Art, biography, history and identity collide in this podcast from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Join Director Kim Sajet as she chats with artists, historians, and thought leaders about the big and small ways that portraits shape our world.

You might see her leaning against a building on the street, or sitting across from you on your morning commute, pad in hand. Or, you might not have noticed her at all. Wendy talks about her 'drawn journalism' -- sketches and snippets of conversation that convey little slices of life, and connect us to bigger stories in the news.

Check out the illustrations we discussed on our website: <a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/on-beat" title="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/on-beat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/on-beat</a>

You might see her leaning against a building on the street, or sitting across from you on your morning commute, pad in hand. Or, you might not have noticed her at all. Wendy talks about her 'drawn journalism' -- sketches and snippets of conversation that convey little slices of life, and connect us to bigger stories in the news.
Check out the illustrations we discussed on our website: https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/on-beat

"My job is to observe, and my job is to record. But my job is also to be a human."

On the Beat with Wendy MacNaughton

<a href="https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/kiki-smith/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kiki Smith</a> 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, naked, when she was 80 years old.

See the portraits we discussed:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.85.19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alice Neel self-portrait</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/1999-2000-kiki-smith" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cradling Dead Cat (1999-2000), by Kiki Smith</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/2012-kiki-smith" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Poisoned Witch (2012), by Kiki Smith</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.2002.334?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dkiki%252BSmith" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Free Fall, by Kiki Smith</a>

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, naked, when she was 80 years old.
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

Portraying Older Women's Bodies

Hags and Witches

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2015.12?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dchien-shiung" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Wu in the lab</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.98.112?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3DTsung%252BDao-Lee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tsung-Dao Lee, </a>Nobel Laureate

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.98.113?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dchen%252Bning%252Byang" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chen-Ning Yang</a>, Nobel Laureate

<a href="https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/ma/2021/0201ma-nuclear-physicist-chien-shiung-wu-to-be-honored-on-forever-stamp.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Wu on the forever stamp</a>

Also, check out Jada Yuan’s article about her grandmother <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/12/13/chien-shiung-wu-biography-physics-grandmother/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>!

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!

A journalist draws a portrait of her world-famous ancestor.

From The Vault: The Woman Who Knocked Science Sideways

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 <a href="https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/brilliant-exiles" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Brilliant Exiles” </a>exhibition with curator <a href="https://npg.si.edu/staff/robyn-asleson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Robyn Asleson</a>. 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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.90.85?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dada%252Bbricktop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ada “Bricktop” Smith, by Carl Van Vechten</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.95.105?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fpage%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Djosephine%252Bbaker" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Josephine Baker, by Stanislaus Julian Walery</a>

<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/488221" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gertrude Stein, by Pablo Picasso</a>

<a href="https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/online/ulysses/sylvia-beach" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sylvia Beach, by Paul-Émile Bécat</a>

<a href="https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/brooks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Romaine Brooks, self-portrait</a>

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

"Everybody needs a Paris."

Brilliant Exiles

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 <a href="https://www.salamishah.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Salamishah Tillet</a> 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 <a href="https://www.beyondgranite.org/exhibition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘Beyond Granite’ </a>exhibition she co-curated on the Mall, and also with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/gerada_art/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada</a>, 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:

<a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/new-satellite-image-out-many-one" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Out Of Many, One,</a> by Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada

<a href="https://www.beyondgranite.org/vanessa-german" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Of Thee We Sing,</a> by vanessa german

<a href="https://www.beyondgranite.org/wendy-red-star" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Soil You See…,</a> by Wendy Red Star

<a href="https://www.beyondgranite.org/derrick-adams" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">America’s Playground: DC,</a> by Derrick Adams

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

The National Mall is a great place to do art, but what should the art say?

Mall Art

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 <a href="https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/abraham-lincoln-wfk-travers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

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.

A rare portrait of President Abraham Lincoln re-emerges... with a story to tell.

Lincoln Hiding In Plain Sight

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/kim-sajet-devon-rodriguez" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kim Sajet, by Devon Rodriguez</a>

<a href="https://portraitcompetition.si.edu/exhibition/2019-outwin-boochever-portrait-competition/john-ahearn/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Ahearn, by Devon Rodriguez</a>

<a href="https://portraitcompetition.si.edu/exhibition/2016-outwin-boochever-portrait-competition/the-rodriquez-twins/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“The Rodriguez Twins,” by John Ahearn</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/maria_elena_estrada" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">María Elena Estrada, by Devon Rodriguez</a>

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cx8j8yExbLC/?igsh=MTJkcjFqdHNiNnhvbQ%3D%3D" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Devon Rodriguez draws Kim Sajet, Instagram</a>

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

Devon Rodriguez has cracked the algorithm and slipped portraiture into your feed.

