
Sidedoor
Smithsonian Institution
More than 154 million treasures fill the Smithsonian’s vaults. But where the public’s view ends, Sidedoor begins. With the help of biologists, artists, historians, archaeologists, zookeepers and astrophysicists, host Lizzie Peabody sneaks listeners through the Smithsonian’s side door, telling stories that can’t be heard anywhere else. Check out si.edu/sidedoor and follow @SidedoorPod for more info.



29 Listeners
1 Comment
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 Sidedoor Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Sidedoor episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Sidedoor for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Sidedoor episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

A Wild Ride on the Pony Express
Sidedoor
08/30/23 • 30 min
In 1860 the fastest way to get a message to a family member, partner, or colleague wasn’t by text but by hoof...specifically, a pony’s. In just ten short days the Pony Express delivered mail between St. Louis and Sacramento. To find out what it was like to travel this legendary trail, there’s only one way: get on a horse and follow all 2,000 miles of it. That’s what writer Will Grant did, retracing the route from Missouri to California over four and half months. This guest episode of the Outside podcast brings you an epic camping tale in the name of history.
We’ll be back with new episodes of Sidedoor in September! If you enjoyed this episode, find more stories from Outside at https://www.outsideonline.com/podcast



5 Listeners

Dude, Where’s my Carbon?
Sidedoor
04/10/24 • 32 min
If you’ve bought a plane ticket recently, you’ve probably had the option to pay a few extra dollars to offset your carbon emissions. That money might go toward planting some trees... but how many trees? Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are trying to answer this very question by hand-measuring trees, weighing wood, and climbing to the top of the canopy. We tag along to see how carbon is measured, and why so much ends up in tropical forests.
Guests:
Joshua Tewksbury, director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama
Helene Muller-Landau, senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute researching tropical forests and ecosystems, leader of ForestGEO Global Carbon Program
David Mitre, research manager for ForestGEO at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Sergio dos Santos, project manager for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Hydro-Meteorological and Oceanographic Monitoring Program in Panama
Luisa Fernanda Gómez Correa, intern at the Forest Carbon Lab at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Eline De Loore, graduate student at Ghent University conducting research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute



5 Listeners
1 Comment
1

The Milkmaid Spy
Sidedoor
01/03/24 • 28 min
Virginia Hall dreamed of being America’s first female ambassador. Instead, she became a spy. Joining the ranks of the U.S.’s first civilian spy network, she operated alone in occupied France, where she built French Resistance networks, delivered critical intelligence, and sold cheese to the enemy. All on one leg.
Guests:
Sonia Purnell, author of “A Woman of No Importance: the Untold Story of the American Spy who Helped Win World War II.”
Randy Burkett, CIA Staff Historian
Christina Gebhard, museum specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History


4 Listeners

King's Speech
Sidedoor
02/09/22 • 35 min
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech is one of the most famous speeches in the world. But it almost didn’t happen. If you look at King's typed manuscript of his speech —which is currently on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture— you won't find the phrase "I Have a Dream." But even though Dr. King's speech was improvised, that doesn't mean it wasn't years in the making. In this episode of Sidedoor, we trace the evolution of King's dream, from a secret friendship, to an experimental poem, to the speech we all know today.
Guests:
Kevin Young, Director of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture
W. Jason Miller, Author of Origins of the Dream: Hughes's Poetry and King's Rhetoric



4 Listeners

Sumo Wrestlers vs. Firefighters
Sidedoor
08/10/22 • 24 min
In 19th century Japan, two sumo wrestlers faced down dozens of firefighters in a brawl so epic it inspired a Kabuki play. But the story of what really happened —and who the heroes are— is all a matter of perspective. Underdogs, antiheroes and villains. How do we decide who plays what role?
Guests:
Kit Brooks, Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
Frank Feltens, Japan Foundation Associate Curator of Japanese Art at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art



