CURRENT ISSUE
January 2014
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Features
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Hot for Tamales
Our intrepid reporter heads back to the Mississippi Delta in search of his favorite food—and the title of tamale-eating champ
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Ready For Her Close-Up
Take an exclusive backstage tour of the National Zoo and meet Bao Bao, the newest star giant panda, a species that has evolved to beguile fans worldwide
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Time Travelers: Walking the Ancestor’s Trail
On a wild hike inspired by famed evolutionist Richard Dawkins, every step promises a strange encounter with the origins of species
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Tales from the Pit
The exquisitely preserved fossils in Germany’s Messel Pit reveal how our warmblooded ancestors came into their own after the death of the dinosaurs
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The Venus Fixers
As Allied Forces fought the Nazis for control of Europe, an unlikely unit of American and British art experts waged a shadow campaign to save Italy’s cultural treasures
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Christmas Requiem
A card that was never mailed is a memento of a tragic season
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Barbarians at the Gates
When jihadists seized northern Mali, a secret network of activists risked their lives to rescue thousands of irreplaceable manuscripts
Departments
From the Editor
The editor-in-chief of Smithsonian on what makes the panda cub so adorable
From the Castle
Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough treks to Peru to see how Machu Picchu was built
Once Bitten…
A young scientist in Panama devises a novel way to study ticks and disease