Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创鈥檚聽鈥淢att About Town鈥�聽segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

If you’ve ever wondered how historians and preservationists keep centuries-old books and plays looking pristine, look no further than D.C.’s Folger Shakespeare Library.

In Tuesday’s episode of “Matt About Town,” 杏吧原创 takes a lesson in caring for some of the world’s rarest texts in one of the most interesting, under-the-radar places for historical examination in the nation’s capital.

The Folger Shakespeare Library’s Conservation Lab is entirely unique, geared toward preserving the plays that have made William Shakespeare so revered and still relevant today.

Professional conservators have the laborious task of preserving, mending, and sometimes significantly restoring old texts the Library sources from around the globe, particularly the early folios that comprise nearly all of Shakespeare’s known plays, first published in the 1620s.

This is one reason scholars from around the world come to D.C. to study Shakespeare, learn what he meant to people, and trace how his many works have moved through time.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创鈥檚聽鈥淢att About Town鈥�聽segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

If you venture through a maze of hallways, past layers of tight security, and cross the threshold of what looks like an old-fashioned bank safe door, you’ll arrive at one of the rarest collections of books not just in the nation’s capital 鈥� but in the entire known universe.

In Thursday’s episode of “Matt About Town,” 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax returns to the Folger Shakespeare Library; this time, with exclusive access to their rare vault.

Not many know this vault contains texts dating back to the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, which scholars come to D.C. from all over the world to study.

In the vault, intricate bindings litter what feel like miles of shelving, with dates that are hard to comprehend: 1625, 1577, even as early as 1482. And of course, some of the books have the face of history’s most famous playwright, William Shakespeare, on their title page.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow聽听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创鈥檚聽鈥淢att About Town鈥�聽segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

Some of the rarest and earliest published works of William Shakespeare 鈥� dating back more than 400 years 鈥� can be found at the Folger Shakespeare Library in the District.

In Tuesday’s episode of “Matt About Town,” 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax dives deep into Shakespeare’s “first folios,” which sit behind glass in a dimly-lit, climate-controlled exhibition hall on Capitol Hill.

The best part: Anyone can come and visit.

A few titles that visitors might recognize include “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” 鈥� works that have influenced so many aspects of the modern English language and entertainment.

The latest “Matt About Town” episode is the first of a five-part miniseries from The Folger Shakespeare Library.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow 听补苍诲听 to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on 听补苍诲听.

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创鈥檚聽鈥淢att About Town鈥�聽segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

After a pandemic that shut down many restaurants, and amid inflation and a rise in societal loneliness and isolation, D.C. chefs are doing something different to bring people together through food.

In Thursday鈥檚 episode of 鈥淢att About Town,鈥� 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax examined how a resurgent movement is changing the city鈥檚 restaurant industry 鈥� one pop-up at a time.

The aims and overall message of this grassroots effort are pretty simple: building community through singular culinary experiences, affordability over big margins and a sense of genuine personal connection.

These elements are what D.C. chefs Jaren Morrow and Justin Chang say they want to see more of in the restaurant scene, not just in the District, but everywhere.

And the appetite for it (both literally and figuratively speaking!) is growing.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow 听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创’s “Matt About Town” segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

The National Zoo has two new baby bat-eared foxes that no one except the staff has seen up close, until now.

In Tuesday鈥檚 episode of 鈥淢att About Town,鈥� 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax gives you a sneak peek at these furry cuties, a fitting conclusion to the “Matt About Town” summer series at the National Zoo.

With pointed faces, shadowy eyes, bristling grayish fur, and one of the largest ear-to-body ratios in the entire animal kingdom, bat-eared foxes are truly some of the most adorable creatures out there.

These new babies are part of what the zoo calls a “species survival plan,” meaning underneath all the cuteness, there’s an important underlying message of animal conservation, too.

You can check out all of the installments in Kaufax’s summer series from the National Zoo here.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

“Matt About Town” is now also on YouTube. Follow and to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea you鈥檇 like Matt to cover, email him, or chat with him on and .

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创’s “Matt About Town” segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

A National Zoo bird who once wanted to be a human 鈥� and even regularly attended staff meetings with her keepers for over a year 鈥� is finally spreading her wings.

In today鈥檚 episode of 鈥淢att About Town,鈥� we’re following up one year later with one of the most beloved feathered friends in the show’s history: Parker the flamingo!

You may remember this story about Parker from June of last year, when 杏吧原创 was invited to the National Zoo to meet her. At the time, keepers were worried this shy flamingo might never be able to fully acclimate to the zoo’s flock because of her social anxiety and attachment to her human friends.

