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
Did Meat Make Us Human?
Eating meat is what made us human. At least, that's one of the leading theories to explain how our brains got so big. The theory says that our human ancestors evolved bigger brains as a result of swi…
00:25:25 |
Wed 21 Sep 2022
Love in the Time of Emoji
When LOL just isn't enough to respond to a friend's killer joke, emoji are there for you. But for many people, there isn't an emoji to represent them or the things they want to say. This has pushed a…
00:28:49 |
Wed 07 Sep 2022
Dynamo Dot
Dorothy Liebes was a whirlwind in the weaving world. Throughout the 1930s, she spun luxury fabrics so bold and colorful that their style could only be described as the "Liebes Look." But when the Uni…
00:29:55 |
Wed 24 Aug 2022
Sumo Wrestlers vs. Firefighters
In 19th century Japan, two sumo wrestlers faced down dozens of firefighters in a brawl so epic it inspired a Kabuki play. But the story of what really happened —and who the heroes are— is all a matte…
00:24:38 |
Wed 10 Aug 2022
Culture in Crisis
"This is a war not only for the territory. This is war against our culture," says Ihor Poshyvailo, director of the Maidan Museum in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine has scores of museums, cemeteries, archeolog…
00:36:08 |
Wed 27 Jul 2022
Hubble Trouble
As NASA releases the James Webb Space Telescope's first images, we focus our lens on its predecessor: the Hubble Space Telescope. Prepare for liftoff, as we explore how America's first large space te…
00:31:07 |
Wed 13 Jul 2022
A Star-Spangled Bonus Episode
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 America…
00:14:14 |
Mon 04 Jul 2022
Get Off My Lawn
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 c…
00:29:44 |
Wed 29 Jun 2022
The Sex Lives of Giant Pandas
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 …
00:32:07 |
Wed 15 Jun 2022
It’s Season Eight!
Sidedoor returns for its eighth season on Wednesday, June 15th!
00:01:05 |
Wed 08 Jun 2022
Bonus: Yes She Did!
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 Nationa…
00:26:16 |
Wed 01 Jun 2022
Bonus: Black Feminism Re-rooted
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 Nation…
00:18:24 |
Wed 18 May 2022
Bonus: Moonshine
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 Nationa…
00:28:46 |
Wed 04 May 2022
The Hungerford Deed
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…
00:27:56 |
Wed 20 Apr 2022
The Many Inventions of Beatrice Kenner
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 a…
00:29:11 |
Wed 06 Apr 2022
Broad Stripes, Bright Stars and White Lies
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 …
00:29:51 |
Wed 23 Mar 2022
Take Who Out to the Ball Game?
Baseball fan or not, you know this song…or at least, you think you do. “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is one of the top three most recognizable songs in the country, next to “The Star Spangled Banner…
00:30:22 |
Wed 09 Mar 2022
Raven and the Box of Daylight
Before here was here Raven was a white bird, and the world was in darkness. So begins the story passed down among the Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest since time immemorial. This origin story …
00:29:49 |
Wed 23 Feb 2022
King's Speech
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech is one of the most famous speeches in the world. But it almost didn’t happen. If you look at King's typed manuscript of his speech —which is current…
00:35:34 |
Wed 09 Feb 2022
The Robot in the Mirror
It’s easy to think artificial intelligence is objective. It doesn’t have emotions. It operates based on cold hard calculations. But artificial intelligence is built on human intelligence, and it may …
00:32:06 |
Wed 26 Jan 2022
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