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Arts & Culture

Partaking in an old but ambiguous rite, blue "devils" (in Paramin, with mouths colored by dyed bubble gum) offer spectators a deal: pay, or get rubbed with body paint.

Up Close at Trinidad’s Carnival

What’s behind the raucous pre-Lenten rite? An intrepid scholar hits the streets of Trinidad to find out

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Letters

Readers Respond to the December Issue

It has been reported that by the end of the century, redheads will be extinct.

Requiem for the Redhead

The next great extinction—Carrot Tops

Newborn David B. Miller had the company of his mother (covered by sheets), grandfather (masked) and photographer father.

Family of Man’s Special Delivery

It took three generations to produce Wayne F. Miller’s photograph of his newborn son

Abraham Lincoln's gold watch.

What’s Up

Landscape photographer Frank Gohlke has a new show at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Q and A: Frank Gohlke

Panamanian termites (Termes panamaensis).

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

Classic Protest Songs from Smithsonian Folkways.

Jukebox: A Child Shall Lead Them

Bill Fitzhugh maps the blacksmith’s shop’s floor, 2008. The Smithsonian research vessel PItsuilak rides at anchor in the bay. Fitzhugh and his team live aboard the boat, which takes its name from the Inuit word for a seabird, during their excavations.

The Basques Were Here

In arctic Canada, a Smithsonian researcher discovers evidence of Basque trading with North America

Dedicated donor: In 1925, ten-year-old Orrin Nash gave what he could.

Thinking Ahead

In 1925, 10-year-old Orrin Nash gave all he could to help the Smithsonian

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Wing Shortage Looms On Eve of Super Bowl

About 5 percent of the nation’s chicken wings are eaten on that day - the product of a staggering 300 million chickens

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The Best and Worst of Food World’s Obama Puns

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Up Close at Carnival."

Barbara Ehrenreich on “Up Close at Carnival”

Barbara Ehrenreich on “Up Close at Carnival”

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Sugar-coated Mercury Contamination

Alcohol in Archaeology and Modern Life

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Early Humans Left Trails of Ulcers

Nesselrode pudding.

At Home with the Darwins

Recipes offer an intimate glimpse into the life of Charles Darwin and his family

Food Fight: Fish or “Sea Kitten?”

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Inauguration History

The Ghost of Inaugural Lunches Past

Now its a pageant, but the post inauguration meal used to be a pretty mild affair

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Swiftlet Nest Farming Proves Good for Business… Maybe Too Good

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