4 Listeners

To Sweat Like Beyoncé
Sidedoor
02/05/25 • 18 min
Beyoncé is one of the most well-known and appreciated Black women in music today, but to understand her work, we need to look at who came before her and what those women contributed to the story of Black women on stage. In this special guest episode, curator Krystal Klingenberg introduces a new season of Collected, a podcast from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, all about Black women in music.
Guests:
Daphne A. Brooks, PhD., is professor of African American Studies and Music at Yale University. Dr. Brooks most recent books is Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound (Harvard University, February 2021). https://afamstudies.yale.edu/people/daphne-brooks
Margo Jefferson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, and a 2022 recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction. Her most recent book is Constructing a Nervous System: a memoir (2022). She is a professor of Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University. https://arts.columbia.edu/profiles/margo-jefferson
Crystal M. Moten, Ph.D., is a historian who specializes in twentieth century African American Women’s History. In 2023 she published Continually Working: Black Women, Community Intellectualism, and Economic Justice in Postwar Milwaukee. Dr. Moten is the Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago, Illinois and was previously curator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History https://www.crystalmoten.com
Dwandalyn R. Reece, Ph.D. is curator of Music and Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dr. Reece curated the museum’s permanent exhibition, Musical Crossroads, for which she received the Secretary’s Research Prize in 2017. https://music.si.edu/dr-dwandalyn-reece
Fath Davis Ruffins was a Curator of African American History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH). She began working at the museum in 1981, and between 1988 and 2005, she was the head of the Collection of Advertising History at the NMAH Archives Center. Ruffins was the original project director of Many Voices, One Nation, an exhibition that opened at NMAH in June 2017. She was leading a museum project on the history and culture of the Low Country region of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. https://profiles.si.edu/display/nruffinsf1102006
Craig Seymour is a writer, photographer, and critic who has written about music, particularly Black music for over two decades. His most recent book is Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross (HarperCollins, 2004). https://randbeing.com/



4 Listeners

Farewell Giant Pandas
Sidedoor
11/08/23 • 29 min
All three Giant Pandas are leaving the Smithsonian's National Zoo for China by the end of the year. What's up with that?! We sat down with the director of the Zoo, Brandie Smith, to find out why the pandas are leaving, and whether China plans to send more. This might truly be the end of a beara ... we mean era!
Guests:
Brandie Smith, John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
Stephen Powers, panda fan



4 Listeners

Love in the Time of Emoji
Sidedoor
12/01/21 • 27 min
When LOL just isn't enough to respond to a friend's killer joke, emoji are there for you. But for many people, there isn't an emoji to represent them or the things they want to say. This has pushed activists, designers, and straight up regular folks to create their own emoji. It's not as easy an undertaking as you might think, but every now and then one of these new emoji is so innovative it breaks the digital mold and finds itself in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In this episode of Sidedoor, we explore how one groundbreaking emoji is changing digital representation and the future of museum collections.



4 Listeners

The Fugitive Brewer
Sidedoor
01/12/22 • 29 min
A skill for brewing beer and $100 reward for her capture. Those were the clues in an old newspaper ad that got Smithsonian brewing historian Theresa McCulla hooked on the story of Patsy Young, an enslaved African American woman who fled to freedom in 1808 and made a life for herself brewing beer. In this episode of Sidedoor, we follow McCulla as she scours historical documents to retrace Young's life and find out who she was...and what happened after her escape.
Guests:
Theresa McCulla, Curator with the Smithsonian’s American Brewing History Initiative at the National Museum of American History
Mary Elliott, Curator of American Slavery at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Frank Clark, Master of Historic Foodways at Colonial Williamsburg



4 Listeners

Love Letters
Sidedoor
02/09/23 • 13 min
They bring out the voyeur in us. And the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art is full of them. In three short letters, we offer a glimpse of tender moments in the complex lives of others.
Guests:
Josh T. Franco, Head of Collecting at the Archives of American Art.
Liza Kirwin, Interim Director of the Archives of American Art.
Jenny Williams, Associate Director for Advancement at the Archives of American Art.



4 Listeners
Show more best episodes

Show more best episodes
Featured in these lists
FAQ
How many episodes does Sidedoor have?
Sidedoor currently has 220 episodes available.
What topics does Sidedoor cover?
The podcast is about Society & Culture and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on Sidedoor?
The episode title 'Dude, Where’s my Carbon?' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Sidedoor?
The average episode length on Sidedoor is 27 minutes.
How often are episodes of Sidedoor released?
Episodes of Sidedoor are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of Sidedoor?
The first episode of Sidedoor was released on Oct 25, 2016.
Show more FAQ

Show more FAQ
Comments

@clubbilly
Mar 7
Like
Reply