A Look Inside Steve Mushin’s “Ultrawild”

Ultrawild cover

What will the cities of the future look like? Could the solution to the environmental problems of today involve an unlikely use of poultry? In this excerpt from Steve Mushin’s ULTRAWILD: An Audacious Plan for Rewilding Every City on Earth, Mushin explores an unlikely ally in transforming urban spaces. “According to experts, chickens have dreams, do basic math, and can solve simple problems by anticipating future events,” Mushin said in a recent interview. “They’re also the perfect soil-making engineers to help us transform the world’s roughly 2 billion roofs into vertical gardens.” Read on to see what that might look like.

Continue Reading

Notes on the Fastbacks’ For WHAT Reason?

Fastbacks live

The Fastbacks provide go-to answers to at least two of life’s frequently asked questions. One of which is, What have you been listening to lately? It’s an expected question. I spend most of my waking hours listening to music and often fall asleep to records. I also enjoy talking about music. This combination would suggest I have some capacity for talking about the music I’ve been listening to lately. Yet when the situation arises my brain freezes, my current rotation blips away, and the Fastbacks swoop in.

Continue Reading

Sunday Stories: “Castle Keeper”

Small donuts

Castle Keeper
by Preston Lang

The apron I wore said Cupcake Queen, but it wasn’t mine. All my claims to royalty were long past. 

“The rice crispy treats aren’t selling,” Lila’s mom said. 

I suggested we drop the price, but everyone dismissed the idea. Lila’s mom chuckled.

Continue Reading