Hi there, Lazy Reader! 👋 

We’re back again with another reading list of the best longform journalism across the web.

It seems like all everyone can talk about is the Biden-Trump debate. At least on all of my feeds. It’s actually impressive—news doesn’t last that long anymore.

It’s just been essay after essay, thinkpiece after thinkpiece. Most, surprisingly, are about Biden: he fumbled, says one outlet; he’s too old, offers another. He’s doomed to lose, according to several mini-viral posts on X (formerly Twitter). He should just back out and let a younger, sharper, more charistmatic candidate take on Trump.

(Honestly, I thought the Media would have focused more on Trump’s lies. But I guess piling on Biden gives more clicks?)

All of that to say: It was really tough to find good longform stories this week. Everything was about the debate, and I’m not sure I wanted to let that discourse take over the newsletter. Plus it’s not like any of the essays and op-eds I read were good enough to make our list.

So I turned to my archive, and boy did it deliver. I found an oldie-but-goldie story of an outer space detective, who dedicated his years of expertise at NASA to hunt down pieces of moon rocks that, through the years, fell into the hands of black market traders looking to make an easy fortune.

There’s also this story about a True Crime celebrity (who is also a lawyer) that swears by a warped sense of justice. Or if you’re in the mood to ruin your day, there’s this incredible and infuriating essay about why we take rapists so lightly.

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!

Story in Spotlight

Content warning: This story has many explicit and disturbing accounts of child sexual abuse. Please be careful when reading.

I’m a bit conflicted about this one.

I understand that OnlyFans and platforms like it have empowered a lot of sex workers and adult content creators, giving them more control over their livelihoods (versus, say, working for a studio).

I also appreciate that these websites signal our growing shift toward more liberal and open attitudes toward sex. Which is always good.

But I don’t know… I’ve always felt sort of iffy about them. Maybe it’s me being a bit prudish, or maybe I’m being too concerned about the creators on these platforms. Were they forced? Did they have no other choice? After all, many have said that they got into OnlyFans sort of as a last resort, out of desperation.

And then there are the concerns of abuse.

It’s difficult for me to imagine a platform that relies so heavily on selling sex is free from sexual exploitation. Women especially are at so much risk of being abused and hurt. I mean… that’s a kink for many. It’s an actual porn category for a reason.

Of course, and sadly, there’s the issue of child abuse, too.

This Reuters investigation dives deep into that—and shows that the safeguards OnlyFans implements fall painfully short. The platform voluntarily cooperates with U.S. efforts to flag and curb child sexual abuse, which is great, but is obviously not enough.

OnlyFans (and some experts) say that it leads the industry in terms of policing the spread of child sexual abuse online. That’s great, too, but it’s also deeply concerning, if you think about it. If this is the industry’s best, then how utterly awful must the other companies be?

Very difficult to read. The story itself isn’t too long, but it might take up to an hour to read through because you should sanity breaks in between.

The Longform List

🌘 The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks | The Atavist, Free (if you haven’t burned through your free stories yet)

The Atavist never fails. And moon rocks are in the news again, too, after China last week brought back rocks from the far side of the moon—the first country in history to do so.

This story will take you on a tour of the illegal trade of moon rocks, which were first brought back to Earth by the Apollo mission, and which then-president Nixon distributed to every country on the planet. But through political and social upheavals, natural and man-made catastrophes, the rocks found their way into the black market. This is such a great telling of one man’s campaign to bring them back to their owners.

Very long, but it’s a fascinating combination of an outer space and a crime story. It should be able to hold your attention well. 1 hour tops.

📚 Colleen Hoover Is a Wildly Successful Author. Why Did She Stop Writing? | TexasMonthly, Free (if you haven’t burned through your free stories yet)

I don’t talk about it here on this newsletter a lot, but I’ve also started a personal book-reading project. Which means I’ve become much more aware of book authors than I ever have. And even if I haven’t read any of her books, Colleen Hoover is such a big name in this world and people are saying so much about her. (good and bad). This is a nice, easy, light-hearted profile of her that is, at its core, a story of sudden fame and crippling writer’s block. Really good editorial work from TexasMonthly, as always.

I will say: it does feel like Hoover is trying a bit too hard to embody a persona of a regular, relatable person. Which I find to be a bit off-putting. But that’s beside the point.

Pretty long, but not difficult to read through at all. Really accessible tone and pacing is easy, too. Probably 45 minutes at most, distractions included.

💉 Blood, Lies, and a Drug Trials Lab Gone Bad | WIRED, $

I’m such a sucker for science and medicine deep dives, especially if they have themes of crime. Plus points for those that also look into the capitalistic spirit of the pharma industry. And this one ticks all three boxes. If you’ve ever wondered how the big companies conduct their trials, then this story will be enlightening for you. But it might also make you skeptical of their results, esepcially because this story shows just how easy it is for outsourced researchers to doctor their data with very little oversight.

