Hi 👋 

Welcome back to The Lazy Reader! ✨

Had an awful, awful week. It’s stormy here where I am and I was stuck at home for a couple of days, which just completely threw me off my usual rhythm. Plus my body apparently hasn’t fully recovered from the back-to-back illnesses I’ve had in the past weeks.

That’s why today’s list is much shorter than usual. And I usually try to be patient with myself when these things happen, but meh. Can’t help but feel extra frustrated.

Anyhoo—if you missed last week’s email, here are some choice picks:

• Epstein’s Rolodex.

• Losing sight of your dreams and fading into the crowd.

• The climate catastrophe and culture wars.

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 - No sponsor this week but I just want to give a shoutout to everyone who’s been emailing me or sliding into my DMs on Reddit to give me their reading recommendations. That makes me so happy. I really appreciate it 😄 

Story in Spotlight

As a reformed science journalist: This is the type of story that I’ve always dreamed of writing.

This is a classic Cold Case piece, but one that more heavily relies on genetic evidence more than most. That gives the writer the perfect opportunity to geek out about science for a subsection or two, and to showcase that even the extremely specialist field of genetics can be relevant to the regular person.

And I think he pulled it off perfectly. The structure here was genius. The story takes the most appropriate asides to explain something, and goes just deep enough to provide enough background information and maybe a bit more, but not too much that it overwhelms and takes away from the story.

The way the writer conveys the science is also, I have to admit, excellent. I’m kind of jealous, even. Scientific concepts are famously wrapped up in clunky jargon, so getting at the root of that and then presenting it in its own language—one that’s accessible to the regular human being—is at the core of science communication. And it can get extremely difficult. Writers (myself included) often fall into the trap of using the same words as in the jargon definitions, which are typically themselves technical and unwieldy. That or we over-explain. Striking a healthy balance between these two extremes is key, and it’s something that takes talent and experience.

This story is a great example of that, I’d say.

The research was great but nothing special (though given how inconsistent WIRED can get sometimes…) I will say, though, that in all my years of trying to pull one of these stories off, I’ve learned that the hardest part is looking them. Finding a story that’s simultaneously interesting enough to pursue, touches on just the right amount of science, and actually possible to report on.

So just the fact that the writer was able to hit all of those and see it through to such a well-written and enjoyable piece is impressive, in my opinion.

Long but really gripping. Didn’t even notice the time tick by. So maybe… 45 minutes?

The Longform List

‘Our Goal Is to Get Their Money’: Inside a Firm Charged With Scamming Writers for Millions | Bloomberg, $

I love a relatively chill Crime story. That’s not to say that being bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars isn’t alarming or worrying, just that it’s a fresh change of pace from all the murder that pervades the genre. Great reporting from the writer too, who himself almost becomes a victim of the scam. If for nothing else, that’s a really effective way to make sure that your story feels urgent.

The Sultan of Bling | Vanity Fair, $

Enjoyed this one a lot. It can get confusing with all the crimes kind of blurring into one another, but that just goes to show how intricate the scams are—and how many of them there were. There was also this big question hanging over the first half of the story (just how in the world did this fraudster manage to get the money to make his schemes convincing?) and the writer does a great job of teasing that question along and then revealing the answer at a satisfying time. Great reading experience overall.

The Mystery of the Killer Vacation | GQ, $

Really nice piece with some good suspense. Research here was tight, but I’d say it’s the writing that really took this article to where it needed to be. The writer was smart with the structure and the prose resulted in an overall vibe that lent the story its creepy, tense feel. All of that said, I do think that this was a tad bit predictable. I don’t know if that’s because I’ve read way too many True Crime stories, or if the writing gave it away.

The Not So Happy Campers | TexasMonthly, $

Won’t lie: I thought this would be a tragic story. The Editor’s note threw me off—for some reason I thought it was the dek. It also took me way too long to figure out that there wouldn’t be any deaths in the story, and that instead I’d be in for a dream venture turning into a bitter nightmare. And you know what? It was glorious. I’ve said this many times before but there’s something so morbidly fascinating to watch the upper crusts of society so fiercely tussle over things that might seem shallow to us (or at least, to me) but which clearly matter to them.

(Also: All the names here can get confusing. Might want to read this in one focused go so you won’t have to keep on backtracking, like I did, just to figure out who’s who).

‘The Vehicle Suddenly Accelerated With Our Baby In It’: The Terrifying Truth About Why Tesla’s Cars Keep Crashing | The Guardian, Free

Not to give that man any more press and attention but it just seems that controversy (not to mention chaos) just follows him. If not emanates from him. And I think in this case, where lives are put at risk and indeed have been lost, maybe it’s time to see the man and his companies beyond the smokescreen of bluster and bravado? Political leaning notwithstanding, there’s clearly something terribly wrong going on here. Can we maybe agree on that?

Bad Brains | Slate, Free

Something short to cap off this awful reading week. And apologies if this one leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I’ll be the first to admit that this was a pretty meh story. Arguments aren’t fleshed out, the trains if thought are all over the place, and it takes a very corny twist toward the end. (Huge minus for having some references in there that play into some outdated, lazy stereotypes.)

Its only saving grace is that it posits a very interesting thesis: that revenge has such a profound, addictive effect on our brains that it can physically change the shape of the organ. If nothing else, just take that away from it and see how that changes your daily life.

Thanks for reading! Please, please reach out if you have feedback, suggestions, or questions. Alternatively, you can fill out this super quick survey form. I promise it won’t even take five minutes of your time, and it’ll be a HUGE help!

ALSO: I know some of the stories I recommend might be behind paywalls, and maybe I can help you with access to those. Send me a message and let’s see what we can do 😊

Until next Monday! 👋