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Books

Blum visited Facebook’s new data center in Prineville, Oregon, among other places.

Have You Ever Wondered How the Internet Works?

Andrew Blum, author of the new book “Tubes,” spent two years exploring the physical constructions around the world that enable the Internet to exist

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Wearing Wool, All Summer Long

Layered, corseted summer garments kept women proper and fashionable, if not cool

America’s Other (Lady) Audubon

Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Movie Mash-ups That Beat Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Mixing movie genres, from Abbott and Costello to SCTV

While grotesque, the faces in Louis-Leopold Boilly’s The Grimaces (1823) were carefully studied from life. The figure with a twisted mouth at the upper left is a self-portrait.

A Serious Look at Funny Faces

A history of caricatures exposes the inside jokes

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A Taste of Edible Feces

Ambergris, the subject of a new book, “is aromatic—both woody and floral. The smell reminds me of leaf litter on a forest floor.”

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The Peas that Smelled the Leaky Pipe

In 1901, a 17-year-old Russian discovered the gas that tells fruits to ripen

A few old honeymoon hotels linger on in the Pennsylvania Poconos.

Passion in the Poconos

Home of the heart-shaped tub, the Pennsylvania mountains once rivaled Niagara Falls as a honeymoon destination

Food books worth reading

Books on How To Get Pickled

Curious about the middle ground between fresh and rotten? These four books tell you how to preserve the fleeting tastes of spring

Salt

Mark Kurlansky on the Cultural Importance of Salt

Salt, it may be useful to know, cures a zombie

For the traveler to India: film and literary preparation

The Great Books and Movies to Read and Watch Before Visiting India

A list of some of the best books and films about the subcontinent to take in before you go

Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man by Mark Kurlansky, available through booksellers on May 8

Clarence Birdseye, the Man Behind Modern Frozen Food

I spoke with author Mark Kurlansky about the quirky inventor who changed the way we eat

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen are the stars of HBO's fictionalization of the relationship between Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway.

Danger and Romance from HBO’s “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

A new made-for-television movie airing May 28 recounts the stormy love affair between the writer and the war correspondent

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The Definition of Home

Be it ever so humble, it’s more than just a place. It’s also an idea—one where the heart is

U2 was here—and so were thousands of fans who managed to find the remote Mojave Desert location of the very Joshua tree depicted in the photo series accompanying U2's 1987 album. The tree has died and now lies in brittle bits and pieces.

From the Joshua Tree to The Slaughtered Lamb: Destinations of Story and Song

Should you go to Cephalonia, bring a copy of the Odyssey—perhaps the truest guidebook to this Greek island

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The Secret Lives of Medieval Books

A new method reveals which pages of ancient religious texts were most frequently used—and which prayers perpetually put readers to sleep

The cover art for Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens

Dinosaurs vs. Aliens

You know it had to happen eventually: Dinosaurs chomp aliens in forthcoming graphic novel

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Colonel Curmudgeon and KFC’s Mascot Problem

Colonel Sanders thought the quality of his chicken had “slipped mightily” and the whole culture of fast food appeared to disgust him

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Fiddlehead Ferns: How Dangerous is the First Taste of Spring?

The French botanist named 6,700 species in a manic quest for fame. But did his taste for wild foods do him in?

Starchy staple of the tropics, the breadfruit is often fried or baked and eaten like potatoes.

Exotic Fruits to Eat Locally When Traveling Globally

The crimson fruits occur by the millions, and fishermen, tequila-sipping cowboys, and even a few tourists take to the desert to pursue the pitahaya

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