Sidedoor

Which came first, the flag or the song? Sidedoor is celebrating this Independence Day with a special bonus episode: the story behind our Star-Spangled Banner. Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History military curator Jennifer Jones explains the origin and meaning behind the national anthem through the tattered piece of wool that lies at the heart of the museum. What are ramparts anyways? You'll find out!

Guest:

Jennifer Jones, military curator at National Museum of American History

Nowhere in the world are lawns as revered as they are in the United States. The picture-perfect patch of grass is so deeply rooted in the American psyche it feels more like a default setting than a choice. Americans spend countless hours every year seeding, watering, mowing, and fertilizing patches of grass that don't make much sense, economically or ecologically. But why? In this episode, we dig into the history of our lawnly love to learn where the concept came from...and how we grew so obsessed.

Guests:

Cindy Brown, manager of collections, education, and access at Smithsonian Gardens

Joyce Connolly, museum specialist at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens

Abeer Saha, curator of agriculture and engineering at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Sylvia Schmeichel, lead horticulturist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

Jeff Schneider, deputy director of Smithsonian Gardens

Whether it's live on the Smithsonian’s National Zoo's panda cam or in front of a crowd, possibly no other animal's sex life is as closely watched as the giant pandas' is. And there's a reason. These cuddly-looking black and white bears just can't figure out how to mate. But, with a little help from science, the once-endangered giant panda is making a comeback. In honor of the 50th anniversary of giant pandas at Smithsonian's National Zoo, we peep into the (not so secret) sex lives of pandas.

Guests:

• Pierre Comizzoli, panda sex expert and staff scientist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

• Lisa Stevens, AKA “Panda Lady”; former senior curator of mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo

• Stephen Powers, panda fan

Sidedoor returns for its eighth season on Wednesday, June 15th!

We’re hard at work producing the next season of Sidedoor, but just in case you can’t get enough Smithsonian podcasts we’re sharing a special guest episode of Portraits, from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. In this episode, grassroots organizer Dolores Huerta talks about how she took on the status quo (in a wrinkled sweater) during the landmark Delano Grape Strike. All the time, she fought on two fronts: resisting exploitation and also resisting sexism, sometimes from within the very labor movement she helped to launch. You can subscribe to Portraits wherever you get your podcasts.

We’re hard at work producing the next season of Sidedoor, but just in case you can’t get enough Smithsonian podcasts, we’re sharing a special guest episode of Collected, from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. In this first episode of the series, co-hosts Dr. Crystal Moten and Dr. Krystal Klingenberg discuss the multiple definitions of Black Feminism, joined by guests Dr. Brittney Cooper, Paris Hatcher, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Feminista Jones. You can subscribe to Collected wherever you get your podcasts.

We’re hard at work producing the next season of Sidedoor, but just in case you can’t get enough Smithsonian podcasts, we’re sharing a special guest episode of AirSpace, from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. This story is about a truly intoxicating period of American history – Prohibition! In this episode of AirSpace, you’ll learn how banning alcohol in the U.S. gave the fledgling air travel industry the shot it needed to get off the ground. You can subscribe to AirSpace wherever you get your podcasts.

When a 200-year-old legal document anonymously arrived at his office, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives conservator William Bennett assumed it would be full of boring legal jargon. Instead, he found a juicy tale of family betrayal that would forever change what we thought we knew about the founding of the Smithsonian.

Speakers:

William Bennett, conservator at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and Archives

Social: @rwilliab (Instagram), @SirWilliamB (Twitter)

Heather Ewing, author of The Lost World of James Smithson, and Associate Dean at New York Studio School

Social: @HPealeEwing

Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large

An accident that nearly killed Beatrice Kenner when she was five years old scarred her face for life, but it also gave her a determination to create solutions wherever she saw obstacles. This drive and ingenuity made her one of the most prolific African American inventors of the mid 20th century. This time on Sidedoor, we explore what might be Beatrice Kenner's greatest invention of all: an innovation for periods in a period of innovation.

Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag. At least, that's what we were taught in school. But when historians go searching… there’s no proof to be found. In this episode of Sidedoor, we unravel this vexillological tale tall to find out how this myth got started, and who Betsy Ross really was.

Guests:

Jennifer Locke Jones, political and military history curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

Twitter: @jonesjl_si

Marc Leepson, journalist, historian and author of the book Flag: An American Biography

@MarcLeepson

https://www.marcleepson.com/

Book link: https://www.amazon.com/Flag-American-Biography-Marc-Leepson/dp/0312323093

Marla R. Miller, historian and author of Betsy Ross and the Making of America

Twitter: @MarlaAtLarge

Book link: https://www.amazon.com/Betsy-Making-America-Marla-Miller/dp/0805082972