Latest
The Money Stifling Lagos’ Clubs
Nigeria’s nightclubs have turned into theaters of wealth, with coffin parades, sparklers and hype men’s chants. But away from the champagne shows, raves are bringing back the old spirit of nightlife.
The Pigeoneers of Damascus
Above Damascus, pigeons flying in tight formation trace arcs in the sky that crisscross and collide. It is a choreography as old and enchanting as the city itself. But as the country recovers from years of war, the centuries-old tradition of pigeon fanciers could be on its final flight.
The Return of Syrian Horse Racing
A symbol of prestige and a tool of power, Syrian horse racing long served the interests of the Assad regime, marked by corruption and spectacle. Then the war swept everything away, leaving horses starving, forgotten and sometimes abandoned. Today, a few enthusiasts are trying to save what they can.
A Turkish Journalist Breaks New Ground From Behind Bars
Fatih Altaylı, the mercurial Turkish journalist with a taste for provocation and Bellini mocktails, has turned imprisonment into performance. From letters laced with dry humor to silent videos of his empty chair, he keeps breaking stories from prison.
Caught Between States as an Empire Dissolved
A trove of family documents reveals how Dutch-Indonesian families were caught between two worlds as an empire collapsed. A newly independent Indonesia struggled with the boundaries of national identity and, in the Netherlands, new categories were created to pronounce on the “Westernness” of arrivals.
Britain’s Summer of the Right
Hardeep Matharu and Jos Betts join Kwangu Liwewe to discuss how the British right’s relationship to identity is shifting.
How the Shipwrights of Arwad Weathered Syria’s War
Syria’s only inhabited island, Arwad, kept its ancient boatbuilding practice alive during the country’s long war. Its inhabitants now hope for a maritime rebirth, spearheaded by the shipwrights whose work is part of a tradition dating back to the Phoenicians.