April 06, 2022

HAIR HISTORY  How Wigs Transformed South Korea Seoul in the summer of 1963 rumbled with change—literally. The Korean War had ended with an uneasy armistice in 1953 that cleaved the country in two, and the country shook with the efforts of “national modernization.” In those early years, Korea ranked among the poorest countries in the world with a per capita income of less than $100—and women’s hair had suddenly become a valuable commodity for the global wig industry, putting women at the center of South Korea’s transformation from a war-ravaged society into the modern, economic powerhouse it is today. READ MORE → FUNGI SUPERPOWERS Chernobyl’s Fungi Scene The occupation of Chernobyl has been a harrowing time for people who know the site well. On the day the plant was seized, shells were falling on Tatiana Tugai’s home city of Kyiv. Even then, her thoughts turned to Chornobyl, as it is known in Ukrainian, where, decades ago, she and a team of scientists had conducted groundbreaking research in the exclusion zone, the area around the plant where access to visitors is heavily restricted. It is one of the few places on the planet where researchers can study the effects of radiation on nature, and it has yielded many discoveries—including, in Tugai’s case, revelations about a particularly extraordinary kind of fungus. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA COURSES For Good Measure: Recipe Writing Whether you’re preserving a generations-old recipe or documenting a new dish, putting words to the process of culinary creation is itself an art. Join culinary historian and author Sarah Lohman for this 3-part seminar and trace the history of the written recipe and explore how to revive or create a recipe of your own and prepare it for publication. ENROLL TODAY → SORBIE, SCOTLAND Sorbie Tower This is the ancient seat of clan Hannay, a fortified tower house that dates back to the late 16th century. The tower fell into disuse and became a ruin in the late 18th century, languishing until 1960, when a group of Hannays, Hannas, and Hannahs from around the world met in Edinburgh and founded the Clan Hannay Society, raising funds to restore the tower. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Greatest Food Hoaxes April 1 has come and gone, but the spirit of pranks lives forever, whether we like it or not. Throughout history, a surprising number of the great pranks of history involve food. Here’s a roundup of pranks we’ve covered over the years, plus the most famous culinary con of all time. Brace yourself. READ MORE → TONIGHT - FREE MEMBERS-ONLY EVENT Gramophones 101 Join us tonight to explore the evolution of recorded sound by learning about and listening to gramophones and phonographs from the 19th and 20th centuries. Guiding us on this auditory journey to the past will be Michael Cumella, also known as Phonograph DJ MAC, an expert phonograph and gramophone restorer and gramophone DJ. If you aren't a member yet, you can sign up during the RSVP process for this event. RSVP NOW → JAPAN Ramune Opening a bottle of this Japanese soda can sometimes be a little complicated to the uninitiated. First, you unwrap the label around the top and remove the accompanying plastic plunger. Then you place the plunger on the unusual seal that sits in the bottle’s neck—a small marble—and press down. As the marble slides out of its rubber ring, you’ll hear a highly satisfying whoosh. Now it’s time to discard the plunger and start drinking. READ MORE → TELLING HER STORY 6 Epic Female Warriors Throughout human history, women have fought. They’ve led armies. They’ve taken down big game. They’ve trained to cut down prey on the hunt and enemies on the battlefield. Both archaeology and history are telling increasingly complex stories around gender roles, upending decades-old beliefs that men hunted and fought while women stayed home. Here are some of our favorite female warriors, from the Black warrior queen of California to an Indian queen who led armies. READ MORE → THE ATLAS OBSCURA PODCAST Chemin de la Mâture Imagine this: you’re walking a small, rocky path, 600 feet above the ground. To the left: the Pyrenees Mountains in France. But don’t crane your neck too much and lean over, for to your right lies a drop straight down into a canyon known as the Gorge of Hell. For over 250 years, people have been traveling this treacherous path, because on the other side of this gorge is something every nation needs: Trees. LISTEN ON OUR SITE →    LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS →    LISTEN ON SPOTIFY →    LISTEN ON STITCHER → FORGOTTEN FOOD AND DRINK Where Did Yaupon Tea Go? Every morning, every day, 85 percent of Americans alter their state of consciousness with a potent psychoactive drug: caffeine. Their most common source is the roasted seeds of several species of African shrubs in the genus Coffea (coffee), while other Americans use the dried leaves of a species of Camellia plant from China (tea). But there was a third caffeinated beverage of choice for indigenous North Americans: Cassina, or black drink, a valuable pre-Columbian commodity that was widely traded, but has fallen into obscurity. READ MORE → ASHLAND, MASSACHUSETTS The Devil's Den Right behind the grandstands of a local high school football field and perched on the edge of a small cliff, is a location that once instilled fear into the hearts of early colonial settlers. The Devil’s Den is the name of a small cave located within the town of Ashland, and it’s a talus cave that was created when irregularly shaped rocks were piled atop one another. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY TRAVEL PORTLAND Portland Mercado Portland’s first public Latino market is a celebration of the Central and South American foodscape. Over a dozen grocers, vendors, and food carts representing nearly as many distinct regions across the continent bring the best of their homelands to this bustling market. It’s a boon for traditionally under-served entrepreneurs as well as a platform on which lesser-known ingredients and dishes from the region can shine. LEARN MORE →