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THE SECRET LANGUAGE
HIDDEN IN HER QUILTS

Thursday, February 2, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we follow the rapacious and dangerous feral hog, discover a legendary storytelling quilter, unearth a Viking treasure, track the abduction of monkeys from a Dallas zoo ... and see a chocolate menagerie.

An old black and white picture of a woman

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON/SCALA, FLORENCE

Harriet Powers, born enslaved, made quilts like no other. One hangs in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Another is at the Smithsonian.

Stitched in her works was a kind of secret language—a testimony, a powerful creative vision. She left her mark, The Color Purple novelist Alice Walker writes, “in the only materials she could afford.”

But who was Harriet Powers (pictured above)? And what was her message? Even today, curators are finding pieces of the puzzle.

Read the full story here.

Please consider getting our full digital report and magazine by subscribing here.

A picture of a quilt with 15 panels

ALBUM/GRANGER

The Pictoral Quilt: Despite faded colors, the brilliance of this Harriet Powers quilt shines through. The blanket’s 15 panels depict Bible stories alongside events from her life and times. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

A photo of a hog drinking water

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROLF NUSSBAUMER, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

Feral hogs (pictured above) are more dangerous than you think

Are we at the cusp of nutrition guides for your specific body and lifestyle?

Dallas Zoo sabotaged, with the kidnapping of two monkeys and the killing of an endangered vulture in its enclosure

Salman Rushdie on how seeing the Taj Mahal beats any digital or AI-generated experience

See the face of a man from the last gasps of the Roman Empire

See rhinos, kings, polar bears—in chocolate

An intact Viking ship held riches and a surprising mystery

She disguised herself as a white man to escape slavery

He mailed himself to freedom

The awesome—and unsettling—discovery of early galaxies

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A row of gray facial scans

IMAGE BY JING-DONG JACKIE HAN, PEKING UNIVERSITY

Facial clues: Researchers are using facial scans to determine your physiological age—and serve as an early wakeup call to potentially serious health problems. Accelerated facial aging can indicate inflammation associated with high cholesterol and hypertension, Nat Geo reports. (Above, a model predicts a woman’s face as it ages from 20, at left, to 65, at right.)

EXPANDING THE STORY

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A photo of a person's portrait lightly visible on top of another image of protesters

PHOTOGRAPH BY YU YU MYINT THAN

The coup continues: Two years ago, Myanmar’s military forcibly nullified the country’s 2020 election results. Peaceful protesters flooded streets in cities and villages demanding an end to the coup—even as the military and police began to open fire. Today the military junta continues to violently target protesters and ethnic minorities. (Above, a portrait of a human rights advocate superimposed over a scene from the protest to protect her identity.)

THE FIGHT CONTINUES

WHERE IN THE WORLD?

A picture of birds wading in the water at sunset

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFFREY GREENBERG, UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP/GETTY IMAGES

A birding paradise: Migratory white pelicans and other birds flock to a lagoon in an island wildlife refuge. Where is it? Hint: the refuge is named for a cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes and helped create the National Wildlife Foundation. Click here for the answer.

Today’s soundtrack: Long, Long Time, Linda Ronstadt

This newsletter was curated and edited by David Beard, Sydney Combs, and Jen Tse. Let us know what you think and send us story ideas here. Thanks for reading!

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