Editor's Note

Dear FM, Some of my friends bought two costumes for the double halloweekend. Here at FM, I decided we could do better. That’s why this issue is dressing up the magazine with not three, not four, but nine stylish articles. In our cover story, SJ takes us on a voyage Herman Melville could hardly have dreamt up: a journey to understand the language of whales. Project CETI, a massive interdisciplinary initiative with roots at Harvard, has spent the last four years collecting, processing, and now uncovering hidden linguistic structure in sperm whale clicks. But what would having another species as communicative and intelligent as humans mean for us? SJ guides us through the project and its striking implications with clarity, elegance, and wit. The articles don’t get any less eclectic from there. AAK and ASM experience the “gleeful absurdity” of Harvard’s undergraduate whistling society, the completely unserious club that has also performed at Yardfest. The prolific KJK pens an irreverent ode to Panopto’s 2x speed function. In keeping with the season, MEL and NFLL look back on the “more refined” Halloweens of Harvard’s past. Out in Harvard Square, ASA and NSK chronicle the real-life rom-com that led Rachel Kanter to create Lovestruck Books, an upcoming local bookstore specializing in romance novels. RZN and KEH check in with the Square’s street performers and how they’re navigating the location’s changing character. Back indoors, MRD and CDT get an exclusive look into a day in the life of Harvard’s most paparazzi-shy microcelebrity — a Mouse in Kirkland Dining Hall. CS stops by History 10, a revamped introductory course taught by three department all-stars aiming to showcase how broad a discipline history can be — and reverse declines in humanities concentration numbers. Finally, CJK closes out the issue with a somber and exquisite endpaper on incarceration, the killing of Marcellus Williams, and choosing love. Special shoutout to FM Compers for absolutely killing it — you make our jobs easy. Thanks to SET, LPE, JND, OWZ, XCZ, for color and wonder, and to LLL, BHP, JJG, AYL, for grounding our words. MJH, EJS, and CY have been handling so much, and I’m thankful they shouldered us on top of it all. All FM Execs deserve some thanks too, especially SEW for excellent scroofing (and letting me sneak into Lev library). Finally, I am once again indescribably grateful for KT, whose presence by my side (in Lowell, for countless hours) made all the difference this week. FMLove, HD + KT