Social Media And The Subway

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.52?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dfairey" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Obama “Hope” Portrait</a> by Shepard Fairey, original photo by Mannie Garcia

<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/who-owns-this-image" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Canal Zone” Collage </a>by Richard Prince, original photo by Patrick Cariou

“<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Prince_%281984%29#/media/File:Prince,_by_Andy_Warhol.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Orange Prince” </a>by Andy Warhol

<a href="https://hls.harvard.edu/today/supreme-court-considers-whether-warhol-violated-copyright-law-with-prince-portrait/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Prince Portrait</a> by Lynn Goldsmith

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

The Supreme Court rules on Andy Warhol silk screen, but what about the right to riff?

Copyright vs Copywrong

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 <a href="https://www.si.edu/sidedoor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sidedoor podcast</a>, 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 <a href="https://npg.si.edu/bache/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

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.

From the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast, a ledger book stuffed with silhouettes and sprinkled with arsenic.

Bonus: The Toxic Book of Faces

Digital artist Amalia Soto, also known by the username <a href="https://mollysoda.exposed/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Molly Soda</a>, 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 <a href="http://www.glennkainostudio.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Glenn Kaino</a>.

See the artwork we discussed:

<a href="https://vimeo.com/221276950" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Who’s Sorry Now?</a> (2017)

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdfIXkwvU1Y" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inbox Full</a> (2012)

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWVIWrxdGqk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Apology </a>(2022)

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)

We can control the way we are seen, but not the way we are consumed.

Me, Online

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 <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/find-an-expert/professor-marcus-du-sautoy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marcus du Sautoy</a> 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:

<a href="https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-edmond-de-belamy-from-la-famille-de-6166184/?from=salesummery&amp;intObjectID=6166184&amp;sid=18abf70b-239c-41f7-bf78-99c5a4370bc7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edmond de Belamy</a>, published by Obvious Art

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/apr/05/new-rembrandt-to-be-unveiled-in-amsterdam" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Next Rembrandt</a>, brainchild of Bas Korsten

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/ai-generated-portrait-kim-sajet" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kim Sajet</a>, generated by AI

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/kim-sajet-devon-rodriguez" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kim Sajet</a>, by Devon Rodriguez

You can see Prof. Marcus du Sautoy’s ‘Creativity Code’ lecture <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k89sS6fsZvI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

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.

What happens if you ask AI to paint a self-portrait?

ART-ificial Intelligence

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 <a href="https://artfraudinsights.com/colette_loll/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Colette Loll</a>, 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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.96.131?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dde%252Blaszlo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Francis Patrick Garvan</a>, by de Philip de László

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2014/01/01/arts/design/20140101FAKES/s/20140101FAKES-slide-PFAF.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elmyr de Hory</a>, in the style of Philip de László

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

Art fraud is a lot more common than you might think.

Fakes, the Boxed Wines of the Art World

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 <a href="https://kaibird.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kai Bird</a>, whose book inspired the movie, takes a look with us.

See the portrait we discuss:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.78.TC655?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Doppenheimer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">J. Robert Oppenheimer</a>, Time magazine cover by Ernest Hamlin Baker

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

Was he an American patriot, a communist sympathiser, or the destroyer of worlds?

Oppenheimer's Close-Up

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.

See the portraits we discuss:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/ulysses-s-grant-frame" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, by Ole Peter Hansen Balling

<a href="https://mountvernonnewroom.tumblr.com/post/67069735532/a-portrait-of-a-king-at-mount-vernon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">King Louis XVI of France</a>, by Charles-Clément Bervic

<a href="https://ruthbuentello.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/img_3196.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gamer Niñas</a>, by Ruth Buentello

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/portraiture-now-kinship" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Under the Mexican Colchas</a>, Kinship Exhibition, by Ruth Buentello

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.
See the portraits we discuss:
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

The frame tells a story that the painting cannot.

It Depends How You Frame It

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.

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.

This season we're changing things up.. 

Season 5 Trailer: Director's Cut

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:

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CEIBXuPlUGu/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pauline Perlmutter Steinem</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2005.121?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dgloria%252Bsteinem" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes</a>, 1971

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.84.273.C?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dmarilyn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marilyn Monroe</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.78.TC108?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dstudent%252Bprotest%252Btime%252Bmagazine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Student Protest</a>

<a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3c14833/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony</a>

<a href="https://msmagazine.com/about/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ms. magazine preview cover</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2017.105?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dgloria%252Bsteinem" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes</a>, 2013

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

Too mad, too manly, too serious, not serious enough.. 

A Cover Like No Other

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 <a href="http://www.lostwomenofscience.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lost Women of Science</a> 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.

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.

The diagnosis is gender bias and historical amnesia.

BONUS: The Case of the Missing Portrait

Washington Post editorial cartoonist <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/ann-telnaes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ann Telnaes</a> 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, <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnTelnaes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@AnnTelnaes.</a>

See other images we discuss:

<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Polly_Got_a_Cracker_-_Nelan_1903.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Polly Got A Cracker, by Charles Nelan</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2017/05/07/the-barometer-of-a-free-press/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anti-Cartoon Bill Defiance</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2002.176" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Watergate Bug, by Patrick Oliphant</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2006.50" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Credibility Gulf Stream, by Draper Hill</a>

<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11122" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Gulf Stream, by Winslow Homer</a>

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

If you don't want Ann to draw you, don't be a hypocrite. 

