In the early 20th century, the medical establishment became fixated with the idea that gay people could be “cured.” To achieve this, they turned to a litany of brutal practices: from electrotherapy to lobotomies.

Ancient Greeks were endlessly fascinated by Egyptian culture, and especially the Egyptian Gods whom they saw as versions of their own. So much so that they ended up adopting Egyptian culture and customs as their own.

Through the science of robotics, researchers in California have created a lifelike bust of Albert Einstein to teach others, and themselves, about the breakthroughs made with robots

The National Gallery of Art organized a comprehensive exhibit of Robert Frank's work (Images courtesy of: National Gallery of Art; Produced by: Diane Bolz and Brian Wolly)

Czech immigrants brought the pastry to Texas; Autumn Stanford brought them to New York

Edwin Bearss lends a dynamic personality and a booming voice to teaching the history of the Civil War in northern Virginia (Meredith Bragg)

Obviously it's a bad idea to go out into space without a trusty spacesuit, but what exactly happens?

This unmanned aerial vehicle can be launched from, and land on, a moving ship thanks to new technology Narrated by T.A. Frail Script by Brendan McCabe Video courtesy of Insitu

[Harry Carney Home Movies], Ruth Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

The Peacock Room at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art has it all: friendship, betrayal, revenge, and… peacocks. Learn more about the iconic artist James McNeill Whistler and his shocking feud with patron Frederick Leyland in this new episode of National Treasure. --------- To learn more about the Peacock Room at Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, read below: How Golden Peacocks on a Dining Room Wall Destroyed a Longstanding Friendship in Victorian Society https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-golden-peacocks-on-a-dining-room-wall-destroyed-a-longstanding-friendship-in-victorian-society-180984735/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Director of Programming: Nicki Marko Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Producer & Editor: Sierra Theobald Motion Designer: Ricardo Jaimes

Anthony Atala | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Life Sciences The director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Atala is a surgeon and leading expert in creating living human tissues and organs to replace those that are defective or damaged. He has spent the past decade attempting to construct living organs using 3-D printing technology. Atala implanted the world’s first laboratory-grown organ into a human in 1999 and, this year, he and his colleagues “printed” cartilage, bone and muscle tissue before successfully implanting them into a lab animal. That’s a crucial first step toward Atala’s long-term goal of overcoming the dire shortage of donated organs with custom-made body parts. Read more about Atala's work: http://smithmag.co/SiiV2J | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

From the fields to the monasteries to the markets, this rice dish is everywhere in this Asian nation Written & Narrated by Mike Ives Music by Tuxedo Special thanks to Vilayluck Onphanmany & Eliza Berry

Not to worry—shut-eye comes easily to these aquatic mammals

Have you ever wondered how a simple shot can keep you from dying a horrible death? In this one-minute video, Ask Smithsonian’s host, Eric Schulze, unravels how vaccines boot-camp our bodies into shape, getting us ready to fight off deadly diseases.

In the years before digital cameras, the process of getting shots from the field to the printers was incredibly complicated and dangerous. Video by Adam Grossman | Good Dog Media

The legendary Stan Lee, creator of the Avengers, Spiderman and Iron Man, has partnered with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to launch the first global online course about superheroes to fans around the world. Register now: smithsonian.com/edx/superheroes

From steaming the wooden planks to hoisting the ship into the water, this replica of a 17th century ship needed the work of many volunteers to set sail

Paul Raffaele explores gorilla tourism, raising gorillas in captivity and the future of the Congo mountain gorillas

Watch this exclusive clip from the upcoming Ric Burns documentary about the "Green Book"

Have you ever wondered why these birds strike this peculiar pose? Find out in this one-minute video, where Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze walks us through the reasons behind the majestic bird’s one-legged stance.

