Mathew Brady is known for his Civil War photography and groundbreaking work in the field. Read more about the Civil War at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Civil-War-History.html.

From the inventor's New Jersey film studio, the delight of cats doing things on film was discovered early in 1894

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Herman-Leonards-Eye-for-Jazz.html With just a camera as his ticket, Herman Leonard captured jazz icons performing on and off stage.

The Chicago White Sox were heavy favorites going into the 1919 World Series. But they were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds - and it soon became clear that the game was rigged

The American Ingenuity Award winner on the connection between history and music

In 1913, British Royalty would come in direct contact with a changing social order, thanks to a suffragette named Emily Davison. Her death at Epsom Falls would send shockwaves through the nation.

Do you ever wonder what secrets lie beneath the sands of Egypt? Prepare to be astonished as we unveil the untouched tomb of King Tutankhamun. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

From gender roles to etiquette to fashion, step back in time to learn more about the real lives of the Regency women who inspired 'Bridgerton.' --- To read more about the Regency era - and 'Bridgerton' - check out these articles from Smithsonian Magazine: What 'Bridgerton' Gets Wrong About Corsets: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-bridgerton-gets-wrong-about-corsets-180976691/ The Real History Behind 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story' https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-real-history-behind-queen-charlotte-a-bridgerton-story-180982130/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Producer: Nicki Marko Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/colombia-dispatches.html In Valledupar, Colombia, Turco Gil operates a school to teach local children how to play vallenato music. Listen to Juan David Atencia, a blind 9-year-old prodigy play the accordion.

He is (K)enough… or is he? With filmmaker Greta Gerwig's Barbie breaking box-office records—and devoting much of its story to Ken's existential crisis—we wondered if there's any more to Barbie's perennial plus-one. Journalist and lifelong Barbie fan Emily Tamkin talks us through Ken’s development, or lack thereof, over the decades. Read Emily’s “A Cultural History of Barbie,” and Chris’s brief Ken history “Not Your Average Beau,” here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/cultural-history-barbie-180982115/) or in the June 2023 issue of Smithsonian. Emily is the author of The Influence of Soros: Politics, Power, and the Struggle for an Open Society and Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities. Learn more about Emily and her work here (https://www.emilytamkin.com/) , or subscribe to her Substack newsletter (https://emilyctamkin.substack.com/) . 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, Genevieve Sponsler, Adriana Rozas Rivera, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

The science of earwax in under a minute

After his start capturing the horrors of the Civil War for Mathew Brady's studio, 19th century photographer Timothy O'Sullivan uncovered the beauty of the great expanses of the American west

The Orkneys, an archipelago of islands off the northern coast of Scotland, are home to some of the greatest neolithic treasures in western Europe: from the settlement of Skara Brae to the Ness of Brodgar.

A short movie explores 3D scans of some of the mid-Cretaceous lizards found trapped in amber. (courtesy of Daza et al., Science Advances)

More on 3D scanning: http://j.mp/JM43KD Specialists are using new technology to unravel a mystery in the Smithsonian collections.

Credit: Leftwich Lab

Last summer, news reports of orcas deliberately tearing the propellers off of yachts in the Strait of Gibraltar thrilled observers who were eager to cast these intelligent and social pack hunters as class warriors striking a blow for the “common mammals” against the one percent. That turned out to be wishful thinking, according to guest Lori Marino, a biopsychologist who studies whale and dolphin intelligence. She told us that these six-ton whales were just having fun—if they wanted to harm the occupants of those boats, we’d know it.  Even so, these encounters are becoming a predictable seasonal occurrence between the months of May and August: A 50-foot charter vessel sank after its hull and rudder were damaged in an orca encounter near the Strait of Gibraltar on May 12. So here again is our episode on the perils of assigning human motives to wild animals, featuring Marino and Smithsonian assistant digital science editor Carlyn Kranking. This episode was originally released in September 2023.   Dr. Marino invites you to learn more about The Whale Sanctuary Project at their site (https://whalesanctuaryproject.org/about-the-whale-sanctuary-project/) . You can also see Dr. Marino in the documentary films Blackfish (2013), Unlocking the Cage (2016), and Long Gone Wild (2019). Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . And read the transcript of this episode here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/are-wild-animals-really-just-like-us-180982939/) . There’s More to That (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast) 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.

