Good morning, happy Saturday, and happy birthday to me for yesterday. I got myself these pictures of murmurations of starlings (really, they are spectacular, so beautiful – have a look).
The year of the dragon is here. If you’re reading this in Australia, maybe you can go celebrate at one of these events. Or pack yourself an easy lunch and go peruse this selection of interesting articles in the park. Or, both! World’s your oyster.
(Just a note: the third story today, featuring interviews with Israeli soldiers in Gaza, is confronting – but critical reading, when you find the moment.)
1. ‘If you yearn for the void, try floating naked in a dark tank’
All in the headline there, really. But Madeleine Aggeler does go slightly further, not only explaining float therapy but volunteering herself for the story. That is, getting into a lightproof, soundproof pod filled with Epsom-salted water … for an hour.
Afterwards, she writes: “I felt serene but untethered, like my brain had floated off into the sky and hadn’t landed back in my skull yet. Did I enjoy the float? It’s hard to say. The unobstructed glimpse into my own mind had been both illuminating and troubling. Why did I think so much about Che Diaz?”
Does it work? One expert Aggeler speaks to suggests the experience can be especially helpful for people with chronic stress and anxiety, or conditions such as anorexia or PTSD.
How long will it take to read: much less time than the tank (under three minutes).
Further reading: The Dutch have found another answer to burnout. It is … doing nothing?
2. What is going on in Germany?
Preliminary reading: Berlin-based writer and translator Peter Kuras points to tractor chaos, neo-Nazis and a flatlining economy and asks, why has Germany lost the plot?
Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party formed around a decade ago – anti-euro economics but comparatively moderate. It’s now “certified rightwing extremist” by Germany’s domestic spy agency. Recently, reports that two senior party members attended a meeting to plan the mass deportation of citizens of foreign origin sparked weeks of protests around the country.
But the AfD is well-supported by many others. Could Germany simply ban it? And how does it deal with its far-right problem if not? This panel discussion about possible options and consequences is fascinating – and raises topical questions for countries such as Australia.
How long will it take to read: about five minutes.
3. IDF soldiers speak about what they’re doing in Gaza
More than 27,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel launched the offensive after a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October that killed 1,200 people and abducted an estimated 240 hostages.
Jason Burke, the Guardian’s international security correspondent, has spoken to Israeli troops deployed in Gaza. The IDF did not act on repeated requests by the Guardian to speak to serving soldiers, he explains, so those he interviewed weren’t authorised and required anonymity.
Their insights are violent and surreal. Some he spoke to regard civilians who ignore Israeli instructions to flee as complicit with Hamas and thus legitimate targets. Those interviewed also expressed sympathy for civilians and said they had tried to help them. All believe the offensive and Israel’s tactics have been justified. Although, per one reservist:
There are no tactics. We take some fire and identify a target. For an hour we unload everything we’ve got, our own weapons, tanks, anything we can get. Then we advance and find dead terrorists.
“There aren’t even three walls connected”: “What really blew my mind was that there is nowhere for anyone to come back to,” one noncommissioned officer who was in Gaza for two months with an infantry unit tells Burke. “It looks like a scene of a zombie attack or something. It’s not a war zone. It’s a disaster area, like out of Hollywood.”
How long will it take to read: about five minutes.
Further reading: The stories coming out of Gaza are horrible: one shower for every 2,000 people, one toilet for every 500, C-sections performed without anaesthesia. “It has been jarring to be in the slipstream of mainstream feminist discourse over the past few weeks, as all this unfolds,” columnist Nesrine Malik wrote this week (read: very focused on the lack of Oscar nominations for the Barbie film). “Some of this is just human nature – our own contexts and cultures dictate our immediate priorities. But there are other impulses, uncomfortable to contemplate but hard to ignore, that de-emphasise the particularly inhumane and urgent situation when it comes to Gaza’s women and girls.”
Even further, relevant, reading: Is compassion fatigue real? Turns out, David Robson finds, it might depend on your mindset.
4. Tales of menopause from around the world
All over the world, discussions about menopause are gaining momentum as women call for their experiences to be recognised, find solidarity over difficult symptoms and challenge entrenched views about their worth as they age.
Here, six women share their stories about this time of change, covering everything from social media support networks in Brazil to navigating workplace politics in Bangladesh.
How long will it take to read: seven minutes.
Plus one more story: read this excellent piece from our deputy opinion editor, Svetlana Stankovic. “Menopause shouldn’t be a secret, it shouldn’t be a mystery and you shouldn’t have to put up with it in silence if you’re struggling” – true in 2022, true now.
5. The world’s tiniest creatures
Let’s finish on something relatively manageable in scope: very small animals.
This is basically just a list of tiny things – a tiny bat, a tiny shrew, a very tiny mushroom … but the (very small) crown of smallest thing is hotly contested, with tinier and tinier candidates discovered all the time.
Why are they so small? Great question. Nineteenth-century German zoologist Christian Bergmann’s answer apparently still holds: warmer climes = smaller animals/colder climes = bigger animals (something to do with surface area, volume and how fast one loses heat).
How long will it take to read: three-and-a-half minutes.
Further reading: the last line of that EE Cummings poem. You know the one.
I will leave you with the best photo I saw this week (aside from the starlings): Charles Fréger’s shot of the Babugeri (furry goat men) in Bulgaria:
Have a lovely weekend. (And if you want to get me a present, email us at australia.newsletters@theguardian.com and tell me which story you enjoyed most today. Nothing makes me happier. Nothing!)
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