THE LITTLE COUNTRY THAT SAID 'NO' TO WAR

When a civil war led to a new constitution, Costa Rica stunned the world. Welcome to “Puravida!”

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticDecember 18, 2025Costa Rica, Costa Rica abolishes army, world peaceComment

SILENT NIGHT, PEACEFUL NIGHT

On Christmas Eve 1914, the guns stopped, the front fell still, and the soldiers came out of the trenches. . .

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticDecember 18, 2025Christmas Truce, 1914 Christmas Truce, World War I Christmas Truce, WWI Christmas TruceComment

FROM PETRA WITH STYLE

Petra was amazing but my guide — funny and wise — made it unforgettable.

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 21, 2025Petra, JordanComment

ODE TO A CONTINENT

Though best-known for his romantic poems, Pablo Neruda poured his life into Canto General. Then he fled Chile with his poem in his pack.

ATTIC PLANETBruce WatsonNovember 20, 2025Pablo Neruda, Canto General, Il Postino, South American poetry, Chilean poetryComment

GRIOTS -- WEST AFRICA'S LIVING HISTORY BOOKS

Storytellers are everywhere, but West Africa’s griots are the true keepers of the culture.

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 20, 2025Griots, West African culture, Storytelling, African storytelling, GuineaComment

MIND BOMBS AND METTLE

Others marched and protested. Then a half century ago, the “mechanics and mystics” of Greenpeace put their lives on the line. And changed the world.

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 20, 2025Greenpeace, Whaling, Whaling ban, International whalingComment

WHERE PLASTIC IS PROHIBITED

Despair once ruled Rwanda but hope is now contained in bags — made of everything except plastic.

ATTIC PLANETBruce WatsonNovember 20, 2025Rwanda, Rwanda plastic ban, Plastic pollutionComment

HOW THE WORLD SAVED THE PLANET

When ozone depletion threatened the whole earth, the whole earth responded. Here’s how.

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 18, 2025Ozone layer, Environmentalism, Green living, Ozone bansComment

FROM ALL ENDS OF THE EARTH

1911: In a white supremacist world, the Universal Races Conference faced down “the problem of the color line.”

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 18, 20251911, 1911 Race conference, First Universal Races Congress, W.E.B. DuBoisComment

STROLLING WITH THE FLANEUR

Anyone can go for a walk, but the flâneur makes an art of urban strolling.

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 18, 2025flaneur, flaneuse, walking, urban walkingComment

WELTSCHMERZ AND THE WORLD'S WISDOM

From za to shibui, from sabsung to tao, the world’s languages have words to make you feel better.

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 18, 2025World languages, Unusual words, They have a word for itComment

THE RALLY AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Dreaming of the open road? The wildest and most rugged race awaits in the annual Baltic Sea Circle Rally.

ATTIC PLANETThe AtticNovember 11, 2025Baltic Sea Circle Rally, Car rallies, Adventure Club HamburgComment

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

NOW IN OUR TENTH YEAR!

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