Welcome back. This edition explores the thin line between survival and surveillance. We recount the story of a family found in the Siberian wilderness after forty years of isolation and investigate a drug-testing firm facing allegations of data manipulation. We also revisit the forced removal of a community from the Chagos Archipelago and the emergence of shadowy phone-tracking tools used by Texas law enforcement.

Happy Reading,

Brett

In 1978, Soviet geologists discovered the Lykov family living in total isolation in the Siberian taiga, 150 miles from the nearest human settlement. Having fled religious persecution as "Old Believers" in 1936, the family survived for over forty years without any contact with the outside world, rejecting modern technology to maintain their faith. Their story became a national sensation in Russia, representing an "ark" of ancient tradition that bypassed the purges of the Stalin era and the horrors of World War II.

Today, only the youngest daughter, Agafia Lykova, remains at the remote homestead. Now in her eighties, she is a paradoxical icon of 2026. She is a hermit who still lives off the land but receives support from modern oligarchs and has become an unlikely YouTube superstar. Her endurance offers a final, fragile link to a lost Russian past, illustrating the deep human desire to preserve tradition in an increasingly connected and volatile world.

Read here.

A ProPublica investigation reveals that Averhealth, one of the nation’s largest drug-testing providers for child welfare and probation cases, has been mired in allegations of lab mismanagement and data manipulation. For years, Michigan and Georgia officials raised alarms over conflicting results that led to parents losing custody or being barred from their homes, yet the company failed to disclose that its own accreditor had placed its central lab on probation. Former employees and a whistleblower toxicologist describe a "speed over accuracy" culture in the St. Louis facility, characterized by broken equipment and pressure to meet contractual deadlines at the expense of forensic integrity.

While Averhealth maintains its testing is defensible, it recently settled a $1.3 million Department of Justice case regarding unperformed confirmation tests. For the families caught in the crosshairs, these "business decisions" have had devastating, often irreversible consequences, turning a supposedly objective scientific process into a tool of potential miscarriage of justice in the nation’s family courts.

Read here.

Fifty years ago, the British government executed a clandestine plan to expel 2,000 people from the Chagos Archipelago. This forced displacement cleared the way for a strategic United States military base on the atoll of Diego Garcia. To justify the move, officials falsely labeled the permanent residents as transitory laborers. The uprooted islanders spent decades in poverty, yet they never abandoned their dream of returning home.

Recent international rulings have finally challenged British sovereignty, declaring the occupation illegal under global law. In a historic 2022 voyage, a small group of Chagossians traveled back to their ancestral lands to assert their rights. They waded onto the white sands of Peros Banhos and Salomon to pray among the ruins of their abandoned villages. While the military base remains, the visit signaled a major shift in a long battle for justice. This journey was more than a political statement: it was a deeply personal reunion with a paradise lost.

Read here.

In 1999, the S&P 500 peaked. Then it took 14 years to gradually recover by 2013.

Today? Goldman Sachs sounds crazy forecasting 3% returns for 2024 to 2034.

But we’re currently seeing the highest price for the S&P 500 compared to earnings since the dot-com boom.

So, maybe that’s why they’re not alone; Vanguard projects about 5%.

In fact, now just about everything seems priced near all time highs. Equities, gold, crypto, etc.

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Texas law enforcement agencies have spent millions on Tangles, a shadowy surveillance tool that permits police to track mobile phones without a warrant. By purchasing location data from private brokers, the software bypasses strict constitutional protections that usually require a judge's approval for such searches. Although the Texas Department of Public Safety and various local sheriffs claim the technology is vital for public safety, they have struggled to provide any specific examples of its success in court. Critics argue that this opaque system effectively puts a price tag on privacy, allowing the government to monitor the daily movements of citizens through a massive legal loophole. As the software becomes more common across the state, it raises urgent questions about the erosion of civil liberties and the lack of oversight in the digital age.

Read here.

GQ: The People Who Think Air Is Food

The Guardian: When I met Craig he was 13 and homeless. I still thought his life might turn around. I was tragically wrong

Noema Magazine: Why Science Hasn’t Solved Consciousness (Yet)

The internet gives you everything and helps you understand nothing. The Lunch Break Reads Weekend Edition solves that problem. Every week we pick one theme that actually matters and build you a curated reading list that goes deep instead of wide. Underground book markets. Deep-sea mining's geopolitical consequences. The kind of stuff that makes you dangerous at dinner parties.

The best healthy habits aren't complicated. AG1 Next Gen helps support gut health and fill common nutrient gaps with one daily scoop. It's one easy routine that fits into real life and keeps your health on track all day long. Start your mornings with AG1 and keep momentum on your side.

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