From the inventor's New Jersey film studio, the delight of cats doing things on film was discovered early in 1894

Christopher Nolan's epic new film "Oppenheimer" is no mere biopic… nor is it the first attempt to capture the father of the atomic bomb in fiction. We look at prior dramatizations of this very complicated man—including one wherein J. Robert Oppenheimer played himself!—and examine why they worked or didn't. In the episode: Physicist-turned-photographer Minesh Bacrania shares his experience photographing inside the top-secret labs at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where J. Robert Oppenheimer and other scientists created the first nuclear weapon. Next, with Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer exceeding commercial expectations, Smithsonian magazine writer Andy Kifer discusses the complexities of Oppenheimer's genius and how prior attempts to depict him in film and television and on stage have fared. Read Andy Kifer’s “The Real Story Behind Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer” here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-history-behind-christopher-nolans-oppenheimer-180982529/) . See Minesh Bacrania’s photographs of Los Alamos and read Smithsonian senior editor Jennie Rothenberg Gritz’s text here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/exclusive-behind-scenes-look-los-alamos-lab-where-robert-oppenheimer-created-atomic-bomb-180982336/) or in the July/August 2023 issue of Smithsonian. There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Genevieve Sponsler, Adriana Rozas Rivera, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

The figurative painter talks about the artistic process, his education and his influences.

Oysters were Mark Twain's favorite food: http://j.mp/LCWpx8 What the tiny shellfish lacks in size, it makes up for in taste. Meet the farmers who are counting on the Olympia's success

Watch how the artist directs his team so when a photograph is taken, Bolin is completely camouflaged by his surroundings

With hundreds of new uranium mining claims filed within just a few miles of Grand Canyon National Park, a proposed new law would close the area to mining development and prevent radioactive contamination from discharging into the park

Geese have known something for millions of years that humans have only recently figured out for themselves.

The team at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy needs to transport Kinani, a blind male elephant, to a 4,000-acre compound where he'll be able to roam freely without disturbing other wildlife. Weighing in at nearly eight tons, it'll take careful maneuvering and custom equipment to bring the animal to his new sanctuary.

The latest version of BirdCast creates live migration maps and dashboards that show the number of birds passing over the United States. (Credit: Dokter, A. 2023. BirdCast, live migration map; September 3 18:00 E.T.-September 4 13:40 E.T. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Accessed September 4, 2023.)

From decorative urns and plates to chandeliers, the Corning Museum of Glass features glass blown items from today to as far back as ancient Egypt.

Five categories (People, Arts, Nature, Travel and Mobile) and a grand prize of $2,000.

Archaeologists uncover an exciting find: a tomb that predates most of the others in the area by around 2,000 years. Inside, is a series of perfectly preserved inscriptions on a panel known as a "false door’."

Two weeks before he died, the legendary astronaut wrote a letter in recognition of Jeff Bezos' work, read at the 2016 American Ingenuity Awards Smithsonian magazine American #IngenuityAwards

Atlantic staff writer Frank Foer interviews Damion Thomas about athletes moving from a position of apathy to engagement

After reviewing more than 30,000 photos, the editors of Smithsonian Magazine are proud to announce the Grand Prize Winner. #shorts

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only unit comprised entirely of Black women to have been deployed overseas during World War II, and it had served a critical function: clearing the backlog of mail that marked the only line of communication between American soldiers in Europe and their loved ones back home. In this episode, we speak with retired Army Colonel Edna Cummings, who made it her business to get the 6888 their belated recognition, and with Smithsonian magazine senior writer Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, who wrote about Col. Cummings' quest (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-all-black-female-WWII-unit-saved-morale-battlefield-180981540/) for the March 2023 issue of Smithsonian. NOTE: In the interval since we recorded our interview with Col. Cummings, another veteran from the 6888 has died. With the passing of Crescencia J. Garcia last month at the age of 103, there are now five women who served in the 6888 during World War II who remain alive. Learn more about the women of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion at the Women of the 6888th site (https://www.womenofthe6888th.org/) . Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

