Free Republic

The Draken Harald Hårfagre is not modeled after a single historic ship, but an amalgamation of many Viking vessels described in stories. Viking Nilsson / Draken Harald Hårgfagre In Christopher Nolan’s new film adaptation of the Odyssey, Calypso is played by Charlize Theron, Odysseus by Matt Damon, and his ancient Greek sea vessel by Draken Harald Hårfagre—a completely functional Viking longship. The wooden ship, commissioned by Norwegian entrepreneur Sigurd Aase, is about 115 feet long and 25 feet wide and equipped with square sails and 50 long oars. Most importantly, it can actually traverse the sea—a necessity for Nolan’s loyalty...

After 13 days of bombing Iran, on Friday we took a break. If we were dealing with rational opponents, the war in Iran would be over now, but we are dealing with fanatics and a situation where the monsters are fighting each other, and no one seems sufficiently in charge to enter into a meaningful surrender. In the meantime, we can turn to domestic matters, and to my mind, the situation at the Smithsonian Museum warrants our attention. It seems that we are paying super-woke people to denigrate our history and culture, and because of the way in which the...

(WND)—Democrats in the U.S. House have killed a proposal for a Women’s Museum on the National Mall because it would be about … WOMEN! Applying their anti-science transgender agenda, that men can become women by saying they are women, they rejected the plan because an amendment would provide that the subjects in the museum be biological women. “The measure came up short in a vote of 204-216 after a handful of conservative GOP lawmakers joined Democrats in tanking the legislation that would secure a site for the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the grounds of the Mall,” explained...

Funding for activities designed to provoke discussions about climate change and the planet has been awarded to museums in Herefordshire. Two awards of £3,000 and £2,000 will be spent on activities that engage people and encourage them to join in the conversation about the "huge effects" of climate change and people's "impact on our natural world", Damian Etheraads said. The museum and art gallery lead at Herefordshire Council said competition for the grants was extremely tough and staff were "thrilled". He said the funding would allow them to connect with people in new ways around the subject. The Herds is...

Qualified women should certainly take their place at the top if they are the best candidates for the job...but that’s not what’s happening. In 2023, the New York Times ran an article entitled, “Increasingly, Women Are Running the World’s Great Museums.” Some of the museums mentioned were the Louvre, the Vatican Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. But it’s not only museums where women dominate. Other arts and cultural institutions seem to be on a permanent trajectory to hire women as CEOs. On the surface, this shouldn’t be a problem. Qualified women should certainly take their place at the...

President Donald Trump on Friday ordered his administration to install signs outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History directing visitors to what the White House describes as "accurate" information about the nation's past. The executive order instructs the National Park Service, which maintains the sidewalks outside the museum, to place signs informing visitors about a White House report released July 4 that criticized the Smithsonian's portrayal of American history. Trump also directed the creation of a temporary exhibit intended to correct what his administration considers inaccurate historical information. The move follows a report from Trump's Domestic Policy Council that...

Matthew Taylor, a conceptual artist and political strategist, made influential ads and documentaries produced by Steve Bannon. Now he’s assisting the White House.Matthew Taylor officially holds one role in the Trump administration as a senior adviser at the National Endowment for the Humanities, but he has quietly become a key player behind many of the president’s bold initiatives to transform Washington and its cultural legacy.This year, Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Taylor to the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency that reviews government construction in Washington, to rubber-stamp approvals for projects such as the White House ballroom and the world’s...

Warning! If you plan on visiting the nation’s capital this summer, skip the American History Museum. According to a new report by the Domestic Policy Council, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History has failed in its fundamental mission — to instill in visitors a deeper respect for the American story. Below are the five most disturbing things about the Smithsonian’s American History Museum, according to the report. 1. Villainizing Our Founding and Founding Fathers If you’re going to the museum to learn about history, best go elsewhere. Sorely lacking are exhibits dedicated to the Pilgrims or Puritans, or...

The boy was around 14 when he joined the Continental Army. He signed his enlistment papers with an “X,” suggesting that he’d never learned to write his name. During his three-and-a-half-year military career, he marched more than 1,000 miles. When he died at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780, he was buried in an unmarked grave and forgotten for nearly 250 years. Researchers excavated the boy’s remains in 2022. Now, they’ve discovered this young soldier’s identity: His name was Private John Pumphrey, and he was one of America’s oldest John Doe cases. “As far as we knew,...

