Nat Geo announces winners of photo challenge: See images celebrating Earth's beauty
From a group of playful otters vying over a fresh fish to weeping plum trees glistening in the rain, the winners of a National Geographic contest open to amateur photographers have captured the diversity and beauty of Earth.
National Geographic explorer and wildlife filmmaker Bertie Gregory announced the winners of the "NatGeoYourShotOurHome" contest on Wednesday, April 30, saying they all showcase "the majesty of our wonderful planet."
The British filmmaker, who served as guest curator for the competition, told USA TODAY that he was honored to help select the winners, remarking how the collection shows "just how lucky we are to share this planet with such an incredible diversity of life."
"From the bank mynas (birds) learning to live amongst us to the beautiful social chaos of an otter family, from epic mountain sunsets to a delicate weeping plum tree - not to mention taking a closer look at the busy lives of ants," Gregory said about the winning selection.
'Every day should be Earth Day'
The filmmaker, whose is hosting new Disney+ series "Secrets of the Penguins" added that though April is a designated month to celebrate the planet, "every day should be Earth Day."
The challenge, which took place in April and ran through Earth Day on April 22, saw thousands of entries from Japan to Patagonia and beyond, Nat Geo said.
See winners of NatGeoYourShotOurHome challenge
Among the challenge winners is Hidenobu Suzuki, who submitted an unreal-looking photo taken in in the Suzuka Forest Garden in Japan.
'"The weeping plum trees glistening in the rain looked so beautiful-just like a Japanese painting," Suzuki said. "I was so moved that I wrote this description: In the hush of rain, the weeping plum glistens-its petals, like silk, kissed by raindrops. Fallen blossoms whisper on the damp earth, a fleeting poem of transience."
Another winner, Dhaval Bhadania based in Gujarat, India, described the moment he saw birds known as bank mynas and captured a winning image.
"During one of my regular Sunday outings, while passing below an overbridge, I noticed these bank mynas coming out from a hole in the bridge wall," he said. "The mynas had made their nest in the hole. I waited there and watched them for some time. These types of bird behaviors and unexpected sightings prompt me to capture more amazing moments and share my visual stories."
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
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Los Angeles Times
14 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
This must be Sawtelle
While most Japantowns across the country have vanished, Los Angeles is home to not just one, but two, Japanese enclaves. Most people know Little Tokyo. But on the Westside, past the 405 and tucked between strip malls and office buildings, there's another: Sawtelle. Smaller in footprint but steeped in history, Sawtelle reflects the legacy of Japanese immigrants — their resilience, resourcefulness and ability to reinvent. That spirit lives on in one of L.A.'s most dynamic neighborhoods today: a cultural crossroads where you can slurp the best ramen, dig into sisig, cool off with Korean soft serve, try a California roll burger or sing your heart out at karaoke until 4 a.m., all within 2.69 square miles. Long before Sawtelle became a hotspot for buzzy restaurants and boba shops, it was a refuge. Named after the manager of the Pacific Land Company that developed the area, Sawtelle in the early 20th century was a haven for Japanese immigrants barred from owning property or signing leases under exclusionary laws, like the 1913 California Alien Land Law. In this less developed pocket of the Westside, landowners looked the other way — allowing Japanese immigrants to carve out enough space to build new lives. The proximity to the coast reminded them of home, mild weather and fertile soil made outdoor work a pleasure, and local Kenjinkai organizations offered vital community support. By the 1910s, Sawtelle — 'so-te-ru,' as it was affectionately called — had become a magnet for Issei, or first-generation Japanese immigrants. Between 1920 and 1925, its population tripled, driven by an influx of Japanese farmers, a booming film industry and the opening of UCLA. Here, they set up nurseries and small businesses, tended gardens for wealthy Westsiders, built temples and schools and laid the groundwork for a close-knit community. The neighborhood flourished until World War II, when residents were forced into internment camps and their lives upended. Those who returned started over, restoring what had been lost. In many ways, Sawtelle is a testament to the immigrant instinct to endure, adapt and rebuild — even with the odds stacked against them. In 2015, that resilience was officially recognized when the city named the area Sawtelle Japantown, sparking a renaissance of Japanese influence with restaurants, markets and shops celebrating Japanese culture and identity. These days, Sawtelle's prewar landmarks are fading, giving way to office buildings and rising commercial rent. Traci Toshiyuki Imamura, a fifth-generation Japanese American, remembers when her father's business, Tensho Drugstore, stood at the corner of Sawtelle and Mississippi — a neighborhood fixture in the mid-1940s. Today, it's the Furaibo restaurant. 'I miss the regular everyday people and how close people were with each other in the community,' she said. 'It makes me emotional just thinking about what Sawtelle felt like to me when I was a young girl in contrast to what it is evolving to.' Now living in Torrance, Imamura serves on the Westside Community Planning Advisory Group and advocates against Sawtelle's gentrification and upzoning. Over the years, the neighborhood has certainly changed, and its identity has expanded beyond its Japanese roots. But you'll still find traces of what made it special to begin with: Family-run Hashimoto Nursery and Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery trace back to Sawtelle's early days and serve as nods to its agricultural past. And every summer at the Obon Festival, a traditional Buddhist celebration honoring the spirits of one's ancestors, hundreds still gather — dressed in kimono, yukata and hachimaki headbands to dance to the steady beat of taiko drums. Kids crowd around the balloon fishing pool, parents line up for takoyaki, and for a moment, the old Sawtelle feels as alive as ever. To walk down these streets today is to experience not just what's current, but what endures — in the smell of yakitori on the grill, the sight of bonsai trees still tended by the same families and the beat of the taiko drums that call people back, year after year. Sawtelle is a neighborhood shaped by people who made every inch count and built a community, and in a city that's always changing, that may be the most enduring legacy of all.
Los Angeles Times
14 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Aging up the characters in the ‘King of the Hill' revival was not only easy, it was ‘a relief'
Years and years ago, Pamela Adlon, the actor and co-creator of 'Better Things,' had to trade a Fox Body Ford Mustang with a V8 engine for a white minivan. 'It was when I became a mom and I said, 'I cannot go down like this,' ' Adlon says. So, she had the minivan painted with flames, a skull on the front and pinstripes. When Adlon met with the artist for her auto paint job, she saw a totem in his studio: a small, gold-colored resin bust of Bobby Hill, the husky preteen she played on the animated series 'King of the Hill' for 13 seasons — a staggering 259 episodes total — on Fox. Adlon was given the figure. During a conversation about the return of the series, she pulls the bust from her bookshelves and holds Bobby lovingly in her hands. Adlon says she doesn't just identify with parts of the sweet, passionate kid she voiced. She is Bobby Hill. 'I just couldn't believe it,' Adlon says. 'This is my own bust. That's me. It's f— me!' Bobby, the son of animated Arlen, Texas, residents Hank (Mike Judge) and Peggy Hill (Kathy Najimy) has in the years since 'King of the Hill' aired its last episodes in 2010, become a social-media phenomenon in memes ('That's my purse, I don't know you!') and well-circulated online video clips. 'He has become like a little beacon for people, which is so sweet,' Adlon says. 'I'm honored to even be a part of it. I love it, I love it.' Adlon and most of the original cast return for a revival of 'King of the Hill' with a 10-episode 14th season premiering Monday on Hulu. The new episodes return viewers to a much-changed Arlen (and America, for that matter) with characters who have aged about a decade since we last saw them. Hank and Peggy are retired and back in Texas after a propane-related work stint in Saudi Arabia. Bobby is a 22-year-old chef running a Japanese-German fusion restaurant. And because it's 2025, there's a lot that feels very different, from ridesharing and microaggressions to all-gender public bathrooms and goat therapy. To say that the connections 'King of the Hill' cast members have with the show are personal would be a huge understatement. Not only did the animated series' original run and its new batch of episodes address American culture in sharp and satirical ways while simultaneously being gentle and humane, it created memorable, perhaps iconic, roles for three of the women who play lead characters on 'King of the Hill.' Adlon, Najimy and Lauren Tom, who plays both Connie Souphanousinphone and her mother Minh, all say that the show's continued high quality and influence on their lives for so long helped draw them back. Along with co-creators Judge and Greg Daniels, and new showrunner Saladin K. Patterson, the cast faced a formidable modern TV challenge many have failed: reviving a beloved show without ruining what made it great in the first place. 'The best job I've ever had' Najimy, who plays Peggy Hill as a kind but frequently overconfident retired substitute teacher, remembers very clearly her audition for 'King of the Hill' 27 years ago. 'I was pregnant with my daughter,' she says, 'so I will never forget that time in our lives.' Najimy and the rest of the cast had no idea at first if the show would work. 'I thought, 'This is a really good script and I love that there's some great writing for women characters, which isn't always the case.' ' Unlike the family dynamic of many sitcoms of the '90s era when 'King' started, and even now in some cases, Hank and Peggy aren't a schlub and a hot wife trading insults — they're partners who respect each other and who did a great job raising their son. 'They fight and they spar, but they really, really love each other, which I find refreshing,' Najimy says. In the new season, Peggy's adventures include portraying the made-up wife of Hank's buddy Bill (Stephen Root), dealing with a cover-up involving a neighborhood lending library and bedbugs, and wrestling with empty nesting. Judge says that Najimy gets credit for bringing Peggy to life on the original run. 'We, on the writing side at least, didn't have all that much for Peggy in the very beginning. 'Something happened when Kathy started doing the voice — something about the way she played her as this know-it-all who can be completely wrong with complete confidence — and we started writing to that and Peggy was born,' he says. Najimy says she appreciates that the storylines continue to be character-driven, even when they're observing or commenting on modern culture. 'It's really hard to bring something back,' Najimy says in praise of the show's creators and writers. 