Pinocchio Noses and Plug-In Halos

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2019.4?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dindra%252Bnooyi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Indra Nooyi</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.2002.65?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dmeg%252Bwhitman" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meg Whitman</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.91.152?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dann%252Bcatherine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anne Catherine Hoof Green</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2009.17?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dmartha%252Bstewart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Martha Stewart</a>

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

Indra Nooyi is no longer blending in. 

The Business End Of Portraiture

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 <a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.94.95" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

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.

There's more to this story than meets the nose.

BONUS: Finding Cleopatra

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.87.43" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Benjamin Franklin by Duplessis</a>

<a href="https://www.si.edu/object/29c-benjamin-franklin-single%3Anpm_1994.2073.263.21.1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Franklin’s stamp</a>

<a href="https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1980.2493.2973" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Roosevelt and the Little White House</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.84.298?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fpage%3D2%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dfranklin%252B%252Bdelano%252Broosevelt" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Roosevelt at his desk</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.72.116?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dsusan%252Bb.%252Banthony" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony, bronze bust</a>

<a href="https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1980.2493.2678" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony, three cents</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.77.255?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dsusan%252Bb.%252Banthony" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony, photograph</a>

<a href="https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_2008.2007.8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony, fifty cents</a>

<a href="https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-black-experience-early-pioneers/jean-baptiste-pointe-du-sable" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable</a>

<a href="https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-black-experience-early-pioneers/benjamin-banneker" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Benjamin Banneker</a>

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

It's possibly the world's largest, and tiniest, portrait collection.

Postal Pairings

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 <a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2013.2?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3DClara%252BBarton" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

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 award-winning chef José Andrés looks to a Civil War nurse for inspiration.

A Shortcut Across Time

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 <a href="https://americaspresidents.si.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘America’s Presidents’ exhibition</a>.

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 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-kennicott/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Philip Kennicott</a>, "you want to send people out a little hungry."

Also featuring former deputy director Carolyn Carr.

See the portraits we discuss here:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.48" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President James Buchanan</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.72.2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President Richard Nixon</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.95.120" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President George H. W. Bush</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2006.1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President Bill Clinton </a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.51" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President George W. Bush</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2018.16" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President Barack Obama</a>

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

A map, a smile, a shadow of controversy.

BONUS: Portraying The Presidents

Atlantic editor <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/vann-newkirk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vann R. Newkirk II</a> 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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.77?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dgeorge%252Bwashington%252Bcarver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Washington Carver</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.96.123?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Djohn%252Bbrown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Brown daguerreotype</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.74.2?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Djohn%252Bbrown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Brown painting</a>

<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2021/02/vann-newkirk/617916/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marylin Thurman Newkirk</a>

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

Memory does not sit atop a granite foundation, nor does democracy.

Things We Take For Granted

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2012.78?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fpage%3D2%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dgordon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Harper’s Weekly special edition</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2016.18?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dgordon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gordon after his escape</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2002.89?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dpeter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peter with scarred back</a>

<a href="https://www.si.edu/object/tintype-civil-war-soldier:nmaahc_2011.51.12" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tintype of soldier</a>

<a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/SKd3ivZ4grUVWJ3c9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soldier with painted backdrop</a>

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

The 'luxury of a likeness' is democratized.

Glimpsing Freedom

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2015.114?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dgeorge%252Btakei" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Takei as Hikaru Sulu</a>

<a href="http://remembrance-project.janm.org/tributes/wayne-collins.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wayne Collins</a>

<a href="https://www.amazon.com/They-Called-Enemy-George-Takei/dp/1603094504" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">They Called Us Enemy</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2019.116?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dtakei" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Takei at Rohwer dedication ceremony</a>

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

It's definitely OK to be Takei!

Live Long and Protest

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2015.12?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dchien-shiung" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Wu in the lab</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.98.112?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3DTsung%252BDao-Lee" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tsung-Dao Lee, </a>Nobel Laureate

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.98.113?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dchen%252Bning%252Byang" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chen-Ning Yang</a>, Nobel Laureate

<a href="https://about.usps.com/newsroom/local-releases/ma/2021/0201ma-nuclear-physicist-chien-shiung-wu-to-be-honored-on-forever-stamp.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Wu on the forever stamp</a>

Also, check out Jada Yuan’s article about her grandmother <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/12/13/chien-shiung-wu-biography-physics-grandmother/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>!

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!

How do you draw a picture of a world-famous ancestor?

