The MoMA Magazine Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Society ridiculed the modern art she loved, so Lillie P. Bliss set out to create a museum to house it.

It might be hard to imagine, but there was a time when the work of modern artists like Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cézanne was ridiculed by the public. Despite all the criticism, three women founded a museum dedicated to art that was new. In this edition of the Magazine podcast, we explore the life and work of Lillie P. Bliss, one of MoMA’s three founders and a passionate advocate for modern art. Bliss is also the subject of MoMA’s exhibition Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern. Described by her niece as “the most typical Victorian daughter,” the dutiful Bliss nonetheless defied not only society but her parents by going on to build an art collection that became the cornerstone of The Museum of Modern Art.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1169

A hundred years later, a Surrealist artwork continues to inspire curiosity in all who encounter it.

“It is an object that—once you’ve seen it, it’s there in your imagination forever,” says former MoMA senior curator Anne Umland about Meret Oppenheim’s Surrealist Object. Objects conservator Caitlin Gozo Richeson had a similar reaction on seeing the fur-lined teacup, saucer, and spoon for the first time as a MoMA intern. “I remember seeing it in the galleries and just being floored,” she recalls. “For me, it’s always been one of those objects that is just so burned into my memory and my senses.”

Oppenheim’s Object is one of the most celebrated works in MoMA’s collection—and for good reason. It’s an artwork full of wonder and humor, often leaving us with more questions than answers. For this edition of the Magazine podcast, we plumb the mysteries of an artwork that has come to embody Surrealism, an artistic and literary movement celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1133

The founder of Harlem Chocolate Factory reflects on her lifelong journey with chocolate—and why you should never buy it at a low price.

Inspired by artists’ inventive uses of chocolate, we interviewed Jessica Spaulding, local chocolatier and cofounder of Harlem Chocolate Factory. For Spaulding, chocolate offers endless opportunity: “I think that being a chocolatier is that space where you get to get into your Willy Wonka greatness and just let your imagination run wild.”

For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, we dig into the complex process that takes beans to bars, and the real-world impact chocolate has on the people who make it.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/980

Beekeepers reflect on how fear transformed into love after they realized the huge impact of these tiny creatures.

In 2016, Tim Jackson and Nicole Lindsey founded Detroit Hives, a local organization dedicated to transforming vacant lots into urban bee farms, where they not only produce honey for their communities but also host educational programs about the crucial role of bees.

This month’s Ten Minutes podcast is all about bees—what they do, how they’re organized, and why we need them. Bees do more than just produce honey—they help our ecosystem grow and keep the produce sections of our supermarkets plentiful. Even more importantly, they can teach us about living and thriving in community.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/965

Hear from the revolutionary artist about his iconic designs for the Black Panther newspaper.

Emory Douglas has a battle cry: “Culture is a weapon.” And this chant reverberates throughout everything he does. In 1967, Douglas was chosen as the minister of culture and revolutionary artist for the Black Panther Party, where he designed the layouts and iconic imagery for the Black Panther newspaper.

For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, Douglas shares his path toward arts activism and the power of art to “penetrate the souls of the resistance via the resistors (We The People) against all forms of cruel and unjust authority.”

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/939

A maker of multisensory artworks reflects on the importance of listening to our surroundings.

In 2014, Nigerian-born artist Emeka Ogboh moved from Lagos to Berlin. This experience marked not only a shift in his surroundings, but also a shift in his artwork. “Shuttling between two places,” Ogboh explains, “your brain has to do this switch. And that fusion of two places started occurring to me.” His immersive installation Lagos State of Mind III, currently on view in MoMA’s second-floor galleries, blends the experience of living in these two cities.

For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, just in time for World Listening Day—an annual celebration held on July 18—we invite you to explore your surroundings and reflect on how sound shapes our world.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/923

The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars reflects on how drag changes us for the better.

For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, we spoke to the award-winning opera singer and drag queen Monét X Change about the anti-drag movement, which has led to protests across the country in response to the growing popularity of drag. “With all these legislations and bills to try to keep drag away from certain people,” says Monét X Change, “it feels like an attack on our livelihood and this, like, way to dehumanize us.” But queer people across the country are using their voice and artistry to resist and show that the contributions of LGBTQIA+ communities are crucial to society. In Monét’s words, “Drag has been around for a very long time. Something that has been around for so long is living proof that it informs the culture and that it is completely valid.”

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/917

For many, a trip to MoMA means confronting questions of access: Does this space welcome people like me? Will I be given what I need in order to feel safe and included?

At the core of this month’s Ten Minutes podcast is the question, What does access look like? According to Laura Aguilar’s work Access + Opportunity = Success, access includes, among other things, “the right to enter or use.” But Dr. Therí Pickens argues that access goes deeper than that. Using Aguilar’s work as a point of departure, the writer and disability studies scholar explores how our lives are shaped by our identities and the privileges granted to certain bodies and experiences.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/894

What do video games reveal about our reality?

In this Ten Minutes podcast, hear from gamer and content creator Amira Virgil, developer of the Melanin Pack for The Sims 4, about her vision to create a more accurate and inclusive version of the game.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/778

In Bangladesh, a garment worker barely makes enough money to cover the cost of rent. Discover the truth about the unfair labor practices behind many of the clothes we wear.

In this Ten Minutes podcast episode, Kalpona Akter, founder of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS), describes the lives of garment workers in Bangladesh and some of the ways we can advocate for fair labor practices when making purchases.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/816