That first story on Parker touched many of you on-air and online, who resonated with her struggle to fit in, socialize and find her flock (literally and metaphorically speaking).

But things have changed recently, and in this heartwarming episode, you’ll find out why keepers now have hope for Parker, and her journey into the big grown-up flamingo world! While Parker may finally be taking baby steps to be a proper flamingo at the end of the day, her story is at its core a very human one.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

“Matt About Town” is now also on YouTube. Follow and to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea you鈥檇 like Matt to cover, email him, or chat with him on and .

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创鈥檚聽鈥淢att About Town鈥�聽segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

What do Bill Clinton, Marion Barry and the Soviet Union have in common?

If your answer was two unicorn statues hidden away near Rock Creek Park, go buy a lottery ticket.

Tuesday’s episode of “Matt About Town” took 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax to Unicorn Lane (yes, that’s an actual street) in Northwest D.C. to learn more about the statues of these mythical creatures in the District.

They may be hard to find, but the history behind them is fascinating, and has several crazy connections you’d never expect.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow 听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创’s “Matt About Town” segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

As its new female tiger begins to settle in, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo hopes a brand-new tiger baby will arrive soon.

In Thursday’s episode of “Matt About Town,” 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax heads to the Zoo’s Great Cats wing to catch up with 235-pound Amur tiger Coba 鈥� and learn more about efforts to rehabilitate an endangered species.

The last time 杏吧原创 was invited to the tiger enclosure, it was to meet 350-pound Vostok, Coba’s male counterpart, whom staff hopes will be her mate.

At that time, Coba had just arrived. Since then, the two have met (and zoo staff say progress is being made), but it’ll be a little while before they start “going steady.”

Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are an endangered species. And in the zoo’s ongoing conservation mission, the effort to produce a tiger cub is one they don’t take lightly.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t also be a lot of fun!

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

“Matt About Town” is now also on YouTube. Follow and to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea you鈥檇 like Matt to cover, email him, or chat with him on and .

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Pirates, hidden history and spirits from beyond the grave are all converging in Old Town Alexandria this summer.

In Tuesday鈥檚 episode of 鈥淢att About Town,鈥� 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax heads to Alexandria, Virginia, for a new kind of tour, featuring 100% real stories of little-known swashbuckling history in one of the D.C. area’s most picturesque historic cities.

From a 100-year pirate war over oysters, to gunfights on King Street, to an insane Alexandria connection to one of history鈥檚 most notorious scalawags (Blackbeard himself!), there’s something on this tour for everyone.

Especially in a city like Alexandria, where 250 years of America were just celebrated, the stories these shores hold will delight, startle and maybe even have you looking over your shoulder on the way home.

To book tickets and learn more about the new pirate ghost tour from Alexandria Colonial Tours, .

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube.

Follow 听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea, you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

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A brand-new Library of Congress exhibit gives you a look at the literal first draft of history ahead of America鈥檚 250th birthday!

It’s called 鈥淭he Declaration鈥檚 Promise: A Revolutionary Idea,鈥� and 杏吧原创 is diving deep into the incredibly rare historical display in Thursday’s episode of “Matt About Town!”

Featuring 121 artifacts, the exhibit aims to take a look at how the nation’s founding document is a piece of history that Americans keep coming back to 鈥� and keep striving to uphold.

The flagship item is Thomas Jefferson’s original first draft of the Declaration of Independence, with edits from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin written in the margins. The document is one of several remarkably preserved pieces.

From a handwritten copy of Abraham Lincoln’s original “Gettysburg Address,” Jefferson鈥檚 copy of Thomas Paine鈥檚 鈥淐ommon Sense,” Frederick Douglass鈥� stirring speech on 鈥淭he Meaning of July Fourth,” a 1690 edition of John Locke鈥檚 鈥淭wo Treatises of Government,” and even the first ever newspaper printings of the Declaration in the 13 colonies 鈥� there’s no shortage of items that will give you goosebumps to witness in person.

Beyond the incredibly cool pieces displayed though, there’s a deeper message: one of freedom, equality and democracy.

鈥淭he Declaration鈥檚 Promise: A Revolutionary Idea” runs for an entire year starting Friday. Learn more about the exhibit on .

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube.

Follow 听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea, you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

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Follow 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax as he explores hidden gems, local landmarks and unique stories across the D.C. area every week. New episodes of 杏吧原创鈥檚聽鈥淢att About Town鈥�聽segment are released each Tuesday and Thursday.

