September 26, 2016

The Depression—a bleak time in many American kitchens—forged modern American cuisine. / Bloomberg

A Dutch bike manufacturer reduces shipping damages by 80% by putting an image of a television on their boxes. / cyclingweekly.co.uk

Deferring to public pressure, Charlotte police release footage of Keith Scott’s death. / The Charlotte Observer

“Our childhood was…weird, in a word. Even as a kid I found myself thinking, ‘Why are we selling flowers at the side of highways?’ ‘Why are we going door-to-door making strangers drink juice?’ ‘Why are we sprinkling salt over our groceries?’” Old but interesting look into the world of cults, almost worth it for the headline alone: “I accidentally joined a cult after leaving another cult.” / Jane

Why does Australia have one of the largest language families in the world? Two new genomics studies and biology give us a glimpse into the evolutionary tree of the continent, and lend some credence to one of Australia’s old myths. / Science

“After the Great Texting Shift of 2007, a phone call became a claim of intimacy. Today if I want to phone someone just to chat, I first have to consider whether the call will be viewed as intrusive. My method is to ask myself, ‘Have I ever seen this person in the nude?’” In 2007, text message volume eclipsed phone calls for the first time. Is the intimacy of the human voice now something to be embarrassed about? / Slate

Beck, kill, runnel, runlet, ghyll, bight, bay, barachois. A list of the many names we have for our watery surroundings. / Atlas Obscura

On an average day in America, seven children and teenagers are shot dead. The Guardian profiles 9-year-old Jaiden Dixon, who was shot by his mother’s ex-boyfriend on his doorstep in suburban Ohio. / YouTube

A new KPMG survey of 100 British CEOs finds that three-quarters of them are considering moving their operations outside of the UK. / The Wall Street Journal

According to the following video, when the leader of a homing pigeon flock goes in the wrong direction, either he/she gives up command, or the other birds stop following. The actual study is pretty fascinating: researchers re-set the birds’ “sun compass” (poor birds!) / Forbes

For Vin Scully’s final game at the microphone, the Dodgers came back from a 3-2 deficit in the bottom of the ninth to win the National League West—so naturally Scully played tape of the time he serenaded his wife with “Wind Beneath My Wings,” and made the whole stadium cry. / YouTube

The Chinese government estimates that women start 55% of new Internet companies. / Bloomberg

“Within a month of Mr. Zuckerberg curing mortality, the first wars over water resources would break out. Within a year, the World Health Organisation would be embarking on an emergency sterilization programme.” Op-ed: Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to end disease is a sickeningly bad idea. / The Telegraph

Conventional thought holds that grocery stores put milk in the back to make you pass by other items to buy. But what if competition forces them “to put the milk more or less where the customers would like it to be?” / Medium

“My male colleagues are all married. They have kids. Interestingly, it’s only the single women who are here until 9 p.m. Do we carry more of the water? Sure. Are we willing to do it? Yes. Are we complaining about it? No. Because god, it’s delicious!” Though women make up nearly half the CIA’s workforce, they account for only a third of senior leadership, in part due to sexism within the agency, but also because it’s hard to find partners willing to prioritize their careers. / Newsweek

There’s a good chance we’ll see a record number of female Senators come November, and that’s great news for anyone aggravated by Washington gridlock. / prospect.org

Tomorrow marks the 10-year anniversary of then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s commitment to curbing climate change in California. The San Francisco Chronicle summarizes what’s changed—and, surprisingly, it’s a lot. / San Francisco Chronicle

Chicago now escorts one in five students to school to provide safe passage in areas where bullets fly. / The Economist

“At the local level, America’s justice system is disproportionately white-controlled, and disproportionately oriented toward punishing minorities.” Another problem in our justice system: Ninety-three percent of prosecutors in America are white. / Fusion

“An entire generation of feminist and postfeminist women who stormed the barricades of the American work force, planned their reproductive destinies, and even got their partners to fold the laundry occasionally are now engaged in an odd sort of collective self-delusion.” Barnard College president laments the popularity of cosmetic surgery, doesn’t rule it out for herself. / New York Times

Buried inside Michael Schulman’s otherwise unprovocative profile of Transparent’s Hari Nef is one of those facts you see that’s hard to unsee (even if you’ve seen it before): Forty-one percent of transgender Americans have attempted suicide, compared with five percent of the general population. / The New Yorker

Facebook censored pictures of a Nazi flag being sold next to a Trump flag. / phillymag.com

Guards at Alabama’s Holman Correctional Facility have joined prisoners on strike, refusing to show up for work and forcing the warden to make rounds with a meal cart. / BuzzFeed

Giving confirmation to what had long been assumed, South Korean Minister of Defense Han Min-koo admits that there is an official government plan to assassinate Kim Jong-un in the case of a legitimate nuclear threat. / CNN

“I do 10, and then I breathe, and then I do 10 more.” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg discusses her push-ups routine. / Fortune