Aziz Ansari | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Performing Arts The actor, comedian and author is being honored for his starring role as Dev Shah in “Master of None,” the Netflix series that he created with Alan Yang. Like the character he plays, Ansari is the son of Indian immigrant parents, and his smart, surprising take on life, love, technology and cultural identity in the United States has helped make the show “the year’s best comedy straight out of the gate,” as the New York Times put it. Among Ansari’s other accomplishments are his unforgettable portrayal of the loopy Tom Haverford on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” his best-selling book about dating in the internet age, Modern Romance (co-authored with Eric Klinenberg), and his blockbuster stand-up act that sold out Madison Square Garden. Read more about Ansari’s work: http://smithmag.co/jvdAaL | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

A close look reveals how the famed photographer altered his glass negatives, creating the popular image of Native Americans that still exists today

In 1918, Lulu Hunt Peters—one of the first women in America to earn a medical doctorate—published the best seller Diet and Health With Key to the Calories, making a name for herself as an apostle for weight reduction in an era when malnutrition was a far greater public health threat than obesity. She pioneered the idea of measuring food intake via the calorie, which at the time was an obscure unit of measurement familiar only to chemists.  A century later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db360.htm) that 42 percent of American adults are clinically obese and that Type 2 diabetes is on the rise (https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p1229-future-diabetes-surge.html) . With those who can afford it now turning to pharmaceuticals to help them lose weight, we’ll examine why and how calorie counting has failed to help Americans maintain a “healthy” weight.  In this episode of “There’s More to That,” we hear from food historian Michelle Stacey about Peters’ legacy—and from Ronald Young Jr., creator and host of the critically acclaimed podcast “Weight For It (https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/weight-for-it) ,” about how American society continues to stigmatize what he calls “fat folks” for reasons that have nothing to do with public, or even individual, health. A transcript is below. To subscribe to “There’s More to That,” and to listen to past episodes on the complex legacy of Sojourner Truth (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-to-separate-fact-from-myth-in-the-extraordinary-story-of-sojourner-truth-180983820/) , how Joan Baez opened the door for Taylor Swift (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/before-beyonce-taylor-swift-ran-world-joan-baez-180983893/) , how machine learning is helping archeologists to read scrolls (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-artificial-intelligence-is-making-2000-year-old-scrolls-readable-again-180984264/) buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago and more, find us on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/theres-more-to-that/id1694965155?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=podcast_box_player) , Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/4NYRCRxkYJTLjW71sqYOFv?si=08fa62c3e59d450f&nd=1) or wherever you get your podcasts. Read Michelle Stacey's story about Dr. Lulu Hunt Peters in the June 2024 issue of Smithsonian here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/doctor-pioneered-counting-calories-century-ago-were-still-dealing-with-consequences-180984282/) . Listen to Ronald Young, Jr.'s podcast "Weight For It" here (https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/weight-for-it) . 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.

The North American Orchid Conservation Center is working to ensure the survival of some of the most unique plants in the world

The grand buildings of Washington, D.C. would look quite different were it not for the work of Palladio. Read more at Smithsonian.com

In the 1920s, the U.S. was in full thrill-seeking mode. From horse-diving (you have to see it to believe it) to barnstorming. And at the center of many of these activities were a group of daring young women.

"OK Go made music videos relevant again." – Stephen Colbert OK Go​, Damian Kulash Jr. and Trish Sie​ won the Smithsonian magazine​ American Ingenuity Award for Visual Arts for pushing the music-video envelope with their zero-gravity video for "Upside Down & Inside Out." Read more about their work and see the video here: http://smithmag.co/HZ8vzr The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years, and following in this tradition, Smithsonian magazine presents the American Ingenuity Awards, honoring revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress. http://smithmag.co/R7hyRO

African cuisine has always been well represented in the United States, particularly in dishes characterized as “Southern” in origin, like gumbo or hoppin’ john. But even before chef Serigne Mbaye’s New Orleans eatery Dakar NOLA was named (https://www.eater.com/24175309/james-beard-awards-2024-winners-restaurant-and-chef-awards) the Best New Restaurant of 2024 at the James Beard Awards this week, the contributions of the African diaspora to the American diet had at last begun to enjoy a long-overdue reappraisal via reality television, Netflix docuseries and, most important, a number of widely praised dining establishments: If you want to book a table at Tatiana (https://www.tatiananyc.com/story/) in Manhattan, Dept of Culture (https://www.deptofculturebk.com/) in Brooklyn or Kann (https://kannrestaurant.com/) in Portland, you’d better plan ahead, because their tables are often booked up well in advance. In this episode, Smithsonian contributor Rosalind Cummings-Yeates explains how the ascendancy of pan-African cuisine from “auntie” restaurants into the rarefied fine dining sphere is part of a larger and more meaningful campaign of cultural reclamation. And Mbaye tells us why it was so important to him to make Dakar NOLA (https://www.dakarnola.com/) a showcase of the distinctive flavors of Senegal, where he spent his formative years. Read Rosalind's Smithsonian story about the rise of West African fine dining in the U.S. here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/these-chefs-are-elevating-african-and-caribbean-cuisines-from-carryouts-to-fine-dining-180984466/) . See the full list of 2024's James Beard Award winners here (https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/the-2024-james-beard-award-winners) . 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 / photography by Katherine Kimball, Joshua Brasted, and Jeremy Tauriac Music by APM Music.

