A hurricane barrels toward Florida

… plus curiosities from endangered languages, the Northern Lights, and more

Welcome back to another edition of The Detour! My name is Kelly, and I’m the newsletter’s founding writer. With every issue of The Detour, I hope to deliver you an honest, dynamic, and engaging newsletter that cuts through the noise of the internet and sparks curiosity from all corners of the globe. You, dear reader, are part of a global community of 26,000+ strong. (Which is, honestly, pretty incredible. Thank you for being here.)

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“The world needs thoughtful, ethical, and compassionate journalism.” — A fan of The Detour. // Source: Substack Analytics

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Kelly

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Without further ado, here’s what’s on deck:

🗒️ How climate change may impact half of the world’s languages

👀 The South Pole’s first sunrise of the year

🌀 What scientists are saying about Hurricane Milton

📚 What Hannah Arendt can teach us about late-capitalist consumerism

Kelly Kimball for Frame. // Canva Illustrations, Wikimedia Commons

3 — The number of solar flares that erupted over the past week, triggering geomagnetic storms that have led to incredibly impressive aurora borealis further south than normal.

A forecast of the viewline of the aurora borealis on Tuesday, October 8 (left) and Wednesday, October 9 (right). // Source: Oval Variation, Assessment, Tracking, Intensity, and Online Nowcasting model; Space Weather Prediction Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NASA says the electromagnetic activity that creates these northern lights will continue well into 2025, making it possible for parts of North America as far south as Florida to see the spectacle.

45,000 — The number of dockworkers who went on strike across the East Coast and Gulf Coast to demand higher wages and a guarantee that automation won’t be used put many of them out of work. Their demonstrations shut down 36 of the nation’s largest shipping hubs for three days and ultimately resulted in dockworkers agreeing to return to work in exchange for a 62% pay increase over the next six years. (Negotiations regarding the use of automated machinery at the ports has yet to take place.) If the strike had lasted any longer, economics experts say it would have caused major damage to the American economy.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore attends a dockworker strike hosted by members of International Longshoremen's Association in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 2. // Pat Siebert via Wikimedia Commons

There’s much more to The Detour this week. Subscribe below for a free seven-day trial to keep reading.