Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Glen Korstrom, reporter:
Former Vancouverite Rick Antonson’s latest book, Walking with ghosts in Papua New Guinea: Crossing the Kokoda Trail in the last wild place on Earth, documents his trek up and down mountains on a famous trail that cuts across a strip of Papua New Guinea.
Like in many of his past books, he provides a sense of history of the area where he is travelling. In this book, much of the history is in how important the trail was for the Allies in World War II. Aussies beat back the Japanese and kept them from capturing Port Moresby, which would have provided them with a base from which to attack Australia.
The book starts with Antonson meeting a new neighbour in Cairns who urges him to join him in taking "a walk across the country" – a huge understatement of the path's gruelling nature. It seems at first as though the book will follow the buddy-travel-trip narrative that Antonson employed so well when he wrote about travelling on Route 66 with Rocky Mountaineer owner Peter Armstrong in Route 66 Still Kicks – an excellent book.
His trek in New Guinea, however, is done with dozens of others. There are indeed so many trekkers that it is a bit overwhelming for the reader to try to keep track of them all.
All in all, it’s a good travel book. – Walking with ghosts in Papua New Guinea: Crossing the Kokoda Trail in the last wild place on Earth
https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Ghosts-Papua-New-Guinea/dp/151070566X
Emma Crawford Hampel, online editor:
What’s the deal with open offices? The whole idea is that they will foster more open communication, but apparently it doesn’t actually work this way. This article is a year old, but it is still relevant.
Everyone hates open offices – here’s why they still exist. – Fast Company
https://www.fastcompany.com/90285582/everyone-hates-open-plan-offices-heres-why-they-still-exist
In 2010, Hillary Clinton spoke about how the internet will promote democracy. However, the article points out, “...ten years later, Clinton is a private citizen, denied the highest office she would seek by a political amateur who leveraged Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to drive enthusiasm for his nativist, protectionist, and racist agenda.”
The two myths of the internet. – Wired
