My obsessive Instapaper’ing takes me to some weird, wonderful, provocative places. Enjoy.
Recommendations
Fortune, “What really caused the sriracha shortage?” 2024 — “There’s a cruel irony to the predicament of Craig Underwood, who’s now 81, and David Tran, 78. One man with thousands of acres of pepper fields, but nobody to buy his peppers. Another with a massive pepper factory, and not enough peppers to keep it running.” A sad read, especially since the Huy Fong brand has been so iconic and with minimal marketing. Now, competitors like Tabasco have creatively jumped into the void. My current favorite: Yellow Bird blue agave sriracha.
Reason, “Monkey Herpes, Face Eating, and the Pork Chop Gang: How Public Records Laws Created the Florida Man,” 2024 — “The seemingly endless supply of stories and the enduring popularity of the meme has led many to wonder: Why is Florida so damn weird?” You’ve seen the memes. You’ve heard the jokes. Now, here comes the journalism.
Scientific American, “Inside the Crime Rings Trafficking Sand,” 2024 — This story just has one of those dint’cha’know headlines that dares you to not read. “Very few people are looking closely at the illegal sand system or calling for changes, however, because sand is a mundane resource. Yet sand mining is the world's largest extraction industry because sand is a main ingredient in concrete, and the global construction industry has been soaring for decades.”
New Yorker, “How Mads Mikkelsen Generates Sympathy for the Devil,” 2024 — Having thoroughly enjoyed (but not yet dared to emulate) the fantastic Dutch film Another Round, I’ve kind of rediscovered this actor outside of the blockbusters that took him mainstream. A wonderfully candid, even self-effacing interview.