Among All the Great Things Benjamin Franklin Invented or Discovered, His Alter Egos Gave Him the Most Freedom

www.smithsonianmag.com

America at 250: The Revolutionary SparkA Smithsonian magazine special report Silence Dogood. Richard Saunders. Benevolus. Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim. All were pen names that allowed Franklin to say things he couldn’t have otherwise said Victoria MaxfieldBenjamin Franklin’s fertile mind constantly spun…

Pizza

www.theatlantic.com

The waiter moves aside the glasses of red wine, and sets before you a king-sized open pie. It is piping hot; the brown crust holds a bubbling cheese-and-tomato filling. There is a wonderful savor of fresh bread, melted cheese,…

I’ve Spent My 20-Year Career Seeking Out 5.7s. Here’s Why This Washington Route Is the Best of the Grade.

www.climbing.com

Interesting movement? Check. Stunning ambiance? You betcha. Accessible to the masses? Oh yeah.

A Historic Swell Just Battered SoCal. Here’s What It Was Like to Photograph the Waves.

www.outsideonline.com

Meet Dingo, a 60-year-old surf photographer who shoots Newport Beach’s most famous break. He recently captured a massive summer swell, and the riders who shredded it.

Sheila Liming: “The End of Books”

yalereview.org

A university professor on what we lose when we lose the book as a physical medium.

A Wild Bolt War Is Brewing on Yosemite’s Half Dome. We Spoke to the One Climber Who Can Stop It.

www.climbing.com

Last week, Erik Sloan added 16 bolts to the first three pitches of ‘Snake Dike’ (5.7 R; 800ft) on Half Dome, re-igniting a hotly contested debate. Now, the original first ascensionist says Sloan has gone too far.

A Very Good Dog Named Seaman Helped Lewis and Clark Explore North America

A new book on the famed expedition sheds light on the Newfoundland who accompanied the two explorers on their transcontinental journey

Are Memories Transferable — or Edible? | Quanta Magazine

www.quantamagazine.org

In the 1960s, worm-training experiments and their strange implications captivated the nation. Columnist Claire L. Evans follows the neuroscientists who attempted to recapture the magic.

How Austin’s Sandlot Baseball Scene Became a Magnet

www.fastcompany.com

If you build it, they will come.

This Climber’s Current Project Isn’t a Cliff or Boulder. It’s a Giant “5.13” Tree.

www.climbing.com

Using only the tree’s natural holds and traditional protection, Rafi Vargas is pushing perhaps the most niche discipline in climbing: sending strangler figs.

London Southbank Undercroft Skate Park

www.nytimes.com

Skateboarders make pilgrimages from around the world to a “found” London space that a grass-roots campaign saved from redevelopment.

Can A.I. Produce Writing That We Actually Want to Read?

www.newyorker.com

I recently created a simple test, which convinced me that the answer is no.

Why the Story of a 7-Year-Old Climbing El Cap Is, Well, Complicated.

www.climbing.com

On May 22, a 7-year-old reached the summit of El Capitan. Why are so many climbers upset about it?

Dusty Baker Plays the Long Game

www.newyorker.com

In his lifetime, the M.L.B. manager has won multiple World Series, shared a joint with Jimi Hendrix, and co-invented the high five. Will he add Hall of Famer to the mix?The baseball legend Dusty Baker, who once wanted to be…

Cougar Family Goes Viral Showing Least Likely Places

www.sierraclub.org

Scientists say the discovery of a litter in Minnesota could indicate a strengthening population of these big cats

How Do Climbing Gym Setters Approach the Challenge of Setting Fair Climbs for All Heights? – Gripped Magazine

gripped.com

We talk with Canadian Head Setters Max Summerlee and Karlo King to learn more about setting for climbers, both tall and short

Whalers Didn’t Just Sing Sea Shanties and Seek Adventure. Proof of Laborers’ Grueling Work Is in Their Skeletons, Buried in the Arctic

www.smithsonianmag.com

Remains buried on Svalbard show the brutal toll whaling took on men in the 17th and 18th centuries. Climate change threatens these kinds of archaeological sites across the Arctic Researchers found evidence of degenerative joint disease, trauma and other health…

Some Disney Adults Are Going Into Serious Debt in the Pursuit of Magic

www.newyorker.com

For the Walt Disney Company’s most loyal fans, the pursuit of magic can come with a five-figure credit-card bill.In 2023, Ashley, a freshman at Quinnipiac University, in Connecticut, had fifteen thousand dollars in her bank account. Excited by her newfound…

The Hiding Man of Griffith Park

lamaterial.com

A guerrilla artist has made the Eastside his canvas. His medium: Strange signs.

I Saw the Earth Breathe

www.montananaturalist.org

I Saw the Earth Breathe by Marian McKenna Broadcast 4.1 & 4.4.2026 Aspen grove. Public domain image. Listen: https://www.montananaturalist.org/wp-content/uploads/MarianMcKenna-EarthBreathe-new-4.2026.mp3It was a soft autumn day. The breeze was soft and fragrant, the ground was soft with golden fallen leaves, the sun…