PORTRAITS

Geologist Walter Alvarez was working away on some limestone samples in Gubbio, Italy, when he became intrigued by an odd layer of rock. He was looking at the K-T boundary. Underneath it, there are dinosaur fossils. Above it, there are none. And Walter was about to stumble on the reason why.In this final episode of our science series, we pair a rock sample from the K-T boundary with a unique portrait by Carmen Lomas Garza to tell the story of the dinosaur extinction -- how it happened, why it happened, and who figured it out.With Kirk Johnson, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and Taína Caragol, curator of painting and sculpture and Latino art and history at the National Portrait Gallery.See the portraits we discussed:Walter Alvarez, by Carmen Lomas GarzaLuis Alvarez, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

We have portraits of people in our galleries. But what if you're a natural science museum? How do you portray a dinosaur? We talk with Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, about the ways our portrayals of dinosaurs have evolved, from sluggish and lizard-like to warm-blooded, colorful and spry. Then Matthew Carrano, curator of dinosauria, explains how the museum put T. rex into a striking new pose. The trick, he says, is to convey how cool dinosaurs were, without making them seem alien.We also tie in a couple portraits from the National Portrait Gallery's collection: an image of the first person to describe an American dinosaur, and a photograph of the first person to give them the Hollywood treatment.See the portraits we discussed:Joseph Leidy, by Frederick GutekunstSteven Spielberg, by Gregory HeislerThe Nation's T. rex, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural HistoryAlso recommended:Visions of Lost Worlds: The Paleoart of Jay Matternes, by Matthew T. Carrano and Kirk R. Johnson

This mini 'Blink' episode celebrates the cherry blossoms that are blooming all over Washington D.C. at the moment by taking a closer look at portraits that feature flowers. Kim visits three paintings in the National Portrait Gallery that use specific blooms to convey coded information about the sitter, including the experiences that shaped them and the roles they took on.Sarah Weston Seaton with her Children, by Charles Bird KingBarack Obama, by Kehinde WileyGeorge Washington Carver, by Betsy Graves Reyneau

When William Temple Hornaday's exhibition of stuffed bison went on display at the Smithsonian Institution in 1888, it caused a sensation. Most visitors had never seen this majestic, hulking animal up close. And most probably thought it would be their only chance, since the bison had all but vanished from the wild.Some 140 years later, Kirk Johnson, director of the National Museum of Natural History, realized that the iconic display itself had vanished from the museum's collection. So he went on the road to see what had happened to it.In this episode, we trace the story of how the bison - or American buffalo - were driven right to the edge of extinction, severing a sacred relationship with Native people. Then we track how the species' catastrophic decline, as memorialized in a taxidermy masterpiece, gave rise to the early conservation movement that brought the bison back.With guest Rosalyn LaPier.See the artwork we discuss:William Temple Hornaday, by George Rufus BoyntonHornaday's taxidermy bison displayTheodore Roosevelt, by Peter A. JuleyHornaday and SandyAlso referenced:The American Buffalo, a film by Ken Burns

From the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast: sorting fact from fiction to find the real Sojourner Truth.As a prominent woman's rights activist and abolitionist, Sojourner Truth gave hundreds of speeches and sold countless images of herself. And yet the words that define her in our popular imagination - "Ain't I a woman?" - were actually made up.Host Lizzie Peabody went looking for the real Sojourner Truth and she found a woman with a much more complicated and fascinating life than any slogan can capture.Guests:Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: a Life, a Symbol; Edwards Professor of American History Emerita at Princeton UniversityAshleigh Coren, former content strategist for the Smithsonian's Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past initiativeKim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and host of the Smithsonian's Portraits podcast

We follow a paper trail back in time to learn about the laborers -- some of them enslaved -- who put their backs into the graceful old building that now houses the National Portrait Gallery.When construction began on the building in the 1830s, Washington D.C. was in the midst of a mini building boom as a seat of freedom and democracy. Yet the city also had an active slave trade. By sifting through reams of microfilm and estate records, historian Michael Hussey was able to establish that at least 17 men who worked at this site were enslaved. His next step was to try to sketch a portrait, however faint, of one of their lives.

