Every year, as December rolls around, large swathes of the world suddenly turn cheerful. The "holiday spirit" as it has come to be called, already buoyed up by Halloween (and in the United States, Thanksgiving) completely comes into its own...
Three years ago, President Moon of South Korea visited Indonesia on a state visit. The visit just so happened to coincide with the wedding of Indonesia's first daughter, who received a rather thoughtful present from the President, a signed copy...
It comes as no surprise that tea is a popular drink. Even to somebody literally living under a rock, tea would be a familiar, comforting brew. But just how popular is it? According to data from the UN Food and...
It shares its name with a constellation, an airline, a medicine, several military projects and companies headquartered everywhere from California to Bangalore. References to it are found everywhere from email clients to anime to the MCU. Its symbolism is ubiquitous...
That West Africa is a musical powerhouse is a fact that needs not be said. The history of most forms of popular music today has some roots in West Africa. The jazz and blues genres pioneered by Black Americans in...
Nine score and four years ago, Senator William Everts, chairman of the New York Committee, was slated to speak at the dedication ceremony of the Statue of Liberty. As he took a dramatic pause, Frédéric Bartholdi, the chief designer of...
In the Occidental world, writing has frequently featured in art, but it is uncommon for writing itself to be art. The sharp scratching of a bamboo or reed across the surface of paper is a sound that is seldom heard in the...
Australia. The very idea evokes almost otherworldly imagery. The land down under continues to exert an enigmatic appeal to outsiders, and residents long for home if they find themselves away for too long. So what is it that makes this...
The Ankara, or Dutch Wax, or African Wax Print, is ubiquitous throughout the world's second-largest continent, and especially in West Africa. Yet, immediately upon reading the name, something appears to be amiss. If the fabric is indeed so deeply endemic...
