Top of the weekend to you all. Ever thought you were living a full and productive life, only to learn the person you were named after landed an army helicopter on Johnny Cash’s front lawn to deliver him a demo tape?
I guess having more modest aspirations is also OK. Become a foster carer. Own a magnificent cat. Or maybe just read more – the five pieces below will get you started.
1. ‘It is a big, abstract, wicked problem’
Tim Winton’s latest novel imagines how future generations living in a climate-ravaged Australia would react if they knew global heating was the result of choices made by their ancestors. It’s heavyweight subject-matter, and Winton knows it.
“My American publishers won’t publish it,” he says. “I’d hate to think it was because they were too afraid.” The Australian novelist confesses to Sian Cain that readers are getting the “toned-down” version of Juice. Why did he strip back some of the grief and rage? “I guess, in the end, you want people to read it.”
Solving the climate crisis: “We won’t be saved by our scientific genius,” Winton reckons. “The only thing that’s likely to save us as a species is solidarity.”
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
Further reading: Winton writes for the Guardian: “Our leaders are collaborators with fossil fuel colonialists. This is the source of our communal dread.”
2. Britain’s richest woman – and the damage done
Fancy a flutter? Chances are you’re about to lose, and Bet365 mastermind Denise Coates may be the beneficiary. Britain’s richest woman is possibly one of its most astute – she took her family’s betting business entirely online in 2005, two years before the iPhone “put a casino in everyone’s pockets”, as Rob Davies writes.
Coates now owns her local football club, Stoke City FC, and has built a sparkling 2,400-seat office in her home town. It’s just down the road from the West Midlands Gambling Harms Clinic, where experts sift through the human wreckage left behind by companies like hers.
Those insidious ads: Says Sammy, a recovering gambling addict who is bombarded by gambling adverts online: “You think you can get away from it, but it’s everywhere.”
How long will it take to read: Eleven minutes.
3. Adrian Chiles: a colossus among columnists
There are columnists who write about every mundane aspect of their lives. And then there is the Guardian’s Adrian Chiles, whose headlines alone are mini-masterpieces – “I have a urinal in my flat and it has changed my life – so why are people appalled?” among them.
It’s not all bizarre dispatches from the bathroom, though. As Chiles shares in a column marking the release of a book collecting his greatest hits, writing helped him cope with the recent loss of his father. He reveals the text message from an old family friend that reframed the experience for him.
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“I think every day about how I could have done it better. My only consolation is that I went on to write about this and people from all over the world got in touch to express their gratitude.” – Adrian Chiles on watching his dad die
How long will it take to read: Four minutes.
4. The twins who met after being separated at birth
The US psychology professor Nancy L Segal is writing her 10th book on twins, and reckons she’s come across at least 100 pairs who were reared apart after being given up for adoption. One interesting finding from her research: “Identical twins raised apart are as similar as identical twins raised together.”
Isabelle Aron asks five sets of twins to share how they met their other half: from hiring PIs after midlife revelations to being inadvertently tagged on Facebook. Some of them even complete each other’s sentences.
When Tim met Bill: The twins pictured above met through a bizarre set of coincidences that led them both to a high school football game, aged 15. As well as their appearance and mannerisms, they shared the same favourite baseball player.
How long will it take to read: Seven minutes.
5. Amyl and the Sniffers take on the world
If you thought punk was dead after tickets to Green Day’s Australian tour were selling for up to $500, think again. Melbourne’s Amyl and the Sniffers are keeping the original spirit alive, using their platform to champion the Palestinian cause and advocate for safe spaces.
Also: they rock. And Amy Taylor is one of the great modern frontwomen, as bandmate Declan Mehrtens freely declares: “We’re a vessel for her message.”
Content warning: C-bombs abound in an interview dominated by Taylor – and be prepared to learn what a “squirter” is.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
Further reading: Forty-one era-defining music photos, from Elton John at LA’s Dodger Stadium to Madonna snogging Britney.
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