A handful of the most fascinating articles that I’ve read in the last few weeks. They are never short, and always interesting:
RUNNING WITH THE BULLY – A GQ writer travels to the East Bay (Oakland) to confront his childhood bully. What he finds is a tough leader of a biker gang who ends up becoming, strangely, a person who might be a good friend of the writer. – goo.gl/g9a25F
THE VIOLIN THIEF – A brilliant violinist (with a problem with authority) flushes his promising career into the toilet when he steals a multi-million dollar Stradivarius and keeps his heist secret for thirty years. – goo.gl/fBVXiE
THE ACTUAL HOLLISTER – You may have heard of the “SoCal” brand Hollister. But did you know there is a real Hollister, the namesake of the store, but it’s nothing like the store? Fascinating. – goo.gl/mIhlXr
“The Best of the Best,” my favorite, curated Weekend Read articles below:
*ABUNDANCE – The problem with everything being “free,” and why we need to crash the economy to get rid of all the free, in order to save it. Not sure that I completely agree with the solution, but definitely understand the problem. Written by CNBC contributor and my personal favorite, Josh Brown – goo.gl/CMs18o
*SUPERMODEL SNOWPOCALYPSE – The Drug-Fueled, Multi-Million Dollar Supermodel Snowpocalypse. A fun Elle article that could/will-be-a-movie-in-itself – goo.gl/Iga0Jd
*THE GREAT DENVER AIRPORT MYSTERY – Did members of the “New World Order” build Denver’s airport and fill it with post-apocalyptic symbols and images? goo.gl/DxBeoH
*SECRET BUYERS UP IN THE CLOUDS – Is luxury real estate the new Swiss Bank Account? goo.gl/8KT9r4
*THE DRAGNET – How a man accused of million-dollar fraud uncovered a never before seen, secret surveillance device. I read about the Stingray in 2011, and the only thing that surprised me was the fact that people didn’t think this thing existed. If one were a criminal, I think it would be best to assume that a device like this exists instead of the opposite. Just saying. – goo.gl/UhhZ1F
*THE MAN WHO SOLVED HIS OWN MURDER – How a spy, poisoned in London, helped investigate his own murder from his hospital bed. A super-interesting article, also notable because at one point I was planning on traveling to London and literally staying in this same hotel! Crazy. – goo.gl/ixgtKX
*EDITOR OF RUSSIAN GQ FINDS “FREEDOM” IN SCREENWRITING. NYTimes article about the former editor of Russia GQ, and his trials and tribulations as a creative leader in Russia. – goo.gl/c7TToh
BAD GRANDPA HIKES KIDS ALMOST TO DEATH AT GRAND CANYON. I have rafted the Grand Canyon in the middle of the summer. It is absolutely, definitely not a place you want to try to conquer without the right supplies. But what I like about this Indianapolis Monthly article is not just the jovial tone, but the lack of black-and-white. Both points of view are represented very well… goo.gl/Q0mwyR
*Boom! Inside a British Bank-Bombing Spree by Nick Summers – goo.gl/XVRsPN
No American ATM has ever been robbed with explosive gas. The same WAS true in Britian – Until 2013. Now there have been more than 90.
*The Deputy Who Disappeared by Claire Martin for LA Magazine – goo.gl/PmBhvu
This is a truly fascinating story about an LA County Sheriff’s Deputy who disappeared off the face of the earth while long-distance running in the Antelope Valley. What starts out as a possible lost-and-perished-in-the-woods tale starts to become something much different as the article proceeds.
*None Dare Call It a Conspiracy by Scott Anderson for GQ – goo.gl/BJ60fG
False flag terrorism, in which one entity conducts a terrorist attack but makes it seem like another is responsible, in order to provoke a counterattack, is age-old. But is still still practiced today? This article is very controversial, as it’s about Russia, and Putin, and the apartment bombings that marked the beginning of Putin’s reign… And you won’t be able to stop reading.