Feral Pigs & Bad Fathers
In Hawai‘i the pigs exist a little too much. Also, sometimes ghosts are a comfort.
With the U.S. elections looming, I was worried that the closer we got to the election date, the harder it would be to find good articles in English-language publications that were not about the elections. That turned out to be an unwarranted concern, as evidenced by today's selection, one of the largest in recent weeks. I had a hard time choosing the two featured articles today out of so much excellent writing.
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Featured Articles
Islands of the Feral Pigs
Hakai Magazine • 31 Oct 2024 • ~4800 words
In Hawai‘i, people, pigs, and ecosystems only have so much room to coexist, and the pigs exist a little too much.
Beyond the direct impacts that pigs cause to native ecosystems through their foraging, they may also be setting off an ecological cascade with profound consequences. Steven Hess, a researcher with the US Department of Agriculture, has found that there are about 40 percent more earthworms in areas where pigs actively root. Despite their beloved reputation among gardeners, earthworms are not native to Hawai‘i, and as they burrow and poop, they loosen and fertilize the soil and create ideal conditions for nonnative plants to thrive and outcompete island-adapted natives. “Pigs are out there mixing leaves into the soil and aerating the soil, and worms love that,” Hess says. “Pigs may come back and eat those worms later.” In other words, feral pigs raise their own livestock.
Good Ghosts and Bad Fathers: The Story of a Haunting, a Kidnapping, and an International Incident
Literary Hub • 31 Oct 2024 • ~9900 words
Helen Vogelsong-Donohue Finally Escapes Her Bogeyman
By this point, I didn’t even know what my father looked like. This was part of the fear. I was at new schools, where no one knew our small-town lore. Would I recognize him if he approached me? Would I be an easy mark? Would I not see him coming? Or worse, would I see him at last and realize that he looked just like me?
Recommended Articles
Walking Phnom Penh
Walking The World • 31 Oct 2024 • ~2850 words
Chris Arnade writes how refreshing it is to be in a city of children again.
Phnom Penh is a young city chock full of kids. They are everywhere, and they bring a positive energy, warmth, and joy that no amount of adult diversions — no amount of bars, casinos, exceptional cuisine, and museums — can replicate, because nothing warms the heart like a big smile from a tiny face. I don’t care how silly and maudlin that sounds, because it’s simply true, at an innate and an intellectual level. To be even more corny, being in a city of filled playgrounds is a lot more fulfilling, energizing, and uplifting, than being in a city of filled casinos.
