Long reads

https://palladiummag.com/2021/10/11/the-­triumph-and-terror-of-wang-huning/

https://www.gq.com/story/freediver-alexe­y-molchanov-profile/amp

With only a single breath, Alexey Molchanov, history’s most daring freediver, is reaching improbable depths—and discovering a new kind of enlightenment as he conquers one of the world’s wildest sports.

1 Attachment

The Really Big One

An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/0­7/20/the-really-big-one

1 Attachment

Can also recommend the Longform newsletter (and podcast, if you’re interested in how these pieces are researched and written).

https://longform.org/

1 Attachment

Still Alive

You just keep on trying till you run out of cake

https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/st­ill-alive

With only a single breath, Alexey Molchanov

If you're interested, there is a fantastic book on free diving called Deep.

I did some AIDA qualifications last summer (20 meters for me), would recommend.

Unwanted Corkpull
It’s hard to live with some objects, and even harder to get rid of them

https://reallifemag.com/unwanted-corkpul­l/

This was a great read when I came across it early in lockdown 1.0. Now it's behind a paywall although perhaps not if you're new to Vulture. From what I remember Jerry Saltz is a curious cat.

This was very good!

Pointless, but good

Good writing, but it just upped my anxiety unfortunately. Everything in my house is destined for landfill, nothing is inherited or passed on from previous generations. What a waste.

https://medium.com/truly-adventurous/kni­ves-outback-6b872b79f3f6

1 Attachment

The Jessica Simulation:
Love and loss in the age of A.I.
The death of the woman he loved was too much to bear. Could a mysterious website allow him to speak with her once more?

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202­1/jessica-simulation-artificial-intellig­ence/

The Company Man
by Stephen Marche, torontolife.com
November 1, 2021 10:03 AM
Tse Chi Lop doesn’t look like the biggest drug lord in history. He looks like a bedraggled, exhausted, late-middle-aged trader in commodities, which is exactly what he is. Tse’s commodities just happen to be high-margin, addictive, illegal drugs—heroin, ketamine and methamphetamine. Tse runs a drug syndicate known to law enforcement as “Sam Gor,” Cantonese for “Third Brother,” and to its members simply as the Company. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that Sam Gor’s annual revenue could be as high as $21 billion, the same as Citibank’s.

https://torontolife.com/city/this-man-is­-the-jeff-bezos-of-the-international-dru­g-trade/

This, on Johnson, is superb:

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/held-­in-contempt-hannah-white-boris-johnson-b­ook-review-edward-docx/

Just finished Slaughterhouse Five so I'm scouring the internet for things about Vonnegut and came across this:
https://therumpus.net/2009/11/11/everyth­ing-was-beautiful-and-nothing-hurt/?all=­1

From the outside, things seemed perfect for the former world extreme skiing champion: he had a family, a successful guiding business, and unending adventure out his front door in Valdez, Alaska. But something dark festered beneath the surface.

The Final Descent of Dean Cummings, Outside Magazine

https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-ad­venture/snow-sports/dean-cummings/

1 Attachment