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Call 'Em Like Museum with Eric Johnson

Call 'Em Like Museum with Eric Johnson

Yazan: LightningPod
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Özet
 Call 'Em Like Museum is a weekly podcast exploring how museums really work, and why we love them. Host Eric Johnson talks with museum directors, curators, experts, and passionate fans about what drives them, from homegrown passion projects to world-famous institutions. Each episode digs into museum curation, exhibit design, and the visitor experience — plus the essential question: What's actually worth buying in the gift shop? Season One spotlights museums in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Walt Disney Family Museum, the de Young Museum, and the Winchester Mystery House.©️ 2026 Bumblebee Media LLC Art World
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  • Are fonts art? Letters find out! (with Stephen Coles)

    Are fonts art? Letters find out! (with Stephen Coles)
    3 Nov 2026
    Signs, menus, chopstick wrappers: Most of us see graphic design thousands of times a day without giving it a second thought. But behind every everyday object, someone somewhere was making careful, intentional design choices.“There’s a human designing the letters that go on that chopstick sleeve,” says Stephen Coles, associate curator and editorial director at Letterform Archive in San Francisco. Even so, he notes, graphic design “has not really been a collecting area of major art museums until fairly recently.”Letterform Archive began as founder Rob Saunders’s personal collection of calligraphy, rare books, and design. It opened in 2015 in his home, where he swapped out the living room furniture for big tables so friends could gather around the objects. Five years ago, the collection moved to the American Industrial Center in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood, and today it holds about 100,000 objects. Unlike most special collections libraries, Letterform invites visitors to handle the material (with clean hands, no gloves) and to ask for anything when they come in for a research visit. Even, say, “stuff that’s yellow.”Today on Call ’Em Like Museum, Stephen talks about why the art world has long looked down on typefaces; why AI generates those notoriously ugly restaurant menus; how cheap sheets of rub-down lettering helped the Black Panther Party get its message out; and the Archive’s efforts to go beyond Eurocentric design history, including new fonts for the Filipino script Baybayin. Plus: Why a typeface is a lot like a chair.Full transcript of this episodeVisit Letterform ArchiveBook a research visitSubscribe to the newsletterThis episode was hosted, produced, and edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPodChapters(00:00) - Introduction(02:37) - Stephen’s First Museum Memories(04:59) - The Origins of Letterform Archive(06:52) - Why Museums Overlook Graphic Design(11:55) - Classes, Workshops, and Research Visits(19:16) - Why You Shouldn’t Wear Gloves(23:20) - AI and Ugly Restaurant Menus(29:23) - Show and Tell: Soda Labels and Rub-Down Lettering(33:56) - Books, the Online Archive, and Global Scripts(39:00) - Oohs, Ahs, and Susan Kare(40:41) - Do We Really Need More Fonts?(42:57) - Berlin’s Museum of ThingsMusic: www.purple-planet.comImages:Letterform Archive's Online ArchiveThe ChatGPT Flyer PandemicEpcotFake JapanBehind the SeedsRob SaundersThe Newberry LibraryAI Taking Over Food MenusMuseum der DingeDishesLumio Book LampVideos:BaybayinSusan Kare at Letterform Archive
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    47 dk.
  • At the Winchester Mystery House, ghosts are just the beginning (with Walter Magnuson)

    At the Winchester Mystery House, ghosts are just the beginning (with Walter Magnuson)
    27 Oct 2026

    Inside the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, it is easy to get lost. The 160-room mansion's notorious maze-like design features doors and stairs that seemingly go nowhere, cabinets that are actually windows, and windows that receive no sunlight.

    Since becoming a tourist attraction in 1923, the estate's labyrinthine layout has earned it an eerie reputation, drawing visitors eager to learn about the ghosts that may have haunted its owner, Sarah Winchester. But even if you are not interested in ghost stories, you will still get a lot out of your visit.

    Executive Director Walter Magnuson notes that many first-time guests arrive expecting a dilapidated roadside attraction, but are instead met with architectural beauty and exquisite craftsmanship. However, he makes no apologies for also telling visitors about the legends and lore.

    "Who am I to say my interests are more highbrow and acceptable than someone who is truly fascinated by the paranormal?" he asks.

    Today on Call 'Em Like Museum, Walter talks about the line between legend and history, why he feels unfairly slighted by others in the museum world, and everything the house does differently around Halloween. Plus: Why the scariest part of your tour may actually be the sound of an earthquake.

    Full transcript of this episode

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    This episode was hosted, produced, and edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod

    Chapters

    • (00:00) - Introduction: The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose
    • (02:25) - Walter Magnuson's First Museums
    • (07:12) - Separating Fact from Legend at a Haunted Historic House
    • (12:07) - Who Was Sarah Winchester? Her Story, Reframed
    • (14:29) - Sarah Winchester's Philanthropy, Workers, and Artifacts
    • (20:47) - How the Winchester Mystery House Tour Is Structured
    • (22:10) - Recreating the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
    • (25:03) - Halloween at the Winchester Mystery House
    • (28:16) - In Defense of Paranormal and Ghost-Hunting Fans
    • (33:47) - Why Getting Lost in the House Is Part of Staff Training
    • (35:08) - Visitor Reactions and Why House Museums Are Like David Bowie's Music
    • (38:29) - Walter's Favorite Small Details in the Mansion
    • (42:14) - Museum Inspiration and Future Goals

    Music: www.purple-planet.com


    Images:
    The Met
    American Museum of Natural History
    Unsolved Mysteries Host Robert Stack
    William Wirt Winchester Hospital/Winchester Center for Lung Disease

    Bodie, CA
    Alcatraz
    Graceland Living Room
    Graceland Pool Table
    Meow Wolf
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    49 dk.
  • Hauntings, astronauts, and warplanes on the USS Hornet (with Laura Fies)

    Hauntings, astronauts, and warplanes on the USS Hornet (with Laura Fies)
    20 Oct 2026

    "I consider ghost stories the clickbait of history," says Laura Fies, Executive Director of the USS Hornet Museum. While supernatural tales are a fun thrill for visitors, they also serve as a powerful accessory to historical education.

    "We will teach them history... We'll inject it somehow and they'll walk away knowing something more," Laura explains. "And if we have to wrap it into a ghost story, so be it."

    As a premier destination for history buffs, tourists, and paranormal investigators alike, the USS Hornet offers something for everybody: Spooky supernatural tours, massive military aircraft, carefully preserved World War II uniforms, and fascinating wartime artifacts—including the crew's original recipe for baking 7,000 donuts at sea.

    Today on Call 'Em Like Museum, Laura discusses the unique challenges of running a “midsize museum in a big museum body.” She explains how the Hornet’s exhibits successfully put visitors into the mindset of ordinary enlisted men during World War II, and highlights the crucial role the legendary ship played in recovering astronauts during the Apollo 11 and 12 space missions.

    Full transcript of this episode

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    This episode was hosted, produced, and edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod

    Chapters

    • (00:00) - Introduction
    • (04:49) - Boarding the USS Hornet Museum
    • (08:55) - The Apollo 11 mobile quarantine facility
    • (11:00) - Daily life for a WWII sailor
    • (15:10) - Why the USS Hornet is considered haunted
    • (24:16) - Maintaining an 894-foot aircraft carrier
    • (34:39) - Operating the museum without federal funding
    • (41:11) - Baking 7,000 donuts during battle stations
    • (44:38) - Stealing ideas from other museums

    Music: www.purple-planet.com


    Images:
    Museum of Ice Cream
    Exploratorium
    Charles Schulz Museum
    NASA Snoopy Poster
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    49 dk.
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