Time was when museums were staid, dusty institutions. Those days are long gone. Now the focus is on making visiting a museum a positive, inclusive, meaningful experience for everyone who comes through the door – or visits online. It sounds good in principle, but how to do it in practice?

That question is at the heart of the latest title to join the What Is It For series, 'What are Museums for?' by Jon Sleigh. Jon is an arts and heritage engagement consultant who specialises in connecting audiences with artworks and collections, and in this episode of the podcast, he tells George Miller why he structured the book around conversations with museum professionals about specific exhibits in a wide range of institutions. He also talks about his childhood fascination with a museum tyrannosaurus …

Jon Sleigh is a freelance arts and heritage Learning Curator, working nationally connecting audiences with artworks and collections for their advocacy. Follow him on Twitter: @jon_sleigh

Find out more about the book at: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/what-are-museums-for

The full transcript of the podcast is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/07/19/podcast-museums-without-visitors-are-just-elaborate-storage/

Timestamps:

2:18 - What were your first encounters with museums like?

9:45 - In what terms and for what reason did you come back to the world of the museum?

13:11 - If we were in a museum today how might we encounter you?

15:47 - Why is the question of 'who is the museum is for?' so central to addressing the question in your title?

19:53 - How did you decide where to go and who to talk to?

25:14 - How difficult was it to choose the actual objects?

35:29 - What things in your conversations pointed to a bright future for museums?

Intro music:

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In this episode, Rebecca Megson-Smith speaks with Jen Shang, co-author of ‘Meaningful Philanthropy: The Person Behind the Giving’, about the high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals behind philanthropic giving.

Having had unparalleled access to some of the world’s most reflective and thoughtful philanthropists, Jen explains how philanthropists experience what they do and the psychological challenges they need to overcome.

Jen Shang is Professor of Philanthropic Psychology and Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy. Jen Shang is the world’s only philanthropic psychologist.

Find out more about the book at: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/meaningful-philanthropy

The full transcript of the podcast is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/07/10/podcast-the-psychology-behind-philanthropy/

Timestamps:

1:24 - How did you get these philanthropists to talk to you?

2:32 - What is meaningful philanthropy?

4:36 - What is identity ceding and why is it important?

10:05 - What is the connection between philanthropy and entrepreneurs?

11:57 - Can philanthropy be meaningless?

14:01 - Why are philanthropists important to study and understand?

21:50 - What impact do you hope your book has?

Intro music:

Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax

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With the UK General Election on Thursday, Academics Stand Against Poverty have audited the manifestos to establish which parties are most likely to address poverty and enable British society to flourish.

In this episode, Jess Miles speaks with Lee Gregory and Cat Tully about how the audit has been produced and why it matters. They discuss how the manifestos stack up, what all political parties can learn from the audit and what we should all be considering before voting.

Cat Zuzarte Tully leads the School of International Futures (SOIF), a global non-profit transforming futures for current and next generations. SOIF also supports a growing network of Next Generation Foresight Practitioners. Previously, Cat served as Strategy Project Director at the UK Foreign Office and Policy Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. She is on the board of Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP) global and in the UK, and has been visiting professor in Malaysia, UK and Russia.

Lee Gregory is an Associate Professor in Social Policy at the University of Nottingham, School of Sociology and Social Policy and is Chair of Trustees for ASAP UK. He has been involved in previous manifesto audits as an auditor and oversaw the development of the 2024 Audit and associated blog series.

Find out more about the audit at: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/asap-manifesto-audit-2024

The full transcript of the podcast is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/07/01/podcast-scoring-the-general-election-promises-on-poverty/

Timestamps:

0:01:09 - Audit and Academic Stand Against Poverty

0:07:31 - Improving well-being and opportunities

0:15:32 - Assessing political Parties' fiscal policies

0:22:35 - Petition for Future Generations

0:30:05 - Future plans for ASAP UK

Intro music:

Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax

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Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Follow the Transforming Society blog to be told when new articles and podcasts publish: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/follow-the-blog/

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