Six great reads: a writer’s last words, inside Epstein’s world and on the Zack Polanski trail

Left: the ruins of Tikal Guatemala; right: clockwise from top left: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Woody Allen, Noam Chomsky, Peter Mandelson. Composite: Guardian

If you are reading this it is because I’m dead: here’s what I want to tell you about how to live

This powerful posthumous column by the Spanish journalist Carlos Hernández, who died on 3 February, reflected on the luck that shaped his life compared to those born in regions of the world ravaged by hunger, poverty and war. “Even in this difficult moment I’m going through, I don’t think I have the right to complain or to moan about my lot. How can I play the victim knowing these historical inequalities and injustices? How can I lament my fate when we see what is happening even now, in Africa, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Yemen, Iran or in Palestine?”

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‘Am I at peak popularity? I hope not’: on the road with Zack Polanski, from protest to podcast to Heaven nightclub

With polls and membership at an all-time high, the UK Green party is having a moment – and it’s largely down to their charismatic (if slightly cheesy) new leader. Can he really pull off a socialist revolution? Simon Hattenstone followed Zack Polanski from Wakefield to Heaven (the nightclub) to get to the bottom of his appeal.

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Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club

Amelia Gentleman had the unpleasant task of looking deep into the Epstein files to see what they tell us about the behaviour of some of the men featured therein. She found a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services – the patriarchy in action.

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Inside Will Lewis’s tumultuous two years as publisher of the Washington Post

Last week, the British newspaper executive Will Lewis, 56, abruptly announced his resignation, just three days after the Post slashed nearly a third of its entire staff in one of the largest layoffs in US media history. Media reporter Jeremy Barr looked at how, instead of putting the Post on a more promising financial path, Lewis’s time there was marked by controversy, clashes with staff and jargon-heavy initiatives that didn’t seem to amount to much.

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Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong

For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive? In this fascinating Long Read, Marcus Haraldsson turned the spotlight on a misunderstood piece of human history.

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The big AI job swap: why white-collar workers are ditching their careers

As businesses scrambled this week to assess the impact on jobs from new AI developments, Lucy Knight and Sumaiya Motara looked at the big AI job swap, meeting people who have given up white-collar jobs for hands-on work.

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