What is it about a mistletoe that says “smooch?” And what the heck is figgy pudding anyway? The holidays are here again, and with them come songs, foods, and rituals so familiar we may not think to ask where they come from...until now! In this holiday special, we track down the origins of some puzzling Christmastime traditions, jingling all the way from Norse mythology to Victorian home cooking, the Emancipation Proclamation, and even out of this world.

Guests:

Margaret Weitekamp, chair of the Space History Department of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum; curator of cultural and social history of spaceflight

Ashley Rose Young, food historian at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Teddy Reeves, curator of religion at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture

Jim Deutsch, curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

A Very Merry Sidedoor

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. 

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

"God in a cup." "Perfection." "The world's best coffee." Panamanian geisha coffee has been called many things, but never Smithsonian Bird Friendly certified. That might soon change, however, as researchers from Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center find new ways to grow coffee in harmony with migratory songbirds. Join us for this fully caffeinated romp through Panama’s coffee farms as we learn all about the birds and the beans. 

Guests: 

Ruth Bennett, research ecologist at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center

Katherine Araúz Ponce, fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and PhD student at The University of Georgia

Maria Ruiz, owner of Ruiz Coffee Distributors

Ratibor & Aliss Hartmann, owners of Finca Hartmann, specialty coffee and ecotourism 

Price Peterson, owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda

The Birds and the Beans

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

Dude, Where’s my Carbon?

It started as a rumor in the cafeteria of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama: monkeys on an island in the Pacific were doing something no one had ever seen them do before. But when researchers went searching for these elusive capuchin monkeys, they discovered more questions than answers.

Guests:

Claudio Monteza, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute fellow and researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Brendan Barrett, researcher at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Meg Crofoot, director of the Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. Former Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute fellow

Monkeyin' Around on the Devil's Island

Money is power. But who's on our money - or isn’t - can be just as powerful. While Lady Liberty has graced American coins and dollars for most of our history, it wasn’t until the 1970s that a real woman appeared on a circulating American coin. But that's about to change. Congress recently authorized the creation of twenty new quarters featuring American women from history. But how do we decide whose likeness gets engraved in our national story? And who makes these decisions? We’ll follow the money to find out.

Guests:

Jennifer Schneider, former program manager at Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, current assistant registrar of outgoing and government loans at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Tey Marianna Nunn, former director of the American Women’s History Initiative at the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, current associate director for content and interpretation at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino

Ellen Feingold, curator of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Joseph Menna, chief engraver at the United States Mint

Tim Grant, public affairs manager at the United States Mint

Dave Clark, supervisor of blanking annealing and upsetting at the United States Mint

Face Value

Did you know a person born on February 29 is called a "leapling"? This special episode is hopping with Leap Day trivia! Like, why do we need an extra day every four years anyway? And will I get paid for working an extra day in February? It's the lowdown on Leap Day in an episode that's as off-kilter as the earth's axis.

Guest:

Bob Craddock, Geologist at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies

A Very Merry Sidedoor

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