Happy Saturday! My first intro read is for any local Queenslanders gearing up to watch the historic AFL match at the Gabba tonight. As for the rest of you, it’s time to deviate from the headlines and enjoy these fabulous reads.

1. The life-changing clientBéatrice Zavarro talks to the media in the Avignon courthouse on 19 December 2024. Photograph: Lewis Joly/AP

Béatrice Zavarro knew there would be naysayers when she chose to defend one of the worst sexual predators in history. “There is a before and after Pelicot,” she says of the case of Dominique Pelicot – the man convicted of horrendous and unimaginable crimes against his wife, Gisèle Pelicot. “The case set light to everything,” she says.

It gained global attention and “grew to such horrific and unforeseen proportions”. So why, Kim Willsher asks Zavarro, did the previously unknown lawyer – who earned a grim nickname: the Devil’s Advocate – choose to defend him?

Notable quote: “Today, I believe I can say I know him better than anyone, including his own family.” – Zavarro.

How long will it take to read: Four and a half minutes.

2. The power of posing nudeLife model Craig Dyson: ‘Some more traditional classes refuse to hire me because of my tattoos.’ Photograph: Courtesy of Craig Dyson

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

Undressed: In this visually revealing and uplifting read, Craig and four other sitters discuss the freedom and healing they have experienced posing nude.

How long will it take to read: Four and a half minutes.

3. ‘I was born in the wrong era’: living for Pride and Prejudice‘The past has always felt like home’ … Remona Aly at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

How many iterations have there been of Jane Austen’s 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.

But the one that first got her hooked? The BBC’s 1995 series, of course, starring Colin Firth and his beguiling wet shirt.

“Austen’s world of family honour, chaperones and matrimonial pressures always resonated with my traditional Asian Muslim paradigm.” – Remona Aly

The underrated internet adaptation: Budget Pride and Prejudice.

How long will it take to read: Five minutes.

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4. The neighbourhood cat fightA cat mayoral election in Somerville, Massachusetts. Photograph: Handout

Dread, anger, resignation and bewilderment are some of the feelings I get when reading a story with the words “US elections” in the headline. Until I came across the US’s most furious – and furriest – election last week, and felt unexpected joy.

Behind the headline: Meet the 11 contestants in this year’s cat mayoral race in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Who are they? Not all cats, actually – one dog and one turtle are also vying for the top job (with one cat keen on the position of attorney general).

‘Dirty tactics’: A sign has been stolen, Lucy Knight discovers, plus there’s been an alleged illegal sponsoring from a vet.

How long will it take to read: Just over two minutes.

Further reading: Zoe Williams on the delightful feline that arrived at her late mother’s house after she died.

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

Alaina Demopoulos’s piece this week on women falling in love with AI companions had me on tenterhooks. Sure, I’d heard the story before, in Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her, but as Demopoulos notes, AI relationships are “no longer relegated to science fiction”. It’s a state of affairs that feels both unsettling and strangely pragmatic.

Sign of the times: When OpenAI announced GPT-5, their new version of ChatGPT, some users “could not recognise their AI partners any more”, Demopoulos writes.

“Quite frankly, it felt like a loss, like real grief,” one says.

How long will it take to read: Seven and a half minutes.

Have a lovely weekend.

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