CURRENT ISSUE

July/August 2022

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Features

Madagascar forest

The Forest and the Taboo

Smithsonian accompanies famed American biologist Patricia Wright as she explores an astonishing forbidden wilderness in Madagascar

Locomotive

The Long Haul

America’s fascination with trains is fast-tracked in this photographer’s study of passing freight

Lviv

Russia's Attack on History

How Ukrainians raced to protect a huge 300-year-old religious icon during Russias ongoing invasion

social.jpg

South to the Promised Land

Before the Civil War, numerous enslaved people made the treacherous journey to Mexico in a bold quest for freedom that historians are now unearthing

Cascade red fox

High Expectations

A mountain range in the Pacific Northwest is a last bastion for a unique canine

OPENER - Sunrise

Jewel of the Ozarks

An unabashed tribute to the wild Arkansas waterway that became the nation’s first national river 50 years ago

an illustration depicting a woman naval with the setting sun and naval ship on the water behind her

Solving the Ocean

Allied victory in the Pacific depended on strategy, bravery and military might. It also depended on a brilliant marine scientist named Mary Sears

Departments

Discussion

Your feedback on the World War I memorial and the Smithsonian's new ethical collecting policy

Knowledge of All Kinds

With astonishing new discoveries in the cosmos and pivotal research much closer to home, Smithsonian science proves indispensable

Show Time

The humble origins and complex future of cowboy competition

Vida Diaria

A mid-century modernist and native son elevated ordinary Cuban life

Fueling the Future

Back in the 19th century, coal was America’s newfangled fuel source—and it faced the same resistance as wind and solar today

The Real Deal

The founding document of Liberia went missing for nearly 200 years. Then a Maryland historian began his search

Imperfect Union

The most-mocked painting ever commissioned by the U.S. government shows democracy at its most realistic

The Cutting Edge

Roughly two million years ago, simple stone tools like this one sparked a revolution in the way humans lived

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