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The Radio City Rockettes seen backstage before Saks Fifth Avenue's holiday light show and window unveiling, November 24, 2025

After a Century, the Rockettes Are Still Kicking Their Way Into American Hearts

In 1925, the dance company got its start in St. Louis, and it has since grown to be a Christmas season staple

A 2007 photo of Marty Reisman, who loosely inspired Timothée Chalamet's character in Marty Supreme

Based on a True Story

How Marty Reisman, the Real-Life Inspiration Behind ‘Marty Supreme,’ Revolutionized the Sport of Table Tennis

A new film starring Timothée Chalamet as a fictionalized version of Reisman dramatizes the career of a larger-than-life champion

Sales of the MetroCard will end December 31.

The Era of the New York City MetroCard Is Almost Over. Say Goodbye to the Iconic Yellow Passes With a New Exhibition

As the Metropolitan Transit Authority moves to a contactless, tap-and-go payment system, “FAREwell, MetroCard” allows visitors to learn more about the history of the long-running fare card

Smithsonian magazine's picks for the best books about travel of 2025 include Adventures in the Louvre, On the Hippie Trail and Things Become Other Things.

The Best Books of 2025

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2025

These top titles of the year conveniently bring the world and its many perspectives to us

The day after the wreck, the New York Times devoted much of its front page to coverage of the tragedy and its victims. But grief quickly turned to anger as the public looked for answers.  

New York’s Grand Central Terminal Helped Provide the Blueprint for American Cities. It Happened by Accident

A train wreck that caused the death of more than a dozen commuters near the turn of the 20th century was the impetus behind a monumental project that changed the urban landscape

A Currier & Ives print, published in the mid- to late 19th century, depicts Crow’s Nest, a mountain along the Hudson’s west bank.

The History of America Flows Through the Hudson River, and the Country’s Aquatic Superhighway Is on the Rebound

The bucolic river is famous for reversing its current a few times each day. Now, an ongoing cleanup effort is reversing decades of industrial contamination

Yoko Ono with Half-a-Room, 1967

A Sweeping Yoko Ono Retrospective Aims to Make Music in Museumgoers’ Minds

The exhibition spotlights more than 200 works by the 92-year-old artist, from provocative early works to more recent creations

Many believe Augusta Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi, the mother of sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty’s iconic face.  

These 15 Snapshots Capture the Inspirational Aura of the Lovely Lady Liberty

See iconic images of the Statue of Liberty from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

On October 21, the New York City Council and the Basquiat Estate oversaw the co-naming of a portion of Great Jones Street in honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

You Can Now Take a Stroll Down Jean-Michel Basquiat Way in New York City

A stretch of lower Manhattan has been named in honor of the iconic artist, who rented a studio there from Andy Warhol between 1983 and 1988

The gala honoring Misty Copeland included speeches and performances at Lincoln Center. The American Ballet Theater also livestreamed the event to audiences at a nearby venue.

Trailblazing Dancer Misty Copeland Performs One Last Time Before Retiring From the American Ballet Theater

The ballerina has advocated for dancers of color on and off stage. In a farewell gala this week, she celebrated her accomplishments—and discussed what comes next

Sheet of Studies, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, circa 1885-86

See Renoir’s Rare Drawings on Display in the First Exhibition of Its Kind Since 1921

Around 100 of the French Impressionist painter’s lesser-known paper works are now on view at New York City’s Morgan Library and Museum

Installation view of "Divine Egypt," now open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through January 2026

Meet 25 of the Ancient Egyptians’ Most Significant Gods and Goddesses, From the Falcon-Headed Horus to the Sky Deity Hathor

“Divine Egypt,” a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, features nearly 250 artifacts representing the rich pantheon of Egyptian deities

The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Claude Monet, oil on canvas, 1908

Claude Monet’s Beautiful Paintings of Venice Are Headlining an Exhibition for the First Time in More Than a Century

The paintings came from the French Impressionist’s time in Italy with his wife, Alice, in 1908

Projections of portraits and quotes grace the main concourse.

A Massive Art Installation by the ‘Humans of New York’ Creator Has Taken Over Grand Central Terminal

For two weeks, “Dear New York” will grace the train station’s walls, screens and ad space

11,000 Strings at Park Avenue Armory

In an Experimental Composition, 50 Pianos Tuned to Slightly Different Frequencies Play Together

Audience members are surrounded by a ring of dozens of pianos in “11,000 Strings”

The Rocky Horror Picture Show debuted in theaters across the United States on September 26, 1975.

‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Started Out as a Critical Flop. Fifty Years Later, the Beloved Film Is a Cultural Phenomenon

Creator Richard O’Brien reflects on how the 1975 movie musical became a haven for the “marginalized and disenfranchised”

Stephen Shore's parents on a corner in Rhinebeck, New York

Before Stephen Shore Became Famous, He Was a 12-Year-Old Photographer Capturing Stunning Scenes of 1960s New York

In his latest book, titled “Early Work,” the renowned photographer revisits the bold black-and-white images he took between 1960 and 1965

“The base of Ethiopian cuisine as a whole is very much Jewish, more than anything else,” says Beejhy Barhany.

At This Harlem Chef’s Table, the Rosh Hashana Menu Is Full of Ethiopian Spices

With a café in New York City and a new cookbook, Beejhy Barhany is bringing the stories and flavors of Ethiopian Jews to the States

A romanticized depiction of the execution of Nathan Hale on September 22, 1776

America's 250th Anniversary

Nathan Hale, the Doomed Patriot Spy, Probably Never Said ‘I Only Regret That I Have but One Life to Lose for My Country’ Before His Execution

The young Connecticut schoolmaster’s intelligence-gathering mission was ill-fated from the start. But after he was hanged by the British in September 1776, his story became the stuff of legend

The Cato who aided Hercules Mulligan might have been a man enslaved by the powerful Schuyler family.

Untold Stories of American History

Did an Enslaved Chocolatier Help Hercules Mulligan Foil a Plot to Assassinate George Washington?

New research sheds light on the possible identity of Cato, the Black man who conveyed the tailor’s lifesaving intelligence to the Americans during the Revolutionary War

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