What's the point of going to a museum? (with Susan Crane)

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Did you know the Mona Lisa only got world-famous after it was stolen from the Louvre? In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was just another portrait in the Salon Carré, shoved between a bunch of other Renaissance paintings. But when a former museum worker stole it, the public flocked to the museum to stare at "nothing," the blank space on the wall.

This phenomenon fascinated Susan Crane, a history professor at the University of Arizona and author of "Nothing Happened: A History."

In 2026, the Mona Lisa's status could not be more different: It has a wall entirely to itself behind bulletproof glass, drawing millions of visitors who wait behind stanchions to catch a glimpse & maybe take a selfie.

Today on Call 'Em Like Museum, Susan questions our relationship to famous works of art in museums, and explains how to cultivate genuine surprise as a visitor. She also explores how museums have been reshaped by technology and politics, the ongoing debate of the Smithsonian versus the White House, and whether school field trips are actually worth the effort. Plus: The absolutely wild way the literary elite used to experience museums in the 19th century.

Full transcript of this episode

Susan’s book: Nothing Happened: A History

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

Chapters

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (04:04) - The Meaning and Early History of Museums
• (07:58) - How Photography Became Fine Art
• (11:52) - Stealing and Photographing the Mona Lisa
• (18:14) - Why Museums Matter
• (23:58) - Who Decides What Belongs in a Museum?
• (29:12) - Goethe's "Gallery Dialogues"
• (31:13) - Politics, Control, and Change
• (40:37) - Exit Through the Gift Shop

Music: www.purple-planet.com

Images:

Stealing Mona Lisa
Vincenzo Peruggia and “Daily Scene in the Louvre”

The blank space

La “Joconde” a disparu

Mona returns

Mona Lisa in the Louvre

Excelsior newspaper

Galeries Des Antiques

French Crown Jewels

Allegory of Marriage

Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine

Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee

Videos:

Photo Museum

Benjamin Banneker