We remember former President Jimmy Carter through a slightly different lens-- through the eyes of a longtime friend and through the portraits of Carter that are housed here at the National Portrait Gallery.Political aide Jack Watson met Carter 10 years before he became president. He found a farmer in work clothes driving a Chevy and quoting philosophy. Over their long friendship and while serving as chief of staff, Jack came to appreciate Carter as a man who was willing to take "bitter medicine" to do what he felt was right for the country. Jack describes a huge Polaroid portrait of Carter by the landscape photographer Ansel Adams, and he also explains why a softly lit painting depicting Carter in the Oval Office is not one of his favorites.See the portraits we discussed:Jimmy Carter, by Ansel AdamsJimmy and Rosalynn Carter, by Ansel AdamsJimmy Carter, by Robert TempletonOther portraits in the collection:Jimmy Carter, by Richard AvedonJimmy Carter, by Alan Reingold (Time magazine)Jimmy Carter, by Andy Warhol

In this mini 'Blink' episode, Kim asks political aide Jack Watson for his thoughts on a couple of Time magazine covers featuring his old boss, former President Jimmy Carter. One depicts the transition team that helped Carter sift through potential political appointees -- a team that Jack led. The other depicts Carter with his characteristic broad smile, which, Jack says, doesn't tell the whole story.See the artwork we discussed:The Great Talent Hunt, by Jack DavisJimmy Carter, by Alan Reingold

Paris in the early 1900s was a magnet for convention-defying American women. It offered a delicious taste of freedom, which they used to explode the gender norms of their day, and to explore new kinds of art, literature, dance and design. In the process, they became arbiters of modernism.In this episode we revisit our interview with curator Robyn Asleson about the National Portrait Gallery's “Brilliant Exiles” exhibition, which opened in April. It features 60 trailblazing women, including the dancer, singer and spy Josephine Baker, as well as the bookshop owner Sylvia Beach, who took a chance on James Joyce. Also in the lineup: Ada ‘Bricktop' Smith, whose bustling nightclub became a hub for American jazz musicians, and Romaine Brooks, the painter who reinvented herself... and then reinvented herself again.The exhibition runs until Feb. 23, 2025, so there's still time to catch it!See the portraits we discussed:Ada “Bricktop” Smith, by Carl Van VechtenJosephine Baker, by Stanislaus Julian WaleryGertrude Stein, by Pablo PicassoSylvia Beach, by Paul-Émile BécatRomaine Brooks, self-portrait

Every time a president leaves office they're asked to do something that might not come naturally-- sit still, be quiet and surrender to someone else's work. In other words, they have their portrait painted.The National Portrait Gallery and the White House Historical Association both commission portraits of the outgoing president and first lady. Several of the paintings have become iconic images, stamped on history. Others have been known to stop viewers in their tracks. Some have been unloved. In this episode Kim and WHHA president Stewart McLaurin compare notes on some of the most storied paintings of first couples in their care.See the portraits we discussed:George Washington (Lansdowne portrait), by Gilbert StuartJohn F. Kennedy, by Aaron ShiklerLyndon B. Johnson, by Peter HurdLyndon B. Johnson, by Elizabeth ShoumatoffMichelle Obama, by Sharon SprungMichelle Obama, by Amy Sherald

In 1872, decades before women were legally allowed to vote, Victoria Woodhull made an audacious run for the White House. The press ridiculed her stance on 'free love' and she spent election night in jail. But she had put the first small crack in one of the thickest glass ceilings around. Twelve years later Belva Lockwood, the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court, took another swing at it. We celebrate Election Day with a look back at some of the first women who dared to run for the highest office in the United States, including Sen. Margaret Chase Smith and Rep. Shirley Chisholm. They ran against long odds, but they had grit and they got the ball rolling.With Smithsonian curator Lisa Kathleen Graddy, and journalism historian Teri Finneman.See the portraits we discussed:Victoria Woodhull, unidentified artistGet Thee Behind Me, (Mrs.) Satin! by Thomas NastBelva Lockwood, by Nellie Mathes HorneMargaret Chase Smith, by Ernest Hamlin BakerShirley Chisholm, unidentified artistFurther reading:Press Portrayals of Women Politicians, 1870s - 2000s, by Teri Finneman Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President, by Jill NorgrenThe Woman Who Ran for President: The Many Lives of Victoria Woodhull, by Lois Beachy UnderhillNo Place For A Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith, by Janann ShermanThe Good Fight, by Shirley ChisholmShirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics, by Anastasia C. Curwood

