Hi 👋 

Was the past week extra long for you, too? Or was it just me? 😮‍💨

The stories, on the other hand, were great. Last week may have been awful, but at least it gave us another bomb reading list.

Some stand-outs: A deep but very fun look into an intense and high-stakes legal battle that can have far-reaching effects into how we download apps onto our phones—and how apps get created in the first place.

Plus another trio of investigations. One dives into the violent Chinese mafias undergirding the pot industry in the U.S., another uncovers the machinations of global money laundering through a small African kingdom, while the last one exposes the near-unbelievable degree of water pollution by a food industry powerhouse.

I also just want to let you know upfront that our little news blitz at the end will be taking another break this edition. I was Going Through It™ last week and really could not spare the time or headpsace to dig into the glum, rage-inducing news cycle. Sorry! 🙏

In any case, as with last week, please let me know what you think of the list this week by voting in the poll below.

And we’re still trying to grow the newsletter! If you like what you read, please consider helping us grow by sharing it to your friends, colleagues and family! 🫶

Happy reading and see you again next Monday!

One long read…

It’s rare that I find our spotlight story so early in the week, but the moment I started reading this one—on Tuesday, I think—I knew I had to give it the top spot.

Because holy sh*t 🤯

I don’t live in the U.S., so it’s really wild to me that people can choose the assigned sex-at-birth of their kids—just because. Maybe I’m being too conservative or backwards or alarmist, but it feels like a very small hop away from building designer babies, designer families, designer societies.

Or at the very least, a slippery slope toward something like that.

Now it’s just the sex-at-birth, but who’s to say that we won’t, as a society, agree that it’s okay to be able to choose your kid's height or, say, skin color? I should know (of all people) that the tech is still lightyears away, but you never know, right? Am I being too carried away?

In any case, the story makes it very clear that having such granular control over the basic traits your child-to-be could also risks forcing them into a destiny that isn’t exactly completely theirs.

But I think another very interesting point that the story touches on is that there is a very specific type of person who is likely to even consider this option.

Typically (or at least according to the story), it’s those in the tech-y, highly cosmopolitan circles who are more open to choosing the child’s sex-at-birth. What could be behind that? What might that suggest about that specific subculture? And about the rest of us?

Maybe someone should write about that, too.

Not too long, and honestly easy to read. Very compelling, too. 1 hour, at most, including distractions.

… and then some

🐘 Sanctuary | The Atavist Magazine, $ (If you’ve burned your three free stories)

Yet another banger from The Atavist, proving that longform stories don’t have to be about crime for them to be gripping. Incredible prose and reportage from writer Shannon McCaffrey, who was somehow able to make me build empathy for someone who is in a situation that I’d most likely never be in. Then she complicates that empathy with common sense (at least to me) before sliding into a cathartic deneoument. Incredible work.

A very long story, but most definitely worth your time. Easily 1 hour and 30 minutes.

💰 How International Gold Dealers Exploited a Tiny African Kingdom’s Economic Dream | The ICIJ, Free

This is one hell of an investigation. And while it focuses on one very specific transnational crime, it nevertheless gives us a very good glimpse at how rich and shady people move money from one haven to another. They use shell companies, take advantage of corrupt governments, and evict native and local communities for their own selfish gains.

Another very long story, and this one reads a bit slow. Might take you 2 hours if you’re distracted.

🐝 Honeybees Invaded My House, and No One Would Help | The New York Times, $

I’ve been warming up to essays recently, and this one is a really great example of why. The writer takes a very personal crisis (bees moving into her house) and uses it to interrogate a planetary one (colony collapse). I think this is one of the best demonstrations of what the form can achieve when executed at the highest level.

A relatively short story. 30 minutes tops, even with distractions.

📱 A Legal Battle of Epic Proportions | ABC News, Free

This one is really creative, and I really wanted to make it our spotlight story just for that. It does a great job applying a fun videogame-esque concept to a convoluted legal battle, which helped make it much more understandable. Big, big plus for the graphics, too. I wish all media houses had enough budget and time to consistently produce stories like these.

Pretty long, but I found that it flew by pretty fast for me. Maybe 45 to 50 minutes.

👵🏼 The Growing Epidemic of Elderly Abuse | TIME, Free

The writer of this story makes it clear early on that the growing problem of abuse toward the elderly is evidence of the “decay of basic human rights”—and I couldn’t agree more. Again, maybe I’m just being a bit too old-fashioned about this, but I think how a society treats its elderly is very revealing of its morals.

A short story, and honestly I wish it went deeper than it did. TIME estimates it to be a 7-minute read, but I’d say it might take as long as 15 minutes.

🔥 Gone | The California Sunday Magazine, Free

Every so often, you find a story that you know, just from the first few sentences, that you’ll be in for a hell of a time. This is one of those stories, and it didin’t disappoint. Really impressive on-the-ground and archival research from the writer, who brought the story to places that I never thought it would go. This one took me a bit to finish, but I’d read it again in a heartbeat.

A very long story. Might take two hours. Bookmark this for when you have a slow day. Trust me.

☢️ Revealed: Tyson Foods Dumps Millions of Pounds of Toxic Pollutants into US Rivers and Lakes | The Guardian, Free

This is a really good investigation that gives us a clue to just how dirty our agricultural industry is—and how the EPA often takes the side of these big corporations instead of the communities that suffer because of the toxic pollutants. It does a great job, too, of giving a human face to the problem. Definiely one of the better investigative stories I’ve read recently.

Not too short, but a relatively easy read. Could take 1 hour, at most, if get sidetracked a lot.

🐤 I Read Everything Elon Musk Posted for a Week. Send Help. | Mother Jones, Free

Something light-hearted to break the streak of heavy stories. This one takes a humorous approach to Elon Musk, but because he’s one of the most powerful men on the planet, it’s still a bit sobering to see what his media diet looks like. (Spoiler: It isn’t good).

Pretty short, and easy to read, too. Maybe 30 minutes at most, distractions included.

🚬 Gangsters, Money and Murder: How Chinese Organized Crime Is Dominating America’s Illegal Marijuana Market | ProPublica, Free

Our last investigation for this week is intense, and uncovers how the long tendrils of the Chinese mafia has reached into rural Oklahoma—among other U.S. cities—to fuel the marijuana trade. As is expected of organized crime, the financial stakes have become too high and things have turned violent.

A long story, but honestly gripping enough that you don’t feel it. Maybe 1 hour at most.

🌏 The Coming Entropy Of Our World Order | NOÉMA Magazine, Free

NOÉMA delivers another thoughtful essay. I agree strongly with its central thought: That the current “world order,” whatever constitutes that, is crumbling. The world is heading toward an age of entropy, characterized increasingly by multi-alignment, with states choosing to put their own sake first. It’s an interesting time to be in geopolitics—as long as you’re flexible enough to keep up with the changes.

A long story, and probably the most difficult to read in this week’s list. Could stretch to 2 hours.

Bonus reco!!

I’ll be honest: This podcast is a big part of why there’s no news blitz this week.

I only recently returned to my podcast-listening habits, and Scamanda by Lionsgate Sound just swallowed me whole.

I know that if you’re here in my newsletter in the first place, then you most likely appreciate a good, long story that’s well-told and gripping throughout. This one is exactly that.

And even if the podcast’s title has essentially spoiled the story, trust me when I say that the storytelling is just so good that it will still keep you on the edge of your seat and make you want to start the next episode ASAP.

PS - Do you like these podcast recos? Should I keep doing them?

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! 👋