Happy Saturday! It’s a new year, and so a new season of Five Great Reads begins – with a mix of from the best tabs I left open over summer.
Whether you’ve made it through your first week back at the office or you never stopped grinding, we’ve got a story for every mood covered here: reminding you to slow down, go see a film from the current awards season lineup, and perhaps ask yourself a life-changing question.
1. Kieran Culkin making magic
Even before his triumph at the Golden Globes, Kieran Culkin was tipped for an Oscar for his supporting role in Jesse Eisenberg’s film A Real Pain. Charlotte Edwards had her finger on the pulse in her December interview with the 42-year-old Succession star, who revealed he only prepares for a scene 10 minutes before. Read this and you’ll want to see him on the big screen.
World’s worst prank? Culkin shares a story of the time he got fellow cast members high on stage. Mark Ruffalo was involved.
Fellow frontrunner: Oscar winner Nicole Kidman answers questions from readers and famous fans including Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts.
How long will it take to read: Ten and a half minutes.
2. Jumping on and off the wagon
My friends and I gave up drinking for a month last November. We felt great after it, as lots of people do, but we also couldn’t wait for silly season. Early in the new year, Arwa Mahdawi entered the chat.
“’Tis the season to drink far too much and then vow that, next year, you’ll never drink again,” she writes. She offers a good case for “intermittment sobriety” and seven hot takes if you’re feeling “sober curious”. (These are by no means health advice.)
Hot sauce – a weirdly helpful way to curb cravings: “According to one study, spicy food works in the same way as alcohol when it comes to activating your brain’s reward system.”
How long will it take to read: Three and a half minutes.
3. Li Jianxiong’s two lives
Li Jianxiong was a high-flying marketing executive in Beijing until he suffered a breakdown. His burnout sent him to the west on a wellness voyage of discovery. Just as his peers were losing faith in the Chinese Dream, Li built himself back up, returned to Beijing, and “founded a mutual-support community for burnouts that he called Heartify”, writes Chang Che.
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“[People] would think: ‘Oh, I can’t afford to deal with my health. I just have to earn more money, then once I have enough all my problems will disappear.’”
– Xiang Biao, an expert on contemporary Chinese society
Xuanfu: Also known as suspension, “refers to the deferral of life’s problems – loneliness, estranged families, personal health, political rights – to pursue money in the now,” Che explains – something Li is no longer doing.
How long will it take to read: Ten and a half minutes.
4. How to slow down time entering the new year
If nothing significant or unexpected happens during your week, or month, or year, “the days [often] blend and blur in our minds”, writes Miriam Frankel. Time tends to fly when you’re in a boring routine.
Exhibit A: Extreme athlete Beatriz Flamini spent 500 days in a cave: “a year and a half spent knitting, reading, drawing and exercising”. When she came out, she thought it had only been about 160-170 days.
Tips on tweaking time: Travelling or visiting a different neighbourhood; making new memories or reminiscing on old ones; being mindful and attentive, especially in nature. These practices can alter our perception of time, experts say.
How long will it take to read: Four minutes.
5. Seven lives, seven questions
Do you want a relationship or a baby? Will you worry about this in six months? Oftentimes, the simpler, more direct questions get to the core of what a person might be searching for. And sometimes not being able to ask the question stops progress.
These seven writers reflect on the one question that helped change the course of their life. Their stories are inspiring – but not unachievable.
How long will it take to read: Seven and a half minutes.
Further reading: The Guardian has a whole series on questions to ask yourself. This one is for friendships.
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