Best Leeds Museums Podcasts (2024)

1
Museums n'Out 9:09

12M ago9:09

9:09

Oh no. Oh dear. What's happening. We don't like it. A little news: that Meg over there has gone and got herself a new job! The sausage. So is this the last episode of Museums n'That ever? Maybe. Do we love you all deeply for the support you've given us throughout the last 6 series? Absolutely. Did Danny listen to us and ask DPD to change his delive…

1
Conservators are dorks 42:46

1y ago42:46

42:46

Hayley Cropper's anorak! Here we go gang - signing off this series is self-confessed conservator dork Kloe Rumsey, Conservator at the People's History Museum in Manchester. Kloe exercises extreme patience this episode as we ask her all of our burning questions about conservation. Are there big sciencey chemicals involved? How do you deal with the r…

1
A benign environmental dictator 42:20

1y ago42:20

42:20

Sustainability! Climate! Museums! Longshore Drift! All the main hitters. Talking us through it all is the powerhouse that is Sara Kassam (2 Sara's and a Meg - you're welcome) the benign environmental dictator at UK Sport and previous Sustainability Lead at ye olde V&A. Sara is also Sustainability Advisor at the Museums Association, and most importa…

1
The Tower of London is a twice in a lifetime experience 44:15

1y ago44:15

44:15

What do you get when you mix a hotel breakfast with the Chief Exhibitor at the Tower of London? A really good podcast episode. Not only are we at the Tower! of! London! (Meg's favourite place in the world) this episode, but we have the absolute pleasure of talking to Chief Exhibitor Nivek Amichund. And opening his post. Nivek talked us through how …

1
We have more than just butt plugs 39:12

1y ago39:12

39:12

The most butt heavy episode we've had yet. And that's saying something. Today's wonderful guest is Amelia Silver, a Curating for Change Fellow working with the Thackray Museum to make museums more accessible for people with disabilities. Amelia tells us all about her route into her role, including lots about her own disability and how that lead to …

1
We sure need plants 45:42

1y ago45:42

45:42

A big ol' love letter to plants, this one. Dried ones especially. And our first returning guest! Clare Brown of S2 E7 fame is back to tell us all about herbaria. Herbarium? Herbariums. Dried plant specimens, stored in our collection at Leeds Discovery Centre. Why should we collect them? How do we dry them? Stick your nose in a female plant, and wha…

1
The Brontës are the Kardashians 49:09

1y ago49:09

49:09

Oh, hiya! Series 6 it is then kids. Sassy Holmes is the Programme Officer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in lovely Haworth, so we invited her to come and teach us the wily, windy ways of literature's #1 family. We find out about the objects they have in the museum, including ones found hidden in the walls - we cannot - and hear some frankly crackin…

1
Series 6 trailer 0:43

1y ago0:43

0:43

It’s us! We’re back. And for our 6th series of Museums n’That, we’ve lined up some extremely very good museum-y guests to tell us all about the weird and wonderful things they love the most. We’re talking Brontës, we’re talking climate change, we’re talking conservation to name a few – and guys, we’ve done it, we’ve gone and bloody done it: we’re t…

1
Stuffed with a partridge – AHA! 50:46

1+ y ago50:46

50:46

Surprise! It's about time we treated you to another spesh, and when better to treat you than at Christmas. Visitor Assistant Steve Scholey pulls out all the festive stops in this episode, which was recorded at the effortlessly Christmassy Temple Newsam. Find out what the rapscallions that lived there did to celebrate the season 500 years ago - yule…

1
It can't just be at the International Slavery Museum 53:36

1+ y ago53:36

53:36

For the final episode in this series we nipped back down the canal to (potentially the second greatest city in the world) Liverpool. Where we met Ranmalie! Dr Ranmalie Jayawardana is the Community Participation Lead at the International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum at National Museums Liverpool. She's currently working on the Waterfront Trans…

1
You are flippin' in the Queer Britain museum 48:49

1+ y ago48:49

48:49

Dan Vo: a vibe. A VERY exciting episode this week, as we interview self-titled Museum Queerator Dan Vo at Queer Britain - the UK’s first LGBTQ+ museum. Dan talks us through the stories that the museum tells, why the work they’re doing is so important, and the impact it's had so far. Basically, how to museum good. Go and visit! Right now! Go go go! …

