Fur

A hajj selfie

Should selfies be allowed on the pilgrimage to Mecca?

Global Scan

Muslims typically make the hajj just once in a lifetime — and it’s a signature moment in their lives. So it’s understandable that they would want to document the trip. But that has some religious leaders upset. Meanwhile in Russia, the government is mounting a full-court press to convince Western journalists that Russia is a good guy. Sadly, that campaign has not affected its treatment of LGBT individuals. We have those stories and more in today’s Global Scan.

Two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police hitching sled dogs into their harness before going on patrol in 1957.

Canada’s Mounties find themselves in a battle over furry muskrat hats

Culture
The World

Trapping: Worthwhile Tradition or Needless Torture?

The World

Modern Beaver Trapping

The World

Be an Environmentalist – Buy a Possum Coat

The World

Chompin’ Invasives

Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay is under assault by an animal that shouldn’t even be there. Nutria are eating away at the wetlands there. The beaver-like animals were brought to the U.S. from South America decades ago to bolster the fur trade. But their population exploded and now government researchers are trying to come up with a […]

Almanac: New World Fur Trade

This week, facts about the first fur trade from the New World. Three hundred and eighty years ago, a shipment of beaver skins set sail for England.

The World

Fair Game – Episode 20071119 – Filmmaker Matthew Galkin

Matthew Galkin talks about his new HBO documentary I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA.