Making the Museum
Episodes
“Serious Fun” at First Americans Museum, with Shoshana Wasserman, Kimberly Rodriguez, and Bill Smith
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How do you design for all ages at the same time?What is “serious fun”? Does nature ever go out of style? How do you create content for both Native...
What Is Sustainable Exhibition Design? with Douglas Flandro
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How can we make our exhibitions more sustainable — in every way?Where do we start? What can museum teams learn from sustainability advancements in a...
Inclusive Design Will Change the World, with Sina Bahram & Corey Timpson
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One in four people has a disability. Why aren’t we designing museums better for them?What is inclusive design? How does it relate to universal desig...
A Collaborative Approach to Exhibition Making (The New Book), with Emily Saich & Joey Noelle Scott
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a better way to collaborate?What’s the secret to good feedback? How do you manage 40 people in a room? Are group facilitators ever truly ne...
Making the Medal of Honor Museum, with Bassam Komati
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is a museum where experiences happen — or is the museum the experience?Can a museum be designed to inspire? What is the Medal of Honor? What role do...
Mission: Collaboration, with Barbara Miller and Danae Colomer
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What are the (top) secrets of better collaboration?Is collaboration like a game of ping pong? Or more like ballroom dancing? Is there a better way to ...
The Art of Choosing a Museum Architect, with Susanna Sirefman
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you choose the right architect for your museum?Is architecture about more than a building? Is architect selection about more than architecture?...
Think Like a Children's Museum, with Edwin Link
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if every museum were more like ... a children’s museum?Why is play “agnostic”? Can you design an entire museum for every generation, all at...
A Museum Transformed with AI, with Kimberly Beaudin & Geoff Thatcher
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What can we learn from one of the most complex AI projects in any museum today? What is the history of AI in museums? Can we add AI to our experien...
Creating Effective Museum Experiences, with Lynda Roscoe Hartigan
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if the secret to better museums was … neuroscience? How can museums inspire human creativity? How much media should be in a gallery — or sho...
Museum as Lab, with Ann Neumann
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if a museum were more like a laboratory? What if our exhibits were experiments? What if our galleries were more about questions, rather than ans...
Community Engagement Misconceptions, with Nu Goteh
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if we're doing community engagement … wrong? How long should the process really take for a museum or exhibition? What’s the difference betwe...
Playful Engagement, with Ed Rodley
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if we combined immersion, emotion, storytelling — and games? We all want “engagement” … but what is engagement? How can our projects cre...
Sculpting History, with Ivan Schwartz
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can a statue change American history?How do we decide who gets a statue? What happens when you realize how many people deserve a statue but never got ...
Secrets of Museum Display Case Design, with Stéphanie Bilodeau
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you make a museum display case disappear?This episode is a masterclass in museum display case design. To the untrained eye, museum display case...
Story-Based Design, with Alan Reed
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can a building tell a story?How do you design a glass wall to be ... mist? What if architecture, landscape, and exhibitions were all thought of as one...
Designing with Animals, with Jacqueline Bershad
19 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How would you design an exhibit — if an animal’s life depended on it?What is the number one reason people come to the National Aquarium? When shou...
Making a Memorial Museum, with Alice Greenwald
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you make an institution that's both a museum and a memorial — at the same time?How are exhibitions like theater? Is a museum a group experien...
A New Community for the Exhibition Field, with Cybelle Jones, Steven Rosen, and George Mayer
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is there an organization for the exhibition field? A new initiative is picking up steam. The exhibition community in the US, some say, has recently g...
The Client Side of Major Projects, with Amy Weisser
27 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“The client’s role is not to solve the problem — it’s to state the problem.”What’s the client’s perspective in major cultural projects? ...
Scrappy PR for Museums, with Sarah Maiellano
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can you get big press with a small budget? (Hint: Yes.) For museums, small firms, and independent consultants, this episode is packed with literally ...
