Magazine

The National Native American Veterans Memorial, designed by Cheyenne and Arapaho artist Harvey Pratt, features a steel circle balanced on a carved drum.

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on the New Memorial to Native American Veterans

Located in front of the National Museum of the American Indian, the sculpture reminds us of the true burden of freedom

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Readers Respond to the October 2020 Issue

Your feedback on anti-Semitic sculptures, the spotted lanternfly and cowboy poetry

Why does smaller size, like that of the anteater, benefit species in different environments, wondered one Smithsonian reader.

Why Are South American Animals Smaller Than Those on Other Continents?

You've got questions. We've got experts

The classic Turkey red, sported by everyone from Rosie the Riveter to Tupac Shakur.

The Global History of the Bandana

How an Indian export became part of the fabric of American life

Agricultural mechanization resulted in the loss of hedges: In 1946, there were an estimated 500,000 miles of hedgerows in England; by 1993, there were 236,000 miles. A neatly trimmed border hedge in Craigleith, Edinburgh.

How Hedges Became the Unofficial Emblem of Great Britain

A shear celebration of the ubiquitous boxy bushes that have defined the British landscape since the Bronze Age

Student drawings (paint on paper) by Ralph Steadman, circa 1958. The artist attended art school while working as a newspaper cartoonist.

Ralph Steadman's Earlier Work Shows the Artist's Abstract Streak

As a student, the future caricaturist tried his hand at a different type of brushwork

100,000 people die from venomous snakebites each year, a problem the Instituto Clodomiro Picado seeks to address with its antivenoms.

The Lab Saving the World From Snake Bites

A deadly shortage of venom antidote has spurred a little-known group of scientists in Costa Rica to action

An oil-cloth cape worn by a young Republican during a late-night, torch-lit campaign march ahead of the 1880 presidential election.

When Young Americans Marched for Democracy Wearing Capes

In 1880, a new generation helped decide the closest popular vote in U.S. history

The Original Selfie Craze Was the Mirror

Today’s social media obsession has its roots in the development centuries ago of the reflective material

A new form of entertainment and a wandering trainload of frozen turkey triggered a convenience food boom.

A Brief History of the TV Dinner

Thanksgiving’s most unexpected legacy is heating up again

Édouard Dubufe’s portrait of Bonheur, embellished with a bull that Bonheur herself added, is on view in Bonheur’s meticulously preserved studio.

The Trailblazing French Artist Rosa Bonheur Is Finally Getting the Attention She Deserves

She was an international superstar. And then she was ignored. Now one family is working fervently to restore the forgotten genius to greatness

Donna Hayashi Smith, a curator, has been in charge of everything from borrowing famous paintings to handling a 19th-century menorah. Here, she holds a French porcelain vase from 1820.

Behind the Scenes With the White House Residence's Long-Serving Staff

A former first lady salutes the long-serving workers who keep the nation’s foremost home running smoothly

Play the Smithsonian Magazine Crossword: October Issue

Test your mettle with this puzzle created exclusively for 'Smithsonian' readers

Christopher Lee as the titular vampire in Terence Fisher’s 1958 Dracula, showing off bloody canines that would prove weirdly influential.

How the Vampire Got His Fangs

An incisive history of a Halloween snarl

Readers Respond to the September 2020 Issue

Your feedback on our coverage of Sudan's pyramids, the library thief and overfishing on the seas

Halahtookit, a Nez Perce man, widely believed to be the son of William Clark.

Ask Smithsonian

Are There Native Descendants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition? And More Questions From Our Readers

You've got questions. We've got experts

Rock legend Chuck Berry drove his 1973 Cadillac Eldorado onto a St. Louis stage in Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, a 1987 documentary.

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch on How the Institution Builds Its Collections

Finding the next awe-inspiring artifact requires flexibility, help from the community—and a healthy dose of good luck

The spotted lanternfly has landed. This adult was seen in Pennsylvania, hard hit by the alien species.

Can Scientists Stop the Plague of the Spotted Lanternfly?

The voracious, shape-shifting insect native to Asia is attacking crops, vineyards and trees

A mid-1970s painting by illustrator Rick Guidice depicts an extraterrestrial colony designed by Princeton University physicist Gerard O'Neill.

How NASA Marketed Its Space Program With Fantastical Depictions of the Future

When it came to exploring the stars, Americans had to see it to believe in it

Towers of the Stadtkirsche rise above Wittenberg, Germany. Much of the church was demolished and replaced in 1522, but the “Judensau” has remained despite controversy.

Germany May Have Banished Nazism, but Its Medieval Anti-Semitism Is Still in Plain Sight

In the city where Martin Luther revolutionized Christianity, a vile, 700-year-old sculpture openly denigrates Jews. Why is it still there?

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