We often set aside articles that are longer, deserve a re-read, are broader in scope…or just for fun — for weekend reading. Below are some from this week — pour yourself a hot cup of coffee & enjoy...

• Google reneged on the monopolistic bargain (Pluralistic)

• The Return Grift Is Over.  In 2023 alone, people returned $743 billion worth of merchandise (The Cut)

• The Hot New Luxury Good for the Rich: Air (TNR)

• The cruelty of crypto (Aeon)

• No focus, no fights, and a bad back – 16 ways technology has ruined my life (The Guardian)

• A loophole got him a free New York hotel stay for five years. Then he claimed to own the building: For five years, a New York City man managed to live rent-free in a landmark Manhattan hotel by exploiting an obscure local housing law. (AP)

• Trump’s hubris has brought about the downfall of his family’s business empire (The Guardian)

• How Russian Spies Get Flipped or Expelled, As Told by a Spycatcher (VSquare)

• Is the State Here to Stay? After decades of deference to the market, states are exerting greater control over capital. In the face of climate change, it may be too little, too late. (Boston Review)

• Can Saudi Arabia Buy Soccer? (GQ)

• 89% of US household debt is fixed rate (mortgage, student, and auto loans) and 11% is floating rate (credit cards, HELOC, and other types of debt) (Ritholtz)

What are you reading or listening to?