Call 'Em Like Museum with Eric Johnson

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

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 som

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 now

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,

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 juxtapose

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

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 gro

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 the

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

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 Mill

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 t

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 Carr

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 pa