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Articles

Sign for Upper Jay

Inviting Writing: Thanksgiving

"Going West" by Thomas Hart Benton

Auctioning a Beloved Thomas Hart Benton Collection

Perhaps the nation’s best collection of Benton prints was assembled by an idiosyncratic Texan named Creekmore Fath

Cronkite’s untouchable aura of authority led droves of viewers to change their opinions on Vietnam (above, Hue, Vietnam, 1968).

Walter Cronkite and a Different Era of News

The legendary CBS anchorman was the “most trusted” man in America

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Not Finding the Lost Explorer Everett Ruess

A recent book only adds to the enduring mystery of a legendary Southwest wanderer

The skull of Utahceratops, one of the unusual dinosaurs from southern Utah

SVP Dispatch: Life on the Lost Continent

At the annual SVP meeting, paleontologists review just how western North America got so many weird dinosaurs

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Meet Rosebud, the Zoo’s Black-Footed Ferret

Smithsonian readers help the zoo name a young creature

From Cops

From D.W. Griffith to the Grapes of Wrath, How Hollywood Portrayed the Poor

In the era before the Great Depression and ever since, the film industry has taken a variety of views on the lower classes

A false-color image of flooding in Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand’s Flooding, As Seen From Space

Bangkok residents have to avoid the crocodiles let loose by the flood

A loaf of parkin

Treacly Treats for Guy Fawkes Night

The anniversary of a failed assassination is celebrated with fireworks, bonfires, effigy burning and some very sweet desserts

Arthur Radebaugh's jetpack mailman of the future

Arthur Radebaugh’s Shiny Happy Future

For five years, a popular comic strip gave us a preview of life in Suburbatopia

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Spinning off a Comic With a Reference Book

In a new web comic series from “This is Indexed” artist Jessica Hagy discovers new ways of looking at famous quotes

The setting sun showers Spil Dag National Park in a dusky, rosy red.

The Final Sprint to Istanbul

The townspeople ogled the tourist he’d captured. “From America,” the cop boasted, like he’d shot me at 400 yards with a rifle

Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein (1922) by Man Ray

The Other Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

In her cookbook, the author pairs food with the people and events that highlight her life

See DJ Spooky's live set with Madame Freedom at the Freer

Weekend Events Nov 4-6: Madame Freedom, Art Meets Music, and Scrapbooking

This week, hear a new soundtrack with a film classic, see the Smithsonian’s ensemble group perform, and learn how to create a beautiful scrapbook

Luke, the National Zoo's male lion

Secrets of a Lion’s Roar

Not all cats roar, but those that do fascinate us with their mysterious and frightening sounds

A Protoceratops nest containing up to 15 baby dinosaurs

At Last, a True Protoceratops Nest

Plus, fossil evidence for a Cretaceous turducken: inside the guts of a feathered Microraptor dinosaur were the partial remains of a prehistoric bird

Conn's Civil War violin.

The Civil War 150 Years: Solomon Conn’s Violin Diary

A soldier’s violin becomes a record of his war-time travels

John de Lancie and Anna Gunn in the world premier of Alan Alda's Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie at the Geffen Playhouse directed by Daniel Sullivan.

Q & A with Alan Alda on Marie Curie

A new play explains how despite the many challenges, the famous scientist didn’t stop trailblazing after her first Nobel

The Silver Lining Project that pumps sea water into the sky to create sun-reflecting clouds.

Engineering the Climate

The idea of manipulating the Earth’s atmosphere has been derided as too risky and too arrogant. That may be changing

The molar tooth of a Denisovan

Modern Humans Once Mated with Other Species

Genetic studies reveal that some modern humans carry DNA from extinct hominid species, evidence of ancient interbreeding

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