This year’s #WorldFoodDay theme, “Right to foods for a better life and a better future” spotlights the importance of diversity, nutrition, affordability, accessibility as well as the safety and [...]

Photographer David Burnett focused his camera on the many tourists who flocked to Florida in 1969 to watch the launch of Apollo 11 (Produced by Molly Roberts; Photographs by David Burnett/Contact Press Images)

To soar over Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire is to be transported back in time to the age of William Shakespeare, a man born in humble circumstances who would go on to become the most celebrated writer of all time.

Henry Ford was a genius who virtually created the automobile industry as we know it. But what's less lauded was his talent for publicity—and his ability to partner with other pioneers such as Ohio's Harvey Firestone.

In 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers arrived home when he was shot and killed. It would be over 30 years before his killer was brought to justice.

The space suits used by the astronauts on Gemini 7, known as grasshopper suits, were designed for comfort. But after two weeks inside them, that was the last thing on the crew’s minds.

A series of remarkably well-preserved human remains in a remote cave in Scotland has archaeologists grappling with a staggering question: were these bodies brought here during the Bronze Age to be mummified?

A London blacksmith has perfected a technique known as pattern welding to create elaborately-designed replica Saxon swords and knives. He demonstrates his technique on camera.

Zookeepers at the National Zoo keep orangutans mentally stimulated with an innovative use of iPads

Tod Machover, an MIT professor whose classroom produced Guitar Hero and Rock Band, talks about a future in which everyone can make music

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.

Sara Seagers groundbreaking research ranges from the detection of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. Dubbed an astronomical Indiana Jones, she is on a quest to discover a true Earth twin. A professor at MIT, she was named in Time magazines 25 Most Influential in Space.

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

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

Megan Leftwich, an engineering professor at George Washington University, is building a robotic flipper based on her observations of sea lions

It's 1933 and Mae West is just arriving at Grauman's Chinese Theater for the premiere of I'm No Angel. It draws fans from all over the country—as well as an organized protest from conservative religious groups.

This time-lapse video shows researchers collecting samples inside a South African gold mine. (by Gaetan Borgonie)

Watch as researchers study the paradise tree snake that is capable of launching itself as far as 330 feet

In a workshop at the University of Michigan, composer Laura Karpman oversees a rehearsal of Ask Your Mama, a musical rendition of the Langston Hughes epic poem, with George Manahan conducting

A step-by-step tour of the renovation of the National Museum of American History (Narration by Beth Py-Lieberman / Edited by Ryan Reed and Brian Wolly)

The power behind the music of Our Native Daughters comes from giving voice to the struggles of those who came before us—and few have struggled to be heard as much as black women.

On March 10, 1933, a major earthquake caught the Los Angeles area by surprise. The devastation was of sufficient scale to spur scientific interest in earthquakes—and how to predict them.

Read more at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2009/12/tai-shan-will-return-to-china/ Visitors to the National Zoo have enjoyed watching their baby panda grow up over the last four years.

The curators at the American History museum delve into the archives to show artifacts from the 1960 election.

In July 1925, a young science teacher named John Scopes was in court, accused of contravening the Butler Act—a Tennessee law that prohibited the teaching of evolution in schools.

Smithsonian magazine commissioned Drew Gardner for a project that connects Black Americans today to their lost ancestry. Read about Gardner’s project and process, as well as more details about the subjects of this incredible series here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/descendants-black-civil-war-heroes-wear-heritage-pride-180983397/ Video produced by Sierra Theobald. Special thanks to Drew Gardner Additional credits: Emma MacBeath, WikiTree US Black Heritage project; Ottawa Goodman, research and coordinator; Sam Dole, Penumbra Foundation; Elizabeth Zuck, set design; Calvin Osbourne, props and costume; Angela Huff, hair and make up; Diego Huerta, Lexia Krebs, behind-the-scenes filming; background prints by Fujifilm USA

Smithsonian Institution Secretary Dr. David Skorton joins some of the world’s leading thinkers in a spirited discussion about our ever changing planet

Smithsonian magazine's poetry consultant recites his poem commissioned for a special photography issue

(Footage: Erin Trieb. Video Editing: Nicole Boliaux)

