Cultural Heritage
'Tis the season with the gift of holiday music. As you enjoy the musical selections from around the world, please accept our gratitude for your support of World Footprints over the years.
In the Canadian police drama “Hudson & Rex,” a detective and his canine partner solve crimes in and around picturesque St. John’s, capital of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Through six seasons (including 2024), their police work took them to all corners of Newfoundland, the world’s 16th-largest island, to adjacent Labrador, a sparsely populated fragment of the North American mainland. They even ventured to the French territory of St. Pierre et Miquélon, anchored just off the coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean.
This episode of World Footprints explores how culture is experienced, preserved, and challenged through movement and art. From walking the length of Israel’s coastline to preserving Eritrean identity through visual expression, and revisiting the humanitarian themes embedded in Dr. Seuss’s illustrations, this conversation highlights how storytelling shapes our understanding of place, history, and humanity.
I remembered The Lip Bar from their infamous 2015 "Shark Tank" rejection—the moment Kevin O'Leary called founder Melissa Butler and her creative director "colorful cockroaches" and told them they'd never succeed. As someone who loves bright colors and wears lipstick—probably the only makeup item I've ever worn throughout my life—I'd been following the brand's journey. When I found myself in Detroit a decade later, I knew I had to visit their flagship store, especially since my favorite color is fuchsia, and I was determined to finally get their Playmate shade, which is often out of stock online.
Explore Pittsburgh beyond its steel legacy as World Footprints visits the Heinz History Center, the historic Hill District, and the iconic Carrie Furnaces. This episode uncovers the cultural, industrial, and community stories that shaped Western Pennsylvania.
Jekyll Island doesn’t top most lists of holiday destinations, but maybe it should. Every December, the former Gilded Age retreat along Georgia’s coast transforms into a Southern-style winter escape. Live oaks are strung with lights, historic cottages are wrapped in garlands, and the old clubhouse lawn holds a towering Christmas tree. On the surface, it’s festive and charming. But what sets Jekyll Island apart isn’t just the decorations—it’s the weight of history beneath the surface.
Germany's Christmas markets date back to the Middle Ages. Then, the markets were practical. People gathered to trade food and goods as they stocked up on essentials necessary to survive the long, cold winters. Eventually, the markets evolved into festive celebrations dating back to the 14th century. Today, those festive celebrations continue across Germany and around the world. But let's face it, no one does Christmas markets like Germany. Having recently returned from exploring the markets in southern Germany, I'm excited to share what makes them special and help you plan your own unforgettable trip.
Houmas House sits gracefully along a bend of the Mississippi River, on land once inhabited by the Houmas Indians. Over thousands of years, the river shaped this area with fertile soil, transforming it into one of the South’s most productive agricultural regions. By the late 1700s, European settlers recognized the land’s potential. They began transforming it into a thriving plantation, launching an era of sugarcane farming that would become central to the property’s history.
Standing beneath the live oaks at Houmas House, you feel the contradictions of Louisiana’s River Road in real time—the beauty, the wealth, and the unspoken histories that still cling to the land. Our conversation with Kevin Kelly revealed a property that isn’t just preserved, but constantly reinterpreted. And upriver, the story shifts: historian Daniel Rasmussen brings the 1811 slave revolt out of the shadows, reminding us that New Orleans’ past is shaped as much by resistance as by refinement. By the time native writer Laura Martone joins us to share the New Orleans she grew up in—the food, the quirks, the quiet corners—you begin to see the region not as a series of attractions, but as a living, layered place where memory and modern life collide.
Baguio is a mountain town located on the pine-dotted plateau of the Cordillera Administrative Region in northern Luzon, Philippines. I took a weekend jaunt to Baguio from Manila. After nearly six hours northbound, the bus started ascending through the mountain loops. Outside my bus window, the sun-drenched plains reeled away into ranks of tapering pines, and the sweltering heat dissipated into cooler mountain air.
Small-town charm with an internationally-acclaimed theatre scene — you've got it all in Stratford, Ontario. This historic town is the birthplace of many Canadian greats (from pop icon Justin Bieber to actress Sheila McCarthy and musician Ron Sexsmith, to name a few) and the host of the beloved Shakespeare Festival, which has been attracting audiences to the town for over 70 years.
In the past few years, the term "immersive art experience" has been applied a bit too liberally, to abandoned convention centers and malls with famous artists' work projected onto blank walls. Van Gogh, Picasso, and Monet all got this special treatment, where visitors could walk amongst the moving images, popularized after appearing in a 2020 Netflix series. You couldn’t open Instagram without seeing people you knew posing in front of one of the works around the United States. But art isn’t just meant to be seen. It is also meant to be experienced, felt, and participated in. One gallery in particular has inspired a wave of others.
