CURRENT ISSUE

March 2025

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine image Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine mobile image

Features

OPENER - A view of Tse Yaa Kin’s central tower complex, constructed around the end of the 13th century A.D.

Canyon of the Ancestors

In the Arizona desert, researchers are uncovering extraordinary details about the peoples who have inhabited this land since antiquity

Photographs by Wayne Martin Belger

Barbara-Stimson.jpg

Major Barbara's War

Prohibited from serving with U.S. forces as a medical officer during World War II, surgeon Barbara Stimson was commissioned by the British—and helped open the American military to female doctors

Caro and Ina at home in New York.

The Years of Robert Caro

Spending time with the legendary historian at his newly opened research archives—but not too much time. At 89, he’s eager to get back to writing the final volume of his epic Lyndon Johnson biography

Photographs by Vincent Tullo

eight-sided prism

The Cuneiform Challenge

In the 1850s, the world’s oldest writing system was a series of baffling scratches on clay. Then four fiercely competitive scholars solved the mystery

Departments

How One of the Smithsonian's Newest Museums Is Looking at the Unsung Heroines of American History

Even before it has a home on the Mall, the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum is sharing stories of overlooked pioneers

Discussion

Your feedback on Faneuil Hall, canoe discoveries and teeny-tiny marmosets

A Hollywood Ending

A titanic achievement in film—and how it was almost forgotten

Macbeth Goes to Haiti

Wells' bold staging of Shakespeare’s classic helped make Harlem a home for "serious" theater

Dressing the Part

An exhibition of exquisite samurai armor highlights the importance of aesthetics to Japan's warrior class

Taking the Lead

How Alice Hamilton waged a one-woman campaign against a toxic and ubiquitous material

Element of Surprise

Cultures throughout history have put lead to use in wacky—and often deeply poisonous—ways

Best-Case Scenario

The cutting-edge design that safeguarded treasures on their way back from the moon

Dancer, Singer, Actress, Spy

A newly available memoir reveals a tender, private side of Josephine Baker

Ur-Text

The genesis of an informal medium that took over our vernacular

A Whale of a Find

In 2021, researchers identified a new whale species—but only 50 are left. Can we do enough to protect them before it’s too late?

Ask Smithsonian

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts