internet explorers club | the last duel commandment

I am delighted to read this piece about the campaign to get men to stop dueling in Kentucky in the 19th century. Who knew that this is STILL IN THE OATH OF OFFICE:

"I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God."

But seriously: it’s a fascinating look at the attempts to eradicate dueling by tying consequences to public office, which meant you could (finally) honorably decline a duel.

On a similar tack, researchers have been looking into murder rates in mid 19th century Los Angeles, and it’s a fascinating comparison between the overblown reports of the day and the actual reports (which are still pretty intense).

Still in Los Angeles, a history of the Santa Ana winds, which if we go by Didion at all, had altogether something to do with the aforementioned murder rates. The Santa Anas are an interesting beast, blamed for all manner of strange and ill, and this article sifts truth from fiction in a compelling way.

YOU CAN SEE INDIVIDUAL NERVES ON THIS NEW FOSSIL SPECIMEN
I’M SO EXCITED!

The New Republic looks into the Hum, a low-frequency sound (specifically: “a low, distant rumbling, like an idling diesel engine, mostly audible at night, mostly noticeable indoors”) that people have heard around the world.

Having found Environments 4 in my Dad’s record collection, I am delighted by this long profile of Irv Teibel, who was a pioneer in recording and selling albums of nature sounds. I love the testimonials on the back:

Lots of great food writing recently! Matt Hartman on “New South” cuisine, the discussion of what makes “real barbecue” and the quote-unquote elevation of traditional Southern food, particular how this falls out along racial lines (don’t miss the tags: one of my favorite part of articles in the Awl). It references Mikki Kendall’s great piece, “Hot Sauce in Her Bag,” broadly examining Beyoncé’s relationship to her Southern Black identity through food, which I realized I haven’t shared yet. Stop everything and read it.

Laura Reiley investigates “farm-to-table” restaurants in the Tampa Bay area and finds that most of them are anything but:

“Dorsey said he buys pork from a small Tallahassee farm through food supplier Master Purveyors. But Master Purveyors said it doesn’t sell pork from Tallahassee. Dorsey said he uses quail from Magnolia Farms in Lake City. Master Purveyors said the quail is from Wyoming. Dorsey said he buys dairy from Dakin Dairy Farms in Myakka through Weyand Food Distributors. Weyand said it doesn’t distribute Dakin. Dorsey said he gets local produce from Suncoast Food Alliance and Local Roots. Both said they have not sold to The Mill.”

Finally, Kevin Alexander writes about his quest to find Pete Wells, the New York Times restaurant critic, who is a bit of a mystery outside his column.

Love these portraits of auto mechanics done in the style of famous paintings

Obligatory: I love essays about personal connections to music, and this was a beautiful one about Prince by Ijeoma Oluo: Prince Was The Patron Saint Of Black Weirdos

Etcetera: A mesmerizing jellyfish webcam, courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. A Tumblr that tracks old-school Doritos bags in film. NASA considering soft robotic squids to explore Europa.
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emilyhummel.com | @hummeline