Sidedoor

As we approach the nation's 250th birthday, we are looking back at some of the most important moments in American history. One of those moments is when Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag. But, as we discovered, there’s actually no proof that Ross sewed the first flag. In fact, we don't even know what the first American flag even looked like! 
In this episode of Sidedoor, we unravel this vexillological tall tale to find out how this myth got started, and who Betsy Ross really was.
Sidedoor also recently teamed up with the popular 99% Invisible podcast to explore the lesser-known history of the American flag. The episode, “Flag Days: Unfolding a Moment,” is available to listen to now. 
Guests: 
Jennifer Locke Jones, political and military history curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History 
Marc Leepson, journalist, historian and author of the book Flag: An American Biography
Marla R. Miller, historian and author of Betsy Ross and the Making of America

When a Smithsonian archaeology intern opened a dusty box of bones in a Panamanian warehouse, she didn't expect to find a mystery, let alone a potential crime scene. But Nina Hirai’s discovery of a tapir skull riddled with what appeared to be bullet holes sparked an investigation that would lead her several miles up the Panama Canal and nearly forty years into the past. Join us as we unspool the strange, unresolved story of a tapir named Alice, and ask what it means to live with uncertainty when the past refuses to explain itself.
Guests:
Nina Hirai, former archeology intern at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 
Nicole Smith-Guzmán, archeology curator at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 
Ashley Sharpe, research archeologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 
Aureliano Valencia (“Yeyo”), archeological research technician at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 
Phyllis (Lissy) Coley, professor emerita in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah and research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute  
Monica Brenes Lynan, former veterinarian at Parque Municipal Summit in Panama 
Andres Ramos, lider de guardabosques del Monumento Natural Barro Colorado / head park ranger at Barro Colorado Island

What does it look like for something to be made in America? 
Through the photography of Christopher Payne, we journey across the past, present and future of American manufacturing to answer this question. From centuries-old textile mills to modern assembly lines, Payne’s photographs offer a rare, behind-the-scenes view of how everyday objects—from pencils to airplanes to marshmallow Peeps—are made. 
With the help of Smithsonian curator, Susan Brown, and author, Rachel Slade, we also explore the history behind these factories, and how the story of American manufacturing is the story of our nation itself. 

Guests: 
Christopher Payne, Industrial photographer
Susan Brown, associate curator, and acting head of textiles at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum; curator of the exhibition Made in America
Rachel Slade, author of the book Making it in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (and How it Got That Way)

Something dark and invisible makes up as much as 90 to 95 percent of the universe—and it took a little girl staring out a bedroom window at the night sky to bring it to light. 
As a child, Vera Rubin built her own telescope. As an adult, she uncovered a problem no telescope could solve: stars at the edges of galaxies were moving just as fast as those near the center. The math contradicted everything astronomers expected to see...unless the universe was filled with unseen matter.
This is the story of how Vera Rubin pushed through the gender barriers of the 1950s and turned a fringe idea into one of astronomy’s biggest open questions. What is dark matter? How did Rubin help prove it was real? And what does it mean that most of the universe is made of something we can’t see?
Guests: 
Ashley Yeager, Associate News Editor at Science News and Author of Bright Galaxies Dark Matter and Beyond: The Life of Astronomer Vera Rubin
Ramona Rubin, Granddaughter of Vera Rubin 
Deidre Hunter, Astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona 
Amruta Jaodand, Astrophysicist at the Chandra X-Ray Center in the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

A string of unsolved murders in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1970s led police to the door of a young Korean immigrant named Chol Soo Lee — who was quickly arrested and sentenced to life in prison. But when investigative journalist K.W. Lee started digging into the case, he discovered a world of twisted law and order that went far deeper than one man. The articles K.W. wrote about what he uncovered in Chinatown shocked Asian Americans across Northern California to stand up and demand justice for Chol Soo Lee — and themselves. 
Corrections:
In this episode we state that Chol Soo Lee had a mustache in the photo that appeared in the mug book. Correction: He did have a mustache at the time of the killing, but he did not have a mustache in that photo.
We state that K.W. Lee learned of Chol Soo Lee stabbing a fellow inmate from a TV news segment. Correction: He learned about it in a news briefing. 
We state that K.W. Lee was at the premiere of the documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee.” Correction: He attended the premiere virtually in January of 2022. He physically attended a screening in August of 2022 when the film was released in theaters.
Guests: 
Sojin Kim, curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Ranko Yamada, friend of K.W. Lee and Chol Soo Lee 
Julie Ha, journalist, writer and co-director of the documentary film "Free Chol Soo Lee"