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IT’S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair.
We’ve hand-picked some of the week’s best reads for you to savour.
James, the second son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, gives a rare interview about his strained relationship with his father, the rivalry between his siblings, the war for the family empire – and whether or not they watched Succession.
(The Atlantic, approx 62 mins reading time)
Now, at the Manhattan law office, James sat across the table from his father and prepared to be deposed. For nearly five hours, Rupert’s attorney asked James a series of withering questions. Have you ever done anything successful on your own? Why were you too busy to say “Happy birthday” to your father when he turned 90? Does it strike you that, in your account, everything that goes wrong is always somebody else’s fault? At one point, the attorney referred to James and his sisters as “white, privileged, multibillionaire trust-fund babies.” At another, he read an unsourced passage from a book about the Murdochs to suggest that James was a conniving saboteur.
James did his best to concentrate, but he couldn’t help stealing glances at his father. Rupert sat slouched and silent throughout the deposition, staring inscrutably at his younger son. Every so often, though, he would pick up his phone and type. Finally, James realized why. “He was texting the lawyer questions to ask,” James told me. “How fucking twisted is that?” When the session ended, Rupert left the conference room without saying a word.
The story of how a successful banker that was trusted by a small, rural town in Kansas stole nearly $50 million from the community for a shot at cryptocurrency riches.
(The New York Times, approx 16 mins reading time)
Tucker’s first inkling that something was wrong came from a friend, an investor in the bank who was close to Hanes. A few days before the board meeting, he confided to Tucker that Hanes had messed up: A wire transfer went out, supposedly to help a struggling customer, and now the bank was $30 million in the hole. By the time the board members gathered, it was clear that Heartland was caught up in some sort of financial scam, a sophisticated grift that delivered its assets into the clutches of an overseas crypto crime network. At the meeting, Hanes seemed oddly nonchalant, exuding the air of an overconfident salesman. Tucker had heard that he had spent the past week at an out-of-state leadership conference. “Guys, I’m sorry,” Hanes told the board. “But we’re going to get it fixed.”
This brilliant piece illustrates how biologist Johannes Fritz piloted a microlight over 51 days to lead a flock of Ibis birds 1,700 hundred miles, from Germany to Spain, with the hope of teaching them how to migrate.
(The New Yorker, approx 33 mins reading time)
The birds fell in again behind the microlight. They all started south, receding. Komme, komme, Waldi—it was happening. The heart leaped. But within moments they were back, without their escort. The microlight, at the edge of earshot, tracked toward the sea. Maybe Fritz was giving up, and fleeing with Helena for Ibiza. Fuck off with your ducks. But after a few moments he turned back and landed. Helena got out and began herding the birds back into the aviary. They ducked right in, eager for the comfort of the cage, like dogs in a thunderstorm. The theorizing resumed. Had they started too late? Was it Helena? To go by the recriminations coming across the radios, the foster mothers were miffed about several camera placements and an incursion by a photographer from a local birding club. The film crew convened at the edge of the camp, aware that perhaps they were under some fire.
Sarah Horgan speaks to Fr Justin Obijuru, Dublin Airport’s new chaplain, about his role.
(Irish Examiner, approx 6 mins reading time)
Despite being new to the position, the Nigerian native has already served as a comfort to many, including bereaved families waiting on a loved one’s repatriation. Just recently he supported a family after a loved one’s tragic death in Canada. “I got the opportunity to pray with a family,” Fr Obijuru said. “Their son was 33 years old. They had to fly him from Canada to welcome the coffin. It was then brought to the church at Dublin Airport, Our Lady Queen of Heaven. I brought the family members into the church to pray with them and offer them consolation.” Situations like this often leave their mark on Fr Obijuru. “All the emotions come to mind. I just had to be with them. Sometimes it can be difficult to know the right ways to speak to people who are dealing with such a tragedy. I prayed with them and they were happy that I was with them in that moment. It was a moment of great grief for them.”
