Seriously Amazing Objects

Join host Xavier Carnegie as he gives select Smithsonian visitors a one-of-a-kind opportunity to interact with artifacts and animals that represent amazing stories of survival. One guest will learn how the idea of camouflage was developed. Another gets an up-close look at the kite that helped America win World War II. And finally, one guest enters the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, where scientists are racing to save cheetahs from the brink of extinction.

The Smithsonian Institution is home to some seriously amazing objects with seriously amazing stories to tell about people who have taken risks and made history. From daredevil spacesuits to the dress worn by one of the Little Rock Nine, and from a top hat firefighting helmet to artwork wrestled back from Nazi raiders, we celebrate items that collectively remind us of the remarkable things we are capable of doing when we put everything on the line.

Of the millions of artifacts on display and tucked away at the Smithsonian Institutions, some objects are bigger than others and even supersized. From a 60-pound salamander to a 17-foot-long beard, follow a few lucky visitors as they’re taken behind the scenes to encounter some larger-than-life items. Then follow other visitors on two off-site adventures, as one gets a lesson in 22-foot tall totem-pole carving and the other encounters the fossils of a prehistoric, 500-pound sloth.