All Stories

Canoes are the traditional vehicles for gathering wild rice.

native american cuisine

The Cross-Border Indigenous Battle for Wild Rice

In the Great Lakes region, what some consider a weed is actually a sacred seed.

In 2017, Mexico City hosted its seventh annual International Queer Tango Festival at the Sergio Magaña Theater. Similar festivals have been held in Germany, Argentina, the United States, and several other countries.

gender

In Buenos Aires, Queer Tango Takes a Revolutionary Dance Back to Its Roots

In traditional tango, men lead and women follow. Queer tango is creating a new paradigm.

The kangaroo grass, Themeda triandra, looks delicate.

seed banks

The Unexpected Elegance of Apocalyptic Seed Vaults, In Photos

The images, by artist and professor Dornith Doherty, are ethereal and oddly comforting.

A two-year-old falcon and his trainer at a demonstration.

falconry

How the United Arab Emirates Became the Center of Falconry’s Gyre

And the hub of a world-spanning market for champion raptors.

The picturesque Bath Abbey sits in the center of town. Just next to it, a king of England may have been crowned.

monasteries

Found: The First Anglo-Saxon Building in Bath

The discovery, in a city famed for its Roman ruins, may mark the site of England’s first coronation.

Legend has it that the beam is as long as a Viking's oar.

disappearing world

These Scots Still Fish Like the Vikings

But it's not clear whether future generations will keep the tradition alive.

A mutually beneficial arrangement.

hunting

What a Viral Video of a Coyote and Badger Says About Interspecies Duos

Sometimes they're buddies. Sometimes it's strictly business.

Chefs Elizabeth Johnson of Pharm Table in San Antonio and Juan Cabrera Barrón of Fonda Fina in Mexico City page through the collection's oldest book.

cookbooks

Generations of Handwritten Mexican Cookbooks Are Now Online

North America's largest-known Mexican cookbook collection inspires both tears and restaurant dishes.

Cherry blossoms are among the vibrant flowers of Yong’ai Garden.

death

Burying the Dead in Taipei's Public Parks

The eco-friendly approach reflects Taiwan's shifting funerary practices.

A member of the Nez Perce, Brian J. Pinkham, dipnets for Chinook salmon in Idaho in 2001. For the past several years, the tribe's climate change coordinator, Stefanie Krantz, has been conducting a vulnerability assessment and working on a climate adaptation plan.

environment

Indigenous People Are at the Forefront of Climate Change Planning in North America

“Tribes have local, place-based cultures and their cultural survival depends on the land."

A traditional spirit stirs up fresh debate among craft distillers living along the U.S.–Mexico border.

booze

The Uncertain Future of a Border-Straddling Liquor

Sotol could bring Texans and Mexicans together, or divide them.

It's a snake! No—it's gypsum.

minerals

This Mexican Mineral Looks Like a Shimmering Serpent

Gypsum is common, but this specimen is remarkable.

Here's the catch: Dried cod is Norway's oldest export industry.

industry

How Dried Cod Became a Norwegian Staple and an Italian Delicacy

The lucrative stockfish trade dates back to the Viking days.

Laborers cluster around an accident at the quarry.

secret lives of museums

In Sydney, Intricate New Models Depict Australia’s Brutal Colonial Era

A redesigned museum hopes to grapple with the thorny legacy of the “convict period.”

The meat shower, here shown falling on Mrs. Crouch, caused confusion across the nation.

meat

The Artist Trying to Explain Kentucky's 'Meat Shower' of 1876

A historical head-scratcher inspired the world's worst jelly bean flavor.

Surprise, surprise: It didn't smell great down there.

secret lives of museums

Centuries of Crap and Some Historical Treasures in an Old London Cesspit

An art museum found a very old toilet—right under where its new bathroom was being built.

Gunditjmara people started building this elaborate aquaculture system before the construction of Egypt's oldest pyramids.

aquaculture

Australian Wildfires Uncovered Hidden Sections of a Huge, Ancient Aquaculture System

The Gunditjmara have been building an eel-farming system at the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape for more than 6,000 years.

The Tasmanian devil, a talisman of Australian wildlife, was catalogued and illustrated by John and Elizabeth Gould in the mid-19th century, then rendered as a lithograph by H.C. Richter.

evolution

See Australian Fauna in These Audubon-esque Illustrations

The 19th-century lithographs document a unique biodiversity that’s slipping away.