Top of the weekend to you all. As you read this I’m road tripping to remote Queensland, which means you’ll be in the safe hands of Imogen Dewey for the next fortnight of great reads. So I’ll temporarily sign off with some matters of indulgence topping and tailing this list: dance music and debunking absolute nonsense.
1. ‘You never hear about quadruple amputees in nightclubs on LSD’
If you’d contracted meningococcal at 19 and needed your limbs amputated to survive, how would you go on? If you’re Tom Nash, you develop a dark sense of humour (“just like getting a bad haircut, only it doesn’t grow back”), learn how to DJ with prosthetic hooks where your hands should be, and launch a club night called Starfuckers.
Hookie, as he’s known to Sydney clubbers, shares his incredible story with Katie Cunningham.
Second act: Nash has also become a noted public speaker – not about his life (though he does have a Ted Talk), but on concepts such as universal design.
How long will it take to read: Four minutes.
2. How an independent Russian journalist became a target
Elena Kostyuchenko crossed the Ukraine border on 24 February last year to report on Russia’s invasion. A month later the independent Russian newspaper she’d called home for 17 years was shut down by state censors.
Determined to cover the assault on Mariupol, she pressed on. Until she learned that the Chechen fighters manning the checkpoints knew she was coming. “They’re not planning to hold you,” a colleague told Kostyuchenko. “They are going to kill you.”
What happened next? Escape from Ukraine. Lice, mumps and PTSD. A warning never to return to Russia. And a potential poisoning in Munich.
How long will it take to read: Nine minutes.
3. Why cats should be kept indoors
Should cats be kept permanently indoors or allowed to roam free?
It’s a vexed question. Calla Wahlquist has a nuanced argument for the former. The commenters below the line, meanwhile, have myriad even more passionate views.
“Laurie is the fifth cat I’ve lived with and the first to be an indoor-only cat. She turns 14 next month. She has never been injured. I have never been woken by the awful howl of a cat fight” – Calla on why cats should be kept indoors for the sake of cats.
How long will it take to read: Two minutes.
Further reading: Why conservationists are pushing for pet containment in Australia.
4. How cricket bats are made
As Phil Walker sees it, the batmaking industry is a microcosm of our world: “A handful of global brands controlling the market and a sprinkling of small firms trying to hang in there.”
It’s a world of sustainability concerns, supply chain issues and intense competition. At its centre, the obsessive perfectionists who craft the blades, striving to give cricketers the high that only an effortless drive through cover can give.
Fun fact: A good quality willow log will produce about 40 bats.
Open secret: Players collect bats from all over and plaster their sponsor’s stickers on them.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
5. The truth about the voice referendum
“Flood the zone with shit” was the campaigning maxim favoured by Steve Bannon, the strategist behind Donald Trump’s 2016 US election victory. If you’ve paid any attention to the Indigenous voice debate, you’d have noticed the no case employing similar tactics.
Amid the flood of misinformation and lies, Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, has helpfully cleared a few things up. “Cast your vote based on information,” she writes. Or to commandeer a slogan: if you don’t know, find out.
Notable quote: “[The voice] may be sunk by politicians who have never provided a viable alternative plan, who have no ideas, no vision, no alternative except a vague referendum do-over not supported by their own party members.”
How long will it take to read: Two minutes.
Further reading: Katharine Murphy goes a little deeper (and harder) on the no campaign’s tactics.
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