{"id":139196,"date":"2025-09-13T02:53:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T02:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/139196\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T02:53:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T02:53:07","slug":"five-great-reads-defending-dominique-pelicot-ai-relationships-and-the-neighbourhood-cat-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/139196\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Great Reads: Defending Dominique Pelicot, AI relationships, and the neighbourhood cat elections |"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Saturday! My first intro read is for any local Queenslanders gearing up to watch the historic AFL match<\/a> at the Gabba tonight. As for the rest of you, it\u2019s time to deviate from the headlines and enjoy these fabulous reads.<\/p>\n

1. The life-changing clientB\u00e9atrice Zavarro talks to the media in the Avignon courthouse on 19 December 2024. Photograph: Lewis Joly\/AP<\/p>\n

B\u00e9atrice Zavarro knew there would be naysayers when she chose to defend one of the worst sexual predators in history. \u201cThere is a before and after Pelicot,\u201d she says of the case of Dominique Pelicot \u2013 the man convicted of horrendous and unimaginable crimes against his wife, Gis\u00e8le Pelicot. \u201cThe case set light to everything,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

It gained global attention and \u201cgrew to such horrific and unforeseen proportions\u201d. So why, Kim Willsher asks Zavarro<\/a>, did the previously unknown lawyer \u2013 who earned a grim nickname: the Devil\u2019s Advocate \u2013 choose to defend him?<\/p>\n

Notable quote: \u201cToday, I believe I can say I know him better than anyone, including his own family.\u201d \u2013 Zavarro.<\/p>\n

How long will it take to read: Four and a half minutes.<\/p>\n

2. The power of posing nudeLife model Craig Dyson: \u2018Some more traditional classes refuse to hire me because of my tattoos.\u2019 Photograph: Courtesy of Craig Dyson<\/p>\n

Becoming a life model changed Craig\u2019s life. As illustrated above, the 54-year-old is covered in tattoos head-to-toe, and had never \u201cbeen naked in front of so many people before\u201d until he stripped bare for a class. Now, he says, he feels \u201ca responsibility to get into interesting and adventurous poses that will inspire the artists\u201d, who have embraced him as one of their own.<\/p>\n

Undressed: In this visually revealing and uplifting read<\/a>, Craig and four other sitters discuss the freedom and healing they have experienced posing nude.<\/p>\n

How long will it take to read: Four and a half minutes.<\/p>\n

3. \u2018I was born in the wrong era\u2019: living for Pride and Prejudice\u2018The past has always felt like home\u2019 \u2026 Remona Aly at Jane Austen\u2019s House in Chawton, Hampshire. Photograph: Sarah Lee\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

How many iterations have there been of Jane Austen\u2019s most famous book? At least 17 film and TV adaptations, and many more in books, on stage and online. In this charming read, Remona Aly will tell you her favourite.<\/p>\n

But the one that first got her hooked? The BBC\u2019s 1995 series<\/a>, of course, starring Colin Firth and his beguiling wet shirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAusten\u2019s world of family honour, chaperones and matrimonial pressures always resonated with my traditional Asian Muslim paradigm.\u201d \u2013 Remona Aly<\/p>\n

The underrated internet adaptation: Budget Pride and Prejudice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How long will it take to read: Five minutes.<\/p>\n

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Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning<\/p>\n

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n

4. The neighbourhood cat fightA cat mayoral election in Somerville, Massachusetts. Photograph: Handout<\/p>\n

Dread, anger, resignation and bewilderment are some of the feelings I get when reading a story with the words \u201cUS elections\u201d in the headline. Until I came across the US\u2019s most furious \u2013 and furriest \u2013 election<\/a> last week, and felt unexpected joy.<\/p>\n

Behind the headline: Meet the 11 contestants in this year\u2019s cat mayoral race in Somerville, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Who are they? Not all cats, actually \u2013 one dog and one turtle are also vying for the top job (with one cat keen on the position of attorney general).<\/p>\n

\u2018Dirty tactics\u2019: A sign has been stolen, Lucy Knight discovers, plus there\u2019s been an alleged illegal sponsoring from a vet.<\/p>\n

How long will it take to read: Just over two minutes.<\/p>\n

Further reading: Zoe Williams on the delightful feline<\/a> that arrived at her late mother\u2019s house after she died.<\/p>\n

5. AI loversA person using Replika, an app offering AI chatbots for people seeking digital companionship. Photograph: Olivier Douliery\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Alaina Demopoulos\u2019s piece this week on women falling in love with AI companions<\/a> had me on tenterhooks. Sure, I\u2019d heard the story before, in Spike Jonze\u2019s 2013 film Her, but as Demopoulos notes, AI relationships are \u201cno longer relegated to science fiction\u201d. It\u2019s a state of affairs that feels both unsettling and strangely pragmatic.<\/p>\n

Sign of the times: When OpenAI announced GPT-5, their new version of ChatGPT, some users \u201ccould not recognise their AI partners any more\u201d, Demopoulos writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite frankly, it felt like a loss, like real grief,\u201d one says.<\/p>\n

How long will it take to read: Seven and a half minutes.<\/p>\n

Have a lovely weekend.<\/p>\n

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If you would like to receive these Five Great Reads to your email inbox every weekend, sign up here<\/a>. And check out out the full list of our local and international newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Happy Saturday! My first intro read is for any local Queenslanders gearing up to watch the historic AFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-139196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}