When we think of serial killers, we tend to think of men—Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Jack the Ripper. But in the 1800s, the deadliest killers often wore corsets. In fact, so many women were arrested for serial poisoning that the era became known as the “Golden Age of Arsenic.” Journey back in time to trace the crimes of Lydia Sherman, a Victorian Era femme fatale who left a trail of bodies in her wake. How did she — and women like her — evade capture for so long? And how did their murders help give rise to modern criminal forensics?

Guests:

Kristen Frederick-Frost, curator of science at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

Lisa Perrin, author and illustrator of The League of Lady Poisoners

Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner's Handbook. Director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT.

There was a time, before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, when some researchers believed women were better suited for space than men. In 1961, a group of female pilots—today known as the Mercury 13—quietly aced NASA’s toughest astronaut tests, even outperforming the Mercury men in some areas. But with the space race heating up, their mission was grounded— but not by science. But what became of America’s first female astronaut candidates?

Guests:

Margaret Weitekamp, chair of the space history department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and author of Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America’s First Women in Space Program andSpace Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight

Emily Calandrelli, engineer, author, and TV show host of Emily’s Wonderlab and Xploration Outer Space

Beyoncé is one of the most well-known and appreciated Black women in music today, but to understand her work, we need to look at who came before her and what those women contributed to the story of Black women on stage. In this special guest episode, curator Krystal Klingenberg introduces a new season of Collected, a podcast from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, all about Black women in music.

Guests:

Daphne A. Brooks, PhD., is professor of African American Studies and Music at Yale University. Dr. Brooks most recent books is Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound (Harvard University, February 2021). https://afamstudies.yale.edu/people/daphne-brooks

Margo Jefferson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, and a 2022 recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction. Her most recent book is Constructing a Nervous System: a memoir (2022). She is a professor of Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University. https://arts.columbia.edu/profiles/margo-jefferson

Crystal M. Moten, Ph.D., is a historian who specializes in twentieth century African American Women’s History. In 2023 she published Continually Working: Black Women, Community Intellectualism, and Economic Justice in Postwar Milwaukee. Dr. Moten is the Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago, Illinois and was previously curator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History https://www.crystalmoten.com

Dwandalyn R. Reece, Ph.D. is curator of Music and Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dr. Reece curated the museum’s permanent exhibition, Musical Crossroads, for which she received the Secretary’s Research Prize in 2017. https://music.si.edu/dr-dwandalyn-reece

Fath Davis Ruffins was a Curator of African American History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH). She began working at the museum in 1981, and between 1988 and 2005, she was the head of the Collection of Advertising History at the NMAH Archives Center. Ruffins was the original project director of Many Voices, One Nation, an exhibition that opened at NMAH in June 2017. She was leading a museum project on the history and culture of the Low Country region of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. https://profiles.si.edu/display/nruffinsf1102006

Craig Seymour is a writer, photographer, and critic who has written about music, particularly Black music for over two decades. His most recent book is Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross (HarperCollins, 2004). https://randbeing.com/

Whether it's live on the Smithsonian 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 cuddly-looking black and white bears just can't figure out how to mate. But, with a little help from science, the once-endangered giant panda is making a comeback. To honor the arrival of the National Zoo's newest giant pandas, we peep into the (not so secret) sex lives of pandas.

Guests:
Pierre Comizzoli, panda sex expert and staff scientist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Lisa Stevens, AKA “Panda Lady”; former senior curator of mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Stephen Powers, panda fan

Children say it every day in school, but have you ever wondered why we recite the pledge of allegiance? We journey back to the late 1800s to understand how a massive wave of immigration and sagging magazine subscriptions gave rise to this vow of patriotism. From the Civil War to anti-immigrant nativism and Cold War politics, this one pledge tells many stories.

Guests:

Debbie Schaefer-Jacobs, curator for the history of education collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography

"I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little stitious.” As the New Year approaches, this iconic line from The Office feels more relatable than ever. From gulping grapes in Spain to donning yellow underwear in South America and practicing Scotland’s ancient “first-footing” tradition, people around the world embrace odd – and oddly meaningful - rituals to ensure good luck in the year ahead. Join us as we travel around the Smithsonian to explore how facing the unknown brings us together at New Year’s… in the most unusual ways.

Guests:

Jim Deutsch, senior content coordinator for America at 250 book project with the Smithsonian Institution, formerly a curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Tey Marianna Nunn, associate director of content and interpretation for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino

Theo Gonzalvez, curator at the National Museum of American History

Grace Jan, Yao Wenqing Chinese Painting Conservator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

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 from different artists and journalists have tweaked Truth's legacy to fit their messages, giving her a “kaleidoscopic reputation,” according to Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol.

So how did a speech she never gave make Sojourner Truth one of the most famous women’s suffragists of the 19th century? And what did Truth actually say? Turns out, the whole Truth is even better than fiction.

Guests:

Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: a Life, a Symbol; Edwards Professor of American History Emerita at Princeton University

Ashleigh Coren, former content strategist for the Smithsonian's Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past initiative

Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and host of the Smithsonian's Portraits podcast

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 another powerful woman who broke with convention… and then the sculpture disappeared. On this return episode of Sidedoor, we find them both.

You can see "The Death of Cleopatra" at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The new exhibition, The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture features 82 artworks created between 1792 and 2023, including two by Edmonia Lewis.

Guests:
Marilyn Richardson, art historian and independent curator

Kirsten Pai Buick, professor of art historian at the University of New Mexico and author of Child of the Fire: Mary Edmonia Lewis and the Problem of Art History's Black and Indian Subject

Karen Lemmey, the Lucy S. Reign Curator of Sculpture at the Smithsonian American Art Museum