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, …

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 behi…

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 L…

Cam Hardin is many things, including an Applebee's superfan, deviled eggs connoisseur and Mountain Dew sommelier. But he's also a meteorologist, or a scientist who studies weather. You may recognize him as a TV weatherman at WCPO in Cincinnati. We'll dig into what it's like to be a meteorologist, Cam's varied culinary curiosities and his experience…

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 …

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 surgeo…

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 latest featured exhibition, "Julia Child: A Recipe For Life" you can explore the life of Julia Child, from her time in the OSS during World War II to her star…

Dave Duszynski has been part of our organization since before it was Cincinnati Museum Center. While he originally worked at the planetarium in the Museum of Natural History & Science's old Gilbert Avenue location, has been in charge of our OMNIMAX theater since it opened in 1990. He's also been a key player in bringing in our Featured Exhibitions …

Our latest OMNIMAX film features one of the biggest stars to ever grace our domed screen - Tyrannosaurus Rex! We sat down with Andy Wood, the writer, producer, and co-director of T. REX to talk about the process of making a movie this big, what it takes to get dinosaurs into the movie, and what it was like to be there with cameras rolling as the di…

Dan Hurley has been a public historian in Cincinnati for a long time. You may have seen him on TV, heard him on the radio or read his essays in local newspapers. He also worked in our History Library and Archives for years. Now, in his new book Four Cincinnatis and Other Essays, Dan has collected 88 of his essays written over the last 25 years that…

Every year from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, you can visit with Santa Claus here at Cincinnati Museum Center. So for Christmas this year, we asked Santa himself to come be on the podcast. We'll get the inside scoop on Santa's cookie and milk preferences, how to end up on the naughty or nice list, and why he comes back to CMC year…

Is Brian Pollock a physicist, a scientist or a chef? Depends who's asking. Brian is an informal educator extraordinaire. A lover of science and education who has come to be a lover of history and museums, Brian is part of the team that develops programs at CMC, particularly science programs. If you've visited our CreEATe Culinary Studio Featuring t…

Arynn McCandless is our Director of Program Development. So when you come into the museum and see a demonstration on the water cycle, dance in the Children's Museum, or watch a show on our Science Stage, you're seeing some of Arynn's work in action. In this episode, we'll talk to Arynn about her career here at CMC, her time as an art teacher, her c…

Our Cincinnati History Library and Archives started collecting documents in 1831. So you can probably imagine that after almost 200 years, we have quite a few papers in our collection. So how do you manage and care for all those historical records? Enter Christine Engels, our Manager of Archives. In this episode, we'll ask our burning questions abo…

Almost 30 years ago, Dr. Glenn Storrs arrived in Cincinnati as Museum Center's new Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. At the time, the vertebrate paleontology collection was mostly focused on ice age animals. Which are great! But Glenn had a vision for a dinosaur collection and exhibit. Over the years, through active digs and partnerships with oth…

After bouncing from coast to coast and even a few stints in Hong Kong, Amy Vlastelica has landed at Cincinnati Museum Center as our Director of Exhibition Design. So what does an exhibition designer do? We'll dig into that, Amy's career in museums and design firms, and her efforts to create the first children's museum in Hong Kong!…

If you've seen an OMNIMAX film at CMC in the past 26 years, James Burns has likely been part of that experience, whether he was greeting you as you came in, operating the film projector, introducing the movie or all of the above. In this episode, we'll dig into James' journey from his small town theater to CMC's OMNIMAX, our theater's switch to a d…

If you've been to Cincinnati Museum Center's Dinosaur Hall and Ancient Worlds Hiding in Plain Sight gallery, you probably notice our Paleo Lab. And if you've been here recently, you saw Katie Hunt hard at work preparing fossils! Katie works in our lab whenever the museum is open as part of a partnership we have with Elevation Science Institute, a n…

