You can find lots of podcasts about museums or hosted by museums that are intended for the general public. Productions like The Lonely Palette or AirSpace or Meet Me at the Museum fall under this umbrella. While there’s plenty of inspiration and education in these episodes for people working in the sector, today we’re focusing on current podcasts made specifically for museum professionals looking to stay informed, inspired, and engaged with the challenges and opportunities in the field. The pods listed below cover everything from museum management and curatorial practices to trends in museum technology and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Museum Archipelago
A tiny show guiding you through the rocky landscape of museums. Museum Archipelago believes that no museum is an island and that museums are not neutral. Taking a broad definition of museums, host Ian Elsner brings you to different museum spaces around the world, dives deep into institutional problems, and introduces you to the people working to fix them. Each episode is never longer than 15 minutes.
Recommended episode: What Large Institutions Can Learn From Small Museums
We the Museum
We the Museum is a podcast for museum workers who want to form a more perfect institution. Hosted by the field’s go-to podcast person, Hannah Hethmon, each episode features museum workers in the US and beyond, exploring ideas, programs, and exhibitions that inform and inspire. This means everything from digitization and collections management to unionization and decolonization.
Recommended episode: Hiring Icks & Fair Museum Jobs with Sierra Van Ryck deGroot & Ashleigh Hibbins
The Art Engager
Claire Brown of the Thinking Museum hosts a podcast on mastering the art of meaningful engagement in museums and cultural spaces.
Recommended episode: Slow Looking and Social Interaction in Museums with Sasha Igdalova
Making the Museum
A podcast on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams, and visitor experience professionals hosted by Jonathan Alger and featuring conversations with thought leaders from around the industry.
Recommended episode: Five Questions Fabricators Always Hear with Cathlin Bradley
The Keepers
Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Keepers features stories of activist archivists, rogue librarians, curators, collectors, and historians. Keepers of the culture and the cultures and collections they keep. Guardians of history, large and small, protectors of the free flow of information and ideas, eccentric individuals who take it upon themselves to preserve some part of our cultural heritage.
Recommended episode: Archiving the Underground: The Hip Hop Archive at Harvard
Museum of Truth and Lies
A limited-edition audio podcast featuring conversations with influential artists and cultural leaders. Its mission is to inspire the next generation of curators to be better truth-tellers and spur museums to sustain trust with more truth-seeking visitors. Participants give a refreshingly honest take on how museums can navigate culture wars and how to inspire the next generation of curators and truth-tellers from an anti-racist lens.
Recommended episode: Tomorrow Zone — Museums and AI
The C Word – The Conservators’ Podcast
A discussion of all sorts of museum issues from the perspective of conservation professionals, from museum trends and new technology to big issues like pay and staying safe at work.
Recommended episode: Working With Curators
Museopunks
Every month, Suse Anderson investigates the fascinating work and personalities in and around the museum sector. The Punks explore some of the sector’s most stimulating questions, institutions, and practices, with a focus on emergent, boundary-pushing work and ideas.
Recommended episode: Museums Are Not Neutral
Museums and Chill
Museums and Chill is a podcast from ICOM, where museum practitioners and thinkers from all over the world discuss their inspiration, strategies, innovations, and challenges.
Recommended episode: Reimagining Museums for a Sustainable World
Exhibiting Kinship
A now-occasional podcast dedicated to discussing Indigenous interventions in the museum world, connecting with Indigenous artists, curators, leaders, museum professionals, activists, scholars, and more.
Recommended episode: Live at ATALM (Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums annual conference)
The Creative Process
A wide-ranging endeavor in scope, The Creative Process Podcast, International Educational Initiative, and Exhibition was launched at the Sorbonne and is traveling to leading universities around the world. The podcast features interviews with esteemed artists, writers, and creative thinkers across the arts and STEM disciplines.
Recommended episode: The Future of Museums with Stephen Reily of Remuseum
If you have a must-listen podcast for museum workers, please let us know at museum@industry411.com. We’d love to add it to the list!
And if you have designs on starting a podcast of your own, either as a way to further your museum’s mission or to connect with others in the sector, be sure to check out:
How to Start a Podcast for Your Museum, MuseumNext
SUMA’s Podcast: Bringing Art to Life Through the Power of Storytelling, MuseumNext
Your Museum Needs a Podcast: A Step-By-Step Guide To Podcasting on a Budget for Museums, History Organizations, and Cultural Nonprofits, Hannah Hethmon
