Articles

Father Coughlin's bully pulpit.

When Radio Stations Stopped a Public Figure From Spreading Dangerous Lies

When radio was king, many outlets chose to cease broadcasting Father Charles Coughlin's anti-Semitic sermons

Learning about a major news event as it transpires can be stressful for families to navigate and process together.

Smithsonian Voices

Smithsonian Educators Offer Tips for Talking to Children After a Traumatic Event

As details about traumatic events unfold in the news, it is important for families to navigate these conversations with young children with care.

Smithsonian gemologist Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) meets her colleague, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) in Wonder Woman 1984, which was filmed at three Smithsonian museums.

How 'Wonder Woman 1984' Was Filmed at the Smithsonian

The blockbuster saw the superhero working as a museum anthropologist. But how accurate was its depiction of the Institution at the time?

The fossil of Aphelicophontes danjuddi, a new genus and species of assassin bug, accompanied by the fossil of a small beetle

Ancient Insect Genitals Found in 50-Million-Year-Old Fossil

A newly discovered assassin bug features a well-preserved phallus the size of a grain of rice

Based on newly discovered and declassified files, the film MLK/FBI by the acclaimed Emmy Award winning director Sam Pollard, tells the story of the FBI’s surveillance and harassment of King.

Commentary

A New Film Details the FBI's Relentless Pursuit of Martin Luther King Jr.

Smithsonian scholar says the time is ripe to examine the man's complexities for a more accurate and more inspirational history

The film fictionalizes the night that Cassius Clay (seated, wearing a bow tie) became the world's heavyweight boxing champion. Three of his friends—Malcolm X (holding a camera at far left), Jim Brown (standing with his hand on Clay's shoulder) and Sam Cooke (raising a glass to the right of Clay)—joined the young athlete for a post-fight celebration.

Based on a True Story

The True History Behind 'One Night in Miami'

Regina King's directorial debut dramatizes a 1964 meeting between Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown

German-American schoolteacher Robert Meyer believed strongly that he should be allowed to teach his community the German language.

From a Small, Rural Schoolhouse, One Teacher Challenged Nativist Attacks Against Immigration

In the wake of World War I, rabid anti-German sentiment led to the arrest, later deemed unjust by the U.S. Supreme Court, of Robert Meyer

The Volta’s electric eel, Electrophorus voltai, emits the strongest shocks of any animal on Earth. Although these eels were thought to be loners, the species was recently seen hunting in a group.

Smithsonian Voices

Shocking Study Finds Electric Eels Hunt Together

The study challenges what researchers know about eels’ supposed loner behavior

Italian company Beeing’s B-Box is small enough to keep on even a modest urban balcony.

Nine Attention-Grabbing Inventions Unveiled at This Year's CES

Held virtually, the Consumer Electronics Show still debuted plenty of new gadgets, from an easy-to-use beehive to a Bluetooth mask

Three of Yosl Cutler’s surviving puppets: two Jewish characters and one Russian. These were constructed circa 1933.

Smithsonian Voices

The Life and Death of a Yiddish Puppet Theater

Puppets weren’t a common form of entertainment in Jewish culture

Lightning strikes over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.

Why Are Lightning 'Superbolts' More Common Over the Ocean?

Salt seems to be the reason why bolts are brighter over seas than over land

Scientists estimate this pig painting was drawn 45,500 years ago.

45,000-Year-Old Pig Painting in Indonesia May Be Oldest Known Animal Art

Ice Age cave painters flourished in Southeast Asia, where their work adorned rock walls

Portrait of Charles Curtis

Who Was Charles Curtis, the First Vice President of Color?

A member of the Kaw Nation, Curtis served under Herbert Hoover, but he left a troubling legacy on Native American issues

A meteorite in the process of being recovered by volunteers in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program. The shiny fusion crust on this meteorite suggests it may be an achondrite.

Smithsonian Voices

What Antarctic Meteorites Tell Us About Earth's Origins

Each year, Smithsonian scientists collect hundreds of meteorites from Antarctica that reveal details about the origins of Earth and our solar system

Intense visions and confusion about the reality of hospitalization can be especially scarring, leaving patients with intrusive thoughts, flashbacks and vivid nightmares. If such responses persist for more than one month and cause functional impairment or distress, it may be diagnosed as PTSD.

Why PTSD May Plague Many Hospitalized Covid-19 Survivors

Scientists warn about the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder for patients discharged from the intensive care unit

None

From His Tattered Chair, TV's Archie Bunker Caricatured America's Divides

The 1971 show aired the fraught political differences that were "All in the Family"

Bellerby & Co. is a studio in London that makes globes by hand.

Take a Peek Into One of the Last Studios Still Making Globes by Hand

Spinning a globe is one way to 'travel' the world during the pandemic

The brown tree snake slithers through vegetation.

Invasive Brown Tree Snakes Stun Scientists With Amazing New Climbing Tactic

The successful predator, which has decimated bird populations on Guam, lassoes its body around poles in order to propel itself upwards

Shef, which currently operates in the Bay Area and New York City, features meals made by chefs specializing in dozens of cuisines and hundreds of dishes.

Sick of Quarantine Cooking? New Companies Let Chefs Prepare Homemade Meals for You

Startups like Shef and WoodSpoon give Covid-impacted professional chefs and excellent home cooks a platform for sharing their food

This month's book picks include Icebound, A Shot in the Moonlight and The Eagles of Heart Mountain.

Books of the Month

A Doomed Arctic Expedition, Number-Free Math and Other New Books to Read

These five January releases may have been lost in the news cycle

Page 136 of 1280