Museums: The Big Issues
Carol A. Scott 6 episodes Nov 10, 2026
A podcast exploring the biggest questions facing museums today and the ideas shaping their future. Each episode features a conversation with a leading museum thinker, director, or innovator. Together they tackle one major issue, not with easy answers but with honest discussion, fresh thinking, and practical ideas.
Episodes
Museums: lifeboats for a troubled world
What if museums measured their success not by visitor numbers, but by the resilience of the communities they help build? In this episode, I ask Bob Janes to explore why today's crises demand museums move beyond passive hope to courageous action, redefining their role as trusted civic institutions which confront climate change, social fragmentation, and uncertainty with purpose, honesty, and i
From cultural diplomacy to disagreement and democracy: a new role for museums
Can museums strengthen international relationships not by avoiding disagreement, but by making space for it? In this episode of Museums: The Big Issues, I talk to Sascha Priewe as he explores the emerging concept of agonistic cultural diplomacy—a bold reimagining of the museum's role as a trusted forum where contested histories, diverse perspectives, and democratic dialogue become the foundat
Object-based learning, online teaching and intercultural understanding
Can museum objects spark meaningful conversations between people on opposite sides of the world? In this episode, Heather Gaunt explains how the Intercultural Heritage Global Classroom is using digital technologies, object-based learning, and collaborative online teaching to foster intercultural dialogue, challenge perspectives, and reimagine the future of museum education. Show notesA new initiat
Museums, digitalisation and AI
Digital transformation is reshaping every aspect of museum practice—but are museums ready for what comes next? In this episode, I talk to Seb Chan and ask how digitalisation is laying the foundation for artificial intelligence, the opportunities and risks these technologies present, and how museums can innovate while protecting their collections, values, and public trust.Show noteshttps://www.acmi
Brand, image, value: museums’ intangible economic assets
A museum's greatest financial asset may be what it stands for. In this episode, I ask Cecile Anger to explain why brand licensing is emerging as a powerful strategy for generating income, expanding audiences, and extending impact, while asking how museums can protect their values, integrity, and public trust in an increasingly commercial world.Show notes:In Englishhttps://boutique.gestiondesa
Building resilience: new business models for museums
As public funding declines, museums are rethinking how they generate income—and how far they should go in doing so. In this episode, I ask Marek Prokupek to explore the opportunities and risks of diversified funding, from philanthropy and crowdfunding to NFTs and commercial partnerships, asking how museums can innovate financially while protecting their mission, reputation, and public trust.Show n
Museums at risk: the decline in public funding
Why are museums being asked to deliver more public value with fewer public resources? In this episode, I talk to Michele Rivet as she discusses the long-term decline in museum funding, what it means for the future of the sector, and why a bold new approach to advocacy is essential if museums are to secure the investment their social, cultural, and economic contributions deserve.Show notes:Decrease
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 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 websitehttps:/
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
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&apo
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