Sidedoor

The Smithsonian Institution was founded on principles of reason and scientific inquiry. So why is the Smithsonian home to countless tales of unexplained phenomena and—dare we say—ghost sightings? Inspired by an apparition at the National Museum of American History, we creak across museum attic floorboards, sneak into an old house in the woods, and even travel back in time to bring you a collection of spooky stories that can only be found at the Smithsonian.

Guests:

Molly Horrocks, Collections Manager, Division of Political and Military History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Pamela Henson, Institutional Historian at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Cpl. Ronald Howlin, Security Officer at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Deborah Hull-Walski, Collections Manager, Education Collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

Melissa Johnson, daughter of Deb Hull-Walski and former skeptical teenager

Kim Dixon, former volunteer at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Looks like these criminals used correct postage, 'cause justice is about to be delivered. Okay, there are no snappy one-liners in this crime scene investigation, but there are explosions, collisions, manhunts and even a cow who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the centennial of "The Last Great Train Robbery," we re-examine the evidence to find out how U.S. Postal Inspectors tracked down a band of old school outlaws using cutting edge criminal forensics...and postmarked them for prison.

Guests:

Lynn Heidelbaugh, curator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Chelsea Rose, Director of the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology

Kate Winkler Dawson, author of American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics and the Birth of American CSI

Cellphones put the power of the world at our fingertips. With the touch of a finger, you can instantly connect with your doctor, have food delivered to your office or simply obliterate your niece at Words with Friends. And it's all made possible by rocks formed millions of years ago, deep underground. Join us as we bust open our devices to figure out how these stones power our phones.

Guests:

Icky Gunk. Moldy Hay. Kermit. You might recognize one of these names. Before Kermit joined Miss Piggy and Big Bird, he was kicking it with Sam and Friends — a local tv show in Washington, D.C. that launched Jim Henson's career. We journey back to 1955 to figure out how this eccentric cast of puppets built the foundation for everything Jim Henson would do afterwards, from Sesame Street, to The Muppet Show and even Labyrinth (we see you, David Bowie fans). And we venture into the conservation labs to learn what it took to revive these crumbling hunks of foam and fabric when they landed at the Smithsonian.

Guests:

Ryan Lintelman, curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History 

Sidedoor returns for its tenth season on Wednesday, September 13th!

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

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. In honor of the Smithsonian’s 177th birthday, we’re sharing one of our favorite stories from the Sidedoor collection.

Guests:

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

When you imagine the sound of a dinosaur, you probably think of a scene from the Jurassic Park movies. How do sound designers make these extinct creatures sound so believably alive? And what does modern paleontology tell us about what dinosaurs REALLY sounded like? This guest episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz features Jurassic World sound designer Al Nelson and paleontologist Julia Clarke.

We’ll be back with new episodes of Sidedoor soon! If you enjoyed this episode, you can find more episodes of Twenty Thousand Hertz at 20k.org.

A Smithsonian researcher has made a discovery we couldn't wait to sink our teeth into — what might be the earliest evidence of our human ancestors eating each other. This conversation is a special update from our past episode 'Did Meat Make Us Human?' Bon appétit! 

Before the invention of photography, only the rich could afford to have portraits of themselves. But in the early 1800s, a device called the physiognotrace democratized portraiture, making it possible or everyday people to have their images captured in silhouettes. A man named William Bache traveled the United States creating hundreds of silhouette portraits with the aid of the physiognotrace, leaving behind a ledger book that gives us a rare glimpse of early America. A ledger book…laced with poison.

Guests

Robyn Asleson, curator of prints and drawings at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

Nora Lockshin, senior conservator for archives at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Wendy Bellion, Sewell C. Biggs Chair in American Art History, and associate dean for the humanities at the University of Delaware

Carolyn Hauk, doctoral student in the art history department of the University of Delaware, former intern at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery