Surprise! 🎉

Hi 👋 

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

I know, I know.

I spent all of December telling you that there wouldn’t be a reading list today. I was supposed to take a break, which I kept convincing myself that I deserved because of the crazy hustling I did this year.

And to be fair, I did take a few days off. But I just couldn’t stop myself from reading. Which is a good sign. Great, even. Don’t get me wrong. That means the 2024 resolution worked and likely helped me build a sustainable habit (and desire) for reading.

Besides, I did plan on using my year-end break to iron out some kinks in the TLR process to make it a bit of a lighter lift for me, administratively. And to explore new genres and content ideas for 2025. That part has been going swimmingly, and I’m excited to see how my plans will all play out in the coming year (keeping them close to my chest for now though, just in case I can’t stay consistent with them).

In any case, I’m sending you two bonus reading recommendations this week.

These are both incredibly long (even by my usual standard) so they should help fill the time if you’re having a quiet New Year’s.

Happy reading, happy new year, and see you all in 2025!

Absolutely massive investigation from Bloomberg.

Now, I always knew that egg donation was a thing, but I never imagined that it had exploded into its own massive global trade.

As this investigation bears out, eggs have become a life-changing force for many women worldwide. But, in keeping with most anything that’s been highly globalized in this parasitic economy of ours, the effects of the donation industry have been very polarized. For some women—particularly those who were already in places of comfort, and who lived in relatively prosperous communities and countries—egg donation has returned a small fortune, more than enough to buy them places into highly cosmopolitan circles, while still helping build wealth.

But for others, mostly those who were destitute and desperate to begin with, egg donation has become yet another way by which women are exploited and harmed. They receive pitiful compensation, get shunned from their communities, and often have to deal with a heavy burden of injury from egg harvesting. It’s a bleak industry.

Bloomberg did incredible work here. Huge plus for weaving in the science of egg cells and conception and egg donation. I concede that at some point in the middle, it got difficult for me to follow, but I think that’s mostly because of my inattention, not due to the structure of the story.

Actually… now that I think about it, the story was structured very well, making it super easy for readers to dip in and out as needed.

Very, very, very long. I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be the longest story I shared all year. But it’s also incredibly important and easy to read through, largely because of that structure that I spoke about. But definitely still allot maybe 2 hours for this.

This one is a short story from 2019. More than five years ago. That’s worth emphasizing because as you read through this, you’ll realize that it was so scarily, creepily prescient.

Oh and it’s also worth pointing out that this is a short story, meaning that it’s a work of fiction.

(That’s something that I’ve been considering for quite some time now—to bring in works of fiction into The Lazy Reader. Short stories, novellas, flash fiction, excerpts from novels. What do you think? Is that something you’d also enjoy reading? Feel free to reply here to let me know your thoughts!)

In any case, I just wanted to make sure you knew that this was fiction, because given current events, it reads incredibly like real-life. Just keep that in mind.

As with all works of fiction worth their salt, this one tears your morality into pieces. It pulls you in many different directions each raising difficult questions and posing even more difficult answers. The entire story is a moral gray area, and the writer forces you to stew in it long enough that you’ll just want to rip yourself out of the discomfort—like all of the characters in the story, who were pushed to the extreme.

Unlike the characters though, we have the luxury to just put down the phone, step away, and stop reading. The luxury to breathe. Imagine if the discomfort and pain and rage and desperation and hopelessness became your reality, with no way out. What would you have done?

Also very, very, very long. But the writing is quick and punchy, and the narrative pulls you along easily. I’d likewise set aside 2 hours for this.

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!

See you in 2025! 👋