Editors' Picks
The Early History of Faking War on Film
Early filmmakers faced a dilemma: how to capture the drama of war without getting themselves killed in the process. Their solution: fake the footage
PHOTOS: The History of Abraham Lincoln on Film
The 16th president has been a Hollywood star and box office attraction since the earliest days of Hollywood
Esperanza Spalding Took on Bieber, Now Takes on Jazz
The innovative bassist and winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for performing arts is taking jazz to a whole new place
Listen to Doc Watson Picking Away at his Banjo
A new release from Smithsonian Folkways highlights the talent of a bluegrass master
February 2013
| By Leah Binkovitz
The Flyknit racer is currently in the collections of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
February 2013
| By Leah Binkovitz
The roots music expert’s latest album is finger-picking good
January 2013
| By Leah Binkovitz
Also on the docket, travelling by fire and understanding the concept of “antifragility”
December 2012
| By Chloe Schama
The innovative bassist and winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for performing arts is taking jazz to a whole new place
December 2012
| By dream hampton
From the classical era to modern music, flames have lent a spark to some of the greatest tunes of all time
December 2012
| By Zachary Woolfe
Why should we consider the fork? And a new biography of the ill-fated George Armstrong Custer
November 2012
| By Chloe Schama
November 2012 | By Leah Binkovitz
A new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery unmasks the titans of modern American poetry
November 2012
| By Joseph Stromberg
With his erudite Quarterly, the legendary Harper’s editor aims for an antidote to digital-age ignorance
November 2012
| By Ron Rosenbaum
The Brooklyn string band brings it all back home
September 2012
| By Leah Binkovitz
Who were the sources for characters such as Robinson Crusoe or Dorian Gray?
September 13, 2012
| By Jeanie Riess
The scariest thing about deadly diseases is how little we know about them
October 2012
| By Chloë Schama
A new poem by Amit Majmudar
October 2012
| By Amit Majmudar
A new poem by Coleman Barks
October 2012
| By Coleman Barks
What is it about place that makes music special? The rock star dissects what he enjoys about what he hears, from opera to jazz to radio hits
September 12, 2012
| By Seth Colter Walls
In an excerpt from his new book, David Byrne explains why sometimes, he prefers hearing nothing
October 2012
| By David Byrne
Alain de Botton has provided a valuable service: giving reading prescriptions for a "shelf-help" approach to everyday problems
September 10, 2012
| By Megan Gambino
England’s most famous living novelist has moved to America—and tilted the literary world
September 2012
| By Ron Rosenbaum
A new history blows the cover on British spies in World War II
September 2012
| By Chloë Schama
What does jalapeno-spiced polka music sound like?
September 2012
| By Aviva Shen
We just have to look to literature to learn that there’s always been a real danger to the prospect of being invisible
September 2012
| By Mark Strauss
In a new alternative history, The Great Emancipator lives to fight a second civil war
July 2012
| By Chloë Schama
Lal White was forgotten by many, even residents of his small English factory town, but the whimsical Cycle Song hopes to change that
July 2012
| By Franz Lidz
In Borderlands, the Chinese musician highlights the culture of the Uyghur people
June 2012
| By Aviva Shen
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