With this cool interactive map, you can trace 23 historic journeys, from Amelia Earhart’s attempt to fly around the world to Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test trip.

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Do you have writer’s block? Go back to bed, and take your laptop with you.

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In the shadow of the lunacy surrounding Obama’s birth certificate, Superman and DC Comics have an announcement of their own regarding the Man of Steel’s citizenship.

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Clothes make the dictator.

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Should travel writers be held liable for the things stupid tourists do?

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The Breakthrough Institute has made a cottage industry of criticizing the green movement. David Roberts at Grist rakes “the bad boys of environmentalism” over the coals.

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Bicycle wine rack.

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As the world looks on adoringly at the proceedings of the royal wedding, Charlie Harvey at New Internationalist looks thinks the police force “has been turned into an organ of the monarchy’s PR people.”  

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The attacks of September 11, 2001 are, like the 1960s, becoming a cultural litmus test 

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Some studies have argued that it takes 10,000 hours to perfect any skill. Dan McLaughlin is up for the challenge, learning golf from the green up—practicing six hours a day, six days a week. It will take him six years.

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Ever wonder how to make a magazine? This is sort of how it goes.

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The oral history of the pressurized spacesuit.

Sex advice columnist Dan Savage has become one of the country’s foremost ethicists. Just don’t ask Sen. Rick Santorum what he thinks of this.

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We couldn’t have summed this up any better than Good: “Liberal Brains Bigger in Areas of Complexity; Conservative Brains Bigger in Areas of Fear.”

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What makes us care? E.O. Wilson’s thinking on the subject has gotten the eminent biologist in hot water again.

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Bolivia is poised to pass shockingly eco-friendly legislation: The Law of Mother Earth. According to Good, the law “makes humans equal to all other living things and establishes 11 new rights for nature, including the right to life, the right to pure water and clean air, and the right to not have cellular structure genetically modified.”

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Guess which former South African president and champion of democracy is on Twitter now? Could it be Nelson Mandela? Well, almost.

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Have you bought that new 3D TV yet? Well, in a couple decades I’m sure they’ll be chuckling at the commercials for those the same way you’ll chuckle at this commercial from such a simple time.

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Isa Leshko, featured by Photo District News, is obsessed by subjects that age naturally. Very naturally.

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You’ve heard of Tang. What about space tea?

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In this French Tropicana ad, the power of oranges is harnessed to light up a neon billboard.

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American suburbs are rapidly turning into slums. Is your metro area at risk?

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What it’s like to be inside an empire heading down faster and blinder than anyone expected or is prepared to deal with. 

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Rock stars need love, too—from their kitties.

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If you like homemade soup and want your garden’s soil tested, stop for lunch at Philadelphia’s public-art-project-cum-bistro Soil Kitchen.

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One more reason to fear the sea: Jellyfish that are 50 meters long.

Sure, we love our laptops and iPads, but they’ll never have the romance of a typewriter. Check out this gallery of authors and their beloved machines.

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A cultural history of the river baptism.

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It was announced yesterday that later this year, Glenn Beck will end his show on Fox. Sojourners—one of Beck’s progressive targets over the years because of their radical idea that Christians could be and should be committed to social justice—has rounded up a number of their responses to the blubbering, bullying Beck.

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Save NPR! But please put PBS out of its misery.

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Looking to explore uncharted waters? Travel 36,201 feet under the sea in billionaire Richard Branson’s deep-sea submarine.

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The autism-vaccine debate is not over yet.

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Fast Company points to a fascinating series of infographics detailing how America describes itself in dating profiles. (Teaser: Looking for naughty fun? You might consider moving to West Viginia or New Mexico.)

Defying the illegitimate authority of his crypto-fascist homeowners’ association, a punk dad issues an uncompromising manifesto.

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A couple of Miami Beach buddies score some good weed—and some international arms contracts.

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A diet change, instead of Ritalin, might be just the prescription for many ADHD cases.

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Glimpse the elusive waterbirds of Manhattan.

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“[O]ne day, while screening some episodes of HBO’s The Wire, it hit me: [Charles] Dickens was back and his name is David Simon.” Bill Moyers interviews David Simon at Guernica.

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Tax-free online sales are taking their toll in Washington state, the home of Amazon.

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Visit the Los Angeles you’ll never know: a city devoid of cars.

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Who hasn’t celebrated a major victory by firing guns into the air, a la Yosemite Sam? Slateexamines what happens to the bullets after you’ve emptied your clip (and whether or not they can kill you).

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Rupert Murdoch acquires New Internationalist. (Make sure to check the date that this one was posted.)