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Hi 👋 

We’re back again with another reading list of some of the best longform journalism across the internet ✨

I’m sure there’s so much that went on across the world last week, but easily the top newsmaker (at least on all of my feeds) was the Olympics. So we’re leading with a related story, which has honestly changed the way I look at sporting events and athletes in general.

And if, like me, you’re not the biggest fan of sports, there are still many interesting picks for you in this week’s edition:

• Like this story about probably the first case ever where crowdsourced medical advice saved a life.

• Or this one about ballsy lawyers and non-profits taking Big Oil to court on cases of homicide by way of the climate crisis.

• Then there’s also this retelling of the doomed fate of a ship carrying tons of gold—and its curse that’s been afflicting people with for centuries.

Oh and also: we’re skipping the news blitz this week. I was hard-pressed to find anything outside of the Olympics to put in the list. Back to regular programming next week, though! (Hopefully 🤞)

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

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Happy reading and see you again next Monday!

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Story in Spotlight

Bending our rules again this week by spotlighting a story from the archives.

I read this piece a few years ago and it’s colored my view of the Olympics (or any big sporting event) ever since. And not in a bad way, mind you. I just started having a more rounded, holistic image of athletes.

These are highly focused, highly discplined people operating at the absolute peak of athleticism—but they’re also horny and healthy, with needs and urges.

And, as the writer points out in his story, it makes perfect sense in the context of the Olympic Village: There is probably not a bigger concentration of attractive, fit people in the world. Add to that the sheer ecstasy of finishing on the podium or frustration of falling short—or just plain relief that it’s all over—and you get an explosion of pent up energy that, reasonably, can quickly devolve into debauchery.

That’s a lot of words to say: There’s an unbelievable amount of sex going on at the Olympics. Organizers now typically stockpile 100,000 pieces of condoms for the event.

I really enjoyed this piece. It offers a really fun and light story that reads almost like a showbiz tell-all-slash-exposé. It’s also a good, if a bit juvenile, peek into the lives of some of the world’s most decorated athletes. Plus the writer did a great job at securing interviews with several former and current (at the time) Olympians—AND getting them to talk about their nasties.

For sure, there have been countless longreads about the Olympics since this story went live in 2012, but none have had this type of staying power for me so far.

Not too long, and really enjoyable to read. 15 minutes tops.

The Longform List

✡️ Inside the Sophisticated Sales Operation Funneling Billions From US State and Local Governments to Israel | ICIJ, Free

The violence that Israel continues to inflict on Gaza has captured the world’s attention for months now, but these types of shady money dealings going on behind the scenes have largely been ignored. People have gotten a bit wiser about it, with protests targeting big institutions and calling for their divestment from Israel. But this work from the ICIJ is important in that it clears some of the smoke into how tightly the U.S.’s powerful is interwoven with Israel’s—and how the two countries share much of the blame for the genocide in Gaza.

Long but important, especially if you’re living in the U.S. You should know what your tax dollars are supporting. Probably 40 minutes.

🛜 The heartbreaking saga of Zhu Ling | Daily Dot, Free

Dug this one up from my archive. I wouldn’t necessarily call the story a “saga,” but it’s still a very heart-rending story—not to mention fascinating. The tragedy of Zhu Ling’s life is bookended by big milestones in the history of the Internet, both of which illustrate the positive impact that global interconnectedness can have on human life. I especially enjoyed the online manhunt for the alleged perpetrator, though it’s very frustrating that justice continues to elude Zhu and her family.

Another interesting bit: This one is from an era where the U.S. media has yet to rabidly and constantly attack China for seemingly anything. So it’s refreshing to not be bombarded by ideological invectives every paragraph.

Not too long, and honestly, sometimes the prose feels like it falls off just a tiny bit. But maybe I’m just being too nitpicky. It’s an incredible article that took me 30ish minutes, distractions included.

