Should we ban private ownership of social media companies? Plus a whole lot of op-eds

Cheek's recap on the week that was.

Hello and good morning,

You might have noticed it’s been a busy week of publishing from us, with six contributors op-eds out since our last newsletter. From the South Australian election to ‘Harmony Day’, to the evolving horror of the US-Israeli war on Iran and Lebanon, there’s been a lot happening.

It’s definitely more than our usual cadence, but I promise they’re worthwhile reads if you haven’t checked them out already.

Here at Cheek HQ (currently my spare room), it’s coming to the end of the third and final week of Hannah and my long-distance stint, meaning we will be back to business as usual in the office from next week. It means we’ll be back to two hands on deck, in a single time zone, so there will be plenty of good things to look forward to on the content front!

In preparation for her big return, Hannah has taken on this week’s Decoding the Discourse to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the Oxford Union debating experience, and how and why she decided to oppose the motion to end private ownership of social media.

In more fun news, we have a (very generous!!) discount to offer subscribers who are keen to attend the FIRST EVER Big Small Talk podcast live show in Sydney on 29 March, as part of the incredible Dome Fest lineup. If you haven’t already heard about the event, it’s basically Australia’s first ever podcast festival, and it was created by two brilliant young women (including Soph, who helps a lot behind the scenes at Cheek!) If you buy a ticket through this link you will get 50% off, which makes it a very accessible price point ($70.90) for a ticket that gets you into a day of live shows from BST, Abbie Chatfield, Psychology of Your 20s and seven other podcasts. It’s at the Hordern Pavilion, is hosted by the hilarious and beautiful Milo Hartill, and will feature plenty of moments for connection, food, drink and fun!!!

The final note I will leave you with is to keep an eye out for our Sunday op-ed, which will feature a powerful reflection from Ethan Floyd - a very cool and impressive young Australian student and activist who will be joining the Global Sumud Flotilla’s maritime mission to Gaza next month.

And that is all from me this week!

Kalila Welch, editor of Cheek Media Co.