Unearthing Hollywood Treasure in an Arctic Ghost Town

Dawson City, Canada’s favourite “living ghost town,” is finally starting to flesh out again after decades of falling into ruin. The Yukon settlement located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle was born from the glory and greed of the Klondike gold rush, and ushered in 40,000 people in just two years. Today, its story…

The Bohemian King of 1920s Paris You’ve Never Heard Of

The life of Tsuguharu Foujita reads like a long lost Wes Anderson movie — and looks like one, too. The expat artist arrived in Paris from Japan in the 1920s, and with his prim bowl cut, button-ups, tiny spectacles (and curious passion for cats), his eccentricity made him the crème de la crème of the Montparnasse bohemians. Let us retrace…

The French Sex Cult from Outer Space

One of France’s most fascinating imports of late is also one of its most controversial: the world’s largest UFO religion of Raëlism, which decrees that life on Earth was scientifically created by a species of extraterrestrials. Founded in 1974, a reported 70,000 members reportedly follow the order today, which enjoys tax-exempt status in the US while…

The Mad, Mad Love of Man Ray & Lee Miller

She was the model and artist turned war correspondent. He was one of Surrealism’s most iconic figures. Together, Lee Miller and Man Ray lived a fiery romance, set to the backdrop of 1930s Paris. So naturally, we’re keen to relive their story… Miller was discovered by Condé Montrose Naste (yes, that Condé Naste) at 19 in…

Hanging with Hemingway at the World’s Oldest Restaurant

During the final moments of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, the reader is invited to pull up a chair beside ‘ole Hem at the Sobrino de Botín in Madrid, an eatery that’s not only famous for its suckling pig and free-flowing rioja alta, but because after 300 years it holds the Guinness World Book of Records’ title as the…

The Native American Who Fought Bigotry with Broadway

Zitkála-Šá was a woman divided. Torn between her Sioux and caucasian roots, she constantly battled with her own sense of identity. But rather than succumb to that division, she used it as a tool for some seriously creative activism. To this day, one of her greatest feats remains unparalleled: the creation of “The Sun Dance Opera,”…

The Town Where It’s Illegal to Die

Candy coloured houses dot the icy valley of Longyearbyen, one of the world’s northernmost towns in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, a place with some seriously uncommon protocol. It is illegal, for example, to leave home un-armed in the event of an encounter polar bear. It is also illegal to die. It sounds like a…

Vacation Inside the Belly of California’s Whale House

There’s a sleeping giant in the trees of Santa Barbara, California. Some call it “the Whale House”; others the “the Snail House” thanks to its hypnotic curves, which camouflage so well into the trees that they’re easily missed. The mansion is like a portal into a 1970s SoCal fairytale for locals, and the occasional tourist, of…

And If Dorothy Took the Wrong Turn on the Yellow Brick Road?

What was waiting for Dorothy at the end of the other yellow brick road? Dig deep enough into the lives of history’s icons, and some pretty ugly skeletons are bound to fall out of the closet. Just look at Coco Chanel’s nazi involvement, or, as we discovered today, the pro-Native American genocide essays penned by…

The Witch-Proof Windows of Vermont

Drive around enough of Vermont’s picturesque streets, and you’ll become puzzled over an architectural anomaly that even the locals can’t explain. Or, maybe it’s just that the explanation is a little too eerie for comfort. You see, the anomaly in question is called a “witch window…” Witch windows are cockeyed windows that have been a staple…