How Indigenous Communities Preserve and Practice Heritage at the 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
The annual festival returns to the National Mall to celebrate Indigenous traditions that span continents and generations
What Indigenous Cultures From Around the World Believe About Eclipses
A Smithsonian folklorist looks back and finds stories that explain how a darkening of daytime skies provokes a foreboding of evil
Why Aren’t Dolphins in the Great Lakes? And More Questions From Our Readers
You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts
Smithsonian Scholars Recommend Their Favorite Books of 2023
Curators and staffers satisfied their endless curiosity with novels, short stories, biographies, art collections and journalistic reporting
The 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Explores the Many Ways Americans Express Their Spirituality
Tibetan Buddhist monks, Yiddish musicians and many more creatives will share their cultural practices with visitors to the National Mall
The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2023
From an ultramarathon capital in the Rockies to a laid-back village in the Florida Keys, these vibrant towns are calling your name
Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2022
This wide-ranging list offers context for our rapidly changing world
Why Women’s Music Embraces the Voices of Past Generations
New show examining the deep connections women make with musical tradition kicks off with a concert featuring folk star Alice Gerrard
After Long Absence, the Folklife Festival Returns to the National Mall
The much-loved summer event, featuring the United Arab Emirates and Earth Optimism programs, opens with a concert hosted by Yo-Yo Ma
A New Surge of Earth Optimism Takes Center Stage at This Year’s Folklife Festival
The challenges are many, but evidence shows that positivity emboldens global conservation efforts
The Music and Freedom We Experienced on the Streets of Kyiv
The story of a joint Smithsonian-Soviet-Ukrainian program in 1990 lends poignant resonance to Russia’s brutal invasion today
A Museum Show Takes Visitors on a Hunt for the Birds of Prey Populating Centuries of Artworks
From an ancient Egyptian plaque to a Ming dynasty scroll, explore the central role that falcons and hawks play across cultures and millennia
Irma Thomas’ Rendition of ‘O Holy Night’ Is a Marvel From Beginning to End
Soulful Christmas music is an obsession for Bill Adler, so he interviewed the singer of one of his favorite songs
Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2021
The writings of many fine authors support the research and ambitious undertakings of an Institution rising to the challenges ahead
Why ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ Frightened So Many Parents in the 1990s
Launched 40 years ago, Alvin Schwartz’s spooky series pitted school administrators against PTO members pleading to ban the books
Hear a Georgia Choral Group as They Rediscover the Art of Sacred Harp Singing
Students find lasting resonance in the words and simple notes of the 1869 hymn ‘How Can I Keep from Singing?’
Eat Like an Armenian With These Tips From a Local Guide
Did you know that Armenian culture is heavily gastro-centric? Any occasion, be it happy or sad, has associations with food
How Indigenous Ecological Knowledge Offers Solutions to California’s Wildfires
“We need to reintegrate Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and cultural and prescribed burning into our landscape,” Carolyn Smith says
How Coded Language Like ‘Are You a Friend of Dorothy?’ Protected the LGBTQ Community
A Smithsonian folklorist explain how Dorothy Gale, played by actress Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” served as a lodestone for gay culture
A Folklorist Explains Loki’s Place in Mythology’s Pantheon of Trickster Heroes
Smithsonian’s James Deutsch says that behind the character in the new Marvel Studios series lies the oft-told story of “guile” outsmarting authority
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