Erie Canal, Dystopias, and the 'Butcher of Plainfield'

What is the Erie Canal?

The Erie Canal is a 363-mile waterway in New York connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic seaboard, from the Hudson River at Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo (see map). Initiated in 1817 for $7M (nearly $200M today), the canal was America’s first major infrastructure project and revolutionized trade and commerce in the United States.

The project relied on self-taught amateurs—including teachers, judges, and surveyors. The workers, nearly 50,000, dug the entire canal with hand tools, picks, and gunpowder (dynamite had not yet been invented). The original Erie Canal had 83 locks, each designed to be operated by a single person. This moved boats through a 565-foot elevation change.

The canal revolutionized the American economy, allowing goods to efficiently pass between the East Coast and the rest of the country. Freight charges dropped by 90%—from about $100 per ton to $10 on key routes. In the mid-1800s, the canal carried more settlers westward than any other route. The canal also allowed information to travel faster than ever before—news could travel between New York and Ohio in 10 days, instead of 30.

... Read what else we learned about the canal here.

Also, check out ... 

> The canal remains open today—see the route as it looks now. (More)

> A man in debtor's prison, Jesse Hawley, originated the idea of the canal. (More)

> Thomas Jefferson viewed the proposed canal as "little short of madness." (More)

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Dystopian literature, 101 

Dystopian literature is a literary genre focused on postapocalyptic, totalitarian, or otherwise oppressive societies (watch 101). Its stories often take place in the future, though its writers often comment on the present.

The word “dystopia” is derived from the Greek for “bad place” (see first use). It’s an inversion of “utopia,” a term popularized by Sir Thomas More in his 1516 book, “Utopia,” which imagined an ideal society free of want. The modern dystopian story does not just take place in an undesirable setting; it also features an oppressive power structure that claims to offer utopia, with one of the earliest examples being Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels."

The international conflicts of World War I and II inspired some of dystopian literature’s most influential novels as writers encountered the utopian promises of fascism and communism. In the decades to follow, more writers would follow the example of those early novels, using the dystopian model to critique artificial intelligence, climate change, and more.

... Read our full explainer on the genre here.

Also, check out ... 

> George Orwell's "1984" is one of the most influential dystopias. (More)

> Political scientists weigh in on whether we live in a dystopia. (More)

> Breaking down the five types of dystopias and their role in extremism. (More)

An explainer on Temu

Often compared to a virtual dollar store, Temu is a Chinese discount e-commerce retailer that sells a wide range of products, from $2 plastic headphones to $200 couches. Started in 2022, Temu is arguably most famous for its unusually cheap products, and the time it ran the same advertisement five times during the 2024 Super Bowl.

On Temu, shoppers can get discounts and other benefits through playing games (like one game where users help a tree grow, another where they spin a wheel to win, and more). With about 292 million global monthly active users, the Amazon competitor was the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store in the US through 2024.

Temu is able to offer such cheap prices in part because it does not actually own any of the products it sells—the sellers who list their products on Temu maintain ownership instead. Some argue that the company is more focused on rapidly gaining market share than achieving profitability: As of 2024, Temu was losing an average of $30 per order. 

... Read our full write-up on Temu here.

Also, check out ... 

> Amazon launched a Temu competitor, Haul, in 2024. (More)

> How e-commerce outlets like Temu used the now-extinct de minimis exemption. (More)

> Temu began as a Chinese company called Pinduoduo. (More)

Best of the Week

We added 210 resources this week to our knowledge collective—here are some of our favorites.

Weighing the pros and cons of doing what you love for work.

Charting the degree of interaction between US presidents and the Fed since 1933.

How Alaska's 750,000 residents are fed by (mostly) imported food.

Twenty of the world's most iconic big rock wall climbs.

... and how the indoor climbing gym has taken over the US.

The flow at Niagara Falls is changed daily to serve tourists, power generation.  

The White House's many renovations, including Truman's 1948 rebuild.

Why batteries can drive down costs and inefficiencies in the power grid.

The (theoretically) immortal jellyfish, and 10 other long-living species.

Wales has had a massive influence on fantasy books, music, and film.

Coffee and tea evolved to produce caffeine as a pesticide. 

The haunting story of Ed Gein, the "Butcher of Plainfield." 

How pandemic bond investors lost their money in 2020.

Breaking down the details on the Louvre jewel heist from last Sunday.

Meet the Marree Man, one of the world's largest works of art.

The government "cheese caves" reportedly storing 1.4 billion pounds of cheese.

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 1440 Explores: Ghosts 👻 — Coming Oct. 30 

Historybook: Erie Canal opens (1825); Women’s rights leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton dies (1902); Hillary Clinton born (1947); Hattie McDaniel, first Black Academy Award winner, dies (1952); Last known natural case of smallpox detected (1977).