NEWS WEAKLY 195 – 10 January 2026

This week on News Weakly, the empire stops pretending, the internet gets unplugged, a royal commission settles in for the long haul, and a writers’ festival demonstrates once again that its strongest literary skill is drafting a press release explaining why someone has been quietly uninvited.

ALSO IN THIS EPISODE

• Trump abandons subtlety entirely, floats Greenland acquisition, and introduces the Donroe Document, which sounds less like foreign policy and more like a hostile takeover clause.

• Iran responds to nationwide protests by pulling the internet plug, proving once again that authoritarian crisis management always starts with “have you tried turning the country off and on again?”

• A long, uncomfortable look at how free speech gets hollowed out not by ideology, but by boards, risk assessments, and the quiet terror of a bad headline.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Trump didn’t end the international order. He ended the bedtime story version of it.”

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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.

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