Top o’ the weekend to you all. Talk in the newsroom this week turned to what Easter means for Australians: worship for some, a weekend away for others, an excuse to rewatch the 1973 film adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar for a dedicated few.
It’s also a time to reset and reflect after a hectic first quarter. If small changes are what you’re looking for, this week’s final read may inspire. But not before we’ve intrigued and infuriated you first – and got any number of earworms stuck in your head.
In case you missed it, this week’s news was a lot. If you did, subscribe to our Morning Mail and Afternoon Update newsletters for weekday dispatches. When Imogen Dewey and I aren’t curating Five Great Reads, you’ll sometimes find us over there.
1. Alleged deep-cover Russian spies vanish
It’s a story as old as time. Boy meets girl in Brazil. Boy stops returning girl’s messages while on holiday in Malaysia. Girl eventually learns missing boyfriend is not a Brazilian of Austrian heritage but an alleged Russian “illegal” – a suspected deep-cover spy working for an elite intelligence programme, having been trained for years in Russia to be able to impersonate a foreigner.
Not only that, but he was allegedly secretly married to another illegal in Greece. And they’re just two of six such suspected spies to have been unmasked over the past year.
Why is this story unusual? The case of Gerhard Daniel Campos Wittich and Maria Tsalla (not their real names) is the first alleged example of two halves of an illegal couple working in separate countries with separate lives.
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
Further viewing: The Americans, a six-season drama following two Russian spies and their US-born children during the cold war – if only for the opening sequence, set to a mesmerising extended mix of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk.
2. Dutton finds his voice on the voice to parliament
After months of ducking and weaving around the Liberal party’s Indigenous voice stance, Peter Dutton on Wednesday came out swinging. There was fire, there was brimstone, there were echoes of Tony Abbott. Paul Karp was in the room with the opposition leader, noting his leadership style was now locked into the mould of the former prime minister: “a hardman who cannot find another register that even approximates national leadership”.
Notable quote: “There are many lessons from [the Aston byelection], which was not a referendum on the voice, but on this one policy area the fact it took just four days to distil a position in favour of a lurch to the right is a bad sign that none of them will be learned.”
How long will it take to read: Two minutes.
Further reading: Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam’s look at the real-world consequences of the no campaign on the “grassroots” people Dutton claims to support.
3. A tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto
Synth-pop, ambient electronica, film scores: Ryuichi Sakamoto, like his fellow musical shapeshifter and co-star David Bowie, excelled at every musical form he dabbled in. The revered Japanese composer died this week aged 71, and Alexis Petridis paid tribute in appropriately lyrical fashion.
The name rings a bell – what’s his biggest tune? Here’s a promise – just one spin of the main theme from Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence will lodge it in your head for days.
How long will it take to read: Four minutes, or about the time it’ll take to get through the above.
Further listening: If you still can’t place where you’ve heard the Mr Lawrence theme but hit up the odd turn-of-the-century rave, this may have you reaching for the lasers.
4. ‘John and Olivia loved each other in a professional way’
Forty-five years after Sandy and Danny sang and danced their way into Hollywood history, a new prequel series – Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies – is about to debut.
It’s not the first prequel literally no one asked for and it won’t be the last. But it has given Ammar Kalia an excuse to round up some of the original cast and crew for an oral history of how the classic 1978 musical was made – and find out where “bad” Sandy’s skintight pants came from.
Fun fact: It was John Travolta who wanted Olivia Newton-John to play his love interest, according to casting director Joel Thurm. “She asked for a screen test because she was a singer, not an actor, and she was unsure about being quite a bit older than John,” Thurm says. “She was so good that I didn’t have a back-up Sandy.”
How long will it take to read: Seven minutes.
5. A short guide to better living
Any morning people out there? You lot are weird/impressive. But mainly weird.
The British radio presenter Zoe Ball is among your number, and she’s one of 16 experts who have shared their life hacks. A flight attendant on how to deal with jet lag. A pianist on how to care for your hands. And so on.
Zoe’s secret to 4am survival? “The minute I get into work, I whack on the tunes really loud: Steely Dan, Toto or some disco. Sing along to the bangers and then you’re off!”
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
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