Part of the visual album of Joan Baez' "Whistle Down the Wind," this cover of Joe Henry's "Civil War" was directed by New York University's Deborah Willis

Fannie Lou Hamer, a voting rights activist, suffered unspeakable violence and intimidation at the hands of white supremacists and police. Her response: to elevate her cause by launching a long-shot campaign for the U.S. Senate

Our photographer gets up close and personal with orcas in Norway. Credit: Jacques de Vos and Jeremy Goncalves with Valhalla Orca Expedition

Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have achieved a degree of power in the music industry that singer/songwriters of earlier eras like Joan Baez—as the folk icon tells us—never even contemplated. Six decades ago, Baez was part of a folk revival that regarded music not merely as entertainment but as a vessel for political engagement and social change. In the documentary Joan Baez: I Am a Noise, the now-83-year-old musician and activist reflects on her career and legacy. Smithsonian senior editor Jennie Rothenberg Gritz interviewed Baez about the film and about the shifting intersection of art and activism. We present excerpts from that conversation in this episode. Then, veteran music critic Evelyn McDonnell discusses how the political dimensions of pop music have changed since Baez’s era, and what it means that many fans now look Beyoncé and Taylor Swift not just for great music, but for comment on the state of the world. Clips from Joan Baez: I Am a Noise in this episode are used with permission from Magnolia Pictures & Mead Street Films. Learn more about that film here (https://www.magpictures.com/joanbaez/) . Evelyn McDonnell’s latest book is The World According to Joan Didion (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-world-according-to-joan-didion-evelyn-mcdonnell?variant=41001679487010) . You can learn more about Evelyn and her work at her site, Populism (https://populismblog.wordpress.com/about-2/) . 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, Rye Dorsey, 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.

Two weeks before he died, the legendary astronaut wrote a letter in recognition of Jeff Bezos' work, read at the 2016 American Ingenuity Awards Smithsonian magazine American #IngenuityAwards

Henry Ford spent the majority of the war as a pacifist. By 1917, however, his state-of-the-art assembly line was churning out vital engine parts to feed the war machine.

Daring anglers hook sharks from the cabin of a huge airship in Fisher Island

Duke University scientists used vibrations from a loudspeaker to understand how water beads and rolls off lotus leaves

Some of the brightest minds in the world gathered at Smithsonian's "The Future is Here" conference to discuss the great triumphs and future innovations in science and technology http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/The-Future-is-Here.html

Whether you're a passionate astronomer or a beginner eager to explore the cosmos, join us as we deep-dive into seasonal skywatching. Gain valuable insights into identifying meteors, stars, and fascinating deep-sky objects that grace the night sky. Interested in learning more? Check out this piece from Smithsonian Magazine on the celestial events to watch in 2024: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nine-dazzling-celestial-events-to-watch-in-2024-180983505/ And don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more exciting videos exploring the wonders of the natural world. --- Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

http://j.mp/z7WXi2 Researchers and scientists work together to find a way to play recordings made by the studio of inventor Alexander Graham Bell

But at speeds nearing 100 mph, there's a fine line between helping and hurting

More on the unsuccessful plot to kill Lincoln: http://j.mp/VnSZ9g During his inauguration tour in 1861, the president's life was threatened in the city of Baltimore.

At the Coastal Discovery Museum’s exhibition, visitors will be able to view a 3D digital interactive that reconstructs the original Fort San Marcos on Santa Elena. (Credit: Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn)

The National Zoo gets a new state of the art Elephant Community Center complete with 8,943 square meters of romping room

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Hazel-Scotts-Lifetime-of-High-Notes.html In a performance filmed for World War II soldiers, Hazel Scott begins with a section from Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" and ends with a jazzy tune (Army / Navy Screen Magazine).

Kleptoparasitism, in which a bird harasses another to steal its food, might introduce avian flu to the continent, currently the only one without the severe H5N1 strain

To boost the iconic queen conch's population, researchers are relocating the heat-stressed creatures to cooler, deeper waters to help them find mates

A ring could explain a mysterious arrangement of impact craters near the equator and might even have caused an ice age, according to a new study

Scientists have created "a form of information immortality" meant to instruct future species on how to recreate humans. But who, or what, will find it?