⚖️ Taking The Climate Killers To Court | The Lever, Free

Climate activism has taken a page out of anti-smoking advocacy (finally) and has started taking Big Oil companies to court (again, finally). The charge: homicide. It’s a bold strategy, for sure, and I’m not sure that the suits would prosper in U.S. courts. But an unprecedented problem such as the climiate crisis also needs an unprecedented solution. Plus, from a climate justice perspective, this approach makes sense—fossil fuel companies are at fault, and their greed has caused countless deaths.

Maybe I’m nitpicking again, but I just wish that this story did a bit more to show the complicity of the U.S. government in the climate meltdown, too.

Very long but also very important. Especially given the times we live in now. Allot 1 hour for this.

📦 Inside eBay’s Cockroach Cult: The Ghastly Story of a Stalking Scandal | The New York Times, $

Arrogance from anyone is annoying, but much more so when it comes from a tech executive. And this story is the perfect illustration of how Ebay’s leaders would go to such great and desperate lengths just to soothe their bruised egos. The main victim in this story—who was just running a humble blog and trying to give her readers unbiased views—were subjected to unbelievable forms of torment, which were clearly orchestrated and supported by two Ebay execs. Justice has yet to catch up to either of them, however, and they’ve since moved on to other lucrative jobs.

Pretty long but it’s honestly pretty easy reading. The schemes just keep unfurling and pulling you along. Maybe 45 minutes tops, distractions included.

🕵️‍♀️ A Guy Walks Into a Bar—And is Never Seen Again | MEL Magazine, Free

Another oldie-but-goodie, which I only dug up because I found a stray reference to it in a random news article I was reading. This is a classic missing-person mystery story that lays out the disappearance of a med student who had just recently lost his mom, but who was also planning to propose to his long-term girlfriend. The story tries to untangle circumstances behind his disappearance and to settle on a plausible explanation, but ultimately lands on nothing satisfactory. This is from years ago, but I just checked: He still hasn’t been found.

Not excessively long, but can get slow in some spots. Maybe 40 minutes ish.

▶️ Vigilantes for Views: The YouTube Pranksters Harassing Suspected Scam Callers in India | Rest of World, Free

This one is interesting: I understand the vigilante appeal of what the YouTubers did, but I also see the racial undertones of specifically targeting call centers in India. Aren’t there scammers in the U.S.? Or in other majority-white and developed countries? Maybe I’m off the mark here, though.

A bit off-topic: I always bristle at how the Rest of World is called Rest of World. I know they meant it as a riff on how the U.S.-centric business bubble calls everything outside the country as “Rest of World,” but is it that ironic when the outlet is HQ’d in the U.S. and has an executive editorial board based in New York? Pardon the mini-rant.

Long, but it’s a fun read at its base. I’d say 20 ish minutes if you can stay focused.

🚢 A Cursed Ship and the Fate of Its Sunken Gold | The New Yorker, $

Okay: I’m not one to easily buy into stories of curses and supernatural things like that, but the writer laid out her case nearly perfectly here. This is a really good historical story that follows the gold aboard a ship that sunk off the coast of a French island centuries ago—and tracing its ripples across time. Curiously, everyone that comes even just into tangential contact with the gold seems to have their fortunes corrupted, either ending up dead or bankrupt or otherwise beset by many misfortunes. But it eventually becomes clear why this is: The curse, as it turns out, is human greed.

Very long, but if you enjoy a nice, low-stakes story, then the commitment here will be worth it. Maybe 1 hour.

🌊 The School Beneath the Wave: The Unimaginable Tragedy of Japan’s Tsunami | The Guardian, Free

As a reporter myself, I understand where the writer was coming from. I used to do work with a human rights non-profit a couple of years back that had me constantly keeping up to date with several big catastrophes across Asia—including the Fukushima meltdown. But I’ve never really resonated with it, mainly because I’ve been separated from the meltdown not just by miles but also by years. But this story was… hard to read. It’s so heavily tragic. Frustrating, too, especially since the incompetence was so glaring and so easily solvable. And years later, even in the face of damning evidence, those in power still don’t want to admit culpability.

