Stranger's Guide

Egyptian Antiquities Egypt’s fight to bring its treasures home

Check out this week's Long Read, "Egyptian Antiquities" by Sarah El-Shaarawi from our Mediterranean guide on our Substack!

Prison Limits What Norway’s ‘humane’ approach can teach about the possibilities for incarceration

Check out the essay we highlighted in our recent Weekly Long Read newsletter, “Prison Limits” by Michela Bowman from our Scandinavia guide here on our Substack.

Legal Lynching On death row in Texas

Check out our recent Weekly Long Read, "Legal Lynching" by Maurice Chammah with photography from Bruce Jackson from our Texas guide here on our Substack.

No Drink Panadol for Another Man Headache When we speak Pidgin English, we speak who we are

"..., one giving it the name Naija, and another developed recently by BBC Pidgin, to help formalize its broadcasts and web articles."

Read more from Eghosa Imasuen's essay here on our Substack.

"Pidgin English and art have always been intricately linked in Nigeria. Frowned upon in schools as a broken language, it may be the most widely spoken language not yet with a formal orthography, although several have been developed..."

A Long Dead End The decades-long attempt to build a highway into the jungle

Check out this week's Long Read, "A Long Dead End" by Sinar Alvarado from our Amazon guide here on our Substack!

Read more from “Of Time and Water” by Andri Snær Magnason from our Scandinavia guide in this week’s Long Read on Substack!

"Glaciers will certainly be found in the Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica for a few thousand more years, but probably not in the Alps and the Andes; they will disappear in most parts of the Himalayas and Iceland."

Of Time and Water In search of the last glaciers

“In the future, glaciers will be an alien phenomenon, rare as a Bengal tiger. Having lived in the time of the white giants will become swaddled in a fairytale glow, like having stroked a dragon or handled the eggs of the great auk."

A Field Guide to Sex Work Desire and decriminalization

From adult films to OnlyFans, sex work is prolific around the world. This week's Field Guide looks at the power and struggles of sex workers from Vietnam to Iran to the Netherlands. Check it out on our Substack.

Day of Rest A Brooklyn Hasidic family heads to the Grand Canyon

Head to our Substack to read this week's Long Read, "Day of Rest" by Amy Yedida Wolfe from our US National Parks guide!

Finding a Home in Copenhagen When Black American musicians came to Denmark

Check out Maxine Gordon and Ethelene Whitmire's reflections on the Black American Jazz musicians who made Copenhagen their home in the 1960s and 1970s in this week's Vignette here on Substack!

Boiuna Moon Fiction by Mário de Andrade

Check out this week's Fiction newsletter here on our Substack!

Prisoners of War How conflict changed life for children living with their incarcerated mothers in Ukraine

Check out this week's Long Read, "Prisoners of War" by Nataliya Gumenyuk from our Ukraine guide.

Read more from Musa Okwonga’s powerful eulogy, "Mandela Will Never, Ever Be Your Minstrel" for the South African leader from our Johannesburg guide in our recent Vignette newsletter on Substack.

Mandela Will Never, Ever Be Your Minstrel Musa Okwonga's eulogy for the leader of a nation

“Dear revisionists,
Mandela will never, ever be your minstrel. Over the next few days, you will try so, so hard to make him something he was not, and you will fail. You will try to smooth him, to sandblast him, to take away his Malcolm X. You will try to hide his anger from view.”

Good Sports Athleticism and identity in Irish women's sports

Check out Eimar Ryan's essay, "Good Sports" from our Ireland guide in this week's Long Read here on our Substack.

School Days Celebrating the students in Chicago's public schools

School is back in session!
⁠
Since summer break has come to a close and students around the world transition back to the classroom, we’re revisiting Melissa Ann Pinney’s photo essay, “School Days” from our Chicago guide in our recent Close Up newsletter.

Check it out on our Substack!

King of the Tyrant Lizards Fiction by Malerie Willens

Check out our new Fiction newsletter here on our Substack!

Chicago's Other Mob Story The Don you've never heard of

Check out this week's Long Read, “Chicago’s Other Mob Story” by Hillel Levin from our Chicago guide!

Olympique de Marseille A football team is the face of modern France

Check out Sean Jacob’s essay, “Olympique de Marseille” from our Mediterranean guide on the football team that is the face of modern France in this week's Long Read here on our Substack.

Regardless, this week, we’re taking time to pause and reflect on the ways friendships near and far can enrich our lives. Join us as we explore friendships across the globe in this week’s Field Guide!

A Field Guide to Friendship Chosen families across the globe

In an increasingly interconnected yet often isolating world, the value of real friendship continues to grow. The United Nations recognizes July 30 as International Friendship Day while some countries such as the US and India dedicate the first Sunday of August to celebrating friendships.

Dead and Kicking Writer's haunts—and haunting writers—in Moscow

Check out this week's Long Read!

Each of the photographs in this series, called “Volcano,” are snapshots of Iranians doing everyday tasks with big smiles. But there's a surreal undercurrent of foreboding.

Volcano Gohar Dashti's photo essay about the dangers that lurk

The photographer, Gohar Dashti, is known for operating in a space between reality and fantasy. At first glance, the scenes seem mundane, but a close look will show the tail of a giant mythical beast lurking.

Check it out on our Substack at the link above.

From personal perspectives to historical milestones, we’re taking a closer look at the many ways people connect with Juneteenth and how it resonates for people all around the world.⁠

A Field Guide to Juneteenth Stories of Juneteenth

In honor of Juneteenth, we're sharing reflections and history that show how this holiday came to be and continues to evolve—both in the US and beyond in this week's Field Guide.

Give it a read at the link above!