Once a story is in the world, it becomes a living, breathing thing, coming into sharp relief, receding into nebulous obscurity. But what kind of power do we have to change that story? And can we ever really know which version is true?

In our winter 2023 issue, five journalists and storytellers reckon with these questions as they devote themselves to “Rewriting the Narrative,” bringing their curiosity to bear as they shift the focus, widen the lens, and breathe new and different life into stories past, present and future.

We start in the waters off Santa Barbara, California, where a group of strangers share a dire bond. After years on the frontlines of a global pandemic, these health care workers are facing record levels of burnout. But a Colorado-based nonprofit seeks to help. In this issue’s Chasing Demons story, journalist Allison Torres Burtka personalizes a secondary epidemic as she introduces us to an ICU nurse who’s discovering that perhaps the key to healing the healers lies Beyond the Waves.

Then, deep in a land of canyons and cacti, seemingly eerie figures grace the rock walls in shades of red and black. But what do they mean? And what do we know about the people who left their mark on the desert? In our Time Travel story, writer Craig K. Collins embarks on a perilous journey to Baja California’s Great Mural Region — to learn not just the story of the murals but also the mystery of The Time of the Painters.

And when journalist and filmmaker Anna Polonyi traveled with her wife to visit the historic home of an unorthodox 19th-century French painter, she thought they were going to pay tribute to an LGBTQ+ icon. Instead, she found herself on a Quest for the truth and discovered that Proving the Love of Rosa Bonheur may not be as simple as it sounds.

Proof is also at the heart of this issue’s Portrait story. In a place of legend, the extraordinary can seem ordinary and get lost in the lore. In the Graveyard of the Atlantic, on a remote island off the coast of North Carolina, a succession of women spent more than 100 years delivering life, treating injuries, and caring for islanders facing death. In our photo feature, writer and photographer Megan Dohm wonders if there is enough detail left to recover the stories of The Lost Midwives of Ocracoke — and learns some legacies aren’t carved in stone.

Finally, in a Human and Nature story supported by the Pulitzer Center, Colin Daileda returns to our pages to tell a story that will take decades to unfold. As sea levels rise and intensifying storms batter and flood the coastal village of Chellanam, India, local activists work to protect their home today. But what future are they building? In this imaginative story, we explore The Many Futures of Chellanam, and what they mean for humanity’s relationship with the sea.

As always, we extend our deepest gratitude to our readers, who share our vision of powerful storytelling, and to our contributors, who bring us stories from the frontiers of modern exploration.

Until the next voyage,

Sivani Babu and Sabine K. Bergmann, Hidden Compass Co-founders

What do we do when the people and places we’re trying to understand are shrouded? How do we pierce the veils of history or chemistry, art or psychology in order to glimpse the lives they conceal?

The autumn 2022 issue of Hidden Compass is devoted to answering those questions. Five storytellers from all over the globe bring us five different takes on this issue’s theme, Unveiled Lives.

We start, aptly, at The Beginning of the Beginning, in a sculpture garden in Kenya. While seeking traces of her Ameru ancestry and her people’s full origin story of Mbwaa, journalist Peace Mundia reckons with the aftermath of colonialism. As this issue’s Portrait story makes clear, loss and its accompanying sadness can be echoes of the past that still reverberate and inform the present. 

Then, in this issue’s Quest story, the unintended — and remarkable — consequences that can follow a life-shaking event are celebrated. Into the Shimmering Void offers an exquisite pair of narrative experiences: those of James Holman, a blind, world-traveling explorer of the 19th century, and those of storyteller Maud Rowell, a blind, world-traveling explorer of the 21st century. Along the way, the story and its original artwork, by blind artist Keith Salmon, challenge our notions of who should be celebrated and admired. 

Recognition is also at the heart of our Human & Nature photo feature, which takes us deep into Nepal. In the village of Dhye, in the remote Himalaya, writer and photographer Tulsi Rauniyar introduces us to the “corner people,” whose centuries-old way of life is imperiled. The Lonely Kingdom contemplates the difficult choices these individuals are making — even as the end draws nigh. 

Next, we venture into Antarctic waters for a Chasing Demons story centered on old traumas and new beginnings. Mayday at the Bottom of the World, by journalist Jane Ellen Stevens, is a powerful, poignant, and gripping adventure story about the RSV Aurora Australis, a distressed ship cut off from the world. But it is also a brave, stirring memoir that emerges in catastrophe’s wake. 

Finally, we immerse ourselves in a sweeping series of unveiled lives. In our Time Travel story, The Three Lives of Warsaw’s Neon, Poland’s capital is aglow as journalist Emily Manthei illuminates the city’s history of “neonization” — and a century of art and commerce, form and function, war and peace. 

As always, we extend our deepest gratitude to our readers, who share our vision of powerful storytelling, and to our contributors, who bring us stories from the frontiers of modern exploration.

Until the next voyage,

Jeremy Berlin, Editorial Director

Sabine K. Bergmann and Sivani Babu, Hidden Compass Co-founders

Life is hard, and the world is tough. So sometimes we go with the flow to get by. We join the herd. We maintain the status quo.

Until something happens, and we no longer can. Something changes for us, and then in us. So we rise up, stand tall, fight back.

In the summer 2022 issue of Hidden Compass, we celebrate defiance and defiers — people, places, and practices that are pushing back against conformity and complacency, stigmas and stereotypes, the power of inertia and the weight of expectation.

In northern Thailand, journalist Ana Norman Bermúdez explores the paradoxical relationship the Thai have with elephants, which are both deified and exploited. Though many places call themselves elephant sanctuaries, few actually provide a true haven. This Chasing Demons story shows us an exception: A Sanctuary for the Revered, the first Asian elephant hospital in the world. Bermudez brings us close to these wondrous, wounded creatures, and introduces us to the people who have dedicated their lives to helping them.

Half a world away, in the winemaking region of Beaujolais, France, the Revelry of the Conscripted (illustrated by Matthew Laznicka) is on display. For the past century and a half, villages here have staged les conscrits — conscription parties for those heading off to war. As journalist Anna Richards writes in this issue’s Time Travel story, mandatory military service in France was suspended decades ago, yet these last hurrahs have persisted, helping locals find joy in dark times.

Meanwhile, in the heart of cattle country, an appetite for adventurous eating is defying Western conceptions of sustenance. As the global search for sustainable protein intensifies, the annual Bug Buffet in Bozeman, Montana — chronicled in this issue’s Human & Nature story by journalist Emilie Filou — is leading the charge for an Insect Rebellion.

Defying cultural perceptions is also at the heart of this issue’s Profile. As journalist William Costa explains in The Fifth Element, much is at stake in the conflict between Paraguay’s two official languages, Spanish and Guaraní. Enter Tekovete, a rapper whose socially charged lyrics are harnessing the revolutionary power of hip-hop, the musical form that first emerged decades earlier in marginalized communities thousands of miles away.

Finally, we see a Quest for cultural change and athletic acceptance in Kenya’s budding sport of rock-climbing. Until recently it was mostly an activity for foreigners and expats. Photojournalist Kang-Chun Cheng takes us to the pristine crags and peaks of Kipwa, where change is afoot. Her Photo Feature not only documents a coterie of local and foreign climbers laying the groundwork for The New Ascensionists, it also reveals both the schisms and the sense of community that climbing can foster.

Until the next voyage,

Jeremy Berlin, Editorial Director

Sabine K. Bergmann and Sivani Babu, Hidden Compass Co-Founders