Last Sunday, I talked about the similarity between a quirky US midterms story and an episode of US drama series The West Wing. And on Friday morning, those of us at Squiz HQ were glued to Aussie Test captain Pat Cummins’ 70-minute press conference about the Sandpapergate scandal, where he promised to answer every journalist’s question until they ran out of gas. Which, strangely enough, is the exact same tactic Republican presidential candidate Arnold Vinick used in a Season 7 episode. I’m not promising a West Wing analogy for this part of the newsletter every week, but it’s weird that it happened twice…
5 things to clock this week…
War. War never changes
1. Trump, Xi and Putin catch up
The first-ever 3-way meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place on the sidelines of this year’s edition of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). PM Anthony Albanese will be one of the 20 or so leaders in attendance at the summit, but it’s the discussion these 3 are having that’s likely to create most of the headlines.
Key thing to know: The White House says Trump’s main focus for the meeting will be reducing nuclear arsenals. The context for this is that the last nuclear arms pact between the US and Russia (New START) expired in February. But Trump wants China to get on board - and going by its public statements so far, it’s not that keen.
Key event this week - Thursday, 19 November: That’s when the 3 are set to meet on Xi’s home turf of Shenzhen, China - the White House says they’ll also discuss the war in Iran, but not the war in Ukraine. Analysts say this meeting is set to be more symbolic than substantive, so keep your eye out for the mother of all photo ops…
Stay awhile and listen
2. The Victorian leaders’ debate
With less than 2 weeks to go until the Victorian election, the 4 key leaders will meet in their first and so far only debate of the campaign. This comes as more polls suggest a Coalition-led government is likely, with the size and nature of One Nation’s role in that government still an open question…
Key thing to know: Traditionally, most Victorian campaigns have been a fairly clear 2-way race between Labor and the Coalition. But this is a genuine 4-way contest, with the Coalition polling around 32%, One Nation at 23%, Labor at 21% and the Greens around 14% on first preferences, according to the latest Lighthouse poll.
Key event this week - Tuesday, 17 November: The debate happens at 7.30pm Victorian time on News24 (née Sky News) and is co-hosted by the Herald Sun. The day after, early voting opens - so if you’re busy on election day (28 November), now’s the time to get ahead of the game…
The numbers, Mason! What do they mean?
3. Nvidia enters a new era
After the global chipmaker’s former CEO Jensen Huang resigned last week, the company has a fairly high-profile quarterly results report and earnings call this week. It’s a chance for the new interim leadership to speak to investors about the company’s future, as well as a sense-check on the whole AI industry, given Nvidia supplies most of the chips that power it.
Key thing to know: As we talked about a bunch on Squiz Today, Huang quit after admitting to having an affair - reportedly with a woman US intelligence suspected of being a Chinese spy. Since the admission, Nvidia has lost about $700 billion in value - that’s nearly twice the annual GDP of New Zealand - and CFO Colette Kress is now running the show, for the time being.
Key event this week - Wednesday, 18 November: The results should come through between 8am-9am on Wednesday, and analysts are expecting them to be huge, with predictions that revenue could jump about 90% to $158 billion. Investors will also be listening closely to any news about who might be taking over the CEO position for good.
For those who come after
4. Will it be a fair COP?
The United Nations climate summit will come to an end in Antalya, Türkiye this week, which means we’re at the pointy end of negotiations. As President of Negotiations, it’s up to Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen to get the nearly 200 countries in attendance to agree on something.
Key thing to know: One of the major topics for this summit is electrification - aka getting things like cars, heaters and furnaces to run on electricity rather than fossil fuels. But big fossil fuel producers and oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia are resisting the move away from fossil fuels. So the question for this week will be how tied to reducing fossil fuel use any agreed increase in electrification actually is.
Key event this week - Friday, 20 November: That’s the final day of negotiations, though it’s worth noting that the last COP went around a day over time before anything was agreed to. Bowen says he’s expecting a draft of the final agreement earlier in the week, though - so we may have some idea of the direction things are going before Friday.
Kept you waiting, huh?
5. Grand Theft Auto VI is released
This is likely to dominate the end of the week, if not the whole 7 days. Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world, and the latest game in the crime drama series, which comes 13 years after GTA V, reportedly cost billions to produce and is expected to be one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.
Key thing to know: Grand Theft Auto is such a big deal because each game in the series feels like it broke new ground - GTA III offered a revolutionary 3D playing experience, GTA IV felt immersive and more mature, and GTA V is simply one of the biggest games ever, partly due to its (still-going) online mode. The combination of the franchise’s history, inherent controversy (your character is a criminal) and long, long wait has made this a blockbuster.
Key event this week - Thursday, 19 November: That’s when the latest game is available via online stores, as soon as the clock ticks past midnight. You won’t be able to buy a physical disc - it’s a digital-only product (even if you buy it in-store, you’ll just get a download code). Nonetheless, analysts expect it to make back its budget in the first week alone…
Claude, AI for scientific discovery
Researchers at Australia's Garvan Institute are partnering with Claude to do what wasn't possible before: analyse genomic data at massive scale to understand how our genes cause rare diseases, and accelerate treatments to cure them. When science and AI come together, the future of human health gets a little brighter. Try Claude here.
