Five Great Reads: Chappell Roan, a WhatsApp journey, and Italy’s ‘shapeshifter’ prime minister
Happy Saturday! And happy AFL grand final day to all who celebrate. To calm pre-game nerves, why not read about the Swans pride connecting fans across two states, or take a look back to the last time the Lions and Swans met in a decider: 125 years ago, when the match took a strange turn before it even began.
But first, sip on your morning brew and enjoy your scroll.
1. ‘I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone’
Pop star of the moment Chappell Roan’s interview was a look at how the 26-year-old lesbian drag artist has been handling her meteoric rise to fame. But one quote, about choosing not to endorse Kamala Harris, overtook and outshone any discussion about her diagnosis of severe depression, being anti-celebrity or how politics can be nuanced for young Americans.
People online have been calling Roan a closet Republican, so she has since had to come out to say she won’t be voting for Trump. Here is the original story, without the clickbait but with the talent, struggles and colourful pizzazz I fell in love with when I heard the first bars of The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Further reading: After the backlash, Jeffrey Ingold has praised the pop star for taking a stand for critical thinking. “It’s refreshing to hear a pop star talk about politics with conviction and nuance,” he writes.
How long will it take to read: six minutes.
2. ‘If you would like to travel to Europe … Please add this number on WhatsApp’
Zhang* is living in a temporary centre for migrants in Bosnia. He made the journey there from China with his two young children. It is a route “so difficult and dangerous that many struggle to understand why someone would embark on it”.
In September, the Guardian met a growing number of Chinese people trying their luck to cross into the EU by travelling to the Balkans. Some leave with little more than the contact details of a mysterious WhatsApp message promising “we can help you” and a map downloaded on a smartphone.
Why the Balkans? Bosnia, like its neighbour Serbia, offers visa-free travel, making it an attractive staging post for Chinese migrants.
How long will it take to read: nearly six minutes.
3. Elizabeth Taylor – as seen by her son
It’s surreal to read about one of the world’s biggest stars through the eyes of their children. To the world, Hollywood actor Elizabeth Taylor was larger than life, “so famous and infamous” at being “sexy and scandalous”. But to Chris Wilding, she was just Mom.
Taylor was someone who embarrassed him when she turned up at school for parents’ day, and someone he shared a birthday with. Above all – amid the movie deals, the marriages and addictions – he loved her deeply.
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“Her whole life, she rebelled, and that’s what was so great about her. I hope she continues to inspire women and girls to take the risk of: fuck it, do things your way, stand up for yourself. As my ex-wife says in the film, she was the Queen of Fuck You.” – Chris Wilding
Cleopatra eyes: Wilding as a child watching his mother apply makeup on set of the 1963 film is mesmerising.
How long will it take to read: nine minutes.
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4. Who is the real Giorgia Meloni?
Giorgia Meloni has stumped the world. Italy’s first female prime minister has been described as “a closet fascist” with hard-lined immigration policies. But, as Alexander Stille points out, she is also viewed as a conservative democrat, “staking out territory on the centre-right”, cosying up to EU leaders.
Meloni is a shapeshifter, Stille writes, presenting different sides of herself for different audiences. So while we might never quite know the real Meloni, we should study her closely, as this story does.
Fun fact: At 15, Meloni joined the Movimento Sociale Italiano – a political party of diehard former fascists. The group held hobbit camps, and Meloni even dressed up as the hobbit Samwise Gamgee. She is quoted as once saying “I don’t consider The Lord of the Rings fantasy”.
How long will it take to read: fourteen minutes.
5. Cupid strikes again
And finally, a sweet dessert to finish. Meet Emily and Sophie: the couple set up six years ago by the Guardian, who are still together and have even entered a marriage of sorts. Stories such as this are the reason we watch romcoms, we swipe and cry at weddings!
I really did save the most heartwarming read for last.
It gets even better: You can read their original Blind Date column from 2016.
Other success stories? The magic of OG matcher Nina Trickey has led to five Blind Date weddings so far, plus at least two Blind Date babies.
How long will it take to read: five minutes.
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