Carolyn Wells

As wildfires devastate the land around vineyards, how is the smoke affecting the wine industry? Paloma Pacheo takes a fascinating look at the more subtle consequences of these fires. If consumers have no interest in drinking smoky wine from their favourite wineries in the coming years, what could it mean for the thousands of lives […]

Steven Gonzalez Monserrate meets the people who manage data centers that form ‘the cloud,’ and finds a great sense of community amongst these digital caretakers. Hotspot hunters like Tom are still snuffing out fickle thermal pests, still listening for their distinct signature in the symphony of fans.

Anthropologist Hugh Brody examines the link between sexual abuse and suicide amongst the younger members of Inuit communities. In doing so, he confronts uncomfortable memories from his own past, facing them with honesty and contrition. This brings me to the troubling crux of it all, the aspect of the story that has haunted me since […]

The Magdalen Islands are at the heart of climate change. As the shoreline drops into the sea, the advice is to retreat, but Taras Grescoe discovers stubbornness amongst the islanders. “The joke we tell around here,” says Serge Bourgeois, the planning director for the municipality of the Magdalen Islands, “is that if we keep on […]

Jason Bittel’s essay explores the rather wonderful fact that packrats are avid collectors. Even better, their personal museums help researchers piece together mysteries. It’s a heart-warming story. In a study of the Chihuahuan Desert in the American Southwest and northern Mexico, ancient packrats were found to have collected remains of everything from 9,000-year-old pocket gophers […]

A fascinating, and graphic account of the hair transplant industry in Istanbul. Alex Hawkins going under the knife himself for a first-hand perspective. Until a few months ago I had never considered a hair transplant. They conjured images of hair plugs, toupees, or clumps that looked as if they were taken from your back or […]

Eve Fairbanks deftly explores the harsh reality of farms being returned to Black people in post-Apartheid South Africa — finding they are set up to fail. As segregation deepened throughout the 20th century, much of the fertile, rain-washed land had been given to white people, while the barren peaks and hot, dry, malaria-ridden lowlands were […]

Lyndsie Bourgon takes a sedate journey through the life of Pearl the peacock, a lady who came to represent a town’s identity. Every Thursday, the peafowl could be seen chasing the garbage truck. Their droppings littered the streets, and their shrill cries echoed throughout the quiet town.

Walter Cassidy openly admits to becoming obsessed with finding the first man to die of AIDS in his local area. Upon tracking down his sister, he sensitively uncovers his story. He avoided the paranoia, fear, loneliness, rejection and hate so many gay men experienced in those years when the epidemic hit the community so hard; […]