Good morning.

There is such a thing as a Dartmoor moment, as James Gingell explains in his wild camping escape this week. It's when you realise you've gone wild, walked away from fires and towels and teacups. When, in an instant, soft southern England summons its dark side. When you look at the map, fraying in the gale, and notice you're far from the chocolate-box villages on the moor's edge. You see the ghosts of forests long gone, land bare and scant, land left by life. "Lost" doesn't quite cover it. It can daunt the unwary. But with the right kit and character that Dartmoor moment can be a thrill.

On the second evening of Gingell's 34-mile trek from Okehampton to Ivybridge, north to south across the expanse, he found himself about halfway through the journey, the hardest yards done. At an old tin working a few hours south of Princetown, he took in his surroundings. And that was it: the Dartmoor moment.

Spend long enough up there, he says, and you too will have one. This is a land where humans are never entirely in control, a land of mist and myth, of the songs of Seth Lakeman, of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The elements deny dominion, ruin plans, foil progress. One simply ends up in places.

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A woman who fled to the UK and devoted years to faithfully recreating dishes from her home country of Iran has inspired a one-woman play at London's Soho theatre – with mouthwatering dishes cooked on stage. As Deborah Linton writes, Atoosa Sepehr's story of finding hope in the kitchen – and later finding success with her own cookbook – is the basis for a new show, My English Persian Kitchen, by playwright Hannah Khalil.

Having left a bad marriage behind, Sepehr now says that cooking "was the one thing that gave me comfort, a sense of getting back to life." The key element of the show, says Khalil, is "the strength of Atoosa as a person … I really wanted to retain as much of her voice, her beautiful turns of phrase. I want people to leave feeling joyous and hopeful."

The US National Park Foundation is to get a $100m (£76m) donation, the largest grant in its history. The money – gifted by Lilly Endowment Inc, a private philanthropic foundation – will go towards maintaining more than 400 sites, including famous spots such as Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks, along with memorials, monuments and locations of historical significance. Will Shafroth, head of the National Park Foundation, said: "This grant will allow us to supercharge our efforts to ensure our national parks are for everyone, for generations to come."

Busisiwe Beko was living with HIV when she became pregnant with her second child, but as an experienced Aids activist who had been taking antiretrovirals for years she didn't fret for her unborn baby. However, for Beko – who lives in Cape Town, South Africa – another illness came along that threatened both of their health: drug-resistant TB.

Pregnant women have been excluded from drug trials for the deadly infectious disease, but Beko has been pushing for change. The World Health Organization's first working group on TB during pregnancy held its inaugural meeting in May, featuring researchers, scientists and activists, including Beko, whose son Othandwayo is now 18. "Being pregnant doesn't mean people can't make good decisions for themselves," she says. "Pregnant and lactating women deserve good-quality healthcare just like anyone else.

For nearly 80 years, Lego has seen its iconic multicoloured bricks be used in the construction of any number of wonderful designs. Now, the company is doubling down on plans to use them in the fight to build a better world. The Danish company is committing to an increased sustainability initiative that will see 50% of the plastics used in its bricks derive from renewable and recyclable materials, rather than fossil fuels – with the switch complete in its entirety by 2032.

The move is part of Lego's pledge to triple its spending on sustainability, without passing a penny of the cost on to consumers. "So far we have decided that we will bear the burden of it and [the extra cost] comes out of our bottom line," says Niels Christiansen, Lego's chief executive.

Unexplained delays, sardine-like conditions, sweatbox temperatures … the stress of the commuter life is very, very real. A new test, however, has found that there is a natural solution to our rail-rage: birdsong.

Research undertaken by South Western Railway on real-life commuters has found that passengers listening to nature sounds, which also included flowing rivers and storms, were 35% less stressed by their travels than those with no audio stimulation, and 24% less stressed than those listening to music or podcasts.

"The results clearly demonstrate that listening to nature-inspired soundscapes exerted a significant calming effect on passengers," said Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford, who analysed the results.

No such news on whether its impact is as effective a cure for the words "rail replacement bus service", however.