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.
- Update frequency
- every 13 days
- Average duration
- 26 minutes
- Episodes
- 230
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
The Whole Truth
Sojourner Truth was a women's rights advocate known best for her famous speech "Ain't I a Woman." But Truth never actually said these words. In fact, much of the Truth we know… is fiction. Depictions…
00:33:47 |
Wed 11 Dec 2024
Finding Cleopatra
Edmonia Lewis was the first sculptor of African American and Native American (Mississauga) descent to achieve international fame. Her 3,000-pound masterwork, “The Death of Cleopatra,” commemorated an…
00:27:06 |
Wed 27 Nov 2024
Bitcoin Bank Heist
Imagine this: invisible robbers break into a bank and steal massive sacks of cash, but instead of running away with it they set their haul on the front stoop of the bank in a glass case. Everyone can…
00:39:46 |
Wed 13 Nov 2024
The Wide Awakes
They carried torches and marched at night. Their goal: defend free speech in America. What started as a small group of young men demonstrating during the 1860 election, snowballed into a mass movemen…
00:35:42 |
Wed 30 Oct 2024
The Devil’s Composer
Imagine Jaws without the sneaking tuba. Or Psycho without the shrieking violins. Music can help a horror film strike fear in the heart of theatergoers. And you can trace some of these musical scare t…
00:39:18 |
Wed 16 Oct 2024
Bankers in the Boudoir
In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Frodo becomes invisible when he puts the Ring on his finger. Well, at banks in the 1970s, this is basically what happened when a woman put a wedding ring on her fing…
00:32:08 |
Wed 02 Oct 2024
Jim the Penman
During the mid-1800s, one third of all paper money in America was thought to be fake. It was the golden age of counterfeiting, and one exceptionally talented con artist stood out from all the rest. H…
00:37:36 |
Wed 18 Sep 2024
It's Season 11
Sidedoor returns for its eleventh season on Wednesday, September 18th!
00:01:23 |
Wed 11 Sep 2024
Are Robots About to Level Up?
Within just a few years, artificial intelligence systems that sometimes seem to display almost human characteristics have gone from science fiction to apps on your phone. But there’s another AI-influ…
00:39:31 |
Wed 28 Aug 2024
Social Media and the Subway
There aren’t many portrait artists who get recognized on the street, but it happens to Devon Rodriguez all the time. After quietly honing his skill for a decade, Devon started posting videos of his l…
00:21:28 |
Wed 14 Aug 2024
Archiving the Underground
Next up in our summer playlist, we bring you an episode of The Kitchen Sisters Present, a podcast featuring sound-rich stories ‘from the b-side of history.’ This one is a musical treat! The Kitchen S…
00:38:06 |
Wed 31 Jul 2024
Rocket Man
In the twentieth century, the jetpack became synonymous with the idea of a ‘futuristic society.’ Appearing in cartoons and magazines, it felt like a matter of time before people could ride a jetpack …
00:40:53 |
Wed 17 Jul 2024
A Giant Listening Project
It’s been called ‘the most noble and absurd undertaking ever attempted by any state.’ During the height of the Great Depression, the U.S government hired out-of-work writers and laid-off reporters an…
00:25:26 |
Wed 03 Jul 2024
The Lost Woolly Dog
For thousands of years, fluffy white dogs could be found across the Pacific Northwest. Their exceptionally soft, crimpy hair was shorn like sheep’s wool, spun into yarn, and woven into blankets and r…
00:41:07 |
Wed 19 Jun 2024
Cosmic Journey II: Voyage into the Abyss
Hitch a ride on the Chandra X-ray Observatory as it scours deep space for some of the most enigmatic and misunderstood objects in the universe: black holes. What are they good for? Absolutely somethi…
00:32:10 |
Wed 05 Jun 2024
Cosmic Journey I: "Stellar Buffoonery"
Black holes could unlock the mysteries of creation and live at the heart of nearly every galaxy. But these invisible balls of extremely dense matter have never been fully understood, especially when …
00:34:37 |
Wed 22 May 2024
Cicadapalooza
The cicadas are back for some fun in the sun, and this time, they’re louder than ever! For the first time since 1803, Broods XIII and XIX will be emerging at the same time, covering the American Sout…
00:33:04 |
Wed 08 May 2024
The Birds and the Beans
"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 resea…
00:37:21 |
Wed 24 Apr 2024
Dude, Where’s my Carbon?
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…
00:32:36 |
Wed 10 Apr 2024
Monkeyin' Around on the Devil's Island
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…
00:28:24 |
Wed 27 Mar 2024
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are the property of Smithsonian Institution ([email protected]). This content is not affiliated with or endorsed by eachpod.com.