Speaking with the Secretary

09/24/19 • 24 min

2 Listeners

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Bunch says a portrait can restore humanity, as in the case of Henrietta Lacks. She's the woman whose 'immortal' cells were taken without her knowledge and then used to pioneer important medical advances. Bunch, a scholar of American history, also describes images of one of his favorite presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson. As a lawmaker, Johnson had a 20-year record of voting against civil rights. Then he became a force for racial justice.

Check out the images we discuss on our website: https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/speaking-secretary

Check out the images we discuss on our website: https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/speaking-secretary

Previous Episode

Remembering Marian Anderson with Leslie Ureña

Classical vocalist Marian Anderson became a civil rights icon in 1939 when she sang before 75,000 spectators at the Lincoln Memorial — a concert organized after she was barred from singing at Constitution Hall because of her race. But curator Leslie Ureña wants people to know there’s much more to her story than a single performance.. including a pretty good pancake recipe.

Check out the portraits we discuss on our website: https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/remembering-marian-anderson

Next Episode

In Memoriam: Cokie Roberts

It wasn’t long after Cokie Roberts came on Portraits that we learned the sad news of her passing, on Sept. 17. We quickly realized we has a ton of great material from our interview with her on First Ladies that never made it into the final edition. So this episode we reprise some of those special moments from the cutting room floor— where her smarts, her compassion, and her moxie are on full display.

Find our original interview with Cokie at our website: https://npg.si.edu/podcasts