| EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2020 | STORY DESCRIPTIONS
Tompkins
Former CEO of Patagonia, Kris Tompkins,
spent the past several years buying
and conserving millions of acres of land
throughout South America with her
now-deceased husband Doug Tompkins,
the founder of The North Face. In the
process, they’ve inspired citizens to take
pride in their country’s stunning, unique,
and diverse landscapes and motivated
governments to protect the land. But there
is a lot more work to do.
JULY
| Everest Special Issue: THE ROOF
OF THE WORLD |
Everest Expedition
This story documents the findings of the
single-most comprehensive scientific
expedition to Mount Everest in history
in an effort to better understand the
impacts of climate change on the region.
Mustang Treasures
High in remote northern Nepal, the ancient
Kingdom of Mustang is facing a crisis:
looters are stealing their antiquities.
Snow Leopards
This big cat once reigned supreme in the
Himalayas. We’ll cover eorts to protect
the species, which is vulnerable to climate
change, habitat loss, and human activities,
such as poaching.
Everest North Side
Writer Mark Synnott and photographer
Renan Ozturk lead a team up the Tibet
side of Mount Everest.
Himalaya Water Tower
We will examine the current state and
future of the Himalaya glaciers that serve
as the crucial water towers in Asia.
AUGUST
| Cover: REIMAGINING DINOSAURS |
Over the past few years, a dazzling array
of fossil finds, coupled with advances in
technology, have dramatically revised
our pictures of even the most iconic
dinosaur species.
Out of Eden: Part 8
Paul Salopek’s foot journey across northern
India, from Pakistan to Myanmar, oers a
storytelling map in to this vital country that
no other media platform can hope to match:
a rich, atmospheric, boot-level look at India
at the threshold of an era that, conceivably,
might be called the Indian Century.
Atomic Bomb
We mark the 75th anniversary of the
first—and, so far, only—times that
nuclear weapons were fired in war. Nat
Geo returns to Japan for what may be
one of the last anniversaries witnessed
by many hibakusha, the bomb survivors.
U.S. Child Marriage
200,000 children were married in America
from 2000 to 2015. In the U.S., 25 states
have yet to set a minimum age below which
a child cannot marry. This story will look
at the life-long consequences of child
marriage and the complicated issues that
lead to such a choice.
SEPTEMBER
| Cover: GLADIATORS |
Bengal Girls
This is an investigative look at child
tracking in West Bengal, India. Since
2011, more than 35,000 minor girls have
been reported missing and presumed
kidnapped, many of whom are sold to
gangs and forced into prostitution.
Ostriches
Let’s look at the original big bird, the original
weird and wild – the ostrich.
OCTOBER
| Cover: GREAT LAKES |
The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the
world’s freshwater, and more than 35
million people rely on their six quadrillion
gallons for drinking. In a warming world,
where drought will become increasingly
common, the Great Lakes may be North
America’s most valuable resource, more
vital than coal, gas, or oil.
Meditation
Meditation and mindfulness have been
part of human culture for millennia. But
only in the past few decades, has meditation
gone from being a preoccupation of
spiritualists to becoming a subject of
serious scientific inquiry.
Smart Phones
A look at smart phones and how they are
affecting our behavior.
Menstruation
For millennia, menstruation has been
both considered sacred and feared. This
story will examine how the spectrum of
menstrual stigmas manifest in science,
culture, and communities around the
world, and highlight the new science that
is, at long last, giving women a deeper
understanding of their bodies.
NOVEMBER
| Cover: RISE OF THE MACHINES |
This story will explore the software,
machines, and factories behind the
Fourth Industrial Revolution and the
impact of this revolution on the labor
force—and by extension, the political
climate both in the U.S. and globally.
Women and Democracy
Across continents, women are finding
new power in numbers as politics pave
the way for more women in decision-
making positions.
DECEMBER
| Cover: REPATRIATION |
For decades, leaders from Egypt to
Nigeria to Peru have called for the
return of cultural treasures “looted” by
European explorers and colonizers,
a plea that has fallen mostly on deaf ears.
This story will explore some of the most
hotly debated questions of our post-
colonial times: Where do the world’s
great cultural treasures belong?
Living Lullabies
Living Lullabies illuminates critical issues
facing women and children through the
multidisciplinary storytelling of families’
night-time rituals. The project aims to
explore how issues at the top of global
agendas—conflict, migration, public
health, and climate change—aect and
are reected in the stories of bedtime for
children around the world.
Contact partnerships@natgeo.com for information or advertising opportunities.
All editorial subject to change.