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Heather Graham, Ozzy Osbourne, and the dirtiest race in Olympic history |
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| Kris Swales |
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Top of the weekend to you all. For Australian readers yet to cast your vote, here’s something to consider on your way to the polling booth. And a recommendation for you all once you’ve consumed this week’s third read: crank this up to 11 and give the drummer some. |
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1. Heather Graham on cutting contact with her family and thriving |
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Families can be difficult, as the actor Heather Graham can attest.
She says she ceased all contact with her mother and “really religious” father when they vetoed her taking a role in the cult 1988 comedy Heathers. From Twin Peaks to playing Rollergirl and Felicity Shagwell, her Hollywood career has subsequently thrived – and even survived a couple of run-ins with the notorious Harvey Weinstein.
Directorial debut: Graham has stepped behind the camera for Chosen Family, a comedy-drama film about a child-free yoga teacher called Ann struggling with her manipulative, dysfunctional family.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
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2. Trump’s 100 days: delusions of monarchy coupled with fundamental ineptitude |
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Watching Donald Trump move fast and break a lot of things has been exhausting enough from a distance. David Smith, our Washington DC bureau chief, has witnessed the carnage first hand. He runs the ruler over what the Democratic veteran Chuck Schumer has dubbed “100 days of hell for the American people”.
Survey says: A recent US poll had disapproval for Trump’s presidency at 55%. He received 49.8% of the popular vote in the presidential election.
How long will it take to read: Four minutes.
Further reading: This interactive breaks the first stanza of Trump’s second term down into 41 bite-sized fiascos.
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3. Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy |
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He (allegedly) bit the head off a live bat. He (allegedly) snorted a line of live ants. Now Ozzy Osbourne, one of the wildest of all the rock’n’roll wild men, is in a lot of pain after five spinal surgeries and a Parkinson’s diagnosis.
He and his Black Sabbath bandmates talked exclusively to Alexis Petridis ahead of the heavy metal titans’ reunion/final farewell show – and assured fans Ozzy will make it on stage.
“I think Ozzy might be on some kind of throne, but I’m in the dark as much as anybody else.” – Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi on how his frontman will get through the gig.
Best line-up ever? Support acts include Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera and Tool. All proceeds will go to charity.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
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The most important news from Australia and the globe, as it breaks
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Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties
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4. The slut-shamed former glamour model who fought back |
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Jess Davies was 15 when the first intimate photo she shared with someone she trusted was circulated more widely. When she was a glamour model for Britain’s “lads’ mags”, she says a man she was dating snapped her sleeping naked and sent the pic to his mates.
Years later, other photos of her were used to scam or catfish a series of men. The BBC learned of her plight and a documentary, When Nudes Are Stolen, followed. Now 32, Davies’s new book turns the spotlight back on the online scam perpetrators and the “anonymous, secretive world” they inhabit.
Risk, Captions and Make Me Ashamed: The names of some of the “games” Davies observed men playing with women’s photos in the darker recesses of the web.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
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5. And the winner is … |
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Britain’s Lisa Dobriskey was unusually candid to the BBC after placing 10th in the women’s 1,500m at the 2012 London Olympics: “I don’t believe I’m competing on a level playing field.”
She was right. Five of the top nine finishers, including the gold and silver medallists, have since been hit with doping violations and had their placings stripped. Dobriskey and other athletes who were cheated out of medals that day tell the story of the dirtiest race in Olympic history – and its long-running aftermath.
How long will it take to read: Ten minutes.
Further reading: Gout Gout’s coach, Di Sheppard, on guiding the Australian sprint sensation.
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A message from Lenore Taylor editor of Guardian Australia
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask whether you could support the Guardian’s journalism as we face the unprecedented challenges of covering the second Trump administration.
As the world struggles to process the speed with which Donald Trump is smashing things, here in Australia we wake every morning to more shocking news. Underneath it is always the undermining of ideas and institutions we have long deemed precious and important – like the norms and rules of democracy, global organisations, post-second world war alliances, the definition of what constitutes a dictator, the concept that countries should cooperate for a common global good or the very notion of human decency.
This is a moment the media must rise to, with factual, clear-eyed news and analysis. It’s our job to help readers understand the scale and worldwide ramifications of what is occurring as best we can. The global news-gathering and editorial reach of the Guardian is seeking to do just that.
Here in Australia – as we also cover a federal election - our mission is to go beyond the cheap, political rhetoric and to be lucid and unflinching in our analysis of what it all means. If Trump can so breezily upend the trans-Atlantic alliance, what does that mean for Aukus? If the US is abandoning the idea of soft power, where does that leave the strategic balance in the Pacific? If the world descends back into protectionism, how should a free trading nation like Australia respond?
These are big questions – and the Guardian is in a unique position to take this challenge on. We have no billionaire owner pulling the strings, nor do we exist to enrich shareholders. We are funded by our readers and owned by the Scott Trust, whose sole financial obligation is to preserve our journalistic mission in perpetuity.
Our allegiance is to the public, not to profit, so whatever happens in the coming months and years, you can rely on us to never bow down to power, nor back down from reporting the truth.
If you can, please consider supporting us with just $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you.
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