WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.759 Welcome. This is Rebecca Shore for Radio Eye, and today 2 00:00:03.799 --> 00:00:07.360 I will be reading the Smithsonian Magazine dated April May 3 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:10.720 twenty twenty six. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a 4 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.640 reading service intended for people who are blind or have 5 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:16.839 other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material. 6 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:20.519 Please join me now for the first article titled the 7 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:25.120 Gunboat Philadelphia lasted one day in battle. It's still telling 8 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:28.600 us about the Revolution. Two hundred and fifty years later, 9 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:32.679 the twenty nine ton ship went to war against the British, 10 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:36.000 then sat at the bottom of Lake Champlain for one 11 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.759 hundred and sixty years. Now it's a relic of Ragged 12 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:46.600 Glory by Covey Biacolo. In the summer of seventeen seventy six, 13 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:49.799 when the fifty six delegates of the thirteen Colonies signed 14 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:54.039 the United States Declaration of Independence, construction was already under 15 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:57.200 way on eight gunboats, part of a planned fleet to 16 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:01.280 be commanded by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. By the fall, 17 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:05.200 one of the flotilla's gunboats, the Philadelphia, would join the 18 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:08.159 fight against the British Royal Navy at the Battle of 19 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:12.319 Valcour Island in Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. 20 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:17.000 The Philadelphia flat bottomed, weighing about twenty nine tons and 21 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:20.920 measuring fifty four feet long, was mounted with three cannons, 22 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:25.480 one twelve pounder and two nine pounders, and eight swivel guns. 23 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:29.840 The Revolutionary War had begun more than a year earlier, 24 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:33.359 and Arnold, who would later become infamous as a trader, 25 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:37.840 was still working for the Continental Army. The gunboat's construction 26 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:43.000 was officially under his directive, but the Assistant Deputy Commissary General, 27 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:47.760 Hermanus Schuyler administered the day to day production in Skenesborough, 28 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.519 New York by soldiers who had previously been ship carpenters. 29 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:55.799 Their skills were so valuable that these soldiers became some 30 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:58.799 of the highest paid workers in the army, earning an 31 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:02.640 estimated thirty four Das dollars a week only Skuyler himself 32 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:07.280 made more. Enslaved people of African descent were also vital 33 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:10.879 to the completion of the gunboats, particularly in mining iron 34 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:15.639 ore and blacksmithing. In fact, the regiments and units stationed 35 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:20.840 around Lake Champlain would become notably integrated, comprising free citizens, 36 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.719 Native Americans, and enslaved black men. Says Kenneth Cohen, Chair 37 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:30.039 of Military History and Curator of Early American History at 38 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:34.360 the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in m a h. 39 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:40.240 In October, after a summer of shipbuilding fighting commenced, the 40 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:46.080 Philadelphia was captained by Benjamin Rue from Pennsylvania on October eleventh, 41 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:49.719 the day the Battle of Valcour Island began. The noble 42 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:54.639 ship's career started and ended with poignant speed. Six hours 43 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:58.960 into the exchange of fire, just after sunset, the Philadelphia 44 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.439 was struck by one of the Royal Navy's twenty four 45 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:06.360 pound cannonballs. The vessel swiftly sank. By the battle's end 46 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.599 two days later, the BRIT's higher caliber arsenal had damaged 47 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:15.520 or destroyed much of the American fleet. Defeated, Arnold torched 48 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:19.039 the remaining boats as he and the surviving crew retreated, 49 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:23.680 eventually reaching the safety of Fort Tykwonderoga, near the south 50 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:29.159 end of Lake Champlain. The Philadelphia rested largely undisturbed at 51 00:03:29.159 --> 00:03:31.560 the bottom of the lake for nearly one hundred and 52 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:36.360 sixty years, but in nineteen thirty four, Lorenzo F. Hagland, 53 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:41.280 an underwater engineer working for a salvage company, discovered timbers 54 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:43.759 in the lake from the wreckage of another ship the 55 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:47.879 Patriots had used