Religion, like politics, is as delicate a subject for the Smithsonian Institution as it would be at a dinner party. Because of its taxpayer subsidy and the twenty-eight million visits people make each year to its free museums and the National Zoo, the institution fiercely guards its reputation as a scrupulous and impartial purveyor of knowledge. Unlike most cable outlets, the Smithsonian Channel can’t air a new program until it has been scrutinized by a review panel at institution headquarters in Washington, D.C. Smithsonian curators and other subject-matter experts vet each program for both
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