The Woman Who Knocked Science Sideways

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:

<a href="https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/photos/dolores-huerta-huelga-during-grape-strike-delano-california-sept-24-1965" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Huerta with ‘Huelga’ Sign</a>

<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Eefx6IDI39Qejfj-YQNAZ7D74dC08I-UROpI3eGx9bI/edit#slide=id.g11eb8b33c16_0_14" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Huerta at Delano Grape Strike</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.2016.137?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Ddolores%252Bhuerta" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Huerta with Fred Ross</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2015.23?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Ddolores%252Bhuerta" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Huerta by Barbara Carrasco</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2005.121?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3DGloria%252Bsteinem" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes</a>

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

"When you decide to become a warrior, you can expect a lot of arrows to be slung at you."

Dolores Huerta: Yes She Did!

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.

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.

Stories of Resistance and Resilience

Season 4 Trailer

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:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.68.1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Harriet Beecher Stowe</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2019.69" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.31" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Julia Ward Howe</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.81.116" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mark Twain</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.74.36" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Martin Luther King Jr. </a>

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.

A boozy lunch, a big idea.

Yesterday's Disruptors... Today

After having to destroy her family pictures during the Cultural Revolution in China, 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.

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/Un-forgetting%20History" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">See the images we discuss</a>:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/Un-forgetting%20History" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/Un-forgetting%20History</a>

After having to destroy her family pictures during the Cultural Revolution in China, 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

"For me history is not a noun, it's a verb."

Un-forgetting History

These last few weeks brought jolting discoveries at residential schools in Canada— unmarked grave sites thought to contain the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children who went missing. The news was a visceral reminder that systemic racism and discrimination can literally bury the past.

So we decided to revisit an episode about a woman who— unlike so many Indigenous people of her time— was celebrated by Colonial America, and actually had a portrait done: Pocahontas.

Curator and author <a href="https://www.paulchaatsmith.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Chaat Smith</a> sifts through what we know, and what we think we know, about this iconic figure.

See the portraits we discussed:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.61?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dpocahontas" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pocahontas, painting</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.72.65?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dpocahontas" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pocahontas, engraving</a>

These last few weeks brought jolting discoveries at residential schools in Canada— unmarked grave sites thought to contain the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children who went missing. The news was a visceral reminder that systemic racism and discrimination can literally bury the past.
So we decided to revisit an episode about a woman who— unlike so many Indigenous people of her time— was celebrated by Colonial America, and actually had a portrait done: Pocahontas.
Curator and author Paul Chaat Smith sifts through what we know, and what we think we know, about this iconic figure.
See the portraits we discussed:
Pocahontas, painting
Pocahontas, engraving

"Pocahontas was a player."

BONUS: Who Was Pocahontas Really?

<a href="https://www.si.edu/about/bios/ellen-stofan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Ellen Stofan</a> is a planetary geologist who has spent a lot of time looking up at the stars and thinking about life outside our planet. But in this episode, she talks with Kim about the portraits of some of her favorite earth dwellers. Among the trailblazers she highlights: a judge who fought for women's rights and a marine biologist who challenged the way we see ourselves in relation to the natural world.

 
See the portraits:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2006.79?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Drachel%252Bcarson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rachel Carson </a>and the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-blue-marble-the-view-from-apollo-17" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blue Marble Shot</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2020.130?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dthe%252Bfour%252Bjustices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Four Justices</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.93.363?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dalthea%252Bgibson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Althea Gibson</a>

Dr. Ellen Stofan is a planetary geologist who has spent a lot of time looking up at the stars and thinking about life outside our planet. But in this episode, she talks with Kim about the portraits of some of her favorite earth dwellers. Among the trailblazers she highlights: a judge who fought for women's rights and a marine biologist who challenged the way we see ourselves in relation to the natural world.

See the portraits:
Rachel Carson and the Blue Marble Shot
The Four Justices
Althea Gibson

Science, Sports and The Supremes

Ellen Stofan Sees Stars Here On Earth

The 1862 painting "Men of Progress" depicts a group of inventors credited with "altering the course of contemporary civilization.” Between them, they found more efficient ways to sew clothing, harvest crops and even send telegraph messages. In fact, the Smithsonian’s first secretary stands in the middle.

But as cultural anthropologist Richard Kurin notes, many people have been left out of this tableau. To mark the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary, we ask current Sec. Lonnie Bunch to give the painting an update.

See the portraits:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.60" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Men of Progress</a>

<a href="https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/stories/solomon-brown-first-african-american-employee-smithsonian-institution" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Solomon Brown</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.96.28" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">James Smithson</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.74.45" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Frederick Douglass</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2012.77.89?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Deleanor%252Broosevelt" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eleanor Roosevelt</a>

<a href="https://www.si.edu/object/untitled:nmaahc_2011.15.7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dorothy Height</a>

The 1862 painting "Men of Progress" depicts a group of inventors credited with "altering the course of contemporary civilization.” Between them, they found more efficient ways to sew clothing, harvest crops and even send telegraph messages. In fact, the Smithsonian’s first secretary stands in the middle.
But as cultural anthropologist Richard Kurin notes, many people have been left out of this tableau. To mark the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary, we ask current Sec. Lonnie Bunch to give the painting an update.
See the portraits:
Men of Progress
Solomon Brown
James Smithson
Frederick Douglass
Eleanor Roosevelt
Dorothy Height

Who do we lionize, and why?

