Table of contents for October 2021 in Readers Digest Australia

STARTING A NEW JOB CAN BE DIFFICULT. Yet when you’re a famous athlete working in an elite sport, the public tends to assume the transition is seamless. The reality isn’t always the case. Today, Daniel Ricciardo is one of the world’s top Formula One drivers. In our exclusive interview with the 32-year-old Australian (‘Deep Focus’, page 32), Daniel discusses how personally challenging his new job with the famed McLaren team has been, how COVID-19 has impacted him the past two years, and even how tricky braking in the McLaren has proved. And then there’s the ever-present reminders of legends who drove before him. Each year, many thousands of people place their hope in receiving a lifesaving organ transplant. For those needing multiple organ transplants, that hope involves cruel odds. This…

I was introduced to the world of stories in books, comics and on the wireless long before starting school. At the time we lived in a sleepy little village in Yorkshire, England. The year was 1956. When my baby brother, Stephen, was put down for his afternoon nap, Mum and I shared a special time. We sat by the fire and read our magazines. Mum read Woman, a weekly that thoughtfully included a children’s story which she read to me. Then at two o’clock was Woman’s Hour on the wireless, which also including a children’s story. Best of all, I received a comic called Sunny Stories. Mum read me the stories until I was old enough to read them myself. In January 1957, aged four and ten months, I started…

• To make chilli soy sauce, combine ⅓ cup soy sauce; 2 tbls brown sugar; 2 crushed garlic cloves; 3 cm piece of ginger, grated; and one finely chopped red bird’s eye chilli in a bowl and stir. Set aside.• Heat wok and stir-fry ⅓ cup raw cashews until toasted, then transfer to plate.• Add 1 tbls oil to wok and stir-fry 500 g chicken strips in 3 batches until browned and cooked through. Transfer each batch to a bowl and cover to keep warm.• Add 1 tbls oil to wok. Stir-fry 1 onion, cut into wedges and 1 capsicum, cut into thin strips, for 2 minutes. Add 300 g trimmed beans and a bunch of broccolini, halved, and stir-fry for 1 minute or until greens are bright green and…

Job For Life Want to live forever? Then choose one of these professions: Old bankers never die, they just lose their interest. Old lawyers never die, they just lose their appeal. Old limbo dancers never die, they just go under. Old printers never die, they’re just not the type. www.ba-bamail.com Pour Decision Doctor says to his patient: “Your liver results are back. And frankly, they’re surprisingly poor considering that I only allowed you one glass of wine per week.” The patient shrugs: “Do you really think you are the only doctor I am going to?” From Short-funny.com Mind Your Language I handed her the flowers. “You shouldn’t of!” she said. I took them back. “Have,” I whispered. @ISCOFF I used to love correcting people’s grammar, until I realised that I…

WORDS ARE AS CLOSE TO IMMORTALITY AS YOU’LL EVER GET.AUTHOR YANN MARTEL, IN THE WALRUS All laughter is a muscular rigidity spasmodically relieved by involuntary twitching.ROBERT BENCHLEY, US HUMORIST Lazy people work the hardest to make time to make themselves happy just lying on the sofa, eating chocolate and reading novels.NIGELLA LAWSON, FOOD WRITER KEEP THE GOLD AND KEEP THE SILVER, BUT GIVE US WISDOM.ARABIAN PROVERB I hate it when people press the lift or crosswalk button right after me. You think you press buttons better than I do?ISSA RAE, ACTOR THERE’S NO THEM. THIS IS WHAT EVERYBODY DOES: MAKE 
 A DISTINCTION ABOUT THEM. IT’S JUST US.KEN BURNS, FILMMAKER…

For as long as I can remember, I always understood that riding a motorbike was the beginning of a journey from which you never return, even when you put your feet back on the ground. On a bike you must keep moving forwards. Because if you stop, you fall off. This is probably one definition of freedom. Before this, though, is the first feeling of freedom: the bicycle. I remember my first bicycle so clearly, its colour a ‘racing’ red. I must have ridden thousands of kilometres, must have invented a hundred stages of my own personal Tour de France. Cycling is, first and foremost, a form of wandering that gives free rein to your imagination. Every time I crossed the avenue of plane trees that led to the village…

