December 28, 2022

SHE WAS THERE History’s First Named Author  History’s first recorded author was a woman named Enheduanna. Born sometime in the latter half of the 23rd century BC, Enheduanna was the high priestess of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur. It was a political role as well as a religious one; as the daughter of a powerful king, Enheduanna was no stranger to affairs of the state. In her writing, she wielded her pen for peace, working to unite a fractured kingdom. Today, more than 4,000 years after her death, her words continue to echo down to us.  READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Our Favorite Cookbook Stories Like cooks themselves, cookbooks are often keepers of historical records. Whether it’s recipes to survive a long, dark winter in Antarctica or to fuel a feminist revolution, the best examples of the genre often provide snapshots in time. Others speak to the current zeitgeist, including our current anxieties about the possible impending apocalypse. At Gastro Obscura, we’re all about using food to tell stories that go way beyond the kitchen, which is why these particular cookbooks and the people who made them resonated with us. Here are the backstories of cookbooks that we’ll be thinking about for years to come. READ MORE → FUN ‘FUNGI’ Giant Snow Mushrooms This sure looks like a giant toadstool. And in some ways, it is! Snow mushroom formation begins with a tree, fallen or felled, that leaves behind a wide stump a few feet in height. In Canada’s Glacier National Park, the snow falls heavy and fast, and the wind is calm. The result is that the snow gathers around the top of the stump, forming a giant snowball. More than 100 years later, it’s still possible to find snow mushrooms in Glacier National Park, although it seems they are rarer than they once were. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Explore the Mysteries of Earth's Oceans Not only do we humans find the ocean majestic and mysterious, we also rely on it to live; nearly three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity to make a living. In this course led by marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez, we’ll explore Earth’s ever-evolving oceans, the ecological interactions that sustain its biodiversity, and what we can do to protect them. ENROLL TODAY → GODFREY, ILLINOIS Godfrey Mister Donut The original Mister Donut was founded in Boston in 1956 by Harry Winokur, the brother-in-law and former business partner of the Dunkin’ Donuts founder Bill Rosenberg, following the dissolution of their partnership. It spawned about 550 stores across the States in its heyday, though by the end of the 1980s, however, its popularity had waned in the U.S. Today, the last Mister Donut store in the States stands defiant in the quiet village of Godfrey, Illinois, serving the original doughnuts and what it claims to be the world’s best coffee. READ MORE → HALCHITA, UTAH Forrest Gump Point Route 163 offers a beautiful and unique scenic adventure across Monument Valley, bringing visitors back to the world of the Wild West and cowboys. Because of this, it’s not surprising that Hollywood films are quite fond of the area. You might recognize this location from the film Forrest Gump; it’s here, around marker 13, where the titular character stopped running. READ MORE → NOT A LONG SHELL(F)-LIFE Conch-Shell Graveyard In the British Virgin Islands, the humble conch, a type of sea snail, is rivaled only by lobster as the seafood of choice. Every conch on every dinner plate is harvested locally, mostly in the waters surrounding Anegada. Some say the massive piles of discarded conch shells reaching up from the seafloor and looming high out of the water could be one reason why the mollusks remain so plentiful here, after being overfished to the point of extinction elsewhere. But the shells don’t attract the living conch—they actually repel them. READ MORE → MANHATTAN, NEW YORK Bryant Park Escape Hatch In the late 1980s, the New York Public Library was faced with a space shortage: the research collections were getting too big for the main building on Fifth Avenue. Rather than move the collection to New Jersey, but instead, the library decided to build huge underground stacks underneath neighboring Bryant Park. The vast underground nature of the facility means that in case of emergency, there has to be another way for employees to leave the Milstein Stacks. Enter: a large emergency hatch. READ MORE →