As the Covid infections have ticked upwards and lockdowns have dragged on there’s been plenty of time to dwell on our current situation. Read more…
History Archive
A Glib History of Ancient Pandemics
Wherein I draw tenuous connections between the current Coronavirus shemozzle and the great pandemics of the ancient world.
How Georgia Abolished its Police
The police were the first Georgians I met. Arriving in the capital, Tbilisi, at ten to midnight there were police officers waiting on the tarmac.
American Stormtroopers
Back in 2015 Amazon unveiled a promotional campaign for their TV adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s famous novel The Man in the High Castle. Read more…
Part 2: Replicants of the Reef
On a rocky stretch of coastline on Hawaii’s Big Island a group of marine biologists are studying the lifecycle of the octopus – a creature that lives fast and dies young. Read more…
Violence in the Aloha State
I knew that Hawaii was part of America but I still didn’t expect it to be so American.
Read more…
The Pirates of REM Island
On a cold day in December in 1964 three helicopters belonging to the Royal Dutch Navy set out across the north sea towards a tiny speck in the ocean about ten kilometers west of Noordwijk on the Dutch coast.
Read more…
Remembering Cummeragunja
Studying Australian history often feels more like uncovering some sprawling conspiracy. Buried underneath all the accounts of white explorers, convicts, bushrangers, miners and diggers is a vast bedrock of black history. The more you dig the more connections you find but the full story always seems to remain hidden.
The Battle for Schloss Itter
Tucked away on a forested hillside in Austria’s Tyrolean alps is a château called Itter with a long history and one remarkable footnote. Read more…
The Women of Rojava
Photos by Asmaa Waguih and Joey Lawrence of Kurdish fighters provide a face for a revolution that is quietly taking place behind the front lines of the war with ISIS.
Sea Tigers of the LTTE
In a lagoon north of Mullaitivu is a gold-painted ‘victory monument’. It presides over the area where the ‘Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam’ (LTTE) made their last stand against the Sri Lankan army in 2009.
Conflicting Stories in Sri Lanka
A couple of chance encounters highlighted the dueling narratives of Sri Lankan history and the tensions that still remain following the end of the civil war.
The Art of Amistics
Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag paints images of suburban Sweden in the 1980s transformed by some unexplained technological breakthrough.
Osaka and the Dekasegi
I met my first talkative local wandering Osaka looking for the famous Umeda Sky building.
Tsukiji Fish Market
You can find a lot of dead sea creatures at Tsukiji Fish Market but you wont find much whale meat.
Tokyo’s Indestructible Skytree
2015 led me back to Tokyo. This time I spent most of my time in the district of Sumida in Tokyo’s Northeast.
Read more…
Nakagin Capsule Tower, Tokyo
The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo is a run-down testament to the ambition of some of Japan’s most celebrated post-war architects.
The Dogs and Demons of Joetsu
The small coastal city of Joetsu on Japan’s north coast highlights some of the problems facing modern Japan.
China’s Firewall and the Siku Quanshu
The National Library of China holds an artifact that represents what must be the most ambitious attempt to control information in history.
