Wrecks, Howl & Eulachon

Featured Reading

Dredging Up the Ghostly Secrets of Slave Ships

The New Yorker • Published on 2025-02-24 • ~6650 words
By Julian Lucas

Julian Lucas writes about the efforts of maritime archeologists and the Slave Wrecks Project to locate and excavate slave shipwrecks, focusing on the Camargo and its connections to the transatlantic slave trade and Brazil. He explores the historical context of the slave trade, the difficulties in memorializing such a painful past, and the importance of connecting these discoveries to the present-day struggles for justice and recognition.

Ten years ago, not one ship that sank in the Middle Passage had ever been identified. The African diaspora’s watery cradle was an archeological blank, as though the sea had erased all trace of what the poet Robert Hayden called a “voyage through death / to life upon these shores.” Then, in 2015, a Portuguese ship called the São José was discovered off the coast of Cape Town. Three years later, the Clotilda, America’s last known slave ship, turned up in Alabama’s Mobile River. The most recent find is believed to be L’Aurore, a French vessel that sank off the coast of Mozambique after an attempted uprising. Meanwhile, in Dakar, researchers are closing in on the Sénégal, which exploded after its capture by the British Navy, in 1781.

Howl

Nautilus • Published on 2025-02-21 • ~8000 words
By Kevin Berger

Kevin Berger explores the complex history and controversial outcomes of gray wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies. Diane Boyd, a wolf researcher, argues that natural recolonization would have been more beneficial for the species than the government-led reintroduction. Others do not agree.

Last September Boyd published her first book, a memoir, A Woman Among Wolves. She captivatingly details her life in the wild, offering as close to a wolf’s-eye view of the Northern Rockies as we’re likely to see. Later in the book, as she takes stock of the state of wolves today, she delivers a stinging claim: “Wolf recovery is all about people and very little about wolves.”

Letting wolves be wolves was Boyd’s view of how they should be managed from the days and nights she tracked the lone wolf in Montana 46 years ago. She hasn’t changed her mind. I regaled her with all the criticism of natural recovery that I had collected from talking to others. She wasn’t fazed. Wolves navigate gauntlets of people with their own wiles every day, Boyd said. They didn’t need to be reintroduced.

Where the Savior Fish Still Swims

bioGraphic • Published on 2025-02-25 • ~5100 words
By Shanna Baker

In British Columbia, the annual return of the eulachon fish, known as the "savior fish," brings with it a wave of traditional community work. Shanna Baker’s narrative explores not just the fishing practices along the Nass River, but also the deep cultural ties and ecological concerns surrounding this resource.

When it’s time to make grease, each camp has its own proprietary process, just as each has its own fishing strategies. The details are not mine to share. As I chat with the Walter’s Camp crew in their cabin—a rustic one-room hut with notes scribbled on the plywood walls from past visitors, sleeping bunks in a loft, a compact kitchen, and a TV lounge tucked behind the stairs—Lonny Stewart worries I’ve learned too many details. “Don’t write that down!” he pleads when another fisherman describes an aspect of the crew’s setup. Eulachon harvesting and grease making are age-old art forms. The magic is in the details, and some prefer those details be shared on a need-to-know basis. Stewart does, however, open a Mason jar of grease from the shelf for me to sample. He holds it up so the solidified oil inside gleams gold in the window light before offering a taste. It has a roasted, almost-nutty flavor. Fishy, but much more subtle than the smell implied by the fermenting fish outside.

Recommended Reading

The Women Who Made America’s Microchips and the Children Who Paid for It

The Verge • Published on 2025-02-18 • ~5700 words
By Justine Calma

Justine Calma writes about the health ramifications for early semiconductor factory workers in Silicon Valley. She focuses on the experiences of women like Yvette Flores, whose exposure to hazardous chemicals while working in chip manufacturing led to their children being born with disabilities.

She went back to work after what happened in the bathroom, still unaware of what risks she faced on the job. She didn’t suspect at the time that anything in her workplace could have led to the miscarriage. In 1979, when she was 22, she got pregnant with Mark. She kept working at Spectra-Physics until Mark was born with a severe intellectual disability, when she left her job to become his primary caregiver.

The Long Modernization of the Italian Railways

Italian (urban) Letters • Published on 2025-02-18 • ~4447 words
By Marco Chitti

The evolution of Italy's railway system is an ongoing effort that spans over a century. Marco Chitti explores how the Italian railways transformed from outdated infrastructure into a network capable of meeting modern demands. Chitti details the technical and political challenges faced along the journey, highlighting the significance of long-term planning and investment.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the Italian railway network wasn’t either. But day after day, law after law, project after project, the Italian railway network was able to keep pace with the changing society's needs and remain relevant despite the competition of the car and the plane.

The Cat’s Meat Man

The Public Domain Review • Published on 2025-02-12 • ~2550 words
By Kathryn Hughes

Kathryn Hughes writes about the lives of Victorian London's "cat's meat men," who sold cheap meat to pet owners. This took place during a time when public attitudes toward cats were shifting—from being seen primarily as rat catchers to becoming beloved domestic companions. The trade, however, sometimes also carried darker undertones, with suspicions about the source of the meat and its possible connection to events like the Jack the Ripper murders.

