Amy Crawford

Amy Crawford

 

Amy Crawford is a Michigan-based freelance journalist writing about cities, science, the environment, art and education. A longtime Smithsonian contributor, her work also appears in CityLab and the Boston Globe.

Zuni or not, every woman is obliged to pitch in for the Sha'lako corn-grinding ceremony. During the religious festival, says Morell (far right), "people are expected to set aside all feelings of ill-will and hostility."

Mystery and Drama

Virginia Morell, author of "The Zuni Way," on the mystical ceremonies of the Zuni pueblo

Lawler, upriver from Alexandria in the Sudan: "The feeling of Alexandria was more evocative of the ancient world than anywhere else."

City of the Imagination

Andrew Lawler, author of "Raising Alexandria" talks about the hidden history of Egypt's fabled seaside capital

The Egyptian queen frequently surrounded herself with splendor, but luxury was less an indulgence than a political tool.

Who Was Cleopatra?

Mythology, propaganda, Liz Taylor and the real Queen of the Nile

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What's Up

Visual music, Macbeth and people wearing hats

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Highlights & Hotspots

Some of this year's noteworthy European events

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General Resent

In this interview, Ernest "Pat" Furgurson, author of "Catching Up with 'Old Slow Trot,'" says some people are still fighting the Civil War

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Writer Turned Scientist

In this interview, Mary K. Miller, author of "Reading Between the Lines," describes becoming a shift supervisor in the lab

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Celebrating St. Patrick

On March 17, everyone's green-even the Chicago River. Yet St. Patrick remains colored in myth

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What's Up

A list of events and exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution

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The Past Informs the Present

In this Q & A, Caroline Alexander, author of "Faces of War," discusses robotic faces and the timelessness of war stories

Richard Conniff has made six trips to Africa since 1996.

Harvesting Tourists

In this Q & A, Richard Conniff, author of "Death in Happy Valley," argues that tourism, not cattle-ranching, would be a better use of Kenyan land

"No one ever found any dead vultures," says McGrath. "There were simply less and less of them."

Fantastically Repulsive

In this interview, Susan McGrath, author of "The Vanishing," describes getting up close and personal with vultures

The restored family home of First Lady Ida McKinley (wife of President William McKinley) became part of the National First Ladies' Library in 1998.

Remembering the Ladies

A new series of commemorative coins honors presidential spouses whose achievements have long been overlooked

Pretty? Yes. But it isn't Bulbophyllum echinolabium's bright colors that attract pollinating flies—it's the putrid stench. Sniff out a few hundred live orchids at the Museum of Natural History starting January 27.

What's Up

Live Orchids, Japanese art and African masks

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Mixing Terrorism and Tourism

In this Q & A, Josh Hammer, author of "Peace at Last?," discusses the change from war reporting to travel reporting

Author of "Bernini's Genius," Arthur Lubow.

Admiring the Masters

In this Q & A, Arthur Lubow, author of "Americans in Paris," compares the Paris of today with the one that inspired Manet, Monet and Renoir

An Interview with Stephanie Dickey, author of "Rembrandt at 400"

Stephanie Dickey discusses Rembrandt's ambition and what it was like to see the paintings in person

Griswold has reported from the Middle East, West and East Africa and South and Southeast Asia.

An interview with Eliza Griswold, author of "Waging Peace in the Philippines"

Eliza Griswold discusses the U.S. approach on Jolo and applying these lessons to Iraq and Afghanistan

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What's Up

Paper dolls, Josephine Baker and the Seven Years' War

"A resilient person is performing competently while in the midst of adversity," says Stuart Hauser, author of Out of the Woods: Tales of Resilient Teens.

Extraordinary Resilience

Psychiatrist Stuart Hauser answers questions about his new book, Out of the Woods, which chronicles four emotionally disturbed teenagers

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