President Barack Obama & Malcolm Gladwell: How Reconstruction Still Defines America

Have you ever had the urge to sneak behind the Kordendolf 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 Sideddoor. Pushkin Was Reconstruction America's greatest miss opportunity or the beginning of a story that's still being written? When we were making reconstruction Reconstruction, the Unfinished Promise, I sat down with President Barack Obama, and we had a conversation about the period after the Civil War, exploring why Reconstruction remains one of the most misunderstood chapters in American history.

From Frederick Douglass and the Compromise of 1877 to voting rights, public education, and today's debates over democracy. The series examines how the past continues to echo in the present. It's a conversation about history, progress, and why democracy is never a finished project. I hope you enjoy it and find it as interesting and as prescient as I did. You can find the full series Reconstruction, the Unfinished Project.

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