It’s good week for journalism about cult-like groups. Once you’ve finished with Evan Ratliff’s Wired piece about the Zizians, you’ll be primed for the wild tale of Eligio Bishop—a.k.a. Natureboy, a.k.a. the leader of an itinerant band of off-the-grid disciples known as Carbon Nation. Bishop is currently serving a life sentence without parole, but that ending is anything but a spoiler; the real payoff is Peisner’s dogged reconstruction of the web Bishop spun, ensnaring young men and women who were justifiably tired of America’s structural imbalances.
Even when you can’t follow the internal logic or don’t agree with it, the sense that there is a logic can be enticing. It feels like a puzzle you might be able to solve with a little more time, a little more insight, a little more something, that an important truth is just around the next rhetorical corner. At times, Bishop talks like he’s bludgeoning you into submission, but at other times, it’s a delicate dance. He flatters (“You smart, bro.”), he threatens to hang up (“Why would I talk to you if you don’t feel I’m innocent?”), then insists I’m fated to help exonerate him (“Dave, that’s why we’re on the phone! You’re gonna help me. I already seen it!”).
More picks from Rolling Stone
The Last Great Weed Smuggler
“Before the cartels took over, Harvey Prager built a life on millions of dollars of drug money. One prosecutor called Prager ‘the last of the great amateurs.’ This is his story.”
This Sixties Musician Died Mysteriously. Was He the Victim of a Serial Killer?
“The murder of O’Jays member Frankie Little Jr. has been a cold case for more than 50 years. Now, a retired journalist believes he may have found the culprit.”
A Hockey Dad, a Cartel, and a $12 Million Fraud
“Kota Youngblood told his neighbors there were hits out on their lives — and only he could save them.”
TikTok Is Obsessed With Talking Parrots. It’s Fueling a Global Black Market.
“A yearlong investigation into the African-grey trade reveals a web of poachers, egg smugglers, wealthy businessmen — and multitudes who want a talking bird.”
The Artwork that Spawned 9/11 Conspiracy Theories and Mystery
“Twenty-five years ago, art collective Gelitin illicitly built a balcony, installed it on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center, and stood above New York City. A year later, the planes struck and conspiracy followed.”
White, Legally Armed, and Primed for Political Violence
“Ian Rogers was convinced it was up to him to save America. The gun industry’s sales tactics — playing up paranoia and glorifying combat — may be creating a pipeline of extremists willing to open fire.”
