Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
Image from A Most Certaine and True Relation by Edward May, 1639
Today’s eel: Every edition of this newsletter is named after an eel. Today's eel was found inside the body of a man in 1639. A “cardiac serpent” as some have called it.
If you’re feeling like probably this was not really an eel living in a man’s heart, you’re right. But this is today’s eel because it’s the namesake of my ✨newly rebranded membership program✨.
Rose here. It’s been a while, and for that I’m sorry. But I’m here to tell you what I’ve been doing that has taken up 120% of my brain and time.
It’s called Tested, and it’s a six part documentary podcast series about something that most people have no idea even exists: so-called "gender verification" regulations.
Today’s eel: Today's eel is not an eel at all. I thought about trying to do a bunch of research to figure out some clever way to link an eel species to ceramics in some way, but I'm writing this newsletter from an airport and I'll be sending it from a train and I don't have time to do that. Please forgive me.
The point of this specific email is pretty straightforward anyway. I'm selling a small number of pieces of pottery, to raise money for the IFJ Safety Fund to support journalists working in Palestine. These are not the best made pots. They're mostly not food safe. The photos are not great. They will definitely not arrive by Christmas. But I think they're kind of cool and maybe you do too?
And, as newsletter subscribers, you're learning about this sale before the general public. I have no idea if these pots will sell quickly or not, but at the very least you get a head start.
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
Today’s eel: Today's newsletter is a little different. There's no specific eel. Last year, I ended the Flash Forward podcast, and closed the Patreon. In its place, I encouraged people who were interested in the Rose Eveleth Extended Cinematic Universe to join a more general membership program, called the Time Travelers Club. The TTC has been basically my only source of income since January. And today, I wanted to share with you a sample of what those folks get twice a month.
This is, frankly, a shameless attempt to try and drum up a few more members. Right now, all my work is self-funded. I’m working on lots of stuff (see below for project updates), but none of it is making me money right now. The writers strike means that some of my adaptation deals are on hold. I’m developing a book proposal, but it still need some work. I’m about to close a deal for a documentary podcast series that is really exciting, but that I’m going to have to self-fund a portion of it from my own savings.
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
It's been a while since I've checked in with you folks. As a reminder, if you want regular emails, you can become a supporter of my work. Time Travelers get newsletters twice a month, book club discussions and meetings, bonus podcasts, special Discord channels, early and exclusive access to fiction, and more! I recently started publishing monthly installments of a young adult story, and members are the only ones who have access to a few short stories I've been working on.
Today’s eel: Every edition of this newsletter is named after an eel. Today's eel is Anguilla japonica, or the Japanese eel. We've talked about Anguilla eels before (here and here) and this genus is probably the one that people interact with most in their lives, albeit as a food source, rather than a living creature. If you've encountered Anguilla japonica it has probably been on a plate.
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
Today’s eel: Every edition of this newsletter is named after an eel. Today's eel is the California moray (Gymnothorax mordax). We've done a moray before (the Giant moray, or Gymnothorax javanicus) and in that newsletter I noted that "You might think that moray eels are one species, but in fact moray is the family (Muraenidae) and there are 200 different species of moray eels out there." I'm picking the California moray today because I'm currently taking a class on the biogeography of the Bay Area and so I'm thinking a lot about the reasons certain species live where they live.
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
[image: a reddish orange eels swimming against a dark blue background]
Today’s eel: Every edition of this newsletter is named after an eel. Today's eel is Simenchelys parasitica, which also goes by a series of fairly rude names including snubnose eel, pug-nosed eel, slime eel, and snub-nose parasitic eel. I picked it because these eels are fairly gross (the way I felt about 2022) and also have a lot of fascinating potential we can scavenge (how I'm hoping to feel about 2022 in the future).
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
[image: an eel, with yellow skin spotted with black spots, swimming in a tank with other colorful fish]
Today’s eel: Every edition of this newsletter is named after an eel. Normally that means an eel species, but today's issue is named after a specific, individual eel. His name is Larry Gordon, and he lives in Tacoma, Washington. I read about Larry in this delightful story by Emily Anthes, and I really do hope you go read the whole thing because it's great.
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
[image: A photograph of Protanguilla palau, a pinkish eel that has a long body and white tipped fins, swimming along the seafloor, which is white]
Note: Today's newsletter is LONG! If you want to read it in a browser here's a link. There are also a lot of images. SORRY. I haven't sent one of these in a year, please forgive me for being long winded.
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
image: a single skinny eel against a blue background
Today’s eel: Every edition of this newsletter is named after an eel. Today’s is the Hawaiian garden eel (Gorgasia hawaiiensis). I can't believe we haven't talked about garden eels in the past in this newsletter, since I have a real soft spot for them. There are about 35 known species of garden eel and their namesake comes from the fact that they bury themselves in the sand and seem to almost grow, like a little eel garden.
Welcome to today’s bucket of eels. I’m Rose. Let’s pull out some eels, shall we?
Today’s eel: Stemonidium hypomelas is one of a handful of so-called "sawtooth eels." But the thing that sets Stemonidium hypomelas apart from the rest of the sawtooth family is, in science talk, "reduced dentition." In other words, Stemonidium hypomelas can be distinguished from other sawtooths because it has less sawtoothy teeth. It looks a bit more like a snipe eel, which we've talked about on this newsletter before.
Speaking of which, you're getting this newsletter through a new interface now. If all went according to plan, you got an email from me about leaving Substack, and now you're getting this email from me from Buttondown, another newsletter service. Unlike Stemonidium hypomelas this version of the newsletter will have no less dentition than its predecessors.
This is just a quick housekeeping email to say that I’m moving this newsletter away from Substack. At this point you either know all about why, or have no clue what I’m talking about at all. If you want to read up on what’s going on, other folks have covered it far better than I can. Substack can choose to pay and promote whoever they like, and I can choose to leave if their editorial choices don’t align with my values. And suffice to say that platforming and paying TERFs & racists isn’t something I want to participate in, to put it lightly.
You don’t have to do anything to stay subscribed, but the next time you get an email from the eel bucket, it will look slightly different. You’ll get one of those from me soon to confirm that the switch has been made successfully.