Today's guest is the CMC Marketing Department's own Joey Talmage. Joey's career in marketing spans continents, from Cincinnati to LA and all the way to New Zealand. At the same time, he's had a continent-spanning career in music. We'll dig into all of that, Joey's change of heart regarding whales thanks to our Blue Whales OMNIMAX film, and have a c…

Today we're shaking up our usual format as Cody and Mitch discuss some of their favorite moments from the first twenty-five episodes and first year of Meanwhile... at the Museum. We'll talk about Shakespeare, the Hamburglar, a few varieties of historic toilets and a whole lot more. Take a listen, and let us know some of your favorite moments by mes…

Tim McQuillan has had a lot of jobs: roller coaster ride operator, airport bus driver, K-9 security officer and more. But today he's our Senior Director of Public Safety and Security here at Cincinnati Museum Center. We're chatting with Tim to get the inside scoop on what he does here, exploring a 500,000 square foot National Historic Landmark, and…

Though collecting objects is just one part of what a museum does, it is a very important one. But why is it important to collect objects like a safe, bed or small piece of rope? Today we're digging into that question with Katherine Gould, our Curator of History Objects and Fine Art. We'll also learn about Katherine's path to becoming our curator, a…

15 years ago, a child wandered into CMC and never left. Now that child is an adult, and that adult is Graham Turner, an Assistant Manager of Museum Engagement. Join us as we talk to Graham about our room full of things in jars, his time in CMC's Youth Programs, that time he ran away to the circus at age 6, and just how passionate Graham is about Ci…

A family walks into Union Terminal for the first time, overwhelmed by not just by the sheer scale of the Rotunda, but by the plethora of options before them. History museum, science museum, children’s museum, OMNIMAX Theater, featured exhibitions, programs, Membership, our friends in the Holocaust & Humanity Center?! Luckily, a friendly face is wai…

Today we are flipping the script, as we welcome CMC President & CEO Elizabeth Pierce back to the pod as host instead of guest. We've learned a lot about Cody over the previous 20 episodes, but now we're ready to turn things around and dig into his story. We'll talk about his 13 years with CMC, his path to being a Marketing VP with a graduate degree…

Museums are full of technology (try counting how many screens, projectors, buttons and digital interactives you come across on your next visit!). And someone needs to develop, manage and troubleshoot all that tech. Enter Marc Staubitz. As our Manager of Exhibits AV and IT, Marc handles all the tech in exhibits, from the Quizinnati game in our You A…

Though Mary Fitzpatrick has been a CMC employee since 2018, she's been with us as long as we've been in Union Terminal as a volunteer! As a Museum Engagment Specialist, Mary brings her knowledge, passion, and energy to our guests. In this episode, we'll talk to Mary about her role here, her path to employment here after a fascinating career of volu…

Today's guest has been an improv actor at Chicago's Second City, a nanny, a professional hamburger thief, and more. Here at CMC, we know her as Gwen Elliott, Director of Community Collaborations. In addition to managing theme days like 1940s Day, Gwen works on making Museum Center as accessible for all people as possible. Tune in as we dig into Gwe…

As any visitor to CMC who has interacted with him knows, our guest today has a passion for people. A Guest Experience Manager, Nathaniel Weyman makes it his mission to give each guest the best experience possible. We'll talk tips for the best photos in the museum, food recommendations, and... coming face to face with great white sharks in South Afr…

If you've been listening to this podcast, you may have picked up on frequent references to someone named Mitch, who Cody likes to talk about like he's in the room. And he is - Mitch is the producer of this podcast, and is in the room for each recording session to monitor levels and direct Cody and our guests. But Mitch's title is Director of Video …

From his earliest days exploring the woods near Clifton, Bob Genheimer knew he was interested in digging up history. When he learned what archaeology was, he finally had a name for his passion. And that's how he ended up in a toilet. Many toilets in fact - 19th century privy shafts, it turns out, are treasure troves of knowledge. One of Bob's favor…

