About this season
Hosted by actor Tom Cavanagh, Stories from the Vaults is a series of 30-minute shows featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. The new series, produced by Caragol Wells Productions, showcases the Smithsonian's rarest treasures as Tom Cavanagh meets with the experts behind the Smithsonian and discusses what it takes to preserve these precious artifacts for the generations to come. Stories from the Vaults debuted September 2007 on Smithsonian Networks. The second season premiered Sunday July 12th, 2009.
Episodes (7)
1. Let's Eat!
Aired 12 July 2009 • 30 min
2. Top Secret
Aired 19 July 2009 • 30 min
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?
3. Nature's Vault
Aired 26 July 2009 • 30 min
Tom goes natural at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
4. Crystal Ball
Aired 2 August 2009 • 30 min
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.
5. Going, Going, Gone
Aired 9 August 2009 • 30 min
Tom joins the Smithsonian on a mission of "extreme conservation" to protect the best aspects of our world for future generations.
6. Sex 101
Aired 16 August 2009 • 30 min
Research into sexuality is kicking at the Smithsonian. Explore the love letters of Jackson Pollock and Frida Kahlo, stories about "the birds and the bees," and laws of attraction between fiddler crabs.
7. Villains and Rogues
Aired 23 August 2009 • 30 min
Tom takes on the bad guys and digs up some pretty incriminating evidence from the Smithsonian vaults.