'I won’t let a f**got kick my ass.'

Hi 👋 

Welcome back to The Lazy Reader, a weekly rundown of some of the best longform articles from across the Web ✨

Straight out of Pride Month, we’re featuring a story about some of the most extreme and violent cases of homophobia I’ve ever read. As a queer man myself, I acknowledge that the rainbowness of it all may have gotten grating, maybe even exhausting. I mean… I know I’ve had enough of it. But it’s helpful to always remind myself that there is an actual, life-or-death need to assert our rights and our space as queer people.

Anyhoo, some standouts from last week:

• The Guardian ‘They’ve Invented a Spurious Pseudo-Disease’: Why Are So Many Men Being Told They Have Low Testosterone?

• GQ The Rich, Lonely Life of a Top-Tier Male OnlyFans Creator

• The Atavist The Desert Blues

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!

Incredibly sad and painful story. Content warning: This piece contains gratuitous violence alongside several mentions of homophobia and bigotry. The article doesn’t hold back. Definitely tread lightly if you decide to read.

Longform legend Buzz Bissinger here dives into the darkest depths of the military barracks, looking at how such a collection of masculinity—of testosterone, arrogance, machismo—can very quickly become a powder keg of violence. In this case, all that pent up gunpowder blew up in the face of a closeted soldier, and resulted in what is one of the most violent murder cases in the armed forces. All of this with the backdrop of Bill Clinton’s lame-duck policy that saw queer servicemen and servicewomen as people to be tolerated, not openly accepted.

This article ran in 2005, but I suspect it’s not quite a different world out there yet for us.

Another old one, this time from way back in 1956. Even back then, I suppose, crime proved to be a strong source of entertainment for readers. Writer John Kobler here looks at the trail of deception left behind by one of the country’s first and most decorated forgers. By following Cosey’s work, the piece also provides a peek into the psyches of these types of counterfeit aritsts.

If you’ve ever watched and enjoyed the TV show White Collar, this story will be right up your alley.

Some practical things: This article is from so long ago that it’s easy to get taken out of the immersion. The dollar hasn’t yet inflated as much at the time, so it seems as if Cosey’s crimes cost very little. Plus the digitalization of the print piece isn’t perfect and some typos have made it onto the final page. But definitely just stick with it. This is an incredibly fun trip through and through.

I’m deeply immersed in the biomedical and biopharma worlds, and even for me peptides felt like an overnight thing. One moment it was this fringe thing, the next everyone was shooting themselves up with peptides.

I’m of two minds about it. On one hand, the scientist and science journalist in me hews cautious by nature. I wouldn’t inject anything in my body without the express recommendation of a board-certified physician, maybe even two. On the other, I understand that the scientific (and drug development, and drug regulation, and drug marketing) process is not just slow, but can also often be highly politicized and skewed in ways that non-insiders wouldn’t realize. It’s not a fool-proof system, and while there are ways to self-correct, that will take years and, usually, tons of side effects.

I can sympathize with people who want to take their health into their own hands, but I also understand that that’s foolish and misguided and profoundly dangerous.

Another story on peptides, this one looking more into the public dimension of it. All the jacked dudes on Instagram and TikTok use peptides, even if they claim to be “natty.” (Which, technically, they still are, though I’d argue against it).

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted by the prospect of getting such a lean, muscled body without having to spend years in the gym. I’ve been lifting for 10 years now and I wouldn’t consider myself to have an IG-worthy body, and it gets frustrating at times. Maybe a peptide cocktail could help me take my game to the next level?

That’s exactly how these peptide-makers bag their next sale.

It’s no surprise to me that people have no love left for the healthcare system. Not when hospitals like these exist and are allowed to keep operating, easily hiding behind legal loopholes and circuitous systems for recompense. It doesn’t help, too, that doctors—who are licensed and represent their profession—are easily bought into saying things to support systems like these.

On a more procedural note, the Tampa Bay Times continues to surprise me with how well it does investigations. I know this one was published years ago, but still. This is some ProPublica-level work. Dogged research, unflinching interviews, and thorough documentary reviews, brought to life by smart and clear prose. Just a top-notch story all around.

This is a profound essay about what it’s like to be deeply in love with and committed to someone with a severe psychiatric condition. There are so many moments of beauty here, where the dedication and willingness to learn and grow together shine through even some of their darkest episodes. For that alone, this piece is well worth your time.

For me, though, this piece also provides a window into mental health care—a system that’s simultaneously too patchy and inconsistent but also often extremely by-the-book. If patients aren’t falling through the gaping holes in the healthcare system, they’re being over-medicated, given a scary mixture of drugs that they may not even need. In both cases, it’s people and lives like these that are the casualties.

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! 👋