Six great reads: my Couples Therapy hell, the plot to dethrone Keir Starmer and a ‘creepy’ AI toy

2 hours ago 4

1. My wife and I had couples therapy on TV. It nearly wrecked our marriage
Boris Fishman and his wife, Jessica. Photograph: Chris Buck/The Guardian
When Boris Fishman’s marriage to Jessica ran into trouble, he turned to the hit TV show Couples Therapy for help. It proved a huge mistake, not only taking a “wrecking ball” to their relationship but turning him into public enemy number one on the internet. Here’s his account of what didn’t make it to the screen.
_{Read more}
2. Can Keir survive? Inside the plot to bring down the prime minister
The piece explores questions over Starmer’s future. Illustration: Guardian Design
Is the UK prime minister drinking in the last-chance saloon? After a torrid week that mired the Labour government in scandal, the Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar, and deputy political editor Jessica Elgot wrote about the operation to dethrone Starmer that appears to be under way.
_{Read more}
3. ‘I love you too!’ My family’s creepy, unsettling week with an AI toy
Grem the chatbot. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian
The cuddly chatbot Grem is designed to “learn” your child’s personality, while every conversation they have is recorded, then transcribed by a third party. It wasn’t long before Arwa Mahdawi wanted this experiment to be over …
_{Read more}
4. ‘You think rape’s your fault’: Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker on her devastating memoir
Brenda Fricker in a picture taken last year. Photograph: Melanie Mullan
The actor had a zest for life that propelled her to the heights of stage and screen – but behind this lay a shocking story of violence, grooming and abuse. In a powerful interview by Rory Carroll, Ireland’s 80-year-old grande dame looked back – from her bed, flanked by pills and cigarettes.
_{Read more}
5. ‘Resistance is when I put an end to what I don’t like’: The rise and fall of the Baader-Meinhof gang
Police officers beat unarmed demonstrators with batons in Frankfurt, 1976. Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy
In this gripping long read, Jason Burke profiled the radical leftwing German terrorist organisation that spread fear through public acts of violence in the 1970s – even though its inner workings were characterised by vanity and incompetence.
_{Read more}
6. Madness on a mountain: for 15 years, my mom was trapped in a mutual psychosis
Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images/Photos courtesy of Joelle Fraser
Joelle Fraser shared the deeply personal story of how her mom and stepdad retreated to a remote cabin, 6,500ft up a desert mountain in north-east California. When the 77-year-old fell mysteriously ill, it seemed like a cry for help. Then came the unexpected diagnosis: folie à deux.
_{Read more}