Arts & Culture

On Wednesday, President Obama spoke at the formal groundbreaking for Smithsonian's newest museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The museum, Obama said, has been "a long time coming" and will serve "not just as a record of tragedy, but as a celebration of life." Obama said he hopes that the museum's visitors will see the artifacts of the African American experience and understand that "ordinary Americans could do extraordinary things" — whether they are inspired by Louis Armstrong's trumpet, the plane flown by Tuskegee Airmen, or Harriet Tubman's shawl.

A museum first proposed in 1915 by black veterans from the Civil War is finally, officially, under construction on the National Mall in Washington.

If you haven't noticed, gardens are popping up in some unconventional places – from prison yards to retirement and veteran homes to programs for troubled youth.

Most are handy sources of fresh and local food, but increasingly they're also an extension of therapy for people with mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD; depression; and anxiety.

It's called horticultural therapy. And some doctors, psychologists and occupational therapists are now at work to test whether building, planting, and harvesting a garden can be a therapeutic process in its own right.

Unless your Internet connection has been disabled for the past month, you've undoubtedly heard of the new darling of the social media world: Pinterest.

The simple and highly visual site lets users save — or "pin" — coveted outfits, recipes, home décor ideas and do-it-yourself projects on virtual bulletin boards, for their own use and to share with others.

Without directly saying so, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert all-but-confirmed last night that he was off the air for two days last week because his 91-year-old mother Lorna has been ill.