{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Call 'Em Like Museum with Eric Johnson","title":"What's the point of going to a museum? (with Susan Crane)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2543,"description":"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.\nThis phenomenon fascinated Susan Crane, a history professor at the University of Arizona and author of \"Nothing Happened: A History.\"\nIn 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.\nToday 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.\nFull transcript of this episode\nSusan’s book: Nothing Happened: A History\nSubscribe to the newsletter\nThis episode was hosted, produced, and edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod\nChapters\nMusic: www.purple-planet.com\n\nImages:\nStealing Mona Lisa\nVincenzo Peruggia and “Daily Scene in the Louvre”\nThe blank space\nLa “Joconde” a disparu\nMona returns\nMona Lisa in the Louvre\nExcelsior newspaper\nGaleries Des Antiques\nFrench Crown Jewels\nAllegory of Marriage\nMystic Marriage of Saint Catherine\nFeast in the House of Simon the Pharisee\n\nVideos:\nPhoto Museum\nBenjamin Banneker","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/R3vVVmzGNQz0jMgSg7uznIO-cko06gdiz9lG9pi3elA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85MTA0/ZmM2NTdlOTJjZGZk/NDA0MGI2M2IxNmU1/NWE0MC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}