Happy weekend to all. Before we get into it, something to cling to if two days off don’t feel quite enough – Labor and Greens senators have recommended a trial of a four-day work week at full pay. They are all for it. Who wouldn’t be?
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Then consider swiping over to your music streaming platform of choice for some context as you launch into this week’s great reads.
1. ‘He was central to music history’
He played piano with the Beach Boys, built a band for Joe Cocker and stole the show at George Harrison’s concert for Bangladesh. But unless you’re of a certain vintage, Leon Russell is just a name you see in the bargain bins beside Rick Wakeman and nine copies of Boz Scaggs’s Silk Degrees.
No longer. A new book tracks the incredible highs and devastating lows of the influential musician and Jim Farber catches up with some of the major contributors.
Notable quote: “The way Leon’s mind worked was not like other people’s. In every way, Leon was different.” So says Rita Coolidge, who performed with Russell and was romantically involved with him for a while.
How long will it take to read: Four minutes.
2. A nuanced take on the China threat
This week Paul Keating flung hand grenades at the Nine newspapers for “the most egregious and provocative news presentation” in five decades over their China war-gaming series and before everyone had a chance to catch their breath, the new Chinese foreign minister was declaring conflict was inevitable if the Americans didn’t change their tune.
How concerned should we be? Yun Jiang sifts through the rhetoric for signs (or the lack thereof) that an invasion of Taiwan is imminent and the potential consequences.
Notable quote: “Why would China try to invest in Australia if it was preparing for a military conflict? It knows full well that Australia would take over these assets as soon as a war starts.”
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
Further reading: Growing numbers of Chinese citizens are trying to enter the US via a dangerous jungle trek through Central America.
3. Saying it with a slogan tee
Band T-shirts? So passe. From The White Lotus to Instagram feeds, gen Z have taken to selling their personal brand with slogan T-shirts – the more direct or self-deprecating, the better. Shaad D’Souza says they are “loved by gen Z for their social media-ready mixture of irony and earnestness”.
Honourable mentions: British pop star Charli XCX repping a “They don’t build statues of critics” slogan on the day of her last album release is particularly savage.
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
4. Mining horror for laughs
If you’ve ever had to fight your way through the darkness, have a fist-bump from someone else who’s made it out the other side. Some of us prefer to keep the finer points of these challenges private; others may drop a nugget or two into conversation from time to time, but nothing more.
Or you could take the route of Rich Hardisty (cut himself) and Harriet Dyer (numbed her pain with drugs), who are now hanging their personal demons out to dry in the most unforgiving of arenas: standup comedy.
Notable quote: “My friend saw the show,” Hardisty says, “and afterwards he was like, ‘You’ve solved the Rubik’s Cube of your own life. You’ve managed to take all the bad things and make them into the thing that’s going to change your life.’”
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.
5. The concrete jungle where nightmares are made
Australians are all too familiar with real wages going backwards. As Joe Kloc writes from the other side of the world, New Yorkers are also feeling the pinch.
“Somewhere in the 15 years since I’d moved to the city, my expectation for a stable future lost touch with reality,” Kloc writes, as he contemplates the end of his American dream. Not only is home ownership out of reach, he’s behind in rent and being turfed out of his modest apartment.
Where does the story take us? Sharehouse memories, court dates … and a happy-ish ending.
How long will it take to read: Eight minutes.
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