C.D. Hermelin liked to sit on a bench on NYC’s Highline and write stories for people on a small typewriter. Then the Internet found out about this practice and turned Hermelin into an object of ridicule. From The Awl: The Internet Hates Me. (Don’t feel too bad, it hates the rest of us too…)

+ “If you never hear from me again, look for my body in the western Yunnan Province of China or the Yellow Mountains of Anhui. Just kidding. No, I’m really so excited.” That was an email sent by David Sneddon to his mother shortly before he disappeared while hiking in China. Buzzfeed’s Leslie Anne Jones asks: Was An American College Student Kidnapped By North Korea?

+ The NYT’s Mary Pilon shares the story of Charlie Rowan, a cage match fighter who faked his own death. The story features some incredible illustrations by Attila Futaki, and if you don’t feel like reading, you can sit back and listen as Bobby Cannavale reads it to you.

+ From Boulder: Notes on a thousand-year flood. And related: A collection of photos from InFocus: After the deluge.