Fictosexuals, celebrity chef mobsters and the surgery to make you three inches taller
These are the best things I found on the internet this week!
Good morning friends,
I was describing what this Tuesday edition of the newsletter is to a friend this week, and finally hit upon the best way to describe the purpose of it. Sure, it’s a roundup of the best, most interesting and most entertaining content I found on the internet over the course of a given week, and yes, my hope is that this list will help improve your media diet in contrast to the mountains of crap we are exposed to every day.
But the real value I’ve found in all of these items is as conversation starters. “Did you see that article/video/tweet/photo where ___?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used them in conversation, whether it be a smart take on current events or a totally bizarre phenomenon I never would’ve seen otherwise. So go forth and be the most interesting person in your conversations this week! You’re welcome!
What’s the coolest story or thing you found on the internet this week? Reply to this email and shoot me a link. Would love to hear from you.
An entire industry has popped up around the world, especially in Japan, to service the thousands of “fictosexuals” who are in devoted relationships with fictional characters. The New York Times dives deep into the fascinating trend, empathizing with one young man who has legally married an anime pop singer. “When we’re together, she makes me smile,” he said in a recent interview. “In that sense, she’s real.” (related: have you all seen the Ryan Gosling movie Lars and the Real Girl? You should).
My favorite long read of the week — The Life and Confessions of David Ruggerio, who was a celebrity TV chef while secretly living a double life as a mobster in the Gambino family during New York City’s bloody 80s. Vanity Fair tells his story for the first time.
Early candidate for Dad of the Year: this guy at a Cincinnati Reds game snags a fly ball with one hand without ever stopping feeding his baby with the other hand. Unbelievable.
It’s real. For $75,000 men can get a surgery to permanently make them three or more inches taller. Buzzfeed News does a great job explaining the surgery, and the types of people who are getting it, purely for cosmetic reasons. Women get botox and botox, why is there such a stigma for men?
After having sex, male spiders run for their lives. Quite literally. Somebody cue up that Hall & Oates song “Maneater.”
What appeared at first like a pirate attack on a cargo ship in 2011 turned out to be a $100 million insurance scam. This account in Bloomberg of how two investigators uncovered the truth reads like a good spy novel.
I always love seeing this — a 100-year-old outran some 80-year-olds in a seniors track competition of the 100 yard dash. In 26 seconds!
The NFL Draft was this week, and whether you care about the results or not, this heist movie “trailer” produced by the LA Rams starring Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Scott Eastwood, and a bunch of the players and coaches is pure gold. It’s hilarious but I’m left wondering…how much did this cost??
Real Life Rom-Coms: This woman left her husband of 14 years less than one month after meeting her soul mate. You HAVE TO read to the end, because the post-script mic drop (when she announces the name of her book) is one of the most shocking plot twists in any story I’ve read this year. You’ll gasp, I promise.
Thanks for reading and sharing! This Friday we’re talking about TV, and how to handle the overwhelming avalanche of new and returning shows. Talk to you then!