World Nature Photo Awards 2026

Jono Allen

Winner of World Nature Photography Award 2026 (Jono Allen)

Growing up in China as a White Man in the 50s

Michael Crook talks about growing up in China in the 1950s.

Year of the Fire Horse

Chinese Lunar New Year

The Golden House

Salman Rushdie

Currently reading

The Assault

Harry Mulisch

A singular event in the ending days of WWII sets off decades-long reverberations for the sole survivor of a Dutch family.

Favorite Podcasts of 2025

Most-listened-to podcasts of the year

Royal Game of Ur

An ancient Middle Eastern game that found its way to the west through the Jewish population of Kochi, India, after they migrated to Israel.

Praying, Reading, Standing

Unpublished as of yet; from the archives of a 2016 visit.

Parcheesi

An ancient game that requires one part strategy to two parts luck.

Snow-capped mountains

Might just be the Gray Mountains, during the reign of Glóin (King of Durin's Folk). Or in Alaska? The Dolomites in Italy?

Hong Kong's Cha Chaan Teng Culture

A nice Morning Post video showing the evolution of a unique Hong Kong institution.

Oil Companies Do Not Want to Invest in Venezuela Again?

Burned once, twice, thrice already.

Kalahari Desert, 6:00 a.m.

Henry Isaacs

Print from Vermont-based artist for our livingroom.

Bruce Lee 2026 US Postage

Preview of an upcoming US postage stamp. The Bruce Lee commemorative kick stamp.

On Running Venezuela

Black gold and a distraction for Trump

Stoner

John Williams

A farm boy becomes a university prof., becomes estranged from his wife, encounters office politics, etc.

The Enigma of Arrival

V.S. Naipaul

The story unfolds in the Wiltshire countryside, where the protagonist rents a modest cottage