Issue No. 14 | Earth, Wind & Fire
Habitat for Humanity
Wildfires are raging, icebergs are shrinking, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is bigger than Texas. Our August issue, Earth, Wind & Fire, features stories about the ways in which humans have both transformed and been transformed by the environment. First up is Rosie Haber’s Braddock, PA, a documentary series about a Rust Belt town poisoned for decades by smoke and steel, and the residents determined to reclaim and heal their community. Other pieces include a photo essay about living without running water in Mexico City, a tour of the inferno that is Death Valley National Park, and a visit to the 1,700-foot deep Montana cesspool known as the Berkeley Pit. The world is falling apart, folks, but here’s a hint: it’s not the heat—it’s the humanity.
Monologue
Mike Reynolds: Welcome to the Hottest Place on Earth
The superintendent of Death Valley National Park says higher-than-ever temperatures mean even desert creatures are desperate for relief.
Every Last Drop
A day in the life of a Mexico City water delivery, and the women whose lives are ruled by scarcity.
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Too Hot, Too Crowded, Needs More Vending Machines
According to online reviews, these National Parks have a lot to apologize for.
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In Butte, Montana, tourists flock to a gorgeous Superfund site for selfies, kitsch, and a frisson of danger.
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Passing Storms: The Survival of St. Thomas
3 Parts | 15 min The US Virgin Islands were devastated by hurricanes in fall 2017. But these locals won’t let loss define them.
The Seaweed Hunters
Northern California’s coast is at the heart of a billion-dollar seaweed industry, leaving Indigenous harvesters to contend with a ravaged ecosystem.
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Mixtape
Earth, Wind & Fire Mixtape
Five short films that challenge humankind’s mastery over nature. Who really runs the world?
The Battle Over Bears Ears
Why the people who live in San Juan County, Utah, feel like they’ve been caught in the middle of a monumental land grab.
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Poems from the Underground
One of the deepest holes ever drilled in the name of science, and the man who wanted it to be remembered.
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Braddock, PA
In this declining steel town in Western Pennsylvania, meet the people making change in the shadow of the smokestacks.
Off Topic
The Fire at Eagle Creek
Last fall, a massive blaze ripped through Columbia River Gorge. One year later, it still haunts locals’ dreams.
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Forest on Fire
When a fire began at Eagle Creek in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge last fall, more than 150 hikers found themselves trapped by fast-moving flames.
In the Shadow of the Steel Mill
For 144 years, the residents of Braddock have lived—and died—by the rhythms of a steel mill.
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Summer Lee’s Got the Spirit
Braddock’s Democratic candidate for state rep will have to face up to poverty, pollution, and policing if she wants to keep her campaign promises.
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The Bard of Braddock
Tony Buba is a filmmaker who could’ve gone to Hollywood. But his Pennsylvania hometown needed him more.
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Dying on Fumes of Steel
Braddock’s toxic footprint is emblematic of environmental injustice in the US.
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Here Comes the Neighborhood
Is it possible to revitalize a city block with only one house left?
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Behind Braddock: An Interview with Rosie Haber
The director of Topic’s August centerpiece opens up about Mayor John Fetterman and what it was like to shoot in an industrial town.
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Off Topic
The Ice Patrol
Since the sinking of the Titanic, the patrol has been on the lookout for rogue skyscrapers of ice. It’s a job that’s as boring as it is dangerous, and these men and women wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Off Topic
The Business of Blending In
For soldiers in the field, becoming one with the environment is a matter of life or death.
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Off Topic
The Secret Garden
A near-unexplored wilderness was found on top of a mountain in Mozambique, and a dream team of scientists scaled the rock face to study it.
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About the Cover: Earth, Wind & Fire
Topic’s August cover artist on turning beach trash into beauty.
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