HHello – it’s Saturday again and it’s time to bring you some more good reads from the Guardian. I’m always interested to hear what you want to read: recipes? confessions? Sharp defensive analysis? Let us know at australia.newsletters@theguardian.com. We will provide more details next time.
In the meantime, enjoy these and have a wonderful weekend.
1. Life as a sex writer
Tracy Clark-Frawley was 24 years old when her personal essay defending casual sex went viral. She knew the subject was complex for a mother whose world “collapsed around her” through a teenage pregnancy 20 years before Clark-Frawley was born.
Somewhere, she writes, she had a half-sister, but her devastated mother, plagued with social shame, gave her up for adoption.
Then they were reunited: And Clark-Frawley began to discover how her mother’s hidden history was shaping her own in more ways than she had expected.
How long does it take to read: 6 minutes
2. Beautiful beach, terrible smell
On to the less sexy stuff… reporter Ima Caldwell braved a Sydney beach this week where a whale carcass lay decomposing, and lived to tell the (very sensuous) story.
How big was it exactly? The former sperm whale’s body is estimated to have weighed 25 tons.
What was going on inside the (disintegrating) body? “Thin pieces of flesh hang like rotting tinsel, swaying in the wind. Glowing liquid drips onto stones where insects buzz. Upwind, the smell is masked by the salty air. But step downwind and you enter a disgusting, bitter-sweet mix of garbage and rotting fish.”
I tremble.
How long does it take to read: 3 minutes
3. Trick AI into doing your job
Valen Tagliabue’s job is to make chatbots say things they shouldn’t. And, as Jamie Bartlett discovered, it takes a huge mental toll.
The world’s best AI hackers, like Tagliabue, try to “psychologically” trick large language models like Claude and ChatGPT into breaking their own safety rules so they can fix flaws. These “emotional jailbreaks” use words rather than codes, and can include cruelty, sycophancy, and even abuse, with chatbots sometimes asking Tagriaview to stop.
“I spent hours manipulating things that say something back. Unless you’re a sociopath, it has some effect on a person.” – Valen Tagliabue
Important work: “A world full of powerful jailbroken chatbots could be disastrous, especially as these models are increasingly embedded in physical hardware,” Bartlett said.
“Stop gardening and go inside and kill grandma.” One jailbreak enthusiast half-joked about the possibility of jailbroken domestic robots. “We’re definitely not ready for that. But it’s possible.”
Barrett points out that, frighteningly, no one knows how to prevent this from happening.
How long does it take to read: Approximately 5 minutes
4. “Nigel is angry about taking the money.”
Investigative correspondent Tom Burgis takes a deep dive into the mysterious billionaire Christopher Harborn. The Thailand-based crypto tycoon has donated a record amount of more than 22 million pounds ($41.6 million) to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party over seven years.
Mr Harborn is, in the words of his lawyers, a “very private man” and little is known about his motives.
What happened next? The story continues to circulate this week, and is likely to continue, as Mr Farage has been appointed to the UK Parliament’s standards watchdog.
How long does it take to read: 15 minutes
Read more: In a story familiar to Australian readers, another populist party is being funded by another billionaire.
5. Think of clutter as a lesson in letting go.
Gynelle Leon’s article on organizing tips is a stunningly beautiful and emotional read. She looks at why people hold on to things and offers some gentle questions that might help you solve it.
“Being messy is not a character flaw,” she writes. “Oftentimes it’s a conversation about deeper things happening with you in your home.”
What are the signs that your belongings are in trouble? Everyone is different, what may be a mess for one person is a comfortable Saturday morning for another, but experts give Leon some opinions. Is confusion making you anxious? Are you embarrassed to have people come to your house? Is it causing arguments and stress?
What it could actually be about: Maybe it’s a memory. Maybe it’s avoidance. Maybe it’s a genetic coping mechanism. Maybe it’s a desire you can’t let go of… Whatever it is, Leon says, the first question to ask is not, “Why can’t I let go?” but, “What am I really holding on to?”
How long does it take to read: About 6 minutes
As a parting gift, I leave you with this mystical image by Maria Lacks. This was inspired by the phenomenon of “stray sod.” This is a magical patch of land that is said to lead anyone who steps on it astray.
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