Our Take: Will Katie Zacharia last? And wait, where’s South Australia?

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:09)

Is this thing on? Is this thing on?

Chris Spyrou (0:12)

Before we start, though, I have something that we have to put on.

Niall McCallum (0:16)

Are we recording?

Chris Spyrou (0:16)

Yeah, we're recording.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:17)

You need to actually mark that we're starting the recording.

Niall McCallum (0:21)

Yes, we do.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:21)

I think it's so fine.

Chris Spyrou (0:22)

So I brought us a gift.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:24)

Oh, God.

Chris Spyrou (0:25)

I made us a promise this week, didn't I? I made us a promise because I found something hanging out in the studio that we record our headlines in, and that little something is a Susan Lee wig.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:34)

It's not, okay, it's a Susan Lee rocker wig when she was in her rocker era.

Chris Spyrou (0:38)

Okay, so I'm taking my headphones off, I'm gonna put this wig on, and then I collected you this one from us. Look, I decided-

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:47)

I'm not putting this on.

Chris Spyrou (0:48)

It's been a big, put it as she puts it on.

Niall McCallum (0:50)

I don't know, I don't want to-

Chris Spyrou (0:51)

Do you want me to hold your headphones? I'll hold your headphones so you can put the wig on. Smells funny.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:57)

I'm annoyed.

Chris Spyrou (0:59)

I'll explain. So this is a rocker wig, it's a Tina Turner wig, it's very long, it's blonde. I'm gonna take a photo of it, we'll take a selfie, can we take that selfie now? And then we'll pop it in the broadcast channel. Can't even find the opening, it smells. The broadcast channel on Instagram. Hello Chris Spyrou with you! Hey, wigs are on, shoes are on, lights are off, we are here for Our Take, our Saturday offering, where we look back at the news week that was and what we and you listening made of it. Welcome LiSTNR. Hello.

We kick things off with a debrief, we talk about a story, whether it's a story that we got to in headlines or it's a story that we didn't get to in headlines or in deep dives this week. And this is one that we didn't get to in either. So we'll talk about that, that'll be fun. Then we get into our inbox, where we go through your DMs, your comments, your reactions to the stories that we ran.

Then we have the weekend quiz, which are still, we had, we've had one listener partake in the quiz thus far. Yeah, we want more. Listener Natalie, she did a great job.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (1:59)

She did.

Chris Spyrou (2:00)

And she got merch.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (2:01)

She did get merch.

Chris Spyrou (2:02)

Which arrived safe in Brisbane.

Niall McCallum (2:04)

Oh, excellent, I'm glad to hear that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris Spyrou (2:05)

Great photos, we got great photos with it.

And then we do, what's after that? The list.

Niall McCallum (2:12)

The weekend list.

Chris Spyrou (2:12)

Where we recommend what to watch, see, do, eat and listen to. But first, let's kick it off with this week's tea break. It's getting really itchy.

Niall McCallum (2:19)

Yeah, you're leaving that on now, you've committed to the bit.

Chris Spyrou (2:21)

And my body temperature is spiking. Okay, hold on, let me just flick it off my shoulder. Okay, Tessa, hit the sound.

Niall McCallum (2:31)

Good morning.

I am so honoured to work for President Trump and the American people as the new White House press secretary. I want to thank President Trump for his trust that he has placed in me.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (2:49)

Okay, so what you just heard. Good morning, everybody. You actually look a little bit like her with that beautiful hair.

Chris Spyrou (2:55)

I do, that's why I put the wig on.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (2:56)

That was Katie Zacharia. She is the new White House press secretary, having taken over from Carolyn Leavitt, who was in the role for just shy of two years. Feels like she was in it forever though. But yes, that was Zacharia's first appearance.

It's gone viral. If you haven't been across this story during the week, basically a lot of the discourse is around just how stilted and awkward it was. So we've picked out some of our favorite bits. Just to give a little bit of context actually before we go into that about this role. So this is a pretty important role. I mean, it is a very important role in the White House, in the presidential administration, whoever is president. And this person is the president's chief spokesperson. So in Australia, I think we have a little bit more access to our leader, the prime minister, whereas in America, it's not as free flowing. So basically the press secretary will get up and take questions from journalists specifically related to the president. It's an important role. They are supposed to know the president's every move, policies, they are with the president a lot. They are quite intrinsic to the administration of whoever is sitting in the Oval Office.