With Election Day just around the corner, we go back in time to figure out how early presidential candidates got their message, and their image, in front of voters. It wasn't easy. Asking directly for people's vote was seen as undignified, so candidates mostly stayed home in the early 1800s. As a result, most Americans didn't know for sure what their candidates looked like, or sounded like.Kim speaks with curator Claire Jerry,  from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, about the stream of new technologies-- from printing to photography to radio-- that transformed political advertising and gave candidates a more direct line of communication with the American people.See the portraits and campaign materials we discussed:William Henry Harrison campaign buttonAbraham Lincoln, by Mathew BradyAbraham Lincoln campaign buttonFranklin D. Roosevelt at microphoneRonald Reagan poster

We're back! Season six of PORTRAITS hits your feed Oct. 22 with a new slate of shows that use artwork to decode our world. Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, talks with guests about presidential campaigns, scientific discoveries and some of the currents running through today's cultural landscape. 

As AI art gets more and more sophisticated, how do we tell the difference between a portrait that's created by a human being – with a soul – and art that's created by a complex algorithm? And if we can't tell the difference, will artists be out of a job?Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explains how AI art works, and why he thinks code can actually help artists to expand their creative universe.But there's one big question that remains: What does AI art tell us about the inner world of AI itself?See the portraits we discussed:Edmond de Belamy, published by Obvious ArtThe Next Rembrandt, brainchild of Bas KorstenKim Sajet, generated by AIKim Sajet, by Devon RodriguezYou can see Prof. Marcus du Sautoy's ‘Creativity Code' lecture here.

In this mini episode from our 'Blink' series, Rick Chapman shares stories from photographing elite athletes who have competed in the Olympic Games. The first step, he says, is to put the camera down. The second is not to talk about sports too much.Rick's ESPY Collection, for ESPN, features 40 celebrity athletes, including boxers, tennis stars and basketball royalty. You can find it here.See the portraits we discussed:Venus Williams, black and whiteVenus Williams, colorShaun White, black and whiteShaun White, color 

Dolley Madison was eight years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed, and 40 when her husband James became president. In her late 70s she sat for a photograph, becoming the first (former) first lady to do so. Then, this summer, the National Portrait Gallery acquired it.In this mini 'Blink' episode, Kim speaks with Ann Shumard, senior curator of photographs, to hear how this rare daguerreotype came to light and how the Gallery was able to buy itSee the photograph here.

There are not many portrait artists who get recognized on the street, but it happens to Devon Rodriguez all the time.After quietly honing his skill for a decade, Devon started posting videos of his live drawings of New York City subway commuters to social media. The videos took off, earning him some 50 million followers and placing portraiture in front of a huge new audience.Kim speaks with Devon about the mentors who had his back, and this new model for showing art— not in museums, but on screens.See the portraits we discussed:Kim Sajet, by Devon RodriguezJohn Ahearn, by Devon Rodriguez“The Rodriguez Twins,” by John AhearnMaría Elena Estrada, by Devon RodriguezDevon Rodriguez draws Kim Sajet, Instagram

Next in our 'Blink' summer series, Kim speaks with Robyn Asleson, curator of the 'Brilliant Exiles' exhibition, about a dreamy painting that holds a secret code. Edward Steichen's mural assigns a flower to several female friends who planted themselves in Paris's modernist milieu. But where some see jewel-toned beauty, Robyn sees a minefield.In Exaltation of Flowers, by Edward Steichen

A globe turned to Haiti. A glove on the ground. This life-size portrait of President Abraham Lincoln contains intriguing details that can be read as a freeze-frame of race relations at the time of his assassination. The oil painting was ‘hidden in plain sight' for decades at a municipal building in New Jersey, until our guest Ted Widmer helped to re-discover it.Travers' Lincoln is currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery, on loan from the Hartley Dodge Foundation, and courtesy of the citizens of the Borough of Madison, New Jersey.See the portrait, by W.F.K. Travers, here.

In our 'Blink' summer series, Kim takes listeners behind the scenes for a quick glimpse at some of the goings-on at the National Portrait Gallery. This first mini-episode finds staff in a tight spot. How do they fit a large, priceless work of art into a very old, very historic building with small doors?

