Today, Auschwitz is remembered as the primary example of the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters of human history. In our latest featured exhibition, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away., visitors can experience this story through a selection of over 500 artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland and from 20 institutions around the world. Today we're talking to Luis Ferreiro, Director of Musealia, the company that created the exhibit. We'll discuss the origins of the exhibit, why it's important to remember this story, and what goes into creating an exhibit on such an important topic.

Today we welcome our friend Michael Anderson to the show! Michael is the Director of PR & Photography for the Cincinnati Reds, which means it's his job to get the word out about the team and organization, both on and off the field. We'll talk to Michael about his experiences during his 17 years with the Reds, ballpark food and some of the various ways Museum Center and Union Terminal have intersected with the Reds over the past 156 years. 

When you have a paleontology collection as large as ours, it's a full time job just to keep it organized. And the person in charge of keeping it organized is Cameron Schwalbach. As our Paleontology Collections Manager, Cameron keeps track of our massive collection, works in our Paleo Lab to prepare fossils, goes on field expeditions, and more! We'll chat with Cameron about how he went from running through the woods and creeks of southwest Ohio to being an official paleontologist, life on a dinosaur dig and what it's like to be able to build your dream museum exhibit.

If you're a CMC Member, and you've attended any of our special Member exhibit previews, Member OMNIMAX screenings or special member hours, you should know that there's someone in particular that helped make them happen: Lauren Brewer, our Manager of Memberships! Not only does Lauren lead our efforts to increase our Member base, but she also acts as an advocate for our Members, doing everything she can to maximize the value of a CMC Membership. After 21 years here at CMC, we finally got Lauren on the podcast to talk about her career path, the value of CMC Membership and some of her favorite OMNIMAX films and exhibits!

Over the past two years, we've put out 50 episodes of Meanwhile... at the Museum. That's 50 incredible conversations with curators, exhibit designers, educators, scientists, movie directors, meteorologists, registrars, astronomers and so many more. In this episode, Cody and Mitch are looking back at the second year of the show and talking about some of their favorite moments. So sit back and join us as we reminisce, go back through and listen to the episodes we are highlighting here or your own personal favorites, and get ready for more as we gear up for year 3 of Meanwhile... at the Museum!

Cincinnati Museum Center is a rare museum in that we have our own in-house Exhibits team that can do it all, from design to fabrication and installation. This team also manages the featured exhibitions that we bring to Cincinnati, like Barbie: A Cultural Icon (open through Sept. 1, 2025), Pompeii: The Exhibition or the upcoming Auschwitz: Not long ago, not far away (coming October 2025). One of the key people in the process of bringing in traveling exhibitions is John Auer, our Director of Featured Exhibitions and Exhibits Business Development. We'll talk to John about what he does here at CMC, what it takes to fit traveling exhibits into a 1930s train station, and his background in both construction and art.

Have you noticed how everything these days, from refrigerators to televisions, is connected over the internet? Our VP of Technology Jason Perkins sure has - because he's the one who has to keep it all running! From interactives in the exhibits to employee computers to our website and ticketing systems, the Museum is full of tech that needs to be maintained. We'll talk to Jason about how he ended up in tech-based career and what it takes to keep an organization this size running smoothly. We'll even take a detour to the final frontier and talk some Trek. Engage!

In his over 25 year career as an astronomer, Dean Regas has been the lead astronomer at Cincinnati Observatory, the host of the podcast Looking Up, co-host of the PBS show Star Gazers, a contributing writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer and so much more. Now flying solo, Dean is a rogue astronomer out to show you the wonders of the universe. We'll chat with Dean about his career, what's new in astronomy and let him try to convince you that Pluto really shouldn't be classified as a planet. 

When we brought this week's guest in to record at 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, her day was almost half over already. As a morning TV meteorologist with Channel 5 WLWT in Cincinnati, Randi Rico is gets up at 2 a.m. to get into the studio and bring you the info you need to plan your day, your week or even for safety in a weather emergency.  We'll talk to Randi about her career path in meteorology, her love of sports, taking part in the World Bratwurst-Eating Championship at Oktoberfest Zinzinnati and more!

He's been a podcast host for one of the wildest grocery stores anywhere, a tiger-striped Pepsi ad star, and a giant cicada. And now Mark Borison, host of The Jungle Jim's Podcast, can add "guest on Meanwhile... at the Museum" to his extensive resume! We'll chat with Mark about how he ended up hosting a podcast for Jungle Jim's International Market, his career as an actor in commercials and films, and how food connects people around the world.