Stories from the Vaults

2007 • Smithsonian Channel
4.3
13 reviews
TV-PG
Rating
Eligible
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Season 2 episodes (7)

1 Let's Eat!
7/13/09
Tom explores man's sincerest love of all..the love of food. First, he tries his hand at cooking Native American dishes with the executive chef of Mitsitam Cafe. He then visits the National Museum of American History to learn the origins of the American coffee break. Finally, he stops by the National Museum of Dentistry, where he learns how the food we adore has a less than loving relationship with our teeth.
2 Top Secret
7/20/09
Tom unlocks some of the Smithsonian's most compelling mysteries. Can an artist outsmart the world's top spies? How does a missile filled with mail make a political statement to the world? These questions, and many more, will be answered.
3 Nature's Vault
7/27/09
Tom goes natural at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Follow him as he tracks sloths, searches the Panama Canal for clues to the creation of the Panamanian Isthmus, and rises sixteen stories in a construction crane to research bug life atop the rainforest.
4 Crystal Ball
8/3/09
Tom taps into the Smithsonian's vaults and labs to gaze into the future..as we envisioned it in the 1930s and as we look forward today. First Tom visits the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum to examine designers' visions of tomorrow via the 1939 World's Fair collection. Then he heads to Panama to talk to scientists helping to preserve the future of the tropical rainforest.
5 Going, Going, Gone
8/10/09
Tom joins the Smithsonian on a mission of "extreme conservation," to protect the best aspects of our world for future generations. See the amazing amount of work that goes into saving animals from the brink of extinction, preserving a provocative work of art or reviving a genre of music.
6 Sex 101
8/16/09
Join Tom as he goes behind the scenes and under the covers of the Smithsonian to find evidence of romance and yes, sex, within the Institute's family-friendly confines. The topic may not be featured in major museum exhibitions, but the vaults and labs here feature fascinating stories about "the birds and the bees."
7 Villains and Rogues
8/24/09
Tom takes on the bad guys, and digs up some pretty incriminating evidence from the Smithsonian vaults. Tom's investigation unearths photographic evidence from the Crime of the Century, new details on America's first "Lone Gunman:" John Wilkes Booth, and creepy facts about everyone's favorite natural villain, the snake.

About this show

Ever wonder what's hiding behind the scenes of America's most renowned museum complex? Find out as host Tom Cavanagh ("Ed") takes you on an entertaining insider's tour of the private rooms, high-tech vaults, and cutting edge labs of the Smithsonian Institution, revealing some of the amazing artifacts and rarely seen treasures that visitors can't see. Follow along as Tom uncovers the history of each object-its origins, how it's being preserved and studied, and what it might tell us.

Ratings and reviews

4.3
13 reviews
Jake Sharp
June 2, 2015
You may just now be seeing these rare and exciting secrets, but Tom has already seen them for centuries.
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Starla Dawn “MissKarma LadyLeo” Kilts
September 19, 2018
WANT IT SOO FREAKING BAADD!!!
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