Articles
Thanksgiving: From Colonial Myth to National Holiday Celebrating Harvest and Family
Thanksgiving, observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, is one of America's most important annual traditions—a holiday that combines religious thankfulness, harvest…
The Amazon Rainforest: Earth's Most Biodiverse Ecosystem Spanning 5.5 Million Square Kilometres
The Amazon rainforest is the world's biggest tropical rainforest and most biodiverse terrestrial environment, comprising over 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles) across nine…
Jazz Music: America's Unique Cultural Gift Born from New Orleans Fusion
Jazz, often referred to as "America's classical music," arose in early twentieth-century New Orleans as a truly novel musical form—the first significant musical genre created entirely within American…
Niagara Falls: Where Three Nations Meet at North America's Most Powerful Waterfall
Niagara Falls, which straddles the US-Canada border between New York state and Ontario province, is North America's most powerful and geologically active waterfall system. The falls are actually…
Brazil's Racial Democracy Myth: Confronting Miscegenation and Persistent Inequality
Brazil's "racial democracy" story is a compelling but historically false mythology that claims the country successfully overcame racial prejudice through racial mixing (miscegenation), resulting…
Yellowstone: Sitting Atop a Volcanic Hotspot and the World's Largest Geyser Field
Yellowstone National Park, which straddles the borders of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, is Earth's most geothermally active location, with nearly 60% of the planet's geysers…
Rio Carnival: A Nine-Day Festival of Samba, Spectacle, and Carioca Identity
Rio de Janeiro's Carnival is the world's largest carnival celebration, a nine-day festival held annually before Ash Wednesday that draws approximately 2 million street revellers and 500,000…
Pantanal: South America's Largest Wetland and Africa-like Wildlife Paradise
The Pantanal, the world's biggest tropical wetland, spans around 66,000 square miles (170,000 square kilometres) and includes Brazil (80%), Bolivia, and Paraguay. The Pantanal, sometimes…
American Gun Culture: Deep Historical Roots and Constitutional Protection
Gun culture in the United States reflects the country's unique historical trajectory, with firearms strongly rooted in American identity since colonial settlement and constitutionally protected by…
Brazil's Favelas: 17.9 Million People Living in Informal Urban Communities
Brazil's favelas (informal urban settlements) are predominantly centred in big cities like Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador, and Brasília, housing around 17.9 million people…
Native American Cultures: Ancient Traditions and Spiritual Practices Persisting for Millennia
Native American cultures are humanity's oldest continuous civilisations north of Mexico, with archaeological evidence indicating human presence dating back 4,000 to…
Ipanema: Rio's Sophisticated Beach Where Bohemia Meets Bourgeoisie
Ipanema Beach, which stretches about 2.6 kilometres along Rio's Atlantic coast, is the polar opposite of Copacabana's tourist-oriented commercialism—a place where sophisticated bohemian…
Brazilian Football: A National Passion and Global Sporting Dominance
Football (soccer) serves as Brazil's national passion, transcending athletic rivalry to become profoundly ingrained in national identity, social desire, and artistic expression. Brazil has won…
Iguazu Falls: 275 Cascades of Water Carved by 130 Million Years of Geology
Iguazu Falls, which straddles the Brazil-Argentina border and includes a lesser cascade in Paraguay, is made up of around 275 separate waterfalls spread across a 2.7-kilometre (1.7-mile) crescent…
Indigenous Peoples of Brazil: Over 300 Distinct Cultures Preserving Ancient Traditions
Brazil's indigenous peoples are one of the Americas' most diverse and culturally significant populations, encompassing over 300 unique ethnic groups speaking around 180 languages, ranging…
Hollywood: The Dream Factory That Shaped 20th-Century Global Culture
Hollywood, the entertainment industry concentrated in Southern California, is one of America's most important cultural exports—a system that has literally revolutionised how humanity tells…
The Super Bowl: America's Unofficial National Holiday Celebrating Excess and Identity
The Super Bowl, the National Football League's (NFL) annual championship game, has evolved beyond sporting competition to become America's de facto secular national holiday…
The Grand Canyon: 277 Miles of Geological Time Written in Stone
The Grand Canyon, which stretches approximately 277 miles (446 kilometres) along the Colorado River in northwestern Arizona, is one of the world's most visually stunning geological monuments…
The Civil Rights Movement: 14 Years of Struggle Against Institutionalized Racial Segregation
The American Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) was one of history's most significant social upheavals, with African Americans dismantling legalised racial segregation that…
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum: Remembering Atomic Devastation and Choosing Peace
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is one of the world's most important historical organisations, recording the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945—one of the twentieth…