BTN Transcript: Episode 23 – 22/8/2023
Hey. I’m Amelia Moseley and you’re watching BTN. Thanks for hanging out with us again, let’s see what’s coming up on today’s show. We find out how kids in Hawaii are coping after devastating fires, learn about the world’s sinking cities and journey through the history of hip-hop.
Aussie Women’s Soccer
Reporter: Lyeba Khan
INTRO: All that soon, but first up, the biggest ever FIFA women’s world cup has come to an end. It was also the first one played in Australia and New Zealand and while Spain walked away with the trophy, the Matildas made history by taking a very respectable fourth place. Here’s Lyeba to help us relive all the action and hear what it means to young soccer fans.
For the past few weeks, Australians have come together in a big way. We’ve jumped together. Held our breath together. Screamed together. And we’ve cheered together. As the Matildas took us on a wild ride through the highs and lows of the World Cup.
COMMENTATOR: The wonderful World Cup is all but over.
They were the first Aussie team to make it through to the semi-finals of a World Cup tournament, and people came from all over the country to see them play in a packed out Stadium Australia.
FAN: I play soccer myself and I recently had an injury so it’s just like inspired me to keep going and get back up so seeing them come this far has just been absolutely amazing.
FAN: I’m feeling very excited, I can’t wait to see them. And I hope they win.
FAN: It’s so great to see them go into the World Cup ’cause usually you see all the men play and now finally they’re getting their spotlight.
LYEBA: It also broke TV records. 11 million people tuned in to watch Wednesday’s semi-final, making it Australia’s biggest TV event ever.
Sadly the Matildas couldn’t go all the way. They lost to England in the semi-final and ended up coming fourth, with Spain taking away the World Cup. But to many people around the country, they’re still heroes.
SIAN: For the Matildas, it’s really exciting to see like, they’re now our idols and where we want to be when we’re older. And it makes me want to work harder, train more and improve to be there one day as well.
For up and coming players like Sian, the success of the World Cup was particularly exciting.
SIAN: I think it’s really good for the development of women’s football seeing the improvement of the game and the support of the fans around the world and mainly in Australia.
Women’s soccer has definitely come a long way. It wasn’t that long ago that the Matildas weren’t getting paid at all for representing the country. They had to have day jobs and trained with second hand equipment. In 2019, the Matildas became the first team in the world to be paid the same as their male counterparts, the Socceroos. But that doesn’t mean things are equal, and many say female players are missing out, especially at the lower levels.
SIAN: When you go to training, you go to change rooms, but the boys have got the change rooms, so you can’t have them. Your uniforms? The boys-fit shorts, the boys-fit shirts. It’s definitely getting better now and improving. But it wasn’t always like that.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Is there enough funding has gone into women’s sport? No. There is a need to do more.
SARAH LANGMAN: They definitely need to close that gap otherwise the women’s game, especially in Australia, won’t keep developing.
In the wake of the World Cup, the Prime Minister has promised $200 million dollars for women’s sports, and the government says it will work on making women’s sport more available on free to air TV. Many are hoping it’ll lead to a big boost for women’s and men’s soccer in Australia.
ELLIE CARPENTER: I feel very honoured to be part of the group that we have changed the game. And I think this is just the first step, like we see obviously the prize money get increased but there is still a long way to go.
They’re hoping for Aussie soccer and for the Matildas of the future, this is just the beginning.
SIAN: I wanna be on that stage, I wanna be showcased like those Matildas are now.
Quiz
Can you name this famous Matilda? It’s goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
News Quiz
US President Donald Trump is facing more legal trouble. Do you know which state has just indicted him for trying to interfere with the 2020 election? Was it California, Florida or Georgia? It was Georgia. “The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendant engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result.”
Which Aussie city ended up closing this public square to soccer fans for the World Cup final after some bad behaviour during the Matilda’s semi? Was it Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne? It was Melbourne. Federation Square had been a live site throughout the World Cup, but things got a bit out of control during the Australia England game, with some fans letting off flares.
What happened to this Russian rover on the weekend? It landed on the moon, it crashed on the moon or it landed on Mars? It crashed into the moon. The unmanned Luna-25 lander was Russia’s first space mission to the lunar surface since the 70s. It was supposed to land on Monday, but something went wrong, and it crashed into the surface.
