Happy Saturday. My first read is dedicated to one of the five journalists killed in Gaza this week – Mariam Abu Dagga, Moaz Abu Taha, Hussam al-Masri, Ahmed Abu Aziz and Mohammad Salama.
1. ‘Make me proud’: Mariam Abu Dagga
On Monday, five Palestinian journalists were killed in southern Gaza after they were struck by an Israeli double-tap strike on al-Nasser hospital. At least 192 Palestinian journalists have been killed since 7 October 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (the UN puts the figure even higher).
This profile of Mariam Abu Dagga captures the “rare honesty and courage” of the 33-year-old photojournalist and mother of a 13-year-old boy, Ghaith. She is remembered as someone who carried “her camera into the heart of the field”.
Dying message to her son: “You are my love, my heart, my support, my soul and my son whom I am proud of.”
How long will it take to read: a bit over two minutes
Further reading: ‘He loved his work deeply’: the five Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza airstrike.
2. Arundhati Roy’s ‘wild, imperfect, fatherless life’
This extract from the Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy is a gripping glimpse of what is to come in her new memoir, evoking the poetic vividness of her first novel The God Of Small Things.
Would they ever find a safe space? Roy retraces her early life in India, when her brother and her extraordinary but difficult mother moved from a hill station squat to an eccentric household in Kerala, where family members begrudgingly took them in.
How long will it take to read: eight minutes
3. ‘There’s only one Norman Harris’
You’d better strap in for Andy Welch’s rocking read on Norman Harris: the man behind the world’s most famous guitar store. It’s a banger.
While Norman didn’t “single-handedly create the vintage guitar market, he certainly shaped it” after accidentally becoming a guitar dealer back in the 1970s, Welch writes. His unassuming shopfront in California has gone on to sell used and vintage guitars to the likes of George Harrison, Slash, Dave Grohl and even Marty McFly.
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“I didn’t think anybody would ever believe that I’d spent the day with George and bought his Beatles guitar.” – Norman Harris.
Fun fact: Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow bought their son one of Harris’s guitars for his 16th birthday.
Lost to the Future: Marty McFly’s red Gibson is a Harris guitar too. Sadly, it’s been lost for decades.
How long will it take to read: about five minutes
4. The rise of the ‘algorithm movie’
Soon the routine conundrum of scrolling through a streaming service’s landing page to find the most suitable watch could be gone. Already Netflix is making films guided by its users’ data – pleasing audience members, but resulting in safer, more generic and forgettable movies.
Algorithms are dulling our taste buds: Phil Hoad’s long read this week looks at what the Netflix algorithm has done to our films.
What about AI? “Most interviewees I canvassed think we are still some years away from AI producing a boundary-pushing script,” Hoad writes, but some say we should expect a ChatGPT “cookie-cutter Christmas movie” soon.
How long will it take to read: about 11 minutes (still quicker than me trying to choose a film)
5. Cooking for Seamus
And now take a U-turn to one of the more wholesome corners of the internet. Meet Seamus, the disabled rescue bull with his own cooking show.
Seamus lives in regional Victoria and is obsessed with human food. His carer Archer decided to make a low-fi YouTube series consisting of celebrity cooks making a meal for this gentle beast.
Archer about Seamus: “I believe he has one of the most advanced palates in the history of the world.”
How long will it take to read: just over two minutes
Further reading: and since you’re already on the internet to read this, I recommend watching an episode. It is delightful.
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