The Antarctic Biennale
CNN / VICE / MONOCLE 24: A pioneering expedition to the seventh continent sought to break down boundaries between art and science.
Fighting Corruption, One Bribe at a Time
MONOCLE: A new app available in Russia is designed to collect anonymous reports of illicit payments and visualize them online – with the goal of quantifying the country’s rampant corruption problem.
For Mexican Prisoners, Music Brings Inner Freedom
VICE: Inmates at Santa Martha Acatitla prison in Mexico City have found a welcome escape – metaphorically, of course...
Archery on the rise in NYC
MONOCLE 24: The U.S. men’s Olypmic team won silver at London 2012, and “The Hunger Games” film broke box office records. The main character was a highly skilled archer – so could she be a new Robin Hood for today’s generation?
Saving Mexican culture with cocktails
MONOCLE 24: By using traditional ingredients to create original beverages, a group of “etnomixologists” hope to preserve indigenous Mexican culture in today’s globalized world.
Sandy Stories
Six weeks after “Superstorm” Sandy devastated New York, recovery efforts were in full flow – but some Long Island residents still didn’t have basic services like water and heat. They staged a march to voice their discontent.
The multi-billion-dollar fight for national sovereignty
REUTERS: Felix Salmon explains the legal intricacies of Elliott vs. Argentina – one of those court cases so important and complex that only a Power Ranger, Transformers, Lego and wooden trains can possibly do it justice.
Exploring dark energy with the world’s largest camera
REUTERS: Astronomers in Chile hope to unlock secrets of our changing universe with the most powerful sky-mapping camera ever built. A five-year study beginning in December aims to discover some 300 million galaxies and 4,000 supernovae.
Interview: Pat Kiernan on the New York media world
MONOCLE 24: One of the most familiar faces in New York television is Pat Kiernan. He’s anchored the morning show on NY1 – a 24-hour news channel – for the last 15 years, and it’s become an essential way to start the day for many in the city.
The Aftermath of Superstorm Sandy
FRANCE 24 / LIVE: Reporting from New York early on October 30, after a vicious tropical storm devastated the city and surrounding states.
Interview: Todd Gitlin on Occupy and the election
MONOCLE 24: Occupy Wall Street may have all but disappeared from the news, but Professor Gitlin – author of a book about the campaign – believes its impact on political discourse has been significant, and could shape policy in a second Obama administration.
Pussy Riot: From ragtag artists to global icons of dissent
REUTERS: Three members of the Russian all-girl punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism” after playing in an Orthodox church. Reuters photojournalist Thomas Peter, who first met the artists in 2008, recalls his time with the group.
Guar: The obscure bean worth a bundle
REUTERS: The little-known guar bean is now used for excavating natural gas, which caused it to achieve the equivalent of bean stardom. And with it, prices have skyrocketed. That’s good for Texas bean farmers but bad for gas producers searching for a cheaper solution.
