tame, despite controversy surrounding her comments about October 7, Hamas sexual violence, and the phrase "globalise the intifada". Meanwhile, Charlie Pickering discovers the dangers of talking to Avi Yemini, and Australia once again debates whether disagreement should be answered with argument or unemployment. Along the way, Sami examines the Jayson Gillham controversy, the limits of institutional neutrality, why cancellation campaigns rarely achieve their stated goals, and the difference between offensive speech, political speech, artistic speech, and work that is itself the speech. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah looks at what happens when political parties mistake nostalgia for strategy and spreadsheets for compassion. Tony Abbott returns as Liberal Party president, raising questions about whether the Coalition plans to solve its existential crisis or simply appoint it to a leadership role. Meanwhile, sweeping changes to the NDIS could see hundreds of thousands of Australians lose access to support, generating considerably less outrage than proposed tax changes affecting property investors. Plus, BHP’s green ambitions collide with leaked internal documents, KPMG discovers the risks of ignoring whistleblowers, and Donald Trump attempts to resolve the Iran conflict by threatening… Oman. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah looks at what happens when populism accidentally stumbles into good policy while everything else quietly catches fire. The federal government tweaks negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, triggering a media meltdown from a property-owning class suddenly discovering class warfare. Meanwhile, Pauline Hanson unveils a gas policy so interventionist it accidentally sounds Scandinavian. Australia also discovers compassion for “boat people” when the people on the boats happen to be Australian activists detained by Israel during the Gaza flotilla interception. Plus: literary fiction panics after an allegedly AI-generated short story gets shortlisted for a major prize, and Elon Musk’s gutting of USAID collides with a growing Ebola outbreak in Africa. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah looks at what happens when politics stops pretending to care equally about everyone. Labor’s latest budget is compared to the brutal Abbott-Hockey austerity budget of 2014, revealing how conservative outrage mysteriously only appears when wealthy Australians lose tax advantages. Meanwhile, the Albanese government finally responds to gambling reform recommendations with a plan so timid it feels focus-grouped by Sportsbet itself. In the UK, Labour MPs appear ready to repeat the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years at high speed, threatening to hand Nigel Farage the easiest political opening of his life. Plus: Coles gets caught playing games with “Down Down” pricing, and the Royal Commission into antisemitism exposes something darker than political disagreement — a growing public instinct to explain away Jewish fear rather than confront it. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah looks at the stories Australia keeps turning into culture wars instead of solving. The death of Kumanjayi Little Baby reignites debate around Indigenous communities, systemic neglect, Welcome to Country ceremonies, and the country’s ongoing inability to confront its own contradictions. Sami explores the idea of the “Pink Flamingo”: the national dysfunction everyone sees but nobody meaningfully addresses. Meanwhile, the Liberal Party responds to electoral collapse by considering a return to Tony Abbott, because apparently the answer to political failure is expired yoghurt conservatism. And in journalism, former Age editor Michael Gawenda and writer Jeff Sparrow collide in a debate over objectivity, activism, and whether journalists still know the difference between reporting facts and performing politics online. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on News Weakly , Sami Shah takes on one of the most circular, exhausting debates in modern politics: how we talk about Israel and Palestine—and why the conversation keeps going nowhere. Using the comparison between Pakistan and Israel, this episode reframes the discussion away from slogans and toward something more useful: treating countries like countries, not symbols. From the legacy of Partition in 1947 to the ongoing realities of Gaza, the West Bank, and global politics, Sami explores why some states are criticised for their actions, while others are endlessly debated for their right to exist. Plus: what the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 can teach us about Palestine, the limits of American protection, and why “impossible” states have a habit of becoming real. All that, and more. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, journalist, and broadcaster. For more: http://thesamishah.com Theme music 'Historic Anticipation' by Paul Mottram This podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Sami Shah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.