Best Hannah Hethmon Podcasts (2024)

1
The Power of Pop-Up Exhibitions (with Robert Forloney) 30:39

5M ago30:39

30:39

Let’s explore the power and possibility of pop-ups: temporary or ephemeral museum-y experiences. I’m joined by Maryland Humanities’ Robert Forloney for a discussion about the Smithsonian’s traveling pop-up program, Museum on Main Street, and how short-term exhibitions allow for more play, creativity, and risk-taking.…

1
The Ethics of Mummies in Museums (with Angela Stienne) 32:30

7M ago32:30

32:30

Why are there mummies in your museum? Should they be there? What are visitors getting out of an encounter with ancient Egyptian remains? What happens when remains in museums become objectified and normalized to this extent? Is there an ethical way to display mummies? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Angela Stienne, a historian of museums and rese…

1
Environmental Restoration at Ford House (with Mark Heppner, Kevin Drotos) 33:29

7M ago33:29

33:29

Can museums and historic sites be leaders in environmental conservation and restoration? The Ford House in Michigan recently won a grant of up to $7 million from NOAA to restore the coastal habitats of their lakeside property. I talked to Ford House’s President & CEO, Mark Heppner, and their Landscape and Natural Areas Manager, Kevin Drotos, to lea…

1
Transgender Museum Studies (with Amelia Smith) 30:00

8M ago30:00

30:00

Are museums welcoming spaces for transgender visitors and museum workers? Are academics in museum studies building out the theory needed for meaningful trans inclusion in museums? In this episode, we’re looking at how we in the museum field can support our transgender colleagues and community members, from museum studies classrooms to visitor bathr…

1
Hiring Icks & Fair Museum Jobs (with Sierra Van Ryck deGroot, Ashleigh Hibbins) 33:16

8M ago33:16

33:16

There are a lot of systemic issues in our field related to labor. Ignoring these issues won’t make them go away. In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at the problems around hiring practices in both the US and the UK. I chat about salary transparency, degree requirements, accessibility, and more with Sierra Van Ryck deGroot (Museum Hue) Ashle…

1
The First Americans Museums (with heather ahtone) 33:12

9M ago33:12

33:12

There are 39 First American Nations in Oklahoma today, each with their own distinct culture and traditions. The newly-opened First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City is dedicated to telling all their stories—no small undertaking. In this episode, I speak to Dr. heather ahtone, FAM’s Director of Curatorial Affairs. She shares the history behind the m…

1
Exhibition Design Inspiration (with Tim McNeil) 29:31

9M ago29:31

29:31

The field of exhibition design may be niche, but the number of museum workers who design and use design principles regularly is vast. So many of us use design to solve problems every day without even realizing it. This episode will warm up and inspire the design part of your brain, whether you’re a full-time exhibition designer, a curator, an educa…

1
The American LGBTQ+ Museum (with Ben Garcia) 33:15

10M ago33:15

33:15

In 2026, the American LGBTQ+ Museum will open its doors in New York City. They’ll be housed in a dedicated 4,000 sq. ft. space inside New York’s oldest museum, the New York Historical Society. In this episode, I chat with the LGBTQ+ Museum’s Executive Director, Ben Garcia, about the Museum’s origins and its inclusive, intersectional, and activist a…

1
Museum Work in Iceland (with Katie Teeter) 21:43

11M ago21:43

21:43

What’s it like working in museums in Iceland? Katie Teeter is American, but she’s been living in Iceland for ten years. She works at two museums, one private and one public, and is finishing up a Master’s in Museum Studies at the University of Iceland. I chatted with Katie about her career and learned some cool facts about the Icelandic museum fiel…

1
Unfinished Revolutions: Museums & America’s 250th (with Madeleine Rosenberg) 34:14

1y ago34:14

34:14

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is almost here. How can museums and history organizations use the Semiquincentennial to promote a fuller story of American history, practice ethical commemoration, increase visitation, and boost funding for the field? In this episode, I discuss these questions with Madeleine Rosenberg, Pomero…

