Magazine

From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the nuclear "Football."

The Real Story of the "Football" That Follows the President Everywhere

Take a peek at the mysterious black briefcase that has accompanied every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy

Anthropocene

A Remote Cold War Radar System Has New Use in a Warming World

The stations designed to ring an alarm against nuclear attack may have new responsibilities due to climate change

The Debate Over Net Neutrality Has Its Roots in the Fight Over Radio Freedom

Today's epic battle has been fought before, when radio took to the air a century ago

Coho salmon, here in full vivid spawning colors, are one of many species of wild Pacific salmon in danger of extinction.

What Can Humans Do to Save the Pacific Northwest's Iconic Salmon?

The fish is facing an upstream struggle to survive. Can human ingenuity find a solution?

"Map with Ship" has the informality of a "napkin sketch on vellum," says map expert John Hessler, suggesting its maker was not a trained cartographer.

Did Marco Polo "Discover" America?

Maps attributed to the 13th-century traveler sketch what looks like the coast of Alaska

Inside the Brain’s Amazing Ability to Re-Map Your Body

Surgeons only have to go so far before the brain takes over and reconnects the nervous system

The vast unknown deep sea floor

Why We Must Explore the Sea

Robert Ballard, the famed explorer who discovered the wreck of the Titanic, ponders what else is on the ocean floor

Abel Buell's map was the first in the country submitted for copyright, in March of 1784.

Even in 1784 America, It Was Impossible to Make a Map Without Infuriating Someone

Abel Buell’s map was the first in the country submitted for a copyright

Smithsonian Folkways is re-releasing its classic catalog of songs about the Spanish Civil War.

Revisiting the Timeless Tracks of the Spanish Civil War

Smithsonian Folkways is re-releasing its catalog of Spanish Civil War songs

Ai sits in a replica of the prison cell in which he was detained in 2011. No one in China, he has said, "has a solid belief or trust in society."

Why is Ai Weiwei Breaking Into Alcatraz?

China's most controversial artist selected America's most notorious prison as the home for his new show

As soon as Wonder Woman appeared in Sensation Comics, beginning with her cover debut in 1942, she caused a stir. "Wonder Woman is not sufficiently dressed," one bishop groused.

The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman

The history of the comic-book superhero's creation seven decades ago has been hidden away—until now

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Kennewick Elegy

A new poem about the famous skeleton by Amit Majmudar

The Kennewick Man Finally Freed to Share His Secrets

He’s the most important human skeleton ever found in North America—and here, for the first time, is his story

From the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

100 Years After Her Death, Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon, Still Resonates

The famed bird now finds itself at the center of a flap over de-extinction

“We had ears open to all the influences that were around us,” Debbie Harry recently told Interview magazine.

What New Wave Brought to Rock ‘n’ Roll

There will always be a new music craze out to getcha, getcha, getcha

Getting Ready for Rosetta to Unlock a Comet’s Secrets

The lander will hopefully reveal new truths about what the icy objects actually are

In 1794, President Washington commissioned a wampum belt for the Canandaigua Treaty

Illuminating the Treaties That Have Governed U.S.-Indian Relationships

These documents were both a cause and a salve for the fraught relations between the United States and Indian Nations

Rooms: At the Cooper Hewitt, once Andrew Carnegie’s mansion, Kalman’s selections will be displayed in the Music Room.

Famed Illustrator Maira Kalman Takes on the Cooper Hewitt’s Collections

In her latest book, the noted artist juxtaposes treasured personal objects with items from the Smithsonian design museum

Why Does the Nile Flow North and More Questions From Our Readers

Your questions answered by our experts

What Lies Beneath Stonehenge?

A new Smithsonian Channel show reveals groundbreaking research that may explain what really went on there

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