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  • April 25, 2015

How Korea Found the American Dream

by Dan Stone

Readers of this blog know we love a good story about how the world works. Culture drives people, and economics drive culture. Follow the money and you can usually understand how the world is changing, and what the future will look like.

Which is why it's time to look at South Korea, a country you'll be hearing about much more. Korea is one of few democratic and capitalist countries and Asia, and while the eyes of international media weren't watching, it has managed to balloon. Since 2000, South Korea has doubled its per capita GDP and is on target to do it again even quicker, a spurt no other ...

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  • March 31, 2015

Would You Drive From London to Alaska?

by Dan Stone

The longest road trip I ever drove was across the United States, 2,600 miles in all, which took just 2.5 days. At the end, I couldn't have been happier it was over. That thing about mountain majesties and amber waves is true. But no matter how many times you win the license plate game, long drives can make a person crazy.

In Russia, however, city planners are trying to challenge that thinking. They're hoping that in the future, you'll be able to travel from Europe to Asia and then—a few weeks later—to the Americas without getting on a plane. The only catch is all via an extremely long road trip, currently envisioned from London, ...

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  • March 19, 2015

Start Planning Now for America’s 2017 Eclipse

by Dan Stone

There are, around the world, groups of people so fierce about solar eclipses, they plan their years and even decades around the movements of Earth and the moon. An eclipse happens whenever the moon passes in front of the sun, but a full eclipse is far more rare. And when it does occur, there are only a few places on Earth where you can see it.

There will be precisely 222 total eclipses in the 21st century. Since 2000, there have already been 30. The full solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, however, may be the best of them all simply for its utter convenience, particularly if you're ...

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Photograph by ILRI
  • March 7, 2015

Chinese Pigs are Changing the World

by Dan Stone

We’ve all heard about China’s incredible pace of development. Now, finally, we have a symbol of that runaway growth: pork.

Demand for pork in China is growing so fast, farmers can’t keep up. The average Chinese person eats 86 pounds of pork a year, more per capita than any country, and five times more pork than in the 1970s. China has traditionally preferred to be self sufficient with food production, but it now needs to look abroad for ways to feed those pigs. Imports of soybeans, the primary feedstock for pigs, are rising so quickly that demand in countries far away from China are pumping out as many soybeans as ...

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Photograph by Trey Ratcliff
  • February 24, 2015

Will You Live in a Megacity?

by Dan Stone

On October 31, 2011, between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., a baby born in India—or it may have been in Somalia or the United States, no one really knows—became the seven billionth person on Earth. The milestone was major, especially when you consider that just one billion people existed 150 years ago, and only a few million people several centuries prior.

Demographers are in the business of knowing where those people live and where they’re going. One clear trend is toward mass urbanization. By 2030, nearly 1 in 10 people will live in large cities, called "megacities" to account for populations of more than 10 million. ...

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Photograph by Spencer Millsap
  • February 4, 2015

Photos: The Old Newness of the Washington Monument

by Dan Stone

George Washington never liked the name of the American capital that was being built on a swamp in the 1790s. He was too modest to appreciate the name Washington City, as it was called. He saw the fanfare more befitting a monarchy than a constitutional democracy. So one can imagine his discomfort at the giant obelisk later built for him, still towering two centuries after he died in 1799.

The Washington Monument has become the physical symbol of America's separation of powers. In Washington D.C., it sits at the center of the people's congress, the highest court, the president's mansion, and the memorials for two other presidents, Lincoln and Jefferson. The structure has been ...

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Hummus, ubiquitous around the world, intersects cultures that have fought for centuries.
  • February 2, 2015

For Good Food, Look to a War Zone

by Dan Stone

Anyone who's ever eaten knows that food can bring people together. And as a core pillar of a culture, it can also drive people apart.

But when entire cultures intersect, big things start to happen. Lionel Beehner, a longtime foreign correspondent and policy expert has a compelling theory that internecine conflict generally results in a legacy of dynamic food. Think of the Middle East, which has cuisine elements from Jewish, Muslim, Ottoman, and Western European cultures. Or Georgia, which has been invaded by people from places as different as Mongolia, Turkey, and Iran. For the fusion of foods and cultures to work, invading people need to stick around, which explains ...

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  • January 20, 2015

Why Iceland is (Still) So Hot Right Now

by Dan Stone

About a year ago, during a trip to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, I had the strange and rare experience of emailing a head of state, being invited over for coffee, and knocking on her front door. That’s just Iceland, people told me. You can look up anyone in the phone book, even the president. These days, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is a former head of state in semi-retirement after sitting in office from 1980 to 1996.  As we talked, I asked her one of the most softball questions in politics:

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir“What would you say was your biggest accomplishment as president?” I said.

Without even ...

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  • December 17, 2014

Here’s the Only Way You Can Stop Climate Change

by Dan Stone

Every few months, a new report on climate change comes out that spells doom for the future of the planet. Sometimes it’s from the International Panel on Climate Change. Sometimes it’s the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Just as often, individual scientists present their papers and studies at conferences.

The news is almost never good, Elizabeth Kolbert, the environmental scribe and thinker, has observed over years writing about the planet. Every year, scientists warn time is running out to reel back emissions. And each year, the world emits about three to five percent more greenhouse gases. In the western nations that burn the most fossil fuels, what needs ...

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  • December 4, 2014

Should We Raise the Gas Tax?

by Dan Stone

The biggest barrier to innovation is sometimes the fact that it’s cheap enough to do things the old way. Why develop new foods when the old ones are popular? Why create new cars when existing ones fit everyone’s needs?

That rationale is particularly true at the moment for energy, and especially gasoline. As environmental groups call for cleaner and more sustainable ways to produce energy, the inconvenient fact is that fossil fuel is cheap. Natural gas continues to be found in great abundance. And for much of 2014, as a result of booming supply and advanced technology to drill in more remote places, oil prices have cratered, reaching their lowest ...

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Who We Are

Dan Stone and Spencer Millsap are multimedia journalists for National Geographic magazine. They’re on the move, looking for new ideas and good stories. Tweet them at @DanEnRoute and @Spono.

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  • How Korea Found the American Dream
  • Would You Drive From London to Alaska?
  • Start Planning Now for America’s 2017 Eclipse
  • Chinese Pigs are Changing the World
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