'The Earth shall become my throne'

Hi 👋 

Another Monday, another Lazy Reader longform list ✨

Not much to say in the intro this week—except that there is a really good piece of fiction in the recommendations below. I know my subscribers aren’t typically excited about those fiction pieces, but if you find yourself with some downtime this weekend, maybe give it a go.

Some choice picks from last week’s newsletter:

• ProPublica Trashed: Inside the Deadly World of Private Garbage Collection

• Outside The King of the Ferret Leggers

• Vanity Fair “The Big Error Was That She Was Caught”: The Untold Story Behind the Mysterious Disappearance of Fan Bingbing, the World’s Biggest Movie Star

As always, please let me know what you think of the recommendations this week by voting in the poll below.

Happy reading and see you again next Monday!

This article is an experience.

David Grann—yes, the legend himself—follows the case of Cameron Willingham, who lost his three children in a massive fire, and then found himself the defendant in a very public, very contentious case.

I won’t spoil you (and someone told me that, for my own sake, I shouldn’t Google this case, so I’m passing that sage advice on to you), but suffice it to say that Grann does a massive job of dissecting not just the facts of the tragedy but also the forensic science that heavily influenced the rulings.

The way he does it also sways you, and you realize how experts can bend and twist science to fit their goals.

Speaking of science: This story has one of the deepest explorations of burn science I’ve ever read in a longform article. And the way Grann digs into it and bears it out on the page, without it being boring or laborious—or condescendingly simplified, for that matter—is a masterclass in science writing.

The depth of research here is overwhelming, and that’s something you’ll realize early on, when the case seems like it’s wrapping up but then you look to the scroll bar and see that you’re not even 25% through.

Excellent story overall.

‘Dulce’: How a sweet-smelling chemical upended life in Salinas, Puerto Rico | Grist, Free

I love Grist. The newsroom is so confident about its environmentalism, and it does this type of solutions-focused, advocacy journalism really well. Here, Grist trains its reporting lens on the pharma and medical device industries, which have taken root in Puerto Rico, exploiting liberal regulations and a poor populace in need of jobs. The result is a pervasive toxic threat to the people, and employers who couldn’t care less.

Over Three Decades, Tech Obliterated Media | Intelligencer, $

Hmm. This essay put me in a very… interesting, if not conflicted, position. On the surface, it hits many points: Big Tech has been steadily suffocating the media industry, and these execs at the top of the biggest newsrooms have been so slow to realize that they’re being killed off. And the industry at large has been very resistant to change. In that regard, Kara Swisher here hit the nail on the head.

On the other hand, it does feel like a bit… hypocritical? Swisher (and her bosses and colleagues and media cohort at large) move in the same circles as these tech people do. She may exist in a lower rung than the Big Tech CEOs, but there is an overlap there. Plus it’s no secret that the legacy media and the tech industry are uncomfortable bedfellows. One benefits from the other. I don’t know… maybe I’m being a bit too nitpicky about it, but it feels like there’s some complicity there.

And also the essay becomes very flaccid toward the end. It could have ended on a strong call-to-action from a person who has the pedigree to back it up, but instead the conclusion fell flat.

US Science After a Year of Trump | Nature Magazine, Free

Unfortunately not a long article, technically, but still a massive reporting and writing effort from Nature. The graphics here take center stage here, and understandably so—the research effort here was massive, and plotting the data out in such a clear, visual way makes its message hit that much harder. There has been a systemic attack on science under the second Trump administration. And this time, it’s a claim that we can back up with hard numbers.

It’s surprising how much I loved this story.

It chronicles the emergence of an online cottage industry—one where gaming-savvy people with way too much time on their hands sell off their virtual assets for real-world money. Now that might sound like a bad deal from the buyer’s perspective, but believe me: As a gamer myself, the temptation to just pull out your credit card to get this one piece of ultra-rare shiny equipment can get overwhelmingly strong.

Brock Pierce took advantage of that and, in the process, built himself a cyber-empire that at one point rivaled even the biggest gaming studios out there today. But of course, as with any pipe dream (and any good story), the fall is inevitable. This story follows both the history of that rise and parses through the fallout of the decline. It’s very character-driven, and if you also dabbled in a bit of online gaming, much of it will resonate with you.

All told, it’s very low-stakes. Which I think is part of its charm. It makes for a very good chill read while still being very compelling.

At Nine, I Disappeared Into Home Schooling. No One Came Looking | The Guardian, Free

This is a book excerpt. Just managing expectations upfront.

That said, it doesn’t feel at all incomplete, as so many other excerpts do. Whoever edited this down did an incredible job. It still fully captures the harrowing and frustrating experience of being homeschooled by an overbearing (and I’m convinced mentally unwell) mother—as well as the complete helplessness of having no legal safeguards to ensure your wellbeing.

The Benthic Battlefield | The Dial, Free

Thousands of meters under the sea, unexploded ordnance and other military equipment lie dormant after they were thrown overboard by Allied forces after the second world war. But their casings and containers have now been worn away by water and marine life, and their toxic contents threaten to spill out into the ocean, poisoning not only the surrounding ecosystems, but also us. This story takes stock of the impending catastrophe and what we can do about it.

Fiction: What I Saw Before the War | Reactor, Free

Probably one of the most standout pieces of fiction from Reactor that I’ve read. Like with most short stories and novellas, there is a narrative throughline here, but it almost feels like that’s largely for the sake of structure. Which isn’t to say that the plot isn’t interesting (it definitely is, and it’s inspired my imagination so much that now I might have the kindling of my own short story), but I think what the story says about family and war—and how it says it—is what truly makes this piece shine.

I’m slowly getting used to how short stories rarely have a clean ending, how leaving story threads open is part of its appeal. I admit that that can be difficult to swallow, given how we’re so used to the clean lines that come with journalism. But it’s beautiful in its own right.

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! 👋