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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Julia and her doll, Fluffster.

Sesame Street to Introduce Julia, a Muppet with Autism

Some characters are confused by Julia’s behavior, but they come to embrace her differences

This illustration, depicting Uncle Tom's Cabin antagonist Simon Legree looming over, and perhaps preparing to beat, Tom, appeared in the 1853 edition of the book. Pro-slavery Southerners argued that the book misrepresented slavery by cherry-picking the worst examples.

White Southerners Said “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” Was Fake News

So its author published a “key” to what’s true in the novel

New Research

So Is ‘Mona Lisa’ Smiling? A New Study Says Yes

Compared to other similar images, the masterpiece’s mouth registered as happy to almost 100 percent of the participants

The future Lucy Maud Montgomery Museum and Literary Centre.

L.M. Montgomery’s Ontario Home Will Open As a Museum

While living in the village of Norval, the beloved author enjoyed stunning literary success. But this chapter of her life was tinged with darkness

Did Catherine Parr Write a Propaganda Song for Henry VIII?

‘Gaude gloriosa Dei mater,’ purportedly penned by the king’s sixth wife, will be performed in London for the first time in more than 470 years

Spiral Jetty is on its way to becoming Utah's official work of land art.

Trending Today

Utah Chooses New State Works of Art

Ancient rock art and Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” are poised to become state symbols

(Grammatical) order in the court!

Cool Finds

A Missing Oxford Comma Just Changed the Course of a Court Case

Call it pedantic, but comma wars are a thing

John Huston, Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich on the set of The Other Side of the Wind.

Cool Finds

Netflix Will Finish Orson Welles’ Last Film

Will The Other Side of the Wind live up to its iconic reputation?

This image shows how an iris clip, also known as an intraocular lens, is fitted onto the eye. The clip is a small, thin lens made from silicone or acrylic with plastic side supports to hold it in place. It is fixed to the iris through a tiny surgical incision and can treat cataracts and near-sightedness.

Art Meets Science

Contest Winners Capture the Eerie Beauty of Medical Imagery

From stained mice placenta to an implant in the eye, this year’s Wellcome Image Award recipients highlight the beauty of science

King Tut captivated the U.S. in 1976, thanks in part to an NEH grant.

Trending Today

Five Things You Didn’t Realize Were Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Since 1965, the agency has bestowed more than 63,000 humanities-related grants

Happy Pi Day! And happy wedding day to all the couples getting hitched

Getting Married on Pi Day is a Thing

Unfortunately, there are indications that couples who get married on special dates might not have the same chance of succeeding

A re-engraving of the best-known picture of Jane Austen, the "memoir portrait," based on a drawing by her sister Cassandra.

Researchers Float (Unlikely) Theory That Jane Austen Died of Arsenic Poisoning

A contested hypothesis says the author’s glasses may offer new insight into her death

A reproduction of the "Tower of Blue Horses," which hasn't been spotted since the late 1940s.

Cool Finds

Two New Exhibitions Celebrate a Long-Lost Painting

The “Tower of the Blue Horses” is gone, but not forgotten

Chris Bertish at his finishing line in Antigua

Trending Today

Man Crosses the Atlantic On a Stand-Up Paddleboard

South African surfer Chris Bertish spent 93 days paddling 4,050 miles between Morocco and Antigua

No word on cats, though.

“Pink Noise” May Improve Sleep and Memory in Older Adults

A new study has found that sound stimulation at night can lull people into a deep sleep

Sylvia Townsend Warner, the author whose first book was chosen as the first Book of the Month selection in 1926, was openly involved in relationships with both men and women, a fact that scandalized readers.

Don’t Judge the Book-of-the-Month Club By Its Cover

Although today you might associate its name with staid offerings, the club’s first book was by an openly queer author

Mildred and Richard Loving, subjects of the documentary The Loving Story and the feature-film Loving. Their story will be a topic of discussion at the History Film Forum.

Trending Today

History Film Forum Hashes Out Truth and Myth in Hollywood

The four-day Forum looks into time travel, black America, Poe and other depictions of history in the media

California’s Bunny Museum Hops to a New Home

The previous location could not contain the museum’s 33,000 “artifacts”

A portrait of Fanny Mendelssohn, by her husband Wilhelm Hensel.

Sonata by Fanny Mendelssohn, Mistakenly Attributed to Her Brother, Premieres Under Her Name

The Royal College of London performed the Easter Sonata in honor of International Women’s Day

The beach at Naples, Florida.

Is This the Happiest Place in America?

For the second time in a row, Gallup-Healthways ranked this Florida city first for overall well-being

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