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Arts & Culture / Music & Film

Delicious Peace, out April 9, features 16 tracks that cover a range of Uganda’s musical styles. The songs all have the same message, though: spread peace.

Give the World a Cup of Joe and Teach It Harmony

Musicians in a fair trade coffee cooperative hope to change the world through song and coffee

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The Greatest R&B Singer Who Never Existed

How the make-believe alter ego of an imaginative teen in the 1970s won him the fame he always dreamed of 40 years later

Classic Celtic Music

There’s More to Celtic Music Than “Danny Boy”

A new album from Smithsonian Folkways will brighten anyone’s St. Patrick’s Day

Lipstick stencil, 1920s

The History of the Flapper, Part 2: Makeup Makes a Bold Entrance

It’s the birth of the modern cosmetics business as young women look for beauty enhancers in a tube or jar

Delphine Atger, 1920s

The History of the Flapper, Part 1: A Call for Freedom

The young, fashionable women of the 1920s define the dress and style of their peers in their own words

Superhero origin stories help us cope with adversity.

The Psychology Behind Superhero Origin Stories

How does following the adventures of Spider-Man and Batman inspire us to cope with adversity?

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How to Tour Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans

Jazz is synonymous with the Big Easy, and there’s no bigger name in the history of the genre than Satchmo

Inauguration History

If Only Hollywood Would Show Us Lincoln’s Second Inaugural

Our pop culture curator Amy Henderson strolls the halls of the Old Patent Building imagining the scene of Lincoln’s 1865 inaugural ball

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What Django Unchained Got Wrong: A Review From National Museum of African American History and Culture Director Lonnie Bunch

The museum director and former film studies professor examines Quentin Tarantino’s take on slavery

The Tolkien Nerd’s Guide to The Hobbit

Peter Jackson’s blockbuster movie draws upon stories behind stories behind stories, just as J.R.R. Tolkien’s original works did

Steven Wade's new CD Banjo Diary Lessons from Tradition.

LISTEN: Stephen Wade’s Banjo Diary

The roots music expert’s latest album is finger-picking good

The clocks in each clip document the time throughout the 24 hour movie.

A 24-Hour Movie That May Be the Biggest (and Best) Supercut Ever

Christian Marclay’s The Clock, now on view at MoMA, puts YouTube mashup artists to shame

It was at the La Comédie-Française where Hugo brought his controversial new play, “Hernani,” that became a spark plug for Paris’s greater societal and political tensions

Take a Tour of Victor Hugo’s Paris

As a film version of his Les Miserables hits theaters, consider traveling in the French writer’s footsteps

Actor Bing Crosby, Actresses Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen, and Actor Danny Kaye, during the 1954 Paramount production of “White Christmas.”

Is White Christmas the Best Popular Song Ever Written?

The idyllic scenes of the dreamy holiday tune were painted by a Russian Jewish immigrant named Israel Baline, better known as Irving Berlin

Esperanza Spalding has brought new life to jazz.

Esperanza Spalding Took on Bieber, Now Takes on Jazz

The innovative bassist and winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for performing arts is taking jazz to a whole new place

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How Benh Zeitlin Made Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Oscar nominee for Best Director transformed filmmaking as he assembled a new myth out of Hurricane Katrina

Fire has been the fuel of creativity in art and music.

What Do Alicia Keys, the Boss and Wagner Have in Common?

From the classical era to modern music, flames have lent a spark to some of the greatest tunes of all time

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The Early History of Faking War on Film

Early filmmakers faced a dilemma: how to capture the drama of war without getting themselves killed in the process. Their solution: fake the footage

Desmond Llewelyn as Q in License to Kill showing Bond (Timothy Dalton) the camera gun that, when put together, became a sniper rifle.

5 Essential James Bond Accessories

The stylish spy wore a Rolex and sunglasses that you can’t buy on Black Friday on any other day

Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson in Japan

Marian Anderson: Freedom Singer and Mentor To Generations

How a gifted black singer transformed opera and the nation through a lifetime of giving

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