Marc Edwards and Leeanne Walters | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winners for Social Progress The duo joined forces to protect tens of thousands of people during the disastrous water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Walters, a Flint resident, grew suspicious when her tap water changed color and her family suffered odd maladies. Officials insisted that the problems were limited to her household, but she refused to accept that answer and sought out Edwards, a Virginia Tech civil engineering professor and a veteran of municipal water wars. Combining political action and scientific credibility, the testing initiative undertaken by Walters and Edwards showed that the city’s water supply was contaminated with toxic chemicals—an explosive finding that finally forced state and local officials to address the dangers. Read more about their work: http://smithmag.co/D4dIHy | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

Margaret Wertheim talks about how math and climate change inspired her to start the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-to-crochet-a-coral-reef-69064479/

Autodesk vice president Brian Mathews talks with the NASA science communicator about the search for life on other planets and why it’s important

The science behind rat zombies

The Wright exhibition team was performing at an air meet in St. Louis when pilot Arch Hoxsey crossed paths with Teddy Roosevelt on October 11, 1910. At the time, Roosevelt was campaigning for Missouris state Republican party. In this silent clip, Roosevelt initially refuses Hoxseys invitation to fly, but changes his mind. One can only imagine what Roosevelt was thinking as Hoxsey put the biplane into three steep dives, pulling up sharply each time. Video: Library of Congress

The American Ingenuity Award winner on the connection between history and music

In 1913, British Royalty would come in direct contact with a changing social order, thanks to a suffragette named Emily Davison. Her death at Epsom Falls would send shockwaves through the nation.

The facts of Sojourner Truth’s life are inspiring: Born into slavery in the late 1790s, she became an influential abolitionist and Pentecostal preacher, transfixing audiences from the mid 1840s through the late 1870s with her candid and powerful voice, not to mention her singing. Tall and strong, Truth was physically formidable, too. No one was using the term “intersectionality” in the 19th century, but Truth embodied this idea, declaring that her Blackness and her womanhood were equally essential facets of her identity. But many people, both in Truth’s lifetime and in the approximately 140 years since her death, have found it useful to recast Truth as they wish to remember her instead of as she was. There’s no better example of this than “Ain’t I a woman?,” the hypothetical that Truth supposedly put to the audience when she addressed a women’s rights convention in 1851 in Akron, Ohio—the city where a public plaza will be dedicated in her honor this spring. There’s reason to doubt she said that, or at least that she said it in that way. In this episode, we speak with two historians who’ve dug into Truth’s complicated legacy and challenged much of what’s been written about this American icon. Cynthia Greenlee reported on recent efforts to honor Truth (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/remarkable-untold-story-sojourner-truth-180983691/) for the March 2024 issue of Smithsonian. Nell Irvin Painter wrote the groundbreaking 1996 biography Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol, and she’s hard at work on a follow-up volume titled Sojourner Truth Was a New Yorker and She Didn’t Say That. Together, Greenlee and Painter help us understand us who Sojourner Truth really was, and why several generations of activists have claimed her as a symbol — at the expense of our understanding of her as a person. Read Cynthia Greenlee’s March 2024 Smithsonian story about Sojourner Truth here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/remarkable-untold-story-sojourner-truth-180983691/) . You can learn more about Dr. Greenlee and her work at her site (https://www.cynthiagreenlee.com/) . You can learn more about Dr. Nell Irvin Painter’s work as an author, artist, and historian at her site (http://www.nellpainter.com/) . And read more here for the history of Mar-a-Lago (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-mar-a-lago-180965214/) mentioned in our dinner party fact. Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Rye Dorsey, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

The Artemis program represents the pinnacle of NASA's mind-boggling technological capabilities. Learn about the groundbreaking achievements and breathtaking lunar landscapes that await us in this new era of space exploration. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

Two British artists travel to Pittsburgh for their second installment of their "Mysterious Letters" art project.

Do you ever wonder what secrets lie beneath the sands of Egypt? Prepare to be astonished as we unveil the untouched tomb of King Tutankhamun. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

Lindow Man, believed to be a victim of human sacrifice, remains one of the best preserved ancient bodies in all of Europe. The level of detail on his face is staggering—not bad for a 2,000-year-old mummy

The musicians of the Union and Confederate armies provided strong memories of the homes left behind for the battlefield.