Pop Culture Pointers
Watching: The 40th edition of the ARIA Awards takes place on Wednesday, 18 November, and will be broadcast on Network 10 and Paramount+. Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald from The Cheap Seats are hosting, Ecca Vandal is performing, and Tame Impala and Genesis Owusu lead the nominations with 8 apiece. Despite the TikTok-driven success of Tame Impala’s Dracula, these awards come along amid a series of articles on how Aussie music is struggling at the moment - so hopefully they can give some locals a bit of a nudge up the charts…
Watching: It speaks to the longevity and appeal of the Hunger Games franchise that this series about dystopian child murder tournaments is still a major popcorn movie event. The new prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, hits Aussie cinemas on Thursday, 19 November and stars Aussie Joseph Zada as a young Haymitch Abernathy, the mentor figure played in the original series of movies by Woody Harrelson. It’s a very consistently well-reviewed series, and early reactions to this one have been no different.
For your calendar…
Monday, 16 November
12.45pm - 17th Annual Governors Awards - Los Angeles
11.45pm - Grammy Award nominations released
Senate sitting in Federal Parliament
49th ASEAN Summit begins, PM Anthony Albanese will be in attendance (until 18 November) - Manila
The 2026 Australian Institute of International Affairs National Conference - the theme is 'Whiplash! Disruption as the New Normal in International Affairs', Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles will be the keynote speaker at the gala - Canberra
Tuesday, 17 November
9.00am - ASIC annual forum begins. Speakers include ASIC Chair Sarah Court, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, RBA Governor Michele Bullock, ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Productivity Commission Chair Danielle Wood, CBA Chair Paul O’Malley and Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson (until 18 November) - Sydney
9.30am - Charge certification for the former EY grads accused of illegally accessing PM Anthony Albanese's bank details while on secondment to CBA - Sydney
11.00am - Administrators McGrathNicol will hold the first meeting of David Jones creditors
5.00pm - Applications close for AI company Anthropic’s initial share offering
7.30pm - People's Forum leaders' debate ahead of the Victorian state election, featuring Premier Ben Carroll, Victorian Coalition leader Jess Wilson, Victorian One Nation leader Warren Pickering and Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell - Melbourne, watch on News24
RBA to release minutes of the November 2026 Monetary Policy Board Meeting
ABS data release: livestock products, September 2026
Wednesday, 18 November
3.00am - Football: Men's International friendly between Jordan and Australia - Amman, Jordan, watch on Paramount+
9.00am - CBA AI Conference with speakers including CEO Matt Comyn and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella - Sydney
10.00am - Medibank Private AGM - Melbourne
12.30pm - Ben Vasiliou, Dr Zac Seidler and Josh van Cuylenburg will address the National Press Club on 'Beyond the Rhetoric: Reimagining Masculinity in Modern Australia' - Canberra
2.30pm - Cricket: Third Men's ODI Australia v England - Hobart, watch on Kayo
4.00pm - The National Foundation of Australian Women to host Feminist Answers Cocktail Evening, with Minister for Women Katy Gallagher speaking - Canberra
7.00pm - The 2026 ARIA Awards, celebrating Australian music - Sydney, watch on 10Play
Early voting opens in the Victorian election
A report is due from the Senate inquiry into the grants scheme haunting the federal government
APEC Summit. A meeting is expected between US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. PM Anthony Albanese will be in attendance (until 19 November) - Shenzhen, China
ABS data release: Australian national accounts: state accounts, 2025-2026 financial year; wage price index, September 2026
Thursday, 19 November
12.00pm - The National Book Awards will be announced across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people's literature. The National Book Awards are a premier US literary award with each winner receiving $15,400 - New York City
12.00pm - CMA Awards - Nashville, watch on Stan
7.00pm - Aussie rules: AFL draft (until 20 November) - Melbourne
Grand Theft Auto VI will be released
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping hits Aussie cinemas
RBA payments system board meeting
ABS data release: labour force, October 2026
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day
International Men’s Day
Friday, 20 November
3.00am - Football: Under 17s Men's World Cup Australian Joeys v Argentina - Al Rayyan, Qatar
11.00am - Virgin Australia AGM - Brisbane
11.00am - Data centre builder and operator NextDC AGM - Sydney
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Final day of COP31
Saturday, 21 November
7.15pm - Cricket: First Men's T20 International Australia v England - Melbourne, watch on Kayo
Insurance documents for the Titanic set to auction
Bicheno Food and Wine Festival
Schoolies weeks kick off (until 5 December) - Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Airlie Beach, Noosa, Lorne, Rye, Dunsborough, Bali, Fiji
Sunday, 22 November
7.10am - Rugby Union: Nations Championship Round 6 Wales v Australia - Cardiff, watch on Stan Sport
3.00pm - Motorsports: Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas, watch on Kayo
*Times in AEDT
And one final fun fact…
Each week, I'll pry a loose piece of random knowledge from the cacophony of fact that is my brain, and you can have it for free. Bore Impress your friends, bamboozle your enemies…
Well done if you spotted that our blue kicker headlines this week were all famous video game quotes (from Fallout, Diablo, Call of Duty, Clair Obscur and Metal Gear Solid, for those playing along at home). Which leads me to one of my favourite gaming fun facts - in 1982, Atari made a game so bad it contributed to an industry-wide crash. A game version of the hit film E.T. was a complete mess - so much so that Atari buried a bunch of copies in the desert. There they stayed until 2014, when an excavation found the gaming tomb. And where did Atari choose to bury these games about a famous alien? A couple of hours’ drive from Roswell, New Mexico…