And can you name this animal? It’s a Magpie. And its call has been named as Australia’s favourite according to an ABC poll. More than 150,000 people voted for these little warblers. The kookaburra took second place while the butcherbird came in third.
Maui Kids After Wildfires
Reporter: Michelle Wakim
INTRO: Recovery efforts are still underway on the island of Maui in Hawaii after it experienced some of the deadliest wildfires in US history. The fires destroyed homes, businesses, historical sites and schools. But Michelle caught up with some students from Maui Prep — which has just reopened — to hear about their experiences. Take a look.
NOELANI: Hi BTN. My name is Noe and I’m nine years old.
EMMA JAYE: My name is Emma Jaye, and I’m nine.
MILO: Hi, I’m Milo, and I’m 12 years old.
LAYLA: My name is Layla Merrill. I’m 15 years old and I go to Maui Prep.
NOELANI: On August 8th, there was a hurricane and a wildfire.
Layla: During the hurricane, we had no power. It was really strong wind. So, we thought once the hurricane would pass, the power would come back on. And we heard that there were a few fires, like just small ones, but that they had been contained on the day of the hurricane. So, we were just so bored with no power. We had decided to go on a golf cart ride with my family, just to pass the time. And that’s when we saw black smoke.
EMMA JAYE: The sky was grey. And then some parts were again like covered by smoke. But, like, there was no sun. It looked like it was nighttime, but it was like the middle of the day.
NOELANI: When we realized there was a fire, my mum was like, ‘We need to evacuate right now.’ Because we could like see the big smoke coming to us. So, then we like packed. We didn’t pack everything. We packed a tiny, tiny little bit.
EMMA JAYE: We didn’t have much time, like five-ten minutes. So, we also thought we are going to be able to come back so we all packed like overnight clothes and stuff like that. But we grabbed all our animals. Everyone got out alive, thankfully. But, yeah, a lot of our prized possessions were still in that house. And we didn’t get to take all of it.
LAYLA: We didn’t know where it was or how big it was, or any information. We knew nothing. We knew there was fire. And that was it. So, throughout the night, my dad would check just to make sure it wasn’t coming closer to us. Just because we had no information. And even if it was coming, no one would tell us to evacuate. So, everyone is basically on their own, trying to make the best decisions for themselves. And it was made it harder with no power. And you’re just in the dark trying to figure out what was going on.
NOELANI: At like about 10:30, we had to evacuate because we saw the fire was coming up. So, we evacuated to the other side. And we slept in the Safeway parking lot.
EMMA JAYE: We’re just blessed to get to the other side, safe. We could see five cars behind us, cars are getting devoured by the smoke. And we just barely made it out. I felt really sad because all my memories from like, preschool stuff like that, was all in the house. So, something my mom said everything can be replaced, but not everything could be replaced.
LAYLA: The people who didn’t lose their homes still needed help, because the roads were closed, and all the stores were closed because there was no power and people couldn’t get to work. There’s no gas. So, everyone on the west side of the island, there’s only one road in and out. So, one way that people in the community found a solution was flying in planes from the other side of the island to bring in like diapers, toilet paper, food, water, clothes, all that stuff for people in need.
LAYLA: Over 600 people came to our gym, and like people in the school, they helped give them food and the needs they needed. And I just feel grateful that like, everyone is rallying around each other.
MILO: After the fires. I went to Kapalua Airport where they were delivering food and baby stuff and like paper towels and toilet paper. And I went and helped them deliver that. People need a lot of supplies because they could have lost their house, or they didn’t have cars. And if they have newborn babies, all their like baby clothes and like formula was gone.
EMMA JAYE: My mum started a ‘Go-fund-me’ on Facebook. Everyone’s been donating to us friends, family, random people have been donating us. People have been helping us find a house. And one of my dad’s friends has been letting us stay there for a while until we find our own place. I am very excited to come back to school because I just need to get my mind off things and the fire.
LAYLA: I’m going back to school, and it’s the only school on the west side that’s opening. And I feel grateful that I have this opportunity. But at the same time, like I want all these other kids to be able to come to school and have some normalcy.
