Watch, Read, Listen

This Sunday at 5 p.m., PBS SoCal will air the documentary "The Passion and Politics of Ed Edelman: An Untold Story of Leadership in Los Angeles." Edmund D. Edelman retired in 1994 after a 30-year career in Los Angeles politics

In 2002, a roadside orchid stand in the Peruvian countryside was the opening scene of one of the most infamous chapters in the history of orchidology. An American orchid collector, Michael Kovach, brought back a slipper orchid he had purchased there.

You have just a few more days to see the exhibition "A Strange and Fearful Interest: Death, Mourning, and Memory in the American Civil War." Although it finishes its run on Monday, Jan. 14, you will be able to continue to explore

If you happen to be strolling through Liu Fang Yuan—The Huntington's Garden of Flowing Fragrance—on a Wednesday afternoon, you will likely encounter a performer of traditional Chinese music.

We've covered a lot of memorable stories on Verso this year, but The Huntington also got a fair amount of coverage in other outlets—from the Los Angeles Times to the Wall Street Journal, from KPCC's AirTalk to international art magazine Apollo.

The week leading up to that day when we swap out the old calendar for the new is always a favorite for taking stock of all that has happened—from the mundane to the milestone—over the past 12 months and gearing up to embark on the dozen to come. As we here at Verso took a look back with an eye to the months ahead, we compiled a list of 10 posts from the past year that we think have captured—each in its own way—some essence of what it is that we set out to do here on the blog.

It wasn't an "Aha!" moment but rather one of the many "Hmmm" moments most scholars come across on a daily basis. And this one was dated Dec. 26, 1795.

Astronomers throughout history have searched the skies in hopes of locating the Star of Bethlehem, the famed star of scripture. Meanwhile botanists have found their very own "Star of Bethlehem" among the Orchid family.