1
Public School/Museum Collaboration in Baltimore (with Beth Maloney, Anne Rosenthal) 36:07

1y ago36:07

36:07

Baltimore City Public Schools wanted to honor their food service workers, who plate up 88,000 free school meals a day and fed their community daily through pandemic closures. The Baltimore Museum of Industry wanted a project to foster social resilience. They collaborated to create Food for Thought, an exhibition featuring food service workers' port…

1
Whitney Plantation Reaches Further with Audio (with Amber Mitchell) 38:35

1y ago38:35

38:35

Whitney Plantation is the only former plantation site in Louisiana with an exclusive focus on slavery. In this episode, their Director of Education, Amber Mitchell, shares how two audio projects are helping educate even more people about the history and legacy of slavery. In 2021, they launched their first audio tour, a cutting-edge production that…

1
TikTok Success at the Sacramento History Museum (with Jared Jones) 43:15

1y ago43:15

43:15

Jared Jones still has trouble wrapping his head around the fact that the TikTok account he started at Sacramento History Museum has become possibly the most followed museum account on the entire platform, with over 2.4 million followers. In this episode, Jared shares with me the museum’s TikTok journey, how docent Howard became a minor celebrity, a…

1
Unionizing at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (with Adam Rizzo) 46:58

1y ago46:58

46:58

To paraphrase Adam Rizzo: museums won’t do the right thing by their workers just because we ask nicely. In a field rife with labor issues, museum workers are increasingly turning to unions. In this episode, Adam Rizzo of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Union shares their multi-year journey from hushed initial conversations to a three-week strike tha…

1
Community Curation and Digitization at the NMAAHC (with Doretha Williams) 32:56

1y ago32:56

32:56

From day one, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has made it a priority to support Black history organizations and family historians around the country, not just in D.C. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Doretha Williams, who leads the museum’s Smith Center. I wanted to hear more about their community curation and digitiza…

1
Trailer: We the Museum 2:30

1y ago2:30

2:30

I always meant to get back into doing Museum in Strange Places episodes, but producing professionally as Better Lemon Creative Audio and the pandemic got in the way. Now, I'm finally back with a brand new show for museum workers, WE THE MUSEUM. We the Museum is a podcast for museum workers who want to form a more perfect institution. Episodes will …

1
Trailer: We the Museum 2:30

1y ago2:30

2:30

Welcome to We the Museum, a new podcast for museum workers who want to form a more perfect institution. Here's a teaser for the first four episodes. In this trailer, you're hearing the voice of Dr. Doretha Williams (Center Director, The Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History at the National Museum of African American H…

1
Preserving History through Truth Telling with Tanya Denckla Cobb 31:07

3+ y ago31:07

31:07

Tanya Denckla Cobb is the Director of the Institute for Engagement & Negotiation at the University of Virginia. For several years now the Institute has been working on a process called “Transforming Community Spaces.” This process offers communities a way to discuss and come to terms with their complex problems. In this episode, Tanya explains how …

1
Preserving Community History with Marsh Davis 24:29

3+ y ago24:29

24:29

Marsh Davis is the President of Indiana Landmarks. In this episode, he speaks about how his preservation approach has evolved over his career, starting with his first role as an intern for the organization he now runs. He explains how Indiana Landmarks operates, their creative outside-the-box fundraising tactics, and why organizations like them are…

1
Preserving Native American History with Eric Hemenway 47:15

3+ y ago47:15

47:15

Eric Hemenway is an Anishnaabek/Odawa from Cross Village, Michigan, whose work centers around repatriation of remains and sacred objects under NAGPRA, as well as speaking and teaching about Native American history and culture. In this episode, Eric discusses the interconnectedness of his work and identity, the unique challenges of preserving Native…