People of Progress

Phillis Wheatley was a literary superstar around the time of the American Revolutionary War— a distinction she notched up while writing in bondage. But she never wrote an account of her own experiences, and there are gaps in her story. The Gallery’s <a href="https://womenshistory.si.edu/news/2020/04/curator-ashleigh-d-coren-shares-womens-stories-through-portraits" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ashleigh Coren</a> and writer <a href="https://honoreejeffers.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Honorée Jeffers</a> ask us to re-imagine her life, drawn in poetry.

See Wheatley’s portrait <a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.77.2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

Phillis Wheatley was a literary superstar around the time of the American Revolutionary War— a distinction she notched up while writing in bondage. But she never wrote an account of her own experiences, and there are gaps in her story. The Gallery’s Ashleigh Coren and writer Honorée Jeffers ask us to re-imagine her life, drawn in poetry.
See Wheatley’s portrait here.

She literally wrote her way to freedom.

Phillis Wheatley Redrawn

When the early photographer William Mumler developed his glass plates, he sometimes found a ghost had slipped into the picture. Was he a fraud? A medium? A grief counselor?

Author and curator <a href="http://www.petermanseau.com/about.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peter Manseau</a> explains how Mumler found himself at the crossroads of an emerging technology, and a wave of grief for those lost during the Civil War, and how his spirit photography eventually landed him in court.

See the portraits we discuss:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.97.63?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dbarnum" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">P.T. Barnum</a>, by the Mathew Brady Studio

‘<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.81.M1?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dcracked%252Bplate%252Blincoln" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cracked-Plate’ Lincoln</a>, by Alexander Gardner

<a href="http://contentdm.acpl.lib.in.us/digital/collection/p15155coll1/id/56/rec/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mary Todd Lincoln</a>, by William Mumler

When the early photographer William Mumler developed his glass plates, he sometimes found a ghost had slipped into the picture. Was he a fraud? A medium? A grief counselor?
Author and curator Peter Manseau explains how Mumler found himself at the crossroads of an emerging technology, and a wave of grief for those lost during the Civil War, and how his spirit photography eventually landed him in court.
See the portraits we discuss:
P.T. Barnum, by the Mathew Brady Studio
‘Cracked-Plate’ Lincoln, by Alexander Gardner
Mary Todd Lincoln, by William Mumler

“Nothing can be so deceiving as a photograph.” 

Capturing Ghosts

Choreographer-in-Residence <a href="https://dtsbdc.org/dana_tai_soon_burgess/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dana Tai Soon Burgess</a> traces his ‘hyphenated’ background— a journey that begins on a boat from Korea, disembarks at a Hawaiian pineapple plantation, meanders through Latino culture, and then arrives at a martial arts class in New Mexico… organized by Tibetan monks.

Dana also discusses the hyphenated artists featured in two of his favorite portraits at the Gallery. Both were pioneers, both were outsiders, and both had their ‘American-ness’ challenged.

See the portraits:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.78.148?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3DMichio%252BIto" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michio Ito</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.86.226?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Disamu%252Bnoguchi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isamu Noguchi</a>

(“Tracings” duet music courtesy of Aaron Leitko.)

Choreographer-in-Residence Dana Tai Soon Burgess traces his ‘hyphenated’ background— a journey that begins on a boat from Korea, disembarks at a Hawaiian pineapple plantation, meanders through Latino culture, and then arrives at a martial arts class in New Mexico… organized by Tibetan monks.
Dana also discusses the hyphenated artists featured in two of his favorite portraits at the Gallery. Both were pioneers, both were outsiders, and both had their ‘American-ness’ challenged.
See the portraits:
Michio Ito
Isamu Noguchi
(“Tracings” duet music courtesy of Aaron Leitko.)

Two men who had their 'American-ness' challenged.

Hyphenated

Author <a href="https://revolutiontrilogy.com/rick-atkinson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rick Atkinson</a> brings to life two men who played outsized roles during the founding of the United States— one a rich slave trader, the other a pamphleteer who died penniless. They both stood for liberty and equality, but their stories illustrate how the democratic ideals written into the Declaration of Independence often clash with historical reality.

See the portraits we discuss:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.5?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dthomas%252Bpaine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thomas Paine, by Laurent Dabos</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.45?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dhenry%252Blaurens" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Henry Laurens, by John Singleton Copley</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2009.111?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Djohn%252Blaurens" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Laurens, by Charles Willson Peale</a>

Author Rick Atkinson brings to life two men who played outsized roles during the founding of the United States— one a rich slave trader, the other a pamphleteer who died penniless. They both stood for liberty and equality, but their stories illustrate how the democratic ideals written into the Declaration of Independence often clash with historical reality.
See the portraits we discuss:
Thomas Paine, by Laurent Dabos
Henry Laurens, by John Singleton Copley
John Laurens, by Charles Willson Peale

"Democracy is never a thing done."

