Matthew Shaer

 

Matthew Shaer is a correspondent for Smithsonian.

For Papazian, the labor of brewing makes the result all the more enjoyable. “The best beer in the world,” he likes to say, “is the one you brewed.”

The Schoolteacher Who Sparked America's Craft Brew Revolution

Here's a toast to Charlie Papazian, the beer pioneer who blazed the way for thousands of brewers today

Three generations of the Marsili family at home in Siena, Italy. From left: Maria Elena; Letizia and her son Ludovico; matriarch Maria Domenica.

The Family That Feels Almost No Pain

An Italian clan's curious insensitivity to pain has piqued the interest of geneticists seeking a new understanding of how to treat physical suffering

A recently installed gravestone is engraved in Hebrew and Lithuanian with the names of the Olkin and Jaffe family members.

The Words of a Young Jewish Poet Provoke Soul-Searching in Lithuania

The recovery of a diary written by a brilliant woman named Matilda Olkin raises trenchant questions about wartime collaboration

With fingers intertwined and mouths gleefully thrown open, the three maidens dance around the Art Nouveau sculpture by Walter Schott.

The Lost Maidens of Berlin

A decades-long quest for one of the most intriguing artworks looted by the Nazis leads to the courtyard of a posh hotel in the German countryside

The names of 50 victims of the 1887 Thibodaux massacre in Louisiana are among those inscribed on the new memorial.

A New Memorial Remembers the Thousands of African-Americans Who Were Lynched

Next month's opening of the monument in Alabama will be a necessary step in reckoning with America's deadly past

The Archaeology of Wealth Inequality

Researchers trace the income gap back more than 11,000 years

Equus first evolved in North America millions of years ago.

How the Mustang, the Symbol of the Frontier, Became a Nuisance

A mainstay of Western culture, the free-roaming stallions are now a force to be reckoned with

Sefton Delmer reads in the radio booth in 1941.

Fighting the Nazis With Fake News

A new documentary rediscovers a World War II campaign that was stranger than nonfiction

A proposed museum in the former Jewish ghetto in Vilnius, Lithuania, features portraits of families who once lived there.

The Holocaust's Great Escape

A remarkable discovery in Lithuania brings a legendary tale of survival back to life

“Time is weird in prison,” says Ricky Jackson, in Cleveland near the scene of the murder he was wrongly convicted of in 1975, “because you don’t see a lot of change.”

After 39 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment, Ricky Jackson Is Finally Free

Locked up for a murder he didn't commit, he served the longest sentence of any U.S. inmate found to be innocent

Anthony Antala

Need a New Organ? Surgeon Anthony Atala Sees a Future Where You Can Simply Print It Out

When you can order a new body part online, you’ll have this doctor to thank

A view of Mount Rushmore under construction, c.1938-1939

The Sordid History of Mount Rushmore

The sculptor behind the American landmark had some unseemly ties to white supremacy groups

The Browns in Topeka, Kansas

The Children of Civil Rights Leaders Are Keeping Their Eyes on the Prize

The next generation is following in the footsteps of its forebears

The Temple of the Plumed Serpent is adorned with carved snake heads and slithering bodies.

A Secret Tunnel Found in Mexico May Finally Solve the Mysteries of Teotihuacán

The chance discovery beneath a nearly 2,000-year-old pyramid leads to the heart of a lost civilization

High in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, scientists and hunters are unlikely allies in an effort to protect the endangered snow leopard before it vanishes.

Hunters Become Conservationists in the Fight to Protect the Snow Leopard

A pioneering program recruits locals as rangers in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, where the elusive cat is battling for survival

Austin Reed learned to write as a juvenile prisoner. His handwritten manuscript runs 304 pages.

The Earliest Memoir by a Black Inmate Reveals the Long Legacy of Mass Incarceration

The story of "Rob Reed" is finally published, 150 years after his release

In Ferguson, Missouri, a protester holds a rose during an August demonstration on W. Florissant Avenue, which intersects with Canfield Drive—the street where Michael Brown was killed.

Photos From the Heart of the Ferguson Protests

The events sparked by the killing of young Michael Brown gave rise to a new civil rights movement that's still growing

An X-ray of the knee bone.

We're Not That Far From Being Able to Grow Human Bones in a Lab

The company EpiBone could be on the verge of a major breakthrough

Soon, Your Doctor Could Print a Human Organ on Demand

At a laboratory in North Carolina, scientists are working furiously to create a future in which replacement organs come from a machine

Can the Siberian Tiger Make a Comeback?

In Russia’s Far East, an orphaned female tiger is the test case in an experimental effort to save one of the most endangered animals on earth

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