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arts + culture

Cheers! Welcome to the Nepalese village where everybody knows how to distill

Imagine a place where every home has paraphernalia for distilling spirits, where there is a toast for nearly any occasion, and where your taxes – paid in grain, not cash – are deposited straight into a communal still. Welcome to Nubri. A valley in northern Nepal, Nubri is home to roughly 3,

England’s ‘once in a generation’ housing law takes effect as US housing legislation sits in congressional purgatory

England’s ‘once in a generation’ housing law takes effect as US housing legislation sits in congressional purgatory

Housing costs are eating up more and more of Americans’ monthly budgets. Half of renters and a quarter of homeowners are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than a third of their income to pay their rent or mortgage. Roughly 27% of renters are spending more than half of their

Americans might love Cinco de Mayo, but few know what they’re celebrating

Americans might love Cinco de Mayo, but few know what they’re celebrating

(LOS ANGELES) Many Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but how many actually know the story of the holiday? Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo doesn’t mark Mexican Independence, which is celebrated on Sept. 16. Instead, it’s meant to commemorate the Battle of Puebla, which was fought between

Green gruel? Pea soup? What Westerners thought of matcha when they tried it for the first time

Green gruel? Pea soup? What Westerners thought of matcha when they tried it for the first time

(LOS ANGELES) “Matcha mania” shows no signs of slowing, with global demand pushing “supply chains to the brink,” as Australia’s ABC News reported in July 2025. The powdered drink retains a massive following in Tokyo, where long lines of customers snake out of The Matcha Tokyo on any given

Boom in cremation hides surprising truths about what Americans really want when they die

Boom in cremation hides surprising truths about what Americans really want when they die

Nearly two-thirds of Americans now opt for cremation – a figure that has been steadily increasing over five decades. On the surface, that proportion tells a simple story: The nation has embraced cremation, while its preference for casket burials has fallen off. But as a scholar of funeral and cemetery

What is black garlic? How heat and humidity turn a pungent ingredient mild and slightly sweet

What is black garlic? How heat and humidity turn a pungent ingredient mild and slightly sweet

(EAST LANSING, MICH.) You may have seen black garlic appear more frequently in grocery stores, restaurants and online recipes over the past few years. Many chefs and food writers describe it as a unique and deeply flavored ingredient. So what is black garlic, and how is it made? I noticed

Despite all the likes, literallys and dropped g’s, English isn’t decaying before our eyes

Despite all the likes, literallys and dropped g’s, English isn’t decaying before our eyes

As a linguistics professor, I’m often asked why English is decaying before our eyes, whether it’s “like” being used promiscuously, t’s being dropped deleteriously or “literally” being deployed nonliterally. While these common gripes point to eccentric speech patterns, they don’t point to grammatical annihilation. English has