1. Want to make ChatGPT work better for you? Talk to it like a person, like you would a co-worker or team member argues this piece by David Gewirtz for ZDNet, How to write better ChatGPT prompts for the best generative AI results https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-write-better-chatgpt-prompts/

2. It’s very difficult to strike a balance on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Even trying to do so upsets many on both sides. I’m not an expert on Middle East politics, but these two pieces seem to me to be pretty balanced:

a) Ian Bremmer’s TED talk The Israel-Hamas War — and What It Means for the World https://youtu.be/wQmBsbt9blg?feature=shared

b) Michele Groppi’s piece for The Conversation, Hamas has achieved what it wanted by attacking Israel: terror, escalation, and disruption to the international order  https://theconversation.com/hamas-has-achieved-what-it-wanted-by-attacking-israel-terror-escalation-and-disruption-to-the-international-order-215236

The Conversation is publishing a ‘rolling guide’ to their writing on the conflict https://theconversation.com/israel-hamas-war-updates-on-the-conversations-coverage-of-the-conflict-215285

I’d also expect Israel and the Palestinians, which starts next Monday, 16^th October, on BBC Radio 4 to be balanced. It’s an attempt by Katya Adler to make sense of the conflict in five short programmes https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rv0z – might work with an advanced class, if you’re able to go there?

3. The Hay Festival and the Lviv Book Forum have just co-operated on a joint event in Lviv, which – not surprisingly – was also much concerned with war and invasion https://www.hayfestival.com/m-192-lviv-bookforum-2023.aspx Here’s a highlight, Andrey Kurkov and Jonathan Franzen in conversation with Charlotte Higginshttps://www.hayfestival.com/p-20781-jonathan-franzen-and-andrey-kurkov-in-conversation-with-charlotte-higgins-digital-event.aspx

4. In Our Time is one of the longest running programmes on BBC Radio 4. They’ve just put together a ten-episode introduction playlist to the programme from the archives, New to In Our Time? Here are ten great places to start https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1CTX7TRRsXWQP5dyPqK2Z2c/new-to-in-our-time-here-are-ten-great-places-to-start

There’s not a whole lot of overlap with the In Our Time listeners’ Top Ten, however; make of that what you will! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/wvSdFMv6yP0m6W5J8xyhBh/the-in-our-time-listeners-top-10

5. And, finally, the only colour picture of Tolstoy, taken by photography pioneer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky in 1908 https://www.openculture.com/2023/09/the-only-color-picture-of-tolstoy-taken-by-photography-pioneer-sergey-prokudin-gorsky-1908.html