News Weakly with Sami Shah

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.

News Weakly – 16th September, 2023

A weekly round-up of the top news stories in Australia, and around the world; punched in the head until they make sense.

Written and presented by journalist & comedian Sami Shah (Saturday Paper's The Gadfly, The Chaser Report).

TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

Australian media shouting over voice!

And, Putin putting the Unnnnh in Kim!

News Weakly is an ad-free listener supported podcast. Just go to patreon.com/samishah to support the podcast!

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.

🎟 Tickets for the 150th episode live show are on sale now! March 21st, 6:30pm, at Comedy Republic in Melbourne.

Get them at comedyrepublic.com.au, or join Patreon for a discount: patreon.com/samishah.

• Jewish and Muslim communities are fighting over whose discrimination is worse, instead of uniting against the actual racists. Who wins?
• Trump called Zelensky a "dictator" and blamed him for Russia invading Ukraine. Meanwhile, Putin’s celebrating and Europe’s losing its mind. But Trump’s too busy demanding Ukraine’s rare minerals to care.

"Trump will blame Pearl Harbor for antagonising the Japanese pilots by floating there so provocatively."

Help keep News Weakly ad-free and independent! Sign up at Patreon.com/SamiShah.

🎟 Live show tickets: ComedyRepublic.com.au

Thanks for listening! See you next week!

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 161 – 31st May, 2025

This 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.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 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.