Six Keys for Unlocking Your Most Playful, Creative Work, with Jonathan Goldstein and Kyle Talbott
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Have we lost a sense of playfulness in our work … and could we get it back?In museums for children, why does “analog usually beat digital?” What...
The Money Pie Chart, with Amy Kaufman
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do new museums make money — really?In this episode, we lift the veil on new museum projects and money. What is “the peril of the bicycle wheel...
Circus Lessons for Museum Professionals, with Jennifer Lemmer Posey
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the role of wonder in experience design? What can the circus teach us to make our exhibitions better? (Spoiler alert: a lot.) Could being “...
Beyond “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, with David Franke
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do museum stores actually make any money? What are they really for? Can a store act like an exhibition? What does “cap rate” mean? How big should ...
An Economic Planner's Advice to Museums, with James Stevens
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why is economic planning so vital to any new museum project?What happens if you don’t do it? What is “dark tourism”? Why do economists think abo...
A Guitar That Teaches Civil Rights, with Michele Y. Smith
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the “humanities gap” — and why is it a huge opportunity for museums?Why can’t everybody be a philanthropist for the day? What does “...
The Questions You Have to Ask Before the Project, with Carolynne Harris (Remastered April 2024)
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We might think a design concept is the first step — but it’s not. What do you need to ask yourself, before you even start? What does your communi...
Rethinking Climate Control in Museums, with Roger Chang
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why is “70/50” the gold standard? Should it be? Who decided? Does every gallery really need to be 70 degrees, plus/minus two? Does every storage s...
Embracing Chaos, with Jon Maass
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if chaos in cultural projects is something to embrace, not fear? Can chaos theory give us new insights about how to manage complex work? Are we ...
The New Louis Armstrong Center, with Regina Bain and Sara Caples
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the secret to success, when a project lasts years longer than planned? What keeps us going when our work takes more time? How does the subje...
Flourishing in Museums (New Book), with Dr. Kiersten F. Latham and Professor Brenda Cowan
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is a “growth mindset” — and why is it more important than ever for our industry?What happens when we combine museology with the fast-growin...
The Real Bilbao Effect, with Andy Klemmer
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can an eye-catching museum revitalize a city? The answer might surprise you. Getting the right designer is vital. If you don’t like a painting you ...
Raising the Voices of People of Color in Museums and Exhibitions, with Sierra Van Ryck deGroot and Jinelle Thompson
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How can we raise the voices of people of color in museums and exhibitions — and what stands in the way?What is Museum Hue? What constitutes a sustai...
The Near Future of Experience Design, with Neil Redding
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What do technologies like the Apple Vision Pro mean for exhibitions and experiences? For people who create cultural destinations, the pace of technol...
Assembling a Collaborative Project Team, with Beth Van Why
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Great projects happen because of great teams. But how do you build that team in the first place?Who should a museum hire first, to start a major proje...
5 Secrets of Digital Experience Design, with Patrick Snee
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How can we make digital experiences work for all visitors — whether kids or grandparents? Hint: it has to do with recognizing “diverse digital li...
Start With "Who's It For?", with Liza Rawson
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the very first question we should ask — before we start our projects? Should we start designing … by designing? How do we make sure we u...
Museum Research: Big Data Meets Thick Data, with Elena Kazlas and Adaheid Mestad
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cultural projects should be data-driven — but which *kind* of data?What’s the difference between the “big data” we all know — and “thick d...
How to Build a Museum, with David Greenbaum, FAIA
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What if there were just five important things to remember when you build a museum? What if the most important one of them all — had nothing to do...
Experiential Tech Insights, with Will Bullins
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the #1 thing to know about experiential technology? How long do LED walls last? (The answer will surprise you.) Is a project done when it ...
"Rapid Experience Design", with Clare Brown
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What if there were a better way? Are the normal exhibition planning and design methods actually way too risky — and is there a way to “de-risk”...
