In the Virunga National Forest, the mountain gorilla population sits in the middle of a war zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as forest rangers track and keep a watchful eye on the threatened primates Music: Kevin MacLeod

The power behind the music of Our Native Daughters comes from giving voice to the struggles of those who came before us—and few have struggled to be heard as much as black women.

In 1918, Lulu Hunt Peters—one of the first women in America to earn a medical doctorate—published the best seller Diet and Health With Key to the Calories, making a name for herself as an apostle for weight reduction in an era when malnutrition was a far greater public health threat than obesity. She pioneered the idea of measuring food intake via the calorie, which at the time was an obscure unit of measurement familiar only to chemists.  A century later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db360.htm) that 42 percent of American adults are clinically obese and that Type 2 diabetes is on the rise (https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p1229-future-diabetes-surge.html) . With those who can afford it now turning to pharmaceuticals to help them lose weight, we’ll examine why and how calorie counting has failed to help Americans maintain a “healthy” weight.  In this episode of “There’s More to That,” we hear from food historian Michelle Stacey about Peters’ legacy—and from Ronald Young Jr., creator and host of the critically acclaimed podcast “Weight For It (https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/weight-for-it) ,” about how American society continues to stigmatize what he calls “fat folks” for reasons that have nothing to do with public, or even individual, health. A transcript is below. To subscribe to “There’s More to That,” and to listen to past episodes on the complex legacy of Sojourner Truth (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-to-separate-fact-from-myth-in-the-extraordinary-story-of-sojourner-truth-180983820/) , how Joan Baez opened the door for Taylor Swift (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/before-beyonce-taylor-swift-ran-world-joan-baez-180983893/) , how machine learning is helping archeologists to read scrolls (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-artificial-intelligence-is-making-2000-year-old-scrolls-readable-again-180984264/) buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago and more, find us on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/theres-more-to-that/id1694965155?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=podcast_box_player) , Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/4NYRCRxkYJTLjW71sqYOFv?si=08fa62c3e59d450f&nd=1) or wherever you get your podcasts. Read Michelle Stacey's story about Dr. Lulu Hunt Peters in the June 2024 issue of Smithsonian here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/doctor-pioneered-counting-calories-century-ago-were-still-dealing-with-consequences-180984282/) . Listen to Ronald Young, Jr.'s podcast "Weight For It" here (https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/weight-for-it) . 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 World Wildlife Fund films a family of western lowland gorillas in the Dzanga-Sangha reserve

"OK Go made music videos relevant again." – Stephen Colbert OK Go​, Damian Kulash Jr. and Trish Sie​ won the Smithsonian magazine​ American Ingenuity Award for Visual Arts for pushing the music-video envelope with their zero-gravity video for "Upside Down & Inside Out." Read more about their work and see the video here: http://smithmag.co/HZ8vzr The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years, and following in this tradition, Smithsonian magazine presents the American Ingenuity Awards, honoring revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress. http://smithmag.co/R7hyRO

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Wayne-B-Wheeler-The-Man-Who-Turned-Off-the-Taps.html Beverage expert Derek Brown shows how to make three cocktails from the early 20th century at his Washington, D.C. bar.

Watch this commercial for Stopette spray deodorant from 1952

Our photographer gets up close and personal with orcas in Norway. Credit: Jacques de Vos and Jeremy Goncalves with Valhalla Orca Expedition

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.

Credit: Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

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

An exhibit about the first ladies reopens at the National Museum of American History, including dresses worn at inaugural balls.

OK Go, Damian Kulash Jr. and Trish Sie | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winners for Visual Arts Specializing in the whimsical and unexpected, these artistic dynamos have collaborated on some of the most arresting music videos ever made. This year’s “Upside Down & Inside Out” showcases the OK Go band members in a gravity-defying gambol shot aboard a Russian jetliner flying parabolas to induce periods of weightlessness. (“Here It Goes Again,” a treadmill ballet released in 2006, won a Grammy Award for best short-form video.) OK Go, formed in Chicago in 1998 and now based in Los Angeles, features Tim Nordwind (bass), Andy Ross (guitar), Dan Konopka (drums) and Damian Kulash Jr. (vocals and guitar). “Upside Down & Inside Out” is the fourth video that Kulash has co-directed with Sie, an acclaimed choreographer and film director who is also his sister. Read more about their work: http://smithmag.co/HZ8vzr | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

A learning simulation, combined with fMRI readings, is able to predict the visualizations seen by a dreamer in real time

This sacred shrine in India feeds over 100,000 people a day regardless of race, religion and class.