Pepi Nana stirs, and sits up in bed. “Tiddle toddle, tiddle toddle,” she says, flapping her arms and blinking a pair of enormous round eyes. She walks over to the desk, sits down, and scribbles a letter to the Moon. “Tiddle toddle, please come to tea, and we can have a story. Yours lovingly, out of the window, Pepi Nana.” She steps onto the balcony of her toy house, kisses the letter and watches it flutter up into the night sky. What Pepi Nana doesn’t know is that on the Moon lives a waxy-looking creature with coal-black eyes called Moon Baby. He has a fixed smile and a blue Mohican. He reads her letter and flies out of his crater towards Earth. Arriving at Pepi Nana’s house, Moon Baby rings…

1. neurodiversity – range of A: differences in brain function. B: brain-cell types. C: opinions. 2. hemisphere – A: shape of the brain. B: one half of the cerebrum. C: helmet used to record brain activity. 3. glymphatic system – system that A: clears waste from the brain and spinal cord. B: regulates brain temperature. C: carries signals between the brain and body. 4. oxytocin – A: drug for ADHD. B: hormone and neurotransmitter involved in social bonding. C: technique for inducing calm. 5. neuroethics – A: study of ethical issues in neuroscience. B: forms required for neurosurgery. C: ethics of artificial intelligence. 6. lesion – A: neuron connection. B: moment of disorientation. C: damaged body region. 7. genome – A: gene that affects the risk of stroke. B: gene-naming…

Creating Circumstances Thanks for the most informative quiz on Napoleon Bonaparte in the May issue. However, I was disappointed there was no reference to a famous remark attributed to Napoleon when an aide is said to have commented, “Circumstances alter cases, your lordship.” Napoleon’s reply was “Circumstances – what are circumstances? I make circumstances.” ARNOLD BENTLEY On Your Bike Then And Now: ‘The Bicycle’ (July) took me down memory lane. The BMX bike was a coveted and prized possession for children in the 1980s. I was envious of my friend who received a BMX bike for his birthday. I longed for a BMX back then but it never came. Now I own a giant mountain bike but I still relish the nostalgic thought of the BMX era. DAVID TOH The Bright…

Three out of four adults endure haemorrhoids at some point in their lives. “Haemorrhoids are dilated, swollen and inflamed veins in the rectum,” says gastroenterologist Dr David Greenwald. “They may be asymptomatic or cause discomfort and occasional bleeding.” Here are some everyday habits that can cause haemorrhoids. YOU’RE LIFTING HEAVY OBJECTS You may think it’s harmless to pick up one end of the couch while you’re moving, but that could increase pressure in the rectum, causing the veins (the haemorrhoidal plexus) to swell like a balloon, says gastroenterologist Dr Darren Brenner. Lifting correctly – with your legs, not your back – can help. The same goes for the gym. Challenge yourself, but make sure that your workout and weights match your abilities. YOU SIT ON THE TOILET FOR TOO LONG Sitting…

“In July, I got to drive Ayrton Senna’s 1990 Formula One World Championship-winning McLaren MP4/5B car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed [in England]. It was weird, surreal and amazing. But getting in the car, I also pictured Senna. I was wondering,  What was he thinking when he hopped in? What was he feeling? Where was he looking, what were his reference points? Or, how would he have changed gears? All this weird stuff came to me. It was unbelievable. This season, my first with McLaren, has been challenging from personal expectations. The results have been a bit so-so, but it’s definitely not through a lack of trying. I’ve come to a point now where I accept this car is different, it’s something that I’ve never quite experienced. So I’m going…

Who knew the folks of Twitter had such a passion for fashion? Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you”. Today, I’m going jeans shopping. @JAKE_40K Since everyone laughs at the parents who wear pyjamas when they drop their kids off at school, I started sleeping in my gym clothes. @STELLAGMADDOX Every neck tattoo should read “I’m not getting the job, am I?” @BAZECRAZE HOW TO DRESS LIKE A DAD: 1. T-shirt from your team’s championship 20 years ago. 2. Tomato sauce and yoghurt stains. 3. That sweater with a half-zipper at the top. 4. Instead of ‘on trend’, your wardrobe is more ‘life’s end’. 5. Cargo shorts. Every. Single. Day. @DAD_ON_MY_FEET…

If you’re tossing and turning no matter how tired you are, there’s probably an underlying reason why you can’t sleep. Many health conditions are tied to trouble sleeping or disturbed rest, so the reasons why you’re not able to get some shut-eye fall into a wide range of ailments. Read on for some common causes that could be to blame. URINARY INCONTINENCE Bathroom visits can easily compromise sleep. “While urinary incontinence does affect women more often than men, millions of both men and women deal with some type of bladder control issue at some point in their lives and many suffer from symptoms that significantly impact their quality of sleep,” says urological surgeon Adam Ramin. Diet and lifestyle changes can help with bladder control, including reducing your intake of caffeine.…

