Six great reads: Swiss bunkers, what Alexa heard and red-pill manosphere hucksters

1. The boy who came back: the near-death, and changed life, of my son Max

Archie Bland with his son Max , shot in Feb 2025. Photograph: Lydia Goldblatt/The Guardian

“It was, we were told, a case of sudden infant death syndrome interrupted. What followed would transform my understanding of parenting, disability and the breadth of what makes a meaningful life.”In this remarkable account, Archie Bland tells the story of the night his son Max nearly died and of what came next.

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2. I worried I might start finding it normal. But I never did’ – what I learned as the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent

Bethan McKernan Photograph: Masafer Yatta

Bethan McKernan spent four years as the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, a period marked by the horrors of 7 October 2023 and what has followed in Gaza. As she begins her new role as the Guardian’s Wales correspondent, she looked back at her period in the Middle East and how it has shaped her and her understanding of the region.

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3. Why does Switzerland have more nuclear bunkers than any other country?

An air supply tunnel in the nuclear fallout shelter in Lucerne, Switzerland. Photograph: Reuters/Alamy

Switzerland is home to more than 370,000 nuclear bunkers – enough to shelter every member of the population. But, asked Jessi Jezewska Stevens, if the worst should happen, would they actually work?

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4. ‘Alexa, what do you know about us?’ What I discovered when I asked Amazon to tell me everything my family’s smart speaker had heard

From queries to swearing… what Alexa listened to. Illustration: Steven Gregor/The Guardian

“In September 2016, a new presence appears in our house, squatting on the kitchen counter between the kettle and the coffee machine. It is blandly futuristic, a minimal cylinder with an LED ring that glows blue to alert us to the fact that it is ready, poised to answer our questions or carry out our instructions, as long as those instructions are clearly stated and fall within a narrow band of available ‘skills’.”

For nearly a decade, Alexa has been listening to Jeremy Ettinghausen and his family’s questions and instructions. What had she heard? And what did it tell him about the role Amazon’s smart speaker plays in so many of our lives?

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5. The story of the 2024-25 Premier League season in 100 photos

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool takes a selfie with fans in April. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty Images

After 380 games and more than 1,000 goals the 2024-25 Premier League season came to an end last weekend. Jonny Weeks told the story of a dramatic (in parts) season via the work of the best sports photographers in the game – including our own brilliant Tom Jenkins.
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6. Nick wanted to drop bodyfat and build his own micro-harem of women: how my friend fell for the red-pill hucksters of the manosphere

An illustration of a man flexing. Illustration: Pete Reynolds/The Guardian

“When I first met Nick in 2019, at a dating and self-improvement summit in Miami, it wasn’t immediately obvious why he was paying so much money to pseudo-authority figures from the manosphere. He had looks, cash and some of the easy swagger of London done good … ”

So writes James Bloodworth in his fascinating (and worrying) profile of a friend who went down the digital rabbit hole. Nick’s story is a cautionary tale of what happens when someone who feels inadequate listens to the new generation of masculinity salesmen

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