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Books

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

Storyville. Seated woman wearing striped stockings, drinking "Raleigh" Rye.

The Portrait of Sensitivity: A Photographer in Storyville, New Orleans’ Forgotten Burlesque Quarter

The Big Easy’s red light district had plenty of tawdriness going on—except when Ernest J. Bellocq was taking photographs of prostitutes

American soldiers in Paris right after the armistice of World War I.

An American Library in Paris

Founded after World War I, the City of Light’s English-language library has long been a haven for expats, including Hemingway

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games

When Humans Are the Prey: 5 Movies That Came Before The Hunger Games

The blockbuster book adaptation isn’t the first story to feature televised death matches

Edward S. Curtis' Canon de Chelly—Navajo (1904).

Edward Curtis’ Epic Project to Photograph Native Americans

His 20-volume masterwork was hailed as “the most ambitious enterprise in publishing since the production of the King James Bible”

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What Shredded Wheat Did for the Navy

The inventor of one of the first ready-to-eat breakfast cereals was also an accidental historian

George Stephanopoulos and James Carville in The War Room.

The Films That Led to Game Change

The HBO film has roots in two acclaimed documentaries that covered the 1992 and 1960 presidential elections

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Why We Have Sliced Bread

“Here is a refinement that will receive a hearty and permanent welcome,” a reporter wrote of the best thing to hit grocery store shelves

Meadows, lakes, snow and granite are the enduring elements of California's John Muir Trail, which leads through 211 miles of some of the world's most beautiful alpine wilderness.

Great Walks of the World

The fact that people opt to walk today tells us there is something virtuous and irresistible in the plodding of one foot forward after the other

That’s Disgusting

While disgust originally protected us from potential poisons, it eventually gave rise to culturally defining flavors and odors, all tied to local microbes

The One: The Life and Music of James Brown by RJ Smith records, corrects and carves out historical significance of James Brown's life.

A James Brown Biography and Other Must-Read Books

This vivid new book charts the dazzling contradictions in the life of the Godfather of Soul

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