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Christian Thorsberg

Daily Correspondent

Christian Thorsberg

Christian Thorsberg is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian magazine who covers new research, culture and art history. His work, which has appeared in publications across the country, contextualizes humanities and environmental news.

Highlights

  • Contributor to Smithsonian magazine, Sierra magazine, the Progressive, Prism and Grid News
  • Reporter for Circle of Blue, covering freshwater stories and Great Lakes policy in features and twice-weekly newsletters Fresh and The Stream
  • Communicated new science, climate change and Indigenous ways of knowing as a storyteller with the International Arctic Research Center

Education

Master’s and bachelor’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University

The red fox, native to the United Kingdom, is among the six shortlisted mammals up for public vote to appear on new bank notes. 

Can a Hedgehog Replace Winston Churchill? See Which Animals May Soon Swap in for Historical Figures on British Pounds

Butterflies, dolphins and puffins are among the options the public will vote on to grace new bank notes

Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan

Someone Stole a Banana Duct-Taped to the Wall of a French Museum. One of Its Duplicates Fetched More Than $6 Million at Auction

This isn’t the first time the fruit at the center of the infamous “Comedian” art piece has been stolen or eaten

Joplin, Missouri, located along historic Route 66, is hosting the World Street Painting festival. This artwork is from a 2025 festival.

Asphalt Is the Canvas for This Year’s World Street Painting Festival in Joplin, Missouri, Which Honors 100 Years of Route 66

Immersive paintings, which function as massive optical illusions, pay tribute to the “Mother Road” and its influence on American culture

A rendering of the new Centre Pompidou Hanwha museum, called a “box of light,” in Seoul

Korean and French Culture Are Set to Rendezvous at a New Museum in Seoul for Modern and Contemporary Art

The Centre Pompidou Hanwha, the newest member of a growing global network of art museums, will debut with an exhibition on European cubism and Korean art

The new coin is one of five special quarter designs commemorating America's 250th birthday. 

See the New Quarter Honoring Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence That Enters Circulation Next Week, Ahead of America’s 250th Birthday

The design is one of several coin denominations, and the third of five new quarters, made specially for the country’s semiquincentennial

The sycamore tree before it was felled in 2023

How Do You Honor a Fallen Tree? In England, a Sound Sculpture Will Broadcast the ‘Voice’ of a Beloved Sycamore Felled Near Hadrian’s Wall

“The People’s Tree” will also incorporate the tree’s wood and archive recordings from the public in a series of community artworks

English Heritage volunteers finish work on a reconstruction of a 4,500-year-old Neolithic hall near Stonehenge. 

A 4,500-Year-Old Neolithic Hall Replica Rises at Stonehenge as Archaeologists and Volunteers Build With Prehistoric Tools and Techniques

The reconstruction of a prehistoric building, likely originally a place for winter feasts at the nearby Durrington Walls site, will serve as a learning space for students

Built roughly 4,600 years ago, the Great Pyramid of Giza has survived several significant earthquakes.

Ancient Egyptian Engineering Choices Helped the Great Pyramid of Giza Survive Earthquakes, New Research Finds

Researchers measured vibrations inside and around the pyramid to learn that the structure is surprisingly resilient against seismic tremors

An immunity necklace from the 50th season of “Survivor”

As ‘Survivor’ Finishes Its 50th Season, the Smithsonian Acquires the Sought-After Immunity Necklace and Other Props From the Iconic Reality TV Show

Items from the first and most recent seasons of the hit program will be added to the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History

The Plain of Jars is an archaeological site with thousands of stone jars in Laos.

A Discovered Trove of Bones and Teeth Yields New Clues to the Century-Old Mystery of ‘Death Jars’ in Laos

Scientists found bones of 37 people inside a giant stone jar at one of Southeast Asia’s most puzzling archaeological sites. The find suggests a multigenerational burial practice

An aerial view of the Grande Colonnade rendered redesign

‘Mona Lisa’ Is Moving to a New Home. The Louvre Just Announced the Architects Who Will Design Her Private Suite

Visitors will be able to view Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece without touring the rest of the Louvre, and visitor traffic at the museum will be able to grow by three million people annually

The fresco, painted by Francisco Goya in 1798, depicts Saint Anthony of Padua performing a miracle. 

Stunning Frescoes in This Madrid Church Received a Facelift—But the Spanish Artist Buried Beneath Them Is Still Missing His Head

Goya’s frescoes are given new life in a church in Spain that also serves as the final resting place for most of the artist’s body. The mystery of his missing skull has inspired poems and artworks

Interior: Zebra with Two Chairs and Funky Fur, Mickalene Thomas, 2012

These Colorful Contemporary Artworks Join the Hirshhorn Museum’s Collection as the D.C. Landmark Continues to Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary

The museum is also preparing to reopen its redesigned sculpture garden, featuring new works from eight artists, this fall

More than 5,000 photographs, including these polaroids, from the archives of Mel Brooks will be donated to the National Comedy Center.

No Joke, Ahead of His 100th Birthday, Mel Brooks Donates His Hilarious Archive to the National Comedy Center

Thousands of notes, storyboards, early scripts and photographs belonging to the “2,000-year-old man” and EGOT winner will join material from Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers and George Carlin

Cupid Complaining to Venus, Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1526-1527

This Renaissance Painting Took a Winding Path From Hitler’s Munich Apartment to an American Journalist’s Home to the National Gallery in London

An art historian recently spotted the 16th-century artwork in a rare photograph of Hitler’s old apartment that was printed in a 1978 furniture catalog

Libertas Americana medal 

Benjamin Franklin Styled Lady Liberty’s Look in This Medal He Commissioned to Honor American and French Allies in the Revolutionary War

Franklin combined art with diplomacy to create the Libertas Americana. For the United States’ 250th anniversary, the Paris Mint is giving the design a refresh

Baptism records identifying the boy

New Clues Help Solve the Mystery of an Enslaved Boy Pictured in a Portrait by a Leading English Artist

An oil painting by Joshua Reynolds features a named naval officer and a Black child whose life story was unknown until researchers searched through captains’ logs, letters and admiralty records

The golden artifact, a sword scabbard fitting perhaps belonging to an elite warrior leader 

A Hiker in Norway Found an Elite Warrior’s Golden Sword Ornament. It Was Likely a Sacrifice to the Gods Made During a Time of Turmoil

Volcanic eruptions, climate change, crop failures, famine and plague all may have swept through Norway in the sixth century C.E., putting pressure on leaders and their communities

Nicknamed “Gabi,” the humanoid robot monk took part in ceremonies at a temple in Seoul this week. 

Meet ‘Gabi,’ the Robot That Just Became a Monk at a Buddhist Temple in South Korea. It’s the Latest Robot to Take Up Religious Practice

The humanoid promised to obey humans, save energy and treat other robots peacefully. South Korean Buddhist leaders have recently started to embrace artificial intelligence

The Painter in His Bed etc., Georg Baselitz, 2023

After World War II, This German Artist Turned the Art World Upside Down—Literally, by Inverting His Paintings

Georg Baselitz, the renowned painter who played with perspective and flipped canvases on their head, died recently at age 88

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