secret lives of museums
Inside the Hidden Natural History Museum of Mumbai
Rahul Khot oversees 138,000 specimens at the Bombay Natural History Society.
All Stories
home-cooked history
A Rare Recipe From a Talented Chef Enslaved by a Founding Father
Despite James Hemings’s leading role in Jefferson’s kitchen, he’s credited with only a handful of recipes.
sold
Sold: A Famous Fossil-Hunter’s Letter That’s Totally Full of Crap
Mary Anning's correspondence helped kick off the study of coprolites.
arctic
As the Arctic Warms, the Iñupiat Adapt
"What choice do we have?"
for sale
For Sale: Dozens and Dozens of Enormous Animatronic Dinosaurs
Nothing adds prehistoric flair to a decorating scheme quite like a moving T. rex.
war fare
When World War II Started, the U.S. Government Fought Against Victory Gardens
Home gardeners planted despite an initial federal policy of leaving farming to the professionals.
whiskey
For Sale: Shipwrecked Whisky That Spent Decades Underwater
Winning bidder take note: It is not safe to drink.
books
Found: A Mysterious, Recipe-Filled Diary From 1968
The 150 retro recipes inside offer a taste of the past.
constellations
The Challenges and Delights of Photographing the Night Sky
It can take years to get the perfect shot.
missiles
For Sale: A Cold War Bunker and Missile Silo in North Dakota
“It’s the ultimate in social distancing.”
cinema
These Strange Rock Formations Have Been a Filmmaking Hotspot for Over a Century
California's Alabama Hills have stood in for multiple states and countries, not to mention distant planets, alternate dimensions, and fantasy realms.
secret lives of museums
Plumbing the Secrets of the Archives of the Museum of Modern Art
From an Avenue of Fascism, to turtle soup, to a phantom photo of three important women having tea.
rice
The Battle to Invent the Automatic Rice Cooker
The biggest names in Japanese technology vied to bring them to market.
stonehenge
We Now Know Where Almost All of Stonehenge's Stones Came From
The main source for its largest megaliths is just a stone’s throw from the iconic site.
paleontology
The Cambrian Creatures That Grew Up Over the Course of 28 Bodies
Trilobites slipped out of one exoskeleton and built another, over and over and over again.
orchards
The Ancient Greek Temples Home to Orchards, Vineyards, and Rare Bees
A UNESCO site that doubles as a working farm represents a shift in conservation.
deep sea
The Woman Who Changed the Way We See the Seafloor
Marie Tharp's historic maps of underwater topography reimagined two-thirds of the Earth.
cookbooks
A University Is Turning Historical Mexican Recipes Into Free E-Books
The project is meant to inspire home cooks during the pandemic.
