October 2021
Smithsonian magazine delivers trusted and incisive reporting on history, science, nature, culture and travel.
Features
In Their Element
A photographer takes the plunge into forbidding waters off Norway for an extraordinary encounter with orcas
Sake in the USA
The ancient Japanese art of brewing a fragrant alcoholic drink from rice is being reinterpreted by Atsuo Sakurai in an unlikely setting. Chefs and critics say cheers
The Plague Among Children
It was highly contagious, lethal and mysterious. Then medical experts developed treatments and vaccines, and the dreaded affliction disappeared—but not entirely
The Wonder of Avi Loeb
The physicist thinks we might have glimpsed evidence of an alien civilization. Despite controversy, he’s determined to find more
Departments
What It Takes
A successful Secretary must acknowledge the Institution’s failures as well as successes—and celebrate its capacity for change
Discussion
Your feedback on the 9/11 cover story, the history of the pickup truck and more
Material Witness
For historians, quilts are much more than just decorative covers for a bed
The Other Sparta
Fierce? Yes. Tough? You bet. But it’s time to see beyond the myth of the super-warrior
Key to a Lost Language
How an 1,800-year-old statuette illuminates an endangered Latin American culture
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