Making the Museum

Innovation Secrets of the Museum of Science, with Mike Horvath

[ASTC 2026 Special] Science changes fast. How can science museums keep up? What’s a “technology toolkit”? Can one interactive turn into another? Can you do that same tri

The 9/11 Museum, 25 Years After 9/11, with Mark Wagner

A very special episode of Making the Museum, for the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. The unique, unforgettable story of the architect who found himself on the 9/11 debris pil

Improving the Visitor Experience with Data, with Ryan Auster

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 sur

What Museums Can Learn from Casinos, Theme Parks, Sports, and More, with Renée Hampton

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

Make Space for Change (The New Book), with Femke Bijlsma

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

Liminal Space Research, with Dan Clevenger, Monika Smith, and Helen Ho

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 doe

“Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual” (the New Book), with Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian & Chris Wood

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 m

“Serious Fun” at First Americans Museum, with Shoshana Wasserman, Kimberly Rodriguez, and Bill Smith

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 audien

What Is Sustainable Exhibition Design? with Douglas Flandro

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

Inclusive Design Will Change the World, with Sina Bahram & Corey Timpson

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

A Collaborative Approach to Exhibition Making (The New Book), with Emily Saich & Joey Noelle Scott

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 te

Making the Medal of Honor Museum, with Bassam Komati

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 ide

Mission: Collaboration, with Barbara Miller and Danae Colomer

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 hav

The Art of Choosing a Museum Architect, with Susanna Sirefman

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

Think Like a Children's Museum, with Edwin Link

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 the same time? How are

A Museum Transformed with AI, with Kimberly Beaudin & Geoff Thatcher

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 experiences without a comp

Creating Effective Museum Experiences, with Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

What if the secret to better museums was … neuroscience?   How can museums inspire human creativity? How much media should be in a gallery — or should there be any? How

Museum as Lab, with Ann Neumann

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 answers? What if we

Community Engagement Misconceptions, with Nu Goteh

What if we're doing community engagement … wrong?   How long should the process really take for a museum or exhibition? What’s the difference between demographics and p

Playful Engagement, with Ed Rodley

What if we combined immersion, emotion, storytelling — and games?   We all want “engagement” … but what is engagement? How can our projects create it? What are the elemen