TOP TRAVEL VIDEOS: “AERIAL AMERICA – SOUTH CAROLINA” (SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL)

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Take flight on a journey that showcases South Carolina. From Fort Sumter, where the first shots of The War Between the States rang out, to Sullivan Island, the Ellis Island of Slaves, to the cypress swamp where freedom fighter Francis Marion helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War.

Artwork Video Tour: Joan Mitchell’s “City Landscape” (Art Institute Chicago)

Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell (1925-1992)

On this episode of Art Institute Essentials Tour, take a closer look at City Landscape, painted by Joan Mitchell in 1955. “I paint a little, then I sit and look at the painting, sometimes for hours. Eventually, the painting tells me what to do.” In City Landscape, a tangle of various colors—pale pink, scarlet, mustard, sienna, and black—evoke the streets of a bustling metropolis. The spontaneous energy conveyed in the composition is at odds with Mitchell’s slow and deliberate process.

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Photography Contests: “2020 Audubon Awards”

Every spring, the judges of the Audubon Photography Awards gather at Audubon’s headquarters in Manhattan to review their favorite images and select the finalists.

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The thousands of submissions from nearly 1,800 entrants showed birdlife in all of its splendor. In total, photographers from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 7 Canadian provinces entered images that captured the creativity, wonder, and beauty of species small and large, terrestrial and aquatic.

This year we also continue with two new awards introduced in 2019: The Fisher Prize, which recognizes an image that is as artistic as it is revealing, and the Plants for Birds category, which honors the top photographs illustrating the crucial relationship between native plants and birds.

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Arts & Literature: A Close Reading Of Poet Robert Frost (LRB Podcast)

LRB PodcastsIn the latest episode in their series of Close Readings, Seamus Perry and Mark Ford look at the life and work of Robert Frost, the great American poet of fences and dark woods. 

(August 4, 2020)

They discuss Frost’s difficult early life as an occasional poultry farmer and teacher, his arrival in England in 1912 amid the flowering of Georgian poetry, and his emergence as the first 20th-century professional poet, whose version of the American wilderness myth, full of mischief and foreboding, took him to packed concert halls and a presidential inauguration.

Business: “How Tesla Became Most Valuable Auto Company” (WSJ Video)

Tesla’s stock has more than tripled since the start of the year, giving it a market capitalization larger than many behemoths of American industry. But its rise wasn’t necessarily driven by fundamentals. WSJ explains.

Illustration: Jacob Reynolds/WSJ

New Travel Books: “New York Times Explorer – 100 Trips Around The World”

Taschen LogoNYT Explorer. 100 Trips Around the World takes travel beyond the obvious with adventures in exotic places and new perspectives in familiar ones, all based on the distinguished travel journalism of The New York Times. Each journey features a first-person narrative and postcard-perfect photography, capturing the unique personality of the destination—as well as practical information to help get you on your way. 

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Whether it’s a culinary adventure in vibrant Mexico City, an historic and meditative train ride through Siberia, or a solo trip to Paris, get your bucket lists ready and share in the discoveries of Explorer a collection of 100 dream destinations—four volumes’ worth of adventures in onefrom the Travel pages of The New York Times.

The Times writers offer guidance, from the personal to the practical, along with a wealth of color photographs that capture the catch-your-breath awe of each destination. Motor past pink sands and bougainvillea in Bermuda with Andrew McCarthy, follow Virginia Woolf’s footsteps through the English countryside with Francine Prose, or dare to pilot a boat through the Venice lagoon with Tony Perrottet.

The editor

Barbara Ireland edits the 36 HoursExplorer, and forthcoming Cultured Traveler series of travel books in collaboration with The New York Times and TASCHEN. A writer and editor based in upstate New York, she is a former deputy Travel editor and deputy Op-Ed page editor at The New York Times. She is a graduate of Cornell University and was a John S. Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University.

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Retro Technology 4X4’s: “Premium Classic Electric Vehicles” From Zero Labs

First Generation vintage 4×4’s holds a very special place in the heart of auto enthusiasts across the world. Here at Zero Labs, we share that enthusiasm and love of these iconic vehicles, but also want to see them driven well into the future in a way responsible for the environmental and safety demands needed in today’s world. 

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Zero Labs Premium Classic Electric Vehicle

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Morning News Podcast: Tropical Storm Isaias, Stimulus Bill And Covid-19

NPR News NowNPR News Now this morning updates Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaias, continuing talks on new stimulus bill in Washington DC, Covid-19 and other top news.