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Happy Monday!
Today we start with George Bell, who lost 24 years to a wrongful conviction and now faces judgment for how he spends his $17.5 million settlement. Then Nicholas Hune-Brown tracks a journalist fabricating stories across dozens of publications, revealing an industry so gutted it can barely distinguish humans from AI. Eamon Whalen exposes how a former Iraq War contractor—accused of stealing millions in military weapons but never charged—brought counterinsurgency tactics to a Minneapolis mall, treating grieving protesters like enemy combatants. And The Washington Post maps America's pedestrian death zones, where transportation officials document which roads are killing people in poor neighborhoods, then build nothing.
The through line isn't subtle: institutions know exactly what's broken. They simply choose not to fix it.
Grab your lunch. Let's go.
By Ryan D'Agostino and Photographs by Gillian Laub
George Bell spent 24 years in prison for a double murder he didn't commit before receiving a record $17.5 million settlement from New York City. Ryan D'Agostino's Esquire profile confronts readers with an uncomfortable question: how should someone spend compensation for two stolen decades? Bell drives a Lamborghini, owns 200 pairs of Nikes, and visits his former prison in luxury cars—choices that draw sneers even from people who never wrote him a letter while he was locked away. D'Agostino masterfully captures the surreal aftermath of wrongful conviction, revealing a man who showered in his underwear for 24 years out of fear, who learned about FaceTime after his 2021 release, and who calls his possessions "expensive pain." The conviction was overturned after prosecutors deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence pointing to other suspects. This isn't a redemption story or a cautionary tale about spending—it's an unflinching examination of what justice means when someone can never get back what was truly taken from them.
The Local: Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era
by Nicholas Hune-Brown
A Toronto editor receives a promising pitch about healthcare privatization from Victoria Goldiee, a writer with bylines at The Guardian, Architectural Digest, and Vogue Philippines. The pitch includes quotes from experts and impressive reporting—except none of it was real. Nicholas Hune-Brown's investigation exposes a freelancer who fabricated interviews, invented sources, and wielded ChatGPT to scam publications worldwide for years. When confronted on a phone call, Goldiee cheerfully lied about every inconsistency until the questioning got too specific, then simply hung up. This isn't just one fraudster's story—it's a diagnosis of journalism's terminal illness. Overworked editors, gutted fact-checking departments, and publications desperate for cheap content have created an ecosystem where AI-generated deception flourishes unchecked. The Chicago Sun-Times published nonexistent books, Business Insider quietly scrubbed 34 essays under fake bylines, and countless fabricated stories remain embedded across the internet because no one has the resources to dig them out. Hune-Brown captures the exhausting futility of trying to separate real writers from synthetic frauds in an industry that devalued itself into irrelevance.
Mother Jones: How a Mercenary Became a Minneapolis Mall Cop
By Eamon Whalen
A former Iraq War contractor brought counterinsurgency tactics to Minneapolis, treating protesters mourning a police killing like enemy combatants. Nathan Seabrook's Conflict Resolution Group—armed with assault rifles and skull masks—surveilled activists, compiled intelligence briefs for police, and intimidated demonstrators outside a struggling mall. Army investigators had accused Seabrook of stealing $1.7 million in military weapons during his contractor days, but the case vanished without prosecution. Minnesota's licensing board rubber-stamped his security firm based on veteran status, never discovering he'd hidden his work at a notoriously reckless contractor outfit. This chilling investigation reveals how overseas military contractors return home with zero oversight, importing war zone mentality to American streets while coordinating with police who privately call them "diabolically manipulative." As federal agents now deploy in similar tactical gear for mass deportations, it's a blueprint for privatized domestic warfare.
The Washington Post: The deadliest roads in America
By By Ian Duncan, Emmanuel Martinez, and Dylan Moriarty
This Washington Post investigation demolishes any illusions that America's pedestrian death crisis stems from individual recklessness rather than institutional negligence. The Post's analysis reveals pedestrian deaths surged 70 percent between 2010 and 2023—from 4,302 to 7,314 annually—while other developed nations saw fatalities drop nearly 30 percent. The reporters meticulously document how transportation agencies have ignored their own safety studies, creating "death zones" on wide roads through poor neighborhoods. Most damning: officials knew exactly which roads were killing people and chose to do nothing. Rigorous data analysis married to devastating human stories that expose how infrastructure choices reflect whose lives we value.
Last Week’s Most Read
Slate: Pizzastroika
by Kelly Jones and Josh Levin
New York Magazine: The Big Fail
by Andrew Rice
The Atlantic: The Missing Kayaker
By Jamie Thompson
That’s it for this today.
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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