Smithsonian Magazine: May 2009
Features
In Search of the Mysterious Narwhal
Ballerina turned biologist Kristin Laidre gives her all to study the elusive, deep-diving, ice-loving whale known as the "unicorn of the sea"
By Abigail Tucker
Iowa-Born, Soviet-Trained
George Koval was a baseball fan and a chum to the guys in his U.S. Army unit. So why did he steal one of America's most valuable atomic secrets for the USSR?
By Michael Walsh
In Vogue
A new book reminds us that Edward Steichen raised fashion photography to an art
By Owen Edwards
Destination America 2009 - Big Sur, Pensacola, Chicago
The vistas of Big Sur, the history of Pensacola, and the great eats of Chicago are some of the great destinations in America
By Smithsonian magazine
California Dreamin'
Untrammeled wilderness and new age enclave, Big Sur retains its rugged beauty and quirky charm
By James Conaway
Harboring History
In Florida's panhandle, vibrant Pensacola stakes its claim as the oldest European settlement in the United States
By Donovan Webster
Chicago Eats
Smothered pork chops on the south side. Baba Ghanouj in Albany Park. White Borscht on polish broadway. Our ravenous reporter tastes his way through the city's extraordinary ethnic neighborhoods
By Jamie Katz
Highlights & Hotspots
By Smithsonian magazine
Departments
Indelible Images
Dancing for Mao
A photograph of a 5-year-old girl made her famous in China—and haunted the man who took it
By Jennifer Lin
Digs
Finding Feisty Fungi
On treeless Antarctica, wood fungus is feasting on polar exploration relics
By Emily Stone
Presence of Mind
Cowboys and Immigrants
Two dueling archetypes dominated 20th-century American politics. Is it time for them to be reconciled?
By Lance Morrow
Wild Things
Wild Things:
Life as We Know It
Dinosaur gangs, psychedelic fish and long-distance elephant calls
By Amanda Bensen, Joseph Caputo, T.A. Frail, Megan Gambino and Sarah Zielinski
From the Castle
Big Snakes
Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute publish their amazing find of Titanoboa, the world's largest snake
By G. Wayne Clough
Around the Mall
For Pete's Sake
Pete Seeger is still singing the ballads that popularized folk music and transformed the genre into a call for action
By Joseph Caputo
Around the Mall
Suits, Boots and Gloves
The spacesuits that kept U.S. astronauts alive now owe their survival to one woman
By Megan Gambino
Object at Hand: Smithsonian.com's Favorite Things
As the magazine's Object at Hand column turns 20, we look back on some of the treasures inside the Smithsonian Institution
By Owen Edwards
