October 2013
Smithsonian magazine delivers trusted and incisive reporting on history, science, nature, culture and travel.
Features
Cabin Fever
One man’s historic mission to rediscover every former slave dwelling in America
Existential Hero
On the centenary of his birth, Algerian-born novelist and philosopher Albert Camus is still a stranger in his native land
Seeing Zapruder
Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris deconstructs the metaphysics of conspiracy
The New Lincoln
How a former Disney Animator made the most provocative Lincoln photo find of the last half-century
Mole Hunt
A Soviet spy’s tip set off one of the most self-destructive investigations in FBI history
Secure Speech Cipher System
A new poem by Linda Bierds
Glory, Glory
New research may settle a family feud over the origins of an American icon
Animal Intelligence
Some of the most highly trained operatives in the Cold War weren’t human. Ask the man who trained them
American Enigma
A new biography of Norman Rockwell reveals the complex inner life of America's greatest and most controversial illustrator
Departments
From the Castle
Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough previews a new exhibit at the American Art Museum
Books
Exploring alien microbes. Plus: the romance of hot air, Red Cloud’s feat and the science inside your cat
Fast Forward
NASA's time machine