Have you ever had the urge to sneak behind the cordoned off areas of a museum?

Or roam the halls after closing time?

The Smithsonian's flagship podcast, Side Door, will sneak you behind the scenes of the world's largest museum and research complex.

Come learn about the ghosts that supposedly walk the museum halls after dark.

How a train robbery gave rise to criminal forensics, why leeches are actually the coolest thing ever,

and how to get away with murder in the Arctic.

Maybe.

You'll discover stories of history, science, art, and culture you won't find in a display case.

You can listen to Side Door wherever you get your podcasts, or find us online at

sI.edu slash Side Door. Bushkin

I was a fan of John McWhorter

long before I met him for the first time.

McWhorter is a linguist at Columbia University

and a music lover and a New York Times columnist,

basically a Renaissance man.

It was maybe 2019 when we first spoke.

At the time, I was working on something about Tom Bradley, who was mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993.

And while I listened to old tapes of Bradley,

I was struck by something I heard.

Listen.

There is nothing there to hide.

I want everybody to know that Tom Bradley's life has been an open book,

...