'I think it's a miracle that they've done it so seamlessly… it's the best job I've ever had.' Bobby and Connie all grown up One of the new storylines finds Bobby reconnecting in Dallas with his childhood crush Connie. How that develops through the 10 episodes is one of the most emotionally satisfying parts of the revival. While other actors on the show were voicing older versions of adult characters, Adlon and Tom had to decide with the showrunner and creators how to age their characters into adulthood. At one point, using technology to change the pitch of their voices was considered. But in the end, the actors made the vocal adjustments themselves. 'I feel like since Connie's in her 20s now, that was actually easier for me because it's close to my own voice; I'm about that age emotionally,' Tom jokes. 'For me, it was a relief to age her up.' 'King of the Hill' was Tom's first animation job before she went on to play roles on 'Futurama,' 'Teen Titans Go!' and 'Rick and Morty.' Adlon said that Bobby's vocal journey into manhood had to be grounded in an authentic portrayal with a subtle adjustment: 'I just did a little thing,' Adlon says, cupping her hand for emphasis, 'get him more into, you know, the balls. Cradling the balls of age.' When the new season begins, Connie has a boyfriend; it's an ethical nonmonogamous relationship. 'In a way, she is sowing her wild oats,' Tom says. As Bobby, Adlon interjects, 'Well, I don't wanna talk about that.' Patterson, a veteran of several TV series including 'Frasier' and the well-received 2021 version of 'The Wonder Years,' says the actors were able to bring a huge amount of complexity to characters that fans have grown to love for 27 years. For Bobby, 'What Pam does is so specific and so magical,' Patterson says. 'Fans are coming back to this show because they want to recapture that magic, right? Let's not try to fix what isn't broken. Let Pam continue to do the magic that she does with Bobby Hill.' With Tom's challenge of playing two characters, Patterson says, 'When we have scenes with Minh and Connie, not only is she doing two voices, but she's capturing all those layers and nuances that exist in the mother-daughter relationship.' Living in 2025 … and beyond? The actors and creators are careful to say that 'King of the Hill' has never been as political as some might ascribe to the show, despite it being set in a red state featuring a conservative-passing family. But in 2025, it seems impossible not to take a side and the new 'King' season arrives just two weeks after 'South Park' unloaded a stinging critique on President Trump and his administration. The new 'King of the Hill' season takes aim at misogynist bro seminars, cultural appropriation in the restaurant world and how divorce is still stigmatized in many cultures, among other topics. The cast members and creative leaders of the show say that while they're big fans of what 'South Park' is doing, 'King' mirrors things very differently. 'The world needs someone to shake things up like that,' Tom says, 'and then the world needs our approach, which has a lot more kindness and love and gentleness and inclusiveness to it. It's a nice balance.' 'Now seems like the perfect time, this window of opportunity when people are just going, 'What the f—?' with everything,' Adlon says. Judge says 'King of the Hill' is 'a calming presence in the midst of all the divisiveness. People often tell me they watch it before they go to sleep, and I'm totally good with that.' How long that calming presence will be with us when it comes to getting fresh episodes in the future is not completely clear. Season 14 debuts with all 10 episodes available. Will there be more? There are certainly more scripts and the actors on the show confirm they've continued working on episodes beyond this initial batch, but Hulu has not yet announced whether 'King of the Hill' will continue for a 15th season or more. Reviews so far from critics have been universal raves; the 14th season has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with one reviewer calling it the best TV revival of all time. For the 'King' crew, who have been working on the show since the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to do voice recording separately, seeing 'King of the Hill' come back together successfully after so long has been incredibly rewarding. 'I think it was a big relief reading the first episode and realizing the writing was just as strong as the original and feeling like, 'Oh, we're going to be in good hands,' ' Tom says.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Superman and the American flag once stood for same things. MAGA changed that.
