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Arts & Culture

Greg Louganis competes in a diving event held in August 1984 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Greg Louganis’ Guide to Watching Diving

The gold medalist offers a cheat sheet on his sport’s rules, maneuvers and slang

Butch Johnson draws his bow during the Olympic Men's Archery competition in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.

Butch Johnson’s Guide to Watching Archery

The gold medalist offers a cheat sheet on his sport’s rules, maneuvers and slang

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Remembering Bloomingdale’s Chairman, the Dearly Departed Martin Traub, 1925-2012

The department store chain’s visionary executive beat the competition in exotic fashion flair

Cognoscenti Coffee pop-up at the Hotel Normandie

An Architect-Turned-Barista Draws a Fine Line Between Brewing and Design

As the finale to our coffee series, we talk with Yeekai Lim, an entrepreneur from Los Angeles, about coffee, design, and the common ground(s) they share

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Packing List Series, Part 1: Joan Didion

In 1979, “The White Album” gave smart women a straightforward guide to what to bring on a trip

Monticello’s kitchen

Meet Edith and Fanny, Thomas Jefferson’s Enslaved Master Chefs

Monticello research historian Leni Sorensen offers an impression of what life was like for these early White House chefs

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Swimsuit Series, Part 3: Is Today Truly the 66th Anniversary of the First Bikini?

The two-piece bathing suit got skimpier and more scandalous in 1946 Paris

Detail of Sightglass Coffee’s roaster

How Maker Culture is Reshaping Retail Design

A San Francisco coffee shop pulls back the curtain to expose the process behind each cup served in their expansive warehouse space

Al Pacino in Revolution

Where Are the Great Revolutionary War Films?

You’d think the 4th of July would inspire filmmakers to great works, but they have been unable to recreate the events that led to the founding of America

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The Stunt that Launched Nathan’s Famous Stand on Coney Island

Back in 1916, the now-famous Nathan’s hot-dogs of New York City did not sell on name alone

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Wearing Wool, All Summer Long

Layered, corseted summer garments kept women proper and fashionable, if not cool

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Five Movies That No One Will Ever Be Able to See

What are the best films that were never put to celluloid? We look back at the passion projects of famous directors that never got off the ground

Tea for One (2002)

Spotlight

How do you ensure documents left in a time capsule will be legible after 100 years?

How Do You Keep Items Safe in a Time Capsule and More Questions From Our Readers

Also learn more about the jaw harp, why it takes three days to get to the Moon and more

Secretary Albright’s dress for succession.

Power Suit

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Meet Ella Jenkins, the “First Lady of Children’s Music”

The Grammy winner celebrates her 88th birthday with a new album that reflects her lifelong love of kids’ music

Woody Guthrie, shown here in the 1940s, created great lines in songs and drawings.

Happy 100th Birthday, Woody Guthrie!

New songs by the American folk legend keep turning up, a century after his birth

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln: A Novel by Stephen L. Carter.

A Lincoln Novel, Native Poetry, Marie Curie and More New Recent Books

In a new alternative history, The Great Emancipator lives to fight a second civil war

Tenor Darren Abraham plays Albert White, the previously unsung steelworker and bicycling champ.

An Opera for an English Olympic Hero

Lal White was forgotten by many, even residents of his small English factory town, but the whimsical Cycle Song hopes to change that

Barbara Kruger photographed in her New York studio.

Barbara Kruger’s Artwork Speaks Truth to Power

The mass media artist has been refashioning our idioms into sharp-edged cultural critiques for three decades—and now brings her work to the Hirshhorn

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