Mar 17th, 2008 · The nation's "attic" has a new chief. Wayne Clough has been named secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He is currently president of Georgia Tech, where he has a proven track record of running a large public institution. Now more than ever, the Smithsonian needs an adept leader who can restore the public trust.
Jul 4th, 2007 · Do you have a piece of American history in the attic? Wes Cowan, star of the public television series History Detectives, talks about how his team of experts separate fact from myth in their exploration of historical artifacts.
Nov 15th, 2006 · The chestnut tree made famous by diarist Anne Frank, who gazed out on it from her hideaway in an attic in Amsterdam, is to be cut down. The tree is in very poor condition, due to an aggressive fungus. We hear about the tree from Patricia Bosboom of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
Sep 26th, 2006 · Watercolors painted by Adolf Hitler during World War I are up for auction in England. They turned up in a Belgian attic. And Christie's auction house has a treat for fans of the Barbie doll. A Dutch woman is selling her collection of 4,000 Barbie items, including a swimsuit Barbie from 1959.
Jan 16th, 2006 · Some museums are like attics -- so full of stuff that no one knows exactly what's there. For the Hidden Treasures Radio Project, Harriet Baskas explores the backrooms, storehouses and rumors of museums to see what we're missing.
Feb 12th, 2005 · The machines that capture sound generally fall apart much sooner than the media on which the sound is captured. Think of that 8-Track tape player in your attic. That turns those wires and tape into "dead media"; the sound is trapped, perhaps never to be heard again. We resurrect sound from Dead Media, like Oscar Hammerstein recording his thoughts on a dictabelt.
Jul 7th, 2004 · Last winter, retired Washington, D.C., school teacher Gretchen Roberts-Shorter discovered in her attic a diary written by an African-American soldier in World War I. It's a rare account of the Great War from a black perspective. Roberts-Shorter speaks with NPR's Renee Montagne.