Season 3 closes out with an interview with Nick Capasso, executive director of the Fitchburg Art Museum, who describes how the museum is helping transform a “dying mill town” through contemporary art and community collaboration.

Music credits: “Polydactyl Super Cat,” unreal_dm, ccmixter.org

Marieke and Dan recall their earliest memories. Marieke hosts her first long-distance interview with fellow podcaster Nate Dimeo of The Memory Palace, who also serves as the artist-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Music credits: “4 Guitars,” JeffSpeed68, ccmixter.org

Podcast credits: The Memory Palace, thememorypalace.us

Dan and Marieke wax rhapsodic about the unusual niche museums in our midst. George Norton and David Ball of the Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History host Dan for a tour and interview. D and M close out the episode reflecting on small museum challenges.

Music credits: “Be What You Are,” unreal_dm, ccmixter.org

Dan complains about the snow and wonders where all the kids have gone who used to shovel your driveway. Marieke revives the Pokémon Go discussion. Dan interviews Brian Cofrancesco of Connecticut’s Old State House, who talks about the Kid Governor Program and the importance of civic engagement.

Music credits: “Bueno Jazz,” texasradiofish, ccmixter.org

Marieke and Dan talk about their wilderness experiences. Dan interviews archivist/artist Becky Fullerton of the Appalachian Mountain Club and explores the similarities between museums and the great outdoors. Marieke closes out the episode with an impassioned appeal to museum activism.

Music credits: “Wayo Wayo,” Reiswerk, ccmixter.org

Marieke and Dan compare notes about the Inauguration and subsequent protests. Marieke interviews archivist Emily Gonzalez about collecting items from the Boston Women’s March. Dan has a chat with Steven Rothstein of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library about JFK’s legacy and its meaning for today.

Music credits: “Reverie (small theme),” ghost; “Hanging Eleven,” Kara Square, ccmixter.org

Dan tries to convince Marieke to attend national Museums Advocacy Day before segueing into Part II of the AASLH “person on the street” interviews. Marieke interviews Laurie Phillips of Museum Sage and relates her experience with the program when she was guided by museum consultant Rainey Tisdale.

Music credits: “By By Baby, JeffSpeed68 , ccmixter.org

Season 3 starts with Dan on location at the 2016 AASLH Annual Meeting in Detroit, getting choice comments from history professionals. Marieke and Dan reminisce about their childhood dolls before an interview with Debra Britt, founder and director of the National Black Doll Museum.

Music credits: “Funky Bots,” Admiral Bob; “Fallwind,” 700P3D, ccmixter.org

Bonus Episode: Museum People LIVE!

Join the fun with Marieke and Dan at the 98th Annual NEMA Conference, where Museum People took center stage in a live podcast session on Veteran’s Day, 2016. This special episode features an in-depth panel discussion with three museum professionals who are also veterans (Terry Dickinson of the Newport Mansions, Ted Gaffney of Florence Griswold Museum, and Van Shields of Berkshire Museum), discussing service, leadership, and how museums compare with the military. Adding to the excitement is a raffle drawing for a Museum People interview, won by Chuck Clark of Castle in the Clouds, and questions from the live studio audience. And of course there’s the usual assortment of person on the street interviews and witty banter between the co-hosts.

01:45     Person on the Street interviews
10:30     Panel discussion with military veterans
45:25     “Raffle” interview

We round out our second season with an in-depth interview with Kathy McGaughey, a museum guard who gives us a glimpse of how guards pass the hours in galleries, discrimination and bias against front-line staff, and her suggestions for how museums can become more engaging in their communities.

Music credits: “Objective C#,” Admiral Bob, ccmixter.org

Celebrate with us as we honor the Tomaquag Museum, a NEMA member which was awarded a 2016 IMLS National Medal. Dan sits down with executive director Loren Spears as she shares her joys and challenges in running a Native American museum, how indigenous populations feel alienated in their own homeland, and her hopes for the future. Marieke chats with Diana Montano of renegade tour company Museum Hack and hears how they are changing the visitor experience.