at Valcour. A World War One vet 56 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:52.520 who trained near Lake Champlain, Hagland was also a novice historian, 57 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:56.599 and he suspected the Philadelphia might still be under water too. 58 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:00.319 The next year, with help from locals who'd passed stone 59 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:05.039 stories of the gunboat's demise for generations, Hagland managed to 60 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:09.240 locate the Philadelphia and raise it from Lake Champlain. For 61 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:12.120 more than two decades, he displayed the gunboat through the 62 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:16.480 region as a historical attraction, even exhibiting it at one 63 00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:20.120 point as a roadside landmark on New York State's Route 64 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:25.279 twenty two. In nineteen sixty four, four years after Hagland's death, 65 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:32.160 the Smithsonian acquired the vessel. Conservators at NMAH made minor changes, 66 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.519 shoring up the timbers that fractured when the British shot 67 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:40.720 penetrated the Philadelphia's hull, and which decayed further underwater. Starting 68 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:44.199 July nineteen sixty five, the boat was on permanent display 69 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.079 at the museum. Then in the early two thousands, the 70 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:52.560 Smithsonian began a decades long conservation project in partnership with 71 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:56.800 Texas A and M's Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation. 72 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:02.120 In twenty eighteen, the ENDEPHOR entered a more ambitious phase, 73 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:06.439 marshaled by Cohen and Jennifer L. Jones, curator and project 74 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:10.519 coordinator at n M A H. Jones first encountered the 75 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:14.040 Philadelphia in nineteen eighty three when she was an intern 76 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:18.680 at the museum. Her first Philadelphia task was simple vacuuming. 77 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:23.000 The project's goal, Jones and Cohen say, is not to 78 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:27.240 recreate the seventeen seventy six boat. Instead, they're doing something 79 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:31.879 more delicate, stabilizing the intricate structure of the craft. We 80 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:35.959 are not reconstructing, Jones says, we are cleaning and making 81 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.480 sure that it lasts for another two hundred years or more. Today, 82 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:45.560 the oldest surviving American warship looks undeniably like a relic, 83 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.720 but it still has a ragged glory. Visitors can see 84 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:53.759 precisely where the cannonballs struck the starboard side. The added 85 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.680 wood is painted gray to distinguish it from the original structure. 86 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:02.279 Jones lovingly described the original materials that make up the boat, 87 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:07.439 including green oak harvested in and around Skeensborough. Among other 88 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.639 next steps, the team plans to raise the boat onto 89 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:14.439 rubber isolation pads to reduce the impact of low level 90 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:20.120 vibrations from the museum floor. In the ongoing preservation process, 91 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.959 the team will continue to add structural elements to support 92 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.079 weakening timbers, while replacing any pieces that might threaten the 93 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:33.000 overall structural integrity. For example, says Peter Fix, a research 94 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.360 scientist at Texas A and M, the gunboat's planks were 95 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:40.879 originally fastened with iron spikes, which corroded during the one 96 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:45.759 hundred and fifty nine year immersion in Lake Champlain. Conservators 97 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:49.519 have augmented the fastenings to keep all the planking secured. 98 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:54.079 Cowen argues that the importance of the Battle of Valcour 99 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:58.879 Island is often overlooked. The battle was significant, he says, 100 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.680 by virtue of building the fleet. The Americans then forced 101 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:05.639 the British to also build a fleet, all of which 102 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:08.800 makes this a much more long drawn out war than 103 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:14.120 the British had hoped for. That delay proved crucial. The 104 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.279 British held off their invasion from the North until the 105 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:21.800 following year, allowing the Continental Army precious time to regroup 106 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:25.680 and triumph at the critical Battle of Saratoga in the 107 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:30.279 fall of seventeen seventy seven. The gunboat Philadelphia had served 108 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.319 briefly but bravely, and to day its planks and cannons 109 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:39.519 tell a complicated tale of ingenuity that threw off the monarchy. 110 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:44.240 And accompanying that article, did you know Before the Battle 111 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:49.480 of Valcour Island? The Continental Army invaded Quebec In September 112 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:53.079 seventeen seventy five, about a year before the Battle of 113 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:58.079 Valcour Island, the Continental Army invaded British controlled Quebec to 114 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.600 head off any British forces who might use the province 115 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:05.839 to attack the Colonies from the north. That winter, around 116 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:10.240 ten thousand British and German troops arrived and routed the Americans, 117 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:14.680 who burned its boats and retreated to Fort Taekwonderoga, where 118 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.879 it began building the fleet that would serve the Patriots 119 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:24.160 in the Battle of Valcour Island. Next see the spectacular 120 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:29.160 winners of Smithsonian Magazine's twenty third annual Photography Contest. This 121 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:33.759 year's best photos command attention by capturing intimate moments and 122 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:40.320 bold colors. By Tracy Scott Forsen, Senior Editor. Like rebellious 123 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.799 bandmates on stage, the three chicks featured in the grand 124 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:47.879 prize winning image of the twenty third annual Smithsonian Magazine 125 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:52.840 Photo Contest are full of attitude, energy, and individuality, says 126 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:57.519 photographer Jacqueline Burke, who playfully titled her entry the punk Rockers. 127 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:02.039 Their unruly spiked plumage which gives the unmistakable look of 128 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:06.720 tiny mohawks, she says. Photographed at a New Jersey rookery 129 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:10.600 or breeding ground, the Egret chicks playing and fighting with 130 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:14.600 one another stood out among hundreds of birds. Their little 131 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.879 necks and heads were writhing. Burke says, one would peck, 132 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:22.279 the other would peck back. Although the small birds have 133 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:25.840 a huge presence, their parent looms large in the background. 134 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.480 The photographer framed it beautifully, says Smithsonian Creative director Maria Keyhan. 135 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:36.200 The scale jump between the long legs and gnarly imposing 136 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:41.919 feet compared to the fluffy heads below is remarkable. Like 137 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:44.360 the grand prize photo, the other six winners of this 138 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:49.080 year's contest, which received more than seventeen thousand submissions from 139 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:52.960 one hundred and eight countries, invite a closer look. A 140 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:57.279 bare foot devotee boldly expressing herself during a holy ritual. 141 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:02.159 A teenager captured in a symbolic moment between youth and adulthood, 142 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:05.720 and a rare encounter with the colorful creature are some 143 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:10.559 of the scenes that earned the top prizes. Grand prize 144 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:15.360 winner Jacqueline Burke. Burke, a sixty four year old veterinarian, 145 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.960 observed the recently hatched egrets, each no larger than a 146 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:22.120 golf ball, when curled up underneath a ramp at the 147 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.159 Ocean City Welcome Center in New Jersey, where she was 148 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:30.960 visiting from her home in Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania. They were squabbling NonStop, 149 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:34.399 she says. She estimates that there were fifty to seventy 150 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.919 nests that day at the rookery, where native and migratory 151 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:41.639 birds choose to breed. It is such a popular destination 152 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:45.480 for birds and birders alike that the state's Audubond Society 153 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.639 hosts events there. Burke's interest in animals led her to 154 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:53.399 take up photography in twenty fourteen. That's when she traded 155 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:57.080 in bird watching binoculars for a camera. We need to 156 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:00.679 save species like this and save moments like this, she says. 157 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:08.159 Artistic Irena Denisova, as part of a project organized by 158 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:12.600 a local photo club Denisova, forty four, of Melbourne, was 159 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:15.360 tasked with taking a picture of a woman wearing a 160 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:19.519 cultural head covering. As I worked on it, the idea shifted, 161 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:23.000 says Denisova, who decided to create something a bit more 162 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:27.519 abstract in her home studio. She used black fabric as 163 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:30.799 a veil for her model. She added