Foundational Truths

We look at the portraits on our money— the little history lessons we carry around in our pockets. But with such a limited array of people featured, what do our banknotes say about us? First up, curator <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/profile/1159" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ellen Feingold</a> takes us on a tour of our money’s vibrant early designs, including images of children, beloved pets, and George Washington in a toga. Then former Treasurer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpndNAYmvhs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosie Rios</a> tells us how she discovered that women have been missing from our bills for more than a century, and how she campaigned to get Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.

See the images we discuss:

<a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/file-uploader/JN2016-00140_en.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sanford Bank (Maine), $2 note</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.87.43" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Benjamin Franklin</a>, by Joseph Siffred Duplessis

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.70.3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Martha Washington</a>, copy after Gilbert Stuart

<a href="https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/photos/women-money-silver-certificate" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Martha Washington, $1 silver certificate</a>

<a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1169536" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Washington wearing a toga, National Bank (New York), $3 note</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2001.13" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Washington</a>, Lansdowne Portrait

<a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1451676" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“History Instructing Youth,” $1 silver certificate</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2013.136?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fpage%3D1%26return_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Damerica%252Baquatint" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Indépendence des États-Unis</a>, copy after Jean Duplessi-Bertaux

We look at the portraits on our money— the little history lessons we carry around in our pockets. But with such a limited array of people featured, what do our banknotes say about us? First up, curator Ellen Feingold takes us on a tour of our money’s vibrant early designs, including images of children, beloved pets, and George Washington in a toga. Then former Treasurer Rosie Rios tells us how she discovered that women have been missing from our bills for more than a century, and how she campaigned to get Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
See the images we discuss:
Sanford Bank (Maine), $2 note
Benjamin Franklin, by Joseph Siffred Duplessis
Martha Washington, copy after Gilbert Stuart
Martha Washington, $1 silver certificate
George Washington wearing a toga, National Bank (New York), $3 note
George Washington, Lansdowne Portrait
“History Instructing Youth,” $1 silver certificate
Indépendence des États-Unis, copy after Jean Duplessi-Bertaux

What does our currency say about us?

On the Money

As the National Portrait Gallery works on its latest commission -- an official portrait of former President Donald Trump -- we take a spin through the <a href="https://americaspresidents.si.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘America’s Presidents’ exhibition</a>. This episode draws back the curtain on earlier commissions that have drawn controversy and acclaim: a portrait of Bill Clinton with a shadow of scandal painted into it, and the Obama portraits that transformed the museum into a pilgrimage site.

Director Kim Sajet also 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 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-kennicott/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Philip Kennicott</a>, "you want to send people out a little hungry."

Also featuring former deputy director Carolyn Carr.

See the portraits we discuss here:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.48" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President James Buchanan</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.72.2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President Richard Nixon</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.95.120" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President George H. W. Bush</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2006.1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President Bill Clinton </a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.51" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President George W. Bush</a>

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2018.16" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">President Barack Obama</a>

As the National Portrait Gallery works on its latest commission -- an official portrait of former President Donald Trump -- we take a spin through the ‘America’s Presidents’ exhibition. This episode draws back the curtain on earlier commissions that have drawn controversy and acclaim: a portrait of Bill Clinton with a shadow of scandal painted into it, and the Obama portraits that transformed the museum into a pilgrimage site.
Director Kim Sajet also 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

Portraying The Presidents

Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, draws back the curtain on the artwork that tells the story of the United States— from a presidential portrait with a shadow of scandal hanging over it, to a $3 bill featuring George Washington in a toga. Tune in starting March 23 as Kim chats with historians, journalists and educators to reveal key American figures as the flawed, complex, and at times, unexpectedly relatable human beings they were.

Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, draws back the curtain on the artwork that tells the story of the United States— from a presidential portrait with a shadow of scandal hanging over it, to a $3 bill featuring George Washington in a toga. Tune in starting March 23 as Kim chats with historians, journalists and educators to reveal key American figures as the flawed, complex, and at times, unexpectedly relatable human beings they were.

Real people, real stories

Season 3 Trailer

Operatic soprano Renée Fleming has been called ‘the people’s diva,’ performing at key moments in our nation’s story, like when she sang at ground zero after 9/11. For this special episode, she talks with Kim about how music can help us mourn, heal, and celebrate as we send off a particularly tough 2020 and nestle into the holidays. She also describes a few portraits that hold special meaning for her, because portraits are what we’re all about!

