Every four years during the third week of January, the presidential inauguration takes over

downtown Washington, DC.

Okay, it's a Saturday afternoon, about 230.

And I'm about to ride my bike into DC and just do a kind of loop around capital to

mall. It sounds like, you know, this is going to be an interesting next few days. So here we go.

People come from across the country to celebrate one of the hallmarks of our democracy,

the peaceful transfer of power. Excited crowds, bundled things, the cold,

lined the parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue, fancy parties and events spill out of hotel

ballrooms all over town. It's kind of like a political Marty Gras that happens once every four years.

National Geographic's headquarters is located just a few blocks from the White House. So we're always

kind of in the eye of the storm. So basically it's like the whole mall looks like a shutdown.

The inauguration of a U.S. President is always a historic event. Since George Washington took the

first presidential oath of office in 1789, inaugurations have been held during times of war and peace,

prosperity and uncertainty, strong unity and deep division. So how will history remember 2021

in Joe Biden's inauguration? I'm Peter Gwyn, Editor at large at National Geographic.

And I made me bricks, Executive Editor of National Geographic History magazine, and this is over her.

A show where we eat, drop on the wild conversations we have here at Natuio and follow them to the

edges of our big, weird, beautiful world. In this special episode, we're heavy on the weird,

the most surreal presidential inauguration and recent memory. We venture into the streets of

the nation's capital to talk to Natuio photographers reporting on the inauguration, and we'll also see

where 2021 fits into the history of U.S. inaugurations. So Peter, you've been all over DC. It's a global

pandemic and the most security of any inauguration in U.S. history. Yeah, Amy, so I'm downtown

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