finishing touches in 164 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.480 editing using Adobe Photoshop. The white fractures cutting through the 165 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.759 image hint at inner division, at the layers we are 166 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:42.279 made of, and at moments of awareness when that apparent 167 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:47.360 wholeness begins to crack. Denisova, who began her photography career 168 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:52.399 almost ten years ago, appreciates the complete calm and serenity 169 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:59.919 captured in the image. Travel Arun Kumar Malamela during their 170 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.519 annual Hindu festival of Shivaratri. Nalamela, a thirty three year 171 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:09.240 old resident of Telangana, India, watched as devotees lit oil 172 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:13.960 lamps or dayas in an act of prayer. Seemingly moved 173 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.639 by the moment a woman stepped out among the illuminated rows. 174 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:21.720 Her bare feet speak louder than anything else, Nlamela says, 175 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.720 you don't always need a visible face. What truly matters 176 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:28.120 is whether you can feel the essence of the scene, 177 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:33.000 the devotion, the silence, the energy, everything that exists beyond 178 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.879 this subject. Nalamela took up photography, a hobby he inherited 179 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:42.039 from his older brother, in twenty thirteen. He began capturing 180 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:46.120 images of wild life, but his focus has shifted. When 181 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:52.639 you photograph culture with true devotion, images reveal themselves as unplanned, unimagined, 182 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.360 almost gifted. He said, this photograph came to me in 183 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:05.600 that way. People Willem Kuipers. During the week leading up 184 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.240 to Easter, Christians in many cities across the world take 185 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:13.799 part in holy observances, But Kuipers seventy three, a retired 186 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:17.759 photographer with more than fifty years experience, says no place 187 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:23.279 he scene commemorates the holiday like Sicily. In Tripani, you 188 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:27.159 find the most intense Holy Week processions full of emotions. 189 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:32.480 During the Tuesday procession of the Madonna Dai Masari, Koiper's 190 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:36.039 photographed men as they carried floats representing the stations of 191 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:40.879 the Cross, supported by bars lifted onto the men's shoulders. 192 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:44.879 The heavy floats, many with wooden statues, can weigh hundreds 193 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:48.919 of pounds. You can imagine that this becomes very intense 194 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:53.960 and painful, says Kuipers, whose photograph represents the intense efforts 195 00:13:54.120 --> 00:14:00.559 these carriers go through for their faith American experience. Christopher 196 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:06.440 Scott Carpenter, at fourteen, Delchha Hennio took part in a 197 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:12.639 traditional Navajo canalda ceremony that welcomed her to womanhood. Carpenter, 198 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:15.639 thirty two, a Salt Lake City native and a long 199 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:19.000 time friend of the family, was there to observe the 200 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:23.559 four day ritual of communal meals, chanting, and all night prayer. 201 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:28.000 Dalchat worked with horses on the family ranch and competed 202 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:32.120 at rodeos throughout her childhood, so she incorporated her horse 203 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.519 Hazel into the ceremony. As she led Hazel to Gray's 204 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:40.879 Dlchhay turned to face a slight breeze. It's a quiet, 205 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:44.000 soft portrait of a young woman looking toward her future, 206 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:53.320 Carpenter says. Wild Life Victoria West, a conservation photographer based 207 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:58.360 in Johannesburg, West twenty nine, usually aims her camera at 208 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:03.279 vulnerable species. She's filmed African wild dogs for the Endangered 209 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:08.679 Wildlife Trust and rhinoceroses for African parks and wee wild Africa. 210 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:12.840 My work is now almost full time conservation story telling. 211 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:17.919 West says her winning image of a chameleon, photographed in 212 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:21.000 the garden of a boarding school where she was documenting 213 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:25.679 a herpetologist, was different from her other work, a creative endeavor. 214 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.840 She says, I just thought it was really, really beautiful. 215 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:36.679 Drone Yongln's son recognized for its award winning architecture. The 216 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.879 Apo chang An R and D Center is a circular sensation. 