CURRENT ISSUE
October 2014
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/3b/ba/3bbada56-405b-4e58-b301-2a17c8e867d5/smithmag-evergreen-banner-1300x290-0823_1.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/76/4f/764fa73f-7aa3-4b73-9c86-92e3d3f84cc5/smithmag-evergreen-homepage-mobile-0823.jpg)
Features
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/cd/b9/cdb999cf-ee97-42e0-ae6b-9ec75684cf3a/oct14_o02_colaiweiwei.jpg)
Escape to Alcatraz
China's most controversial artist breaks into America's most notorious prison with a historic new show
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/7a/b9/7ab993fc-76f8-4ff0-9483-f966ec353eff/oct14_b01_salmon.jpg)
Swimming Upstream
Can human ingenuity help salmon navigate the dangers of one of their last strongholds in the Northwest?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/50/53/50538ad7-2a43-4cc8-88ee-6ef79611b4b9/oct14_k01_clivenet-1.jpg)
Air Waves
The net neutrality debate has been burning up the Internet, but everyone seems to have forgotten the first air war—radio
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/90/83/90831360-84ec-40f3-bece-be7f86f5a23e/oct14_d10_ciaobjects-1.jpg)
Hall of Spies
Inside the CIA is a museum filled with relics from half a century of cloak-and-dagger exploits. Care for a private tour?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/04/56/0456db36-77ea-4458-87c0-8eba672fe3fa/oct14_f01_dewline.jpg)
Cold Comfort
The remote Cold War radar system set up to ring an alarm against nuclear attack may have new responsibilities due to climate change
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/5c/52/5c52beda-b4ef-4756-9e6f-77e0c7b8518f/oct14_g12_wonderwoman-1.jpg)
The Origin Story of Wonder Woman
The history of the comic-book superhero's creation seven decades ago has been hidden away—until now
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/f4/9c/f49c522d-eee0-4dca-97b6-f2740e958241/oct14_c01_nationaltreasure.jpg)
Nuclear Option
What's really inside the secret satchel that accompanies the president everywhere?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/6a/23/6a23747e-df0b-4b49-ae5c-f052ec1549a8/oct14_a02_slave.jpg)
True Colors
Robert Webster was a slave and then a savior to his former owner. A newly revealed portrait captures the complexities of a remarkable life
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/5d/13/5d13cf7c-50a6-4882-a9c8-6255065fd6a0/oct14_h04_rudolfhess.jpg)
Dead Letters
The packets of food Rudolf Hess saved as proof his British captors were poisoning him now sit in a Maryland basement
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/13/0c/130c96de-0bcf-480e-be22-28516c9b803f/oct14_e07_ness-3.jpg)
Eliot Ness vs. J. Edgar Hoover
Newly released files trace the private war between America's two most famous crime fighters
Departments
Alternate History
America's first cartographer was a rogue talent who didn't hesitate to put politics on the map
Did Marco Polo Discover America?
Maps attributed to the 13th-century traveler sketch what looks like the coast of Alaska
Face Plant
A massive new portrait in soil and sand will cover five acres on the National Mall
The Legacy of Hip-Hop Producer J Dilla Will Be Recognized
The late producer's mother announced she is donating his synthesizer and beat machine to the African American History Museum