This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX, I'm Lizzie Peabody.

And this episode, we're doing things a little differently, because it's Side Door senior

producer Justin O'Neill's last show with us. So today, we're going to share some shorter

stories that he has been reporting on his own without me.

That's right, Lizzie. It wasn't as fun without you, but you know, I got to be the one asking

the questions for once. Hey, there you go. So we're going to get to those stories in just a moment,

but Justin, you've been with the show for more than four years and you have worked on 90 different

episodes. So let's just take a minute and get reflective here. When you think back, do you have

any favorites? Well, you know, Lizzie, these episodes, they're like my children. So of course,

I have favorites. Give us a quick highlight, real. Tell us about your favorite children.

So you know how some stories just kind of stick with you and you find yourself thinking about

them weeks, months, or even years later? Yes, sometimes in the middle of the night.

Or sometimes when you're like out to dinner with friends, you're just like, oh,

here's a thing you didn't know. So I've made a few of those stories at Side Door where I find myself

still thinking about them. And they kind of tickle me. So here are three of those stories for me.

And you know how much I love the National Zoo, Lizzie. I do know how much you love the zoo.

So the first time I went to the National Zoo as a member of Side Door,

former host, Tony Cohn and I, we got to go behind the scenes at the ape house and watch an ape keeper

collect milk from a young orangutan mother. So she's actually already presenting her

nipple to me. She doesn't know what I'm asking. She knows what this tube is for.

He wants to make sure that I'm aware that he also likes peanut. That's iris to be aware that

she also likes peanuts. Who literally peanut gathered? So that was a few other orangutans just sort

...