Culture Trip Special: Limits
Welcome to Culture Trip Special: Limits—a collection of 25 feature essays on a whole universe of subjects, contributed by the entire editorial staff of Culture Trip, as well as a few special guests. These essays come in many forms and mediums, from deeply reported investigations to personal narratives, from the local to the global to the interplanetary, from white-hot current affairs to the long views of science, art, technology, and the exploration of the human mind. All are focused on the overarching idea of limits, which may mean exceeding those limits, or recognizing and respecting them, or discovering and disregarding them, or smashing them wholesale.
In this collection, we terraform Mars, we 3D-print houses and hearts, we learn how to extend our natural lifespan. We meet orangutans in Borneo and fishermen in Cornwall. We look to the future of sexuality, of gender, of race and class, and how to have a beach vacation without sand. We drink, we eat, we read and write, we listen and watch, in prose, photography, illustration, video, sound, and music. And we hope you enjoy this work as much as we did making it.
Creating the World’s Biggest Artwork
Using the earth itself as both material and canvas.
Living Longer in the Blue Zone
The geography of staying healthy while getting older.
Greece’s Odyssey for Sustainable Fashion
Changing austerity into an opportunity.
The Earthly Benefits of a Mission to Mars
Getting off-planet is only part of the bargain.
The Allure of Third Wave Coffee
A Korean-American coffee guru leads an appreciative renaissance.
How Arab Music Makes Movie Villains
Cultural cues and sonic techniques in the service of prejudice.
Saving the Planet’s Lungs in Borneo
In the war for the jungle, the orangutan is just one casualty.
Breaking Beauty & Rebuilding the Body
Going to extremes in pursuit of the perfect self.
The High Cost of High-Endurance Sport
The physical toll of marathon exertion.
It’s the End of Sex as We Know It
Technology may soon offer irresistible alternatives to the real thing.
Climate Change Drowns the Beach Vacation
Rising water and shifting sands mean big changes at the seashore.
Why Music Needs More Women Producers
Equal time on the mic and the mixing board.
Slinging Drinks While Staying Sober
The challenge of serving booze and abstaining.
Clean Design, Cleaner Air, Dirty Jewelry
Synthesizing solutions from pollution, and looking good doing it.
Scaling Up to Truly Giant Cinema
Just how big can a screen really get?
The Extinction of the Public Intellectual
The end of civil discourse means the end of both discourse and civility.
Working Harder, Lifting More, Never Stopping
Reforging yourself in a CrossFit box.
What Brexit Means for UK Fishing
A struggling industry aims for open water.
The Rise of Women Coaching Men
Wearing down one of the most enduring gender barriers.
The Emotional Roots of Serious Art
What good stories have in common.
The Fall of Modern Movie Manhood
Masculinity is having a rough time of it, finally.
You’re Not There: Tourism via Telepresence
Taking a robot out of the office and into the neighborhood.
Printing the House of the Future
Testing the potential of 3D printing to solve the housing crisis.
The Safety of European Sanctuary Cities
What it means for refugees to be “safe.”
