A Mold with a Grudge
It started with a messy lab and a mysterious mold. But turning “mold juice” into the world’s first antibiotic would take a sick policeman, a market cantaloupe, and an extraordinary…
Poison and Poisonability
When we think of serial killers, we tend to think of men—Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Jack the Ripper. But in the 1800s, the deadliest killers often wore corsets. In fact,…
Children say it every day in school, but have you ever wondered why we recite the pledge of allegiance?
We journey back to the late 1800s to understand how a massive wave of immigration and sagging magazine subscriptions gave rise to this vow of patriotism. From the Civil War…
The ‘Gentle Anarchy’ of the Muppets
Icky Gunk. Moldy Hay. Kermit. You might recognize one of these names. Before Kermit joined Miss Piggy and Big Bird, he was kicking it with Sam and Friends—a local TV…
Midnight Magic
From gulping grapes in Spain to donning yellow underwear in South America and practicing Scotland’s ancient “first-footing” tradition, people around the world embrace odd—and oddly meaningful—rituals to ensure good luck…
Space Shuttle
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Meet the Italian ‘Fruit Detective’ Who Investigates Centuries-Old Paintings for Clues About Produce That Has Disappeared From the Kitchen Table
When Isabella Dalla Ragione assesses a Renaissance painting, she doesn’t immediately notice the brushstrokes or the magnificence of the imagery. The first thing she notices is the fruit. {read} On a spring…
How Scientists’ Tender Loving Care Could Save This Endangered Penguin Species
Many penguin species huddle together in massive colonies, but pairs of yellow-eyed penguins go out of their way to be alone, nesting deep in New Zealand’s scrublands and forests out…
How Recovering the History of a Little-Known Lakota Massacre Could Heal Generational Pain
smithsonianmag.com How Recovering the History of a Little-Known Lakota Massacre Could Heal Generational Pain Tim Madigan 46–59 minutes To reach the place known as Mni Tho Wakpala, the Blue Water, you…
This Savvy Librarian Was the True Force Behind New York’s Iconic Morgan Library
It fell to Belle da Costa Greene, a Black woman whose racial identity was kept secret for decades, to catalog J.P. Morgan’s immense collection of books and art Toward the…