9 Longform Stories We're Reading This Week: Shipwreck Hunters And The Cult Of Clue

Hundreds of ships have sunk in the Great Lakes, but where are they? BuzzReads's Katie Heaney took to the water with a crew of men obsessed with finding them (inspired by the show Sea Hunt). Read that and these other great stories from around BuzzFeed and the web.

1. Sea Hunt: Finding Sunken Treasure With The Great Lakes’ Legendary Shipwreck Hunters — BuzzReads

buzzfeed.com

Forget fantasies of gold doubloons or pirate booty — for a veteran crew of Midwestern adventurers looking for a lost freighter at the bottom of Lake Superior, the long, isolating search is its own reward. Read it at BuzzReads.

2. A Week With Action Bronson — Grantland

Gary Miller / WireImage / Getty Images

A hilarious profile by Alex Pappademas: "But that's sort of the best thing about Bronson: No one can fully believe what they're seeing. A 300-pound Albanian American dude who's released hundreds of rap songs, almost all of which are to some extent about fine dining, obscure athletes of the '80s and '90s, or sex workers?" Read it at Grantland.

3. “Something Terrible Has Happened Here”: The Crazy Story Of How “Clue” Went From Forgotten Flop To Cult Triumph — BuzzFeed

1985, Paramount Pictures courtesy of Everett Collection

That a high-concept, fast-talking farce based on a board game was a box office bomb in 1985 is no huge mystery. But figuring out how it became an enduring favorite is a Hollywood whodunit for the ages. Adam B. Vary argues the prime suspect is you, in the living room, with the remote control. Read it on BuzzFeed.

4. What's Killing Poor White Women? — The American Prospect

Davidiad / Wikimedia / Via prospect.org

A fascinating and tragic story by Monica Potts about an Arkansas woman whose sudden, unexplained death at 38 speaks to a larger trend puzzling experts: a five-year decline in the life expectancies of poor, white women. Read it at The American Prospect.

5. The Global Elite's Favorite Strongman — The New York Times Sunday Magazine

Nadav Kander for The New York Times

Jeffrey Gettleman profiles Rwanda's controversial president Paul Kagame — who is as revered as he is feared. He's turned the tiny, impoverished and genocide-ravaged nation into the 'Singapore of Africa'. But at what price? Read it at The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

6. Al Gore's Incredible Shrinking Climate Change Footprint — BuzzFeed

Illustration by John Gara / BuzzFeed; Joe Raedle / Getty Images; Saul Loeb / Getty Images

Evan McMorris-Santoro and Ruby Cramer report: "In the years since the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth and the Nobel Peace Prize that followed made Gore the number-one climate change advocate in the world, the activist group he created with his fame has been steadily shrinking..." Read it at BuzzFeed.

7. Getting Drunk in North Korea — The Atlantic

Photograph Robert Foyle Hunwick for The Atlantic

A report from the seldom-seen world of Pyongyang's small, somewhat seedy nightlife — the existence of which is seen as a sign that the nation, or its capital at least, is loosening up. Read it at The Atlantic.

8. A Death in Valdosta — Grantland

Photograph courtesy of Kenneth Johnson / grantland.com

A promising athlete was discovered dead in a roll of mats in the corner of his high school gymnasium in southern Georgia — but no murder investigation occurred. Jordan Conn reports on his family's quest for justice, and the area's legacy of under-investigated crimes against African-Americans. Read it at Grantland.

9. Morrison's Latest Big Fight — ESPN.com

Nick Ut, File / AP

Former World Heavyweight Champion Tommy Morrison tested positive for HIV back at the height of his fame in the early '90s. His death this week came on the heels of this in-depth look by Elizabeth Merrill at his confounding life and estranged family. Read it at ESPN.com.