See the portraits we discuss:

Renée Fleming by Annie Leibovitz is <a href="https://ids.si.edu/ids/dynamic?id=https://npg.si.edu/media/B2000202C.jpg&amp;container.fullpage&amp;iframe=true&amp;width=85%25&amp;height=85%25" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here.</a>

Denyce Graves and Marc Mostovoy by Nelson Shanks is <a href="https://ids.si.edu/ids/media_view?id=NPG-L_NPG_1_2006-000001&amp;container.fullpage&amp;iframe=true&amp;width=85%25&amp;height=85%25" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here.</a>

Leontyne Price by Bradley Phillips is <a href="https://www.si.edu/object/leontyne-price:npg_NPG.91.96" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here.</a>

Special thanks to Dr. Lonnie Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian, and the Smithsonian National Board for making this podcast possible.

Operatic soprano Renée Fleming has been called ‘the people’s diva,’ performing at key moments in our nation’s story, like when she sang at ground zero after 9/11. For this special episode, she talks with Kim about how music can help us mourn, heal, and celebrate as we send off a particularly tough 2020 and nestle into the holidays. She also describes a few portraits that hold special meaning for her, because portraits are what we’re all about!
See the portraits we discuss:
Renée Fleming by Annie Leibovitz is here.
Denyce Graves and Marc Mostovoy by Nelson Shanks is here.
Leontyne Price by Bradley Phillips is here.
Special thanks to Dr. Lonnie Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian, and the Smithsonian National Board for making this podcast possible.

The songs, the portraits, and of course the gowns.

Holiday Edition: Renée Fleming on Music’s Special Place

Born just two years after the abolition of slavery, Madam C.J. Walker built a business empire by marketing her homemade haircare formula to the black community. Along the way, she became the United States’ first female self-made millionaire.

Our guests, Janine Sherman Barrois and Elle Johnson, helped bring Walker’s story to millions of viewers in the Netflix limited series, “Self Made.” They discuss Walker’s barrier-busting entrepreneurship, as well as her decision to use her own portrait as part of her brand.

See her trademark photograph here: <a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.20</a>

Born just two years after the abolition of slavery, Madam C.J. Walker built a business empire by marketing her homemade haircare formula to the black community. Along the way, she became the United States’ first female self-made millionaire.
Our guests, Janine Sherman Barrois and Elle Johnson, helped bring Walker’s story to millions of viewers in the Netflix limited series, “Self Made.” They discuss Walker’s barrier-busting entrepreneurship, as well as her decision to use her own portrait as part of her brand.
See her trademark photograph here: https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.20

A million ways that hair is power.

Self Made with Elle Johnson and Janine Sherman Barrois 

We look at a black and white photograph that encapsulates a very American story— about the magic that can happen when you throw together people from different backgrounds and languages and… beats. The concoction that resulted is known as Latin Boogaloo.

Eduardo Díaz, director of the Smithsonian Latino Center, explains how one of the genre’s pioneers, Joe Bataan, got his degree in ‘streetology’ and went on to establish himself as the King of Latin Soul.

See the photo we discuss on our website: 

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/joe-bataan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/joe-bataan</a>

We look at a black and white photograph that encapsulates a very American story— about the magic that can happen when you throw together people from different backgrounds and languages and… beats. The concoction that resulted is known as Latin Boogaloo.
Eduardo Díaz, director of the Smithsonian Latino Center, explains how one of the genre’s pioneers, Joe Bataan, got his degree in ‘streetology’ and went on to establish himself as the King of Latin Soul.
See the photo we discuss on our website: 
https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/joe-bataan

A dash of cha-cha-cha, a shot of rhythm and blues, shake with ice.

Bataan's Boogaloo with Eduardo Díaz

The sitter was rapper LL Cool J. The artist was Kehinde Wiley, who's made a name for himself by portraying African American men and women in regal poses taken from art history.

In this episode, LL Cool J recounts what happened when they met, and why he turned to a 100-year-old masterpiece depicting the richest person in modern history-- John D. Rockefeller Sr.-- for his power pose. He also discusses how portraits can help build new paradigms in the face of systemic racism.

Stepping in to complete the picture, art historian Richard Ormond draws a line from a gilded age of luxury and elegance to a celebration of hip hop royalty.

See the paintings we discuss here:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/rockefeller-pose" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/rockefeller-pose</a>

The sitter was rapper LL Cool J. The artist was Kehinde Wiley, who's made a name for himself by portraying African American men and women in regal poses taken from art history.
In this episode, LL Cool J recounts what happened when they met, and why he turned to a 100-year-old masterpiece depicting the richest person in modern history-- John D. Rockefeller Sr.-- for his power pose. He also discusses how portraits can help build new paradigms in the face of systemic racism.
Stepping in to complete the picture, art historian Richard Ormond draws a line from a gilded age of luxury and elegance to a celebration of hip hop royalty.
See the paintings we discuss here:
https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/rockefeller-pose

A family crest with a pair of boxing gloves.