ONE early January day in 1999, 51-year-old Georgene Martin, née Huber, received a delivery of red roses. Her husband had recently passed away, so the flowers didn’t seem completely out of the blue. But the name on the note that came with them did. The last place she had seen that name, Jerry Zimmermann, was in her high school yearbook – from 1965. “Dear Georgene,” Jerry’s card read, “I was a classmate of yours, though I don’t believe you knew who I was. I was painfully shy, and you were the prettiest girl I had ever seen.” It was true that Georgene hardly remembered Jerry. Nearly four decades had passed since their paths first crossed in the hallways of Farnsworth Junior High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where she still lived.…

Hospital nurses share their strangest encounters: I asked a patient complaining of dizziness if she had ever been diagnosed with vertigo. Her daughter shook her head. “No, no,” she said. “Mum’s a Libra.” tbmtonada It was 3am when a well-dressed man came in with his eightyear-old son. “What’s the problem?” I asked. He replied, “Well, I was at a wedding and it occurred to me that my son is a little short. Can you give him something right now to make him taller?” Sxhpott1 I gave a patient the hospital dressing gown, left the room, and came back a few minutes later with the doctor. To our shock, the man was leaning with his arms against the doctor’s table stark naked! He gave us a huge smile and started to…

If you ask Lynn Ng which flavour of soft ice cream is her favourite, she’ll probably say scallop. “It’s actually really delicious despite seeming like such an incompatible mix,” she says. Four years ago, Lynn and I worked together as assistant language teachers at a technical high school in Hokkaido. Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost prefecture, an island comprising some 20 per cent of the nation’s landmass but less than five per cent of the population. For many, Hokkaido is synonymous with road trips and inaka: the countryside. This meant Lynn and I spent weekends on the local roads in her blue Toyota Passo. One of our first trips brought us to Wakkanai, the northernmost city in the country. From Cape Soya, we waved at Sakhalin Island, which belongs to Russia.…

“Try boxing,” my friend recently suggested. We’d been talking about reducing stress and I’d confessed that yoga didn’t really work for me. I paused, because, looking at me, it’s not the sort of suggestion you’d naturally make. I’m short, on the far side of 50 and I look like a lady who would know a lot about flowers. But I’m always up for a challenge and my local Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) runs cheap boxing-for-exercise classes for all ages, with equipment available to borrow. So, I went, and I kept going, and I now feel much calmer and have a decent right cross. There’s a vast body of research on how exercise can help us deal with stress. Regular exercise has been linked to more emotional resilience during times…

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ALTHOUGH DOGS AND CATS are by far our most popular pets, there are other choices. Rabbits, for example, are small, quiet and can make a lovely furry friend for the right household. It’s important for would-be owners to be aware that rabbits have very specific care requirements to keep them happy and healthy – they’re not as low maintenance as many people often believe. LONG-TERM COMMITMENT Rabbits that are well cared for can live for eight to ten years, even up to 15, so be prepared to provide appropriate long-term care. COMPANIONSHIP Rabbits are social animals and therefore should always be kept with an appropriate companion, preferably a neutered rabbit of the opposite sex and similar size. (The phrase ‘breed like rabbits’ is a sound rationale for ensuring your rabbit is…

EXERCISE PROTECTS THE DECLINING BRAIN It’s not unusual for some cognitive decline to occur as you age. But if you have more difficulty with judgement, language or memory than is expected for your age, a doctor may diagnose you with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This condition raises your risk of progressing to dementia. However, in a Korean study of nearly a quarter of a million people with MCI, participants who exercised more than once a week were 18 per cent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Physical activity may protect us by increasing blood flow to the brain or by aiding the production of the molecules that help neurons to grow. DYSLEXIA BRINGS CHALLENGES – AS WELL AS STRENGTHS There might be more to dyslexia than difficulties with reading, suggests a…

Daru Smith was talking to his doctor and sister one day in December 2018 when he began to die. He saw their forms grow dim, a dark curtain coming down on them and himself in his fluorescent-lit hospital room at University of Chicago Medicine hospital (UChicago Medicine). Then the 29-year-old was above it all, looking into a hole in the ground where a torrent of water was swirling like a giant draining sink. Next he was in a hallway. At the end of it glowed a white light. He felt at peace. No more heart palpitations, no flutters, no aches. He saw pictures on a wall. Scenes from his life. His son being born. It felt good, the light. Until Daru realised: this is what happens when you die. He…

When you humans crave a little spice in your life, need a pick-meup, or have a consuming burning desire, you turn to me – chilli. Indigenous people from what is today known as South America have had a love affair with my kind of pleasure and pain for some 8000 years. Whether it was to give meals that lacked my razzmatazz a lift (think potatoes, grain and corn – yawn) or to stop food from spoiling, my eye-watering goodness has had long-lasting appeal. Regardless of why I was first picked, devoured and later cultivated, once the 16th century Spanish and Portuguese spice traders got hold of my hot little bod, I spread around the world like wildfire. Although not initially appreciated by many on the Continent, the Portuguese knew they…

FROM WASHINGTON POST In 2013, I was four months into my job at The Washington Post when we had a going-away party for Sara, who was moving to Philadelphia. Everyone gathered around while our boss talked about her contribution to the paper. When I got to work the next day, I was surprised to see Sara standing beside a copy machine. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Philadelphia?” I joked. Sara peered at me through plastic-rimmed glasses and said, “I’m Holley”. “Oh, right!” I said, hoping that Holley assumed I’d merely gotten their names mixed up. In reality, I thought that they were the same person. A few years later, I was trailing behind my husband, Steve, in a supermarket when he grabbed a jar of store-brand sauce from a…

Most of us probably don’t give our humble loos too much consideration, but these hard-working appliances, as well as being highly convenient, can lay claim to saving more lives than nearly any other human invention. And yet tragically, around 60 per cent of the world – 4.5 billion people – still don’t have a toilet. While toilets took some time to get to their modern day level of porcelain perfection, they have existed in some form since ancient times. Much like today, in ancient civilisations, wealth influenced toileting standards. If you were flush circa 3100BCE in Ancient Egypt, you took a lovely limestone seat indoors, but if you were poor, you made do with a wooden stool with a hole in it out back. But regardless of class, below each…

Have you ever noticed that most of your jacket and handbag zippers are inscribed with the letters YKK? The initials appear on zippers across brands and types of gear – meaning you’re just as likely to find them on a Hermes bag as you are on a scuba-diving wetsuit or a bagpipe. There’s no giant zipper conspiracy, the letters stand for ‘Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha’, which translates to ‘Yoshida Company Limited’. And as you’ve probably guessed, the company is a massive zipper manufacturer, making roughly half the zippers on Earth. That’s about seven million zippers each year. So why has no one stepped in and challenged YKK? To put it simply, designers trust the brand and have since 1934. “YKK makes incredibly dependable zippers, ships them on time without fail, offers…

LINK so many of us, Kaj Miller, 50, almost never answers her landline anymore. But when it rang one Saturday morning in August 2015, the caller ID read ‘San Diego County Sheriff’s Office’. Since she’d had a number of family members in trouble with the law over the years, she decided to pick up. Turns out that she was the one in trouble. The officer on the phone told her she had missed jury duty and there were warrants out for her immediate arrest. Miller didn’t believe him. “I had just served on a jury three months before,” she says, “so I pushed back and told him I thought it was a scam. I asked to talk to his supervisor.” “WORK WITH ME OR OFFICERS WILL COME AND ARREST YOU”…

Three Days To See What would you most want to let your gaze rest upon if you had just three days of sight? The dawn? Or perhaps the sun going down? A forest? Helen Keller, blind and deaf from infancy, gives her answers in this inspiring and heart-touching essay on “adding fullness to life”. Principle Of Charity Based on the idea that we should try to seek the truth, rather than simply win arguments, this unique debate format brings together guests with strong but opposing ideas on controversial topics. Topics include climate change, the price of human life, and whether it is moral to eat meat. Morbid: A True Crime Podcast Enter the creepy but light-hearted nightmare of Morbid, featuring crime, hauntings, disappearances and all things spooky and hosted by…

1. Underwater stuntwoman Katrin Gray opened the world’s first school for what kind of specialised swimming? 2 points 2. The 2019 UK hit song ‘Let Nature Sing’ featured what type of wildlife to raise awareness of their endangerment? 2 points 3. Which company was purchased by eBay in 2002 to replace Billpoint as the online auction site’s preferred payment method? 1 point 4. Who was the first prophet in Islam? 1 point 5. What country legislated compulsory voting in 1924 and had a voting rate of more than 90% in the 2019 Federal election? 1 point 6. Who was the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic? 1 point 7. The mine at Wieliczka, Poland, has been in operation since the 13th century. What does it contain? 2…