Meanwhile... at the Museum

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 Tyler Swinney, our NAGPRA Manager and...

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, Director of Musealia, the company...

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 intersected with the Reds over the past...

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 through the woods and creeks of so...

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 can to maximize the value of a CMC...

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 us as we reminisce, go back through...

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 the key people in the process of brin...

Have you noticed how everything these days, from refrigerators to televisions, is connected over the internet? Our VP of Technology Jason Perkins sure has - because he's the one who has to keep it all running! From interactives in the exhibits to employee computers to our website and ticketing systems, the Museum is full of tech that needs to be maintained. We'll talk to Jason about how he ended up in tech-based career and what it ...

In his over 25 year career as an astronomer, Dean Regas has been the lead astronomer at Cincinnati Observatory, the host of the podcast Looking Up, co-host of the PBS show Star Gazers, a contributing writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer and so much more. Now flying solo, Dean is a rogue astronomer out to show you the wonders of the universe. We'll chat with Dean about his career, what's new in astronomy and let him try to convince yo...

When we brought this week's guest in to record at 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, her day was almost half over already. As a morning TV meteorologist with Channel 5 WLWT in Cincinnati, Randi Rico is gets up at 2 a.m. to get into the studio and bring you the info you need to plan your day, your week or even for safety in a weather emergency.  We'll talk to Randi about her career path in meteorology, her love of sports, taking part in the Wo...

He's been a podcast host for one of the wildest grocery stores anywhere, a tiger-striped Pepsi ad star, and a giant cicada. And now Mark Borison, host of The Jungle Jim's Podcast, can add "guest on Meanwhile... at the Museum" to his extensive resume! We'll chat with Mark about how he ended up hosting a podcast for Jungle Jim's International Market, his career as an actor in commercials and films, and how food connects people around...

Did you know that Cincinnati Museum Center co-owns and manages (with The Nature Conservancy) a nature preserve in Adams County Ohio? The Richard and Lucile Durrell Edge of Appalachia Preserve System is a hotspot of biodiversity located on the edges of the Appalachian mountain chain. For over 30 years, Chris Bedel has been CMC's man on the outside, managing the care, protection and research of one of Ohio's wildest spaces. We'll tal...

The Cr(eat)e Culinary Studio Featuring the Kroger Food Lab is a space that brings together some of our favorite things about Museum Center - science, history, culture, community - through food. People of all ages and abilities can learn how to cook some awesome dishes, as well as the science of how and why they work and the history and culture behind them. Leading many of these programs is Chef Megan Aylward. In this episode, we'll...

In Barbie: A Cultural Icon, you can explore over 65 years of toys, fashion, and culture through the lens of the best selling doll of all time, Barbie. Today, we're talking to the man who made it happen, Exhibition Producer Tim Clothier. Tim is the founder of Illusion Projects Inc., an exhibition and theatrical fabrication company operating out of Las Vegas. We'll dig into what the exhibition is all about, how it came together and w...

As a nonprofit institution, our mission and our goals would not be possible without our generous donors. But finding those donors, helping them to see how their money can make an impact and managing those relationships takes the work of a whole team of people. That's why we have a Philanthropy team here at CMC. The leader of that team is our VP of Philanthropy, Scott Schuster. In this episode, we talk to Scott about the work of phi...

The Blue Angels are the U.S. Navy's incredible flight demonstration team, and right now their Super Hornet jets are roaring across our OMNIMAX screen at Cincinnati Museum Center. The skills of the pilots are incredible, but it takes a whole team to put on the shows, to do them safely and to keep the pilots in top physical form. As the flight surgeon, Lt. Commander Dr. Monica Borza was the ground safety coordinator and doctor for th...

Julia Child is an icon of American cooking. With her cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and her TV show "The French Chef," Julia made French cooking accessible to millions. In our featured exhibition "Julia Child: A Recipe For Life" (February - May 2025) you can explore the life of Julia Child, from her time in the OSS during World War II to her star turn on TV and beyond. Today, we're talking to Todd Schulkin, the Exec...