1. Sam Neill\u2019s final interview: \u2018I\u2019d like to think that, in life, I\u2019m a goodie\u2019Sam Neill near his vineyard in New Zealand earlier this year. Photograph: Aina J. Khan<\/p>\n
The great New Zealand actor\u2019s death was announced earlier this week and our writers, including Peter Bradshaw<\/a>, have paid tribute to the much-loved star. Neill\u2019s last interview was a Q&A with Guardian readers<\/a> hosted by Rich Pelley, in which he talked about working with Robin Williams, changing his name and whether he would have turned down Bond.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 2. The secret lives of flight attendants: \u2018British passengers always drink like they\u2019ve never drunk before\u2019 Composite: Guardian Design; izusek; nuttapong\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Lewd propositions, drunken tirades, groping, grumbling and grubby behaviour \u2013 cabin crew have to experience it all, at altitude. In this piece they opened up to Zoe Williams about the horrors they\u2019ve seen from passengers and colleagues.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 3. \u2018People are picking the dumbest fights\u2019: the tortured history of America\u2019s culture warsChristians protest outside the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan, against Martin Scorsese\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. Photograph: Barbara Alper\/Getty Images<\/p>\n We now live in an age of endless culture wars, but it wasn\u2019t always the case. In this interview David Smith spoke to Isaac Butler, author of a new book that traces how an ascendant religious right pivoted from the cold war in the late 1980s to wage a domestic battle over contemporary art.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 4. The Manchester years: how Andy Burnham\u2019s rebirth as \u2018king of the north\u2019 set him on the road to No 10Andy Burnham will become Britain\u2019s seventh prime minister in 10 years. Composite: Guardian Design\/Getty Images<\/p>\n On Monday, Burnham will become the latest resident at 10 Downing Street. In this profile, north of England editor Josh Halliday told the story of how Burnham was reshaped and repowered by his stint as mayor of Greater Manchester. In an earlier piece, Daniel Boffey traced Burnham\u2019s early years<\/a>, from an \u201cimpostor\u201d at Cambridge to a young star of New Labour.<\/p>\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n 5. \u2018The trash does not stop\u2019: life among the garbage mountains of the world\u2019s biggest cityThe Bantar Gebang landfill in Indonesia. Photograph: Claudio Pramana\/The Guardian<\/p>\n In Jakarta, Michael Neilson travelled to the city\u2019s largest landfill to find an economy supporting thousands of waste pickers who make a living from the trash mountains \u2013 people who now face imminent uncertainty as the government looks to close the site.<\/p>\n