Midnight Magic

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

Exhibits, Postal Museum, National Museum, Science, Tony Cohn, African American History And Culture, Air And Space, Zoo, Sidedoor, Dc, Art19, Washington, Megan Detrie, Pop Culture, Exhibit, Society & Culture, American History, History, The Smithsonian, Smithsonian, Museum, National Zoo, History Of The World, Natural History

4.7 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little stitious.” As the New Year approaches, this iconic line from The Office feels more relatable than ever. From gulping grapes in Spain to donning yellow underwear in South America and practicing Scotland’s ancient “first-footing” tradition, people around the world embrace odd – and oddly meaningful - rituals to ensure good luck in the year ahead. Join us as we travel around the Smithsonian to explore how facing the unknown brings us together at New Year’s… in the most unusual ways.

Guests:

Jim Deutsch, senior content coordinator for America at 250 book project with the Smithsonian Institution, formerly a curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Tey Marianna Nunn, associate director of content and interpretation for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino

Theo Gonzalvez, curator at the National Museum of American History

Grace Jan, Yao Wenqing Chinese Painting Conservator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.5	I'm Lizzie Peabody. All right, let's get these towels ready.
0:27.2	Every year on January 1st, I do something I look forward to, but also kind of dread.
0:35.6	With my family, I jump in the ocean.
0:39.1	In Maine.
0:40.6	So it is cold.
0:43.0	That's icy.
0:44.8	Sometimes the tide is so low we have to sprint for yards just to get deep enough to plunge.
0:50.9	Running over the frozen sand, I can't even feel my feet, just this vague burning.
0:56.2	And when I duck under, the shock of it knocks the air out of me.
1:02.1	And there is nothing like feeling like you might be dying to give you a new lease on life for the new year.
1:18.2	Oh! a new lease on life for the new year. That is a great way to mark the transition, because that is what New Year's traditions are about
1:24.8	are marking a transition from old to new.
1:28.2	This is Jim Deutsch. He's spent more than two decades as a curator with the Smithsonian Center for
1:33.2	Folklife and Cultural Heritage. And he says, my New Year's tradition makes sense.
1:38.4	Jumping into the cold water is a shock to the system.
1:41.2	Yeah.
1:41.6	And I think something that allows us both physically and mentally to make the transition
1:47.8	from old to new.
1:49.0	It is a marker.
1:50.7	I'm not the only one to mark the start of the year with a polar plunge.
1:54.5	This is something many people do, from Coney Island to Antarctica.
	...

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