7 Fascinating Stories To Help Jump Start Your Resolution To Read

Stan Eury turned an obscure bit of immigration law into a mammoth federal program — and a lucrative business empire, importing hundreds of thousands of Mexican workers for legal American jobs. Except that some of the jobs weren’t real jobs, and an untold number of those workers may never have returned to Mexico at all. Read it at BuzzFeed News.

A thought-provoking story by Jessica Pressler about a group of ex-New York strippers who drugged and stole from their clients — and have seemingly few regrets about it. “They weren’t exactly upstanding citizens....'They all walked in ready to party. And yeah, we slipped an extra one that they didn’t know about. But all of it goes hand in hand — sex, drugs, and rock and roll. You know?'" Read it at The Cut.

The story of how a group of trans women vanished in the midst of El Salvador’s civil war has been passed down from generation to generation, creating a legend that gave them a place in the history of a country that often seems to wish they would disappear. J. Lester Feder set out to document the mysterious incident for the first time. Read it at BuzzFeed News.

Andrew Marantz chronicles Leslie Jones' long road to comedic stardom. "Every black comedian in the country knew what I could do...But that doesn’t mean everyone else is paying attention.” Read it at The New Yorker.

Beverly Jean Hope was an affluent, happily-married mother of three when she was suddenly murdered in her Dallas home in 1970. Forty-five years later and fresh off a new lead, Michael J. Mooney revisits the unsolved case. Read it at D Magazine.

Anne Helen Petersen explores how, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Roberts before her, all J. Law needs to cement her otherworldly stardom is a starring role in a mediocre film. "While Lawrence’s trajectory shares several qualities with both Roberts’ and DiCaprio’s — the indie star, the breakthrough, the talk of charisma, and, most recently, the bad movie — she’s also synthesized much of what made Roberts irresistible and the attitude that made DiCaprio seem invincible." Read it at BuzzFeed News.

A work of fart by Linda Rodriguez. "In the comedy hierarchy, farting is near the bottom (ahem), along with cat jugglers and clown...I don't think a farter can sustain a regular legion of fans. Once you've seen the act, your primary motive for going back is to take your friends and watch their expressions.”