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LUNCH BREAK READS

Happy Hump Day!

I couldn’t decide with which story to lead today’s newsletter. A ProPublica investigation or new Epstein information.

The Milkman from ProPublica is a very good investigation into a problem (people being sickened or killed by unregulated raw milk) that has been percolating for years and is coming to a head under RFK Jr.’s leadership.

The Epstein story from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan is full of newsy details surrounding the Trump Administration’s reaction to the Epstein files.

So you tell me, which story is more interesting?

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Brett

01 • 40 Minute Read
ProPublica Annie Waldman
The Milkman
Mark McAfee built Raw Farm into the country's largest raw-milk dairy, pulling in $30 million a year, while regulators linked his operation to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that sickened at least 233 people. He routinely diverted pathogen-flagged milk into cheese sold at national retail chains, a practice the FDA told him to stop in 2024. The Biden administration was preparing a crackdown when Trump took office and handed health oversight to RFK Jr., an open raw milk advocate. The government dropped its enforcement action against the farm in January 2026.
Read the Story →
02 • 39 Minute Read
The New York Times Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
Inside the White House Freakout Over the Epstein Files
Trump's top advisers gathered repeatedly in the White House Situation Room, without the president, to contain a scandal threatening his presidency. A July 2025 Justice Department memo declared there was no client list and reaffirmed Epstein's death as suicide. The MAGA base revolted. JD Vance pushed to release everything. Dan Bongino erupted at Pam Bondi over the botched rollout, blaming her for the mess. Aides weighed pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell and debated burying an uncorroborated abuse claim. Congress eventually forced the files into public view. They named Trump more than 38,000 times.
Unlocked for LBR Readers →
03 • 18 Minute Read
The Guardian Jacob Mikanowski
Ping-pong sponges, ‘black smokers’ and floating somethings: the secrets of the deep sea
The deep ocean covers 66% of Earth's surface, and most of it has never been surveyed. Every expedition returns with new species; in the past year alone, scientists discovered more than 1,100, including a ghost shark, a ping-pong ball sponge, and a floating organism that doesn't fit any primary animal category. Hydrothermal vents host entire ecosystems built on chemical energy rather than sunlight, and may offer clues to the origins of life. But the International Seabed Authority has granted 31 mining exploration contracts covering an area the size of Alaska, threatening to destroy what scientists have barely begun to understand.
Read the Story →
04 • 28 Minute Read
The Atlantic Idrees Kahloon
How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi
Britain's output per person barely edged above Mississippi's, and outside London it fell below it. Idrees Kahloon traced the collapse through austerity cuts after 2008, which gutted local councils and the welfare state; Brexit, which economists calculated reduced GDP per capita by 6 to 8 percent; and a housing and infrastructure gridlock that made building nearly impossible. Six prime ministers governed since 2010. Nigel Farage's Reform Party led all national polls, the first time in 40 years neither Labour nor the Conservatives had been out front. Manchester, granted partial autonomy from London, offered the lone exception.
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