1
I'd go between Paul and George 48:14

1+ y ago48:14

48:14

Who loves cream soda? Ethan Crabtree loves cream soda. This episode, lovely Ethan shares his experience of volunteering as a young person in the award winning Preservative Party - still going strong! - at Leeds City Museum, and essentially just spends 45 minutes proving that all museums should be run by young people. We learn about their upcoming e…

1
The very important documentary 'The Devil Wears Prada' 49:56

1+ y ago49:56

49:56

Mum, we made it to the V&A! Meg and Sara embark on an epic adventure to the Big Smoke this episode, and end up in the Fashioning Masculinities exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Where they spent a lot of time studying Harry Styles' footwear. Curator - and ex Leeds Museums and Gallleries alumni - Rosalind McKever talks us through the exhi…

1
We don't do bloodletting, no 39:59

2y ago39:59

39:59

In this episode we chat to Assistant Community Curator Patrick Bourne about the history of Kirkstall Abbey: the hottest 870 year old you've ever seen. What's been excavated here? What's been the haps for the last 8 centuries? Where did the monks go for a poo? We also find out about the ghostly goings on at Abbey House Museum, and write a little lov…

1
I'm not Norman, I'm Joe 52:41

2y ago52:41

52:41

We're back! Kicking off series 5 - and getting stung by a bee in the process which we did not arrange - is corker of a guest, Joe Vaughan. Joe is the Digital Editor at Reading Museum and the Museum of English Rural Life, and he popped on the pod to talk to us about being a pretty big cheese in the world of social media (and everything that comes wi…

1
Series 5 trailer 0:48

2y ago0:48

0:48

We’ve only gone and recorded another series. All hail series 5! This time around, we've been to London, we’ve been to Liverpool, we’ve been to Reading – and of course, the greatest of them all. We've been to Leeds. Expect chats about all things museums, but like, only the interesting bits: bloodletting monks, Harry Styles at the V&A, and absolute u…

1
You'd struggle to get better than Stephenson's Rocket 48:01

2+ y ago48:01

48:01

Wafting a load of rhubarb farts into our final episode of the series is Rob Scargill, Interpretation Developer at the National Railway Museum. We've done trains before, sure, but we haven't done interpretation now have we guys. Rob explains how everything (literally, everything) you experience in a museum is thought out - from the stories you tell …

1
I like my exotic fruits 46:56

2+ y ago46:56

46:56

Our guest this week is Visitor Assistant and harbinger of exotic fruits Carmen Webbe. Carmen talks to Meg and Sara about black artists and subjects on display at Leeds Art Gallery, her opinion on works and exhibitions and, most importantly, her experience as a black woman working in a public facing role at an art gallery. Links to things talked abo…

1
It's just Titanic isn't it 43:34

2+ y ago43:34

43:34

SHIPWRECKS. FINALLY. And not just any shipwreck. Meg and Sara take a trip down the canal to Liverpool, where they chat with Ian Murphy, Head of the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Ian walks us through their exhibition 'Titanic and Liverpool: the untold story' and we find out about the objects they have relating to Titanic, how collecting from a wreck s…

1
I don't know if I've mentioned, but I'm vegan 40:30

2+ y ago40:30

40:30

200 years old we are. 200! years! old! This year Leeds Museums & Galleries celebrates a (very) big birthday, and Projects Curator Catherine Robins has been party-planning the whole shebang. Find out how to open an exhibition with an army of excellent volunteers, what happened when Leeds was bombed in 1941 and what celery has to do with a budgie cal…

1
Who the flip is David Hopes? 46:46

2+ y ago46:46

46:46

Bringing the sauce this episode - but eating absolutely none of it - is David Hopes, Head of Service at Leeds Museums & Galleries. Sara and Meg grill David about his credentials, and ask exactly how you get to be the head of a museum. He tells us some cracking stories about Brian Cox and Lulu (finally!) and, you know, says really interesting things…

1
Hip hop doesn't ask for permission 43:24

2+ y ago43:24

43:24

Did someone say series 4? *beat drop* To kick off the new series, Meg and Sara talk to actual real life best friends Lee Arnold aka. King Monk and Marek Romaniszyn. Lee is a Hip Hop aficionado - he runs King Monk studios and is the brains behind the Hip Hop Historian Society. Marek is the Assistant Community Curator at Leeds Museums & Galleries and…

1
Series 4 trailer 0:47

2+ y ago0:47

0:47

Hello everyone, it’s us. We’ve been at it again, and now we’ve got a brand spanking new series of Museums n’That lined up ready for your ear holes. Series 4 - can you literally believe they’ve let us have 4 series - is positively dripping in wonderful guests, putting up with our silly little questions. This series we learn about hip hop history (th…