1
Preserving a Sense of Place with Laura Trieschmann 27:59

3+ y ago27:59

27:59

Laura Trieschmann is the State Historic Preservation Officer for the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. In this episode, Laura shares insights into the SHPO’s role and responsibilities. She discusses the very different approach to preservation she encountered in Vermont after many years surveying and researching historic properties in Wash…

1
Preserving Resources and Fostering Diversity with Robert Stanton 34:58

3+ y ago34:58

34:58

Robert G. Stanton joined the National Park Service as a seasonal ranger and rose through the ranks to become the agency’s first African American Director. In this episode, he reflects on the need to tell a more honest and inclusive history of America. He also speaks about his current work for the Preservation in Practice program that brings young A…

1
Preserving Intangible History with Susan West Montgomery 29:04

4y ago29:04

29:04

Susan West Montgomery is a passionate advocate for natural and historic places, committed to leveraging these places to connect citizens, promote social justice, and foster health and wellbeing. In this episode, we discuss the changing role of preservation, the need for creativity in preserving intangible heritage, the concept of greenlining, and w…

1
Trailer: Preservation Profiles 2:18

4y ago2:18

2:18

A preview of the upcoming first season of Preservation Profiles. Guests featured in this six-episode season: Susan West Montgomery, Robert G. "Bob" Stanton, Laura Trieschmann, Eric Hemenway, Marsh Davis, and Tanya Denckla Cobb. Hear from these inspiring individuals who are shaping the field of preservation in the United States. Learn about their pr…

1
Teaser: Susan West Montgomery on Her Preservation Origin Story 2:08

4y ago2:08

2:08

A teaser from one of the upcoming episodes of Season 1 of Preservation Profiles. Susan West Montgomery tells the story of an adventure that impacted her career in historic preservation.By National Preservation Institute

1
BONUS: The Vagina Museum Podcast Trailer 2:56

4y ago2:56

2:56

One of the many projects I've been working on through my new production company (Better Lemon Creative Audio) is a podcast for the Vagina Museum in London. I'm so passionate about the work this museum is doing, and I think you're going to LOVE this podcast. It's written and produced by me with research and narration by science communicator Alyssa C…

1
BONUS: London is Ok I Guess 29:45

4+ y ago29:45

29:45

[A pilot for a new show I developed about living in London. I'm really proud of how it turned out, but I just don't have the time to make more episodes, so it's going to live here on the Museum in Strange Places feed. I meet up with escape room creator, museum professional, and self-proclaimed mermaid hunter Sacha Coward, who takes me somewhere tha…

1
The (Pop-Up) Anti-Trump Museum of Atlantic City 24:47

4+ y ago24:47

24:47

Donald J. Trump has been active in business and media for fifty years, but his scandal-ridden presidency has overshadowed most of his history. Levi Fox's Pop-Up Atlantic City Trump Museum is an attempt to remedy this oversight for one specific chapter of the Trump story: his four Atlantic City casinos and the impact their short tenures and bankrupt…

1
Poe Belongs to Baltimore, Baltimore to Poe 39:19

5y ago39:19

39:19

He’s the master of macabre, the man who created mystery fiction, the face on the socks and beer bottles of everyday Baltimoreans. He’s Edgar Allan Poe, and he belongs to Baltimore. Join me on a visit to the Poe House in Baltimore, the tiny house where his career began, to learn about Baltimore’s devotion to Poe, his tragic life, and the future of h…

1
Slavery in Maryland: Facing Our Whole History at Sotterley Plantation 44:14

5y ago44:14

44:14

So much of Maryland was built on the back of enslaved Africans, yet it’s easy to avoid confronting the history of slavery in Maryland’s former plantation country. Historic Sotterley is trying to change that. The plantation was built in 1703 by a man who made his money off the slave trade, and the site was witness to 165 continuous years of slavery.…

1
Museum on Main Street: A Love Letter to Small-Town America (02/09) 40:12

5y ago40:12

40:12

About half of all museums in the US are in small towns in rural America. Each of these museums holds stories and objects that are worth preserving and sharing, but they don’t always have the funding and infrastructure they need to operate and innovate. That’s where Museum on Main Street comes in. This Smithsonian program brings traveling exhibits t…

