The New Yorker has had some great features lately exploring the heritage of  regional cuisines. In the April 16 issue, Julia Ioffe has an excellent article about Maksim Syrnikov, a Russian chef who’s dedicated to exploring and recreating that nation’s traditional diet, going as far as to build one of the massive brick ovens that used to dominate peasant homes. Borscht and potatoes aren’t really Russian he argues; the meals he does cook are fascinating, even if critics charge they’re unhealthy or anachronistic.

The Ioffe article called up a 2011 story by Burkhard Bilger about Homer Sean Brock, a Charleston chef committed to rediscovering classic southern recipes, going as far as to establish his own farm to grow the right ingredients. That one’s also top-notch.

National Geographic‘s May 2012 article on the conservation issues facing koalas has reduced me to a gushing 8-year-old. Seriously, these guys are cute. And the fact that they’re being attacked by dogs and run over by automobiles is heartbreaking. Nature, I know you’re not the sentimental sort, but can’t you just give us this one?

They stood near the rail, an infirm man and his only child, and said their goodbyes. As they were speaking, one of the ship’s enormous smokestacks came crashing down. Dick darted out of the way. Charles was crushed, instantly killed. At that point Dick jumped into the ocean.

In the April 2 Sports Illustrated, L. Jon Wertheim has a fascinating story about two Hall of Fame tennis players who survived the sinking of the Titanic, played each other three months later and never quite revisited their ordeal on the ocean.