Book-banning might seem like a relic of less enlightened times, but the practice is back in a big way. The American Library Association reports (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/american-library-association-names-2022s-most-banned-books-180982048/) that 2022 saw more attempts to have books removed from public libraries than in any prior year this century — indeed, it documented more than twice as many attempted bans in 2022 than in 2021. In schools, attempts to keep certain books out of the hands of students have been even more aggressive and draconian. What’s new about these efforts is the subject that binds the most-challenged titles: Most of them address themes of LGBT+ identity or gender expression. In this episode, we talk with journalist Colleen Connolly about Thomas Morton’s New English Canaan, the first book ever to be suppressed in North America. What did the Puritans find so threatening about it, and how has this book echoed through subsequent centuries? Then we’re joined by Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, for a wide-ranging conversation about the history of book bans in the United States, how a resurgent wave of book bans in many states differs from those of prior eras, and why organized attempts to prevent specific people from reading specific books usually fail. A transcript of this episode can be found here (http://smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-banned-books-in-america-180983011) . Read Colleen’s Smithsonian story about New English Canaan here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-americas-first-banned-book-survived-and-became-an-anti-authoritarian-icon-180982971/) . 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.

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Nikita-in-Hollywood.html As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.

The National Gallery of Art organized a comprehensive exhibit of Robert Frank's work (Images courtesy of: National Gallery of Art; Produced by: Diane Bolz and Brian Wolly)

Take a tour of the National Mall, past and present (Kenneth R. Fletcher). Read more at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-pierre-lenfant-and-washington-dc-39487784/

Boston’s iconic lighthouse, the Boston Light, is managed by a single person: Sally Snowman. She is the 70th keeper of the lighthouse since it was built over 300 years ago.

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 musicians of the Union and Confederate armies provided strong memories of the homes left behind for the battlefield.

Merry "Corky" White, author of Coffee Life in Japan, traces the history of coffee culture in the United States

During World War II, Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps used scraps and found materials to create beautiful works of art.

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.

This traveling exhibit reveals the mystery behind some of the women that helped shape this country's social and cultural landscape

Curator Larry Bird takes you inside the history of the Bradford dollhouse

"They have given mankind a completely new way of looking at the universe." – Stephen Hawking, congratulates Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Ronald Drever, the first scientists to detect gravitational waves. | Smithsonian magazine #IngenuityAwards The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years, and following in this tradition, Smithsonian magazine presents the American Ingenuity Awards, honoring revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress.

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.

“Superman isn’t coming. It is a moment in our time when we must look to ourselves, and not take for granted or wait for something from the top to come down, but rather…pick up the torch, carry the torch, to find information and the truth…” – Erin Brockovich applauds Marc Edwards and LeeAnne Walters for their work exposing the Flint water crisis | Smithsonian Magazine American #IngenuityAwards Read more about Edwards and Walters’ work: http://smithmag.co/D4dIHy The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years, and following in this tradition, Smithsonian magazine presents the American Ingenuity Awards, honoring revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress. http://smithmag.co/R7hyRO

On this day in 1690, "Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick" attracted colonial officials' ire by repeating a scandalous rumor and condemning a British alliance with the Mohawk

Researchers analyzed tiny fossils embedded in the limestone to determine the age and origins of the grave maker, which marked the final resting place of a prominent Jamestown colonist

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, tiny molecules that play a crucial role in how cells develop, paving the way for new treatments for diseases

No one was injured in the blast, and authorities are investigating why the ordnance detonated after so many years underground

Winners of the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition captured insects, cancer cells, cat claws and more

Government corruption, loved ones becoming ill or dying, cyberterrorism and nuclear weapons topped the list of Chapman University's annual survey

The president atoned for the federal government's role in forcing Native American children into boarding schools, where many were abused and more than 900 died

Since her birth in 1909, Francis lived through two world wars, segregation, the fall of the Soviet Union, multiple pandemics and the invention of the cellphone

Introduced in 1934, the federal duck stamp contest has raised more than $1.2 billion and protected at least 6.5 million acres across the nation. Now, an art exhibition at Connecticut’s Bruce Museum honors the competition’s history

The species may have been carried to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta in ballast water on ships

A century on, the country’s most beloved Thursday spectacle reaches new heights

Historians say that Sarah Emma Edmonds exaggerated many aspects of her wartime experiences. Still, she bravely served in the Union Army, becoming one of hundreds of women who fought in the conflict in secret

Newspaper editor Horace Greeley unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant in November 1872. Twenty-four days later, he died of unknown causes at a private mental health facility

In the early 1990s, historians and the public alike questioned how Disney's America would accurately and sensitively document the nation's thorny past

In the Jim Crow South, activists became martyrs at the hands of white racists, all for the just cause of using the vote to fight for equality and freedom

Before fitness influencers made getting your steps in a trend, pedestrianism had the nation on their feet

Out-of-the-can branding helped transform World War II's rations into a beloved household staple

Éric Boutilier and Mark Sherry are launching their new board game, Tripped, which was five years in the making.

Nathan Chen has accomplished just about everything that one can accomplish in the sport of figure skating. The only thing he's yet to accomplish? Winning Olympic gold.

Team gears up for the America's Cup in 2007 by creating SolidWorks 3D models to gain higher performance from almost every aspect of the racing yacht

Robust design helps withstand challenging competitive conditions as team takes first round in America 's Cup qualifying races

3D CAD software helps make inventors' concepts a reality in contest for $1 million prize on popular ABC TV show

Everything from keel fins to deck rigging for Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand

Badge Inspires Creativity, Mentoring, and Development of Aspiring Designers

After a week of heavy rains in Central America, the area is left in tragedy. OM Guatemala is desperate to help.

OM SportsLink in Latin America takes part in a training for workers in sports ministry in Honduras and an outreach in Guatemala.

Nathan Schmutz of Switzerland has enjoyed the challenge of immersing himself in a whole new culture.