October 1, 2011

This Machine claps with one hand. Feel free to read our palm as we keep our fingers on the pulse of Oklahoma with this issue. Featuring:

TOGETHER IN TULSA: Rebekah Greiman must first endure being photographed herself before she gets to interview this spritely, dancing couple.

GOODBYE TULSA: Shawna Lewis bids a fond farewell to Harriet Peake–a sweet woman who was ruthless on the croquet field.

SILKWOOD: Sarah Denton reviews the mysterious death of Karen Silkwood, 30 years later.

IMAGINARY OKLAHOMA: Acclaimed novelist Rebecca Makkai shares the story of college kids who are perplexed by a fellow classmate from Oklahoma.

PERUVIAN NOVELIST: New York Public Library staffer Robert Dumont profiles his favorite customer, Mario Vargas Llosa.

A RIVER PRACTICALLY RUNS THROUGH IT: Ginger Strand links the Oklahoma Aquarium to the development of the Arkansas River.

HOOK, LINE, AND STRINGTOWN: Jenny Sullivan recalls Clyde Barrow and the gory, if brief, Stringtown Shootout.

POETRY: Young poet Justin L. Bond offers us his unpublished work “Desiderata.”

LETTERS: Erin Turner reports from Borneo, “The Land Beneath the Wind.”

DONE THAT: Natasha Ball explains the unusual rodeo event of “mutton busting.”

MERRY MISSIONARIES: Denver Nicks reports on Oklahoma’s Armenian missionaries, “The Singing Men of Oklahoma,” along with many other delightful diplomatic stumbles revealed by Wikileaks.

TRUE TULSA: Michael Cooper returns with a photo of much-beloved Rabbi Marc Fitzerman. All that, plus perennially mind-blowing work by in-house illustrator Jeremy Luther and creative director Carlos Knight.