Early Addition: The Crazy True Story Of A 'Sweetheart Swindle' And A Mistaken Drive-Thru Beating
Aug. 21, 2018, 12:15 p.m.
Because Kelly Marie Tran wrote an op-ed about online harassment, check out today's midday links: 'American Vandal' season 2 trailer, unethical female journalists on TV, luck as moral privilege, men's bath habits, and very good dog watched himself on TV.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/messyrican/43956512012/in/pool-gothamist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adrian mojica's flickr</a>
- Follow Gothamist on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here.
- The Atlantic looks at the lazy trope of unethical female journalists in movies and TV shows.
- The Trump administration unveiled its rewrite of pollution rules for coal-fired power plants, and in the fine print is an analysis showing an increase of up to 1,400 premature deaths annually.
- Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran wrote an op-ed for the NY Times about online harassment: "You might know me as Kelly. I am the first woman of color to have a leading role in a Star Wars movie. I am the first Asian woman to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair. My real name is Loan. And I am just getting started."
- Michael Wilson recounts an epic true crime story that starts with a "sweetheart swindle" in which an 80-something man married a middle-aged scammer, and ends with the beating of a completely different man at the Dunkin' Donuts drive-through.
- The Turd Burglar is on the loose in the the first trailer for American Vandal season two.
- Vox argues that acknowledging the role of luck in human life is "the secular equivalent of religious awakening."
- And here is yet another reason why you should quit Facebook ASAP.
- NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan defended the detective who used a banned chokehold on a man in Inwood after responding to a noise complaint.
- The Cut is asking very important questions today: "Do Men Enter Bathtubs on Hands and Knees, So Their Balls Hit the Water Last?"
- Check out the first trailer for Slice, a pizza delivery murder-mystery starring Chance The Rapper, Zazie Beetz and Steve from Stranger Things.
- Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, has written an article for The New Yorker about her experiences in H Mart.
- And finally, a very good dog watches herself win a dog competition on TV:
"Kirk, a female Border Collie, watching herself win the 2017 Purina Pro Challenge." pic.twitter.com/VizPLJ1REY
— Fluff Society (@FluffSociety) August 20, 2018