1
You do whatever you want my darlin' 49:01

3y ago49:01

49:01

It's fashion, hun. This episode's guest is Vanessa Jones, one of our curators of Dress and Textiles at Leeds Museums and Galleries. For our last episode of the series - can you believe! - we find out how to look fly as hell in the 1700s, why fashion sustainability is nothing new and what the deal is with historical sweat. We also get deep - too dee…

1
Choccy butt-butts 48:58

3y ago48:58

48:58

Ant and Dec. Monica and Rachel. Wikipedia and Museums. The two best friends anyone could be! Our guest this week is lovely Hope Miyoba, Wikimedian-in-residence for the Science Museum Group. Meg and Sara find out why museums and Wikipedia get on like a house on fire, talking through women in Leeds, human remains in museum collections and misrepresen…

1
Everybody wants some of my hair, I've got none left 37:54

3y ago37:54

37:54

Florence Nightingale! ...unfortunately wasn't available to be interviewed for this episode, but Stephanie Davies (Assistant Community Curator at Lotherton) absolutely was, and we really did luck out there. Steph tells us about the connection between the lady with the lamp and the greatest city in the world, and, naturally, we delve into pocket owls…

1
He extracted some fluid from that blister 50:12

3y ago50:12

50:12

In this uncharacteristically relevant episode, Meg and Sara talk to lovely Owen Gower from Dr. Jenner's House, off of the birthplace of vaccinations. We find out about Blossom the cow and her 20 horns, ghost stories from inside the house and the naughty vicar's wife who stole a plant from the Pope. Oh, and all about vaccinations (lancets, people!),…

1
The Sheriff of Nottingham is also a very naughty boy 43:01

3y ago43:01

43:01

Magna Carta! Jay Z's 12th studio album and the medieval cornerstone of modern democracy. In this episode, we discuss both with Digital Engagement Officer Steven Franklin off of Egham Museum, Bradford Museums & Galleries and now the National Archives. Find out from someone other than Terry Jones why King John was so big and so bad, and why him needi…

1
Del Boy of Early Modern Stratford 47:13

3y ago47:13

47:13

Would you snog Othello? We've always asked the truly important questions, and this series will be no different. We're back! We've got wonderful guests! We're still on zoom and we still hate it! For this first episode of series 3, Meg and Sara chat to Anjna Chouhan off of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who has 2 - 2! - of her own podcasts: Shakes…

1
Series 3 trailer 1:23

3y ago1:23

1:23

Lovely news! We've been chinwagging our way around the UK (is chinwagging a word?) and now we're back in the greatest city in the world ready to release our third series. This time around, we ask museum smartypants the truly important questions about topics like Shakespeare, Magna Carta, vaccinations, Florence Nightingale, museums & Wikipedia and c…

1
It is literally Christmas 1:00:41

3+ y ago1:00:41

1:00:41

Ho, ho - we can't stress this enough - ho. We're back with an extra special Christmas episode with Kitty Ross, Curator of Social History. Who was St. Nick? What did Charles Dickens think of our Leeds? What's your favourite Wet Wet Wet song? Kitty answers all of your burning festive questions (and then some). Before you panic: Danny from DPD does ge…

1
All the Tits are in the same place 44:18

3+ y ago44:18

44:18

Could The Meg literally happen? How do you give a polar bear a wash and blow dry? Does Danny from DPD know how regularly he features on everyone’s favourite lowbrow museum based podcast? We’re saying a firm ‘see ya’ to series 2 with curator Clare Brown, who explains how animals come to be in our natural science collection, and why dealing with the …

1
Throw me on a skip and go for a curry 58:54

3+ y ago58:54

58:54

Bog bodies. Skeletons. Mummifying Alan. Kat Baxter, Curator of Archaeology at Leeds Museums & Galleries, answers all of our (many) burning questions about human remains and the ethics of collecting and displaying them in museums. We ask why some bodies are better preserved than others, and find out the kind of reactions visitors have to different t…

1
Put all that virgo energy into spreadsheets 42:24

3+ y ago42:24

42:24

Artist and Assistant Registrar to the stars (Leeds Museums & Galleries) Emii Alrai is our guest this week, and the content is CHARMING. Emii brings her trademark virgo energy to the pod as we find out what registrar-ing really means. Emii shares the influence for her artistic practice too, as we chat about how Middle Eastern objects come to be in w…