It’s a story of love, American icons and the birds and the bees 鈥� quite literally 鈥� and is one of the Smithsonian National Zoo’s best kept secrets!

Tuesday’s episode of “Matt About Town” focuses on the incredible tale of George Washington 鈥� just in time for America 250.

No, we’re not referring to America’s first president.

Rather, a Ross’s goose who shares his name.

George the Goose currently resides in the zoo’s bird habitat 鈥� and he’s something of a cross-species Casanova.

From an early age, George’s taste in companions was atypical of his species. He’s had four older wives in his six years on Earth, and three of them have been turkeys!

His current wife, 8-year-old standard bronze turkey Felicity, and George have been voted the zoo’s cutest couple by staff for two years running. And after spending an afternoon filming them, it’s easy to see why.

It’s a story that could only unfold at a place like the National Zoo 鈥� one you’ll probably never see anywhere else.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow聽听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea, you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

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They鈥檙e two of the National Zoo鈥檚 newest fur babies. In Thursday’s episode of “Matt About Town,” 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax got a sneak peek to say hello to them before anybody else.

You can check out and meet two of the more unique creatures now on display at the zoo: the sloth bear cubs.

If you haven’t heard of a sloth bear before today, join the club. But 6-month-old twins Ozzy and Champa (along with mom Molly) will quickly melt your heart with their playfulness and elite eating abilities.

Considered a “vulnerable” species, sloth bears have a very high birth mortality rate. But these two babies (and mom) have made it through a closely monitored growing period.

The zoo said they hope to keep this family thriving for decades to come. In the next week or so, you could be among the first to see their first steps outside.

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow聽听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea, you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

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In Tuesday’s episode of “Matt About Town,” 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax (and D.C. explorer and friend of the show Austin Graff) visited the Albert Einstein Memorial, a massive 7-ton bronze sculpture overlooking Constitution Avenue, just down the block from the Lincoln Memorial.

If you didn’t know about the Einstein statue, you might also be unfamiliar with the building it sits in front of 鈥� the National Academy of Sciences. The statue was placed there for a reason.

Established in the 1860s during the Civil War, the National Academy of Sciences is one of the nation’s oldest scientific institutions.

In Tuesday’s episode, Kaufax explores what makes it a hidden gem in the nation’s capital 鈥� and how the Einstein’s statue and the building connect.

The National Academy of Sciences offers tours by appointment only. .

Austin Graff’s book, “111 Places for Kids in Washington That You Must Not Miss,” is available .

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow聽听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea, you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

Check out all 鈥淢att About Town鈥� episodes聽here.

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Imagine being able to reach out and touch the stars without ever lifting off from the ground.

A new immersive, 3D virtual reality experience from the Smithsonian offers guests a window into the cosmos 鈥� the first of its kind in D.C.

In Thursday’s episode of 鈥淢att About Town,鈥� 杏吧原创鈥檚 Matt Kaufax gets 鈥淪tarstruck!”

The 5,000-square-foot Penn Quarter attraction is a collaboration between events company Fever and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. It was built from actual scientific data, with designers consulting real-life astrophysicists to conceptualize the dimensions of the known universe.

Whether you’re standing on the surface of the sun, encountering the event horizon of a black hole, or being whisked away to take in the Pillars of Creation, the sheer scale of this attraction will make guests feel like they’re floating, and give a sense of wonder that emphasizes just how vast the universe is.

Strap on a headset and check it out for yourself!

Details on the experience can be found on

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow聽听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea, you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

Check out all 鈥淢att About Town鈥� episodes聽here.

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Have you ever seen a mini donkey participate in its own doctor’s checkup?

That’s a sentence we never thought we’d type, but now you can see just that at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo!

In today’s episode of “Matt About Town,” 杏吧原创’s Matt Kaufax spent the afternoon at the Zoo’s Kids Farm alongside some adorable mini donkeys, where he saw firsthand how new vet techniques and training are helping improve animal healthcare 鈥� one appointment at a time.

The coolest part? Anyone from the public can take a look and see this new “voluntary animal healthcare” up close, simply by passing through and petting some 4-legged friends.

The Zoo says it’s all part of an effort to make animal healthcare less stressful for all, and they hope this will ignite a passion for animals in some of their youngest fans!

Hear 鈥淢att About Town鈥� first every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday on 103.5 FM.

鈥淢att About Town鈥� is now also on YouTube. Follow聽听补苍诲听聽to subscribe and get the latest episodes wherever you are!

If you have a story idea, you鈥檇 like Matt to cover,聽email him, or chat with him on聽听补苍诲听.

Check out all 鈥淢att About Town鈥� episodes聽here.

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