VIDEOIt is now an important piece of American history. The urine-soaked diaper which Senator Spartacus aka Cory Booker wore to break the filibuster record in the U.S. Senate. Or, more accurately, the FAKE filibuster record since this "filibuster" unlike real filibusters did NOT delay any Senate legislation or nominations. For both these reasons, the record books will always show an asterisk by the name of Senator Spartacus next to his "filibuster" entry.

Just days after the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. said it would cancel its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the Smithsonian Institution, a consortium that includes 21 national museums, announced its diversity office will also close. According to the New York Times, the Smithsonian will also freeze hiring for all federal positions and employees will have to return to in-person work full-time. This move follows an executive order signed earlier this month by President Donald J. Trump, which labels the Biden administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.” The Smithsonian, which includes...

ROME — Long before the industrial revolution and fossil fuels, “climate change” was wreaking havoc on the health of ancient Romans, Smithsonian magazine contends. Citing a study published in the journal Science Advances, Smithsonian underscores a correlation between cold, dry periods in ancient Rome and “devastating bouts of fatal illness” between 200 BC and 600 AD. Whereas Rome enjoyed stable weather from 200 to 100 BC, it later suffered “three very cold periods,” all of which “line up with documented plagues,” states Smithsonian writer Sarah Kuta. The first cold spell, which struck the Roman Empire between 160 and 180 AD,...

At today’s House Administration Committee hearing, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) questioned Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.Reviewers: That is really sad… I’m white and was raised to love my fellow Americans… no matter what color. My late father who served in the US NAVY and is buried at the National Veterans Cemetery would be disgusted with what has happened to our countryIt’s one thing to take A document down that you think might be problematic for your organization. It’s another thing to have people working there who thought it was OK to put that up. Look how much time...

A group of students who were harassed and told to leave the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) because of their “pro-life” hats achieved a legal victory Monday when the Smithsonian accepted a consent decree stating that visitors may wear clothing with religious and political statements.

A group from Our Lady of the Rosary School in Greenville, South Carolina was kicked out of the federally-funded Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for wearing hats emblazoned with the words 'Rosary PRO-LIFE.'(LifeSiteNews) — Catholic students were expelled from one of America’s most important museums for refusing to remove hats which expressed their pro-life beliefs. On Friday, January 20, following the 50th Annual March for Life in Washington DC, a group from Our Lady of the Rosary School in Greenville, South Carolina was kicked out of the federally-funded Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for wearing hats emblazoned with...

When recasting history to prop up Marxism, the truth doesn’t help. No less than one week after a Marxist mob came for the president of the American Historical Association for his belief that historians ought to stick to the realm of objectivity rather than social justice, it now emerges that The Smithsonian National Museum of American History is bucking tradition in favor or leftist activism. In a new exhibit covering Latin America, the museum neglected to include some of the most well-known histories. According to a piece published by El American, the opening parts of the exhibit address the “the...

First Lady Melania Trump presents her 2025 inaugural gown to the First Ladies Collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Friday, February 20, 2026.

After facing intense public backlash, Cracker Barrel has backed down and reverted to the classic “Old Timer” logo. At the same time, the Trump Administration has turned its focus on the Smithsonian, vowing to withhold funding from any programs that “degrade shared American values” and “divide Americans.” Both culture war issues pivot on one simple question that my generation needs to answer: Do we like America? People yearn to belong to a national tradition. Nationality encompasses defining characteristics of daily life like language and culture, and we’re most comfortable when we’re situated within a national tradition that’s familiar. That’s why...

One of the better causes of the second Trump Administration is its effort to purge the progressive political takeover of America’s national cultural institutions. A case in point is the new White House report on the bad historical turn taken by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The press is attacking the report as an attempt to censor independent museum curation, but that’s not how we read it. The 162-page “Saving America’s Story,” produced by the White House Domestic Policy Council, lays out in persuasive detail how the museum offers a largely critical view of American history that...

A scathing report released on the Fourth of July says the National Museum of American History downplays the role of the founders while emphasizing social justice.In a broadside posted to its website just as Fourth of July fireworks were lighting up skies around the country on Saturday, the White House faulted the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History for what it said was a failure to properly celebrate the nation’s heritage, arguing that it had become a tool of political activism intent on denigrating the American story.The 162-page report, by the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, represents a sweeping attack...