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Ben Grapevine
Ben Grapevine

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Jan 17, 2021

Keeping Up With the Chagossians

In 1960, somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people lived in the Chagos Islands. Today, none of them do. Instead, the islands play host to a premiere United States military base and not much else. The people, and their native culture, are gone. It was the construction of the U.S. base…

Geography

10 min read

Keeping Up With the Chagosians
Keeping Up With the Chagosians

Nov 15, 2020

The Polish Tango

Hitler’s invasion of Poland started World War II, but Stalin’s changed the country forever. On September first, 1939, Hitler’s army crossed Germany’s eastern border and entered Poland, an invasive act of aggression that marks the official beginning of World War II. The invasion and subsequent occupation by German forces would…

World War II

11 min read

The Polish Tango
The Polish Tango

Oct 3, 2020

The True Heart of Darkness

It’s 1884 and we’re in Berlin. We’re all in Berlin, “we” being the major powers of Europe. Europe has a problem: it’s Africa. We all want it, and we’re trying to decide who gets it. We decide we all get some of it, as long as we’re there already, but…

History

16 min read

The True Heart of Darkness
The True Heart of Darkness

Sep 21, 2020

The Long Way to Madagascar

Madagascar is an island 260 miles off the eastern coast of Africa. Geographically, the island is African, but its people aren’t, not originally. By that, I mean they didn’t get there, in a historical sense, by sailing from the African coast, even though that’s the nearest major landmass. …

Geography

7 min read

The Long Way to Madagascar
The Long Way to Madagascar

Aug 20, 2020

Cartographic Conquest

Navigation is hard. The world is big and there are things and places everywhere. Today, we’re pretty lucky; when I need to go anywhere, I can plug my destination into Google Maps and the quickest route is immediately beamed to my brain. Before Google, I have no idea how people…

Geography

8 min read

Cartographic Conquest
Cartographic Conquest

Jul 28, 2020

Gross National Happiness

How much do you know about Bhutan? If you’re like me, until relatively recently, your answer is “not a lot”. If you’re not like me, your answer is also probably “not a lot”. Most folks don’t know about Bhutan. It’s a small, landlocked country in the Himalayas nestled softly between…

Geography

7 min read

Gross National Happiness
Gross National Happiness

Jul 16, 2020

They’re Out to Get You

Part 1: “Q” & A Hear me out: The Democrats are full of shit. We all know that. They’re trying to ruin this country. But do you know why? It’s obvious: They’re devil-worshiping pedophiles. That, or friends of pedophiles. And celebrities who support the Democrats? They’re pedophiles, too, part of a worldwide network involved in…

Conspiracy Theories

23 min read

They’re Out to Get You
They’re Out to Get You

Jul 4, 2020

Our Democracy is Dumb

Democracy is important. The ancient Greeks knew that. Everyone else forgot it for a couple thousand years, and then America remembered. …

Democracy

12 min read

Our Democracy is Dumb
Our Democracy is Dumb

Jul 4, 2020

An American Franksgiving

Thanksgiving is late this year. It’s actually the latest it can be. Set by Congress in 1942 as the fourth Thursday in November, a Thanksgiving this late in the month requires that November 1st falls on a Friday. The result is a truncated Christmas season and maybe a comment here…

Thanksgiving

4 min read

An American Franksgiving
An American Franksgiving

Jul 4, 2020

The Weight-Loss Benefits of an All-Brain Diet

The apocalypse is here for North American cervids. It arrived no fewer than five decades ago and its progress has been… slow. Make no mistake, the zombie deer are here. As their range extends throughout North America, it’s become increasingly likely that you’ve heard something about them. It’s 2019, though…

Prion

6 min read

Ben Grapevine

Ben Grapevine

goth mom

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