Best Business Longreads for the Week of September 22, 2013

The Man Behind Bustle

Lizzie Widdicombe – The New Yorker

When Silicon Valley entrepreneur Bryan Goldberg set out to launch Bustle, what he calls “the next great women’s publication,” he was able to raise large amounts of money after his gangbusters success Bleacher Report. But will his female-oriented site be a similar success, or just offend everybody?

Will the F-35, the U.S. Military’s Flaw-Filled, Years-Overdue Joint Strike Fighter, Ever Actually Fly?

Adam Ciralsky – Vanity Fair

The most expensive weapons system in history, the F-35 has also been the greatest lobbying coup of all time with production spread out over 46 states. The problem? It is still unknown whether the plane will ever work.

Shall We Play a Game? The Rise of the Military-Entertainment Complex

Corey Mead – Salon

That the U.S. military has been the progenitor and financial source for much of this century’s technological innovation is no secret. But it turns out that those couch potatoes playing Call of Duty do have some connection to real soldiers – the military was also the driving force behind a lot of video game innovation to service its virtual military training needs.

The Honey Launderers: How Germany’s ALW Got Busted for the Largest Food Fraud in U.S. History

Susan Berfield – Businessweek

The U.S is the biggest honey market in the world, with Americans consuming nearly 400 million pounds a year. In 2001, in response to beekeeper claims of Chinese price manipulation, a tariff was imposed that roughly tripled the cost of honey from China. One small company, ALW, got caught up in a Chinese honey smuggling network that exposed just how vulnerable the global food supply chain is.