Getty's new podcast If Objects Could Talk is a screen-free, story-driven podcast designed to spark curiosity, laughter, and learning for kids and families.
I had a chance to interview creator Zoe Goldman to learn more.
Why did you create this podcast?
As a kid I loved books and movies where objects come alive—the dolls in The Little Princess, the Toy Story movies, Night at the Museum...So a podcast where art gets to talk to kids about all the crazy things they’ve been through felt like a no-brainer!
Kids seem to innately love art and are curious about the world, but art museums can be intimidating places for families. One hope with an art podcast for kids was that it could help families have conversations about art—fun and playful conversations!—and get them inspired to go to a museum to continue their discussions.
Why is it important for kids to be able to hear the stories behind museum artifacts?
There is so much art can teach us about the world, history, and ourselves. Relating to people from the past is another way we can develop empathy and remember that the world is bigger than our small experience of it. For me, art is a really fun and often beautiful way to begin thinking about what people in the past valued and how they behaved.
This first season of If Objects Could Talk focuses on our collection of objects from the ancient world, and it was incredible to think about how similar many of the things we do today are to the things people were doing thousands of years ago. Kids played dice games, used some of the first silver coins, and locked up their precious belongings with keys. Even the way we make many of these objects today isn’t so different from how people did things in the past, despite the huge leaps in technology.
Of course, not everything is the same—I for one am grateful my toothpaste isn’t made of crushed up eggshells like it was in ancient Rome!
How can families encourage a sense of curiosity about history?
There are so many great ways to foster curiosity and love of history. Obviously, listening to our new podcast If Objects Could Talk is a great way! But one of my big takeaways from our museum educators was the value of physically moving your body to imagine yourself in or interacting with a work of art—pretend to pose like a sculpture or lift up a very full Greek vase. What does it feel like to put yourself in history like that? This is a great line of questioning parents can use at the museum in front of any work of art!
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