Good morning and welcome to Saturday. I\u2019m Emma Elsworthy and here is a selection of stories that I thought you may enjoy.<\/p>\n
1. \u2018Recovery is proof there is a God. Addiction is proof there is a devil\u2019Bleech 9:3. L-R: Sam Duffy (holding clippers), James Quinlan, Barry Quinlan and Luke O\u2019Neill. Photograph: Tatiana Pozuelo<\/p>\n
Two guys walk in to Alcoholics Anonymous and a rock band is born<\/a>. Barry Quinlan and Sam Duffy are one half of Bleech 9:3 and are each other\u2019s AA sponsors. All four guys left other bands for this one. \u201cThere was communal feeling that there was something different about this group,\u201d drummer Luke O\u2019Neill recalled. With a five-song EP likened to \u201clightning and thunder\u201d, the Irish lads have booked 40 festivals.<\/p>\n It has been a truly wild ride to this point, however. Dive into this harrowing yet ultimately uplifting read that traverses relapse \u2013 \u201clike the bullet had left the gun\u201d, redemption \u2013 \u201clike an exorcism, like finally reaching the shore\u201d, and everything in between, including a conversation with Jesus himself.<\/p>\n Notable quote: \u201cSeek some spiritual thing to take what\u2019s in your heart and plant it around your head as if it was a garden. Grow love in your mind as opposed to the barren wasteland there.\u201d<\/p>\n How long will it take to read: Five minutes.<\/p>\n Further reading: Fifty years ago, the Sex Pistols played their first Manchester gig \u2013 and upended pop culture. But who got left behind when punk exploded?<\/a><\/p>\n 2. Melinda French Gates on Epstein \u2013 and giving away billionsMelinda French Gates has entered a new phase of life and it is \u2018beautiful\u2019. Photograph: Genna Martin<\/p>\n Five years after she divorced one of the world\u2019s richest men, Melinda French Gates sits down with the Guardian<\/a> for an interview that threads a very \u201cnow\u201d path through topics such as Jeffrey Epstein, misogyny, Elon Musk, the housing crisis and Robert F Kennedy Jr. Despite this, there may be more to ponder between the lines than in them.<\/p>\n Warren Buffett once said that Bill is \u201csmart as hell, obviously\u201d, but that French Gates is smarter. Journalist Sophie Bain continues: \u201cI notice, throughout the interview, her politician\u2019s skill at appearing to answer a question while giving little new away. But then again, why would she? She is the rare interviewee with nothing to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n Notable quote: \u201cAny woman who has ever been around somebody who is evil or had an experience and then if you\u2019re around somebody else who is evil. Just no, no,\u201d French Gates says, speaking about Epstein.<\/p>\n How long will it take to read: 10 minutes<\/p>\n Further reading: The furious guerrilla-art response<\/a> to the Epstein files has anger burning off every bit off it, Arifa Akbar writes.<\/p>\n 3. The malignant rise of OnlyFans managersAri Kytsya, an OnlyFans creator, says she is approached by managers several times every day. Composite: Guardian Design<\/p>\n Markuss Hussle is telling students about the \u201cembarrassingly simple\u201d way he makes money, proving his bona fides with photos of private jets and a fur-clad girlfriend. He\u2019s an OnlyFans manager, taking for himself half of what the women make on the often explicit video platform.<\/p>\n Some say OnlyFans has radically shifted power dynamics back to women \u2013 but a new breed of middlemen are looking for a cut<\/a> of the $25bn generated so far on the platform since its genesis, Amelia Gentleman writes \u2013 and purporting that you can too. This is essential reading about a new kind of sex work in the internet era, and who pays the price.<\/p>\n Notable quote: \u201cAlmost every girl that I\u2019ve talked to in the industry has had an experience \u2013 whether it\u2019s being stuck in a contract that they can\u2019t leave or having management taking advantage of them, or scamming them, or forcing them to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n How long will it take to read: 10 minutes<\/p>\n Further reading: Amber Haque\u2019s preposterously bleak film, OnlyFans: Inside the Machine<\/a>, shows how hordes of men have turned the ethical answer to sex work into a sleazy nightmare, Stuart Heritage writes.<\/p>\n 4. Memories of the Soweto uprising in South AfricaBlack students protest on 16 June 1976 against the compulsory use of Afrikaans in schools. By the end of the day, dozens would be dead. Photograph: Bettmann\/Bettmann Archive<\/p>\n On 16 June 1976 in Soweto, students marched out of school to protest the government\u2019s edict that they must learn in the \u201coppressor\u2019s language\u201d, Afrikaans. There was singing among the group \u2013 many of whom were children \u2013 their mood defiant but buoyant. What followed would become a blood stain on South African history.<\/p>\n This fascinating story delves into the lives of those protesters<\/a> in the 50 years since \u2013 including South Africa\u2019s high commissioner to the UK, who says he still apologises to his three children born in exile for their upbringing. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t of my making or their making. I think they understand.\u201d<\/p>\n Notable quote: \u201cOne of the things that hurt me most in prison was remembering,\u201d says Sibongile Mkhabela, one of the march organisers. \u201cI had to train myself to forget what it feels like to love and be loved \u2026 but in the process the mind forgets a lot of other things that you shouldn\u2019t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n How long will it take to read: Five minutes<\/p>\n 5. A solo journey into the midnight sunThe bulging L\u00f8nselva River runs through Saltfjellet national park. Photograph: Caroline Mills<\/p>\n \u201cI am sat beside my car-sized campervan, with mesmerised reverence for the rose-tinged panorama,\u201d writes Caroline Mills, who in an excellent use of free will decided to leave her husband and children behind for a solo road trip to the top of Norway. She saw wild reindeer, the midnight sun, Hamlet\u2019s Castle and much more.<\/p>\n Be whisked away by her scandi-adventure, in which she has booked no accommodation but rather puts her faith in Allemansretten \u2013 \u201cthe right to stop off-grid overnight on uncultivated land, leaving without a trace\u201d. The true adventure, however, is \u201cunderstanding that the memory is mine alone,\u201d she writes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Notable quote: \u201cBut it is the east of the island where I park up and sit alone for days, watching an otter swimming among the lichen-speckled black rocks, alerted by a clatter of ducks and ducklings, shelducks, wigeon and oystercatchers.\u201d<\/p>\n How long will it take to read: Five minutes<\/p>\n Further reading: Here are five Nigerian female travellers<\/a> on their top tips and trickiest moments \u2013 from border madness to snakes. Or read about how the total isolation of a Hebridean island<\/a> helped Graham Snowdon process the loss of his parents.<\/p>\n Sign up<\/p>\n 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":"Good morning and welcome to Saturday. 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