Smithsonian Magazine: December 2009
Features
Wildlife Trafficking
Stolen animals are a $10 billion business worldwide. A journey into the Amazon Basin traces the illicit origins of Wildlife Trafficking
By Charles Bergman
Hallelujah
Tired of financial headaches and temperamental divas, Handel turned from opera to choral music. The result was Messiah, more popular than ever 250 years after the composer's death
By Jonathan Kandell
The Pyramid Man
An amateur archaeologist says he's discovered the world's oldest pyramids—in Bosnia. But many experts remain dubious
By Colin Woodard
Glee Mail
Seasonal greetings from artists such as Alexander Calder and Philip Guston celebrate the handmade holiday card
By Abby Callard
Savoring Puebla
Mexico's "City of Angels" is home to gilded churches and artistic treasures. It's also the nation's culinary capital, where life is enjoyed one chalupa at a time
By Francine Prose
Ethiopia's Exotic Monkeys
In the war-ravaged highlands, a flamboyant, little-known primate is accessible to researchers eager to chronicle its complex social life
By Abigail Tucker
Putting America on the Map
A new book tells how—and why—two 16th-century German scholars boldly named the new continent. Their extraordinary leap would forever change the way people envisioned the world
By Toby Lester
Departments
Indelible Images
Mr. Rockwell's Neighborhood
No wonder the folksy illustrator's work reflected small-town values
By Richard B. Woodward
Phenomena
Cosmic Harvest
Carried back to Earth by a spacecraft, particles from a comet's tail hold clues to the origin of our solar system
By Robert Irion
Wild Things
Wild Things:
Life as We Know It
Butterfly GPS, glowing mushrooms, bat-hunting songbirds and more
By Amanda Bensen, Abby Callard, T.A. Frail, Abigail Tucker and Sarah Zielinski
Around the Mall
Timing is Everything
Corals synchronize reproduction with the precision of a symphony
By Megan Gambino
The Object at Hand
Special Delivery
In 1934, a zeppelin bound for Brazil carried a cargo of Christmas cheer
By Owen Edwards
