Sidedoor

The Art of Slowing Down

What happens when we slow down enough to really experience art? We visit a museum to discover how slow looking at art can cultivate awe, empathy, and a greater sense of c

A Nature Lover Confronts Her Fear of Spiders

How do you stop being so afraid? Tracy Twombly had such a strong phobia of spiders, it was messing with her life — stressing her out while she was working at her native p

America, Meet America

For more than two decades, the StoryCorps silver Airstream trailer has crisscrossed the country, recording the stories of everyday Americans. In this episode honoring the

The Gunboat Philadelphia

In 1935, a diver searching Lake Champlain found something extraordinary: a nearly intact warship from the American Revolution. It was the Gunboat Philadelphia. In this ep

The Missing Bison

In the 1880s, a conservator at the Smithsonian set out for Montana to capture an American bison before the dwindling species vanished forever. He returned with six taxide

American Aspirations: A Nation in Pursuit

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III has spent a lifetime thinking about how history gets told. Before becoming the head of the Smithsonian, he was a curator, someon

U.S. History in 100 Objects (with Roman Mars)

A screw. A stuffed possum. A shoe-sizing device. What could any of these objects possibly tell us about the history of the United States? When we think of historic artif

How Can You Forget Me

Everyone thought ghosts lived in the basement of Stockton, California's old Daguhoy Lodge. So, nobody went down there. But when one man refused to be spooked, he made a d

High Art, Low Ride

How did a car with chopped suspension and hydraulics become a symbol of pride and self-expression for an entire community? We'll cruise back in time to see how lowriders

The People in the Pictures

At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, archivists are working with Native communities to correct the historical record … one photo at a time. In th

May the 4th Be With You

A long time ago, in movie theaters not far away, Star Wars: A New Hope revolutionized American entertainment. In honor of May the 4th, we explore how a scrappy space fant

Broad Stripes, Bright Stars, and White Lies

As we approach the nation's 250th birthday, we are looking back at some of the most important moments in American history. One of those moments is when Betsy Ross sewed t

Tapir Caper

When a Smithsonian archaeology intern opened a dusty box of bones in a Panamanian warehouse, she didn't expect to find a mystery, let alone a potential crime scene. But N

Made in America

What does it look like for something to be made in America?  Through the photography of Christopher Payne, we journey across the past, present and future of American man

Dark Matter, Bright Mind: How Vera Rubin Saw the Unseen

Something dark and invisible makes up as much as 90 to 95 percent of the universe—and it took a little girl staring out a bedroom window at the night sky to bring it to l

Chinatown Murder Case

A string of unsolved murders in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1970s led police to the door of a young Korean immigrant named Chol Soo Lee — who was quickly arrested an

The Wright Sister

Orville and Wilbur Wright have been immortalized as the men opened the skies to human flight. But could they have achieved such great heights without the wind beneath the

The King of Zydeco

Clifton Chenier grew up in rural Louisiana, watching how his father’s accordion could magically turn front porches into dance parties. When he was old enough to play hims

Will the Real Uncle Sam Please Stand Up?

He’s a symbol of patriotism, protest, and power. But behind the red, white, and blue is a real man—and a disputed American origin story. How did a real guy go from meatpa

A Very Cold Case

American newspaper publisher and all-around eccentric, Charles Francis Hall, was an unlikely candidate to become an Arctic explorer. Nevertheless, he made three trips to