If you've been listening to this podcast, you've probably noticed one name coming up again and again - Dave Might. Today we're talking to the man himself. From mounting the animal specimens in Get Into Nature to crafting Fountain Square in Cincinnati In Motion, Dave has made his mark on CMC, and millions of guests, for 37 years - since he started a…

Teacher, twirler, princess, elf. Samantha Leone has filled all of these roles... more or less. Samantha knew she wanted to work with young people in an educational setting, but discovered she didn't want to be a school teacher. She found her way to CMC, where she works with our Youth Programs participants, our adult volunteers and directly with mus…

To kick off the new year in style, we are welcoming our President and CEO Elizabeth Pierce to the show. We'll dig into her role of Master Plate Spinner, find out how she came to be our fearless leader, and talk about seeing opportunity in the challenges inherent to an ever-changing world.By Cincinnati Museum Center

Some people seem to drop right into a role in life and stay there. Others undertake a long and epic journey, zig-zagging through a series of jobs, fields, and possibly even across the country a few times. Maat Manninen, our Registrar at CMC, is from that second group. His six and a half years at CMC were preceded by time spent in a rock band, as a …

If you've been to Cincinnati Museum Center in the past few years, you've likely run into Jeb Brack. And if you ran into Jeb, you probably learned something interesting, like the history of Cincinnati's inclines, how the surface of the ground impacts rainwater runoff or how air currents interact with spherical objects. But you probably didn't learn …

Answer: During the course of this Chief Learning Officer at Cincinnati Museum Center's 25-year museum career, she has traveled the world with Sue the T-rex, overseen the development of many exhibits and negotiated with Siberians for the North American display of Lyuba, the perfectly preserved baby mammoth. Question: Who is Whitney Owens? Settle in,…

Today's guest is Tyler Swinney, CMC's NAGPRA Manager and Tribal Liaison. You may be asking, what is NAGPRA and what does a Tribal Liaison do? If so, just hit play! Plus, we'll talk about what you can find in a hundreds of years old trash pit, and what Tyler's got going on in his garden.By Cincinnati Museum Center

October 24, 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of Cincinnati Museum Center's Children's Museum! First opened in 1998, The Children's Museum has been the site of so much learning, fun, adventure and creativity. Now, halfway through its third decade, the museum has become a tradition passed down through generations as its earliest visitors start bringin…

Did you know that Cincinnati Museum Center is home to the Cincinnati History Library and Archives? With collections dating back to 1831, the History Library and Archives are a treasure trove of regional history and one of the best kept secrets in Cincinnati. Today we're talking to Jill Beitz, the library's Manager of Reference and Research to see h…

Cincinnati Museum Center is celebrating the opening of a brand new permanent exhibit in the Museum of Natural History and Science! Ancient Worlds Hiding In Plain Sight lets visitors dive beneath and waves and into deep time, to a time when what is today Cincinnati was at the bottom of a shallow tropical sea, teeming with life. We talked to Dr. Bren…

Have you tried turning it off and back on again? This week week we're talking to Dave Zlatic, our Chief Technology Officer, who will be the first to tell you that it usually works. We'll talk cybersecurity, guest experience, and find out if Dave can beat Cody in a race down the hallway. It's all happening... Meanwhile... at the Museum.…

If you haven't caught on by now, Cincinnati Museum Center tends to collect interesting personalities. Case in point: the voice of today's guest may be familiar to longtime fans of Cincinnati radio as Venomous Valdez, though our employment records here at CMC call her Rene Dean, Manager of Event Services. We asked Venomous Valdez to come up with a p…

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.By Cincinnati Museum Center

Did you know that Cincinnati Museum Center has its own all-inclusive exhibits workshop? We're kicking off our new podcast by talking to Erica Schultz, an exhibition fabricator! If you've been to CMC since 2018, you've seen her handiwork, but you might not have even realized it.By Cincinnati Museum Center