Call 'Em Like Museum with Eric Johnson
LightningPod 11 episodes Nov 10, 2026
Call 'Em Like Museum is a weekly podcast about how museums really work and why people love them. Host Eric Johnson talks with museum directors, curators, experts, and passionate fans about what drives them, from homegrown passion projects to world-famous institutions. Each episode explores museum curation, exhibit design, and the visitor experience, along with the essential question of what is actually worth buying in the gift shop. Season One focuses on museums in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Walt Disney Family Museum, the de Young Museum, and the Winchester Mystery House.
Episodes
You’re never done learning at the Exploratorium (with Anne Richardson)
At the right time of day, the Exploratorium on San Francisco’s Embarcadero is covered in rainbows. Visitors lift soap bubbles over their heads, drop ball bearings through hoops, and spin a disc of sand that seems to fall forever. For almost 60 years, this hands-on museum has invited people to poke at the world and see what happens.“We’re giving you the real thing. We are not giving you a
Are fonts art? Letters find out! (with Stephen Coles)
Signs, menus, chopstick wrappers: Most of us see graphic design thousands of times a day without giving it a second thought. But behind every everyday object, someone somewhere was making careful, intentional design choices.“There’s a human designing the letters that go on that chopstick sleeve,” says Stephen Coles, associate curator and editorial director at Letterform Archive in San Fra
At the Winchester Mystery House, ghosts are just the beginning (with Walter Magnuson)
Inside the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, it is easy to get lost. The 160-room mansion's notorious maze-like design features doors and stairs that seemingly go nowhere, cabinets that are actually windows, and windows that receive no sunlight.Since becoming a tourist attraction in 1923, the estate's labyrinthine layout has earned it an eerie reputation, drawing visitors eager to lea
Hauntings, astronauts, and warplanes on the USS Hornet (with Laura Fies)
"I consider ghost stories the clickbait of history," says Laura Fies, Executive Director of the USS Hornet Museum. While supernatural tales are a fun thrill for visitors, they also serve as a powerful accessory to historical education. "We will teach them history... We'll inject it somehow and they'll walk away knowing something more," Laura explains. "And if we have to wrap it into a gho
Everyday life & afterlife in ancient Egypt (with Renée Dreyfus)
If you learned about ancient Egypt in school, you likely heard a lot about pharaohs, tombs, and elaborate death rituals. A new exhibition at the de Young Museum juxtaposes this familiar royal history with the lives and afterlives of ordinary citizens. Here, you'll find golden jewelry and shining sarcophagi, but also everyday objects you have likely never seen before: a baby's rattle, a st
How do we actually make museums more diverse? (with Peggy Levitt)
Good museums are centers of art, culture, and education. But the richest and most famous museums are clustered in North America and Europe, and that matters more than you might realize.Sociologist and Wellesley College professor Peggy Levitt describes herself as a decenterer for just that reason. In her books "Artifacts and Allegiances" and "Move Over Mona Lisa," she has explored how art
What's inside that fancy old house? (with Woody LaBounty)
The Haas-Lilienthal House is one of San Francisco’s most beautiful architectural landmarks, a gorgeous Queen Anne Victorian that stands out amid a modern landscape of grocery stores and car dealerships. Built in the 1880s in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, this beautifully preserved home offers a unique glimpse into the city's 19th-century history.While many historic house museums are d
The living history of radio & broadcasting (with Rachel Lee)
When you visit a museum, do you see it as just a collection of artifacts from the past? The California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) is hoping you don't. Although their museum in Alameda, California has a great collection of preserved & restored vintage radios, their work is really about the present, the future, and building a vibrant community of audio enthusiasts.For Executive Dir
How museums make cities stronger (with Tayana Panova)
Museums already do a lot: they educate the public, preserve important works of art and culture, and inspire people to create art of their own. But they have the potential to do even more. By adopting principles of urban design, museums can transform into essential "third places"—vibrant social spaces where communities gather, friendships are formed, and societies grow stronger."The third
Walt Disney's life wasn't always magical (with Kirsten Komoroske)
The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco faces a unique challenge: How do you tell the story of one of history's most important storytellers? When Diane Disney Miller founded the museum, her goal was to let her father tell his own story. To achieve this, she amassed 30,000 artifacts and extensive archival media to create a deeply personal look at the man behind the magic."She really
In this pinball museum, the art is meant to be touched (with Evan Phillippe)
At the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, California, there are very few "don't touch" signs. In fact, this unique collection actually relies on visitors' touch to keep things running smoothly."They actually function better when they're getting played a lot," says Evan Phillippe, the museum's executive director. "They seize up and they freeze when they don't ... The more they get played,
What's the point of going to a museum? (with Susan Crane)
Did you know the Mona Lisa only got world-famous after it was stolen from the Louvre? In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was just another portrait in the Salon Carré, shoved between a bunch of other Renaissance paintings. But when a former museum worker stole it, the public flocked to the museum to stare at "nothing," the blank space on the wall.This phenomenon fascinated Susan Cran
What do museums mean to you?
Call 'Em Like Museum is a weekly podcast exploring how museums really work, and why we love them. Host Eric Johnson talks with museum directors, curators, experts, and passionate fans about what drives them, from homegrown passion projects to world-famous institutions. Each episode digs into museum curation, exhibit design, and the visitor experience — plus the essential question: What's
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