Six great reads: the man who let snakes bite him, masked heavy metal and the brutal reality for foreign students in the UK

1. Bitten by snakes 200 times – on purpose: US man’s quest to help deliver new antivenom

For nearly 20 years, Tim Friede allowed some of the most lethal snakes in the world to bite him so he could build up an immunity that could one day be developed into a universal antivenom. This extraordinary and painful quest, undertaken by a window cleaner with no formal scientific training in the basement of his Wisconsin home, nearly killed 58-year-old Friede, almost cost him his leg and his fingers, and at one point put him into a coma. But as the climate crisis results in more humans and snakes coming into contact with each other, his efforts are poised to help others. “People said I was crazy, of course. Some people tried to stop me,” he told Oliver Milman in this remarkable interview

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Despite the practical struggles, and the increased difficulty they bring to headbanging, many more of the genre’s biggest stars are choosing to wear freaky facial disguises. In this insightful article, Matt Mills looked behind their masks and asked whether the musicians are hiding behind them – or revealing their true nature?

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3. ‘Not unique to war’: millions of Americans suffer from moral injury. What’s causing it?

Photograph: Guardian Design / Getty Images

As part of our ongoing Well actually series, a former US military psychologist talked to Jo Livingstone about moral injury – a unique kind of stress that can be experienced when someone is forced to act in ways or to witness actions that contradict their most deeply held convictions. In this fascinating interview, Michael Valdovinos explained how moral distress frequently presents as sadness or feeling like a bad person.

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4. ‘I see it as trafficking’: the brutal reality of life as a foreign student in the UK

Illustration: Guardian Design / Anaïs Mims/Getty

Each year, about 400,000 international students are granted study visas to the UK, with universities relying on overseas applicants paying full fees. But this has also given rise to some unscrupulous recruiters and left many hopefuls and their families deep in debt. In this great Guardian Long read, journalist Samira Shackle looked into the world of education agents: middlemen paid by universities to find foreign students.

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5. ‘My background cringes me out’: Jack Whitehall on poshness, comedy and his lockdown romance

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

“I don’t do a lot of politics, because I don’t think people are interested in the political viewpoint of a public schoolboy. I’d never feel comfortable doing polemic. I think people are exhausted by it. They’ve had years of a Tory government, they do not want a Tory comedian … not that I’m a Tory. I’m definitely not. But the perception of me is that I have a Tory …” He trails off. “Bloodline?” I suggest. “Background,” he says, firmly.

Zoe Williams talked to the actor and comedian who is working on a new standup act and about to host the UK’s version of Saturday Night Live.

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6. ‘Oh my God, did someone accuse me of killing my mom?’

Photograph: Haruka Sakaguchi/The Guardian

Rachel Waters gave morphine to her dying mother to ease her in her final hours. Then came the murder charge. In this moving interview, she told Madeleine Aggeler that she now feels she is on a mission, one that requires her to share her story so others might avoid a similar nightmare. “I want people to know my story and know who I am,” she says. “That is the only way I can achieve justice for my mom.”

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