Meanwhile... at the Museum

It's the 250th anniversary of American independence, and that's got us thinking a lot about history. So we called up our friend, colleague, and in Cody's case, former college history professor, Dr. Kimberly Hamlin. Listen in as we talk about Dr. Hamlin's work as a historian and author, discuss big questions like when past events become history, and doing research in the age of AI. Warning: this ep...

After 36 years at Cincinnati Museum Center, archaeologist Bob Genheimer is retiring. In this episode, Bob digs into a career spent uncovering the human stories he's discovered. Along the way, he shares why archaeology is about people and makes a strong argument in the archaeologist vs. paleontologist debate.

LEGO Jurassic World The Exhibition is now open at Cincinnati Museum Center (May 22 2026 - Jan. 4 2027)! To celebrate, we chatted with the leader of the Brickman Team, Ryan McNaught, about how he became The Brickman, his role as a judge on LEGO Masters Australia and what it takes to design and build an exhibit full of large scale and life size dinosaurs made from LEGO Bricks.

Cincinnati Museum Center wouldn't be what it is without the hundreds of volunteers who greet guests, take tickets, guide tours, catalogue the collections, and so much more. But coordinating those volunteers is a job all its own. In this episode, we chat with Cordel George Jr., Manager of Volunteer and Intern Services at Cincinnati Museum Center, about what it takes to run a large and diverse volun...

Go behind the scenes with Sarah Staples, Helen Steiner Rice Archives Manager at Cincinnati Museum Center, as she shares what it takes to preserve the documents that give us a better understanding of the past.  In this episode, Sarah Staples discusses her work managing over 1,300 collections ranging from business records to personal correspondences, playing "history detective" to reveal the deeply...

Wild Rescue is a film that celebrates the wildlife heroes who care for, rehab and release animals in need, focused on Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. We talked to SBWCN's Executive Director, Ariana Katovich, about what it takes to run a rescue that cares for thousands of animals every year, and get a behind the scenes view of Wild Rescue. 

Cincinnati Museum Center is a place that people form a lifelong connection with. Case in point - today's guest, Kelsey Enderle. From visiting as a kid, to working in Camps and overnight programs in college, to her current role as Associate Vice President of Guest Engagement, Kelsey keeps coming back to CMC. We talk to Kelsey about her long history with CMC, her time in the Disney College Program a...

You may not know it, but you’ve probably already seen some of the work of our guest this week, Ian Shive. From documentaries aired during Shark Week to contributions to major Hollywood films of the early 2000s, Ian has had a long career in film and media. All of that has led up to his latest directorial release: Wild Rescue, a film for giant screens (like the domed screen in our OMNIMAX Theater!)...

Cincinnati Museum Center is gearing up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. As part of our Past Forward at CMC series, we'll post a handful of podcast shorts diving into topics across American history through the lens of our collections.     One of the founding principles of America is freedom of religion. How has that applied to Jews throughout American history? And zoomin...

Cincinnati Museum Center is gearing up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. As part of our Past Forward at CMC series, we'll post a handful of podcast shorts diving into topics across American history through the lens of our collections.    History doesn't happen in a vaccuum - it happens in our world. What people do both impacts, and is impacted by, the natural environment...

Cincinnati Museum Center is gearing up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. As part of our Past Forward at CMC series, we'll post a handful of podcast shorts diving into topics across American history through the lens of our collections.    In this episode of Past Forward, we're talking about preserving the history of one of America's oldest traditions - protest. Through pr...

Do you know anyone who is a juggler, actor, fire-breather, stilt-walker, viking warrior, TV mascot, and guest experience professional? We're going to guess you said no and introduce you to Bill Stringer, Assistant Manager of Museum Engagement at Cincinnati Museum Center.