When China stopped accepting the world’s plastic waste, Turkey stepped in. Alexander Clapp writes about how, despite Erdogan committing to making his country a “zero-waste” nation, it has become the main dump for Europe’s rubbish.
(The Guardian, approx 19 mins reading time)
A few weeks after the trash was dumped beside Akman’s property, the leaves of many of his citrus trees started turning yellow. Then their oranges and lemons began dropping to the ground. A year later, by which time Akman’s losses had brought his family to the brink of serious financial trouble, the trees bore no fruit at all. It turned out that a truckload of garbage set alight along the side of a citrus farm, even if it only burns for an hour or so, can be the catalyst of much longer-term damage. Days after the trash pile had been extinguished, it continued to let off smoke in all likelihood responsible for decimating the bee population that helps pollinate Akman’s citrus trees. And the innumerable pieces of half-melted plastic that had washed into the creek that provides water for Akman’s irrigation system had broken down into billions of microplastics and contaminants that circulated toward his groves before eventually getting sucked up into the trees themselves, crowding their roots like particles of fat in human arteries.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency say they are dismissing US government employees who are not performing well in non-critical roles. But some people who have been laid off say the opposite is happening.
(CNN, approx 10 mins reading time)
At the National Nuclear Security Administration, where Trump officials have scrambled to reinstate hundreds of fired workers tasked with managing America’s nuclear weapons, one fired employee had recently received an ‘exceeds expectations’ performance review. The former employee, who worked on nuclear defense programs, told CNN that access to their email and personnel file was terminated about five minutes after they first learned they were fired. They initially didn’t get documents necessary to apply for unemployment benefits. They also told CNN they fear having their specialized Q security clearance terminated, which could significantly harm their ability to get a job in the private sector.
This former employee also told CNN the NNSA firings “makes us more targets for foreign operations.” This former employee said they haven’t gotten any protection or guidance from NNSA or the Department of Energy on how to protect themselves from any possible foreign threats. The firings have been a huge setback to the mission of modernizing the US nuclear arsenal, the former employee added – both with the loss of talent and the massive distraction the firings have caused inside the agency. “This is going to set the nuclear security enterprise back years,” the former employee said.
Following the news that Amazon MGM Studios is to take creative control of the James Bond franchise from the Broccoli family, here’s a 2020 interview with the last man to play 007 on screen, Daniel Craig, where he reflects on the franchise he redefined.
(GQ, approx 38 mins reading time)
But the Bond franchise in the early 2000s was in a moment of uncertainty. In 1997, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery had satirized the movies from head to foot, making it harder to play them for laughs. On the morning of 9/11, Broccoli and Wilson were in London, in a script meeting for Die Another Day. It was too late to rewrite the movie, but they sensed that it would be the last of its kind. “We felt the world has changed and the nature of these films has to change,” Broccoli told me. Two years earlier, after a long legal battle, Eon and MGM Studios had obtained the rights to Casino Royale, Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, which was published in 1953. After September 11, the story offered a chance to refresh the franchise, grounding it more strongly in both the original, darker tones of the novels and the new, worrying state of the world. “It wasn’t just recasting the role,” Broccoli said. “It was a new century and a new era. It felt like we had to redefine.” Craig was sure that he was the wrong person. The first time he went to the Eon offices, with all the old posters on the walls, he convinced himself it was just an exploratory thing. “I was like, ‘This is what they do. They get people in. They’re just feeling around,’ ” he said. “Plus, Pierce was not leaving Bond, right?”
Note: The Journal generally selects stories that are not paywalled, but some might not be accessible if you have exceeded your free article limit on the site in question.
my uncle Danny worked at Colbert Station in 1911… that is all i have to say today
@Shane Hickey: it was only named after Colbert in 1966
Should try replacing limerick junction while they’re about it…. Clatterf**k central.
Any plan to electrify the line from Dublin to cork, Galway and limerick. Last time I checked it was the 21st Century. Not asking for high speed rail just linking our capital with the same power system as say the rest of Europe since after WW2
hope no exam students were planning on using the train – but I suppose there is never a good time to close and upgrade lines
have your say