217 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:45.879 Using a d g I Mavic two pro drone flying 218 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:49.799 five hundred feet above, Sun captured the ring structure that 219 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:53.840 connects the curvaceous buildings of the campus, which occupies five 220 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:59.080 city blocks. He describes the complex as a miniature world 221 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:03.279 that includes educational buildings, residences, and an eight hundred and 222 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.720 twenty foot office tower. The bridge was still under construction 223 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.879 when Sun took the photo. In the top right of 224 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:14.879 the image, the pavement is still gray. Sun, a long 225 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:21.159 time freelance photographer, appreciates the juxtaposition of architectural structure and 226 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:26.120 random human activity. The movement of vehicles and people inside 227 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:29.519 and around the ring weaves a dynamic thread of urban 228 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:35.759 life within this geometric city space. He says reader's choice 229 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:42.039 Roberto Potzi. Through his work as a travel photographer, Potzi, 230 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:45.360 a fifty two year old resident of Spain, seeks to 231 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:50.639 chronicle peoples and customs. The Mundari ethnic group of South Sudan, 232 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.559 known for its cattle oriented culture, is one that captivates him. 233 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:59.639 Adolescent members of the tribe are often the primary handlers 234 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:04.200 of the ana animals, carrying out daily tasks. His photograph 235 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:08.640 captures a typical moment at sunrise, a Mundari child cleaning 236 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:11.680 a bull's horns using a mixture of mud and water. 237 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.319 In capturing the essence of some of the world's most 238 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:19.480 remote communities, I pay tribute to the extraordinary beauty of 239 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:25.599 human diversity, he says, accompanying this article, facts and figures. 240 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:30.240 What to know about the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest. Some 241 00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:35.079 two thousand, eight hundred and fifteen photographers, both amateur and professional, 242 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.319 from around the world entered the twenty third annual Smithsonian 243 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:44.240 Magazine Photo Contest. The twenty fourth annual contest will open 244 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:51.279 for entries in September next The endangered Probasis monkey is 245 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:57.640 easily identifiable by one physical trait, its supersized schnas. When 246 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.880 you see this primates nose you know o in Borneo, 247 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:06.039 where efforts are underway to restore its habitat by Alex Fox. 248 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:11.279 If Cyrino de Bergerac had been a pis monkey, he 249 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:15.480 might not have needed poetry. For this furry primate found 250 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:19.200 only on the island of Borneo, a prominent nose is 251 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:23.920 an asset. Males with the biggest snouts up to nearly 252 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:28.920 seven inches long, usually have the largest bodies overall, and 253 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.319 because their noses are an indicator of both status and 254 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:36.960 reproductive fitness, these fellows attract more mates than their lesser 255 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:42.640 endowed competitors. Probasis, monkeys can be seen and heard thanks 256 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:46.039 to the male's deep nasal honks in the forests along 257 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:51.359 Borneo's inland waterways and coastal mangroves, where they survive on 258 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:56.880 young leaves and unripe fruit. Perhaps the world's most aquatic primates, 259 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.960 they swim across crocodile patrolled rivers in search of fresh foliage, 260 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:06.480 aided by partially webbed fingers and toes. Every night, the 261 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:10.440 monkeys return to trees at the water's edge to socialize 262 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.640 and sleep. Researchers think the water mix it harder for 263 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:18.440 predators such as tree climbing clouded leopards to sneak up 264 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:22.799 on them, but this dependence on Borneo's water front forests 265 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:26.759 has put the species in danger, as humans have destroyed 266 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:31.039 much of their habitat in the past several decades. In 267 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:35.680 some areas of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island, 268 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:40.039 the monkeys are also hunted for food and traditional medicine. 269 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:45.160 Combining regional estimates based on scant data puts the current 270 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:50.200 population at twenty thousand to twenty five thousand. The International 271 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:54.640 Union for Conservation of Nature has classified the Probasis monkey 272 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:59.640 as endangered since two thousand, calculating in twenty fifteen that 273 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.799 the population had declined by more than seventy percent over 274 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:10.079 roughly four decades. The Kinabatangan River floodplain in the Malaysian 275 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:13.920 state of Sabah has lost approximately eighty percent of its 276 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:18.720 natural forest to agriculture and logging, leaving the Probasis monkey 277 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:24.160 and other wildlife in isolated fragments. To heal the landscape, 278 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:28.880 the Malaysian conservation organization Hutan has planted more than two 279 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:32.440 hundred and forty six thousand native trees since two thousand 280 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:36.960 eight rebuilding forest corridors along the river banks and government 281 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:42.440 protected areas and private lands secured by Hutan and its partners. 282 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:46.240 Houton is also working with farmers to plant native trees 283 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:50.599 on their lands. A few years after the group helped 284 00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:55.160 in oil palm Plantation add native trees to its riverside land, 285 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:59.920 monkeys returned to the area. Today we have a couple 286 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:06.079 of families we see regularly, says Mark Ancrenaz, a wildlife 287 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:10.920 veterinarian who co founded Huton with primatologist Isabelle Lachmann in 288 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.839 nineteen ninety eight. In an area with so much degraded forest, 289 00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:21.119 small sites like this one offer Oncrena's hope. These monkeys 290 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:24.799 don't need a perfect pristine forest, he says, with even 291 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:28.480 a little restoration, the forest can become usable for the 292 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:33.240 prosis monkeys. Again, this gives us a tremendous opportunity to 293 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:38.200 link together habitat fragments with agro forestry and restoration work 294 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:44.440 to help rebuild this population. And with this article. Fun 295 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:48.799 fact a nose by any other name, The appearance of 296 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:53.039 newborns monkeys is as distinct as the adults, but for 297 00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:57.400 different reasons. The baby's noses are small when born, but 298 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:01.640 they still have stand out features blue faces and dark, 299 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:08.920 nearly black fur. Next, Mohma plans a retrospective for a 300 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:12.799 Marcel Duchamp, the Da DA artist, who was unimpressed with 301 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:18.279 his own masterpieces. The French American avant garde artist said 302 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:22.720 painting and sculpture exhibitions made him sick, but the collection 303 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.559 of two hundred of his works may tell the story 304 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:31.240 of art in the twentieth century. By Amy Crawford. The 305 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:35.680 French American artist Marcel Duchamp eighteen eighty seven to nineteen 306 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:39.920 sixty eight made a splash when his Fountain, an impishly 307 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:44.200 repurposed porcelain urinal, was rejected by a major New York 308 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:48.039 art show in nineteen seventeen. But while he became a 309 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:52.799 household name through his conception of ready made sculpture, Duchamp 310 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:57.480 spent his six decade career experimenting with nearly every available 311 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:02.480 medium and subject. In April, the Museum of Modern Art 312 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:06.880 in New York mounted the artist's first u s retrospective 313 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:11.839 in more than half a century. The exhibition includes more 314 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:15.680 than two hundred works, including a nineteen sixty eight replica 315 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:19.720 of Fountain, that together tell the story of art in 316 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:24.240 the twentieth century. Duchamp, who once confessed to a friend 317 00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:28.359 all painting and sculpture exhibitions make me sick, might have 318 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:31.920 laughed at such a claim. Yet his place in art history, 319 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:35.759 he saw, was not up to him. A painting is 320 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.680 made not by the artist, but by those who look 321 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:42.400 at it, says Duchamp. In other words, no painter knows 322 00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:47.519 himself or what he is doing. And accompanying this article, 323 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:52.799 did you know who was Marcel Duchamp? Duchamp experimented with 324 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:57.880 Cubist and futurist paintings, cartoon sketches of Paris life, avant 325 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:02.720 garde films, and photographic collaborations with the likes of Man Ray. 326 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:07.039 The new exhibit runs at the Museum of Modern Art 327 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:11.240 in New York April twelfth through August twenty second, twenty 328 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:17.960 twenty six. Next, some letters to the editor Real life Drama. 