Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Arts & Culture

Gripping Photos of Fallen Soldiers’ Bedrooms

A photographer’s images of domestic tranquility pay tribute to U.S. service members

Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, was going to name the main character Matt, but didn't think it would go over well in a pitch meeting, so he changed the name to Bart.

Matt Groening Reveals the Location of the Real Springfield

Twenty-five years after The Simpsons made their TV debut, the show’s creator talks about Homer’s odyssey—and his own

Javier Núñez Florián, Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre in Una Noche

From Summer Blockbusters to Orphan Films

Three recent gatherings celebrate movies big and small

A future vision of Fresno, California, as proposed by architect Darin Johnstone and environmental consultant Mark Merkelbach

Futureproofing California Farmland

Design teams propose new models for farming and suburban development in California’s water-scarce Central Valley

None

Edgar Allan Poe: Hollywood’s Favorite Mad Genius

Tracing the work of the famed writer through movies

None

Magical Thinking and Food Revulsion

Carol Nemeroff studies why certain foods, such as feces-shaped fudge, pink slime, or recycled tap water, gross us out

None

The World’s Most Expensive Vegetable

Long before hops cones were used to make beer bitter, hops shoots were eaten as a spring green

None

Hollywood Takes on the Environment

Even the earliest films had something to say about the state of the planet

Peanuts

The Legumes of War: How Peanuts Fed the Confederacy

Food shortages were a problem for both military and civilians. But even in these hard times, people could find relief in peanuts

None

What to See at the Tribeca Film Festival

The eleventh installment of the festival is underway in Manhattan

Hydrologic Commonwealths for the American West, proposed by John Wesley Powell, 1879

Design for a Water-Scarce Future

Design strategies for arid regions go back centuries, but in the face of climate change, drylands design is a whole new ballgame

None

Colonel Curmudgeon and KFC’s Mascot Problem

Colonel Sanders thought the quality of his chicken had “slipped mightily” and the whole culture of fast food appeared to disgust him

Reg Clark, owner of the Palace Theater in Lake Placid, accepts a plaque recognizing the theater as an RVSP cultural landmark from TAUNY executive director Jill Breit.

Classic Movie Theaters: The Palace, Lake Placid, New York

Thanks to the Clark family, a 1926 movie theater serves as a hub for this Adirondack resort

None

How the Titanic Tragedy Reshaped the Fishing Industry

Alarmed by the sinking of the ocean liner, a radio pioneer devised a way to detect icebergs—and then submarines, reefs and schools of fish

None

Five Men Who Hated (or Loved) the Number 13

On this Friday the 13th, read about these famous people from history who had a close connection to the supposedly unlucky number

None

Film vs. Digital: The IMAX Edition

Filmmaker Greg MacGillivray discusses imminent changes to the IMAX format

None

Where Did Katniss Get Its Name?

The tuber that gave its name to the heroine of the Hunger Games books has its roots in an era when European explorers met native Americans

Page 236 of 370