DEAI: Meeting ADA Standards Isn’t Enough, with Beth Ziebarth & Jan Majewski
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the A in DEAI, and why are the ADA guidelines not enough anymore? What’s intersectionality? What’s a “user expert”? If ADA isn’t ou...
"Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook", with Dr. Dori Tunstall
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can exhibition teams help to decolonize design? What are the pitfalls cultural organizations should watch out for in their DEI (diversity, equity,...
The Visitor Engagement Lifecycle, with Samir Bitar
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What if the best way to market an exhibition — wasn't marketing?What do we need to do better to help visitors find us in the first place? When they ...
Learning from "Matters of Experience", with Abigail Honor and Brenda Cowan
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Three podcast hosts join forces in a single show to discuss the latest in experience design. It’s a fast-paced three-way session covering half a do...
Behind the Scenes at "Exhibition" Journal, with Ian Kerrigan
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What if there were a high-quality, peer-reviewed journal for the whole exhibition community? What if it featured the leading organizations, practition...
We Are All Temporarily Enabled, with Phillip Tiongson
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What if accessible design was for everybody, starting with … ourselves? What if we are all only temporarily enabled? How can a broader philosophy o...
8 Principles of Traveling Exhibitions, with Carol Bossert
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is this thing we call a traveling exhibition? Do they make money? Are traveling exhibitions the same as temporary ones? How can anyone plan a ...
From Leading Designer to Leading a Nonprofit, with Cybelle Jones
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a rare moment when a leading designer swaps jobs to lead a nonprofit member organization. And then has to lead that organization through a glob...
Black Belt Cost Control Tips, with Jonathan Alger
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
(P.S. Will you be at AAM in Denver? Drop a line if you’d like to catch up there, or see if we can find Phil & Monique at the grab-and-go café.)...
A Museum is a Business, with Kris Collins
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What’s it really cost to build a museum? How can we find out if a project is financially viable — before we start? What are the most common ways m...
Secrets of Complex Cultural Project Management, with Beth Van Why
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you keep a huge cultural project on track? How do you guess the future? What’s a contingency — and why is it the difference between success...
Sneak Peek at the Upcoming “Exhibition and Experience Design Handbook”, with Tim McNeil
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What are “streakers, strollers and studiers”? How can we plan better projects using the “attract, reveal, reward” system? What’s a “wunder...
L.A.T.C.H. - The Five Ways to Organize Any Content (The Podcast)
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the best way to organize the content in our experiences? What tricks are we forgetting to try? And what if you learned there were five ways t...
8 Ways to Be “Phygital”, with Alin Tocmacov
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is everything “phygital”? Are all our projects now neither physical nor digital, but both? How can a “phygital mindset” lead to better experie...
Revealing the Story with Light, with Steven Rosen and Ted Mather
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is lighting art or science?If you’re a curator tasked with lighting design, where do you start? Is lighting about light, or about shadows? If an exh...
Secrets of Creative Collaboration, with Trent Oliver
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do we keep cultural projects from going off the rails, without sacrificing creativity? It’s not impossible. In fact, there are some simple secre...
Six Provocative Questions, with Matt Kirchman
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do exhibits really teach? Do they really present big stories well? Is personalization really a must? Are exhibits getting ... better? Interpretive pla...
Prototyping With ELVIS, with Paul Orselli
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Prototyping saves projects money and time, every time. But how do you do it right? Exhibition designer and prototyping expert Paul Orselli joins me to...
Five Questions Fabricators Always Hear, with Cathlin Bradley
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Exhibit fabrication expert Cathlin Bradley joins host Jonathan Alger to discuss the Five Questions Fabricators Always Hear. Guest Bio:Cathlin Bradley...
Six Secrets of Exhibit Technology, with Tony Warner & Bryan Abelowitz
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Audio visual technology experts Tony Warner and Bryan Abelowitz join Jonathan Alger to discuss the Six Secrets of Exhibit Technology. Guest Bio:Tony...