329 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:22.440 I read your article on the British propaganda radio station 330 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:26.400 during World War Two and thought it so interesting Voice 331 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:29.960 of Deception, March twenty twenty six. Then I went looking 332 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.000 to see if someone had made a movie or PBS 333 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:36.720 style mini series, and there was nothing. A ragtag group 334 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:40.359 of artists and outcasts fighting Nazis through the power of media. 335 00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:44.240 How has Hollywood not gotten on top of this? That 336 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:49.759 was from bray Wright Clawson, Michigan. And from Clark Carboneau, 337 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:54.039 Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was inspiring to learn that 338 00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:58.680 Agnes Bernauer was half Jewish, she had escaped Germany, and 339 00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:01.000 then she was aiding the war effort in such a 340 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:05.599 significant manner. Congratulations to author April White for a well 341 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:10.640 written history that needs to be remembered. And from Sandra 342 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:16.720 bow Graham, Washington. Beware of the Dogs. I'm always pleased 343 00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:21.519 when a natural solution to managing pests as many sea coyotes, wolves, 344 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:25.480 and cougars is found. Paul Patrol, March twenty twenty six. 345 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:30.519 I'm also always disappointed when an age old solution like 346 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:35.799 guardian dogs goes unnoticed and unused for so long. History 347 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:39.519 often holds solutions to problems if we take the time 348 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:47.079 to learn it. Going Green This is from Tony Ioviccini, Waymart, Pennsylvania. 349 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:51.799 There were so many interesting yet relatively unknown facts in 350 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:55.880 Shifting Sands March twenty twenty six. I was surprised to 351 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:59.880 read about the world's largest aquifer under the Sahara, as 352 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:02.680 well as the animal life that existed there not that 353 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:07.440 long ago, relatively speaking, then, I was pleasantly surprised to 354 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:11.240 read that various species are being introduced back into the region. 355 00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:16.319 I enjoyed learning as I read the article from Donna 356 00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:20.440 Cotton Johnson, Mills River, North Carolina. As an art teacher, 357 00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:23.880 the idea that petroglyphs exist in the vastness of the 358 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:28.359 Sahara was surprising. That the artworks depicted animals that no 359 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:34.880 longer live in the area is fascinating. And from Sioux Maglietta, Scottsdale, Arizona, 360 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:39.240 this was a really educational article about the geological history 361 00:26:39.559 --> 00:26:42.799 of the Sahara. I am always impressed by the slow 362 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:46.920 and thoughtful accumulation of bits of information being put together 363 00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:54.119 into a larger historical picture. And finally ask Smithsonian, you've 364 00:26:54.119 --> 00:26:59.519 got questions, We've got experts question, are there any planets 365 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.200 in space that don't orbit around a star? The answer 366 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:08.960 is from Jennifer cy Observational Astronomer, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard 367 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:14.599 and Smithsonian. As planetary systems form, its theoretically possible that 368 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:18.160 some planets whose orbits haven't fully stabilized could be kicked 369 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:22.200 out of their star systems through close gravitational encounters with 370 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:26.519 other planets or stars. In stellar nurseries where many new 371 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:30.599 solar systems are forming, the James Webb Space Telescope has 372 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:35.519 detected hundreds of isolated objects smaller than Jupiter. These might 373 00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:39.279 be planets based on their small mass. However, they might 374 00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:42.960 be miniature brown dwarfs, failed stars that are too small 375 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:47.759 to fuse hydrogen the way our Sun does. Demonstrating that ejected, 376 00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:51.519 free floating planets exist and do not have host stars 377 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:55.279 is part of the mission of the upcoming Nancy Grace 378 00:27:55.400 --> 00:28:03.960 Roman Space Telescope. This concludes readings from the Smithsonian Magazine 379 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:07.680 for today. Your reader has been Rebecca Shore. Thank you 380 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:09.480 for listening, and have a great day.