On The Money

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

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

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2021

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We carry portraits around all the time: pocket-sized history lessons in the form of dollars and cents. The recent decision to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill has us thinking about who’s on our money, and how they got there. This episode of the “Portraits” podcast, from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, takes a whirlwind tour of money of yore, featuring everything from piles of bunnies to George Washington’s nipples. This episode will have you taking a closer look at the portraits you might be sitting on right now.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX, I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:23.8	How many portraits are you carrying right now?
0:27.2	I have four portraits of George Washington in my wallet right now.
0:37.6	I actually thought there were more, but oh well.
0:40.5	Anyway, here he is, he's looking out at me from the $1 bill.
0:44.3	He has his powdered hair and his fluffy cravat.
0:48.4	And this is pretty much the $1 bill I've always known.
0:51.1	But the dollar bill definitely did not always look like this.
0:55.3	In today's episode, we are guest featuring a fantastic story about the changing phases
1:00.0	of US currency.
1:01.6	This comes from our sister show, Portraits, produced by the team at the Smithsonian's
1:05.4	National Portrait Gallery, and hosted by director Kim Zayet.
1:09.5	You may remember Kim from last season when she spoke with me about the previously undiscovered
1:13.6	portrait of a young Harriet Tubman.
1:16.5	And Harriet Tubman is back in this episode, as the new face of the $20 bill.
1:21.4	But we'll also take a journey through banknotes of the past, which incorporated some ingenious
1:26.7	anti-counterfeiting measures, and a scantily clad George Washington.
1:32.6	That episode of Portraits is coming up right after the break.
1:36.2	Don't go away.
1:38.2	Hey there, sidedoor listeners.
1:48.6	Sidedoor producer James Morrison here.
1:51.1	If you love sidedoor, then there's another show we think you might like.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Smithsonian Institution, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Smithsonian Institution and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.