Edition #70: Longform Profiles

This edition features the infants of Operation Babylift, Milan's mafia-controlled soccer teams, the Mexican President facing off with Trump, and more.

Spotlighting outstanding longform stories and the journalists who bring them to life. Did you receive this email from a friend? Subscribe here.

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Credit: Peter O'Loughlin / AP Photo

👶 The rescued Vietnamese infants of Operation Babylift have grown up

Camille Bromley | The Verge

Americans had adopted children from abroad in previous decades, most notably from South Korea, but Operation Babylift created a story around adoption that transformed the displacement of a foreign baby to an American home into an act of charity. Out of the horrors of war came an opportunity for benevolence and absolution.

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✂️ Death Becomes Hair: The Story of Fabio Sementilli's Murder

Jesse Hyde | Town & Country

But there was something Fabio didn’t know. At that very moment, someone was tracking him, and they knew he was alone. Fabio couldn’t have known—he didn’t have the faintest clue his life was in danger—that two men were on their way to his house and that within a few minutes they would walk through a suspiciously unlocked door and make their way to the back patio.

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🎬 Sinners Director Ryan Coogler on Michael B. Jordan, That Ending, and Kendrick Lamar

Frazier Tharpe | GQ

I also love genre movies and wanted to make one. Those were the type of movies that I first fell in love with before I knew I wanted to make movies. So this film is also the kind of movie that I always wanted to see, but me making a version of it that only I can make, you know what I'm saying?

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⚽️ They are the die-hard fans of Milan’s soccer teams — and mafia-controlled

Kevin Sieff, Francesco Porzio | The Washington Post

Bellocco’s death and Beretta’s arrest would accelerate a police investigation that was already underway. The case would illustrate in remarkable detail how criminals had co-opted the fan club of one of the world’s most famous teams. The investigation would establish that the ultra leadership for Inter Milan’s storied rival and the city’s other major team, AC Milan, was also working for the mafia.

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🤖 This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops

Emanuel Maiberg, Jason Koebler | WIRED

The company describes a tool that uses AI-generated images and text to create social media profiles that can interact with suspected drug traffickers, human traffickers, and gun traffickers. After Overwatch scans open social media channels for potential suspects, these AI personas can also communicate with suspects over text, Discord, and other messaging services.