What We Love This Week, Volume CXLIII

Published October 9, 2015

Inside Australia’s Underground Town

Australia Underground City Hallway

Hallway. Image Source: All That Is Interesting

Coober Pedy is a strange name, until you realize that it comes from an aboriginal term meaning “the white man’s hole.” And that says it all. This small Australian mining town houses citizens, workers, and tourists literally underground–which also seems strange, until you realize that summer temperatures routinely top 100 degrees and that rain is a rare occurrence. So it is that Coober Pedy is home to a bookstore, a church, a hotel, and a grassless golf course with glow in the dark balls. Explore more with this gallery.

Australia Underground City Bookshop

Book store. Image Source: All That Is Interesting

Australia Underground City Living Room

Living room. Image Source: All That Is Interesting

The Faces Of New York’s Roughest Neighborhood

Mechanic Tires Stacked

José Cruz, a mechanic at Diffo Auto Glass & Flat Fix, 1510 Jerome Avenue. José has been working on Jerome Avenue for 25 years — he fled the civil war in his native El Salvador in 1990. Image Source: The New York Times

For decades, the South Bronx has been among New York City’s poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods. Of course, it should go without saying that the neighborhood has simultaneously been a bustling haven for hard-working immigrants and blue collar natives. And now all of it may soon be over. A rezoning study is underway, with gentrification likely to follow. Auto shops will give way to high-rise housing and one of the last vestiges of what we could–probably misguidedly–call “Old New York” will be gone. For now, meet the residents of the South Bronx at The New York Times.

Boy Smiling Bass Guitar

Inside Cousin Auto Glass, an automotive shop that becomes a storefront church at night, Ismael Campora tuned his brother’s bass guitar just before the Friday evening service. Ismael is a guitarist in the church band. Image Source: The New York Times

Young Girl Scowl Headdress

A girl standing in front of the Bronx Islamic Cultural Center at 50 East Tremont Avenue, an area that would also be affected by the city’s plan to rezone and build affordable housing. The center’s imam, Sheikh Ibrahim Gonja, fears being pushed out of the neighborhood. According to him, the center has played an important role in the community. Image Source: The New York Times

author
John Kuroski
author
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.
editor
Nickolaus Hines
editor
Nickolaus Hines graduated with a Bachelor's in journalism from Auburn University, and his writing has appeared in Men's Journal, Inverse, and VinePair.
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Kuroski, John. "What We Love This Week, Volume CXLIII." AllThatsInteresting.com, October 9, 2015, https://allthatsinteresting.com/what-we-love-this-week-volume-cxliii. Accessed November 14, 2024.