By Brianna Kudisch

Ana Cumbler controls New Jersey's $60 million Taylor ham empire after marrying George Cumbler in 2016, then marrying his brother Tony three months after George died in 2020, then inheriting everything when Tony died in 2022. The Moldovan immigrant now faces six lawsuits alleging she sexually harassed a gay employee, eliminated bonuses that substituted for unpaid overtime, illegally eavesdropped on union negotiations through security cameras, and discriminated against Muslim and female workers. Former employees claim she slid a pork sandwich to a Muslim worker saying "your god will forgive you" and told HR not to hire women because they're harder to work with. She's hiked prices three times in fourteen months by a dollar per pound when typical increases are ten cents. Federal inspectors found black mold in the slicing room five times in three years. Her rise was enabled by scandal decades earlier: company president John Taylor Cumbler abandoned his four biological children in 1959 for his secretary Elisabeth, adopting her sons Tony and George, then cutting his real children from his will entirely. They became near-recluses in a Princeton mansion with gated windows, and John's daughters never saw him again.

By Jeff Horwitz

Meta internally projected it would earn $16 billion in 2024, roughly 10% of total revenue, from advertising scams and banned goods, while showing users an estimated 15 billion fraudulent ads daily. The company only bans advertisers when automated systems predict they're at least 95% certain to be committing fraud. Below that threshold, Meta charges suspected scammers higher rates as a "penalty bid," continuing to profit while theoretically discouraging fraud. Documents reveal Meta ignored 96% of valid user scam reports in 2023 and imposed revenue guardrails preventing enforcement teams from blocking ads that would cost more than 0.15% of quarterly revenue, roughly $135 million. A Royal Canadian Air Force recruiter watched her hacked Facebook account promote crypto scams for a month despite filing multiple reports. At least five people lost money, including a former colleague who sent $40,000 to Nigerian accounts. Singapore police flagged 146 scams, but Meta found only 23% violated policy despite violating its spirit. Strategy documents show executives opted for gradual reduction targeting countries facing regulatory pressure rather than rapid crackdown, planning to decrease scam revenue from 10.1% in 2024 to 5.8% by 2027 while anticipating regulatory fines up to $1 billion, far less than the $7 billion earned annually from high-risk scam ads.

By Elizabeth Johnson

Flamingos appeared in the Chesapeake Bay in 2023 after Hurricane Idalia blew them off course from their migration between the Yucatan and Cuba, landing in waters they weren't supposed to inhabit. Virginians treated them as tourist attractions, offering boat tours and selling t-shirts, while the writer felt unsettled watching tropical birds thrive in marshes that should have felt foreign. The spectacle masked a darker reality: coastal Virginia has seen the highest rate of sea-level rise on the Atlantic coast, more than 14 inches since 1930, with projections of another 1.3 to 5.2 feet over the next century. Roseate spoonbills, historically never nesting north of Florida, started nesting in North Carolina in 2020. Scientists warn wading birds will be pushed into new areas as lower-lying habitats become submerged. "I'm terrified of ecosystem collapse," says Jerry Lorenz, who predicts flamingos could become common in the Chesapeake within a hundred years as it increasingly resembles the Everglades. The birds departed when temperatures dropped in December 2023, four months after arrival. What disturbed the writer wasn't the beauty but what it signified: a landscape transforming so fundamentally that species from tropical waters can survive where they never belonged.

By Evan Ratliff

You may recall that I recommended Shell Game Season One back in October. Evan Ratliff spends the season creating an AI version of himself and sets it loose to interest in the world. Now, Season Two is back, with Evan creating startup run entirely by AI personas. It is a great listen!

2024: Someday, We’ll Bike on a Path Across America. But First, Nebraska.

2017: Scents from a Mall: The Sticky, Untold Story of Cinnabon

Really hope you enjoyed the selection of stories today. I am always interested in hearing from you. If you have thoughts on how I can make this email even better, do not hesitate to reach out.

Brett

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