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Hi 👋 

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

Jumping straight into it this week. A quick preview:

• A heart-breaking tale of dogs and planes.

• An against-all-odds escape from communist Vietnam.

• Something on RFK Jr. and the U.S.’s healthcare system.

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!

PS - Thank you to PodPitch for supporting this week’s TLR newsletter! Please, please consider clicking their ad below (or at the banner up top). It’s free and easy and really helps me out! 🙏

Story in Spotlight

Nothing beats a good story.

And I know that sounds corny and obvious, but this piece really hammered that in for me. Bear with me here, because I have complicated feelings about this story that I’ve yet to work through. And you’re going to see me grapple with those in real-time.

So first thing’s first. The story—as in its actual narrative with plot beats and characterization and setting—is incredible. Almost unbelievable. This is one hell of a real-life thing that actually happened. And the writer is both extremely lucky to have come across this and also extremely skilled and talented to be able to flesh it out into this piece.

On a technical level: The voice here is also top-notch. The writer’s confidence in his prose and cadence shows in how he’s comfortable breaking the basic rules of grammar, which he easily counterbalances through his skill. It’s obvious that he’s doing it for style. And to great effect, too. It gave the story this rough, gritty feel.

Second thing’s second: A key premise of the story is the sexual abuse of children online. (Take this as your content warning. If this triggers you, feel free to skip). That morphs partway through the article, and the story starts to train its lens onto law enforcement and the Media.

Which is fine, sure, but it also sort of feels like the story turns its back on the main point a bit too hard. Like it made a narrative promise early on, but then failed to deliver on it.

All of that brings me to the most complicated part of the story, in my opinion. And there’s no way for me to talk about it without spoiling the ending, so conider this your warning.

The person at the center of this story eventually shoots himself in the head, presumably for fear of losing all that he’s built for himself. And with the arguments that the writer had been layering in the moments leading up to the tragedy, I have to assume that he’s implying that it’s the fault of the TV production crew and the inept local police department. That the man was pushed to the limit because of the pressure of being outed on national TV.

But I just can’t bring myself to agree with that… Definitely, there’s no shortage of blame to go around. Both the media and the police were blatantly breaching codes of ethics. But most of the blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of this man, no? It was his choice, after all, to do absolutely depraved things online. I don’t know.

I know I’ve been rambling. And I know it doesn’t make much sense. But that’s what you get when you’re presented with a deeply complex (if not just the least bit twisted) story written to near-perfection.

Very, very long. This is an absolute beast of a story. But it’s also very gripping and a really smooth reading experience. I’d set aside 1 hour at least.

The Longform List

San Francisco Is Burning | GQ, $

I was this 🤏 close to making this our spotlight story of the week, and on any other week, it would have easily clinched that spot. (The Esquire story above is just too good.)

In light of the ongoing fires in California, this story provides a… different twist on the matter, to put it very lightly. Here, GQ looks deep into a string of residential fires, which suspiciously targeted housing projects meant for low-income families of color (and which in several cases turned deadly). The investigation uncovers something very disturbing.

Long, but also really, really riveting. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Finished this thing in 30 ish minutes, maybe less. 

The Messy Truth: Where Your Clothes Go To ‘Die’ | Atmos, Free

I absolutely adore this story, and it also could easily have been a spotlight any other week.

It’s unapologetic and incisive and grounded. And really angry. Oh, so angry. Which, when you read through it, is incredibly justified. The writer has dedicated her career to helping find discarded clothes from the Global North (her words)—even as these very same people deny her reality and doubt the truth of clothing waste. Or, if it isn’t outright questioned, waste is fetishized to the point of being, ironically, commodified.

I wish more environmental stories were more rooted in a materialist analysis like this one. I appreciate all the thinking that’s going on, but I think the crisis has progressed far beyond that, no?

Not too long (unfortunately) and with very compelling arguments. This should be a breeze. Maybe 20 minutes.

The Last Flight of the Dog Pilot | The New York Times, $

If last week was for the cat people, this one is for the dog lovers.

At the risk of spoiling too much, I’m going to say that this is a tragic but beautiful story about someone following his passions. Very heartwarming and very heart-breaking. The writing here is pristine, with some really beautiful turns of phrases and a structure that continues to build tension (though some feel piled on a bit too heavily), even if you know something bad is going to happen.

