☕️ The happiest countries in the world are...

Happy Friday.

Start your engines! ‘Formula 1’ Australian Grand Prix returns to Melbourne this weekend.

Organisers are hoping to break last year’s record crowd of 445,000 attendees, to make it the biggest sporting event in Melbourne’s history.

Practice starts today, with the final race on Sunday.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“There is, of course, no grief without love. Sorrow may soften with the passage of the years, but love does not. All that Jack meant, and all that he was, will endure always.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the death of Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, son of former MP Joel Fitzgibbon, in a military training accident earlier this month.

Stat of the day

1.8 million
The number of Australians who experienced credit or debit card fraud in 2022/23, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Today in history

1963
The Beatles released their first album “Please Please Me”.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• Australia’s population increased by 2.5% in 2023, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This brought Australia’s total population to 26.8 million people in the country in September 2023. Temporary workers and international students made up the majority of migrant growth, the ABS said.

• The Prime Minister of Ireland has resigned after seven years as leader. Leo Varadkar became the country’s youngest-ever leader, when he was elected as a 38-year-old in 2017. He was also Ireland’s first gay prime minister, and the country’s first South Asian leader. Varadkar announced he was stepping down after a failed referendum, which proposed updating language in the Irish Constitution about families and the role of women. In his resignation speech, Varadkar said: “I don’t feel I’m the best person for the job anymore.”

I’ve got 1 minute

Australia is the 10th happiest country in the world.

Here are the top three happiest countries, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report:

1. Finland

2. Denmark

3. Iceland

Australia

Australia ranked number 10. This is up two places from Australia’s ranking as the world’s 12th happiest country in last year’s report.

U.S.

The U.S. ranked 23, dropping eight places this year. It’s the first time the U.S. has not ranked in the World Happiness Report’s top 20.

The U.S.’ worst-ever ranking was attributed to “a large drop in the wellbeing of Americans under 30”.

Method

The report is based on responses from people in more than 140 nations. It includes data from Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN, and global surveys by polling company Gallup.

It uses six objective and subjective indicators to measure happiness:

1. GDP per capita

2. Social support

3. Healthy life expectancy

4. Generosity

5. Freedom

6. Perceptions of corruption

The responses are then averaged out over a three year period.

2024 findings

Finland ranked at the top of the list for the seventh consecutive year.

The biggest happiness increases were in Serbia, which has jumped up 69 places since 2013, and Bulgaria, which has moved up 63 spots.

The report also includes findings from different generations. Lithuania is the world’s happiest country for under 30-year-olds.

I’ve got 2 minutes

CW: Sexual assault

A former Nickelodeon producer has apologised for his on-set behaviour

Former children's television producer Dan Schneider has issued a public apology for what he called “embarrassing” on-set behaviour.

Schneider was the man behind hit Nickelodeon shows including ‘iCarly’ and ‘The Amanda Show’.

He was accused of inappropriate conduct in a recent U.S. documentary series called ‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’.

The doco accused Schneider of sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment, and behaving inappropriately around child actors.

Dan Schneider

Dan Schneider launched his production company Schneider’s Bakery in 1996. It went on to develop some of the Nickelodeon network’s most well-known programs.

Schneider was the key creative figure on shows like ‘Drake & Josh’, and ‘Zoey 101’. He’s also credited with helping to launch the career of Amanda Bynes after casting her in sketch show ‘All That’, and later creating ‘The Amanda Show’ for her in 1999.

Schneider also wrote the 2002 film ‘Big Fat Liar’.

Allegations

Schneider left Nickelodeon in 2018 after the network found he had verbally abused staff.

This week, new allegations against him aired on U.S. television. The four-part series ‘Quiet on Set’ alleged Schneider underpaid workers, fostered a “hostile” work environment and created a toxic culture that undermined women.

It also claimed child actors including Ariana Grande, who starred in ‘Victorious’ and ‘Sam & Cat’, were sexualised in Schneider’s shows.

Two writers – Jenny Kilgen and Christy Stratton – accused Schneider of making sexual jokes at work.

The women also claimed Schneider asked female staff to massage him and asked them to share one salary between them.

Kilgen sued the production company for gender discrimination and harassment, which settled out of court.

One former Nickelodeon staffer featured in the series alleged Schneider had an “odd” relationship with child star Amanda Bynes. They claimed Bynes was seen massaging Schneider’s neck when she was a teenager.

More allegations

‘Quiet on Set’ also detailed misconduct by other Nickelodeon staff during the 2000s.

This included voice actor Brian Peck, who was jailed in 2004 for sexually assaulting child actor Drake Bell, star of ‘Drake & Josh’. Brian Peck is not related to Bell’s co-star Josh Peck.

The same year Peck was sentenced, former Nickelodeon production assistant Jason Handy was convicted of child abuse and child pornography.

Response

Schneider shared a video on social media responding to the documentary.

He denied most of its claims, but admitted to “embarrassing” behaviours which he said he “regrets”.

Nickelodeon told s (U.S.) that it “investigates all formal complaints as part of [its] commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment”.

1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732

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Banksy is in the news this week after he unveiled his latest artwork in North London. You may have seen it – it was green paint sprayed on a wall behind a tree to give the appearance of leaves, with a person holding a sprayer next to it.

But what is perhaps most interesting about Banksy is that he has remained anonymous throughout his career. So how has he done it?

On today’s episode, we interview Professor Alison Young from the University of Melbourne who has researched graffiti and street art extensively to understand the world’s obsession with Banksy.

Give me some good news

Researchers from the University of Amsterdam say they’ve made a breakthrough step towards finding a cure for HIV.

The scientists have developed a way to rid infected cells of the virus entirely, using a type of Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing technology.

So far, these scientists have only tested the tech on cells in a lab, with animal trials next up.

TDA tidbit

Well.

In today’s ‘articles-that-should-be-satire-but-are-not’, a woman in California has brought a lawsuit against French luxury brand Hermès because she wasn’t able to buy a second one of its iconic Birkin bags.

Complainant Tina Cavalleri said she’d bought numerous pieces from Hermès, including one Birkin, but when she wanted to buy a second Birkin bag she was told only “clients who have been consistent in supporting our business” could buy one.

Cavalleri and her co-complainants argue Hermès’ business practice requiring shoppers to purchase other luxury items before they can get a coveted Birkin bag are unfair.

Maybe they should buy Kim Kardashian’s dirty Birkin instead?

TDA asks