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Pop Culture

Ai Weiwei Chinese 1957– Forever Bicycles, 2011, installation view at Taipei Fine Arts Museum © Ai Weiwei

Is Ai Weiwei the Andy Warhol of Our Time?

A new exhibition in Melbourne delves into the connections between the artists who define their generations

A Stormtrooper Mask

Austria

These Are the “Star Wars” Exhibitions You Are Looking For

Grab your light saber and celebrate the art of the movie series at museums around the world

Cool Finds

A Brief History of Plaid

From highlanders to hipsters

Actor Bryan Cranston impulsively modeled the Heisenberg hat—now a museum artifact—while nervous curators looked on.

How Crystal Meth Made it Into the Smithsonian (Along with Walter White’s Porkpie Hat)

The wildly popular television show, depicting the dark side of the American Dream, reflects on the struggles of a recession-era middle class

First debuted as a minor character in Henson's 1955 TV show Sam & Friends, Kermit the Frog has since become a Hollywood icon.

A New Museum Pays Tribute to the Genius of Jim Henson

Make way for Muppets at Atlanta’s new World of Puppetry Museum

American South

The Twisted History of the Gateway Arch

With its origins as a memorial to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of Western Expansion, the Arch has become a St. Louis icon

Lebanese-British singer-songwriter Mika performs atop a piano at Fabrique in Milan this June.

Is There a ‘Gay Aesthetic’ to Pop Music?

From Elton John to Mika, the “glam piano” genre may be as integral to the Gay American experience as hip-hop and the blues are to the African American one

A Bengali edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The beloved children's book by British scholar Charles Lutwidge Dodgson has been translated into every major language and numerous minor ones, including many that are extinct or invented.

The Mad Challenge of Translating “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

Explore the linguistic tricks used to make Lewis Carroll’s puns, parodies and nonsense accessible in hundreds of tongues

On July 13, Barnum's American Museum was the site of a disastrous fire.

Cool Finds

150 Years Ago, a Fire in P.T. Barnum’s Museum Boiled Two Whales Alive

Attracting tourists and locals alike, the museum mixed freakshow performers with educational collections

Trending Today

Australians Are Building a Skyscraper Inspired by Beyoncé

Architects envision a rippling structure that takes a page from the singer’s famous look

Trending Today

San Diego’s First Comic-Con Was Held in a Basement

The original fan gathering only attracted 145 people

The Jazz pattern that graced paper cups, like this one in the 1990s, remains a source of fascination in pop culture.

Cool Finds

How the Internet Tracked Down the Designer of the Beloved Jazz Paper Cup

Meet Gina, the woman behind the iconic paper cup pattern

Rice Lake in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.

Canada

One Vancouver Forest Played Just About Every Wooded Locale on “The X-Files”

If the truth is still out there, there’s a good chance it’s in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve

One of the LATA 65 students works on a mural in Lisbon.

Cool Finds

Lisbon Artists Are Teaching Graffiti Classes for the Elderly

Grannies learn about street art history and how to tag walls

Today nylon adds stretch to fishnets (worn here by Shelley Winters) and a variety of legwear.

Why Nylons’ Run is Over

They were a craze when they debuted 75 years ago, but have since been replaced by new social norms

Celebrities: Popular then forgotten. Recognize her? No?Don't worry, this is just a stock photo.

Cool Finds

How Long Do Cultural References Last?

Not forever

Doing science in the field wrecks havoc on the nails

Just Another #ManicureMonday for Women Scientists and Their Dirty Nails

For a Smithsonian researcher, Monday is a day to honor the women in science and other uses for nail polish

New Research

Popular Music Changed the Most in 1964

Scientists use genomic data to show how pop music evolves

Hargrove greets Takara at SeaWorld of Texas in 2012.

Why Killer Whales Belong in the Ocean, Not SeaWorld

A former orca trainer makes the case against the theme park

Björk’s music video “All Is Full of Love” received wide acclaim and was deemed a milestone in computer graphics. In 2011, it was placed in Time’s list of The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos.

Bjork Is Getting a Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art

The Icelandic singer’s iconic style will be on view at the New York institution

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