The power of sharing life-changing moments

Journalists are used to being close to events that have the power to shape other people’s lives. By bearing witness, reporters often speak to people at moments of great tragedy or triumph. But journalists are also people, with ordinary and sometimes extraordinary lives outside of work, and sometimes colleagues face the challenge of writing about their own life-altering experiences.

An extremely powerful recent example came with an article this week by Archie Bland, who edits our daily newsletter, First Edition. His two-month-old son Max suddenly stopped breathing in the middle of the night in 2023. Against the odds, Max somehow survived. For our Saturday magazine, Archie wrote not only about that terrible night and the months that followed, but about the way that what happened changed him as a parent and a person. His precise and beautifully written piece tackles the precariousness of life as well as the often invisible struggles, and joys, of parenting a child with disability. Max’s extraordinary story was accompanied by beautiful portraits by Lydia Goldblatt. Archie also spoke to Helen Pidd about his family’s experience on a moving episode of Today in Focus and looked at what he’s learned about the disability inequality gap for yesterday’s First Edition.

I have been editor-in-chief for 10 years now — well, as of Sunday anyway — and I’m often amazed by some of the things my inspiring colleagues and their families have come through. Last year, reporter Aamna Mohdin published an intimate book about her life as a young refugee after her family were forced to flee the violence in Somalia in the 1990s. In this extract, Aamna told the story of her journey to the UK and return to the refugee camp in Kenya that shaped her childhood. A few decades later, many members of Nesrine Malik’s family were put in a similar situation in Khartoum as Sudan’s capital was shattered by conflict. In this formidable Long read from 2023, Nesrine chronicled the downfall of her former home city as well as her family’s escape from it.

Journalists sharing their own stories can also help to direct attention towards an even bigger picture. Senior editor Merope Mills’s account of the death of her daughter Martha was not only a staggering piece of writing, but was also an early part of Merope and her husband Paul’s campaign – after severe failings in Martha’s treatment – to allow patients in English hospitals to call for an urgent review of their condition if they’re concerned about deterioration. Since what became known as Martha’s rule was adopted in many parts of the NHS in 2024 it has already had a “transformative effect” on patients’ lives.

Finally, the act of reporting itself can of course also have a huge impact on our journalists’ lives. It’s no surprise that the last 18 months covering Israel and Palestine have been extremely difficult. Bethan McKernan, our outgoing Jerusalem correspondent, wrote honestly and sadly about her experiences, from the hopelessness of trying to comfort those stuck in Gaza to a renewed understanding of what reporting on conflict can – or can’t – achieve.

Until next week.

PS: Apart from this Saturday email to you, I don’t write very much these days. But I jumped at the opportunity to speak to groundbreaking former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern for her first major interview since her shock resignation, which is published today. We discussed whether empathy can beat fascism and what it’s like to live in Trump’s US.

Lorenzo Tondo in Jerusalem, Malak A Tantesh in Gaza and Aseel Mousa told the heartbreaking story of Yaqeen Hammad. The 11-year-old was Gaza’s youngest influencer, offering practical survival tips for life under bombardment and, she said, trying to “bring a bit of joy to the other children so that they can forget the war.” She was killed in an Israeli airstrike on her home on 23 May. Malak and Lorenzo also wrote about Dr Alaa al-Najjar, a respected paediatrician and one of Gaza’s dwindling number of medics, who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli airstrike on her home in Khan Younis when she was at work, trying to save children. Malak and Jason Burke delved deeper into the hunger and despair in Gaza City and, in the West Bank, Lorenzo, Quique Kierszenbaum and Sufian Taha spoke to witnesses to an attack by violent settlers that left 10 Palestinians in hospital. We published photographs from one of those wounded, an Israeli activist, who retrieved his memory card before his camera was seized and smashed.

In Kyiv, Shaun Walker interviewed Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, who lives in exile in the Ukrainian capital after Russia seized his homeland. Using very undiplomatic language, he discussed turning down Putin’s money to back the Russians and his views on Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff: “I’ve seen a lot of stupid diplomats in my life, but one like him, that’s a first.”

This week marked five years on since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests that rippled around the world. Melissa Hellman visited the still cordoned-off site where Floyd was murdered, where there is a tense debate ongoing over how best to honour his legacy, while Gloria Oladipo spoke to protestors who were shot at by police. In the UK, our Race report project looked at the state of racial equality: an investigation by Chris Osuh, Aamna Mohdin and Raphael Boyd found only a third of the recommendations from UK government-commissioned race reports over the past 40 years have been implemented, while Lanre Bakare spoke to Black British TV makers, who said they were “fighting over scraps” amid a lack of opportunities. Nesrine Malik reflected on how the protests changed the way she thought about racial justice for the the Long Wave newsletter, while Jason Okundaye visited Bristol, where a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down in 2020. We also heard from writers in Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Germany and the US on the legacy of the movement in their countries.

