WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced the launch of season six of its PORTRAITS podcast. Hosted by the museum’s director, Kim Sajet, PORTRAITS explores art, biography, history and identity. During season six, Sajet and expert guests will use portraits as starting points to tie history to current events. Eleven new episodes will be presented biweekly, beginning today, Oct. 22, and a trailer is available for download.

“I am really looking forward to season six which will focus on three things that are occupying our thoughts,” Sajet said. “The election, and how portraits help people get elected and stay in the public eye; the connection between art and science and how early explorers warned us about climate change and species loss long before any of us were born; and the museum’s triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition that features some of the most innovative portrait artists working today. I am excited to be speaking with an amazing roster of special guests who, like me, believe that portraits have always powered history and shaped our future.”

Recorded in the Portrait Gallery’s studio, in downtown Washington, D.C., season six guests include Claire Jerry, curator in the Division of Political History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; Kirk Johnson, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History; Stewart McLaurin, head of the White House Historical Association and more. This season will also include shorter-form episodes (“Blink” episodes) that will feature Rhea Combs, director of curatorial affairs at the National Portrait Gallery, and Jack Watson Jr., former White House chief of staff to President Jimmy Carter.

PORTRAITS has been downloaded over 750,000 times by listeners across the country. Past seasons and upcoming episodes can be accessed on the museum’s website or through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, PRX, Radio Public, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever podcasts are available.