Hello, happy morning tea, and welcome to Five Great Reads. I’m Alyx Gorman and today I’ll be taking you on a tour through the empty streets of Kyoto, before settling down for biscuits with an archetypal Bake Off cast.
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1. Without tourists, Kyoto trades wealth for peace
In 2019, 8 million people visited Japan’s historic capital. As the number of foreign visitors in Japan has dropped 99.2% during the pandemic, some locals are enjoying the quiet.
Notable quote: “Too many foreign tourists put pressure on things like public transport,” says cafe owner Tomoko Nagatsuka. “They were great for business, but it was difficult to live a normal life with so many of them milling around.”
How long will it take me to read? Two minutes.
2. Australia’s last banned book
The novel that propelled Philip Roth to literary darling status enjoys a special history in Australia. Infamously filthy, Portnoy’s Complaint was at the centre of a legal battle that challenged Australian censorship laws. Before the ban on the book was lifted, a group of anti-censorship activists hand-made 300 illegal copies.
What happened to them? Only three of the bootleg books, whose byline reads “Phillip Roth”, have been found. Now one is being exhibited by the State Library of Victoria.
Notable quote: “It was being handed around by various people – of course I read it!” Andrew Richards, who donated one of the copies, said. “I enjoyed Roth, but especially because it was banned, you know?”
3. Has sex positive feminism gone stale?
As young women trade dating app horror stories, many of which involve rough sex, they’re finding the idea of female pleasure without judgement is not living up to its emancipatory promises.
The cons: Anna-Louise Adams, a sociology student in her mid-20s, turned her back on casual sex after a couple of unpleasant encounters. She says sex positivity “doesn’t benefit women. Even if there are individuals who feel personally empowered, collectively it continues to oppress us”.
The pros: While writer and activist Laurie Penny agrees the term “sex positive” feels a little dated, they say: “Women still don’t feel able to have boundaries and say what they want … I don’t think the problem is too much sexual liberation, I think it’s not enough. You have to actually deal with sexual violence in order to create substantive sexual liberation.”
How long will it take me to read? Five minutes
4. The apps that fix your email tone
There’s no need to enlist funnier family members or friends to punch-up your communiques anymore – now there are browser extensions and apps for that. Matthew Cantor tries a few intriguing options.
Like what? For a start, there’s “Emotional Labour”, which will turn your brusque and brutal “Hello” into a much more friendly “Hey lovely”, and add exclamation points in all the right places ;) !!
I need the opposite of that … In that case, you need Just Not Sorry, which will delete all the apologies, equivocations and empty platitudes from your writing.
5. How to cast a Bake Off
Much like baking itself, getting the right mix of contestants in a Bake Off (whether it be Great British or spin off) is as much science as art. Here Patrick Lenton lists the essential ingredients.
Notable quote: “Hey, there’s often some guy with a hat,” Lenton writes. “Their baking is usually fine, they’re usually fine, but the main thing is that they’re wearing a hat inside. Sure, it’s a tent, so maybe it’s more of a liminal zone than a normal house, but it doesn’t stop the hat from sticking out.”
How long will it take me to read? Two minutes.