Within minutes of the cat’s meat man embarking on his circuit, the barrow would be surrounded by felines, some of whom had perfectly good homes to go to and others who did not but still hoped that a sliver of flesh might fall their way. Although there were plenty of grim jokes circulating about how cat’s meat men supplied the toughest meat they could get away with, the fact was that many of these rough diamonds were known for their tender hearts. It was not unusual to spot a cat’s meat man slipping scraps to the hopeful strays that wound around his ankles. He was their guardian, their special friend. Sometimes he could even bring about fairy-tale transformations: no less a lady than the Duchess of Bedford had recently adopted a stray that had been rescued by her local London cat’s meat man.

The Teacher in Room 1214

New York Times • Published on 2025-02-23 • ~3000 words
By Emily Baumgaertner Nunn

This piece examines Ivy Schamis' journey following the loss of two students in the Parkland school shooting, highlighting her steadfast dedication to supporting her students' emotional and mental health in its aftermath. Though she eventually left Parkland to focus on her own healing, Schamis remained connected with her students, offering ongoing support as they navigated life after the tragedy.

When the school reopened two weeks later, Ms. Schamis was there, shuffling between campus buildings with a cart of teaching supplies. The school’s psychological support offerings for students included coloring books and Play-Doh. She found them useless. She arranged to instead have a service dog, Luigi, a golden retriever, join her classes for the rest of the year.

The students, too, scattered around the country, but the Room 1214 text thread bound them together. Over time, there were updates: Ally Allen, inspired by Ms. Schamis, was preparing to become a teacher. Hannah Carbocci was pursing a career in criminal justice and writing her thesis on warning signs in school shooters. Catie Krakow was getting a degree in mental health counseling and shared tips on how the others could care for themselves as another anniversary approached.

In Hawai‘i, Restoring Kava Helps Sustain Native Food Culture

Civil Eats • Published on 2025-02-24 • ~2400 words
By Naoki Nitta

Despite the FDA's cautious stance on kava due to potential health risks, Hawai'i has labeled it as Generally Recognized as Safe. Naoki Nitta highlights the historical suppression of kava, its recent revival through the efforts of farmers and activists, and the challenges posed by regulatory ambiguity. The piece further examines the potential for sustainable kava production to boost the local economy and heal the environmental scars left by plantation agriculture.

For Trask, kava is also central to healing Hawai‘i’s post-plantation scars. Fertile rainforests were razed for sugarcane fields, then abandoned after the industry’s collapse in the 1990s. Now overrun with “acres and acres of pasture and eucalyptus,” the land faces threats from pests and wildfires. By integrating native trees such as breadfruit and morinda (noni) with kava, taro, and other canoe plants, “we’re rebuilding our agroforestry system,” he said. Doing so “restores pono,” he adds, using a Hawaiian expression for the reestablishment of balance in the soil, in biodiversity, and in cultural practices.

Chatbots of the dead

Aeon • Published on 2025-02-21 • ~5400 words
By Amy KurzweilDaniel Story

Chatbots of the dead are AI technologies that simulate conversations with the deceased using their personal data. There are important questions about the ethics of these technologies, but the authors are optimistic, arguing for them to be viewed as artistic props, fostering imagination and creative engagement with memory, similar to participatory theater or memoir writing.

A chatbot based on someone’s data is like an improv actor who has studied a backstory or character sketch in order to performatively represent a character based on that person, like a Civil War soldier at a historical reenactment, an Elvis impersonator, or King Pentheus in Dionysus in 69 (1969), the participatory rendition of Euripides’ play The Bacchae. Chatbots of the dead, like participatory theatre, allow the audience to directly participate in these fictional worlds, thereby becoming imaginatively acquainted with the real person to whom the character corresponds.

The Shrouded, Sinister History Of The Bulldozer

Noema • Published on 2025-02-20 • ~9300 words
By Joe Zadeh

The history of the bulldozer is darker than you might think, and its evolution goes beyond simple construction and demolition. Joe Zadeh explores its origins in violent voter suppression, to its weaponization in war and state-sanctioned home demolitions, and how it has been a symbol of both creation and destruction. He also asks, “How responsible are the manufacturers of a particular technology for the ways in which it is ultimately used?”

To bulldoze was to unleash a dose of coercive violence.

For many marginalized groups around the world, heavy earthmoving equipment has often been the visible part of the faceless bureaucratic mega-machine that runs roughshod through communities in the name of urban renewal, beautification or “slum” clearance. In India, the yellow JCB has become more than that — a catchall term for earthmoving equipment transformed into weapons of both literal and metaphoric power. For some, they symbolize unspeakable terror; for others righteous justice.

The Men Spending $1,000 a Day in Pursuit of Big Bass 

Texas Monthly • Published on 2025-02-23 • ~6150 words
By Ryan Krogh

Some bass fishing enthusiasts are willing to spend up to $1,000 a day in search of the ultimate catch: a trophy-sized largemouth bass. Ryan Krogh explores the unique subculture of anglers, who pursue these elusive fish in private lakes across Texas. The piece delves into the passion, obsession, and considerable financial investment that drive these weekend warriors.

Some lures can cost as much as a rod and reel. A single swimbait from North Carolina’s Tater Hog Custom Fishing Lures, the gold standard for many big-bass anglers, can set you back almost $300. A glide bait—a hard plastic bait that swims in a realistic manner—from a popular Texas line, 3:16 Lures, based in Emory (a town near Lake Fork), sells for $280. When I asked Addington how much he’s spent on lures, he demurred. “What’s the opposite of exaggerate?” he asked, laughing. “Because that’s what I need to do.” After a few seconds of mental math, he responded more honestly. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure I want to know.”