1
Who the flip are Meg and Sara? 42:35

4y ago42:35

42:35

Surprise! Our first (questionable) bonus episode. Turns out Meg and Sara are literally museum professionals too, so get to know more about your favourite museum podcast hosts and what they do every day. Find out about the good, the bad and the downright lovely sides of working with museum audiences, why museums need to change and the impact that wo…

1
They were the first Lighthouse Family 39:45

4y ago39:45

39:45

Trains! Jelly tots! Chicken Jalfrezi! All the major food groups in one delicious museum podcast. Curator of industrial history John McGoldrick tells us all about inventions made in the great, nay, greatest, city of Leeds. Find out what Dick Whittington's got to do with railways, how to become an actual rocket scientist and what, definitively, is th…

1
Elijah Wood bought all these turnips 43:41

4y ago43:41

43:41

Oh, this is a good one. Conor Clarke from the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield (the second greatest city in the world) has willingly, actually, genuinely come on the show. We talk videogame history, and explore the logistics of collecting games as a museum. We cover the fundamentals too: Crash Bandicoot or Sonic? Would you sell your turnips t…

1
Six legs, that's a party 35:20

4y ago35:20

35:20

Bum silk nests. How to shave a moth. Harry Styles. We're back, and starting Series 2 as we mean to go on. Assistant Curator of Entomology Milo Phillips puts moths under the spotlight in this episode, and we explain the Leeds Museums & Galleries obsession with the little blighters. Swot up on cocoons, caterpillars, and crucially: who would win in a …

1
Series 2 Trailer 0:49

4y ago0:49

0:49

We've been debating whether to sacrifice the high quality of our recordings (that we're so famous for) for series 2 by doing them remotely. The answer is yes! We're going to. You're welcome. We're sorry in advance. We'll be covering topics like human remains, moths and inventions made in the greatest city in the world. Series 2 even features some a…

1
So it was flapping around a bit 36:02

4y ago36:02

36:02

Hold tight for sword fighting, Gandalf quotes and diggers that look a bit like hands. For the last episode of this first series, Meg and Sara interview Learning Officer Carl Newbould, who works with pupils with special educational needs and disabilities to give them experiences of the world of work. In other words, Carl has the loveliest job. Disco…

1
They call him fruit punch mouth 40:33

4y ago40:33

40:33

This one's a corker. Discover why fish and chips are bad, who's got tiny little teeth and the arty love affair that never actually quite happened. You'll also do some very good learns too - what's the deal with Henry Moore? Why is some art considered art when it looks a bit like you could have done it? What happens if you accidentally break a sculp…

1
Japanese tea flavoured KitKats, maybe 38:41

4y ago38:41

38:41

Meg and Sara get the tea on the wonderful country of Japan from Adam Jaffer, World Cultures curator at Leeds Museums and Galleries. We also discover what Humboldt Squids have to do with Peruvian mummies, the incredible commitment of the Shinto monks and, most importantly, where on literal Earth Antarctica even is. Please be aware that this episode …

1
I just like the word 'mooli' 38:10

4y ago38:10

38:10

Meg and Sara interview Chris Sharp, Assistant Community Curator at Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills and Thwaite Watermill, and owner of the longest job title in history. Chris talks through his work with local community groups, and how he facilitates people experiencing the museum on their own terms. We cover gardening, mental health, dement…

1
It was an orange and we had no idea what to do with it 42:21

4y ago42:21

42:21

Meg and Sara interview Errin Hussey, Archivist for the Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Museums and Galleries. Errin spills the beans on what archives actually are: how they're stored, how you should hold them and what happens when the thing you're archiving is actually an orange. Find out about Bruce Springsteen's archive, what happened with a pack…

1
Slugs in ethanol and Julia Roberts 42:36

4y ago42:36

42:36

In this first episode, Meg and Sara introduce themselves before interviewing Rebecca Machin, Curator of Natural Science at Leeds Museums and Galleries. Find out why preserving a caterpillar is especially gross, how one very special gorilla came to be in our collection and most importantly of all, what it's like to shake one David Attenborough's han…

1
Museums n'That Trailer 1:13

4y ago1:13

1:13

Ey up and welcome to Museums n'That, a new podcast from Leeds Museums and Galleries. Museums attract passionate people like moths to a flame, and this podcast gets to the very heart of the things that make them tick, by asking the questions that you actually want to know. Do you want to know how to taxidermy a caterpillar? Because same. Desperate t…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Leeds Museums Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide