The 9pm Half-time Bingo Card Update 2026 with Snarky Platypus

Photograph of an old-fashioned bingo card from Milton Bradley Company against a background of wooden bingo stamps stained with red ink, and in the top right corner an inset showing a platypus.
Main image by Rudonni via Pixabay. Foreground bingo card originally by Milton Bradley Company, photo by Abby Hendrickson under under a CC-BY 2.0 Generic license. Platypus inset photo by Taronga Conservation Society Australia / Chris Wheeler. Digital composition by Stilgherrian.

Back at the start of the year, my good friend Snarky Platypus and I created a bingo card for 2026. A set of 25 things that might happen. Well, we’re half-way through the year, so let’s see how we went.

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The 9pm Not Quite All of the Trains with David Feng

A Chinese man in short-sleeved shirt stands on a railways station platform on a bright sunny day. Behind him stands a very shiny modern train in white, blue, red, and grey livery, with a legend in Lao script.
David Feng stands in front of a high-speed train of the LaosChina Railway in 2023. (Photo: Supplied)

I like trains. Do you like trains? I hope so, because today we’re talking about trains. There’s a strong focus on China and on high-speed trains, and our guest on the internet from Beijing is Chinese-Swiss international rail visionary, it says on his YouTube channel, David Feng.

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The 9pm Hometown Visit to Gawler

Looking across the street at two classic Victorian-era civic buildings. On the left is a two-storey stone building, three windows wide, with a portico at the front finished in white plaster. Across the top it reads INSTITUTE and on the facade there’s the text “In Memoriam 1914 - 1918”. On the right is a shorter but similar building, with a terrace on top of its portico, and a row of four flagpoles. The flags are limp because there’s no wind, and they can’t be recognised. On the top of the facade is a set of arms (featuring a hawk, wheat, and lion, but drawn incorrectly), and the words TOWN HALL. In between them is a hint of modern architecture, namely the glass entry to a new building behind these two. The sky is bright blue with a few fluffy clouds.
The Gawler Institute building (1871) and the Gawler Town Hall (1878), photographed on 29 June 2025. On the town hall the arms are drawn incorrectly (PDF). (Photo: Stilgherrian)

Today’s episode is a bit different. It’s more personal. I, Stilgherrian, was born in Gawler, South Australia, and lived there from ages 11 to about 17. Last year I visited the town with my good friend Snarky Platypus, and he asked me some pertinent questions.

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The 9pm Rockets are Always Blowing Up with Dr Alice Gorman and Rami Mandow

Left: Dr Alice Gorman. (Photo: Simon Royal/ABC) Right: Rami Mandow. (Photo: Supplied; Post-processing: Stilgherrian). Not the best ALT text, I know, but yeah a white women and a man "of Middle-Eastern appearance".
Left: Dr Alice Gorman. (Photo: Simon Royal/ABC) Right: Rami Mandow. (Photo: Supplied; Post-processing: Stilgherrian)

Is Pluto a planet? Currently, officially, no. But the Trump-appointed head of NASA wants to reinstate Pluto’s planetary privileges. Why? Let’s find out with space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk and astrophysicist Rami Mandow.

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The 9pm Shootout at the OK Philippines with Erin Cook

A white woman with her long brown hair tied back wears a yellow and black top, sunglasses, and a smile like the Mona Lisa. Behind her stretches out a view of a tropical landscape and, eventually, the ocean. It's Erin Cook!
Erin Cook stands tall over South-East Asia. (Photo: Supplied).

Have you seen what’s going on in the Philippines? They’re trying to impeach the vice-president — again — and there was even a shootout in the senate building. It’s time to chat with journalist Erin Cook, who specialises in South-East Asia. And as always we talk about a lot of different things.

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