The Rockefeller Pose with LL Cool J and Richard Ormond

As a portrait artist, Robert McCurdy has painted some of the most famous and visionary people of our time-- the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Toni Morrison. But first he tells them, "It's not about you."

The goal, he says, is to create a photorealistic image with no expression and no implied past or future, so the viewer and the subject can simply encounter one another. The true subject, he says, is the gaze.

See the portraits we discuss on our website: <a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/robert-mccurdy-portraits" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/robert-mccurdy-portraits</a>

As a portrait artist, Robert McCurdy has painted some of the most famous and visionary people of our time-- the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Toni Morrison. But first he tells them, "It's not about you."
The goal, he says, is to create a photorealistic image with no expression and no implied past or future, so the viewer and the subject can simply encounter one another. The true subject, he says, is the gaze.
See the portraits we discuss on our website: https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/robert-mccurdy-portraits

A portrait so meticulously rendered, "You can see my contact lenses."

Getting Real with Robert McCurdy

After 'walking away' from slavery, abolitionist Sojourner Truth chose her own name, told her own story at speaking engagements, and sued for her young son's freedom. (She won.) The Gallery’s senior historian, Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, says there’s something else she took control of— her portrait. 

You can see the carte de visite we discuss here: <a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.79.209" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.79.209</a>

After 'walking away' from slavery, abolitionist Sojourner Truth chose her own name, told her own story at speaking engagements, and sued for her young son's freedom. (She won.) The Gallery’s senior historian, Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, says there’s something else she took control of— her portrait. 
You can see the carte de visite we discuss here: https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.79.209

Sojourner Truth's words were not always her own. But her image was.

Seeing Truth with Gwendolyn Shaw

It commands attention among the more sober portraits in the Presidents’ gallery, interrupting a room of men in dark suits with an explosion of green and gold. Chief curator Brandon Fortune recounts the tragic backstory behind this standout portrait of President John F. Kennedy by one of the few women who gained a foothold in the abstract expressionist movement— Elaine de Kooning.

You can see de Kooning’s remarkable painting on our website:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.99.75" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.99.75</a>

It commands attention among the more sober portraits in the Presidents’ gallery, interrupting a room of men in dark suits with an explosion of green and gold. Chief curator Brandon Fortune recounts the tragic backstory behind this standout portrait of President John F. Kennedy by one of the few women who gained a foothold in the abstract expressionist movement— Elaine de Kooning.
You can see de Kooning’s remarkable painting on our website:
https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.99.75

In some ways, Elaine de Kooning almost fell in love with her subject. Then he was murdered.

Painting Through a President's Assassination, with Brandon Fortune

Ruben Salazar was one of the first Latinx journalists to rise through the ranks of a major U.S. newspaper. Initially, he was careful to avoid being pigeonholed as a reporter on minority issues, but eventually he became known for digging into stories about police brutality and racial profiling— subjects also championed by the Chicano Movement. Curator Taína Caragol takes us through his life, frame by frame, and explains why some call him a martyr.

See the portraits we talk about on our website:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/ruben-salazar" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/ruben-salazar</a>

Ruben Salazar was one of the first Latinx journalists to rise through the ranks of a major U.S. newspaper. Initially, he was careful to avoid being pigeonholed as a reporter on minority issues, but eventually he became known for digging into stories about police brutality and racial profiling— subjects also championed by the Chicano Movement. Curator Taína Caragol takes us through his life, frame by frame, and explains why some call him a martyr.
See the portraits we talk about on our website:
https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/ruben-salazar

A reporter becomes the subject of the story.

Focusing on Ruben Salazar, with Taína Caragol

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and film director Kasi Lemmons love Harriet Tubman, but they weren't in love with her portrait as an older woman in a heavy dark dress. Then Hayden got a call.

See the photographs we talk about here:

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/harriet-tubman" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/harriet-tubman</a>

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and film director Kasi Lemmons love Harriet Tubman, but they weren't in love with her portrait as an older woman in a heavy dark dress. Then Hayden got a call.
See the photographs we talk about here:
https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/harriet-tubman

What if you could leave behind just one photograph?

Growing Younger with Harriet Tubman

In the first of our ‘social distancing’ episodes, educator Briana Zavadil White takes us to stand in front of one of her favorite paintings at the National Portrait Gallery. It commemorates a brutal boxing match that was fought 100 years ago, but Briana brings it alive… from the sound of the bell, to the smell of popcorn, to the sweltering heat.

See the portraits discussed on <a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts" title="website" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">our website</a>: 

<a href="https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/home-gallery-dempsy-willard" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/home-gallery-dempsy-willard</a>

In the first of our ‘social distancing’ episodes, educator Briana Zavadil White takes us to stand in front of one of her favorite paintings at the National Portrait Gallery. It commemorates a brutal boxing match that was fought 100 years ago, but Briana brings it alive… from the sound of the bell, to the smell of popcorn, to the sweltering heat.
See the portraits discussed on our website: 
https://npg.si.edu/podcasts/home-gallery-dempsy-willard