Cardiac MRI of an animal that has undergone photosynthetic therapy. CREDIT: Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery

In 1896, Thomas Edison set off to a remote Canadian district near the Alaska border, with cameras in tow. He succeeded in capturing fascinating images of the prospectors brought in by the Gold Rush.

"They have given mankind a completely new way of looking at the universe." – Stephen Hawking, congratulates Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Ronald Drever, the first scientists to detect gravitational waves. | Smithsonian magazine #IngenuityAwards The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years, and following in this tradition, Smithsonian magazine presents the American Ingenuity Awards, honoring revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress.

A ring could explain a mysterious arrangement of impact craters near the equator and might even have caused an ice age, according to a new study

A blockbuster exhibition in London examines the Dutch Post-Impressionist's creative output between 1888 and 1890, which was one of the most productive periods of his career

Scientists have created "a form of information immortality" meant to instruct future species on how to recreate humans. But who, or what, will find it?

The Horned Serpent Panel from southern Africa predates the first Western scientific description of the dicynodont, a large mammal ancestor with tusks, by at least a decade

Researchers say that the iconic painting's swirling sky lines up with Kolmogorov's theory of turbulence, suggesting that the artist was a careful observer of the world around him

The mysterious missive was written by P.J. Féret, who conducted an archaeological dig at the same site in northern France in 1825

New research has revealed that the mysterious white substance found alongside three ancient mummies was once a soft cheese called kefir

Two members of Just Stop Oil staged the original demonstration in late 2022. Group members say the harsh penalties will not deter their efforts

For years, the owner's son had wondered about the artwork, which features the Spanish painter's signature. Now, some experts think it's the real deal

The 4,000-year-old burial chamber featured hieroglyphs referring to the woman, known as Idi, as the "lady of the house"

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper revealed how amino acids shape protein structure, a finding that could aid in drug discovery

The grassroots organization, Nihon Hidankyo, was lauded for "demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again"

The quest drew thousands of curious participants hoping to solve a series of elaborate riddles—and win a bejeweled statue worth an estimated $165,000

The two artifacts donated by Blue Origin achieved record-breaking feats and will extend the museum's story of trailblazing space travel into the present

Across the country, revelers are dressing in costumes and gliding across bodies of water on stand-up paddleboards to ring in the spooky season

At a new park in Bosnia and Herzegovina, two dozen gardeners have spent years replicating the Dutch artist's masterpiece using the land as their canvas

Experts added a carbon fiber pole to help anchor the "Apollo Belvedere," which had developed cracks along the legs and knees. Now, the looming Roman sculpture is finally back on display

Travis Gienger, who nicknamed his prize-winning pumpkin "Rudy," has been growing gourds for nearly 30 years

Identified as an Arctic fox, the animal is believed to have been kept in captivity far from its native habitat in the tundra. Now, it's receiving care from wildlife officials

Hundreds of artifacts have been unearthed at a burial mound in the city of Chifeng, but researchers are particularly intrigued by the six-inch-long object

The structure—also the earliest of its kind in the Asian country—dates to around 350 C.E.

New research traces the genetic underpinnings of the enzyme amylase, which helps humans digest starches and sugars

This year, celebrants will likely be channeling characters from hit franchises like "Beetlejuice," "Inside Out" and "Deadpool"

Paramotorists spotted the dog while soaring above one of Giza's pyramids last week

Created in London in the 1960s, the tracks are heading to auction as part of a larger collection of memorabilia connected to the famous American guitarist

The new research could change history's understanding of the sprawling trade network that connected Europe and the Middle East to East Asia

Geologists suggest the catastrophic impact of "S2" delivered key nutrients to the oceans, prompting microorganisms to thrive

The critter found in New York represents a new, extinct species of arthropod that could shed light on the evolution of today's insects, crustaceans and spiders

The Shipwreck Treasure Museum in Cornwall, England, is selling its collection, which includes items connected to nearly 150 shipwrecks

The votive plaque was found amid the ruins of an ancient Roman fortress. Researchers think a temple dedicated to the mysterious deity may have stood nearby

When the war ended, Allied soldiers tracked down Nicolas de Largillierre's "Portrait de femme à mi-corps" with the help of a savvy French curator who had been working for the resistance

The brick-built botanicals celebrate the UK’s 2017 City of Culture