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WOMAN WARRIORS
INSPIRE
'THE WOMAN KING'

Thursday, September 15, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we delve into the true story of an all-female fighting unit that inspired the new film The Woman King, explore the secrets of the Forbidden City, explain the marine ‘blobs’ heating the oceans … and catch the surprising life on ‘the roof of the world.’

An all-female regiment of warriors

LOOK AND LEARN/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES

The Viola Davis film The Woman King, opening today in theaters, packs an emotional wallop that enraptured audiences at Toronto’s film festival.

The true story of the fearsome all-woman fighting unit from the Kingdom of Dahomey (depicted above), possibly formed to protect 18th century Queen Tassi Hangbe, is indeed inspiring.

“The fact that Hangbe amassed a squadron of women willing to die protecting her and their kingdom was an impressive feat in the deeply patriarchal Dahomey society,” Rachel Jones writes for Nat Geo.

Read the full story.

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STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

A bright palace stands against a darkened buildings

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHUTTERSTOCK

It could hold 50 Buckingham Palaces. How China’s Forbidden City came to be. (Pictured above, the Gate of Divine Prowess.)

What are animals thinking? They feel empathy, seek joy, and grieve—just like us

Found after a century: What the discovery of Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic vessel means

The high-stakes quest to save a behemoth, croaking fish

Hello it’s me: Workers stumble upon tomb of 3,500-year-old man

Beware! The rise of ‘The Blob’ and the slow-moving (and oppressive) marine heat wave

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A portrait of a giraffe

PHOTOGRAPH BY @AMIVITALE

Moving on: This West African giraffe was photographed in Niger. Nat Geo Explorer Ami Vitale says only about 600 West African giraffes remain on the planet, but that’s up from a low of 49 in the wild. Here’s our story on the plan to save Africa’s giraffes.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A bird stands among some rocks

PHOTOGRAPH BY J DONG LEI, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

Life on the edge: Subzero temperatures, limited oxygen, and brutal storms. What could possibly survive on top of Mount Everest? Nat Geo Explorer Anton Seimon and Tracie Seimon scaled the world’s highest peak to investigate. Turns out, the roof of the world is teeming with life (including creatures like the Tibetan snowcock, pictured above).

CRITTERS ON EVEREST

IN A FEW WORDS

QUOTE

That’s Main Street—the Trail of Tears went right down that street. I look out there and I see the streetcars and the people walking by and I think to myself, 'How many people died out there? How many were beaten or sick?'

Aaron Boswell

Park ranger, Army Corps of Engineers

From: At the crossroads of the Trail of Tears, Little Rock faces another reckoning

LAST GLIMPSE

Five men in jockey jerseys pose for the camera

PHOTOGRAPH BY AKOSUA VIKTORIA ADU-SANYAH

Accra's jockeys: Before dawn, they gallop racehorses through the slumbering streets of Ghana’s capital to the ocean to train. The jockeys (pictured above in their race-day attire) have horsemanship in their blood but none make a living from their equestrian efforts. “We only need a bit of investment, and we could breed champions here,” says Mohammed Jara, who oversees the Korle Gonno stables.

RIDING CHAMPIONS

This newsletter was curated and edited by David Beard, Sydney Combs, Jen Tse, Heather Kim, and Allie Yang. Do you have an idea? Let us know! And thanks for reading.

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