Happy morning tea, congratulations on making it halfway through the working week for those who’ve just returned from holidays, and welcome to Five Great Reads, a summertime seance of saucy stories and gorgeous writing, channelled by me, Alyx Gorman, Guardian Australia’s lifestyle editor.
If you’re after breaking news instead, we have a live blog for that. And if you just want something weird and wonderful, here are some Swedish crows that have been trained to pick up cigarette butts. Now, on to the reads.
1. The life of a psychic scammer
From stealing jewellery to make it reappear, to riffling through a grieving mother’s possessions to better impersonate her dead son, M Lamar Keene’s cons are shocking. Then, in 1976, he gave it away in a tell-all book.
What happened next? A rival spiritualist tried to assassinate him. “Someone took a shot at him on his lawn but missed,” writes Hollie Richardson, “leaving a bullet in the side of his house.”
Notable quote: “People wanting to communicate with the dead is timeless,” says Vicky Baker, who has made a podcast series about Keene’s life. “Today, some psychics refer to themselves as ‘intuitive healers’, which is much more compatible with the wellness industry.” Baker namechecks Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian and Drew Barrymore as fans of psychic’s services. “Nowadays, it’s a wellness treat – rather than a dark secret in a dodgy alleyway shop.”
How long will it take me to read? Three minutes.
2. Road trip down a disappearing highway
Environment writer Megan Mayhew Bergman grew up around North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Now, frequent storms and erosion have forced the area into constant flux, with bulldozers working year-round to repair what nature has done. She drove the 238km length of its arterial road to witness the change for herself.
Notable quote: “A ferry employee asked me what I was doing,” Mayhew writes. “I shared that I was an environmental journalist. He pulled me inside the ferry to show me a picture of an island that had disappeared under the rising seas. ‘I believe in climate change,’ he told me, quietly, as if he was afraid someone might overhear him. ‘But I’m an ugly American. I don’t like to be told what to do. Ask me nicely to wear a mask or recycle. Then I’ll do just about anything for you.’”
How long will it take me to read? Four minutes.
3. Which meals require the least washing up?
From soups to tray bakes, chefs and food writers share their strategies for delicious, low cleanup meals.
Where do I begin? Chef Roberta Hall-McCannon suggests starting with a decent stock or broth, then throwing in whatever takes your fancy. “Not only are you getting all the flavour from the broth going into everything you put in the pot, you’ve also got only one pot to wash up afterwards.”
How long will it take me to read? Only a minute.
4. Leaving the arts
The pandemic has devastated creative industries, though its distribution of harm has been far from even. Here, Andrew Dickson meets creative professionals who’ve opted out or changed career path, including an American puppeteer who moved to Australia for work and wound up learning to code.
Notable quote: Vivienne Clavering spent decades as a production manager, then retrained as a teacher during the pandemic, and is now on the job. “Sure, it’s intense,” she says. “You’re there 7am until 5pm, and of course there’s lesson planning and the rest. But, honestly, it doesn’t compare to what I was doing in opera ... One video designer I worked with used to call me constantly from 7am to midnight, for a full year. However hard teaching gets, no parent is going to have my phone number.”
She adds: “And if you’ve handled an opera director, you can handle a five-year-old.”
How long will it take me to read? Six minutes.
5. Bad fences make good frenemies
Ashe Davenport and her neighbour are separated by nothing but a nose-height fence. Strenuously avoiding eye contact over their respective kitchen sinks, they’ve had rising tensions, and a sort-of truce.
Notable quote: “My neighbour heard every babble and demonic scream from my place, and I heard every exasperated conversation from theirs,” Davenport writes. “Once they imitated my two-year-old’s tantrum after a particularly harrowing afternoon during lockdown.”
How long will it take me to read? Two minutes.