1
Baltimore’s Jewish Roots ft. Harry Houdini (S02/E08) 43:23

5y ago43:23

43:23

What do Baltimore, Russian Jews, the third oldest synagogue in America, Eastern European Catholics, seances, and Harry Houdini have in common? You’ll find out in this episode, a visit to the Jewish Museum of Maryland, an institution that prioritizes storytelling (and is pretty good at it). Join me for a tour of the historic Lloyd Street Synagogue, …

1
Why We Work: Improving the Way Museums Work at The Baltimore Museum of Industry (S02/E07) 31:04

5y ago31:04

31:04

S02/E07: Located in a waterfront 1860s oyster cannery in the Baltimore Harbor, The Baltimore Museum of Industry is trying to inspire and engage their visitors around the concept of work by telling the stories of historical workers. But in order to better fulfill this mission, the museum has to be constantly re-evaluating themselves and their assump…

1
A Secular Gathering Place: The Sandy Spring Museum (S02/E06) 29:19

5y ago29:19

29:19

The Sandy Spring Museum describes itself as “community-activated.” They want to be a secular gathering places, where people of different backgrounds can come together and build a sense of place and belonging. I visit the museum to speak with Executive Director Allison Weiss about the museum’s radically community-driven programming, the Quaker princ…

1
BONUS: 17th Century Ships are Like Classic Cars 5:17

5y ago5:17

5:17

BONUS content from Episode 5, "The Lost City: Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland." Dr. Regina Faden and I head down to Historic St. Mary's City's Waterfront exhibit, where we board the Maryland Dove, a replica 17th century sailing ship. The ship's Boatswain, Jeremy, talks to us about what it's like working on a historic ship and why old boats are l…

1
BONUS: What We Can Learn From Dirt 5:49

5y ago5:49

5:49

BONUS content from Episode 5, "The Lost City: Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland." A brief stop at the active dig site of Historic St. Mary's City's Archeology Field School, where Dr. Travis Parno is guiding students from St. Mary's College in a dig to investigate the site of Maryland's first State House. Dr. Parno also tells me about his ongoing r…

1
The Lost City: Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland (S02/E05) 58:34

5+ y ago58:34

58:34

In the early 17th century, 300 English settlers traveled to the new colony of Maryland in search of new opportunities and a place where they could practice their Catholic faith in peace. They built Maryland’s first capital, St. Mary’s City, and their city thrived...until its founders fell from power in England. Soon, St. Mary’s City was abandoned a…

1
BONUS: Baltimore's Ring of Fire 8:22

5+ y ago8:22

8:22

BONUS CONTENT from Episode 4, “Museum Time Machine: The Peale Center.” The Peale Center’s Nancy Proctor shows me the museum’s Ring of Fire, explains the phenomenon of skeuomorphism, and tells me why gas lighting was such a game-changing technology in Baltimore. All the music in this episode is by Outcalls. Find more information on the museum and ph…

1
Museum Time Machine: The Peale Center (S02/E04) 31:40

5+ y ago31:40

31:40

There’s a time machine in downtown Baltimore on Holliday Street. A time machine that will take you back to the origin of public collections of art, history, and science...and then zip you through the present and into the future of museums. The Peale Center, the oldest purpose-built museum space in the US, is starting its third century as a building…

1
Community Driven, Community-Led: The Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center (S02/E03) 37:28

5+ y ago37:28

37:28

Prince George’s County, Maryland is one of the wealthiest African American communities in the US, a suburban enclave of Black excellence just outside Washington, D.C. But it wasn’t always that way. At the small (but mighty) Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center, the passionate young Executive Director, Maleke Glee, tells me ab…

