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Viggo Mortensen (left) and Mahershala Ali star in Green Book.

American South

The True Story of the ‘Green Book’ Movie

Jazz, race and an unlikely friendship inspire the new film about navigating Jim Crow America

In his 90-minute performance, Leguizamo hurtles through 50 characters—from an Incan emperor to a female Confederate soldier.

2018 Smithsonian Ingenuity Awards

Why John Leguizamo Is So Invested in Telling the Country About Latino History

His uproariously inventive one-man show, soon to be shown on Netflix, puts the story of a neglected culture center stage

Early morning fog drapes a field in the Flints Hills of Kansas.

What Makes the Flint Hills of Kansas a Sight to See

70 classical musicians. 200 acres of windblown prairie. And the bracing spirit of the heartland. A Kansas symphony in six movements

Carbon-dating techniques have now identified this ancient maize cob at about 950 to 1,000 years old.

What Ancient Maize Can Tell Us About Thousands of Years of Civilization in America

It took millennia, but America’s founding farmers developed the grain that would fuel civilizations—and still does

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Discussion

Readers respond to our October 2018 issue

Madeline Pollard as she appeared during the five-week trial in the spring of 1894. Her entanglement with Col. Breckenridge made national headlines.

The Court Case That Inspired the Gilded Age’s #MeToo Moment

A turn-of-the-century trial, the focus of a new book, took aim at the Victorian double standard

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

Becoming Anne Frank

Why did we turn an isolated teenage girl into the world’s most famous Holocaust victim?

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

Two newly translated diaries by young women murdered in the Holocaust cry out to us about the evils of the past and the dangers of the present

A traditional Polish vest that once belonged to Renia Spiegel

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

Hear, O Israel, Save Us

An 18-year-old girl, terrorized by the Nazis, kept a secret journal. Read exclusive sections from it here, presented in English for the first time

When Churchill Dissed America

Our exclusive first look at the diaries of King George VI reveals the Prime Minister’s secret hostility to the United States

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Discussion

Readers respond to our September 2018 issue

A Boeing 747 takes flight.

Traveling the World Was Never the Same Once the Boeing 747 Debuted

Wave goodbye to the beloved jet that took us to new heights

The Artist Who Made Coloring Books Cool for Adults Returns With a New Masterpiece

Johanna Basford, whose fanciful, hand-drawn illustrations launched a worldwide craze, is back with flying colors

A female snowy owl leaves her nest as a human approaches. This is her first line of defense to not draw attention to the nest location.

Why Is the Snowy Owl Disappearing?

These birds, once a feature of the far north as reliable as ice, are becoming less and less common

Readers Discuss Our July/August 2018 Issue

Feedback from our readers

Mean Dog (Verso: Man Leading Mule), c. 1939-1942, by Bill Traylor, poster paint and pencil on cardboard

Born Into Slavery, Bill Traylor Would Become a Leading Light of Self-Taught Art

A new show at the Smithsonian American Art museum highlights his work

P.D. East (above as a young man) proclaimed that his Petal Paper was “a sheet designed to keep everyone happy.” That did not last.

Secrets of American History

What Made P.D. East the Fearless Wit of Forrest County

The newspaper man’s bravery rocked the racist establishment of the South—and heralded a new era of political satire

When Was the Earliest Internet Search?

Years before the birth of the Google, a forgotten experiment laid the groundwork for the ubiquitous search engine

Southern Chivalry – Argument versus Club's, John L. Magee

Before the Civil War, Congress Was a Hotbed of Violence

A new book from historian Joanne Freeman chronicles the viciousness with which elected officials treated each other

Could Lava Incinerate Trash and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

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