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Welcome back to The Lazy Reader, where we curate some of the best longform journalism across the Internet ✨

It’s been a crazy week for news, hasn’t it?

There’s something new everyday and somehow, amazingly, it always seems to be worse than the day before. A constant one-upping of awful news. It’s been so hard to keep up. Just as hard as it is to not feel completely overwhelmed and helpless.

And while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that you look away, or that you keep yourself distracted from what’s important, I do understand the value of taking a break. This week’s picks will hopefully help you with that.

If you missed last Monday’s email (which if you did, I don’t blame you; things got a bit messy last week), here are a few choice stories from that:

• Shameful incompetence (or corruption) of Johnson City police.

• A “crazy” man becomes a cult hero in Hong Kong.

• The world’s prettiest volcano erupts.

As with last week, please let me know what you think of the list this week by voting in the poll below.

Happy reading and see you again next Monday!

Story in Spotlight

This one is instantly a strong contender for my top 5 longform stories of all time.

There’s really not much I can say without spoiling the story, but suffice it to say that the structuring here was genius. I usually very much prefer articles to be structured in a way that makes it easy for readers to jump in and out. This one is decidedly not like that, which I concede made it difficult for me to keep track of all the names and detail, and made it tough to stay on top of what was happening.

And that’s not exactly the best thing to have in a chaotic story like this.

BUT I will say, with the way the story panned out, it makes absolutely perfect sense that the writer introduced his characters the way he did. And it’s impressive, too, that all of the back story he introduced actually mattered. I know that sometimes it can feel that longform stories go into a character’s background just to pad the word count. That’s definitely not the case here.

Every single character vignette is well-placed and deeply evocative, and makes the inevitable catastrophe at its climax hit that much harder.

I can’t even speak about how thoroughly this story was reported because even now, after two re-reads, I still can’t figure out how the writer pulled this off. Can’t imagine how much work went into this to produce such a richly detailed story full of emotion and kindness towards its characters.

Very, very, very long. But also an incredible experience. Maybe 2 hours.

The Longform List

How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions | Daily Beast, Free

One of Jeff Maysh’s best. Really cemented his reputation with this one. Jeff breaks a cardinal rule of storytelling, which is that he spoils the ending very early. But the story stays really engaging throughout. That’s a testament to how incredible this story is, brought to life by Jeff’s equally incredible reportage and prose.

The Murder That Shook Iceland | The Guardian, Free

Really profound story about crime, yes, but also about nationhood. About a sense of what is local and foreign, about what a country’s values are, what it is willing to accept, and in return for what. Research here is great, but nothing really out of the norm for The Guardian. It’s the writing that really stands out to me, though. Very detailed, very evocative, very compassionate.

The Big Bitcoin Heist | Vanity Fair, $

Another Iceland story. Curious. Crimes in the most peaceful country on earth is bound be interesting, after all. Really interesting crime, too. Something a bit different than the usual bank heists. That makes it very easily stand out in a very crowded genre.

A San Francisco Mother of 7 Vanished in 1966. Her Mystery is Finally Unraveling | SFGATE, Free

This is both a crime story and a profile of a woman who lived a complicated life but who was, at her core, a kind soul. It’s heart-breaking that she died alone and was lost to history, discovered only by accident. That said, there’s really nothing too special about this story, especially with how saturated the True Crime genre has become. The closing, though, hit me hard.

America is More Divided Than Ever — But How is it Affecting Our Love Lives? I Spent a Year Dating Conservative Men To Find Out’ | Cosmopolitan, Free

Huge, huge admiration for the writer here for approach to reporting this out. I’ve always liked this type of experiential journalism, but I can only imagine how difficult this one was, especially given the very real dangers that women put themselves in—even when they’re dating supposedly nice, decent men. Nothing too special about the conclusion, though, which is a shame. Nothing that we didn’t already know.

They Experimented on Themselves in Secret. What They Discovered Helped Win a War | WIRED, $

This is a book excerpt. I’m telling you because that’s something I wish I knew upfront. Premise is really interesting, but I think the story underdelivers. It spent way too much time on the back story of one of the scientists (not all of which felt like it was essential to the narrative), and not nearly enough on the science and on how it was used in the war. Still a pretty enjoyable read overall, though.

Spain’s Open Wounds | The New Yorker, $

Interesting to read about how another country remembers the darkness in its past, and see how it reflects your own country’s memory. Not to be too philosophical, but it really makes you question who gets to write history and who gets to decide which history is “correct,” so to speak, and which is conspiracy. Would have wanted this to be a deeper dive into Spain’s dark past and its fraught present, especially given the country’s colonial history.

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Thanks for reading! Please, please reach out if you have feedback, suggestions, or questions. Alternatively, you can fill out this super quick survey form. I promise it won’t even take five minutes of your time, and it’ll be a HUGE help!

ALSO: I know some of the stories I recommend might be behind paywalls, and maybe I can help you with access to those. Send me a message and let’s see what we can do 😊

Until next Monday! 👋