Long and complex, and can get thick with details in some parts. But the writer did a good job of simplifying it as much as possible without dumbing it down. Maybe 1 hour if you really spend the time to chew on its technicalities.

⚖️ Cold Case Killer | The Intercept, Free

This is probably the most True Crime of all True Crime stories that I’ve shared on TLR. True Crime celebrity Kelly Siegler—who hosts the show Cold Justice—is known as a superstar prosecutor and is highly regarded among her peers. But, as The Intercept reveals, she’s built her legal career on questionable wins using even more questionable tactics, sending potentially innocent people to the death row. Is it really that easy for big names to toy with the justice system?

This story also reads a lot like a non-fiction book series, with its chapters and signature cliff-hanger. It’s continued in part 2 and part 3.

Very long, especially if you count the two other parts. But honestly very riveting. I finished the first part in 40 ish minutes, and that’s with minor breaks in between.

📰 ‘An Incredible Loss for Palestine’: Israeli Offensive Takes Deadly Toll on Journalists | The Guardian, Free

This is very sad. There’s no official oath or license that we have as journalists, but the profession, in my experience, really does evoke some strong and deep sense of duty to report and inform. So I understand why the journalists in the story stayed behind (though I’m not so sure I could do the same thing). They’re especially noble to have put their lives on the line like that—and it’s extra painful and infuriating to see the Israeli military (and other powerful entities) paint these reporters are rebels or discount their reportage as fake news.

Not too long, but difficult to read. Might take you around 50 minutes, counting the breaks that you may need in between.

🏛️ Why Society Goes Easy on Rapists | Slate, Free

By a huge margin, this story has this week’s distinction for TLR’s signature infuriating pick. And if its title isn’t enough of a giveaway, the entire essay spells out exactly how sex abusers are let off extremely easy by the justice system. It also tries to unearth the societal reasons for this, but I honestly didn’t find the analyis too compelling. What really got me was the writer’s meticulous listing out of cases of rapists getting away with their crimes with almost no prison time. That part boiled my blood so much that I had to stop reading this essay for the day.

A very tough read. As I say above, it took me more than a day to finish, but cumulatively it’s probably only about 30 minutes long.

👴🏻👵🏻 These Couples Survived a Lot. Then Came Retirement. | The New York Times, $

I’m typically not the biggest fan of relationship columns because it feels like most of the advice is either shallow or condescending. This story makes me think that this is how all relationship columns should be: deeply reported, compassionate, honest, and humane. And I know that this isn’t a column per se—nor is its objective to give relationship advice—but I learned so much about healthy partnerships from this than I did from reading any of the weekly romance columns.

Not too long and easy to read. Tone is conversational and the details were well-structured so as not to be too complicated. Allot maybe 20 minutes?

🧔🏻‍♀️ Hot AI Jesus Is Huge on Facebook | The Atlantic, $

If you’re looking for a light, funny read, then this one’s for you. It makes some grand points about the use of AI, social media, and religion, but honestly, its biggest appeal for me was that the writer was clearly trying to entertain. The tone is very humorous, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Great way to unwind from a tough day at work, when you just can’t be bothered to think about anything too much.

Short. Maybe 10 minutes.

⛈️ The Media is Still Falling Short on Climate | HEATED, Free (but give them a sub!)

This story has some of the most impressive climate and media reportage I’ve seen recently, and it’s about something very important. So much so that even if its prose isn’t as polished, its news analysis and first-hand data generation still put major national outlets to shame. HEATED really shows here how newsletters can achieve such high-quality and important storytelling. Definitely worth a sub!

Not too long and very important. The data can be off-putting to some, but stick with it, trust me. Maybe 20 to 30 minutes. 

Around the world

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

1 - Big election roundup!
+ Center-Left Labour wins by a landslide in the U.K.
+ In Iran, centrist Masoud Pezeshkian also clinched the victory against the conservative candidate.
+ Meanwhile, in France, the far-right is on a steep rise. The second round of the snap elections are in full swing, and centrist parties are struggling to keep the right-wing surge in check.

2- Speaking of elections, these newly and soon-to-be elected leaders will have their climate policy work cut out for them, with at least two record-breaking crises happening just last week.
+ Hurricane Beryl is leaving wreckage in its wake as it cuts through the Carribean. The historic storm has now found its way to Mexico.
+ In Northern California, a wildfire has displaced thousands of people, threatening their properties and livelihoods.
+ In India, a mother was forced to give birth on a boat because her village was inundated by floodwater.

3 - As Israel continues—and ramps up—its genocide in Palestine, former U.S. officials (who resigned because they couldn’t stomach their country’s support) say that the U.S. has “undeniable complicity” over the atrocities in Gaza.

4 - Netflix appears to be discontinuing its cheapest plan and has started taking customers off of it in the U.K. and Canada.

5 - ‘I’m still young, anyway. I can take it.’ — not quite, says science. Stress and sickness in your 20s can lead to poor cognitive function in your 40s.

6 - Brains-in-a-jar can control robots.

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! 👋