A chick in the process of hatching as the female adult looks on

Cocktail historians differ on the birthplace of the word "cocktail," but they cherish America' invention of drinks like the mint julep (Meredith Bragg)

Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. On There's More to That, meet the magazine's journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time. 

Our skin is an endlessly complex organ. Luckily, in this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze is here to explain exactly what happens after you get a scrape.

Coffee - it's a staple of American life, and inside the vaults of the National Museum of American History, they know the secret to its wide spread success: packaging

In 1969, three men traveled to the moon cameras documented their every move

Credit: David Marshall, University of Bristol

We asked visitors to the National Mall what they thought should be in the Smithsonian collections in 2050. The consensus? Lady Gaga and much more...

A large portion of Indiana's economy relies on an invaluable crop: corn. Popcorn plants like Pop Weaver have perfected the production of our favorite movie snack down to a science.

A small pebble with ornate markings is Britain’s earliest piece of Mesolithic art—but what do the markings denote, and was it worn for cosmetic purposes or spiritual ones?

"Be prepared” might not cover it when it comes to super storms.

Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter interviews the co-founder of MIT’s Little Devices Lab about democratizing health technology

The Black Death of 1348 was a devastating event, wiping out half the population of Britain. And in churches like this one, drawings on the wall provide a haunting visual record of the scale of the tragedy.

Aerial America: Wilderness premieres Sunday, Sept. 7 at 9PM ET/PT

Our host, Eric Schulze explains how 1 + 1 = 0 when it comes to sound

In March 1895, Boston and New York City began an epic and highly competitive race to become the first American city with a working subway system.

By late September 1918, in a bid to contain the spread of the flu, the U.S. had made the decision to cancel the draft. It was too little, too late—in October alone, over 200,000 Americans were killed by the disease.

Why the American Ingenuity Award winner believes higher education should be a basic human right

It looks like a fairly nondescript plank of wood, found in the fields of Star Carr. But from an archaeological perspective, it’s far more significant: It’s the oldest piece of carpentry found anywhere in Europe.

A remote camera captures the first-ever video of an erupting underwater volcano

Bonnie, the subject of a recently published paper, is the Smithsonian National Zoo’s famous whistling orangutan

When did we start getting cuddly with cats? And have those tabbies really been tamed? In this one-minute video, Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze investigates the surprising history and science behind today’s house cat.

Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough offers personal insights on the realities of climate change and the best ways for society to adapt

Between the unusual court shape and specialized equipment, jeu de paume is a game that must be seen to be believed

The water torture cell escape was arguably Houdini’s most memorable stunt. So much so that many people wrongly assume it killed him–a myth invented by the 1953 movie about his life starring Tony Curtis.

A massive lava stream from Kilauea Volcano flows into the ocean from a lava tube at the Kamokuna ocean entry on the southeast side of the Big Island at sunrise. Credit Elyse Butler

The American Ingenuity Award winner warns that no place on Earth is safe from the dangers of global warming

Art and music lovers who attended the museum's premier event were treated to Andy Warhol's "Shadows" and live music

Watch a video on the restoration of Gorongosa Park. The video was originally featured on Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria and produced by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Carefully planned gardens provide visitors a place to relax and reflect during their visit to the Smithsonian.

So what exactly factors into how we end up being right or left-handed? In this one-minute video, Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze breaks down the science of being a southpaw.

In 1905, New York City hosted a grand procession for the last living soldier of a war that ended 90 years earlier

An infected ant's bright red abdomen looks like a berry

Credit: Ken Catania, PNAS, 2016

A mata mata turtle can go 15 minutes between breaths--it's another one of the Smithsonian's National Zoo's many unique animals. Join the Zoo's experts for an inside look at some of its 2,000 rare and extraordinary creatures.

Credit: Smithsonian Digital Studio

E.O. Wilson discusses his new book, "Half-Earth," and his recent and thought-provoking proposal to devote half the surface of the Earth to nature. The livestream video features E.O. Wilson and Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History.

You might think twice about picking that chip off the carpet and putting it into your mouth.

Transitions: Photographs by Robert Creamer

Fossils found in Colombia indicate that a giant snake may have roamed the earth 60 million years ago

Host Eric Schulze digs into the science behind these depressions.

Koshik, an elephant in a South Korean zoo, learned to say five different Korean words (Still: iStock/ROMAOSLO)

Director of the African American History and Culture Museum Lonnie Bunch looks at the forces that brought about the January 1, 1863 order.

The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28, begins this week in Dubai. A new topic on the agenda this year is how wildfires are emerging as a serious health risk not just to those in their immediate vicinity, but even to people thousands of miles away. Last summer, smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted not only as far south as the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, but even across the Atlantic Ocean. We speak with John Vaillant, whose book Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World recounts a 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Canada that dislocated tens of thousands of people and caused billions of dollars in damage. That natural disaster seemed like a terrifying outlier when Vaillant began his reporting, but 2023’s unprecedented fire activity suggest that Fort McMurray was merely the shape of things to come. John explains how climate change is making wildfires hotter and harder to contain. Next, we’re joined by photojournalist Andria Hautamaki, who observed a “prescribed burn” in Plumas County, California. Andria shares how these kinds of carefully planned, intentionally set fires can be a useful tool for preventing more destructive blazes. Read an excerpt from John’s book Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-worlds-first-wildfire-tornado-blazed-a-path-of-destruction-through-australia-180982309/) , and learn more about John and his other books here (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/58679/john-vaillant/) . Andria’s reporting for her wildfires story (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fighting-fire-with-fire-california-180981810/) y from the April/May 2023 issue of Smithsonian was supported by the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources (https://www.ijnr.org/) . You can learn more about Andria and her work at her website (https://ahowdyphoto.com/About/1) . Andria recommends these resources for anyone seeking more information about prescribed burns: • Your state’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state) • The Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils (https://www.prescribedfire.net/) • The Great Plains Fire Science Exchange (https://gpfirescience.org/) , which can help you find Prescribed Burn Associations in your area • The National Fire Protection Association, aka Firewise USA (https://www.nfpa.org/) • The Cooperative Extension of any universities in your region Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

Saber toothed cats, temperature and things that go bump in the night, Eric Schulze explains

Author Harold Holzer discusses Abraham Lincoln's presidency and the President's lasting impact on modern American politics and nostalgia (Meredith Bragg). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/life-of-lincoln.html