July/August 2025
Smithsonian magazine delivers trusted and incisive reporting on history, science, nature, culture and travel.
Features
Exploring Hemingway's Pamplona
An offbeat journey to the legendary Spanish festival 100 years after the life-changing trip that inspired "The Sun Also Rises"
A Shared Fate
Scientists worldwide have tracked worrying declines in insects—and the birds that feast on them. In Vermont, researchers are searching for clues that could help save them both
Classic Rock
Artisans around the world are ditching the mortar and embracing the ancient craft of dry stone walling
The Redfish Blues
The Cajun cooking craze nearly wiped out Louisiana’s iconic species, but conservation stemmed the tide. Now the fish faces new threats
Passion Fruit
A search for the world’s best durian leads to Malaysia, where the delicacy is prized—and reviled
Life Out of Balance
Nearly two million people have lost the simple ability to feel steady. Can an experimental medical implant restore it?
Departments
What to Expect at the Newly Renovated National Air and Space Museum When It Opens This Month
The Smithsonian museum's new galleries explore the challenges and delights of life in space
Discussion
Your feedback on pioneering pilot Bessie Coleman, the joy of cave exploring and the bittersweet history of vanilla
Life, in a Nutshell
With poignant wisdom and gentle wit, Charles M. Schulz reinvented the comic strip
Bright Future
In her dazzling portraits of 1930s New York, a photographer captured a city on the rise
Cards on the Table
The true history of tarot is as colorful as the hypnotic designs of its decks
Fighting to Serve
With their bravery during World War I, these daring American women doctors proved their might to the folks back home
"Fore!" Fathers
Tracing the centuries of innovation that sent the golf ball on a wild ride through history
A New Hope
How "The Wiz" transformed an American folk tale into a celebratory vision for the future of Black America
A Man in Full
A new biography offers the most intimate portrait yet of one of the 20th century’s greatest authors
Monkey in the Middle
Sometimes proximity to an urban center can have surprising benefits for critically endangered wildlife
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