The best longform journalism we consumed this week

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Let’s jump into it…

Radioactive Man

In 1973, an airman stationed at California's George Air Force Base stumbled upon a cannister in the desert that contained a mysterious yellow substance. He then began suffering from what he classifies as radiation poisoning and was later discharged. Today, he runs a Facebook group populated by thousands of others who claim they were poisoned at that same base. Complicating the matter is the fact that the guy is a notorious rightwing crank known for sharing debunked conspiracies. But while he may be overzealous in his claims, it's clear the government isn't being completely forthright in disclosing the environmental hazards caused by this base and others like it. [Harpers]

David Roche Is Betting Big on Carbs, Grit, and Love

At 36 years old, David Roche may be the best trail runner in the world. While age will eventually catch up to him, he's still managing to improve his endurance because of what he considers a revolution in our understanding of carb loading. Whereas most endurance runners take in about 70 grams of carbs per hour, Roche and other elite athletes are consuming up to twice that. [Outside]

Europe Really Is Jailing People for Online Speech

In the US, we pretty much take it for granted that we can criticize politicians without fear of reprisal — in fact, the law requires public figures to prove actual "malice" in a libel lawsuit — but in many parts of Europe, citizens can be jailed and fined for even mild criticisms of elected officials. These countries have passed these laws under the guise of "hate speech protection," but they're now being weaponized in petty disputes. [Yascha Mounk]

Addison Rae Knows You Can’t Stop Watching Her

There seems to be a kind of blood-brain barrier between internet stardom and mainstream stardom; even creators with millions of followers struggle to achieve the latter. But Addison Rae somehow crossed this divide, moving from the simple TikTok dances that made her famous to starring roles in films and her own album released by a major record label. [Elle]

A Deep-Sea Mining Operation Is Underway, and Almost No One Knows about It

We all learned in school that roughly two-thirds of the earth is covered in water (it's actually about 71%), but it's only recently that scientists have begun to really think about all the minerals sitting underneath all that water. Given how important these metals are for powering everything from our cell phones to our solar panels, we'll eventually need to tap into this vast deposit, but plenty of countries are still understandably worried about what this sort of mining will do to the marine ecology. [Scientific American]

How the ‘Uber of weed’ went up in smoke after raising $350 million

A California startup raised $350 million based on the idea of delivering weed to people's homes via an app. But the state's bungled legalization rollout combined with the company's own shoddy tech led to it basically lighting all that VC cash on fire. While its failure was outsized, it reflected the struggles weed startups are facing all across the country as it becomes clear investors were too overconfident about the potential growth of the industry. [San Francisco Standard]

A Plan to Access Cheap Drugs Backfires, Leaving Patient With $250,000 Bill

Employers are trying to get around paying for high-priced prescription drugs by funneling their employees into what are essentially charity programs that subsidize drug costs. But now that drug companies have caught onto the ruse, they're tightening access to these programs, leaving unsuspecting people with huge bills. [Bloomberg]

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Trailer park treasure

Historically, real estate investing has been a pathway to accumulating wealth, but most Americans lack access to the capital needed to start buying up homes. Recently, however, a growing number of middle class families have been buying and refurbishing mobile homes, which require as little as $10,000 in upfront investment. [Business Insider]

Environmentalists Are Rethinking Nuclear. Should They?

For decades, the most staunch opponents of nuclear power were environmentalists. Now, some among that group believe the only path to a net zero future involves nuclear energy. They argue that fears of nuclear meltdowns are unfounded because, whatever the risks, this form of energy has killed far fewer people on a per capita basis than the fossil fuel industry. Those who are skeptical of these arguments point out that it'd be far cheaper to simply install more renewable energy sources like solar and wind. [New Yorker]

The 40-something single dad shaping liberal media from his laptop

A progressive creator has mastered the art of finding embarrassing clips of Republicans — usually when they're appearing on cable news — and uploading them to multiple social media platforms. He's generating over 700 million video streams a month and his videos are utilized by journalists, politicians, and activists. He's basically a one-man oppo research machine and now employed by the progressive media outlet MeidasTouch. [WashPo]

The forest was full of cities we couldn’t see (until now)

Imagine if the entire population of the US were wiped out and the country remained uninhabited for a thousand years. Entire towns and cities would be overgrown with vegetation and invisible to the naked eye. That’s what basically happened with the cities built by ancient Mayan civilizations, and it’s only recently that archeologists have been able to use LIDAR technology to spot these structures under thick tree canopies. [Howtown]

Out of the Fog

The Vietnam War spurred a veritable boom in mixed race babies due to American soldiers impregnating local sex workers. As the US prepared to leave the country, there was widespread fear that the North Vietnamese would slaughter any children born from miscegenation, and so we shipped thousands of them to Western countries for adoption. 50 years later, many Vietnamese consider the entire episode as more of a mass abduction than an act of mercy. [The Verge]

There’s a Feeling We’re Not in Hollywood Anymore

Filming in LA has become so expensive that studios consider it economical to fly entire teams to foreign countries just to shoot TV shows and movies. Some of these expenses are due to the high labor rates that were negotiated by Hollywood unions. Meanwhile, countries like Hungary and Australia have introduced generous tax incentives to lure in more productions. Many industry veterans believe California should do the same. [NYT]

The Brazilian Judge Taking On the Digital Far Right

In 2019, Jair Bolsonaro rode a wave of right wing, online misinformation to win Brazil's presidency. While in office, his supporters tormented and harassed any journalists or politicians who dared to criticize him. But then in 2022, a jurist named Alexandre de Moraes was elected to run the country's powerful Supreme Court, and he's since declared war on online misinformation and the platforms that harbor it. While he's won some clear victories against anti-democratic movements, de Moraes has also been accused of clamping down on legitimate speech. He now finds himself doubting whether a free and open internet is compatible with democracy. [New Yorker]

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