Wonders Never Cease

Rather than our usual fare in this column, we decided for this final installment to share where we’re likely to seek out “wonder on the web” in the weeks and months to come. (One place we hope to encounter and share specific items is in our Facebook group, which we’re keeping open for now.)

Going coastal

Perhaps it’s because I grew up in the smack dab center of North America, far from any coastline. Perhaps it’s because I now live near the wide expanse of the world’s largest ocean. (It’s probably both.) Hakai magazine is one of my favorite latest finds. It captivates my curiosity, always teaching me something new. It engages my sense of morality by asking not only how we can conserve these marine wonders but also how we can care for coastal communities living within these ecosystems. It makes me think, but it also makes me behold. — Rebecca Randall, science editor

Running wild

Runner’s World’s Rave Run continually provides a sense of wonder. The site showcases some of the most breathtaking trails and runs throughout the world. — Leanne Snavely, marketing manager

CNN’s joyful younger sibling

Great Big Story is a treasure trove of short, thoughtfully crafted videos about every sort of awe-inducing thing/person you can imagine. If you like The Behemoth and you haven't heard of this site... well, say goodbye to the rest of your day. Like Behemoth, GBS fills me with hope, excitement, and curiosity by showing how amazing this world is, and how people everywhere forever have been exploring it and somehow making it even more beautiful and surprising. — Sarah Cameron, assistant editor and marketer

“‘Rabbit’s clever,’ said Pooh thoughtfully”

The Rabbit Room hosts a lot of beautiful truths expressed in a lot of different ways (art, music, story, podcasts, comics, and so forth). The site is named for the back room of the Eagle and Child pub, where the Oxford Inklings met to share their stories with each other. (Yes, this is something I have a tendency to “geek out” about, as Ted noticed straightaway when I started working here at CT.) We featured a really lovely Rabbit Room post in Wonder on the Web in issue 43. — Mariah Sky Franklin, assistant editor and marketer

Eye catching

It’s because of The Behemoth that I have become interested in macro photos of insects. The detail in this photo gallery is amazing. — Jennifer McGuire, art director

UsTube

I’m a people watcher, and often awestruck by the quirkiness and uniqueness of my fellow humans. YouTube is basically built for online people watching. For random inspiration, I follow dozens of YouTubers, including a likeable fellow who nerds out with woodworking, and another who creates primitive dwellings in his backyard. When it comes down to it, we are all creators, made in the image of the divine Creator.

Bonus: for an excellent documentary on human ingenuity, check out Human Planet on Netflix. And for a beautifully designed reading experience and longform pieces on science and technology, check out the great things the folks at Nautil.us are doing. — Jacob Walsh, publisher

Tweets of grace

Mockingbird says its purpose—“connecting the Christian faith with the realities of everyday life”—is grounded in the notion that “none of us ever move beyond our need to hear the basic good news of God's grace.” As its writers comment on TV, movies, books, articles, and just everyday life, I find myself time and again amazed by how grace weaves its way into every seam of life. — Mark Galli, editor in chief

The Behemoth’s parallel universe

Around the time we were planning The Behemoth, Slate editor David Plotz quit his job and became CEO of Atlas Obscura, a then-smallish site populated with “user-generated-content” about weird places in the world. I’ve always been a Plotz fan, but now I felt like a brother; his fatigue from constant swimming in news and his desire to help people find evergreen sources of joyful discovery both resonated deeply. His epic success with that site has been a regular fount of inspiration (and, I’ll admit, opportunities to resist envy). “It’s a very naive thing for a person who’s worked in cynical journalism for 25 years,” Plotz recently told The Washingtonian, “but honestly, it’s a great feeling to know that you create something magical for people.” Amen. — Ted Olsen, editor

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