The Object at Hand

Intriguing and Inspiring Stories from the Smithsonian Collections

De: Beth Py-Lieberman

Narrado por: Leanne Woodward

With charm and exuberance, The Object at Hand presents a behind-the-scenes vantage point of the Smithsonian collections. Veteran Smithsonian magazine editor Beth Py-Lieberman weaves together adaptations of the magazine's extensive and compelling coverage and interviews with scholars, curators, and historians to take listeners on an unforgettable journey through the Smithsonian museums.

Objects are grouped into the themes audacity, utopia, fierce, haunting, deception, lost, desire, triumph, scale, optimism, playful, rhythm, and revealing to engage with the emotional dimensions of each object, how they relate to each other, and how they fit into the larger American story.

Py-Lieberman reflects on the profound connections between even outwardly dissimilar objects and offers insight and stories from Smithsonian experts. The book explores artworks, scientific specimens, historical artifacts, airplanes, spacecraft, plants, and so much more, contemplating how each item represents different facets of humanity and resonates with cultural meaning in surprising ways. Whimsical, affecting, and insightful, The Object at Hand offers an intimate and exclusive tour of the Smithsonian collections.

©2023 Smithsonian Institution (P)2024 Tantor

Telling stories of museum artifacts without images?

As a fellow museum professional, I was excited to find this book on Audible! What a great idea to Illustrate aspects of America’s character and experience through the artifacts in its collection! Most stories are never written down. Over the years, how many of us actually have written or oral documentation of our families’ lives?

Museums can in those gaps by “interpreting” what artifact can tell us about the lives of the people who made or used them— stories not otherwise available!

So why on earth is this book of stories inspired by artifacts in the Smithsonian devoid of photos and reproductions of those objects?! When I bought the book, it never even occurred to me to check if a PDF supplement was included. Of course, an audiobook about objects would include missing visuals!

But no, it doesn’t. It’s an all audiobook constantly referring to objects in the collection that wee can’t see! I won’t be finishing a book with such a basic flaw.