The CIA used birds, cats and even dolphins to help them on covert operations.

This relic from ancient Persia had a profound influence on the Founding Fathers. More on the Cyrus Cylinder: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-cyrus-cylinder-goes-on-view-at-the-sackler-gallery-1334866/

The American Ingenuity Award winner describes what it takes to tell a great story

Video by David VanZandt

The past hundred years have seen more than one high-profile prosecution branded as the “crime of the century.” The shocking 1924 crime that was among the first to carry the title turned out to be a harbinger of how public mania around criminal cases could influence the legal system, and how psychiatry would be used and abused by prosecutors and defense attorneys alike as the 20th century wore on and gave way to the 21st. Smithsonian editor Meilan Solly introduces us to teens Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb and their botched, but still deadly, effort to perpetrate “the perfect crime.” (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-leopold-and-loeb-committed-cold-blooded-murder-in-the-crime-of-the-century-180984345/) What happened next was also surprising: After confessing to the abduction and murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks, they were spared capital punishment thanks to their famed attorney Clarence Darrow. True-crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson then tells us how public interest in Leopold and Loeb’s fate helped solidify true crime as a durable subject of fascination. She also tells us about the tools used by the prosecution that were in their infancy during the famed case. Read Meilan Solly's Smithsonian story about Leopold and Loeb here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-leopold-and-loeb-committed-cold-blooded-murder-in-the-crime-of-the-century-180984345/) . Learn more about Kate Winkler Dawson, her books, her podcasts, and her work at her site (https://www.katewinklerdawson.com/) . 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 / photography by Katherine Kimball, Joshua Brasted, and Jeremy Tauriac Music by APM Music.

Smithsonian magazine commissioned Drew Gardner for a project that connects Black Americans today to their lost ancestry. Read about Gardner’s project and process, as well as more details about the subjects of this incredible series here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/descendants-black-civil-war-heroes-wear-heritage-pride-180983397/ Video produced by Sierra Theobald. Special thanks to Drew Gardner Additional credits: Emma MacBeath, WikiTree US Black Heritage project; Ottawa Goodman, research and coordinator; Sam Dole, Penumbra Foundation; Elizabeth Zuck, set design; Calvin Osbourne, props and costume; Angela Huff, hair and make up; Diego Huerta, Lexia Krebs, behind-the-scenes filming; background prints by Fujifilm USA

In Bostwana's Makgadikgadi Pans, researcher James Bradley studies how the zebras travel across the great expanse of land

The artist discusses where his work fits among the many genres of painting

Have you ever wondered what a solar eclipse is? Join us as we explore the science behind this awe-inspiring celestial event. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Producer: Nicki Marko Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

The sweet science behind our sense of taste

Smithsonian magazine commissioned Drew Gardner for a project that connects Black Americans today to their lost ancestry. Read about Gardner’s project and process, as well as more details about the subjects of this incredible series here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/descendants-black-civil-war-heroes-wear-heritage-pride-180983397/ Video produced by Sierra Theobald. Special thanks to Drew Gardner Additional credits: Emma MacBeath, WikiTree US Black Heritage project; Ottawa Goodman, research and coordinator; Sam Dole, Penumbra Foundation; Elizabeth Zuck, set design; Calvin Osbourne, props and costume; Angela Huff, hair and make up; Diego Huerta, Lexia Krebs, behind-the-scenes filming; background prints by Fujifilm USA

More on the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: http://j.mp/15wAByw A former Freedom Rider describes what it was like walking among the rubble of the 16th Avenue Baptist Church

Researchers and scientists work together together to find a way to play recordings made by the studio of inventor Alexander Graham Bell

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.

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery share their presidential thoughts on the eve of Election Day (Video by Ryan Reed / Edited by Ryan Reed and Jesse Rhodes / Interviews by Megan Gambino / Produced by Beth Py-Lieberman)

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?

Gasp! The answer will amaze you. Still Image Credit: MaFelipe / iStock

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

An incredible trove of archaeological artifacts has been unearthed once again at Saqqara—including 100 coffins, and incredibly rare statues dating back 4,500 years.

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

Read more at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2008/12/music-of-the-tropics-balinese-drum-troupe-performs-at-the-sackler/ Bells and gongs are the sounds behind Gamelan music, which has different variants from one Indonesian island to the next.

One morning on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, photographer Steve Simonsen captures thousands of hermit crabs migrating

Take a tour of the National Mall, past and present (Kenneth R. Fletcher). Read more at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-pierre-lenfant-and-washington-dc-39487784/

Take a guess - the answer might surprise you

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

In WW2, the British made destroying German dams a key strategic target in order to kneecap the German industrial effort. To accomplish this, they needed a special plane to deliver the payload: the Lancaster Bomber.

Related to rabbits and hares and adapted to high-elevation habitat, the American pika faces a bleak future as temperatures rise and snow cover disappears

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

Boston’s iconic lighthouse, the Boston Light, is managed by a single person: Sally Snowman. She is the 70th keeper of the lighthouse since it was built over 300 years ago.

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

Alexander Nemerov looks back at the artist's life and how earlymisfortunes shaped his interpretation of the 1940s

Hungry for an answer? Host, Eric Schulze, dishes one up in less than a minute.

Smithsonian magazine commissioned Drew Gardner for a project that connects Black Americans today to their lost ancestry. Read about Gardner’s project and process, as well as more details about the subjects of this incredible series here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/descendants-black-civil-war-heroes-wear-heritage-pride-180983397/ Video produced by Sierra Theobald. Special thanks to Drew Gardner Additional credits: Emma MacBeath, WikiTree US Black Heritage project; Ottawa Goodman, research and coordinator; Sam Dole, Penumbra Foundation; Elizabeth Zuck, set design; Calvin Osbourne, props and costume; Angela Huff, hair and make up; Diego Huerta, Lexia Krebs, behind-the-scenes filming; background prints by Fujifilm USA

You don’t actually see microwaves, you only see what they do to your food. So how, exactly, does it warm up your lunch?

Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have achieved a degree of power in the music industry that singer/songwriters of earlier eras like Joan Baez—as the folk icon tells us—never even contemplated. Six decades ago, Baez was part of a folk revival that regarded music not merely as entertainment but as a vessel for political engagement and social change. In the documentary Joan Baez: I Am a Noise, the now-83-year-old musician and activist reflects on her career and legacy. Smithsonian senior editor Jennie Rothenberg Gritz interviewed Baez about the film and about the shifting intersection of art and activism. We present excerpts from that conversation in this episode. Then, veteran music critic Evelyn McDonnell discusses how the political dimensions of pop music have changed since Baez’s era, and what it means that many fans now look Beyoncé and Taylor Swift not just for great music, but for comment on the state of the world. Clips from Joan Baez: I Am a Noise in this episode are used with permission from Magnolia Pictures & Mead Street Films. Learn more about that film here (https://www.magpictures.com/joanbaez/) . Evelyn McDonnell’s latest book is The World According to Joan Didion (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-world-according-to-joan-didion-evelyn-mcdonnell?variant=41001679487010) . You can learn more about Evelyn and her work at her site, Populism (https://populismblog.wordpress.com/about-2/) . 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.

Mathew Brady is known for his Civil War photography and groundbreaking work in the field. Read more about the Civil War at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Civil-War-History.html.