MILO: I’m excited to go back to school to see all my friends and ask how they’re doing, and like meet new people. School is important, because you need to like, learn how to do it. Learn how to do like math and like science. And you need to learn that to move on.
EMMA JAYE: I think it’s going to slowly get built back up. But I don’t think it’s going to happen really fast because people are still trying to like, rebuild like powerlines back up, and those materials to rebuild that stuff are not really easy to get, I feel like. So, I think it’s just going to take a little bit.
LAYLA: The community is helping each other so much, because here on the island, we’re all just such a close-knit family, and there’s just an ‘Aloha’ spirit.
NOELANI: The kind of people that live here are like nice, kind people.
MILO: We can help each other by like giving them supplies they need, or like letting them stay at your house for like a couple of nights or like, asking them if we need to say like a prayer for them.
LAYLA: When you see someone in need, you want to help them because if you were in need, you would want someone else to help you too.
Sinking Cities
Reporter: Josh Langman
INTRO: Now, you’ve probably heard of sinking ships, but have you ever heard of sinking cities? Strange as it sounds, a lot of famous cities around the world really are disappearing under water and it’s having a big impact on people who live there. Josh found out more.
TOUR GUIDE: You tired of the same old boring holiday destinations?
TOURIST: Ugh. Paris again? Blegh.
TOUR GUIDE: Well, why not get on board with the tours of the future? Literally. FutureTours will take you to iconic destinations in the distant future. Like: future New York. Future Venice. And even future Tokyo.
JOSH LANGMAN, REPORTER: Yeah, while this is a bit extreme, there may come a time when travelling to some of the world’s most iconic destinations could involve getting pretty wet. Because believe it or not, these cities are sinking. In fact, there are over 30 sinking cities around the world: including Jakarta, Tokyo, New Orleans, Miami, Houston, Alexandria, Amsterdam, and Venice.
Now, look — before you hit the panic button, know this: when we say “sinking” we actually mean a pretty slow sinking. Like, a few millimetres or centimetres a year slow. But it’s already having a pretty big impact in some places.
Like here, in Bangkok in Thailand. See those power lines poking out of the water? Yeah — there used to be an entire fishing village there. But now, it’s disappeared under the water. And the local primary school now only has 4 remaining students, after many families were forced to leave the area.
PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER: The school used to be in front of the temple, but it’s been moved back 3 times. So now the school is behind the temple.
So what’s going on?
Well, this sinking feeling is partly because of climate change, which is melting glaciers and causing sea levels to rise. It’s also causing more extreme weather, which contributes to coastal erosion.
But for many cities, it also comes down to something called ‘subsidence’. That’s when the ground underneath buildings and structures become compressed and moves downward, causing them to literally sink. And that happens partly because of the ground cities are built on. Bangkok, for example, was built on a lot of soft clay. Similarly, Venice is built on a muddy lagoon, which means it isn’t very stable. And it’s also because of the sheer weight of the city. Over in New York, all the buildings combined weigh a whopping 764 billion kg. That’s 140 million elephants by the way and it’s a lot of pressure.
Subsidence can also be made worse when humans pump water out of the ground for drinking and irrigation, causing it to compress even further. So, what do we do about it?
Well, that’s a bit of a tough one. Some places have taken pretty drastic action, like Jakarta, in Indonesia. It’s now the fastest sinking city in the world, dropping up to 15 centimetres a year. Which is pretty high when you compare it to the rate of some other cities. So, authorities are planning to abandon Jakarta altogether. And they’ve already started building a new capital here in Borneo. And over the next few years, they’ll begin the mammoth task of shifting some of the city’s 10.56 million residents.
Some countries are trying to engineer ways to save their cities by using things like seawalls and water pumps, and by limiting construction and groundwater extraction. Then there are more futuristic ideas, like building cities that can float on water. Woah. But while that may be a solution further down the track, right now, there are a lot of people around the world dealing with the reality of sinking cities. And an uncertain and soggy future.
Quiz
On average, how many days a year does Venice flood? 10 days, 50 days or 100 days? It’s 100 days.
