Destination: Russia
A Traveler’s 10 Best Musical Discoveries
by Tom Swick | 03.02.09 | 10:35 AM ET
Contemplating and celebrating the world of travel
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Yahoo! BuzzVideo: Jeffrey Tayler on His New Book, ‘Murderers in Mausoleums’
by World Hum | 02.26.09 | 5:27 PM ET
Jeffrey Tayler discusses traveling from Moscow to Beijing, "drink by drink."
Morning Links: A Wordy Map of St. Petersburg, the Joy of L.A. Traffic and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.26.09 | 9:38 AM ET
- New Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says yes to body scanners.
- World Hum contributor Tim Patterson chronicles the struggle of the Kachin people of Myanmar.
- USA Today looks at “what might be the most endangered airline in the USA.”
- NPR has an interview with the world-traveling ethnographers from The Linguists.
- Happy 450th birthday Pensacola, Florida.
- Matthew Polly goes to St. Petersburg, Russia, in Slate’s latest Well-Traveled.
- This map of literary St. Petersburg was created using lines from Russian writers about St. Petersburg. (Via The Book Bench)
- Daniel Fox aims to shoot more than 100,000 digital images from around the world for the Wild Image Project.
- The Freakonomics blog is in the midst of a six-part series about the facts and fiction of Los Angeles Transportation. I find it compelling, though maybe I’m just looking at the gray skies here in D.C., waiting for winter to end, daydreaming about my upcoming trip back home.
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Morning Links: City Bans Apostrophes, Russians in Goa and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.30.09 | 8:06 AM ET
- Russians heart Goa.
- But how will the free-falling ruble affect Russian travelers—and travel to Russia?
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles writer Jennifer 8. Lee collects toothpaste from her travels.
- Slideshow: Inspired by brothels in Pakistan.
- “Bread for the World ” and “The United States of Europe” highlight Rick Steves’ MVBs. I believe that means his most-valued books.
- Charles Darwin’s house: Future World Heritage site?
- In Slate’s latest Well-Traveled, June Thomas asks: “Am I too frivolous for Japan?”
- An Italian city in Tuscany says no to ethnic restaurants in its central district.
- Tikrit unveiled a shoe sculpture to honor the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at former U.S. President Bush.
- PEE. SUX. BOO. Just three of the funniest airport codes from around the world.
- In the U.K., the Birmingham City Council banished apostrophes from its road and street signs. The Apostrophe Protection Society says, “It seems retrograde, dumbing down really. It is setting a very bad example.” I agree, and I’m sure the typo vigilantes do, too.
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‘Murderers in Mausoleums’: What Counts Is Your Blood
by Jason Daley | 01.26.09 | 11:00 AM ET
Jeffrey Tayler's latest book is a masterful guide to the divisions that define so much of human civilization. Jason Daley explains.
Saving Chekhov’s Yalta ‘White Dacha’ Home
by Jim Benning | 11.20.08 | 11:00 AM ET
The unusual house where Anton Chekhov lived and wrote for several years was turned into a museum in 1921, but it’s now falling apart, and territorial issues aren’t helping matters.
Says the scholar who has launched the Yalta Chekhov Campaign: “[The dacha] is in a strange position. The Russian government didn’t want to fund the restoration because the house is in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian government didn’t want to pay to promote a Russian author.”
Among the actors supporting the effort: Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes. Classy gents.
How Can I Save on Transportation During a Round-the-World Trip?
by Rolf Potts | 11.06.08 | 12:34 PM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel
Sesame Street, Global Edition
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.17.08 | 1:59 PM ET
When I heard Big Bird and South Africa’s muppet Zikwe talking to NPR about Putumayo Kids’ “Sesame Street Playground” album this weekend, I couldn’t help feeling jealous that I hadn’t grown up hearing songs like “Rubber Duckie” in Mandarin. The 40-year-old dean of all children’s shows now airs in 120 countries, and the new album showcases its worldwide reach.
There are songs from Israel, Palestine, Tanzania, South Africa, France, China, Russia, Mexico, the Netherlands, India and the United States. Concierge is especially fond of the “Pollution Song” from South Africa: a ditty about cleaning up after yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone in the world sang along to that?
Would-Be ‘Hijacker’ Subdued on Turkish Flight
by Valerie Conners | 10.15.08 | 11:57 AM ET
A drunk passenger aboard a Turkish Airlines plane bound for Russia was subdued by passengers after passing a note to the pilot claiming he had a bomb. No weapons or bomb were found on the man, Reuters reports, and the plane landed safely in St. Petersburg where the passenger was taken into custody.
Jeffrey Tayler’s Latest in The Atlantic
by Jim Benning | 09.19.08 | 9:15 AM ET
As the Moscow correspondent for The Atlantic, World Hum contributor Jeffrey Tayler has been filing some terrific stories lately about Russia, Georgia and U.S. foreign policy. In his latest, Russia: Back to the Future, he questions whether the U.S. should continue to back Georgia’s bid to join NATO.
‘Can You Really See Russia From Alaska?’
by Eva Holland | 09.17.08 | 9:41 AM ET
Following Sarah Palin’s recent comments about her “next-door neighbors,” inquiring minds want to know. And the answer? Yep, says Slate. Details on the where and how are in the latest Explainer.
Related on World Hum:
* How Does Sarah Palin Rank in Foreign Travel Experience?*
Photo by jomilo75 via Flickr (Creative Commons)
John le Carré and the Book That Might Have Been
by Eva Holland | 09.15.08 | 2:00 PM ET
Escape the Summer Heat in Beautiful Siberia!
by Jim Benning | 09.04.08 | 2:08 PM ET
Oh yes, Russians take to Siberia’s beaches—on Lake Baikal—“to relax and recharge.” The BBC has video to prove it.
Stalin Artifacts Survive Russia-Georgia Conflict
by Eva Holland | 09.03.08 | 10:21 AM ET
Talk about taking your work home with you. When things heated up between Russia and Georgia two weeks back, the small town of Gori—best known as Josef Stalin’s birthplace—found itself in the line of fire. The bombing put the contents of the town’s Stalin Museum at risk, but fortunately the museum’s director, Robert Maglakelidze, wasn’t taking any chances: the CBC reports that he loaded his car with the most valuable artifacts before fleeing to Tbilisi.
Jeffrey Tayler on the Russia-Georgia Conflict
by Jim Benning | 08.19.08 | 1:21 PM ET
World Hum contributor Jeffrey Tayler offers a thoughtful explainer in The Atlantic: “The lessons that emerge from the Russia-Georgia war are clear: Russia is back, the West fears Russia as much as it needs it, and those who act on other assumptions are in for a rude, perhaps violent, awakening.” While we’re on the subject, it’s worth noting that Paul Theroux makes a stop in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in his new book. There in winter, he described the city as looking “as if doomsday had come—snowbound, fozen, corpse-like, frostbitten.”
Related on World Hum:
* Q&A with Jeffrey Tayler: Facing Africa’s ‘Angry Wind’
* The Songstress of Kunming
Photo of Tbilisi street by masterplaan via Flickr, (Creative Commons).