Long and difficult to read. I spent more than 1 hour on this because I took my time with it and gave myself space to take breaks in between.

🖼️ Ukraine’s Death-Defying Art Rescuers | The Guardian, Free

It’s easy to lose sight of the importance of arts and culture, especially in today’s society that puts such a high premium on sciences and engineering and tech and what have you. That made this story extra impactful for me. For no immediate reward at all, this man continues to put his life on the line to save pieces of Ukrainian art (sometimes even obscure ones) from destruction at Russia’s hands. It might seem crazy, but he justifies his crusade by insisting that preserving a nation’s art also helps it preserve its identity—for the benefit of future generations, who will ultimately be tasked to rebuild Ukraine from the rubble.

Long and sometimes slow, especially with all the different characters. I’d say maybe 50 minutes if you really take your time to chew on the details. 

🧠 These Millennials Can’t Get Out of Their Head | The Atlantic, $

I’m not sure this one qualifies as longform (plus I’m always a bit apprehensive to share book reviews because… well, I typically haven’t read the book yet). But I think it brings up something that’s been on my mind a lot lately. Like the writer—of the article and of the book—I’ve grown tired of how therapy lingo is increasily being thrown around, mostly to absolve people of accountability. (Remember: It’s not self-care if it doesn’t hold you accountable!).

Though I’m still a bit torn about the entire thing: I think it’s good overall that people are becoming more empowered about their mental health. And it’s about time that psychiatric conditions are given the space and attention that they deserve. So I don’t know. Maybe there’s a healthy middle-ground that we’ve yet to find?

Not long at all. Maybe 15 minutes?

Bonus Reco!

First things first: This story is part of a The Washington Post’s Money War series, which also includes these equally compelling pieces:

1 - Trump White House Was Warned Sanctions on Venezuela Could Fuel Migration.

2 - Sanctions Crushed Syria’s Elite. So They Built a Zombie Economoy Fueled by Drugs.

Definitely go read them too. They each take around 40 ish minutes, and they both provide a really illuminating (though definitely not complete) look at the U.S.’s foreign economic policy.

Anyway, Money War’s headline story is also its most important, in my opinion. It traces the history of sanctions as a tool for economic warfare, how it’s become so normalized in the highest circles of politics—and how the world is so much worse off because of it.

⚠️ There will be somewhat of a rant ahead, so my apologies in advance ⚠️

I think that the U.S. is being so undeservedly arrogant in weaponizing its advantaged position in the world economic hierarchy to essentially force other countries to fall in line with its bidding.

And yeah, sure, there’s an argument to be made that flexing its money muscles is well within the rights of the U.S. But that to me is a slippery logical slope—especially since sanctions are, in many cases, antithetical to human rights. Isn’t that the very same thing that they’re supposedly trying to protect through the sanctions?

As the stories in the Money War show, sanctions rarely apply enough squeeze onto their intended targets. Instead, it’s always the already-poor and already-desperate who suffer as they’re putin even more precarious situations. This is backed not just by moving (but ultimately anecdotal) narratives, but also by research from several top scholars.

If that’s not enough proof that sanctions don’t work, then I don’t know what is.

That’s probably why there’s been growing resistance to the U.S.’s fiscal hegemony. China and Russia (and India, to a lesser extent) aren’t exactly the best standard-bearers of a new world economic order, but unfortunately, they’re the only countries powerful enough to stand up to the dollar.

Not excessively long, but can get tough to read with all the economics jargon. But it’s a very important story. I’d allot 1 hour to have enough time to really digest the story.

Thanks for reading! Please, please reach out if you have feedback, suggestions, or questions. I know some of the stories I recommend might be behind paywalls, and maybe I can help you with access to those, too!

Also, I’d appreciate it so much if you help me grow by sharing The Lazy Reader with friends or family who you think might also enjoy a good longform story 🫶

Until next Monday! 👋