Is the new 'Superman' movie political? Should it be? USA TODAY readers gave us their takes in our latest Opinion Forum. The latest news about the "Superman" movie is focused on box-office heroics, with more than $300 million in U.S. ticket sales since its July 11 release. But those big receipts have not completely eclipsed the controversy swirling around the DC Comics-inspired film that started after director James Gunn announced "Superman" was about immigration and empathy. In a July 4 Times of London story, Gunn said that "Superman is the story of America, an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.' The director's description was pure kryptonite to some, bringing howls over the politicization of an American icon in which the Man of Steel was turned in a woke undocumented immigrant. Others, though, nodded along with Gunn. To get a better sense of Superman's approval ratings, we went to USA TODAY readers, asking them for their take on the movie. Was "Superman" woke? And is that a good or a bad thing? And what about entertainment in general – has it become too political? Unsurprisingly, the responses were varied, nuanced and pointed. You can read them below as part of our latest Opinion Forum. 'Superman' woke? A little. But 'Snow White' ... I did see the new "Superman" movie, and I enjoyed it. In terms of whether it was "woke," I'd say yes, but it is really light compared with other movies. The movie is built on the traditional themes of Superman, which is truth, justice and the American way. I think the problem we have in the U.S. today is that the symbolism behind Old Glory used to apply to everyone equally. Immigration reflected this. Old Glory and Superman stood for the same things. But the red, white and blue is so strongly branded now with MAGA and conservatives, and they have such a strong RINO mindset about "you are with us or against us," that any criticism of their tenets gets labeled as woke. (Plus pulling the woke card gets more internet clicks.) Good storytelling can be political, but it has to be good storytelling. I think the root issue is "Superman" is a good movie and the receipts show this. Plus the political elements are relatable. "Snow White" in contrast was not a great movie. The leads were miscast. It's difficult to make Gal Gadot the evil one and less "beautiful one." And while I'd happily watch Rachel Zegler in most movies, it felt like Disney was trying to make a point all the way through the movie with her casting. Your Turn: Republicans, Democrats are held captive by extremes. Americans need a new party. | Opinion Forum As for whether entertainment is too political, I'm going to reverse that question: I think politics has become too performative. As a general rule, good quality politics − administrative and legislative − should be mostly boring. We are going through a period of dramatic change − generational change, transfers of wealth, technology and even our place in the world. I think we are in for excitement whether we like it or not. In general, the definition of woke is evolving. Today I would say it is partly a cancel culture tool for pundits on the right, and partly when left-leaning institutions with power (universities, media, etc.) do something to force adoption of their beliefs on everyone, e.g., many recent Disney movies. — Erin-Todd Hansen, Boise, Idaho Art is always political I haven't seen "Superman," but I'm planning to. I'm sure the movie is political. Art is always political. "Casablanca" is anti-fascist. "Gone with the Wind" is pre-lost cause ideology. "Star Wars" is anti-authoritarian. "Othello" is anti-racist. Hallmark movies are tacitly anti-feminist. Every work of art reflects the artist's worldview. It's stupid to think art is neutral. And I don't think other forms of entertainment are too political. We want your perspective: Are you concerned about starvation in Gaza? Should US do more to help? Tell us. | Opinion Forum As for the meaning of woke, it originally meant to be conscious of systemic racism. Now it's been coopted by conservatives to mean whatever they don't like. — Kim Akins, Columbus, Ohio Tired of forced woke movie characters I haven't seen the new "Superman" movie, and I don't plan to. I'm tired of the forced woke characters in movies. The constant emphasis on characters' sexual orientation that has nothing to do with the movie plot is boring and off-putting. Lyrics in rap songs are disgusting. If they were said in any other forum, the singer would be booed off the stage. Share your opinion: Trump wants Washington Commanders to revert to old name. Should they? | Opinion Forum Woke means an emphasis on sexual orientation rather than who the individual is. It's negative because it stereotypes the individual. People should be judged by who they are, not what they are. — Tim Walton, Brooksville, Florida Woke means caring for people, as Superman does I saw "Superman" and enjoyed it. Of course I think it was woke − like that's a bad thing? What's wrong with actually caring about people? Woke is caring and respect for ALL. It's positive. If people are triggered by compassion and respect for others, it's time for them to look in the mirror and ask why they enjoy hatred. What are they afraid of? Do you want to take part in our next Forum? Join the conversation by emailing forum@ You can also follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and sign up for our Opinion newsletter to stay updated on future Forum posts. I find it a loaded question to ask someone if entertainment is too political. It seems to have the intent of gathering answers from those who are triggered by entertainment that doesn't fit their personal political bent. There's plenty of choices, so don't watch what upsets you. I believe that if people believe a show is too political, it's usually because it doesn't fit their own biases. — Deborah Tretter, Rochester, New York Is Superman illegal? They broke the story line. I watched the move and enjoyed it. Superman has never been politically motivated! Let's stop the woke stuff and just say it was a great movie, except that disappointing political stunt. Illegal is illegal. I wasn't aware that Superman was ever told he was here illegally before in any comic book. They broke the story line. I do sometimes think entertainment has become too political. I think people should have a right to their opinions, and if asked, they should share them. The problem is that people don't respect others' opinions. Woke, in my opinion, is a word made up by the media to get attention. It's a horrible word that causes hate and discontent. It divides our country. — Patrick Andrews, Jasper, Indiana You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