1
A Public Housing Utopia: The Greenbelt Museum (S02/E02) 46:49

5+ y ago46:49

46:49

Tucked among other Maryland suburbs outside Washington, D.C., the cute little town of Greenbelt has a surprisingly radical history. It was one of three “green towns” built under the New Deal Era Resettlement Administration, and it was supposed to be a new way of living, a utopia. Was it really a utopia? And how did the model hold up over time? I di…

1
A Temple to Intuition and Art: The American Visionary Art Museum (S02/E01) 53:10

5+ y ago53:10

53:10

The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland is monument to outsider art, the creative spirit, and the search for truth. Step inside this glittering temple to intuition and inspiration to experience the museum’s marvelous “shows,” each of which comes from the singular mind of the museum’s founder and envisioner, Rebecca Alban Hoffberger…

1
Season 2: Museums of Maryland (TRAILER) 3:33

5+ y ago3:33

3:33

In each season of this podcast, I explore a different country, state, or region through its museums. In Season 1, I traveled around Iceland. For season two, I decided to explore my native state of Maryland. I visited 22 of Maryland’s most interesting and unique museums, including America’s first purpose built museum, a historic synagogue, a black h…

1
The Shark Farm at Bjarnarhöfn (S01/E22) 29:07

5+ y ago29:07

29:07

Iceland has a lot of weird traditional foods, but nothing compares to fermented shark meat. The family at Bjarnarhöfn has been hunting and fermenting shark meat for nearly 400 years, although today they only process bycatch Greenland sharks. Many years ago, the family opened a Shark Museum at the farm to share their traditions and introduce the wor…

1
The Art of Volcanoes (S01/E21) 25:22

5+ y ago25:22

25:22

What would it look like if Indiana Jones was into volcanoes and created a museum in a small Icelandic village? The Volcano Museum in Stykkishólmur displays the art and geological specimens collected by volcanologist Haralður Sigurðsson from around the world during his many decades of exploration and research. I speak to museum manager, Filip Polách…

1
Iceland in Wartime (S01/E20) 26:45

6y ago26:45

26:45

Walk into the War and Peace Museum, a small building sitting on a fjord north of Reykjavík, Iceland, and you're instantly transported into another era. Covering every wall are carefully arranged artifacts, photographs, and documents from the WWII years in Iceland. This is Guðjón Sigmundsson's personal collection, and it's full of surprises and unco…

1
BONUS: The Making of Eldheimar's Audio Guide 7:46

6y ago7:46

7:46

Bonus! I go behind-the-scenes with Locatify's Steinunn Anna Gunnlaugsdóttir to talk about the making of Eldheimar's location-aware audio guide app (E19: Memorial to an Eruption). We chat about how Locatify joined the Eldheimar project, the beacon technology used in Eldheimar, and their new hyper-precise ultra-wideband system for museum apps. Locati…

1
Memorial to an Eruption (S01/E19) 29:43

6y ago29:43

29:43

On January 23, 1973, residents of the island town Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland were woken from sleep by the sounds of a huge fissure ripping open the earth. The Eldfell volcanic eruption that followed forced everyone to evacuate the island for six months. By the time the eruption stopped, 400 homes were covered by lava and the rest of the island was c…

1
We Always Come Back to Home Island (S01/E18) 33:24

6y ago33:24

33:24

No matter what happens on the Westman Islands off Iceland's south coast–invading pirates, mass Mormon exoduses, months-long volcanic eruptions, mysterious diseases, perilous fishing waters–the island people, Eyjamenn, always come back to rebuild and repopulate. That's what makes their home island, Heimaey, so unique. In this episode, I visit the lo…

1
The Penis Museum, Part II ft. John Bodinger de Uriarte (S01/E17) 22:53

6y ago22:53

22:53

After visiting the Icelandic Phallological Museum in Episode 16, I still didn't get what all the hype was about. So, I sat down with anthropology professor (and fellow Fulbright grantee) John Bodinger de Uriarte to talk about how the museum plays with our ideas of authority and reality, why gift shops in Reykjavík are "museums of imagined Icelandic…

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