This month, all across the world, well over one billion Muslims are observing the fasting month of Ramadan, meaning that absolutely no food or drink, not even water, should cross their lips between sunup and sundown for 30 days. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is based on lunar cycles, so some years Ramadan falls during the long days of summer, creating a very long and difficult fasting day; other times it’s during the short days of winter. This year Ramadan occurs from around August 11 to about September 9 (variation in dates occurs when the crescent moon is sighted on different dates in different countries).

After the sun has set, Muslims are allowed to eat again, and the usual method of breaking the fast is to have a little something to eat and drink right after the sunset call to prayer followed by a dinner called iftar before sleeping, and then to wake again an hour or so before sunrise for another meal called suhoor to tide them over for the day.

Ferula asafoetida

I was shopping for Indian spices with a friend not long ago and she steered me toward a small yellow container of a powdered spice called asafoetida, or hing in Hindi. She explained that it tastes like onion or garlic, but that I’d have to fry it in oil to bring out that flavor; otherwise it would be highly unpalatable. Why, I mused, would anyone bother with asafoetida when onions, garlic or leeks were more predictable? My caution grew when I learned that the name of the spice is based on the Latin word “foetida,” meaning stinky, and that colloquially it is also known as Stinking Gum or Devil’s Dung.

My friend is a scholar of Jainism, one of India’s main religions. She explained that “devil’s dung” is one of the ways that Jains can add pungency to their cuisine without using onion or garlic, which are forbidden.

In Year One, Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera) traipse across Biblical history after fleeing their village, narrowly escaping death, slavery, and circumcision en route to discovering their destinies.

Their final destination—where the majority of the movie takes place—is Sodom, known as the sinful city destroyed by God in “fire and brimstone.” Pop Omnivore was interested: Did Sodom really exist? To find out, we interviewed Rupert Chapman, head librarian of the Middle East department at the British Museum and co-author of the book Archaeology and the Bible, which examines how the findings of archaeology have confirmed—or refuted—the Bible.

Rebel angels are cast into hell but weren't cast in the movie.

To Sartre, hell was other people. To Sam Raimi, it’s the usual Christian version: fire, brimstone, anguished wails of the eternally damned—you get the picture, or will if you catch Drag Me to Hell.

Raimi’s newest feature film is a crackerjack horror/comedy, a knowingly schlocky, visually inventive movie as creepy, disgusting, goofy, and hilarious as his seminal, psychotronic Evil Dead trilogy. If you liked those flicks, you’ll probably love this one. In it, a goodhearted loan officer gets on the bad side of an elderly Hungarian woman, who proceeds to curse the poor girl. For three days she’ll be stalked, scared, and totally grossed out by a vengeful demon. On the fourth day, she’ll be—you guessed it—dragged to hell.