Stories

Broken Empire: After the Fall of the USSR

On December 27th 1991, the hammer and sickle flag of the Soviet empire came down from the fabled onion domes of the Kremlin and the Russian tri-color was hoisted in its place…
Soviet Pollution: A Lethal Legacy

In their ruthless drive to exploit their nation, Soviet leaders gave little thought to the health of their people or the lands that they ruled…
Chernobyl: The Exclusion Zone

The Chernobyl Power Plant, located 65 miles northwest of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, sits inside the fenced 30 km Exclusion Zone…
Chernobyl: The Victims

From the first day, officials downplayed the damages of the Chernobyl disaster and the politics of misinformation continues…
Moscow Never Sleeps

For decades Moscow was a capital city devoid of vibrancy, self-expression and individualistic opportunities – not any more…
Moscow Never Sleeps: In the Shadow of the Boom

Moscow’s Nights reveal a growing number of homeless, non-existent in Soviet Russia, now struggle for diminishing aid…
Russian Orthodox Church

After being driven underground by Soviet rule for nearly 80 years, the Russian Orthodox Church has been resurrected…
Siberian Oil: A Region Rising

Once the cold, foreboding Khanty-Mansiysk region is experiencing unprecedented wealth and development…
Siberian Oil: Indigenous Peril

The expansive modernization and economic growth generated by Russia’s oil and gas industry have been a blessing for most of the Khanty-Mansiysk region’s 1.5 million inhabitants, but not all…
Salton Sea: Daily Life

From Dune Buggies to retirees, and immigrant laborers to eccentric artists, the area surrounding the Salton Sea is home to an eclectic local population…
Salton Sea: Environment

A victim of geography and hard-ball politics, the Salton Sea is California’s largest, most troubled lake…
Tasmania: Daily Life

With a population of 473,000, Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state…
Tasmania: Beauty

Known world wide for its pristine wilderness, about one quarter of Tasmania is contained in national parks, and most has world heritage status…
Amsterdam

With its cannabis coffee shops, tolerance for homosexuality, and legalization of prostitution, the city of Amsterdam has long been a place to put liberal ideals into action…
Brazilian Indians

Among the 160 Brazilian Rain Forest territories is the Waiapi reservation, located in Northeast Amazonia…
Chinese Conquer Prato

Known locally as St. Beijing, the Chinatown of Prato has been the mecca of what some residents call the “yellow invasion” since the early 1990s…
Great Smoky Mountains

Today, the Great Smokies’ signature blue fog is being replaced by a toxic yellow haze produced by power plants, ozone pollution and automobile emissions carried by the wind from distant cities…
Grimm’s Fairy Tales

In the early 1800s brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a book of fairy tales that remains unrivaled to this day…
Gurunsi

House decoration is more than ornamental to the Gurunsi people of Burkina Faso…
Marktl

It’s probably safe to say that nothing much has happened in Marktl until April 19th, 2005, when hometown boy, Joseph Ratzinger, became Pope Benedict XVI, the first German pope in 1,000 years…
Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte is generally regarded as one of the greatest commanders to ever live.
Toronto

Visitors to Toronto marvel at the architectural multiplicity within a highly developed urban setting, the cleanliness and the safety of its streets, dubbing it: a New York run by the Swiss.
Trans-Siberian Railroad

The world’s longest railway begins in Moscow and runs eastward through the Ural Mountains and across all of Asia to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan…
Vitus Bering

Vitus Jonassen Bering, the Danish navigator and notable explorer, was born in Horsens, Jutland in 1681…