Smithsonian Podcast

Thanksgiving tells the story of a landmark moment of coexistence, multiculturalism and even neighborliness (above: The First Thanksgiving, 1621, Jean Leon G. Ferris) when Native Americans taught Pilgrims to farm, and shared a meal with them after a successful harvest in 1621.

How an Unremarkable 'Brunch in the Forest' Turned Into the Thanksgiving We Know

A new Sidedoor podcast dives into the holiday's origins

“What I also want people to understand is that as difficult as this history is, it's ripe with optimism," says the museum's director Lonnie Bunch. "Because if you can survive that cabin, there's a lot more you can survive.”

This South Carolina Cabin Is Now a Crown Jewel in the Smithsonian Collections

The 16- by 20-foot dwelling once housed the enslaved; a new podcast tells its story

As the first serious scientist to study the legendary creature, Krantz risked his career and reputation on a subject that many consider a joke. And while the museum remembers him as a man who loved science so much that he donated his body to it, another community remembers Krantz as a pioneer in the study of Sasquatch.

The Scientist Grover Krantz Risked It All. . .Chasing Bigfoot

The dedicated anthropologist donated his body to science and it’s on display, but his legacy is complicated

Mosquito researcher Kelly Bennett, turkey baster in hand, is on the prowl, collecting specimens for study

Hunting Deadly Mosquitoes in Panama

The latest podcast “Sidedoor” travels with Smithsonian experts on the trail of the buzzing beasts known as the Aedes

At JPL's Mars Yard testing area, two spacecraft engineers Matt Robinson (left) and Wesley Kuykendall with test rovers Soujourner at center, test sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, left, and Curiosity, right.

Think Mountain Time’s Confusing? Try Living on Martian Time

Smithsonian's latest podcast "AirSpace" digs into the zany work schedules of the men and women on NASA's Mars rover projects

The Juggling Genius of Paul Cinquevalli

Remembering a showman who gave his life to his craft

Ai Weiwei worked with Amnesty International and other groups to collect the stories of people imprisoned in 33 countries.

Ai Weiwei Depicts the Brutality of Authoritarianism in an Unusual Medium–Legos

The renowned Chinese Artist finally gets to see his work about political prisoners at the Hirshhorn

The algal scrubber in action.

Smithsonian Scientists Are Using Algae to Revitalize America’s Waterways

Walter Adey’s algal turf scrubber filters pollutants to clean water

One of the Boys by Stacy L. Pearsall, 2007

Six Artists Record the Vestiges of War in the Faces of Combatants

A look at a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, "The Face of Battle: Americans at War, 9/11 to Now"

Sam Kass explains the brewing process.

How Barack Obama Became the First President to Brew Beer at the White House

The former president and his staff crafted ales featuring honey from the White House garden

Hamm’s Draft Beer Can

Raise a Glass to the Smithsonian's First Beer Scholar

Theresa McCulla is ready to start the “best job ever” chronicling the history of American brewing

In 2001, Smithsonian scientists Doug Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide traveled to the Grove in Glenview, Illinois, Robert Kennicott's boyhood home, to open the naturalist's casket and determine the cause of his death.

Two Smithsonian Scientists Retrace the Mysterious Circumstances of an 1866 Death and Change History

Did the 19th-century naturalist Robert Kennicott die of his own hand?

Uniformed Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag

A Brief History of Children Sent Through the Mail

In the early days of the parcel post, some parents took advantage of the mail in unexpected ways

When the Standardization of Time Arrived in America

It used to be that each town kept its own time, and chaos reigned

Social media is changing the nature of personal communication

How the Cell Phone Is Forever Changing Human Communication

An ongoing study by Smithsonian anthropologists investigates the dramatic shifts wrought by the smart phone

Batang and her infant are doing well and Zoo staff report she is nursing the new male Bornean orangutan.

UPDATE: Meet the National Zoo's Latest Bouncing Baby—an Orangutan (New Video)

A historical birth of a male Bornean orangutan, the first in 25 years, took place in Washington, D.C.

This first-person account by B.C. Franklin is titled "The Tulsa Race Riot and Three of Its Victims." It was recovered from a storage area in 2015 and donated to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

A Long-Lost Manuscript Contains a Searing Eyewitness Account of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921

An Oklahoma lawyer details the attack by hundreds of whites on the thriving black neighborhood where hundreds died 95 years ago

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