I get frustrated with the reaction to New Yorker pieces on here. Yes, a New Yorker piece is going to be long and have backstory.
Their feature pieces are like novellas of non-fiction. Many get republished into books, that receive acclaim like the amazing Coming into the Country[1].
It doesn't skim as well as some business insider article that is just a list of bullet points, but it was never meant to.
The New Yorker has some absolutely great pieces and a huge budget for journalism, but that said, I find their writers self-indulge a bit more than I find pleasant. The Walrus doesn't have as many block buster journalistic pieces, but the writing is strong and strikes a better balance between flourish and meat.
I very much enjoy the opportunity to use my right brain for a change. The style lends itself to 'feeling' the subject as much as describing it. This article especially invokes a kind of dreamy inexactitude that perfectly matches with the semi woo of the underlying topic. Intuition is the gift, reason the faithful servant - a view that most programers will disagree with imo.