Good morning. The voice referendum is here – here’s your quick guide.
It’s been a big week – here are some photos of people having coffee in Paris. Make one for yourself, sip it slowly, and peruse some of the writing that’s caught my eye on the Guardian lately.
1. What we’ve learned from a year of ChatGPT
Next month marks the chatbot’s first birthday. Matthew Cantor rounds up some of the ways it can be really useful – along with a few relevant warnings.
“You’re a human, it’s a bot – take it all with a big grain of salt,” he writes. “Or vinegar, which it recommends as a substitute.”
TLDR: “It’s important to remember that while ChatGPT can seem incredibly smart, it is also incredibly stupid.”
How long will it take to read: three or so minutes
2. Israel’s prime minister: time to go?
Simon Tisdall has been a foreign editor and US editor for the Guardian. Amid the events unfolding in the Middle East this week, he calls, in no uncertain terms, for Benjamin Netanyahu to step down. He also takes a clear-eyed look at the political context on both sides of the conflict.
The Israeli PM’s “long political career has been characterised by fear and confrontation”, Tisdall writes. “More than any other single political leader, on either side of the Israel-Palestine divide, he is responsible for the spiralling tensions, divisions and anger that preceded this horrific catastrophe … He has failed miserably, and the measure of his failure is the unprecedented number of civilians dead.”
How long will it take to read: at least three minutes
Further reading: These are the rules of war. Here is a quick guide to Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza. Here is a piece from a man on the ground there, and one from a woman in Jerusalem.
3. The Troye Sivan interview
“You can have 15 million Instagram followers and still be someone’s dirty little secret,” writes Shaad D’Souza. “Pop stars – they’re just like us!”
D’Souza’s music writing is consistently great, and his frank, in-depth profile of the Australian sensation is cut through with typically crystalline observations about Sivan’s new album. Their chat covers everything from partying on Smith Street to dealing with fan fallout.
“In general, queer artists are held to a really high standard,” Sivan tells him.
There are a lot of double standards where people might not come for X person, but they come for Y person about the same thing. I also understand it, because it’s like, ‘OK, coming from a place of persecution, I guess you should know better’, and I get that.
How long will it take to read: four minutes
4. Clock racing
“I am not usually spectacularly late, unless I am extremely stressed, and then things turn ugly,” writes Anita Chaudhuri, introducing me to the charming and relatable concept of the “time optimist” (or, in Sweden, “tidsoptimist”). Some of us are just late, all the time! They can’t help it! But why? Well, there is a range of theories. Even Jung has views on the condition (actually, I guess that shouldn’t be too surprising), dividing the perpetually tardy into two categories: realistic “sensates” and dreamy “intuitives”.
Advice for the “punctually challenged”: one professor of social and health psychology suggests framing things as “a more realistic relationship with your future self”.
How long will it take to read: five minutes? Maybe less! It’s fine, your train doesn’t go for ages!!
5. Hotel Taliban
Afghanistan’s first luxury hotel, the Intercontinental, opened in 1969. It was once the site of legendary parties. And it still towers over Kabul “like a castle”, Andreas Babst writes, in this completely fascinating look at the nerve centre for the country’s rulers – whoever they may be.
Currently, that’s the Taliban. As Babst tours each section of the hotel, meeting people who work both for and with them, he sees a microcosm of the regime’s MO, and its impact on Afghan lives.
“There might be no better place to glimpse Afghanistan’s future than here, where past and present meet,” he writes.
On the fifth floor: “Neon lights on the walls brace themselves against the darkness. The carpet smells like dust and something else, something sour. The hotel’s employees don’t like to be there. It’s haunted, they say.”
How long will it take to read: 15 minutes
Don’t forget to write: australia.newsletters@theguardian.com. And also don’t forget what Arnie says: calves are the biceps of the legs.
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