The United Nations has 192 Member States, how many can you name in 10 minutes?

Couchsurfing.com is having a bit of a moment right now.

What do jagged, post-punky rock music and the oft stuffy discipline of food writing have in common? Listen to Terry Gross interview Alex Kapranos, frontman of Scottish group Franz Ferdinand, about his gustatory adventures on the road, to find out.

Amid speculation on the state of Fidel Castro’s health, and whether or not he will be able to remain in control of Cuba’s government, come reports that the new Democratic majority in Congress may push for a “new direction in Cuba.”

According to Word Spy:
aerotropolis (air.oh.TROP.ul.lis) n.
A city in which the layout, infrastructure, and economy are centered around a major airport.

Flickr user michael_hughes had a very clever idea for a photoset: images of tchotchkes and photos of famous international landmarks carefully lined up in place of the originals. It’s so meta.

Daily Candy posted an update of their Travel Lexicon yesterday, with a bunch of journey-related neologisms and portmanteaux suggested by readers. This one’s my favorite.

UK paper the Guardian is devoting part of their Travelog feature to a week-long series of posts on air travel’s contribution to the global climate problem, and what can be done to change it.

World Hum has got a lock on the extreme-cooking beat this week. Yesterday they posted about a new BBC TV show from chef and food writer Stefan Gates called Cooking in the Danger Zone about odd delicacies and crisis-zone cuisine the world over. Today, they