Black Lobster and the Birth of Canning

The canning innovation left another lasting impression: Foods are safe only when sterilized

Julia Roberts and Lily Collins star in Relativity Media's Mirror Mirror

Which is the Fairest Snow White of Them All?

With two big-screen adaptations about to arrive, here are earlier versions of the fairy tale that you might want to see

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Why We Have Sliced Bread

“Here is a refinement that will receive a hearty and permanent welcome,” a reporter wrote of the best thing to hit grocery store shelves

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Who Is Linda Tatersmith?

If flashy package design lure people into eating factory-extruded chemical slurries, why shouldn’t it work to trick food addicts into eating vegetables?

The Case for a New Grant Wood Painting

In which the author argues that an unidentified work at a Nebraska gallery was painted by the American regionalist master

That’s Disgusting

While disgust originally protected us from potential poisons, it eventually gave rise to culturally defining flavors and odors, all tied to local microbes

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They Do Call it a Marriage Contract After All

Comedian Richard Pryor pontificates on what makes being married truly difficult

Halo 2 is a first-person shooter game that allows for multiple players as well as online competition. According to video game designer Kellee Santiago, "The music, the visuals, the character designs—they were all taken to a whole new level."

The Essentials: Video Games

Designer Kellee Santiago picks five artful video games that tell the history of the medium

Showgirl Joan Blondell will soon join the ranks of Havana Widows.

Watching Movies in the Cloud

The benefits and drawbacks to streaming video

Airships and Oranges: The Commercial Art of the Second Gold Rush

How citrus crate label design fueled a boom that caused the art form’s own demise

Diagram of Grado ship relic

How a Ship Full of Fish Helped Recreate an Ancient Fish Sauce

A 2,000-year-old shipwreck held ceramic vessels full of fish sauce, as well as a giant tank for transporting live fish

Explore installations, such as Chromosaturation, by Carlos Cruz-Diez, 1965, at the Hirshhorn until May 13.

Here & Now

Twilight’s Taylor Lautner

Behind the Scenes of Twilight

The wildly popular novels and movies depict werewolves as members of the Quileute Indians of Washington State – a new exhibit tells their real story

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Music That Rocks the Imagination

The motivation behind Quetzal’s music is stirring dreams – and helping build communities

In Mass Effect 2, human colonies in space mysteriously vanish.

The Art of Video Games

For decades, video games have enthralled and inspired, and now they are the subject of a new exhibit that views them as serious works of art

The One: The Life and Music of James Brown by RJ Smith records, corrects and carves out historical significance of James Brown's life.

A James Brown Biography and Other Must-Read Books

This vivid new book charts the dazzling contradictions in the life of the Godfather of Soul

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The Conversation

Readers Respond to the January Issue

According to magician Teller, "Neuroscientists are novices at deception. Magicians have done controlled testing in human perception for thousands of years."

Teller Reveals His Secrets

The smaller, quieter half of the magician duo Penn & Teller writes about how magicians manipulate the human mind

You probably know Errol Morris as an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker. Roger Ebert called his first film, Gates of Heaven, one of "the ten greatest films ever made."

Errol Morris: The Thinking Man’s Detective

The documentary filmmaker has become America’s most surprising and provocative public intellectual

The Contemplative Court (concept illustration) at the National Museum of African American History and Culture will feature falling water and a dramatic view.

Dream Building

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