This website uses cookies

Read our Privacy policy and Terms of use for more information.

LUNCH BREAK READS

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Happy Hump Day.

Hope you are having a great week. Today’s reads are on the heavy side, from a man framed by his own stalker to the lawyers weaponizing the legal system to go after women helping others obtain abortion pills.

Got a suggestion for the newsletter? Hit reply and let me know!

Brett

Support the Club

📣 Subscriber Shoutout: Thanks to Frank F. for supporting LBR this week.

This newsletter is free. If you read it regularly and want to help keep it that way, a small contribution means a lot.

SUPPORT LBR →
01 • ~40 Minute Read
The San Francisco Chronicle Matthias Gafni
The Wrong Stalker
A Sacramento drug counselor named Bridget Adams spent two years bombarding her former methadone patient Shawn Stewart with anonymous threats, then forged emails in his name to land him in jail on stalking charges. Detectives believed the screenshots without ever checking her devices. Stewart spent 23 days behind bars before investigators reversed course. Adams had a long Pennsylvania record of identity fraud, including a fake 2003 kidnapping report. Prosecutors later found she had also paid New Orleans witches $1,800 for love spells targeting Stewart. She pleaded no contest to stalking and is serving over nine years.
Read the Story→
02 • ~16 Minute Read
The New Republic Jessica Bateman
The Anti-Abortion Movement's Alarming Control Tactics
Conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell is filing wrongful death lawsuits against women who help friends obtain abortion pills, and against out-of-state telemedicine providers. His plaintiffs include men with documented histories of abusing their partners. One, Jerry Rodriguez, allegedly strangled his girlfriend eight times and threatened to kill her. Reproductive rights advocates say these suits hand abusers a fresh tool for harassment, contradicting the movement's claim that pills enable coercion. Telemedicine has pushed U.S. abortion totals slightly higher post-Dobbs. Texas now lets private citizens sue out-of-state providers, and Senator Josh Hawley wants mifepristone stripped of FDA approval entirely.
Read the Story (E-mail Required) →
03 • ~10 Minute Read
The Atlantic Drew Goins
The Secret to Winning on Jeopardy
Ten-game Jeopardy! winner, Drew Goins, says the show rewards knowing one thing about everything rather than mastering any subject. Children's reference books work better than adult ones because they prioritize breadth. The J! Archive database reveals the show's "canon" of recurring answers: Australia is the most frequent, Macbeth dwarfs Titus Andronicus by 467 mentions to 38, and Henrik Ibsen covers nearly every Norwegian playwright clue. Goins lost his first taping in 2024, won the second-chance tournament, and rode luck and Daily Doubles deep into the Tournament of Champions. Buzzer timing matters as much as recall.
Unlocked for LBR Readers →
04 • ~14 Minute Read
Coyote Nicole Wong
Traversing the Mahjong Multiverse
Mahjong has become a status symbol for wealthy white women, with Oh My Mahjong clearing $30 million a year by selling $400 sets that cost $60 in any Chinatown shop. Kelly Ripa calls her teacher a "guru," Martha Stewart and Joanna Gaines play, and Meghan Markle featured the game on her Netflix series. A24's Everything Everywhere All at Once tiles cannot be used in most Chinese styles, and Hallmark cast its mahjong romance with mostly non-Asian leads. Wong, who teaches the game, watches her family's tradition rebranded as sorority energy and sold back at markup.
Read the story →

Keep Reading

View more
caret-right
© 2026 Lunch Break Reads.
beehiivPowered by beehiiv