Not too long, which honestly is unfortunate. But I think it’s also beautiful how self-contained the story is. 20 minutes.

Salvation | Truly*Adventurous, Free

I’ve been having such a good time with Truly*Adventurous that I’ve started visiting them every week when I start my scanning for TLR.

In that context, this story was a bit different for me, because I actually wasn’t that into it at first. I felt like it was taking a too-simplistic approach to a cultural phenomenon that was (and remains to be) very complicated and nuanced, not to mention it glosses over what is the biggest determining factor of the Vietnam War. The story never really resolves those issues—at least, not in any way that I found satisfactory—but I’m glad I stuck with it regardless.

Because despite those problems, this still turned out to be a very enjoyable read. Prose was top-notch, with a particular voice and cadence that really matched the feel of the narrative. Incredible work.

Very, very long. But also very gripping. I’d say 40 minutes, maybe a bit more. 

Unboxing, Bad Baby and Evil Santa: How YouTube Got Swamped With Creepy Content for Kids | The Guardian, Free

If you have kids in your life, then you know how difficult it is to keep them away from screens (even if the scientific consensus is that that’s bad for them).

You also probably know that there are some truly, deeply disturbing and violent and crazy videos out there that are just straight up inappropriate for children—but are nevertheless allowed to exist (and muster millions of views) on YouTube. Yes, they have an app specifically designed for children, and yes, your kids should probably be using that instead, but the point stands.

This story digs into the background of that and follows the history of YouTube’s largely hands-off approach to content on its platform.

Not terribly long, also not terribly riveting. More informative than entertaining. But a good read nevertheless. Allot 30 minutes or probably more if you get distracted or bored easily. 

An L.L. Bean Heiress Suspected Neighbors of Poisoning Her Trees. What Happened Next Roiled Camden, Maine | Vanity Fair, $

I was really hoping for this story to be some sort of mystery-crime caper between two wealthy, out-of-touch families. That’s what the title seems to allude to, after all.

Despite the slight disappointment, though, I still think this story was a fun read overall. Definitely worth a spot on this list. The falling out from the titular arboreal sabotage was spectacular, and I have to admit: There’s a certain level of morbid fascination in watching the monied fight over things that seem… superfluous.

Long, slightly slow. Set aside 40 to 50 minutes, distractions included. 

How a Japanese Filmmaker Investigated Her Own Sexual Assault | Elle, Free

If the title hasn’t given it away yet, this story dives into some very sensitive subjects. Please consider care when reading through.

The piece follows a career journalist who, after being sexually assaulted by a more senior, more established media personality, gets caught in the violently conservative and patriarchal Japanese justice system. She runs up against a culture that treats her as subhuman and sees her tragedy as a result of her own actions. In the process of fighting this system, she discovers herself. Pretty cliche, and if it weren’t a real story, I’d say that it was a bit too cheesy.

All of that said, I found the reporting here to be… fine I guess. It feels like much of it was drawn from an interview with the central character, which isn’t objectionable in itself, but then at some point it raises the question of: why not just let her write her own story? I dunno. Maybe I’m nitpicking here.

Not too long. And can be a bit difficult to read through in some parts. 30 minutes. 

The RFK Jr. Op-Ed the Los Angeles Times Didn’t Want You to Read | The New Republic, Free (membership wall)

It’s been quite the week for us in health and biotech media. The RFK Jr. hearings (and eventual panel win) served as some sort of morbid entertainment for us. Like a horror clown show.

But many of us also admit: There’s something fundamentally messed up about the U.S.’s healthcare system, and RFK Jr.’s promise of a more populist-oriented system is attractive—and makes great sense. Unfortunately, that word (populist) has been tainted in the minds of many people, a notion that this story tries to dispel a bit. And it lays out what a populist healthcare system will need and could look like. I just wish it was longer. There’s been a lot of research in this field and I think those deserve to be spotlighted. Especially now.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not behind RFK Jr. I believe that he is the wrong man for the job. But I agree that there is an urgent need to rethink and overhaul the U.S. health system.

The most unfortunate not-too-long story on this list. Definitely could have done much more with this subject. Maybe 10 to 15 minutes.  

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