Walking on Sacred Ground in Pisa
March 21, 2025
A lot of the people who take selfies by Pisa’s leaning tower miss the Campo Santo, but it’s one of the stateliest buildings I’ve ever
Lesser-known Cultural Treasures in Pisa
March 19, 2025
So it leans, big deal. They practically charge you a Lambo to go to the top, but I knew that there is much better stuff
Even the Bugs in India Can Make You Think
March 15, 2025
Lifeforms in India proliferate and surround you, from elephants to mosquitoes and lots of species of ants. I brought a box of sweets to an
Traditional China and the Middle East; Two Ways to Relate to Divinity
March 2, 2025
I thought I’d cause a little trouble while I was in Egypt. I knew that this story would mess with my Cairo guide’s head.
Finding Your Place in the Middle Ages
February 19, 2025
People in the 13th century classified their world so that every being had its place in a universal system. Their world included some strange creatures.
Boats and Dragons; Origins of Vietnamese Culture
February 13, 2025
I put off going to Vietnam for a long time. Many other Southeast Asian cultures were heavily influenced by India about 2,000 years ago,
Teaching Chinese Architecture to Play in Vietnam
February 8, 2025
I found lots of things that I didn’t expect when I was in Vietnam. They showed me that Vietnamese culture is unique and
In Navajo Light; Different Cultures’ Concepts of Light and Creation
January 27, 2025
Different cultures develop fascinatingly diverse ideas about light. Some of the makers of stained glass in medieval European cathedrals followed the third-century CE Egyptian-Greek philosopher
China’s Multicultural Empire; The Tang Dynasty, Part Two
January 20, 2025
You always make it there, you make it anywhere. If Frank Sinatra had lived in the eighth century, he would have been strutting around Chang’an,