On September 2, 1935, Florida was hit by the most intense hurricane ever recorded—a category 5. Despite early warnings by the weather authorities, a calamitous loss of life shocked the nation

Credit: Nathan Cooper

This sacred shrine in India feeds over 100,000 people a day regardless of race, religion and class.

Read more about Thorpe: http://j.mp/M9PsXT Smithsonian conservators go to extreme lengths to prepare an iconic box of cereal for display

Listen to a short lecture given by curator Margaret Weitekamp on Gene Kranz career with NASA and how his vest ended up at the Smithsonian

How the American Ingenuity Award winner plans to build a self-sustaining civilization on Mars

Lonnie Bunch, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, discusses the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial, one of America's greatest monuments.

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/In-Vogue.html At 62 years old, Edward Steichen convinced the U.S. Navy to let him gather a team of photographers to capture the men serving their country in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

In 1896, Thomas Edison set off to a remote Canadian district near the Alaska border, with cameras in tow. He succeeded in capturing fascinating images of the prospectors brought in by the Gold Rush.

Watch a selection from the Smithsonian Institution's submission for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register of historic artifacts

From its unique appearance to its habitat and behavior, here's everything you need to know about this mysterious deep-sea creature. Dive into the world of the blobfish and discover why it has become an iconic symbol of marine life. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Producer: Nicki Marko Video Editor: Sierra Theobald Graphic Designer: Kevin Schoenblum

X-rays of the mummy of an ancient Egyptian noblewoman reveal an assortment of health issues: from curvature of the spine, known as scoliosis, to other deformities that could be the result of polio.

A pirogue's eye view of the inlet at the edge of Harper. Some of the first groups of freed American slaves landed on the shores of West Africa near here. (Credit: Clair MacDougall)

By 1953, six years after the Bell X-1 first went supersonic, that airplane and others were routinely flying at more than twice the speed of sound. On December 17, 1953the 50th anniversary of the Wright brothers first powered flight at Kitty HawkMajor Yeager sat down at the Pentagon for an informal press briefing to discuss his own Mach 2.43 flight in the X-1 five days earlier. Video: Department of Defense, Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration

The American Ingenuity Award winner is on the brink of using the human genome to provide better diagnostics for deadly diseases

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)

Forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley discusses the skeletal specimens in a new exhibit at the Natural History Museum (Meredith Bragg). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/meet-the-scientist-who-reads-bones-40315000/

Clues into the disappearance of the ancient Picts lie in the tiny Scottish village of Aberlemno: 1,700-year-old Pictish stones, marked with some very unusual carvings.

New DNA analysis adds to growing research indicating the famous Pacific island did not collapse from overuse of resources before the arrival of Europeans

Two Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority railcars were added to an artificial reef off the coast of Georgia to create more wildlife habitat

The noisy-but-shy bird, known as the hoiho, has earned the most votes for a second time amid threats to its survival

Officials launched an investigation and recovered the $360,000 print less than a week after it vanished from Grove Gallery. Two men have been charged for the crime

A new paper analyzes three decades of fatalities around the world and predicts how "superbugs" will affect human health in the future

When the blaze in Moscow subsided on September 18, 1812, the French—who had traveled hundreds of miles into Russia—were left without vital resources as a brutal winter approached

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

The artist's cityscapes, once dismissed as too masculine, would later influence the floral artworks that became central to her iconic style

The vertical sign stretched across three stories of the Manhattan hotel, which once welcomed the likes of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol and Janis Joplin

New research suggests the sarcophagus' occupant, previously known only as "the horseman," is Joachim du Bellay, a French Renaissance poet who died in 1560

The “beloved” rodent named Cinnamon was spotted this week with help from drones. She has been wandering and eating grass after escaping her zoo enclosure last Friday

Experts are carefully uncovering traces of the original paint and fragments of gold leaf that once adorned the 2,000-year-old Temple of Edfu

Una Pizza Napoletana on the Lower East Side has claimed the top spot in an annual ranking of pizzerias around the globe

Researchers say that the iconic painting's swirling sky lines up with Kolmogorov's theory of turbulence, suggesting that the artist was a careful observer of the world around him