Six great reads: Syria’s reckoning, Ice’s Uncle Sam memes and school WhatsApp hell

1. ‘What reconciliation? What forgiveness?’: Syria’s deadly reckoning

A building in ruins in Homs, Syria. Photograph: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/The Guardian

Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad followed their story and looked more widely about the violence that still stalks Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

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The posts are part of the DHS’s push to quickly hire more than 10,000 new US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

Boosted by huge investment from the Trump administration, the US Department of Homeland Security is seeking to recruit 10,000 new agents. In an attempt to convince more people to sign up, it is undertaking a concerted, albeit scattergun, social media campaign to attract new recruits. Johana Bhuiyan explored the Uncle Sam memes and patriotic videos aimed at three key demographics: former military and law enforcement; legal professionals; gen Z and early-career professionals.

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3. No moaning about the teachers and definitely no nudes! How to survive the school WhatsApp group

School WhatsApp groups can be a vortex of petty drama. Illustration: Stephen Collins/The Guardian

“Becoming a parent,” wrote Stuart Heritage, “can be one of the richest, most rewarding things you can ever experience.”

“That said,” he added, “it’s a qualified reward, because to be a parent is often to be forced into joining the school WhatsApp group. In theory, a community of like-minded peers who understand that it takes a village to raise a child. In reality, a vortex of petty drama, pointless competition and outright hostility.”

Essential reading if you’ve been back at the gates this week.

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Lamented loss … Glasgow’s Glasvegan, now closed. Photograph: Gerard Ferry/Alamy

Veganism is still on the rise, but many popular venues and chains are shutting down. Are they victims of a terrible era for hospitality or part of a growing shift in cultural values, asked Isobel Lewis.

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5. Conspiracies, costume changes, and three-hour deep dives: inside the wild west of YouTube video essays

Illustration: Olga Khaletskaya/The Guardian

Mixing dense political ideas with allusions to The Sound of Music and BoJack Horseman, these films have become a thrilling DIY artform – one entirely conceived, written, filmed and performed by their stars. Kirsty Major explored this thriving corner of the internet where these thoughtful deep dives challenge the prevailing common sense in the boardrooms of streaming services and broadcasting corporations that attention – in terms of quality and quantity – is dwindling.

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6. I stopped telling ‘little white lies’ for two weeks. This is what I learned

Illustration: Angelica Alzona/Guardian Design; Images via CSA Images/blackred/Getty Images

After being caught up in a few small lies a couple of times, the Guardian US lifestyle and wellness reporter Madeleine Aggeler decided to try not lying for two weeks: “there were only so many people I could alienate in that time. I also turned to professionals to find out whether honesty is always the best policy.”

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