From the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast, we bring you a special episode about the tiny new portraits appearing in our pockets and purses. The faces on our coins tell our national story. But until recently women were mostly absent. Host Lizzie Peabody follows the money to find out who gets to be 'heads' in a big new batch of women-only quarters.Guests:Jennifer Schneider, former program manager at Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, current assistant registrar of outgoing and government loans at the Smithsonian American Art MuseumTey Marianna Nunn, former director of the American Women's History Initiative at the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, current associate director for content and interpretation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American LatinoEllen Feingold, curator of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American HistoryJoseph Menna, chief engraver at the United States MintTim Grant, public affairs manager at the United States MintDave Clark, supervisor of blanking annealing and upsetting at the United States Mint

Kiki Smith says she didn't really start making drawings of people until she was 40. Once she had aged a little, she looked in the mirror and saw lines— something “to hang onto” as an artist. At 70, she says it's the hags and witches who attract her most. In this episode, Kim speaks with Kiki about portraying older women's bodies, and how aging has influenced her work. Kiki's female subjects sometimes evoke biblical figures or characters from fairy tales, and they're often connected to nature— to wolves and birds and stars. “Society is always trying to shrink people's sense of self or possibilities,” she says. “How they experience the world is much larger.” This episode was inspired by a self-portrait of Alice Neel, who painted herself at her easel when she was 80 years old, naked. See the portraits we discussed: Alice Neel self-portrait Cradling Dead Cat (1999-2000), by Kiki Smith Poisoned Witch (2012), by Kiki Smith Free Fall, by Kiki Smith

We didn't want to let Women's History Month pass without a tip of the hat to one of the towering figures we've featured here on PORTRAITS. Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu was a rockstar experimental physicist who worked with Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project. She also met the pope, and inspired a Chinese opera. But here in the United States, she didn't always get the recognition she deserved. At least not until her granddaughter, Jada Yuan, took up her story. This episode originally aired in 2022. See the portraits we discuss: Dr. Wu in the lab Tsung-Dao Lee, Nobel Laureate Chen-Ning Yang, Nobel Laureate Dr. Wu on the forever stamp Also, check out Jada Yuan's article about her grandmother here!

Paris in the early 1900s was a magnet for convention-defying American women. It offered a delicious taste of freedom, which they used to explode the gender norms of their day, and to explore new kinds of art, literature, dance and design. In the process, they became arbiters of modernism. This episode, we raise the curtain on the National Portrait Gallery's “Brilliant Exiles” exhibition with curator Robyn Asleson. It features 60 trailblazing women, including the dancer, singer and spy Josephine Baker, and the bookshop owner Sylvia Beach, who took a chance on James Joyce. Also in the lineup: Ada ‘Bricktop' Smith, whose bustling nightclub became a hub for American jazz musicians, and Romaine Brooks, the painter who reinvented herself, and then reinvented herself again. The exhibition runs from April 26, 2024, to February 23, 2025. See the portraits we discussed: Ada “Bricktop” Smith, by Carl Van Vechten Josephine Baker, by Stanislaus Julian Walery Gertrude Stein, by Pablo Picasso Sylvia Beach, by Paul-Émile Bécat Romaine Brooks, self-portrait

The National Mall is a great canvas, in part because of all the history embedded there. It's been a place of protest, celebration and mourning. It also hosts some spectacular monuments. But critic Salamishah Tillet says there is a lot of history missing from the Mall as a commemorative space, like desegregation and the displacement of Indigenous people. Kim speaks with Salamishah about the ‘Beyond Granite' exhibition she co-curated on the Mall, and also with Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, the artist who created the largest portrait ever to go on display there. It was a six-acre composite portrait of several anonymous young men who had one thing in common: They all identified themselves as Americans. See the artwork we discussed: Out Of Many, One, by Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada Of Thee We Sing, by vanessa german The Soil You See…, by Wendy Red Star America's Playground: DC, by Derrick Adams

A globe turned to Haiti. A glove on the ground. A life-size portrait of President Abraham Lincoln contains intriguing details that can be read as a freeze-frame of race relations at the time of his assassination. It also may be the most lifelike depiction of the 16th president— standing to his full height and in full color. The oil painting by W.F.K. Travers was ‘hidden in plain sight' for decades at a municipal building in New Jersey. Biographer Ted Widmer played a role in re-discovering the portrait and he speaks with Kim about its place in history. Travers' Lincoln is currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery, on loan from the Hartley Dodge Foundation, and courtesy of the citizens of the Borough of Madison, New Jersey. See the portrait here.

