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Making the Museum

Making the Museum

Jonathan Alger 63 Episodes Aug 11, 2026

A podcast on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams, and visitor experience professionals.

Episodes

Improving the Visitor Experience with Data, with Ryan Auster
Improving the Visitor Experience with Data, with Ryan Auster Aug 11, 2026 3566 If we’re not studying our visitors, how can we fulfill our mission? What is a net promoter score? And what should a museum’s net promoter score be? How do you ask a survey question if you want a meaningful answer? What is capacity building? What is COVES, and how can people get involved with it?Ryan Auster (Manager of Learning Metrics, Museum of Science, Boston) discusses “Improving Visit
What Museums Can Learn from Casinos, Theme Parks, Sports, and More, with Renée Hampton
What Museums Can Learn from Casinos, Theme Parks, Sports, and More, with Renée Hampton Jul 28, 2026 4080 What could museums learn right now — from their competitors?What’s happening out there that museums should know about? How can museums compete with a sports venue that has 18,000 seats, each with its own interactive controller? What do IP, KPI, and F&B mean? What if museums went out and learned from theme parks, advertising, corporate centers … and even casinos? Renée Hampton (Strateg
Make Space for Change (The New Book), with Femke Bijlsma
Make Space for Change (The New Book), with Femke Bijlsma Jun 23, 2026 3674 How can exhibitions create positive change in the world?Why is play the key? How can we build trust with a community that doesn’t know us? Why should exhibition makers preserve their “beginner’s mind”? What can exhibitions do climate change, polarization and global conflict? How do we measure our impact?Femke Bijlsma (Partner, Kossmanndejong) discusses “Make Space for Change (The New Book
Liminal Space Research, with Dan Clevenger, Monika Smith, and Helen Ho
Liminal Space Research, with Dan Clevenger, Monika Smith, and Helen Ho Jun 9, 2026 3183 Museum lobbies have a huge influence on visitor experience. But what makes a good lobby?What is a “liminal space” in a museum? How does research actually work? What does “peer-reviewed research” actually mean? What do researchers hope their outcomes will be? Which department of a museum is even responsible for the lobby, and all the other “spaces in between”?Dan Clevenger (Principal), Mon
“Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual” (the New Book), with Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian & Chris Wood
“Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual” (the New Book), with Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian & Chris Wood May 19, 2026 3852 How do you build a museum?How do you build the right project team? How do you engage with community? What does it mean to plan a museum? What does it mean to design a museum? How do you align your budget with your purpose? How do you build the story of your museum project?Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian, and Chris Wood from SmithGroup discuss “Building a Museum: This is N
“Serious Fun” at First Americans Museum, with Shoshana Wasserman, Kimberly Rodriguez, and Bill Smith
“Serious Fun” at First Americans Museum, with Shoshana Wasserman, Kimberly Rodriguez, and Bill Smith Feb 3, 2026 4701 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 and non-Native audiences? What do education staff do when a gallery has no text panels? What are “Native sensibilities”? Why is Blue Deer blue?Shoshana Wasserman (Deputy Director) and Kimberly Rodriguez (New Media Specialist) from First America
What Is Sustainable Exhibition Design? with Douglas Flandro
What Is Sustainable Exhibition Design? with Douglas Flandro Dec 2, 2025 4189 How can we make our exhibitions more sustainable — in every way?Where do we start? What can museum teams learn from sustainability advancements in architecture? What’s a “red list?” What is the difference between embodied and operational carbon? What does it mean to do “design for deconstruction?” And when can we all buy the upcoming “Sustainable Museum Exhibition Handbook?”Douglas Flandr
Inclusive Design Will Change the World, with Sina Bahram & Corey Timpson
Inclusive Design Will Change the World, with Sina Bahram & Corey Timpson Nov 5, 2025 3938 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 design, or the ADA? Which disciplines and departments have to get involved to make a museum truly inclusive? What happened when the military tried to design for the “average” jet pilot? If we design for better accessibility, are we designing for ou
A Collaborative Approach to Exhibition Making (The New Book), with Emily Saich & Joey Noelle Scott
A Collaborative Approach to Exhibition Making (The New Book), with Emily Saich & Joey Noelle Scott Oct 8, 2025 3749 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 neutral? Should you tell your teammates their responsibilities, or have them tell you? What’s a RACI chart? If collaboration is so important, why hasn’t there been a book about it — until now?Emily Saich (Vice President of Exhibitions) and Joey
Making the Medal of Honor Museum, with Bassam Komati
Making the Medal of Honor Museum, with Bassam Komati Sep 9, 2025 3111 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 does a bold design idea have in making a project happen? Does the mission of a museum inspire the people who make it? Can everyone have a mission?Bassam Komati, AIA OEAB (Partner, Viñoly Architects) discusses “Making the Medal of Honor Museum” w
Mission: Collaboration, with Barbara Miller and Danae Colomer
Mission: Collaboration, with Barbara Miller and Danae Colomer Jun 18, 2025 3444 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 disagree? Does having constraints make design ... better? How is an exhibition like a film? And what happens when your project feels — in this case, even literally — like “Mission: Impossible”?Barbara Miller (Deputy Director for Curatorial A
The Art of Choosing a Museum Architect, with Susanna Sirefman
The Art of Choosing a Museum Architect, with Susanna Sirefman May 21, 2025 3407 How do you choose the right architect for your museum?Is architecture about more than a building? Is architect selection about more than architecture? What is a design “brief”? Why are museum projects on “elephant time”? Are anonymous open design competitions a good thing? What comes after “good design is good business”?Susanna Sirefman (President, Dovetail Design Strategists) discusses “

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