Tragedy at Sea

It was a dark and stormy night. For reasons I’ll never understand, that’s been called the worst first sentence ever written. But they’re beautiful words! And sometimes the night really was dark and stormy! Take the night Mike Lynch’s superyacht, the Bayesian, sank in the Mediterranean, killing Lynch and six others onboard. Very dark, very stormy.

Of course, writers will be writers, so Bradley Hope puts it this way at the beginning of his new WIRED story: “In the predawn hours of August 19, 2024, bolts of lightning began to fork through the purple-black clouds above the Mediterranean.” But—same thing.

Regular readers of this newsletter might be thinking right about now, But Jason, just last week you complained about boring old time-and-place leads in magazine features. How very true. But I also said—quite cleverly, I thought—that there’s a time and place for them, and Bradley’s piece qualifies. Unlike most stories that, in the end, have nothing to do with the action of their opening scenes, Bradley’s has everything to do with it. His is, in other words, a story literally about what happened on a dark and stormy night.

And it’s never been told before. When Lynch’s boat went under last year, conspiracy theories crashed like waves onto the internet’s shores, bringing with them all sorts of distracting detritus. Lynch was a tech billionaire, for one thing. For another, just before the accident, he’d triumphed in a yearslong legal battle. The odds seemed to be in his favor.

Odds, in fact, become Bradley’s major theme, relevant to Lynch’s life in a number of (odd) ways. Note the way he carries the theme through, and ends with a smashing coda. Two weeks in a row now, we’ve published classic acts of long-form magazine journalism. Perhaps rumors of reading’s death have been exaggerated? It’s always darkest—stormiest—before the dawn.

 READ THE BIG STORY ➔ 

A Decade-Long Quest to Get People to Buy Less

This week I finally got around to starting a novel that has long been on my “to read” list: The Immortal King Rao, by tech writer and occasional WIRED contributor Vauhini Vara. I find it simultaneously joyful—it relishes in the importance of family and homeland—and haunting—the world in which it is set, run by a megacorporation, dying from greenhouse gasses, is distressingly similar to our own. The book is on my desk right now, and it’s taking all of my willpower to leave it there. So, I’m sharing another Vara standout: 2023’s “The Battle for the Soul of Buy Nothing.”

The origin story of Buy Nothing, a movement that spawned hyperlocal gifting groups and a nationwide ethos of eschewing consumption, takes place on Bainbridge Island (a locale that also happens to be a significant setting in Vara’s novel). The island is home to Buy Nothing’s two co-creators, who, as their project grew, made choices that triggered a spiraling identity crisis within the network. Vara explores how internal discord and, eventually, a great schism arose over issues surrounding topics like anti-capitalism, privilege, anti-racism, and survival. Once you read it, let me know what you think: Did the architects of Buy Nothing betray its founding principles? Or were they justified in trying to adapt their creation? Comment below the article or send an email to samantha_spengler@wired.com. 

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Last week’s Big Story was one of our most widely read of the year—and our most contentious. Journalist Emi Nietfeld penned a striking account of a grieving mother-to-be who put all her energy toward ruining the life of her stillborn child’s surrogate mother. Needless to say, the piece prompted plenty of emotional feedback. “Bi only cared about what she wanted, with little regard for how the other person was doing,” one reader named Darby emailed. “She treated Smith like a baby factory rather than a person … I do believe Bi should have been fully informed about what was happening with the pregnancy. Documented proof of her involvement would have protected Smith, SAI, and the medical team.” Another reader, a retired MD named Sheila, called for reform: “There should be total transparency regarding medical records for each party, and GCs definitely should be made aware of the medical and psychological risks inherent in performing this service.”

Tell us about your favorite WIRED stories and magazine-related memories. Write to samantha_spengler@wired.com, and include “CLASSICS” in the subject line.