Sidedoor

Dark Matter, Bright Mind: How Vera Rubin Saw the Unseen

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 RubinRamona 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

Chinatown Murder Case

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. Guests: Sojin Kim, curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural HeritageRanko 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"

The Wright Sister

Orville and Wilbur Wright have been immortalized as the men opened the skies to human flight. But could they have achieved such great heights without the wind beneath their wings — their sister? Katharine Wright was her brothers' biggest champion, official spokesperson, closest confidante and the only one of the Wright siblings with a college degree. For years, Katharine, Wilbur and Orville were inseparable — until tragedy and a love affair upended everything. This is the story of the Wright sibling that history almost left out.Guests:Thomas Paone, museum specialist at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space MuseumTom Crouch, curator emeritus of the aeronautics division at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and author of The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright

The King of Zydeco

Clifton Chenier grew up in rural Louisiana, watching how his father’s accordion could magically turn front porches into dance parties. When he was old enough to play himself, Chenier began blending the Creole zydeco of his childhood with R&B and blues sounds of the 1940s and ’50s. His style packed dance halls across Louisiana and eventually carried zydeco to stages around the world. Through rare archival recordings and firsthand stories, we trace Chenier’s journey from a sharecropper’s son to the undisputed King of Zydeco.Guests: Adam Machado, director of the Arhoolie Foundation and producer of the retrospective box set, King of Louisiana Blues and ZydecoCJ Chenier, son of Clifton Chenier and lead singer and saxophonist for CJ Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana BandDickie Landry, saxophonist, composer, and photographerMaureen Loughran, director and curator of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings  This episode features archival interview recordings of Clifton Chenier courtesy of the Arhoolie Foundation. You can find the full interviews and archival photographs here.  

Will the Real Uncle Sam Please Stand Up?

He’s a symbol of patriotism, protest, and power. But behind the red, white, and blue is a real man—and a disputed American origin story. How did a real guy go from meatpacker to meme, to personification of a nation and, eventually, the most famous Army recruiter in history?I WANT YOU… to listen and find out.Guests: Frank Blazich, curator of modern military history at the Smithsonian's National Musuem of American HistoryKathy Sheehan, executive director of the Hart Cluett Museum in Troy, New York; The Redela County and Troy City historian