How do you stop being so afraid? Tracy Twombly had such a strong phobia of spiders, it was messing with her life — stressing her out while she was working at her native plant nursery or hiking through the woods. So, she embarked on a journey to make peace with her eight-legged neighbors (even the extra hairy ones).

This is a special episode from the Up From Dust podcast, produced by the NPR Network, KCUR Studios, and the Kansas News Service.

Artwork for this episode by, Jessica Cornelison

For more than two decades, the StoryCorps silver Airstream trailer has crisscrossed the country, recording the stories of everyday Americans. In this episode honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States, our friends at The StoryCorps Podcast introduce you to the kaleidoscope of voices that make up these United States.

In 1935, a diver searching Lake Champlain found something extraordinary: a nearly intact warship from the American Revolution. It was the Gunboat Philadelphia. In this episode, we dive into the story of how a ragtag American army built a fleet of ships to stand up against the British Navy in 1776 ... and lost. But that loss changed the course of U.S. history.

So, how did Benedict Arnold and a bunch of sailors who had never been on a boat before turn the tide in the Revolutionary War? Listen, and find out!

Guests:

Jennifer Jones, Curator and Project Director for the Gunboat Philadelphia Preservation Project at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Kenneth Cohen, Chair of the Curatorial Division of Military and Society, and Curator of Early American History at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History

This episode received support from Smithsonian's Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation's 250th. Major support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional generous contributions have been made by Target, Caterpillar Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.

In the 1880s, a conservator at the Smithsonian set out for Montana to capture an American bison before the dwindling species vanished forever. He returned with six taxidermied bison that he displayed in the museum.

The bison diorama wowed visitors so much that it helped kickstart a movement to save the species. But then, just like that, the stuffed bison vanished!

Where did they go?

With the nation's 250th birthday fast approaching, the director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History set out to find the missing bison. It's a journey that led west —where it all began— and ended on the steps of the museum.

Guests:

Kirk Johnson, Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

Siobhan Starrs, Senior Project Manager and Exhibition Developer at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

Jonny BearCub Stiffarm, Volunteer with the Fort Peck Tribal Bison program in Montana. Member of the Assiniboine Nation and a former Buffalo Program administrator at the World Wildlife Fund

Jim Wood, Assistant Director for Communications at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

This episode received support from Smithsonian's Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation's 250th. Major support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional generous contributions have been made by Target, Caterpillar Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III has spent a lifetime thinking about how history gets told. Before becoming the head of the Smithsonian, he was a curator, someone whose job is deciding which stories, people, and objects help us make sense of ourselves. So as America approaches its 250th birthday, Lizzie wanted to know: if you had to tell the story of the United States through just a handful of things, where would you begin?

In this special episode, Secretary Bunch puts his curator hat back on to lead Lizzie through American Aspirations, a new exhibition he co-curated. Starting with the desk on which the Declaration of Independence was drafted, they get up close with some of the nation's most treasured objects: Abraham Lincoln campaign swag, Amelia Earhart's flight suit, Thomas Edison's light bulb, and even a miniature Statue of Liberty (which is still pretty big!). What can these objects reveal about a nation still striving to become its best self?

Guest: Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

The American Aspirations exhibition at the Smithsonian Castle was co-curated by Smithsonian Secretary Bunch — alongside Abeer Saha, curator at the National Museum of American History, and Harry Rubenstein, curator emeritus at the National Museum of American History.

American Aspirations received support from Jacqueline B. Mars and the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th. Major support for Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional contributions have been made by Target and the Gates Foundation.

To watch a video version of this podcast find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/smithsonian

A screw. A stuffed possum. A shoe-sizing device. What could any of these objects possibly tell us about the history of the United States?

When we think of historic artifacts, we tend to picture the extraordinary: Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch, the original Kermit the Frog, Martin Luther King Jr.'s draft of the "I Have a Dream" speech. But the story of America can just as easily be found in the everyday objects that shape our lives.

In this bonus episode, Lizzie sits down with Roman Mars to talk about his new series, A History of the United States in 100 Objects. Together, they explore how ordinary things can reveal distinctly American stories.

Guests:

Roman Mars, host and creator of 99% Invisible

To pitch your object to Roman’s team, write to 100objects@99pi.org

Everyone thought ghosts lived in the basement of Stockton, California's old Daguhoy Lodge. So, nobody went down there. But when one man refused to be spooked, he made a discovery that would bring the ghosts back to life.

In this episode, we explore how an accidental discovery resurrected the stories of a nearly forgotten generation of Filipino immigrants who came to work in the fields. Why did these men leave behind steamer trunks that remained unopened for decades? And what could we learn from the belongings found inside?

We'll unpack the steamer trunks and dust off a fading piece of American history as we dive into the stories of these farmworkers and their surprising sense of fashion.

Guests:

Sam Vong, Curator of Asian Pacific American History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

Dillon Delvo, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Little Manila Rising in South Stockton, California

Phillip Merlo, a historian and educator who serves as the Executive Director of the San Joaquin County Historical Society & Museum

How did a car with chopped suspension and hydraulics become a symbol of pride and self-expression for an entire community? We'll cruise back in time to see how lowriders emerged from the post-WWII car craze and became a powerful symbol of Mexican American pride. It's a long road with a few speed bumps, but lowriders are now more popular than ever (especially in Japan!)

So, lean your seat back and see how chrome, paint, and a dose of defiance turned classic cars into rolling works of art that have cruised their way into the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Learn more about the Smithsonian's exhibition on Lowriders — Corazón y vida — HERE

This project received federal support from the Smithsonian Latino Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino.