Six great reads: Louis Theroux’s reluctance to answer questions, Apple’s rights and wrongs, and boomers v gen Z | Ghislaine Maxwell

1. ‘The cover-up is blatant’: a journalist’s tenacious and traumatic fight to expose Ghislaine Maxwell

Lucia Osborne-Crowley has endured threats and sexual harassment to report on Jeffrey Epstein’s chief enabler. Maxwell’s conviction was just the beginning of the quest for justice, he told Melissa Denes.

_{Read more}

2. ‘Do you want me to cry now?’ Louis Theroux on the manosphere, marriage and misunderstandings

“I’m standing in the rain, confused. Was that interview a little off? Louis Theroux seemed to not like my questions, which were typical interview questions, related to him and his big, brilliant Netflix debut, Inside the Manosphere. He seemed, I don’t know, prickly? A little irritable? I’m prone to rumination, so maybe I’m overthinking. Because Louis Theroux is a good guy, right? He skewers the bad guys. And yet, here I am, bewildered. The only thing we can do is sit in a cafe and play the tape…”

He is the most daring documentary filmmaker on television, known for asking questions that others would not ask. But, as Charlotte Edwardes discovered, Theroux doesn’t seem to like turning the tables.

_{Read more}

3. How the American far right accepted the myth of the persecution of white South Africa

“There is a small village in the South African bush, a full day’s drive from the country’s big cities, that has become perhaps the most scrutinized place in the world, given its size… No people of color are allowed to live in the village, called Orania. The name is a nod to the river that runs nearby. The founders of Orania established it in 1991, a year after Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in prison.”

When Donald Trump granted refugee status to white South Africans, he was echoing a falsehood about black people taking revenge for years of brutality. But no one thrives in a repressive police state. In this long and fascinating read, Eve Fairbanks explored the truth about the lives of white South Africans under apartheid and today.

_{Read more}

4. Fifty years of improving technology: Apple’s epic successes and failures

Do you remember the iPod? How about Reineta? In the half century since it launched its first PC, Apple has given us some surprising innovations. Chris Stokel-Walker summarized his greatest triumphs and failures: from the genius of the Apple II to the madness of the Vision Pro headphones.

_{Read more}

5. Did the baby boomers eat all the cakes? John Lanchester on the truth about the generation gap

It’s certainly a bleak time to be in your twenties, but don’t blame everything on older people, wrote John Lanchester in this thoughtful essay: being divided into smaller and smaller rivalries only serves the market.

_{Read more}

6. ‘I feel like I’m not old yet’: Alan Bennett’s diary of his 90th year

“A call from Radio 4 to get my opinion on assisted dying. Answer: too close to unassisted dying to care.”

He got stuck in the bathroom and met the queen. But despite some hemming and hawing, the author still couldn’t believe his age in this delightful extract from his fourth diary collection.

_{Read more}