A couple years ago, I read about a spate of unusual crimes: Lego thefts. Toy stores in Paris were being burglarized by an international gang of crooks. A charity in England that donates Lego to sick kids had 18,000 Lego sets stolen by unknown thieves. In Seattle, police arrested a 67-year-old Pike Place merchant for trafficking hot bricks. What, I wondered, is up? So I decided to write a story. I spent a year investigating the Lego underworld, talking with AFOLs (Adult Fans of Lego), and traveling to Billund, Denmark to visit Lego’s company town. You can read my article on “The Lego Bandit” now in Insider.
Also in case you missed them, here are the other stories of mine recently published:
The Search for the Guerrero: Nearly 200 years ago, the slave ship Guerrero sunk, killing forty-one Africans. Now a group of divers led by Ken Stewart, a Black man in his seventies, believe they found it in the Florida Keys. But in a state that banned critical race theory, telling this story is suddenly complicated. My story is out now in Esquire.
Big Talk: My story for Insider on the rise of a $2 billion celebrity speakers industry, from Hunter S. Thompson to Playgirl centerfolds.
Paradise Lost: Once a Pacific Eden, the island nation has become a destination for a highly combustible mix of global wealth and power—as a trio of would-be landowners have found out the hard way. My story for Vanity Fair.
The Park: My Golf Digest story on Rogers Park, a course built by Black caddies during segregation, is fighting to preserve its past—and future.