There are not many portrait artists who get recognized on the street, but it happens to Devon Rodriguez all the time. After quietly honing his skill for a decade, Devon started posting videos of his live drawings of New York City subway commuters to social media. The videos took off, earning him some 50 million followers and placing portraiture in front of a huge new audience. Kim speaks with Devon about the mentors who had his back, and this new model for showing art— not in museums, but on screens. See the portraits we discussed: Kim Sajet, by Devon Rodriguez John Ahearn, by Devon Rodriguez “The Rodriguez Twins,” by John Ahearn María Elena Estrada, by Devon Rodriguez Devon Rodriguez draws Kim Sajet, Instagram

Copyright law is complicated, especially when it comes to visual art. So there was a lot of fanfare around the Supreme Court's May ruling involving a celebrity portrait photographer, the pop artist Andy Warhol, and an orange silk screen of the late musician Prince. Would the decision give us some clarity around what's ‘infringing' in the world of appropriation art? Lauryn Guttenplan, former deputy general counsel for the Smithsonian, walks us through some high-profile copyright cases from the past, as well as the Supreme Court's decision. See the artwork we discussed: Obama “Hope” Portrait by Shepard Fairey, original photo by Mannie Garcia “Canal Zone” Collage by Richard Prince, original photo by Patrick Cariou “Orange Prince” by Andy Warhol Prince Portrait by Lynn Goldsmith

Silhouettes were a hugely popular and democratic form of portraiture in the 19th century. So an old ledger book full of cut paper profiles at the National Portrait Gallery caught a conservator's eye. It promised a rare glimpse at people from all different backgrounds who lived in early America. It also held a surprise: It was laced with poison. Lizzie Peabody, host of the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast, brings us the story of the book, the man who created it, and the web of overlapping stories tucked inside. See William Bache's book of silhouettes here.

Digital artist Amalia Soto, also known by the username Molly Soda, wants to show us how we portray ourselves, or perform ourselves, online. She says the images and videos we upload don't necessarily lie, but they do pose questions about the ways we curate our lives for unseen others. She also believes there is a lot we don't actually control when we hit the ‘post' button. With Glenn Kaino. See the artwork we discussed: Who's Sorry Now? (2017) Inbox Full (2012) My Apology (2022)

As AI art gets more and more sophisticated, how do we tell the difference between a portrait that's created by a human being – with a soul – and art that's created by a complex algorithm? And if we can't tell the difference, will artists be out of a job? Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explains how AI art works, and why he thinks code can actually help artists to expand their creative universe. But there's one big question that remains: What does AI art tell us about the inner world of AI itself? See the portraits we discussed: Edmond de Belamy, published by Obvious Art The Next Rembrandt, brainchild of Bas Korsten Kim Sajet, generated by AI Kim Sajet, by Devon Rodriguez You can see Prof. Marcus du Sautoy's ‘Creativity Code' lecture here.

That glass of fine wine you're enjoying so much.. What if you were told it came from a box? Would it taste different? According to art fraud investigator Colette Loll, yes, it would. Colette draws on brain science to explain why it's so easy to be duped by a forged masterpiece, and why even the experts get it wrong sometimes. See the portraits we discuss: Francis Patrick Garvan, by de Philip de László Elmyr de Hory, in the style of Philip de László

The blockbuster Oppenheimer movie focuses on two portrayals of J. Robert Oppenheimer. One is the famous physicist known as the architect of the atomic bomb, and the second is a more vulnerable man, maligned as a communist sympathiser. Then there's a third portrait. It makes a cameo in the film and it resides right here at the National Portrait Gallery. Pulitzer-Prize winning biographer Kai Bird, whose book inspired the movie, takes a look with us. See the portrait we discuss: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Time magazine cover by Ernest Hamlin Baker

Museum director Kim Sajet takes listeners to stand in front of a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant, the revered commander who led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War. But it's actually the frame that steals the show. According to conservator Bill Adair, “The frame gives us information that the painting simply cannot.” In this case, the frame showcases Grant's major battlefield triumphs. Another, gifted to George Washington by the King of France, tells the story of a political marriage. Then, Chicana artist Ruth Buentello explains why she frames her portraits in soft, worn fabrics that she scavenges from the linen closet of life. Ulysses S. Grant, by Ole Peter Hansen Balling King Louis XVI of France, by Charles-Clément Bervic Gamer Niñas, by Ruth Buentello Under the Mexican Colchas, Kinship Exhibition, by Ruth Buentello

Season five kicks off Oct. 24, as director Kim Sajet takes listeners into the National Portrait Gallery to stand in front of some of her favorite artwork.

