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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

Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber and severed hand set a new record. 

Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber and Severed Hand From Famed Darth Vader Duel Sold For a Record $3.75 Million at Auction

The item, which became the most-valued on-screen Star Wars prop ever sold at auction, was born from cast-off parts from a camera shop

Curators put the finishing touches to Johan Zoffany’s The Tribuna of the Uffizi in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace’s Royal Picture Gallery Revives the Salon-Style Hang, Doubling the Number of Masterpieces on View

Charles III reportedly had a say in the stylistic switch, which rearranged and added artworks by the likes of Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer and Van Dyck

An advertising postcard for the Lindenberg Player Piano. 

A.I. Music Is Already Here. To Protect Human Artists, the Record Industry Proposes New Labels, Like Those for Explicit Lyrics

The proposal comes as A.I.-generated music makes up an increasing share of what’s available on streaming platforms

A 19th-century portrait of Alfred the Great, whose remains may be located under a parking lot in Winchester

An English King’s Bones Were Moved Over Centuries and Eventually Lost. One Researcher Claims He Discovered Their Location—Under a Parking Lot

Alfred the Great defended Wessex from the Vikings. Researchers have been searching for his remains for years after their resting place in an abbey was disturbed

A lithograph by Nathaniel Currier, printed between 1835 and 1856, depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is on display in the new exhibition.

Thomas Jefferson’s Original Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence Can Now Be Seen at the Library of Congress

The new exhibition, which shows how the document was edited, also features an early copy of the Gettysburg Address

Femme libellule ailes ouvertes, or Dragonfly Woman With Open Wings, made by René Lalique between 1898 and 1900, was stolen from the museum this week.

In the Latest Brazen Heist, Jewelry and Artworks Worth $5 Million Were Stolen From a Famed French Designer’s Museum

A trio of burglars stole 27 pieces, including a dragonfly pendant, from the Lalique Museum in eastern France

Dolly Parton, photographed here in 2010 at the Grand Ole Opery, will debut her autobiographical musical on Broadway this winter.  

Country Music Legend Dolly Parton’s Autobiographical Musical Exploring Her Journey From East Tennessee Will Hit Broadway This Winter

“Dolly: A True Original Musical” premiered last year in Nashville in Parton’s home state

Established in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground is Boston’s third-oldest cemetery. 

The City of Boston Discovered One of the Oldest Known Gravestones of a Free Black American, Who Shared a Name With the Massachusetts Capital

Also known as Sebastian, he died in 1729 and is buried alongside Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere. His life tells a story of slavery and freedom in the North before the American Revolution

A gold ring unearthed at the Don Yai Thong archaeological site in Thailand is engraved with what experts think is Brahmi, an ancient Indian script. 

A Pair of 2,000-Year-Old Gold Rings, One Engraved With Indian Script, Was Discovered in an Iron Age Burial Ground in Thailand

The engraving seems to reference an “auspicious” zodiac sign in Indian or Vedic astrology

Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott and Edward Adrian Wilson on the British National Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Discovery Expedition, on November 2, 1902.

A New Expedition Will Create 3D Digital Twins of Polar Shipwrecks Tied to Voyages of Rival Explorers Who Raced to the South Pole

Robert Falcon Scott led an expedition aboard the ship ‘Terra Nova’ and Ernest Shackleton led one from the ship ‘Quest’—but neither explorer got to plant the first flag in the heart of Antarctica

The 3D-printed board based on scans of the original game board discovered at Vindolanda

3D Printing Gives New Life to an Ancient Game Board Discovered at a Roman Fort Near Hadrian’s Wall in England

Soldiers and civilians alike enjoyed the strategy game Ludus Latrunculorum in the Roman Empire, especially in Roman Britain

Actor Paul Newman lounges on a pool table reading Star Warriors in this ALA READ campaign poster. 

Vintage ‘READ’ Posters Adorning Libraries and Classrooms for Decades Go on Auction as the American Library Association Turns 150

Taylor Swift, Serena Williams and famous fictional characters lent their iconic faces to encourage people to pick up a book

Mastarna (Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome) frees Celio Vibenna from chains in this fresco from the Francois Tomb.

See These Ancient Etruscan Frescoes That Italy Bought for Millions and Put on Public Display in Rome

Found in a burial chamber, the artworks depict battles between ancient heroes in the Mediterranean world

A first printing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in German, from July 6-8, 1776

After the Founders Declared Independence, Printers Quickly Translated the Text for German-Speaking Americans

The document, printed in a gothic typeface, was translated in Philadelphia. One of two surviving copies is going on display in Berlin ahead of America’s 250th birthday

People cool off in the fountains of the Trocadero gardens, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Too Hot for Art? Some Paris Museums and Landmarks Close or Reduce Hours Amid a Record Heat Wave in Europe

Meanwhile, other institutions offer their air-conditioned spaces as a way for residents and tourists to beat the heat

Mushroom clouds from atomic bombs over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) 

The Lost Memoir of a Hiroshima Survivor Was Rediscovered. Now, It Will Be Published as a Book and Adapted for Film

Nearly 80 years ago, Kiyoshi Tanimoto documented the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing during World War II. His manuscript was recently found in a U.S. library

A 1488 edition of the Odyssey, photographed by Naomi Wenger

The ‘Odyssey,’ One of the World’s Oldest Stories, Gets a Modern Spin With A.I.-Generated Audiobook Narration by the Voice Clone of an Oscar Winner

Meanwhile, other actors are pushing back against the use of artificial intelligence in creative projects, including through a new “human consent” registry tool

The Longaberger basket company headquarters has been a landmark in Newark, Ohio, since it was built in 1997.

This Giant, Seven-Story Picnic Basket, Once Home to an Iconic American Brand, Could Be Yours for $8.5 Million

The former Longaberger basket company headquarters in Ohio is for sale to a buyer who is willing to preserve its quirky design

An abandoned section of the railway in Myanmar photographed in 2015

This Infamous ‘Death Railway’ Station, Built by Forced Labor From Prisoners of War and Civilians in World War II, Was Just Revealed in Thailand

The Nithe Station, usually submerged under a reservoir, will be accessible this summer as officials drain the site to perform dam maintenance

The two protomes, approximately 1,700 years old, were found laying face-down inside an empty wine vat in a villa near the Mediterranean Sea. 

Two Well-Preserved Roman Busts Were Discovered Inside a Wine Vat in Israel Near the Capital City of a Roman Province

One is inscribed with the name “Lycurgus,” suggesting the bust may depict the legendary founder of ancient Sparta

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