Blink: Carter's Smile

More from PORTRAITS All episodes →

1. 

   S6 · E11 · 1 Apr 2025 · 8 min

   Blink: A Flower Is Not Just A Flower

   This mini 'Blink' episode celebrates the cherry blossoms that are blooming all over Washington D.C. at the moment by taking a closer look at portraits that feature flowers. Kim visits three paintings in the National Portrait Gallery that use specific blooms to convey coded information about the sitter, including the experiences that shaped them and the roles they took on. Sarah Weston Seaton with her Children, by Charles Bird King Barack Obama , by Kehinde Wiley George Washington Carver , by Betsy Graves Reyneau

2. 

   S6 · E10 · 4 Mar 2025 · 31 min

   The Vanishing Bison

   When William Temple Hornaday's exhibition of stuffed bison went on display at the Smithsonian Institution in 1888, it caused a sensation. Most visitors had never seen this majestic, hulking animal up close. And most probably thought it would be their only chance, since the bison had all but vanished from the wild. Some 140 years later, Kirk Johnson , director of the National Museum of Natural History, realized that the iconic display itself had vanished from the museum's collection. So he went on the road to see what had happened to it. In this episode, we trace the story of how the bison -…

3. 

   S6 · E9 · 4 Feb 2025 · 35 min

   Bonus: The Whole Truth

   From the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast: sorting fact from fiction to find the real Sojourner Truth. As a prominent woman's rights activist and abolitionist, Sojourner Truth gave hundreds of speeches and sold countless images of herself. And yet the words that define her in our popular imagination - "Ain't I a woman?" - were actually made up. Host Lizzie Peabody went looking for the real Sojourner Truth and she found a woman with a much more complicated and fascinating life than any slogan can capture. Guests: Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: a Life, a Symbol; Edwards Professor…

4. 

   S6 · E8 · 21 Jan 2025 · 24 min

   Who Built This Place?

   We follow a paper trail back in time to learn about the laborers -- some of them enslaved -- who put their backs into the graceful old building that now houses the National Portrait Gallery. When construction began on the building in the 1830s, Washington D.C. was in the midst of a mini building boom as a seat of freedom and democracy. Yet the city also had an active slave trade. By sifting through reams of microfilm and estate records, historian Michael Hussey was able to establish that at least 17 men who worked at this site were enslaved. His next step was to try to sketch a portrait,…

5. 

   S6 · E7 · 9 Jan 2025 · 21 min

   In Memoriam: Former President Jimmy Carter

   We remember former President Jimmy Carter through a slightly different lens-- through the eyes of a longtime friend and through the portraits of Carter that are housed here at the National Portrait Gallery. Political aide Jack Watson met Carter 10 years before he became president. He found a farmer in work clothes driving a Chevy and quoting philosophy. Over their long friendship and while serving as chief of staff, Jack came to appreciate Carter as a man who was willing to take "bitter medicine" to do what he felt was right for the country. Jack describes a huge Polaroid portrait of Carter…

6. 

   S6 · E5 · 3 Dec 2024 · 27 min

   From The Vault: Brilliant Exiles

   Paris in the early 1900s was a magnet for convention-defying American women. It offered a delicious taste of freedom, which they used to explode the gender norms of their day, and to explore new kinds of art, literature, dance and design. In the process, they became arbiters of modernism. In this episode we revisit our interview with curator Robyn Asleson about the National Portrait Gallery’s “Brilliant Exiles” exhibition, which opened in April. It features 60 trailblazing women, including the dancer, singer and spy Josephine Baker, as well as the bookshop owner Sylvia Beach, who took a…

7. 

   S6 · E4 · 19 Nov 2024 · 24 min

   Sitting (Still) For History

   Every time a president leaves office they're asked to do something that might not come naturally-- sit still, be quiet and surrender to someone else's work. In other words, they have their portrait painted. The National Portrait Gallery and the White House Historical Association both commission portraits of the outgoing president and first lady. Several of the paintings have become iconic images, stamped on history. Others have been known to stop viewers in their tracks. Some have been unloved. In this episode Kim and WHHA president Stewart McLaurin compare notes on some of the most storied…

8. 

   S6 · E3 · 5 Nov 2024 · 27 min

   Women Who Dared

   In 1872, decades before women were legally allowed to vote, Victoria Woodhull made an audacious run for the White House. The press ridiculed her stance on 'free love' and she spent election night in jail. But she had put the first small crack in one of the thickest glass ceilings around. Twelve years later Belva Lockwood, the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court, took another swing at it. We celebrate Election Day with a look back at some of the first women who dared to run for the highest office in the United States, including Sen. Margaret Chase Smith and Rep. Shirley Chisholm.…

9. 

   S6 · E2 · 22 Oct 2024 · 25 min

   Campaigns Past: Cowboy Hats and Hard Cider

   With Election Day just around the corner, we go back in time to figure out how early presidential candidates got their message, and their image, in front of voters. It wasn't easy. Asking directly for people's vote was seen as undignified, so candidates mostly stayed home in the early 1800s. As a result, most Americans didn't know for sure what their candidates looked like, or sounded like. Kim speaks with curator Claire Jerry, from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, about the stream of new technologies-- from printing to photography to radio-- that transformed political…

10. 

    S6 · E1 · 15 Oct 2024 · 2 min

    Season 6 Trailer

    We're back! Season six of PORTRAITS hits your feed Oct. 22 with a new slate of shows that use artwork to decode our world. Kim Sajet , director of the National Portrait Gallery, talks with guests about presidential campaigns, scientific discoveries and some of the currents running through today’s cultural landscape.