Happy Saturday! Sometimes, dear readers, the best stories get hidden or lost beneath blaring headlines. This week, all five stories jumped out. And more. This could have been 20 great reads. Enjoy.
1. The 10 worst share house moments
Living in share houses can bring the best and worst out of people. Across eight homes and 18 housemates, Alice Wilkinson has endured it all – from the guy who washed his clothes without detergent to the boyfriend who moved in by stealth.
There are moments on this list that I can only assume readers accustomed to the perils and joys of cohabitating a space will deeply relate to … some more than others. Here are two:
‘Finding my housemate’s stash of ecstasy in my favourite mug’: Wilkinson “made sure it didn’t happen again” by moving all the mugs she owned to her bedroom.
‘Asking my housemate’s boyfriend to pay rent’: “Dan was quick-witted and funny,” she writes. But after a month passed, Wilkinson realised he was staying at the share house every night. She “found him less and less funny”.
Devilish suggestion? Send this to an old housemate (if you’re still friends) or your current ones – if you dare.
How long will it take to read: four minutes.
2. Abigail Disney: ‘Every billionaire who can’t live on $999m is kind of a sociopath’
Billionaires including Elon Musk, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Charles Koch – one of the richest people in the world – all seem pretty comfortable with the fact Donald Trump is the US president.
But Abigail Disney isn’t like the rest. The Disney heir – one of several - has long argued for rich people like her to pay more tax. Now she is working out how best to meet the challenge of Trump, Musk and the politics of chaos.
Family ties: The 65-year-old is the grand-niece of Walt Disney and says Trump is not all that different … “[He] is an inheritor,” she says. “He never acknowledges it, but he wouldn’t have been able to do any of the things he did without an inheritance.”
How long will it take to read: five minutes.
Further reading: Wondering which Trump-supporting billionaires have lost the most in the tariff turmoil? Here they are.
3. The TikTok chocolate everyone is going crazy for
If you haven’t heard of Dubai chocolate, you’re probably not on TikTok. “Sweet, creamy, crunchy, with a chocolate shell decorated with splashes of colour and a whimsical name (Can’t Get Knafeh of It), the finished product must have seemed like a winner,” writes Emine Saner.
What’s in it? The chocolate bar contains “a sweet, gooey filling of pistachio cream and tahini with the crunch of knafeh”, Saner describes.
Who made it? Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian engineer living in Dubai, who, after pregnancy cravings, birthed the invention in 2021.
***
“That one craving sparked a passion I never expected … I never imagined Dubai chocolate would become such a global craze.” – Sarah Hamouda
How long will it take to read: four minutes.
Further reading: you can even DIY Dubai chocolate at home with Ravneet Gill’s recipe.
4. The world’s coldest capital with the deadliest air
In Ulaanbaatar, coal fires heat almost every home. The extreme weather is driving families off the Mongolian steppes and into the capital city, where coal-fired heating has led to a health crisis.
Crisis levels: The wealthy are advised to leave town to avoid their kids getting repeatedly sick. Meanwhile, incidents of carbon monoxide poisonings from people who stay and try to keep warm is rising, with more than 800 related deaths recorded in the last seven years.
“Everyone is breathing this air – the poor and the wealthy,” Dr Jigjidsuren Chinburen, an MP, oncologist and former director of Mongolia’s cancer centre, said. “We can solve it easily, we just need a good heart.”
How long will it take to read: five minutes.
Further viewing: How smog has become part of Mongolians’ way of life.
5. Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus on stardom and surviving cancer
In 2021, Mark Hoppus thought he was going to die. “And, in a way, it absolutely was so freeing,” he tells Alexis Petridis, recalling the horrors and success of his cancer treatment, and how being sick helped “heal his friendship” with fellow Blink-182 band member Tom DeLonge.
What’s my age again? In what gen Zs would describe a very boomer moment, Hoppus accidentally shared a chemo selfie to more than a million Instagram followers. The musician calls it “the best mistake I’ve ever made” because of the overwhelming support he received.
Keep reading … for Hoppus’ gleefully puerile take on how punk brought him fame, an art collection and his Beverly Hills mansion with a phallic-shaped swimming pool.
How long will it take to read: five minutes.
Sign up
If you would like to receive these Five Great Reads to your email inbox every weekend, sign up here. And check out the full list of our local and international newsletters.
