Welcome to the weekend, dear reader. This week we learned deep-sea submersibles are controlled by gaming joysticks, and the Indigenous voice will have no say over toll roads in Victoria. Thank god someone is thinking to ask the big questions.
Read on for an Ashes take with a sting in its tail, plus a familiar looking $72m beach pad and a dark trip into the mind of a murderer.
1. Nothing ‘super’ about mental illness
“A touch of OCD”. Illnesses or symptoms described as “superpowers”. The sorts of phrases that make many mental health sufferers cringe, as articulated brilliantly by Eleanor de Jong in a powerful, personal account of what battling bipolar is really like.
Mood variation and burnout are “palatable to us and our sympathies”, she writes. “But god forbid if you see or hear or smell or feel things that aren’t there.”
The reality of mental health ‘awareness’: A Cambridge study found discrimination and stigma against people living with schizophrenia increased between 1990-2020.
How long will it take to read: Four minutes.
2. Would you wear the same undies for a week?
“No”, would seem the logical answer, with the theory of “forwards, backwards, inside-out forwards and inside-out backwards” often discussed by snickering schoolboys dismissed as too gross to seriously consider.
Enter Tim, a software engineer who decided Covid lockdowns were a good time to scale back his laundry regimen. He’s part of a growing no-wash movement, which started with hair but is now turning to the washing machine, given the energy costs and environmental impact.
Tim’s underwear hack: If you wear your swimmers as undies, you can shower with them on – which counts as a wash – and they’ll dry quickly enough for you to wear again. Thanks, Tim.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
3. Sport and memories and sadness
Think of all the live sport you’ve attended and see how many results stand out. I was at this one, and this one, but most of my memories are from the grandstands: talking shit on the hill at Henson Park; fearing for my life at the Casablanca football derby; proposing at Eden Gardens.
For Jonathan Liew, day three of this week’s Ashes Test at Edgbaston brought back memories of attending the same venue with his father in 2001 – the last match they ever attended together.
Notable quote: “Perhaps it was the fact that Sunday was Father’s Day, which doesn’t mean a great deal to me any more, because Dad and I haven’t been in touch for many years, and I don’t know where he is now.”
How long will it take to read: Two minutes.
Further reading: Liew was also there on day five when Pat Cummins performed an all-time Ashes heist.
4. Sail away
Any Australian approaching the Lotus Temple in Delhi is struck with the same thought: it looks a lot like the Sydney Opera House. And it turns out the harbourside architectural marvel may have borrowed its crested roof from a Malibu beach house.
SOH designer Jørn Utzon knew of the man behind the Malibu pad, but whether he was influenced remains the subject of debate.
Famous residents: Rod Stewart and Warner Bros record executive Mo Ostin, who fostered the careers of Fleetwood Mac and Madonna, among others. If you have a spare $72m, you could add your name to the honour roll.
How long will it take to read: Two minutes.
5. Conversations with Ireland’s most notorious murderer
If you’re in strife, hitting up a friend for a place to sleep is a logical step. If you’ve just murdered two people during a failed bank robbery and the friend is the nation’s attorney general, the resulting scandal can bring down a government.
Malcolm Macarthur pleaded guilty to the aforementioned double killing in Ireland, and never spoke a word publicly about his crimes. Mark O’Connell recalls how he got Macarthur to talk, 30 years later.
In Macarthur’s words: “I didn’t do it through acting immorally, because I was being compelled, or impelled, by a disorder of thinking. My ethical side was overwhelmed. Disconnected, if you like. It wasn’t functioning.”
How long will it take to read: 14 minutes.
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