If you're our host Cody, a room brimming with jars of dead animals preserved in fluid sounds like a nightmare. If you're Makayla Dean, our Manager of Zoology Collections and DNA Lab, it's part of an average day at work. From preparing study skins to feeding flesh eating beetles, managing zoology collections is a messy job. We'll talk to Makayla about what inspired them to work in a natural history...

In 1974, Franciscan Nun and 8th grade teacher Sister Nancy Linenkugel sent a letter to Doubleday, the American publisher of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, which Sister Nancy was teaching in her class. She was hoping to get more information on Otto Frank, Anne's father, who had edited Anne's diary for publication. What she got was a response from Otto Frank himself, beginning a correspond...

Cincinnati Museum Center is gearing up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. As part of our Past Forward at CMC series, we'll post a handful of podcast shorts diving into topics across American history through the lens of our collections.    Today, we're talking about Cincinnati Museum Center's collection of over 6 million objects with Registrar Maat Manninen and Bob Genheim...

After spending some time in the museums at CMC, there's nothing like grabbing some grub from one of the cafes, or browsing the gift shop for a souvenir or gift! Our partners at SSA Group manage our food at retail in Union Terminal. And our guest today, Megan Dillon, manages the SSA team at CMC. Megan has a long history in hospitality, but she's also a singer-songwriter with experience playing arou...

Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. is an incredible opportunity for people in Cincinnati and the surrounding regions to experience hundreds of authentic artifacts from Auscwhitz. In this episode, we're talking to Paweł Sawicki, Deputy Spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum about the the mission of the museum, the importance of remembering this history and the power of experiencing au...

If you're a radio listener in Cincinnati, you know his voice. Now get to know the man behind the mic. In this episode, we've got Jon Jon in the studio to get the inside scoop on how he made it to the airwaves, his thoughts on a rapidly changing media landscape, and how to stay relevant in a world of influencers and AI. 

Cincinnati Museum Center is gearing up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. As part of our Past Forward at CMC series, we'll post a handful of podcast shorts diving into topics across American history through the lens of our collections.  Today, we're talking about two American icons - turkey and corn - with Bob Genheimer, our George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology, and Ty...

Today, Auschwitz is remembered as the primary example of the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters of human history. In our latest featured exhibition, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away., visitors can experience this story through a selection of over 500 artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland and from 20 institutions around the world. Today we're talking to Luis Ferreiro...

Today we welcome our friend Michael Anderson to the show! Michael is the Director of PR & Photography for the Cincinnati Reds, which means it's his job to get the word out about the team and organization, both on and off the field. We'll talk to Michael about his experiences during his 17 years with the Reds, ballpark food and some of the various ways Museum Center and Union Terminal have inte...

When you have a paleontology collection as large as ours, it's a full time job just to keep it organized. And the person in charge of keeping it organized is Cameron Schwalbach. As our Paleontology Collections Manager, Cameron keeps track of our massive collection, works in our Paleo Lab to prepare fossils, goes on field expeditions, and more! We'll chat with Cameron about how he went from running...

If you're a CMC Member, and you've attended any of our special Member exhibit previews, Member OMNIMAX screenings or special member hours, you should know that there's someone in particular that helped make them happen: Lauren Brewer, our Manager of Memberships! Not only does Lauren lead our efforts to increase our Member base, but she also acts as an advocate for our Members, doing everything she...

Over the past two years, we've put out 50 episodes of Meanwhile... at the Museum. That's 50 incredible conversations with curators, exhibit designers, educators, scientists, movie directors, meteorologists, registrars, astronomers and so many more. In this episode, Cody and Mitch are looking back at the second year of the show and talking about some of their favorite moments. So sit back and join...

Cincinnati Museum Center is a rare museum in that we have our own in-house Exhibits team that can do it all, from design to fabrication and installation. This team also manages the featured exhibitions that we bring to Cincinnati, like Barbie: A Cultural Icon (open through Sept. 1, 2025), Pompeii: The Exhibition or the upcoming Auschwitz: Not long ago, not far away (coming October 2025). One of th...