Hi!

This week: a harrowing narrative of medical malpractice and insurance fraud. Plus, a few other smaller stories about yet another weight-loss craze, a case for cursive singing, and more.

There’s also a podcast recommendation in there somewhere, along with the usual rundown of news bits from all over the globe. (Spoiler: There were two big elections this week, neither of which was actually on schedule. That’s politics for you, I guess 🤷‍♂️).

Thanks for being here, and enjoy reading!

One long read…

You can always count on The Atavist to deliver deeply reported and gripping stories. In this case, horrifying is also an apt adjective. Writer Rae Nudson tells the very cruel and infuriating story of an OB-GYN who doctored (pun might be intended) the medical records of his patients, bringing them in for major surgeries when they could have gotten a pill, instead. Things get much worse, but I won’t spoil them for you. Just suffice it to say that I gasped multiple times reading this story.

The Atavist is an online magazine that runs one of these types of stories per month and has a subscription program for $24.99 per year. As far as I know, they have no hard paywall, but it’s honestly such a steal and you get to support thorough, thoughtful reportage that the world so badly needs.

This one might take an hour, give or take, including distractions.

+ Evan Ratliff, one of The Atavist’s co-founders, is also the author of The Mastermind, which is one hell of a journalistic book that you should also check out. (Bonus: A big chunk of it takes place in The Philippines).

… and then some

🍽️ There always seems to be a new weight loss trend going on. First it was the South Beach diet, then it was paleo, then keto, then intermittent fasting. Now, there’s Ozempic. But this time, Ozempic—and other similar pills like Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound—might actually have more staying power because it has the well-oiled, multibillion-dollar machinery of the pharma industry on its side. Still, as with all things weight loss, there will come a time that Ozempic will stop working, and the pounds will stop dropping. Writer Sarah Zhang does a great job at explaining why.

+ There’s such a huge craze over Ozempic right now that the WHO has had to release a warning against fake products flooding the market, trying to take advantage of the massive demand and scarce supply.

+ Ozempic and Wegovy are actually the same drug… sort of.

+ But what’s the big deal anyway? Ozempic (and other meds like it) help people lose a lot of weight quickly, sure, but experts argue that they send the wrong public health message.

⛵I know for a fact that I will never have the guts to get on a boat and competitively sail across potentially deadly waters. So it’s great that there are writers like Jordan Winters willing to risk the bruising and the busted kneecap and losing her head (literally) to bring us these types of first-hand, riveting accounts of what it’s like to battle the sea and embrace what she calls “our ancestry as argonauts.” I’m fine to watch from the sidelines (or from behind my screen 🙏).

+ This story absolutely reminded me of Moana and its heavy Polynesian references.

+ Speaking of boats, the Philippines’ BRP Sierra Madre is probably one of the most important boats in modern-day geopolitics.

💭If, like me, you looked up the solutions to your unnecessary chem homework on Yahoo! Answers, then you might be a bit too old to have experienced Quora during its heyday. But from what writer Nitish Pahwa paints, it seems to have been this utopic corner of the internet where people could find detailed, compassionate answers to even the most arcane questions. That is, until bots and trolls and SEO and the need for ad dollars—and more recently, AI—happened.

🎶I’ve always considered myself a fierce hater of cursive singing, so when this essay by Matthew Cantor named Adele and Amy Winehouse—both of whom I absolutely adore—as examples, I was almost offended. But in the spirit of being open-minded (and because Matthew builds a strong case for why it isn’t so bad), maybe the essay has convinced me to be less repulsed by cursive singing. Maybe.

+ Not reading recommendations, but here are my favorite performances by Adele and Amy Winehouse (🙏). Bonus: Duffy, also a cursive singer.

+ I believe the best antidote to cursive singing is a clear, confident pitch that doesn’t rely on overly stylized diction for its musical impact. Also not a reading recommendation.

Around the world

Here are some of the most important/interesting/infuriating news bits from around the world this week:

1 – Azerbaijan holds snap elections, but the incumbent president Ilham Aliyev, who has been in power for more than 20 years, seems like a shoo-in (surprise, surprise 😒).

• Polls were originally scheduled for 2025, but Aliyev pushed it up to this week after a decisive victory over Armenian forces in December 2023.

• Of course, many local and international activists and human rights campaigners have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the snap elections.

• Azerbaijan isn’t exactly a leader in civil liberties, often targeting critical journalists, even beyond the country’s borders.

2 – I don’t really partake in mainstream pop culture, but I guess the Grammys happened this week.

• I do, however, know how to appreciate legends. And Tracy Chapman is one such legend whose flowers have been way, waaay overdue.

• Yet another legend at this year’s Grammys was Celine Dion, who, despite suffering from Stiff Person Syndrome, is still as graceful and skilled as ever. Queen sh*t.

3 – A pod of 10 killer whales was trapped in drift ice off the coast of Japan’s Hokkaido province.

• Drone footage shows whales struggling to breathe…

• … but the whales appear have escaped to safety, thankfully. 🙏

• In only slightly related news, sailors in Europe have discovered they can scare killer whales away by blasting heavy metal music.

4 – King Charles has cancer, but we still don’t know what type.

• The diagnosis uncovers a lot of tensions in Buckingham Palace, including strained family ties, a slimmer workforce, and the waning relevance of the monarchy.

• Friendly reminder that the Crown is built on a bloody history of colonialism and violence.

• King Charles himself is not exempt from the monarchy’s deeply racist background—despite his somewhat progressive posturing.

5 – After months of delays and false-starts, Pakistan finally heads to the polls.

• Pakistanis will be voting in fresh national and provincial leaders, who will inherit a boatload of problems, including a grim economy and rising domestic and regional political tensions.

• Pakistan also shut down the internet and mobile signal during the elections.

• Ahead of the elections, former Prime Minister, cricket star, and polarizing-but-wildly-popular political figure Imran Khan was sentenced to 10 years in jail for allegedly leaking state secrets. His story has been quite the saga.

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, please feel free to share The Lazy Reader with friends or family who you think might want to join us in reading more.

Until next Sunday! 👋

Med