Trump's veneers are brighter than my hope for the future
Cheek's recap on the week that was.
Hello! It’s Hannah here with your newsletter intro this week. Kalila is on a well-deserved couple of days away without reception. There’s nothing that screams “I love my new job!!!” like going to a location where you are completely unreachable and entering a forced news detox for five days. Good for her. We stand with you Kalila (and see you next Tuesday).
I don’t know where to start. Trump’s 57-minute diatribe where he told the United Nations General Assembly that “your countries are going to hell”? The war on women’s pain, with the Trump administration linking paracetamol taken by pregnant women to autism (going against medical guidelines)? The Murdoch’s potential involvement in the US Tik Tok deal? There are no words to describe what we are facing right now. I haven’t even mentioned the rapture or the pyrotechnics at Kirk’s memorial. This was all before Wednesday. Who knew in 2025 I’d find myself advocating for the men of late night television in the United States. A real whirlwind, imagine explaining this paragraph to yourself a year ago.
So instead, the person I want to mention is Antoinette Lattouf. On Wednesday, the Federal Court ordered the ABC to pay Lattouf an additional $150,000 for breaches of the Fair Work Act and the public broadcaster’s enterprise agreement. This follows the judgment from earlier this year, which found Lattouf was unlawfully terminated for sharing a Human Rights Watch post in December of 2023 which accurately stated that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
While headlines trail our Prime Minister who grins with a fascist and delivers sincere words to the UN General Assembly, I don’t see behaviour which reflects the values he preaches. I see a man who had potential for genuine progress, and who let us down when our nation renewed our commitment to his promise of decency and action. In this flurry of headlines and mediocrity, it is Antoinette Lattouf I want to narrow in on. A woman who represents the values of a nation I want to live in. One where stating facts and calling for tangible change, no matter how uncomfortable or personally risky, is our moral compulsion. A journalist who stared down a broadcaster who succumbed to the lobbying of a powerful group, and earnestly asked them to improve. Her fight for justice is an inspiration in dark times. We are overwhelmed by information at the moment, most of it lies or unintelligible. Let’s hold these stories of admiration and justice close.
Oh, and just a small side note not a major detour whatsoever: marine science researchers have captured leopard sharks having a threesome for the first time off the coast of New Caledonia.
The Guardian’s piece was my favourite:
The menage a trois was “over in minutes” – 110 seconds to be precise. The first male took 63 seconds. The second was done in 47 seconds.
“Then the males lost all their energy and lay immobile on the bottom while the female swam away actively,” Lassauce said.
Right now, I’ll seemingly read anything that isn’t about a man with Supreme Cheese Dorito dust applied to his face. I’m going to touch grass this weekend!
A big I Love You! to every paid subscriber, you make this dream real.
Hannah Ferguson, founder of Cheek Media Co
