Author: Ms. R.

There is a “Jim Crow Museum” at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, and it is not, to quote its official statement, “a shrine to racism.” It is, on the other hand, a testament to the resilience of Black Americans, established to “use objects of intolerance to teach tolerance and promote social justice.” The museum’s collection of racist objects began in the 1970s, when David Pilgrim, former professor of sociology and now Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion……

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After the fall of the Bulgaria‘s communist regime in 1989, nature has begun to take back what would have been a major monument to the rule of dictator Todor Zhivkov. Just minutes from popular beaches on the Black Sea coast, near the city of Primorsko, is an isolated patch of forest where one can wander around the abandoned, never-finished grand residence Zhivkov had planned, known as Perla 2 (perla means “pearl”). (Not to be confused with Perla 1, another abandoned Zhivkov residence……

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As the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across America, fledgling couples faced a choice: batten down the hatches in their respective homes, or hunker down together? Among those who chose the latter, several months in, some are bristling, while others are still happily canoodling. At the San Antonio Zoo, things are still looking pretty rosy for a pair of Micronesian kingfishers, Todiramphus cinnamomina cinnamomina, that shacked up in March. The birds recently welcomed a hatchling—the zoo’s first of their……

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When Corinne Fesseau first got Maurice—named after her grandfather—she assumed the tiny chick would become a chicken, like the one already in her backyard. But pretty soon Maurice grew into a beautiful Gallic rooster, and, as roosters do, he began to crow, sometimes as early as 6:30 or 7 a.m. Fesseau has lived in a semi-rural area on Ile d’Oléron, an island off the Atlantic Coast of France, for the last 35 years. Every summer, the island’s population of……

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The site at Bentra was established in 1915 and became the first military airbase in Ireland. This airbase housed a massive airship shed that measured 150 feet long by 45 feet wide and 50 feet high, as well as accommodation for the pilots and engineers working on station. There were at least four airships that operated from the site. The base operated as a Sub-Station of the Royal Naval Air Service Luce Bay airship base in Scotland during that……

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After France lost the Alsace-Lorraine region to Germany in the Franco-German War of 1870, many locals left the area to settle in Paris. They took with them a strong culture of brewing, opening dozens of brasseries in the capital city, as evidenced today in the timber-laden, Alsatian-style architecture you can still see throughout Paris. One of these intricately charming facades now houses a fast-food restaurant. Built in 1892 and named Au Roi de la Biére (“The King of Beer”), what was……

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Cinque Terre is a famous area of the Italian Riviera along the coast of Liguria. The rugged and mountainous terrain that makes up this coast creates many promontories and inlets. A medieval fortress known as Doria Castle (Castello Doria) stands on top of a rocky ridge near the village of Vernazza. The first nucleus of the fortress was dedicated during the 11th century by the Obertenghi, a Frankish noble family that ruled the area. The cylindrical tower that is still……

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There is a distinct feeling that arises when your preconceived notions about a particular ingredient are upended by a single morsel of food eaten in a faraway place. It’s a combination of bewilderment, denial, and awe. It’s visceral; it gives you pause in the greatest way possible. “How did I not know this was pig’s blood? Why is it so good?” One would think there’d be a word for this feeling in some language, with safe bets on German,……

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