Smithsonian Magazine: October 2010
Features
Defying the Godfather
Across Sicily, ordinary citizens are standing up to the Mafia and weakening its grip on society
By Joshua Hammer
Before There Was Life
Where did life's building blocks come from? And how did they connect four billion years ago? Mineralogist Bob Hazen thinks he has the answers
By Helen Fields
Body of Work
Photographer Chris Rainier, a protege of Ansel Adams, has traveled the world documenting the impulse to embellish the human form
By Abigail Tucker
A Viking Mystery
Beneath Oxford University archaeologists have uncovered a medieval atrocity that colored the course of English history
By David Keys
Running Dry
The once mighty Colorado River—diverted and drained—no longer surges to the sea. Is it a sign of things to come?
By Sarah Zielinski
A Walk Through Old Japan
A trek down the Kiso Road evokes the pleasures, and rigors, of a traditional way of life
By Thomas Swick
Departments
Wild Things
Wild Things: Life as We Know It
Caterpillars, Frogs, Big Birds and More...
By T. A. Frail, Jesse Rhodes, Jessica Righthand, Brandon Springer and Sarah Zielinski
Indelible Images
Sure Shot
Bill Owens was seeking a fresh take on suburban life when he spied young Richie Ferguson
By Owen Edwards
My Kind of Town
Winner Take All
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist rolls the dice on life in Sin City
By J.R. Moehringer
Around the Mall
Up Where They Belong
From country music ballads to hard-hitting rock power chords, Native Americans left a lasting impression on the soundtrack of the 20th century
By Jess Righthand
The Object at Hand
Cloaked in Defiance
Even in captivity, the Seminole warrior Osceola wore his unbroken spirit on his sleeve
By Owen Edwards
What's Up
What's Up
Highlights from Smithsonian Institution exhibits and events in the month of October
By Jess Righthand
Presence of Mind
God and Country
The image of the United States as a bastion of religious tolerance is reassuring—and utterly at odds with the historical record
By Kenneth C. Davis
