Writers

Hawaii-based journalist Christopher Pala has traveled the world covering various topics and is also the author of, The Oddest Place on Earth: Rediscovering the North Pole

Christopher Pala on "Victory at Sea"

Arthur Allen

Arthur Allen on "A Passion for Tomatoes"

None

Kenneth R. Fletcher on "The Beach"

Rick Perlstein

Rick Perlstein on "Parties to History"

Alonzo Hamby.

Alonzo Hamby on "Parties to History"

None

Interview with Leigh Montville

The sportswriter discusses John Montague’s fabled antics and how the man changed golf

Tony Perrottet

Tony Perrottet on “Small Wonders”

Jukebox

Young Talent

None

Laurie Anderson Speaks Saturday

David Halberstam in 1978

Consequential

Cold winters, hot jaguars and a night to remember

None

Hill of Beans

For author Julia Alvarez and her husband, starting an organic coffee plantation was a wake-up call

“When I was growing up,” says Mayda del Valle (in 2004, at the Nuyorican Poets Café in Manhattan), “I really didn’t see anyone like me on TV. Well, there was West Side Story … and we’re all gang members!”

Mighty Mouth

Spoken-word artist Mayda del Valle brings to life "democracy writ large in poetry"

Daniel Alarcón established his literary reputation with the publication this year of his widely praised novel, Lost City Radio. Irish writer Colm Toibin described it as “gripping and tense…with echoes of Orwell and Huxley.”

Crossing the Divide

Novelist Daniel Alarcón's writings evoke the gritty, compelling landscape of urban Latin America

Creativity Manhattan style, from left: Le Clercq, Windham, Johnson, Williams and author Vidal, with Virginia Reed (rear).

Salad Days

Karl Bissinger's 1949 photograph of the author and a few friends at lunch in a Manhattan restaurant garden invokes the optimism of youth

None

Masters of the Storm

Kennedy Warne, author of "The Amazing Albatrosses," talks about dangerous waters and albatross love

"The Places in Between," by Rory Stewart

The New Civil Service

An excerpt from Rory Stewart's "The Places in Between"

Louis Castro (bottom row, left) played 42 games as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1902 season. Because his birthplace is questioned by baseball historians, he may or may not have been the first Hispanic player in the Major Leagues.

Debating Louis Castro

Was he the first foreign-born Hispanic in the Major Leagues?

None

Welcome to Around the Mall

Introducing Around the Mall—a new Smithsonian.com blog covering scenes and sightings from the Smithsonian museums and beyond

Prague

Almost a Fairy Tale

Jonathan Kandell, author of "Americans in Prague," talks about one of Europe's most beautiful cities

"I think most Americans don't realize how close we came to losing the Revolutionary War," says Ferling.

Forget Independence

John Ferling, author of "100 Days that Shook the World," imagines an alternate history

Page 23 of 27