Sport
It was the controversy of the season in the Adelaide Crows’ clash against the Sydney Swans on Saturday night. Ben Keays kicked this epic goal with just over a minute left on the clock, to give the crows the win, or so they thought. Yup, the goal umpire put a quick stop to the celebrations calling it as a behind because he thought the ball hit the post and didn’t ask for a score review. But replays showed quite clearly that it was in fact a goal and the next day the AFL admitted it too. The call cost the Crows the game and knocked them out of finals contention leaving footy fans from all corners of the country outraged. The AFL’s since apologised for the mistake and the goal umpire’s been stood down for the rest of the season.
There’s been a big announcement in the lead up to the 2023 AFL Women’s season launch. This year the AFL will award equal prizemoney for the men’s and women’s competitions for the first time ever. This means the reward offered to AFLW players will almost double with $1.1 million dollars to be split between the top eight teams for the upcoming season.
And Aussie Jemima Montag has claimed Australia’ first medal at the World Athletics Championships at Budapest. She walked away with silver. Literally, she’s a walker. And she’s the first Aussie woman to take the podium in the sport since 1999. Things didn’t end quite so happily for fellow Aussie, Rohan Browning. He was the first male sprinter to make the 100m semifinal in 28 years, but got knocked out before the final.
Hip Hop History
Reporter: Josh Langman
INTRO: Finally, today, to hip-hop. The world just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the musical genre that’s given us some of the world’s most famous artists. Here’s Josh to tell us how it all began.
JOSH LANGMAN, REPORTER: The year: 1973. The location: 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, The Bronx. The Event: the ‘Back to School Jam’ party. A little-known artist by the name of DJ Kool Herc explodes onto the scene, showcasing a musical technique he called “The Merry-Go-Round” — looping the instrumental breaks of songs together on two turntables over and over again. Little did he know, he was changing the game and giving birth to “hip-hop”.
Pretty soon this new type of music had taken over the neighbourhood.
MARK NAISON, HISTORY PROFESSOR: South Bronx was this giant soundscape that everywhere you went, music was coming out of apartments, it was coming out of grocery stores, it was coming out of clubs.
Different DJs would put their own spin on the sound, and many would go on to become legends.
FAT JOE, RECORDING ARTIST: When you talk about Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, these are the three founding fathers of the whole culture.
The people introducing the DJs would entertain the crowds between songs by talking and joking. And soon enough, rap became a big part of hip-hop, along with breakdancing.
E-40, RECORDING ARTIST: The first song I ever heard was ‘Rapper’s Delight,’ 1979. I was in the seventh grade. Back then we had boomboxes. No doubt for sure that was the first hip-hop song ever played. From then on, I love rap. When I first heard The Sugarhill Gang, I wanted to be a rapper.
It became a big part of Black American culture, giving people from poor and disadvantaged communities an outlet to speak about important social issues. And by the 80s, hip-hop records had started to hit the U.S. Billboard charts.
Soon enough, hip-hop had spread to countries all around the world — including here in Australia, where it’s had a big impact on a lot of people. Including the ABC’s very own hip-hop star Rulla Kelly-Mansell.
RULLA KELLY-MANSELL, HIP-HOP ARTIST: Being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in this country, when I first heard hip-hop, I found a lot of correlation to what was happening here, or the feeling of what it was to be misunderstood because of your ethnicity, or your family background or your colour of your skin. The people that have inspired me, I’m connected to them by their authenticity — to the way they say what they’re saying, and why they say what they’re saying.
JOSH: Why do you think that hip hop has been so impactful for youth — like kids and teenagers?
RULLA: You’re learning words, you know? You’re learning how to articulate. You’re learning sounds. You’re learning different genres of sounds to mix in. A lot of hip hop sound is a blend of different genres. So, you’re getting inspirations from a lot of jazz and soul and rock, and all these beautiful pockets of music.
Of course, today, hip-hop is everywhere. And it’s kinda hard to imagine a world without it. But those who were there at the beginning say it’s changed the world for the better.
MARK NAISON, HISTORY PROFESSOR: Nobody involved in Bronx hip-hop made big money. But they saved lives. They gave lives meaning.
Closer
Well, that’s all we have for today, but we’ll be back before you know it, and if you miss us in the meantime, you can always check in with BTN Newsbreak right here in the studio every weekday or head to our website for BTN High stories. Have a great week and I’ll see you soon. Bye!