National Geographic Society

Hey You, Come Stare at These Freaks With Us

So apparently, there is a freak-show coming to town. And yes, there are legitimate freaks. PT Barnum and Ripley's Believe It Or Not beware, 999 Eyes is a genuine circus sideshow complete with a bed of nails, glass walkers, sword swallowers, human pincushions and more.

The Electric Pencil: A long-lost cache of sketches by a state mental hospital inmate finally yields up some of its secrets

Inside the World of Edward Deeds, the Electric Pencil

This week's Riverfront Times feature, "The Electric Pencil," tells the story of Edward Deeds, a patient at Missouri State Hospital No. 3, a mental hospital in Nevada, who created a pile of 283 colored pencil drawings that he bound into a book for his brother and sister-in-law. Today the drawings are ... More >>

Who Wants to Pay $500 to Eat the Last Meal Served Aboard the Titanic?

Man-made disasters and tragedies range from the historic to the Darwin Award-winning, but no single event has proven to be as romanticized or lucrative an enterprise as the deaths of those 1,514 people who went down with the R.M.S. Titanic on April 15, 1912. Though it hasn't been news in 100 years, ... More >>

Busch Family Member New Director of Endangered Wolf Center

​It seems there are two types of folks in the Busch family. The colorful ones whose dalliances, excesses and questionable behavior (Gussie and August IV come to mind) capture headlines. And everyone else. Virginia Busch falls squarely in the latter category. So obscure is this member of St. Louis' ... More >>

Ronnie Smith, Sled Dogs Make National Geographic

National GeographicThe southernmost aeronautical waypoints between Antarctica and New Zealand, renamed by Col. Ronnie Smith.​Last fall, Air Force Colonel Ronnie Smith succeeded in his campaign to rename the aeronautical waypoints between Christchurch, New Zealand, and McMurdo Station, the U.S. ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Maybe TV Isn't Such a Bad Thing

Today's comment comes in response to a post late yesterday about Charter's new commercial praising the merits of watching TV. This morning reader "Anon" commented:*I* thought it was a ridiculous commercial, people proud to be in darkened rooms with the boob tube instead of doing something else, gett ... More >>

Our Big Mounds Get Big Photo Spread in National Geographic

Image viaThe Mississippian culture had not yet discovered "Joe's Carpet King" in this rendering. ​National Geographic's 2,500-word feature on Cahokia Mounds, currently out in the January issue, begins on a rather embarrassing note for the St. Louis area: I'm standing at the center of what was once ... More >>

When the Water Recedes

Happy Birthday, Madam Secretary, Have Some Pillow Cake!

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned 63 yesterday. She celebrated at a viewing of Inside the State Department, a National Geographic documentary about Madam Secretary's job. They even presented her with a lovely birthday cake. ForeignPolicy.comSweet dreams, Madam Secretary!​Except it loo ... More >>

Good News DISH Network Subscribers: Missouri's Attorney General Has Your Back

Your DISH isn't broken, it's just blacked out.​Since October 1, Missouri subscribers to DISH Network have been without one of the most popular stations on the local broadcast dial: Fox Sports Midwest. DISH and FSM (which airs the St. Louis Cardinals, Blues and Missouri Tigers) have been in a pissi ... More >>

St. Louis Art Capsules

Jessica Baran encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Oldest Footwear in Human History Found: Several Years Ago in MISSOURI!

Image viaEat it, Armenia: Missouri holds record for oldest footwear ever found.​Ooh neat-o, somebody found a 5,500-year-old shoe in some Armenian cave! Um, BORING. You know what location holds the all-time record for oldest footwear ever discovered? Lil' place called Missouri. Trumpeting the recen ... More >>

Chef's Choice, Part 2: Eliott Harris of Miso on Meramec

This is part two of Robin Wheeler's Chef's Choice interview with Eliott Harris of Miso on Meramec. To read part one, click here. Stay tuned for part three tomorrow. Robin Wheeler​Did your family cook when you were a child? If so, what meals stand out? My mom is an awesome cook. I'd hang out i ... More >>

Aarrrgghhh!

Happy Earth Day: St. Louis Will Save Money (and the Planet) By Letting Parks Grow Au Naturale

Image via National GeographicIs it a Missouri National Grassland or Forest Park? Maybe both, come next year.​The bad news: St. Louis is facing a $46 million budget deficit that will force layoffs, furloughs and reduced trash collection.The good news: The fiscal belt-tightening has produced an idea ... More >>

Peeps Show: The Best Recipes That Feature Marshmallow Peeps!

image credit​What started as a trend -- making fun of Peeps and using them for non-food purposes -- has become an annual rite of spring, what with the Washington Post's annual Peeps Show diorama contest and National Geographic's Peeps in Places project. Peeps have even become the focus of fier ... More >>

The Best Video of a Meth Addict Jumping Into A Frozen Pond You'll See Today

Image via National Geographic A suspected Madison County meth maker took a polar bear plunge while attempting to elude police​Ahhh, methamphetamine. It makes human beings do some amazing things -- amazingly dumb things.Take the case of 50-year-old Robert C. Kelly of Madison County, Illinois ... More >>

The Land of the Midnight Sneak

Fernando de Sousa, Wikimedia Commons I was planning on regaling you with tales of the highly appropriate rainbow-hued foods I snuck into the Pride Parade this weekend in Tower Grove Park. Alas, even Southern sneaks wilt like delicate magnolia blossoms in 100-plus degree heat, and I am no exception. ... More >>

Quack Quack: The Shaved Duck reinvented — and hotter than before

University of Missouri biology professor Frederick vom Saal has been sounding the alarm about bisphenol A for a decade. Has he got your attention?

Here There Be Monsters

Night Moves

Risqué business: The Pajama Game never goes out of style.

Prince of Darkness

A St. Louis company is making a killing off Halloween. Your screams are music to their ears.

Current Shows

Ivy Cooper encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Current Shows

Ivy Cooper encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Current Shows

Ivy Cooper encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Current Shows

Ivy Cooper encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Current Shows

Ivy Cooper encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Current Shows

Ivy Cooper encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Current Shows

Ivy Cooper encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

Meet the RFT Staff!

The Go-Betweens

Oceans Apart (Yep Roc)

Like a What?

We check out some "important" songs, mourn ODB and read some, um, crap

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Week of May 5, 2004

No Atlas Allowed

And no help from the crowd

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Week of October 8, 2003

IMAX Redux

Science Center's Fall Film Fest

Breakfast of Champions

He scaled an intellectual Everest at age twelve. What's he like at sixteen? Meet George Thampy.

Dead Again

Mickey Hart and his grateful mates are out to prove they're more than mere Other Ones

Spiritual Dearth

Though they depict religious themes, these works are strangely ambivalent

Who's Your Mummy?

Bob Brier commands wrapped attention

Empty Promises

Missouri has been pouring millions into prisons that aren't being used. But stay tuned: If politicians have their way, there will be plenty of inmates to go around.

Film Openings

Week of January 9, 2002

Best Place To Get a Regular Haircut

Larry Evilsizor Barber Stylist

Best Scuba Diving

Bonne Terre Mines

MY NATURE: WORKS WITH PAPER BY KIKI SMITH

St. Louis Art Museum

Listening Post

Failing Grade

Arianna's Comet

Well, it was almost her comet. Turned out to be a galaxy instead. But "there's still more space to search."