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Artwork for Museums: The Big Issues
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Museums: The Big Issues

Carol A. Scott

A new podcast exploring the biggest questions facing museums today—and the ideas shaping their future.


Each week, I speak with one of the world's leading museum thinkers, directors and innovators. Together, we tackle one big issue.


Not with easy answers.

But with honest conversations. Fresh thinking. And practical ideas.

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  • 4 episodes
  • Avg 22 min
  • English

Episodes 4

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  • S1 · E3
    Tuesday · 31 min

    Bold, activist, non-neutral: leading the national LGBTQ+ museum

    What happens when a national museum rejects neutrality, embraces activism, and reimagines leadership by flattening hierarchies and sharing authority? In this conversation with Ben Garcia, we explore how the LGBTQ+ Museum in New York is challenging traditional museum practice while reshaping the national narrative, advancing social change, and redefining what it means to serve the public. Show Notes: The American LGBTQ+ Museum https://americanlgbtqmuseum.org/ Podcast https://wethemuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/American-LGBTQ-Museum-Transcript-1.pdf I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E2
    September 16 · 30 min

    The Future of Museum Leadership

    The future won't simply demand better museum leaders—it will demand a fundamentally different kind of leadership. Join me in conversation with Sofia Widmann as she examines the future megatrends which will reshape museums and asks how leaders can embrace innovation, share authority, and uphold public trust in an increasingly complex and contested world. Show notes: Museum Booster website https://www.museumbooster.com/ Museum Leadership House 2025 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63c419e0a9a756714449b72b/t/691e15e52e8947203871f938/1763579365887/MLH_Dubai_2025_Report+Final+%281%29.pdf The Future Transformation of Museums White Paper Phase III https://static1.squarespace.com/static/68ebbe305d102f494a465da4/t/6a43dc6731e0ad3138ee102e/1782832231666/Future+Museum+%E2%80%94+Phase+III+White+Paper.pdf I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E1
    September 9 · 25 min

    Museum leadership in an age of disruption

    What does it mean to lead a museum when uncertainty is no longer a crisis to navigate but the condition in which we work? In this conversation with Lonnie Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C , we explore how museum leadership is evolving—from authority to partnership, from certainty to courage, and from institutional control to shared stewardship—asking what today's leaders must do to earn public trust and shape the legacy future generations will inherit. Show notes: Bunch, Lonnie G., III. 2021. "Foreword." In Stemming the Tide: Global Strategies for Sustaining Cultural Heritage through Climate Change. Rushfield, Rebecca A., editor. v–vi. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. In A Smithsonian Contribution to Knowledge, 54. (https://doi.org/10.5479/si.14750727.v1) 2021 Bunch, Lonnie G. III. 2019. Bunch, L. (n.d.). A Fool’s Errand: creating the National Museum of African History and Culture in the era of Bush, Obama and Trump. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C. Bunch, Lonnie G., III. 2017. "The National Museum of African American History and Culture: The Vision." Journal of Museum Education, 42, (1) 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2016.1265850. 2017 Bunch, Lonnie. 2007. "Embracing Ambiguity: The Challenge of Interpreting African American History in Museums." Museums & Social Issues, 2, (1) 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1179/msi.2007.2.1.45. 2007 I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

    • Transcript
  • August 29 · 2 min

    1. TRAILER- Museums: The Big Issues

    Why am I making a podcast about the future of museums? I've worked in museums around the world for more than 35 years. I've seen museums change, adapt and reinvent themselves. And I've also seen the extraordinary challenges they face. That's why I'm bringing together some of the most interesting thinkers and practitioners in the field to ask: Where do museums go from here? I'm Carol Scott, and this is MUSEUMS: THE BIG ISSUES 13 weeks. 13 conversations. One big question. What future will we make? I'm Carol Scott (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-ann-scott-33a6061a/) and thank you for listening to this episode of Museums, The Big Issues. Join me next Wednesday as we continue to explore the big issues and the big ideas with the people helping to shape the future of museums.

    • Transcript
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