Terrain.org articles in this issue:
 

Playground of the Autocrats: The Russian Empire and How Terrain Shapes Society
A Hypertext Narrative Gallery by Anne Bobroff-Hajal, with Audio

Playground of the Autocrats is a series of whimsical/serious mixed media triptychs I’ve been hatching over the last few years. They express my belief that the openness of Russia’s vast steppe terrain has been the spawning ground of its highly centralized state. Like comic books and graphic novels, Playground of the Autocrats tells stories through pictures. Playground’s tales are “narrated” in song.

Under the Open Sky: Poems on the Land
by Pattiann Rogers

A male hippopotamus, living in the Milwaukee County Zoo, is submerged in his outdoor pool, resting. Gradually the water starts to swirl, and it’s possible to see his huge girth beginning to rise from below. His small flippy ears appear and now his eyes open just barely above the surface. On the bank in a corner beside the pool, inscribed on a large stone, is Les Murray’s poem, “Dreambabwe.”

Sprawl Repair: From Sprawl to Complete Communities
by Galina Tachieva

The promise of suburbia has been eroding for decades, but reached a critical point with the mortgage meltdown of 2008. A record number of homes went into foreclosure and entire subdivisions and commercial developments began to fail. Yet the expanse of sprawl represents a vast investment, and cannot be simply abandoned or demolished. Pragmatism demands the reclamation of sprawl through redevelopment that introduces mixed uses and transportation options.

Disc Image: Wham-0, Frisbee, and the Modern Age of Plastic
by Susan Freinkel

My search for an answer to that question started one dreary winter day with a visit to the corporate headquarters of Wham-O, a company built on the wild, bouncy, springy, squishy, floaty possibilities presented by plastics. Wham-O introduced some of the most iconic toys of our age, from Hula-Hoops to Slip ’n Slides to its top-selling product, the Frisbee. Since the flying discs were introduced, in 1957, the company has sold more than a hundred million.