Feb 17, 2021With a settlement named ‘Pandemic,’ housing activists in Cape Town are tackling inequalityIn South Africa, housing is a right — so occupiers are claiming it on golf courses and government lands. — By Ryan Lenora Brown and Vincent Lali Nonzwakazi Nkunzi built her house when no one was watching. She did it one night in August 2020, five months into South Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown and the dead of Southern Hemisphere winter. She and her family had heard about a group of people…Cape Town8 min readCape Town8 min read
Published inExperience Magazine·Feb 10, 2021As sea levels rise, a Dutch neighborhood floats upSchoonschip, a real-life ‘Waterworld,’ is built for a climate-adaptive future. But is it a realistic solution? — By Stav Dimitropoulos Like a typical teenager, Kik De Rijke goes to school and soccer practice and does her homework. Sometimes she fishes plastic out of the water near her home, but “it’s not like I’m hugging trees all day,” she says. She really loves her neighborhood, because she knows…Schoonschip7 min readSchoonschip7 min read
Feb 8, 2021These Films Are Guided Tours of Lost Urban LandscapesAt Rick Prelinger’s film screenings, talking is encouraged — and memories abound. — By Ezra Haber Glenn I am sitting in the dark, in a crowded room of strangers, watching black and white images of the city of Los Angeles, circa 1940, flicker past on a screen. …Urban Landscapes7 min readUrban Landscapes7 min read
Published inCurious·Aug 19, 2020A Canoe, a GPS, and My Quest for the Ultimate Social DistancingThe middle of nowhere is surprisingly hard to find — By Matt Crossman Seven vultures squawked from atop trees lining the shore. Their black bodies stood stark against the deep blue sky. …Social Distance16 min readSocial Distance16 min read
Published inExperience Magazine·Aug 5, 2020Fresh (virtual) air will do you goodThe benefits — and stomach-twisting challenges — of nature in a headset By Hannah Thomasy The benefits — and stomach-twisting challenges — of nature in a headset Recently, I took a trip to the Hoh Rainforest in western Washington state, which I last visited with my parents as a child…Virtual6 min readVirtual6 min read
Aug 5, 2020Saving forests with the Big Data fire brigadeThis AI forecasts where wildfires will go next — By Tony Rehagen Of all the deadly ramifications of climate change, wildfires might be the most immediate. Though humans start most fires, hotter and drier conditions have led to longer “fire seasons” and a higher number of blazes that spread farther and faster. The area affected by wildfires in the…Forest Fires3 min readForest Fires3 min read
Published inExperience Magazine·Jul 22, 2020An electronic music pioneer races to capture the vanishing sounds of the wildBernie Krause is recording glaciers’ groans and ravens’ wingbeats before nature’s music changes forever — By Tony Rehagen Bernie Krause has spent more than half a century capturing and preserving the music of nature. From the groans of glaciers shifting in the Arctic to the screams of gorillas in the mountains of Rwanda, he has compiled more than 5,000 hours of field recordings. But there…Sound Mixing9 min readSound Mixing9 min read
Jul 22, 2020Member-onlyHow to really get away: find solitude in these alternatives to national parksThey rarely make Instagram, but vast national monuments offer spectacular beauty and wilderness adventure. — By Andrew Collins Well into the pandemic, many people are seeking solitude in nature. What could be lovelier, after months of isolation at home, than setting out along a rugged conifer-shaded trail, breathing in the fresh alpine air, and listening to a chorus of songbirds? There’s just one catch: if…National Parks5 min readNational Parks5 min read
Jul 8, 2020AI can predict the perfect surfing day‘That wave is still going to crash on your head’ — By Matt Crossman I paddled out to catch my third wave of the day and found my surfing instructor, Rocky Canon, sitting on his board, staring off into the great blue infinity. …Surfing9 min readSurfing9 min read
Published inExperience Magazine·Jul 8, 2020I crashed into a South American mountain and lived — without ever leaving my couchVirtual-reality tours are the new ‘travel’ — By Stav Dimitropoulos In the past week, I have floated inside the International Space Station, kept calm on glass suspension bridges in China, looked three-feet-tall Mini Lili in the eye onstage at Cirque du Soleil, and swum with sharks off the coast of Hawaii. By the laws of nature, it’d…Vr Headset5 min readVr Headset5 min read
