There's More to That

The Tragedy of the Alps’ Disappearing Glaciers for Those That Live, Visit and Ski There

Some 2,500 huts dot the landscape across the Alps. For more than two centuries, hikers and climbers have sought out these refuges as they’ve navigated the snowy, high elevations. But the mountain glaciers that have defined this region are melting, putting these huts, the entire culture of alpine hiking, and nearby towns and communities in danger.Avalanches, rockfalls, mudslides and flooding—brought on by a changing climate—are happening at a time when the Alps are more popular than ever. And the subject of an altered alpine habitat takes on additional importance amid the Winter Olympics in Italy.In this episode, we speak with Smithsonian magazine’s Megan Gambino, who edited a story on this topic, and environmental scientist Markus Stoffel, who studies how climate change is impacting higher elevations. Both are skiing enthusiasts, so the issue is personal to them as well.To subscribe to “There’s More to That,” and to listen to past episodes about the growing concerns around human-made objects in orbit hurtling back toward Earth, the vast fleet of shipwrecks at the bottoms of the Great Lakes and the L.A. wildfires as viewed through the eyes of two photographers, find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.“There’s More to That” is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Ari Daniel, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Ali Budner, Cleo Levin, Genevieve Sponsler, Sandra Lopez-Monsalve and Edwin Ochoa. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson.Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / Images from Martin Bergsma via Adobe Stock and public domain.

A Stunning Escape From Slavery Told on Tattered Pages

In the mid-1800s, before the Civil War, Thomas White fled his enslavement in Maryland for freedom. It was a risky escape, one that involved a horseback ride under the cover of darkness, abolitionists helping to hide him, and a northward journey through Delaware and Pennsylvania.Ultimately, he arrived—safe and free—in Massachusetts. The details of White’s flight are chronicled on 40-odd sheets of paper and were written most probably by other people who heard his story. Such slave narratives are exceedingly rare, and this one’s length made it especially unique. Smithsonian magazine wrote about the discovery last year.In this episode, we speak with Rachel Fortuna Cabral, the Roger Williams University undergraduate who helped study the manuscript, and scholar Deborah Plant to learn about White’s escape, how the papers were discovered, and what such narratives tell us about slavery and emancipation in the United States.To subscribe to “There’s More to That,” and to listen to past episodes about a recently solved mystery surrounding the burial of JFK, the only battalion during World War II composed entirely of Black women and a baseball field resurrected in a World War II-era Japanese internment camp find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.“There’s More to That” is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Ari Daniel, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Ali Budner, Cleo Levin, Genevieve Sponsler, Sandra Lopez-Monsalve and Edwin Ochoa. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson.Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / Images from Anastasiia Hevko via Adobe Stock / Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture / Cindy Elder.

The Foods and Flavors That Make Our Holidays Delicious

Cherished recipes are often passed down from generation to generation, but how much do we know about the stories that shaped those foods? Whether a tasty cookie, a flavorful side, a resplendent showstopping entree, these dishes have a strong association with the holiday season. To celebrate, we’re honoring the origins of traditional foods lovingly prepared by two of our correspondents.In this episode, host Ari Daniel drops into two homes to explore two holiday traditions. We start with Elisa Hough, an editor at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the Filipino torta recipe that her mother prepared every Christmas. Now during the holidays, Elisa is the one making torta. And it’s the time of the year when she connects most closely to her Filipino heritage.Then we head to Jamaica where we meet Vaughn Stafford Gray, an independent journalist and former chef, who explains the history of jerk and what it means in contemporary Jamaican culture.To subscribe to “There’s More to That,” and to listen to past episodes about those who pursue the divisive durian fruit, an award-winning restaurant in New Orleans that showcases Senegalese cuisine, and using fruit depicted in Renaissance paintings to rescue modern agriculture, find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.“There’s More to That” is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Ari Daniel, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Ali Budner, Cleo Levin, Genevieve Sponsler, Sandra Lopez-Monsalve and Edwin Ochoa. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson.Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / Images by Jane Dulay / Joshua Resnick, anaumenko, annapustynnikova, zoryanchik, Kris Black, cunaplus and Africa Studio via Adobe Stock / public domain.

The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk

We have launched all manner of satellite and machinery into low-Earth orbit. But what goes up must come down. Most often, these items burn up in the atmosphere upon re-entry, which isn’t good for air quality or the ozone layer.But not everything incinerates — and increasing amounts of debris are hurtling back toward Earth and landing in backyards and farm fields. Falling detritus disrupts air travel and risks collision with infrastructure and people on the ground. There are those who argue that additional regulation is required around the launching and de-orbiting of these materials.In this episode, host Ari Daniel speaks with astronomer Samantha Lawler and Smithsonian contributing writer Dan Falk about space junk and the concern among researchers that it is becoming a growing threat to public safety.To subscribe to “There’s More to That,” and to listen to past episodes about all the shipwrecks hidden beneath the waters of the Great Lakes; the river of birds, bats and bugs fluttering, often invisibly, in the skies above; and the story behind the timelessness of Superman, find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.“There’s More to That” is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Ari Daniel, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Ali Budner, Cleo Levin, Genevieve Sponsler, Sandra Lopez-Monsalve and Edwin Ochoa. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson.Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / Images by Samantha Lawler / NASA / smspsy via Adobe Stock and public domain.

Why Are There So Many Shipwrecks in the Great Lakes?

Beneath the waters of the Great Lakes, thousands of shipwrecks, hulking carcasses of a bygone era, have been hiding for generations, just waiting to be revealed. Once someone stumbles upon one of these sunken treasures in Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, Tamara Thomsen gets a call.Thomsen is a maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Preservation and Archaeology program. Her job is to investigate and survey shipwreck sites. Over the years, Thomsen has added some of these ships to the ​​National Register of Historic Places. And she and her colleagues have also unearthed dugout canoes that were fashioned thousands of years old by the Indigenous people who lived on this land.In this episode, host Ari Daniel speaks with Thomsen about how she took up this profession, why she views shipwrecks as time capsules, why so many vessels met their watery grave on the Great Lakes, and how one stays warm at depth when diving for these wrecks for hours at a time.To subscribe to “There’s More to That,” and to listen to past episodes about the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, the return of a set of important belongings to the Lakota community and a baseball field resurrected in a World War II-era Japanese internment camp, find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. “There’s More to That” is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Ari Daniel, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Ali Budner, Cleo Levin, Genevieve Sponsler, Sandra Lopez-Monsalve and Edwin Ochoa. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson.Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / Images by Zach Whitrock / Wisconsin Historical Society and public domain.