Dear readers, it’s been quite a week on the Gout Gout hype train but we now have to jump off and find another distraction from, well, everything else. I’ll be doing so via the greatest game of all. If footy’s not your thing, there’s about 40 minutes of great journalism below.
1. Trapped in a mutual psychosis
Joelle Fraser’s mother fell mysteriously il after 15 years living in a remote cabin (pictured top) with her husband. Fraser suspected it was a cry for help and nothing was wrong with her physical health, so insisted she see a psychologist once the hospital had discharged her.
When her mother received a diagnosis she dubbed “dramatic”, Fraser consulted Dr Google. She found herself “sucked into a twilight world of deadly codependency” that can lead to insanity, suicide and murder.
How not to fake illness: During the US civil war, one soldier tried to be relieved of duties by stuffing the heart of a turkey in his rectum to resemble piles.
How long will it take to read: Six minutes.
2. The history of The Rest Is History
Not many history teachers are recognised by strangers, but not many tackle their subject matter the way Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook do. The pair’s podcast, The Rest Is History, is the most popular of its kind, tackling everything from the second world war to, umm, history’s greatest monkeys.
The secret of their success, according to Sandbrook: “We try to put the drama back in as much as possible.”
How successful? The Rest Is History is downloaded 15m times a month, with more than half their audience under 35.
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
Further reading: Assuming Holland and Sandbrook won’t be delving into the very brief 00s electroclash era any time soon, Alexis Petridis has you covered.
3. Reality TV: just don’t do it
So it turns out signing up for a reality TV show called Couples Therapy can actually be detrimental to your marriage. Just ask Boris Fishman, who appeared on the fourth and latest season. He and his wife liked the idea of saving their marriage without shelling out for counselling. Then the show aired, and viewers were unanimous – Boris may have been “the worst man in America”.
“Whether it’s the therapy or the editing, the treatment itself is so one-sided, so focused on my problems and behaviour, that many online commenters can’t recall Jessica’s name.” – Boris Fishman
How long will it take to read: Nine minutes.
4. Hollywood’s biggest troublemaker
As the lurch of Trump’s America towards authoritarianism becomes a sprint, it’s easy to see why James Cromwell is so disillusioned. But he reckons the US president is just “the frontman” of an amoral system designed to benefit oligarchs and grind down the working class – and the planet.
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The activist-actor walks David Smith through his time as an agitator, from his first arrest for protesting in 1971 to the time he glued his hand to a Starbucks counter. Amazing tales from the sets of Babe, LA Confidential and Succession also abound.
Investing in his future: Cromwell shelled out $60,000 to campaign for an Oscar for best supporting actor in Babe. He got the nomination, and the scripts started to roll in.
How long will it take to read: Seven minutes.
Further reading: Cromwell spoke to the Guardian earlier this year about how making Babe turned him vegan.
5. The AI scientist who took a one-way trip from US to China
The Chinese-born, longtime US-based scientist Song-Chun Zhu headed one of the most prolific artificial intelligence research centres in the world. Until 2020, when he suddenly left California to become a leading player in China’s AI program.
Beijing trumpeted the return of a true patriot. Zhu argues his motives were more intellectual than geopolitical. Chang Che meets the professor whose relationship with the so-called “godfathers of AI” is complicated – and who thinks the ideas driving the US approach to AI are built on sand.
Exam time flex: In one hour-long exam, Zhu left one answer blank on the grounds it was too easy. He answered every other question perfectly.
How long will it take to read: Seventeen minutes.
Further reading: To understand how AI will reconfigure humanity, try this German fairytale.
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