When Gloria Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine, she wanted a cover image that would break completely with the norms of the day. There would be no high-end models and no teasers for makeup tips. Instead, the preview issue featured a goddess with eight arms. And she was blue. Kim speaks with Gloria and also with the magazine's first editor, Suzanne Braun Levine, about the ways women had been visually portrayed until their groundbreaking publication hit the newsstands, and how the staff at Ms. worked to turn those stereotypes on their head. See the portraits we discuss: Pauline Perlmutter Steinem Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, 1971 Marilyn Monroe Student Protest Susan B. Anthony Ms. magazine preview cover Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, 2013

Dr. Dorothy Andersen solved a vexing medical mystery by identifying cystic fibrosis. But the mystery of her missing portrait remained unsolved. This week, we're featuring an episode from the Lost Women of Science podcast about a physician who changed the way we understand acute lung and gastrointestinal problems in small children. But if she was such a medical heavyweight, why did her 1963 portrait disappear from Columbia University's Babies Hospital? The answer tells us something about the perils of memorialization.

Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes says her profession serves as a canary in the coalmine for freedom of expression, a kind of oxygen monitor for democracy itself. When cartoonists are ducking for cover, she says, you'd better watch out. She also shares with Kim why she made the jump from Disney animator to thick-skinned political commentator, through drawing. Then Wendy Wick Reaves, who procured stacks and stacks of political cartoons for the National Portrait Gallery, explains why President Nixon with a Pinocchio nose is indeed a form of portraiture. Find Ann's work on Twitter, @AnnTelnaes. See other images we discuss: Polly Got A Cracker, by Charles Nelan Anti-Cartoon Bill Defiance The Watergate Bug, by Patrick Oliphant The Credibility Gulf Stream, by Draper Hill The Gulf Stream, by Winslow Homer

Indra Nooyi grew up in a conservative Brahmin household in India, but that didn't stop her from playing cricket with her brother's friends, or from joining an all-girl rock band. Years later, when she ascended to the top job at PepsiCo, she would push the boundaries again as one of the few women running a Fortune 500 company. Nooyi talks to Kim about why she initially shrank from the press when she arrived in the C-suite, and how she wanted to be seen in her own portrait as an American Portrait Gala honoree. See the portraits we discuss: Indra Nooyi Meg Whitman Anne Catherine Hoof Green Martha Stewart

From our fellow Smithsonian podcast, Sidedoor, the story of Edmonia Lewis— the first sculptor of African American and Native American (Mississauga) descent to achieve international fame. Her 3,000-pound masterwork, “The Death of Cleopatra,” commemorated another powerful woman who broke with convention… and then it disappeared. See Edmonia Lewis's portrait here.

Before cable news and email and Twitter, it was the postal service that transmitted ideas and information across land, sea, and political divides. Kim speaks with National Postal Museum chief curator Dan Piazza about some of the messages that stamps themselves were communicating, including a few asides from Philatelist-in-Chief, Franklin D. Roosevelt. We also pair some noteworthy stamps to original artwork that lives right here at the National Portrait Gallery. See the portraits we discuss: Benjamin Franklin by Duplessis Franklin's stamp Roosevelt and the Little White House Roosevelt at his desk Susan B. Anthony, bronze bust Susan B. Anthony, three cents Susan B. Anthony, photograph Susan B. Anthony, fifty cents Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Benjamin Banneker

José Andrés is the Michelin-starred chef known for jumping into action to feed people affected by hurricanes, wildfires, and most recently the war in Ukraine. But he's also a huge admirer of a woman whose photograph lives at the National Portrait Gallery– the Civil War nurse Clara Barton. Museum director Kim Sajet talks with Andrés about his call for ‘longer tables,' and also takes us down the block to Barton's old digs to see how their stories overlap. See Clara Barton's portrait here.

