Here’s something you may not know about The Daily Aus - it started with a post from Sam, then 22, who asked the literal world if anyone wanted to start a news page on Instagram with him. One person replied - Zara, then 20. A few days later, they met up for a coffee - and The Daily Aus was born.

Fast-forward six years, and our little news page baby has grown up - it learned how to crawl on Instagram, took its first steps as a podcast, joined the big kids in newsletter-land, and is discovering its groove on TikTok. In our minds, TDA is now a moody 13-year-old - on the cusp of growing up, but still learning every day.

And now, just like a 13-year-old stumbling around in Year 7, we’ve completed our first big assignment we once thought totally impossible. But, finally, it’s here - and we’d love you to read it. We couldn’t be prouder that our first book is coming out this week - everyone remembers their first time!

Our intention for No Silly Questions is for it to be the world’s best cheat sheet for understanding how the world works. Think of it like a friend in your pocket that you can whip out to explain all the big concepts in life, but in a way that makes sense to you.

This book would have been impossible to write if it wasn’t for the TDA team. Sometimes people think TDA is two people at home on their phones - other times people think we’re a 70-person team with a dedicated caption writer. While we’re somewhere in between, we’re absolutely nothing without our incredible colleagues. Our editor Billi FitzSimons, journalist Tom Crowley and fact-checker Lucy Tassell all helped us with this book, and it simply would not exist without them.

Finally, thank you to everyone who has already bought the book (it was pretty wild to see it hit #1 on the bestseller list last week!). By purchasing the book, you’re showing us you support what we’re doing, and back us being here for years to come.

We wanted to give you a small taste of the book, so we’ve included a little excerpt from our politics chapter. If you want to see how the chapter plays out, you can order here.

For now, make yourself a cup of tea, find yourself a sunny spot, and let’s dive into all your politics questions – even the ones you might think are silly.

“We’re kicking off with politics. There are lots of good reasons to care about politics. The decisions made by politicians have enormous implications for our quality of life today. They also shape the world of tomorrow.

And just as it’s your quality of life on the line, it’s also your money. If you earn money in Australia and therefore pay tax, your tax dollars pay for the policies announced in Canberra – not to mention the salary of the politicians announcing them.

But, for us, the biggest reason you should care about politics can be summed up in one word: privilege.

It is a privilege to live in a country that has free, democratic elections. It is a privilege to feel safe when voting. It is a privilege to have access to independent media reporting on politics. There are millions of people around the world who don’t have this privilege, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Politics can be tricky to follow. It’s fast-paced, and political reporting often relies on the reader having a lot of assumed knowledge. That is exactly what we want to avoid. We’re here to demystify politics for you, so that next time you’re reading news about a leadership spill, a ministerial appointment, or a new policy, you’ll understand the full picture.

That’s vital when you think about who our politicians and political processes are created to serve: you. Politicians are elected to represent the interests of all Australians, every single day. Following politics is how you can try to ensure they do that job well.

Our hope with this chapter is that if you’ve said things in the past like ‘Politics doesn’t matter to me’ or ‘It makes no difference to my life what politicians do,’ you’ll realise the opposite is in fact true. Politics touches all of us, and the more you know, the more power you have.”

Want to read more? You can pre-order our book here.

We’re so excited to be hosting some events around Sydney to mark the launch of our book. Below is a list of the events. We hope you can make one - we’d love to meet you!

Where: Ryde Library
Date: 6 September
Register here.

Where: UNSW (with special guest Clare Stephens)
Date: 7 September
This event is sold out 🥺

Where: Gertrude and Alice
Date: 11 September
Register here (and you’ll receive a book with your ticket!)