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Arts & Culture

Daniel Craig as James Bond escapes villains in the Austrian Alps in Spectre, the latest 007 movie.

Austria

The Man With the Golden Passport: Travel the World of the New James Bond Movie

Follow the trail of Agent 007 in his latest film

Girl Behind Bottle (Jean Patchett) by Irving Penn, New York, 1949, printed 1978

A Major Retrospective of Photographer Irving Penn Includes Previously Unseen Works

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, view works from the master photographer’s 70-year career

Jennie Grossinger gets a kiss from her celebrity friends Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher

The Woman Who Built the Waldorf of the Catskills

Despite her humble origins, Jennie Grossinger learned to play the role of hostess

First debuted as a minor character in Henson's 1955 TV show Sam & Friends, Kermit the Frog has since become a Hollywood icon.

A New Museum Pays Tribute to the Genius of Jim Henson

Make way for Muppets at Atlanta’s new World of Puppetry Museum

Scores of different spices, including these colorful peppercorns, are available at the Drogheria Mascari, a family-owned store that opened on the Ruga dei Spezieri (“street of the spice merchants”) in Venice in 1948.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Venice

The Spice That Built Venice

The story of an import so prized, royals were literally rolling in it

Giant pumpkins wait in line for their weigh-in at a 2014 competition in Kasterlee, Belgium.

The Secret to Growing the World’s Largest Pumpkin

From special seeds to helpful fungi, creating a monster takes more than just sunlight and soil

Tabulae Anatomicae Clarissimi Viri..., Bartolomeo Eustachi, 1722

Halloween

The Grisly Details of Early Anatomy Textbooks

These images detail the inner workings of human bodies in all their gruesome glory

Stars shine above in the form a planetarium made of hand-carved jack o'lanterns.

This Is What 7,000 Jack O’Lanterns Look Like

At a historic landmark in New York, pumpkins take the shape of dragons, spider webs and even a planetarium

What Do the Most Innovative Chefs Keep in Their Fridges?

A new book gives a peek inside the home refrigerators—and minds—of some of Europe’s top culinarians

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Venice

The Beauty of Venice’s Everyday

Instagram photographer Alvise Giovannini discovers Venice beyond its iconic symbols and places

A Rabari tribal elder, Rajasthan, 2010.

Steve McCurry’s New Photography Book on India Has Been Decades in the Making

A conversation with the renowned photographer about his latest book of photographs

Craft beer sales grew by 17.6 percent last year compared to a rate of just 0.5 percent in overall beer sales.

There’s No Stopping The Craft Beer Craze

How innovations in the craft brewing industry have changed (and improved) our taste in beer

Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s vineyards benefit from the breezy, sunny microclimate created by their equidistance from the Austrian Alps to the north and the Adriatic Sea to the south.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Venice

The Best Italian Wine Region You’ve Never Heard Of

The world does not yet come to the Friuli region, and so much the better

Europe

The Real-Life Places That Inspired Frankenstein

How Mary Shelley used ideas, events and places to invent her famous monster

The house of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House on the Prairie books

The Science of ‘Little House on the Prairie’

A mutual passion for Laura Ingalls Wilder inspired scientists in unrelated disciplines to investigate events from the famous author’s world

Nikiko Masumoto works with raisins on her family's farm.

Age of Humans

Where Will Our Future Food Come From? Ask a Farmer

Two farmers with different viewpoints talk about organic farming, GMOs and farm technology

Opuntia cacti grow in the desert near Twentynine Palms, California. The area is home to plenty of dry plants and weeds—perfect for the city's annual Weed Show.

At This Unique Flower Show, Weeds Are the Stars

The women of this small desert town have found beauty in getting in the weeds

Behold the Blobfish

How a creature from the deep taught the world a lesson about the importance of being ugly

A spaghetti squash explodes with color. Maciek Jasik does not reveal his technique for making produce expel colorful smoke.

These Fruits Explode With Color. Literally.

Artist Maciek Jasik won’t share the secrets behind his work, but the mystery is part of the fun

"I think this thing will make Beethoven," Disney once said.

Disney’s “Fantasia” Was Initially a Critical and Box-Office Failure

More than seventy-five years after its debut, a look back at the animated masterpiece

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