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THIS WEEK’S NEW EPISODE
This week’s guest is Peggy Levitt, the Mildred Lane Kemper Chair of Sociology at Wellesley College. She’s the author of two books that listeners of this podcast might want to check out: “Artifacts and Allegiances,” which is about the intersection of museums with globalization and immigration; and her latest, “Move Over, Mona Lisa,” about the efforts to meaningfully diversify art, literature, and ideas. We also talk about how museums should respond to pressure from donors & politicians, and how to teach museum-goers to be “critical engagers.”
Find the podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify — or find your favorite app here! A full transcript of this episode is available here.
BEHIND THE SCENES
✉️ “Hey, have you talked to…?”
CC BY 2.0 / Girl Guides of Canada
This week’s episode wouldn’t have happened if not for the gumption of my friend Ethan. Less than a week after I told him about Call ‘Em Like Museum, he had connected me over email with his hiking buddy, coincidentally a prominent sociologist at Wellesley who had written about museums. Ethan is the sort of person who collects friends like that.
I loved talking to Peggy and I’m so grateful to Ethan and everyone else who has recommended guests for the podcast. Season One of Call ‘Em Like Museum is fully booked, but of course, I am already thinking about season two.
To that end: If you know someone I should interview, tell me!
Or, better yet, you can forward this email to that person and encourage them to check out the show. The more academic-leaning interviews this season are this week’s, Susan Crane, and Tayana Panova. Or if you have a friend who works in museums, one of our other episodes may closely align with their experiences.
— Eric
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IN MY INBOX
🔥 Dinosaur protesters, racist memorabilia, and the Parthenon marbles
CC BY 2.0 / Dominic Alves
The recent closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia seemed like the end of an era, but local fans are not having it. Protesters dressed as dinosaurs are marching on City Hall, and a group of volunteers called Save the Academy says, “We do not accept this closure. The story is not over yet.” If you want to get involved, they have action items on their website. [Save the Academy]
I meant to share this last week, but it slipped my mind… friend of the show Vignesh Ramachandran (shoutout) sent me this article about how San Francisco lost the Lucas Museum to LA: “Board members complained that Lucas was inflexible in his design vision. The communications revealed that the board offered Lucas the Crissy Field site… if he would agree to change his design, but he refused.” [San Francisco Standard]
A massive collection of more than 30,000 racist artifacts… is on sale at Target! No, actually, it’s at the new Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University in Michigan. “The way we’ve built this new facility, it shows African Americans pushing back against those objects with achievement, with activism and with, quite frankly, just living their lives with dignity.” [MLive]
A touring exhibition called the Museum of Disgusting Food has opened in Hong Kong: “Every visitor receives a vomit bag with their admission ticket, setting the tone for what lies ahead.” Um, pass. [Travel Weekly Asia]
With the Bayeux Tapestry driving hordes of visitors to the British Museum, Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is seizing the moment. He writes that, since the Tapestry is going to be returned to France, maybe the UK should also return the Parthenon marbles that Lord Elgin took from Athens too? “Nobody would seriously contemplate cutting what survives of the tapestry in two and displaying half in London and half in Bayeux, and claiming this was an adequate way to understand it. Yet that is exactly what happened to the Parthenon sculptures.” [The Guardian]
THE GIFT SHOP
🎁 No, seriously… move over
Everyone who subscribes to this newsletter before November 10 has been entered into our Gift Shop Giveaway! (Full rules here)
(Not subscribed yet? You can do that right here.)
One of the prize packages will include a copy of Peggy’s latest book, “Move Over Mona Lisa: Reimagining What We Read, Look At, and Learn.” The winner will also get stickers, postcards, and maybe some surprise goodies!
💪 How to help the podcast:
Tell a friend: Forward this email to a museum lover in your life
Leave a review: On Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify
Before we go … here’s James Acaster explaining the British Empire.