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December 2020

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Features

students in a circle while teacher strums ukelele

Beyond Aloha

A determined couple in Hawaii sparks the revival of an ancient language that was long suppressed and nearly forgotten

SOCIAL MEDIA - Winston, a longhaired German shepherd

Evolution of a Friendship

Hoping to illuminate our strangely powerful bond, scientists are studying dog behavior as never before. They’ve discovered that dogs have been studying us for thousands of years

Neptune grass

Prairies of the Sea

A vast, mostly invisible ecosystem shapes life on Earth, from the food we eat to the air we breathe. And the more scientists learn, the more they say it’s in trouble

Erle Stanley Gardner

The Case of the Autographed Corpse

Long before today's initiatives to free the wrongly imprisoned, the author of the Perry Mason novels rose to the defense of an Apache shaman who was convicted of killing his wife

Departments

Strong Suit

From deep cleaning to painstaking repairs, caring for Smithsonian’s 155 million objects requires serious TLC—and steady hands

Prologue

Every Wear

How denim conquered pop culture and fortified the civil rights movement

Prologue

Look Again

A photographer takes a fresh approach to masterpieces that may seem stale

Prologue

From Bambi to Bethlehem

The unlikely Hollywood visionary who created some of the most popular Christmas cards in history

Prologue

Game On

The first console reached homes 11 years before Nintendo, launching an odyssey for gamers

Prologue

An Electric Presence

An exotic vest conjures the dazzling performance that introduced America to Jimi Hendrix

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