In the 1890s, B.A. Haldane sets up a photography studio in Alaska and begins documenting the vibrant life of his Tsimshian community—even as non-Native photographers like Edward Curtis are trekking to reservations, documenting what they believe is a "vanishing race.” Quietly contradicting a president and scientists steeped in theories of white supremacy and evolution, Haldane and other Native artists offer an alternative vision only now being rediscovered. A story of resistance and resilience and what we miss by seeing only through our own lens.

You can learn more about Haldane in the work of Tsimshian scholar Mique’l Dangeli. And revisit the exhibition “In Our Hands” that featured Haldane and other Native photographers at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Free tickets are still available for The Object LIVE! on October 30, an hour-long live taping of The Object podcast with very special guest Chan Poling of The Suburbs and New Standards, quizzes, and storytelling at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. All about the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby and the art and culture of the Jazz Age. Reserve your seats now by going to the tickets page on the Mia website, or follow this link: https://new.artsmia.org/event/the-object-live-presented-by-ameriprise-financial

And now, today's brand-new episode:

In the 1860s, a French naturalist is hailed as the re-discoverer of the vast Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia. Soon, one of the world's most remarkable architectural and spiritual treasures becomes caught up in colonial intrigues as a "lost city" of ancient splendor. A story of power and prejudice, curiosity and wanderlust, and how the obvious is sometimes right under a giant stone nose.

You can see some of the incredible artworks mentioned in the episode in "Royal Bronzes: Cambodian Art of the Divine," featuring a giant statue of Vishnu and other bronze works, opening at the Minneapolis Institute of Art on October 25.

Tickets are going fast for our next exclusive live taping of The Object podcast on October 30 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, with special guest Chan Poling (The Suburbs, The New Standards), fun quizzes, curator conversation, and of course storytelling—all about the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby and the art of the Jazz Age. Tickets are absolutely FREE but you do need to have them. Go to the Tickets page at Artsmia.org and get yours today!

And now, today's episode:

Artists have captured unicorns for thousands of years, and for most of that time people thought they were both magical and real. What can an imaginary creature tell us about ourselves? What did we lose when we stopped believing? And why do we still love them anyway?

You can see unicorns in art through the ages in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, including a "millefleurs" tapestry from the late Middle Ages, a remarkable 1555 engraving of "A King Pursued by a Unicorn" by Jean Duvet, and Albrecht Dürer's "Abuction on a Unicorn" from 1516.

Thanks to Natalie Lawrence and Marguerite Ragnow for sharing their expertise on this episode.

Lawrence is a freelance writer with a PhD from the University of Cambridge on exotic monsters in early modern Europe. Check out her new book, Enchanted Creatures: Our Monsters and Their Meanings.

Ragnow is a historian and curator of the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota, a collection about trade and exploration, featuring rare books, maps, and manuscripts. She is working on a book about unicorns.