Hi 👋 

The Lazy Reader will be changing a bit from now on…

Thanks to writing this newsletter, I’ve been finding myself reading much more in the last few weeks. So much more, in fact, that I think I can now send you more than one long read per week!

(I hope that TLR has been helping you read more, too.) 🙏

I know, I know… TLR’s entire thing is that it’s just one long read per week—and then some. But there’s nothing stopping you from reading just one of my recommendations, anyway.

I’ll still pick one long read to spotlight per edition, but I’ll send a few other longform stories your way, mixed in with some of our usual shorter articles.

That way, you’ll be able to choose which long read looks most interesting to you. And if you ever find yourself with extra downtime (one can hope, right?) and feel like losing yourself in a deep non-fiction journey, you can come back here and pick out something else to read.

The news blitz will stay at the bottom. I’ll try to keep it short, though, because I understand that the news can feel like a slog to many (myself included).

The overall format will change a bit, too, to make things more streamlined and less cumbersome to read. As much as I can, I’ll also put an estimated read time for each story, just so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

That’s pretty much it (I think). Thanks for bearing with me through this long intro. On to the great stories!

One long read…

I’ve been thinking (and reading) about AI a lot in the past few weeks, and most of the time, I’ve been full of dread. I’m a writer on the internet. Of course I’m going to be spooked that these bots are out to take my clients away from me.

It’s everywhere on my social media feeds, too: Fellow freelancers have been complaining that their job pipelines have been drying up after losing more and more clients to ChatGPT or whatever the newest thing is.

There have been new opportunities, sure, but almost all of them have been editing jobs—having me take the AI’s poorly written, often inaccurate drivel and make it sound more human. Is there anything more dehumanizing than that? 😒

But David Autor argues against being so defeatist.

Instead, he considers AI just like any other potentially disruptive technology. It will eradicate or radically change some jobs (mine included, most likely; time for me to reinvent myself, I guess), and create new ones, which if we play our cards right will greatly outnumber the jobs we lose.

Not sure I’m willing to hold out hope for that, but the article is definitely compelling. Absolutely carve out time for it this week.

🕓 Speaking of time: This one took me around 1 hour and 30 minutes, maybe longer, distractions included.

… and then some

1 - A Marketplace of Girl Influencers Managed by Moms and Stalked by Men | NYT, Unpaywalled for subscribers

This was almost the spotlight story of the week just for how appalling (and disgusting) it is. I know there’s a lot to be said about the digital marketplace and the complicity of social media companies, but it was hard not to see a large part of the story as a bunch of moms pimping out their preteens for likes and sponsorships. A difficult but very important read.

🕓 Hmm. Maybe an hour and 10 minutes with distractions (and a lot of cringing).

2 - Why do we leap day? We remind you (so you can forget for another 4 years) | NPR, Free

Belated happy leap day! I thought I already knew why we had leap years, but this NPR story taught me that there was a much richer history behind it that I had no idea about—and an ongoing campaign from certain scholars to transition the Gregorian calendar into something more efficient and organized.

🕓 This is an easy read. Maybe 30 minutes?

3 - 200 cats, 200 dogs, one lab: the secrets of the pet food industry | The Guardian, Free

This one is a nice and light story about how pet food came to be, its current state of affairs, and where it might be headed. The title refers to “secrets,” but I’m not sure the article uncovers anything nefarious or dark. If you have pets or if you like animals, you’ll enjoy this article. Plus: Florence Meowmalade is an objectively incredible cat name.

🕓 The downside of light-hearted stories for me is that they have a hard time holding my attention. This one took me an hour, distractions included.

4 - Alabama’s IVF Patients Are Stuck In Embryo Purgatory | The Cut, Free for a limited time (get in here, quick!)

The Alabama Supreme Court last week ruled that embryos are frozen embryos are people, legally, plunging the state’s IVF patients and clinics into chaos. Without diving in too deep into the arguments (waaay too complex for one newsletter), the ruling has, in a very concrete and obvious way, caused so much pain and confusion for women going through IVF, which itself is a very painful (literally) and confusing process.

🕓 This one is gripping but difficult. I’d say somewhere between 45 to 55 minutes is safe.

5 - Polyamory, the Ruling Class’s Latest Fad | The Atlantic, $

This might be my third-favorite story that I read this week. I’ve been burned badly a few times in the past by claims of polyamory, so I’m definitely being very biased here, but I think the author makes really strong arguments (or at least arguments that resonate with me), particularly when he points to the narcissism and self-absorbedness of it all.

🕓 I couldn’t stop reading this one. Easy 40 minutes.

6 - I can’t picture things in my mind. I didn’t realize that was unusual. | The Guardian, Free

These types of stories always make me second-guess my own mind’s eye. This one is no different, but it took me in another direction and made me realize that it doesn’t matter either way. I don’t necessarily see in HD in my head, but I do remember feelings and places very clearly. I love that about my memory.

🕓 Another easy read! Maybe 15 to 20 minutes.

7 - A Spiking Fever | Science, Free

I’m a science writer by training and trade, so this story really resonated with me, but I understand that it might not have the same appeal to others. The writer did a great job here, combining incredible on-the-ground reportage with a thorough literature review. That—in my opinion—is the biggest flex of a science journalist, and something that I always dream of eventually doing myself.

🕓 This one took me maybe 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Around the world

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

1 - U.S. Airforce Officer Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire to protest his country’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He has since passed away.
+ There have been a couple of moving tributes to him in the days since, including this and this.

2 - Kate Middleton hasn’t been seen in public since December and the Internet has now got its tinfoil hat on.

3 - This priest in Italy dodged a mafia plot against him when he picked up on a bleach smell coming from his chalice. The priest has been very outspoken against the mafia.

4 - Rising global temperatures could lead to more preterm births.
+ And yet the world keeps on burning fossil fuels.

5 - Poor, starving tiger who had wandered into a village in Thailand was finally rescued. She was found guarding a pig carcass.

6 - Guinness World Record took the title back from world’s oldest dog Bobi, who had lived for more than 31 years before passing away in October 2023.
+ Guinness officials say they now have no conclusive proof that Bobi actually lived for that long, after checking his microchip data.

7 - Wendy’s CEO said in an earnings call that they would be trying “dynamic pricing” among other new menu features in 2025. This could look like the surge pricing model that ride-hailing apps use. Understandably, it triggered a firestorm online.
+ The food conglomerate has since walked back on this, clarifying that prices wouldn’t surge during peak hours. Instead, they might be offering discounts during slow hours.

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! 👋