Usman Riaz’s “The Glassworker”

Pakistan's first hand-drawn animated film hits Kickstarter

At TEDGlobal 2012, a then-21-year-old Pakistani musician and artist named Usman Riaz stunned onlookers with an otherworldly percussive guitar demonstration, and further captivated them with the knowledge he learned how to do it all online. Riaz, now a Senior TED Fellow and majoring in composition at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, has ventured forth into another creative field—and his end goal is a world …

The United States’ Climate Change Refugees

Deep in the Louisiana bayou, residents of Isle de Jean Charles are being forced from their homes. The island (about 1.5 hours from New Orleans) has lost a staggering 98% of its land since 1955—due to climate change, hurricanes and 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill—and the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indian people who live there have been fleeing for some time, but now have officially been offered $48 …

You’ll Want to Visit LA’s Giant Cake Maze

A maze-like castle made of (fake) cake, the labyrinthian “Break Bread” exhibition at Downtown LA’s Think Take Gallery sees six rooms adorned with sculptural dessert details and acrylic frosting. The luxuriant, large-scale exhibition covers the walls from top to bottom, touching all the architectural elements in between—with many micro-surprises in the mix. Artists Scott Hove and Baker’s Son(aka Keith Magruder) have truly delivered a whimsical …