The House committee investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has generated a lot of interest in one of the National Portrait Gallery's latest commissions -- an official portrait of former President Donald Trump. So we decided to revisit an episode that takes a spin through the ‘America's Presidents' exhibition. Director Kim Sajet digs into the thorny question of what a presidential portrait is meant to convey, especially if the president in question has been impeached. Should it carry the glow of prestige, or the markers of personal failings? Is this gallery hallowed ground, or a place to question power? "If you're in the business of showing these paintings," says Washington Post art critic Philip Kennicott, "you want to send people out a little hungry." Also featuring former deputy director Carolyn Carr. See the portraits we discuss here: President James Buchanan President Richard Nixon President George H. W. Bush President Bill Clinton President George W. Bush President Barack Obama

Atlantic editor Vann R. Newkirk II talks to Kim about the mutability of memory, as seen through two portraits of the abolitionist John Brown. He also explains how a photograph of his mom helped him to appreciate the fragility of democracy in the United States, and why he tries to keep a garden wherever he goes. See the portraits we discuss: George Washington Carver John Brown daguerreotype John Brown painting Marylin Thurman Newkirk

Photography and the Civil War crashed into one another, making it affordable for soldiers to have their picture taken before going off to war. What Black soldiers communicated in these images was a desire not just for freedom, but for citizenship. But they didn't always control how their photographs were used. Drs. Deborah Willis and Rhea Combs talk with Kim about the photographs taken of - and for - Civil War Soldiers. Because it turns out there's a big difference. See the portraits we discuss: Harper's Weekly special edition Gordon after his escape Peter with scarred back Tintype of soldier Soldier with painted backdrop

George Takei went boldly where no man had gone before when he broke racial stereotypes to play Mr. Sulu on Star Trek. But he's also lent his celebrity (and his sharp-witted Twitter feed) to a stack of social causes. George traces his activism to a single, searing injustice-- his internment as a Japanese-American during WWII. He was five years old. See the portraits we discuss: George Takei as Hikaru Sulu Wayne Collins They Called Us Enemy Takei at Rohwer dedication ceremony

Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu was a towering figure in science whose parity experiment shattered our understanding of the physical world. She enjoyed rockstar status in China, met the pope, inspired an opera and even became a “Jeopardy!” question. But to Jada Yuan, she was grandma. See the portraits we discuss: Dr. Wu in the lab Tsung-Dao Lee, Nobel Laureate Chen-Ning Yang, Nobel Laureate Dr. Wu on the forever stamp Also, check out Jada Yuan's article about her grandmother here!

Grassroots organizer Dolores Huerta talks to Kim about her first encounter with the deep poverty of California farmworkers in the 1950s, and how she took on the status quo (in a wrinkled sweater) during the landmark Delano Grape Strike. All the time, she fought on two fronts: resisting exploitation and also resisting sexism, sometimes from within the very labor movement she helped to launch. See the portraits we discuss: Huerta with ‘Huelga' Sign Huerta at Delano Grape Strike Huerta with Fred Ross Huerta by Barbara Carrasco Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes

Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, examines the stories of people who say “No” to the status quo. Guests this season include Dolores Huerta, who fought chauvinism within the very farmworkers movement she helped to launch, plus chef José Andrés, who has been building resilience “one meal at a time” in battle zones and areas struck by natural disaster. Tune in starting May 17.

Since it was founded over a long lunch in Boston in 1857, The Atlantic has featured presidents and poets, abolitionists and suffragists— men and women set on advancing The American Idea. This episode, Kim takes the magazine's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, on an ‘Atlantic alumni' tour, stopping in front of a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. and a life-size painting of Mark Twain. Their conversation previews an upcoming collaboration between The Atlantic and the National Portrait Gallery that will look at the portraits of yesterday's disruptors through the lens of today. See the portraits we discuss: Harriet Beecher Stowe Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Julia Ward Howe Mark Twain Martin Luther King Jr.

After having to destroy her family pictures during the Cultural Revolution, Chinese-American artist Hung Liu treasures old photographs all the more. In fact, they're foundational to her work. She has described her portraits like a memorial site for people forgotten to history-- comfort women, farm workers, refugees. As the Gallery launches a retrospective of her artwork, we trace Hung's life through some of the images she's collected and created, from her rendering of a resident alien card in which she renames herself 'Fortune Cookie,' to her painting commemorating the violent Tiananmen Square crackdown. See the images we discuss: https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/Un-forgetting%20History