I have enjoyed this article and have seen (or have heard about) some strange/unethical like actions at my time in grad school (Masters level in Canada).

What turned me off about academic research and PhD studies is the time length and the academic culture. I like math and stats but I am not 100% obsessed with it to the point I crave it 24/7. Also, I feel like the academia culture is kind of in its own bubble. The publish or perish environment that I have heard of does not sound appealing and does not emphasize quality over quantity.

I once had an interesting talk with a fellow grad student (now Phd student) that there are studies that industry research is more reliable than academic research. It sounds interesting but I do not know if there is a lot of truth to this.

On a unrelated note, have you ever come across with PhD Comics? They have grad school humour.