In UK politics, Pippa Crerar revealed Labour would delay its flagship child poverty strategy until at least the autumn, even though tens of thousands more children will fall into poverty as a result. Ashley Kirk revealed through a striking polling analysis how Keir Starmer’s party has seen the biggest dip in popularity within its first 10 months in power of any newly elected UK government in 40 years. Do these charts show just how worried Labour should be? Jessica Elgot got the scoop on ministers preparing to announce a trade deal with Gulf states, amid criticism from rights groups that it makes no concrete provisions on human rights or modern slavery.

Kalyeena Makortoff revealed that 17 years after the taxpayer bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland - now known as NatWest - its disgraced ex-boss, Fred Goodwin, is estimated to be receiving an annual pension worth nearly £600,000.

The joy of Liverpool’s Premier League title parade, attended by 500,000 fans was wrecked by a car driving into a crowd, injuring dozens of people. Liverpool football correspondent Andy Hunter spoke to Helen Pidd about how the incident unfolded on Today in Focus and, for the First Edition newsletter, Aamna Mohdin explained how police moved to get ahead of the kind of conspiracy theories that followed last summer’s attack in Southport.

There was a shock triumph for Arsenal in the Women’s Champions League final despite starting as underdogs against Barcelona, sparking joyful scenes in Lisbon. “For Arsenal, this changes everything,” wrote Jonathan Liew, and for the defender Leah Williamson it capped quite a journey; the day before the final she talked to Suzanne Wrack about being a 10-year-old mascot on the only previous occasion Arsenal had won the trophy, in 2007.

In Australia, the state of New South Wales witnessed a series of devastating floods. Henry Belot spoke to a third-generation dairy farmer on the mid-north coast who was burying his dead stock after devastating floods in the state. Katie McLeod spoke to residents and farmers in the region involved in the cleanup, while Luca Ittimani interviewed a cafe owner in Taree whose cafe was inundated just two years after previous “once-in-50-year” floods.

Paula Cocozza told the shocking story of Aimee Walton, whose sister believes she was “groomed” to kill herself on a pro-suicide forum. James Bloodworth told the story of his friend Nick’s descent into the “masculinity salesman” rabbit hole was an important cautionary tale from the manosphere. And on Today in Focus, Nicola Packer described her four-and-a-half-year ordeal through the courts after being prosecuted for, and then found not guilty of, having an illegal abortion. Hannah al-Othman has followed the case from beginning to end.

I enjoyed Simon Hattenstone’s interview with Alan Alda to discuss his 60 years of fame; Michael Sun on Lorde’s surprise appearance at a Lorde-themed club night in Sydney; novelist Adam Mars-Jones on the complexities of seeing his “queer biker novel” Box Hill (slowly) make its way to its premiere at Cannes in his diary of his trip to the south of France; these strikingly unguarded portraits of ordinary Soviet citizens at their most relaxed, curated by Mee-Lai Stone; and Zoe Williams on the suggestion millennials are choosing dogs over having children.

And I loved the exuberance of Oliver Wainwright’s review of the building and Jonathan Jones’s review of the art at London’s new V&A East Storehouse, an open-access home to a staggering 250,000 artefacts. Oliver dubbed it a “National Museum of Absolutely Everything”.

One more thing …Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan has a gripping podcast with academic Adrian Daub called In Bed with the Right, focusing on rightwing ideas about sex, gender and sexuality. It’s fascinating and enraging … I particularly enjoyed the recent episode on Amber Heard, and the ongoing series on what happened in Germany every month in 1933.

Cook this | Honey & Co’s grilled asparagus with pistachio, garlic and lime salad

In the UK celebrating asparagus is almost like a national holiday; we love the season and wish it was longer. A version of this dish has appeared on every spring menu at Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer’s restaurant Honey & Smoke in London for the past eight years, and this one is easy to make at home, either on a barbecue or in a griddle pan in the kitchen.

Watch this | Poems to remember

Actors including Asa Butterfield, Stephen Mangan, Helena Bonham Carter and Susan Wokoma share poems as part of Celebration Day, a new annual moment dedicated to commemorating family and friends.

Listen to this | The Olympics’ dirtiest race ever? – Today in Focus

British athlete Lisa Dobriskey speaks to Helen Pidd about her experience in the 2012 1500m final, which, as Esther Addley reports, has become known as the dirtiest race in history.

The Guardian’s crosswords and Wordiply are here to keep you entertained throughout the weekend.