Being away from my home country for so long—I’ve been traveling the world since 2007—but it didn’t just amplify the pet peeves I had about America. This time away has also given me a greater appreciation of the things that are good about America. Whether you’re visiting the country or you lived here your entire …
From the World Heritage inscription for the Historic Center of Siena: Siena is the embodiment of a medieval city. Its inhabitants pursued their rivalry with Florence right into the area of urban planning. Throughout the centuries, they preserved their city’s Gothic appearance, acquired between the 12th and 15th centuries. During this period the work of …
Podcast Transcript Before the United States entered the Second World War, it had a problem. The military’s administrative staff was spread out all over Washington, D.C., and struggled to function. The solution was a new massive building. Built in just 16 months during the urgency of World War II, the Pentagon began as a temporary …
Podcast Transcript Following the collapse of the Toltec Civilization, the Aztecs rose to prominence in central Mexico. The Aztecs constructed the most powerful state in the Americas, guided by a supreme emperor and a spiritual worldview that viewed human sacrifice as essential for cosmic stability. By the 16th century, the Aztec Empire was finally overcome …
Podcast Transcript For centuries, scientists imagined the universe as a giant clock, where every motion could, in theory, be predicted. Then mathematicians and meteorologists discovered something unsettling: even systems governed by simple rules could become impossible to forecast. A tiny change at the beginning could grow into a completely different outcome, an idea now known …
I arrived in Vancouver today after grossly underestimating how long it would take to get to here from Banff. It wasn’t the distance so much as the roads and how fast you can go on a winding mountain highway. I also ended up pulling over to sleep for an hour in the middle of the …
From the World Heritage inscription for the Historic Centre of Florence: Built on the site of an Etruscan settlement, Florence, the symbol of the Renaissance, rose to economic and cultural pre-eminence under the Medici in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its 600 years of extraordinary artistic activity can be seen above all in the 13th-century …
From the World Heritage Inscription of the Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area: There are around 48 Buddhist monuments in the Horyu-ji area, in Nara Prefecture. Several date from the late 7th or early 8th century, making them some of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. These masterpieces of wooden architecture are important …
From the World Heritage inscription for Gunung Mulu National Park: Gunung Mulu National Park, situated in the Malaysian State of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, is outstanding both for its high biodiversity and for its karst features. The park is dominated by Gunung Mulu, a 2,376 m-high sandstone pinnacle and the property is the …