The MoMA Magazine Podcast

Hear how this popular crop is helping craft a more sustainable future in Mexico. What do corn, craft, and Mexico have in common? The answer to this question comes in the form of Totomoxtle, a project and materials created by designer Fernando Laposse in collaboration with the village of Tonohuixtla. On view through July 7 in the exhibition Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, Totomoxtle is an example of how good design can do more than please the eye—it can offer new pathways to preserving cultures, supporting local communities, and bringing balance to an ecosystem that has been exploited for far too long. For this Earth Month edition of the Magazine podcast, we sat down with Laposse to discuss the origins of his Totomoxtle project and how corn is helping build a more sustainable future for people and planet. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1062

Is art the secret to everlasting love? It’s no secret that some of the most powerful art has been inspired by love, that singular, indescribable feeling that, as it turns out, we are all capable of experiencing. “We all have the 12 brain areas that are critical for love,” says Dr. Stephanie Cacioppo, a leading figure in the neuroscience of social connections. It doesn’t matter if that love we feel is for our friends, our community, or our romantic partners, the only thing that changes between these relationships is the intensity we feel and see in the brain. What’s more, when we embrace that love, amazing things can happen and our brains become stronger. In this Valentine’s Day episode of the Magazine Podcast, we’re exploring the science of love and how art can help foster it. We’ll hear from Dr. Cacioppo about her research, and from a couple who met at MoMA more than 50 years ago. Together, they’ll teach us that we don’t need to look far for love—sometimes we’ll find it where we least expect. Access a transcript of the conversation here: moma.org/magazine/articles/1027

Join meditation artist Dora Kamau for an eight-minute guided audio meditation that explores the spectrum of emotions and energies associated with each color. We’ll delve into color theory and the psychological and emotional effects colors can have on us. Composer James Pratley Watson, who created the soundscape for this meditation, aligned each color with its respective sonic “healing frequency,” in an attempt to infuse it with a deeper vibrational resonance. As Kamau leads you through this immersive meditation, allow the interplay of sound and color to guide you through a calming exploration of your own consciousness.

A neuroscientist discusses how smell influences everything from emotions and relationships to identity and wellbeing. Our sense of smell is something many of us take for granted, but this sensation is more powerful than you may think. “It literally filters through all aspects of our existence,” explains neuroscientist Rachel Herz, “and the more we deliberately use our sense of smell…the better our brain health is, and even the general health of our bodies.” Smell also plays an important role in art, with many artists using scent as a way to prompt questions. These artworks encourage us to slow down and engage our senses. As Herz reminds us, when we stop and smell the metaphorical roses, “it can really ground us and bring us into that moment.” For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, we dig into the complex process that takes beans to bars, and the real-world impact chocolate has on the people who make it. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1017

The founder of Harlem Chocolate Factory reflects on her lifelong journey with chocolate—and why you should never buy it at a low price. Inspired by artists’ inventive uses of chocolate, we interviewed Jessica Spaulding, local chocolatier and cofounder of Harlem Chocolate Factory. For Spaulding, chocolate offers endless opportunity: “I think that being a chocolatier is that space where you get to get into your Willy Wonka greatness and just let your imagination run wild.” For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, we dig into the complex process that takes beans to bars, and the real-world impact chocolate has on the people who make it. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/980

Beekeepers reflect on how fear transformed into love after they realized the huge impact of these tiny creatures. In 2016, Tim Jackson and Nicole Lindsey founded Detroit Hives, a local organization dedicated to transforming vacant lots into urban bee farms, where they not only produce honey for their communities but also host educational programs about the crucial role of bees. This month’s Ten Minutes podcast is all about bees—what they do, how they’re organized, and why we need them. Bees do more than just produce honey—they help our ecosystem grow and keep the produce sections of our supermarkets plentiful. Even more importantly, they can teach us about living and thriving in community. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/965

Hear from the revolutionary artist about his iconic designs for the Black Panther newspaper. Emory Douglas has a battle cry: “Culture is a weapon.” And this chant reverberates throughout everything he does. In 1967, Douglas was chosen as the minister of culture and revolutionary artist for the Black Panther Party, where he designed the layouts and iconic imagery for the Black Panther newspaper. For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, Douglas shares his path toward arts activism and the power of art to “penetrate the souls of the resistance via the resistors (We The People) against all forms of cruel and unjust authority.” Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/939

A maker of multisensory artworks reflects on the importance of listening to our surroundings. In 2014, Nigerian-born artist Emeka Ogboh moved from Lagos to Berlin. This experience marked not only a shift in his surroundings, but also a shift in his artwork. “Shuttling between two places,” Ogboh explains, “your brain has to do this switch. And that fusion of two places started occurring to me.” His immersive installation Lagos State of Mind III, currently on view in MoMA’s second-floor galleries, blends the experience of living in these two cities. For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, just in time for World Listening Day—an annual celebration held on July 18—we invite you to explore your surroundings and reflect on how sound shapes our world. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/923

The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars reflects on how drag changes us for the better. For this month’s Ten Minutes podcast, we spoke to the award-winning opera singer and drag queen Monét X Change about the anti-drag movement, which has led to protests across the country in response to the growing popularity of drag. “With all these legislations and bills to try to keep drag away from certain people,” says Monét X Change, “it feels like an attack on our livelihood and this, like, way to dehumanize us.” But queer people across the country are using their voice and artistry to resist and show that the contributions of LGBTQIA+ communities are crucial to society. In Monét’s words, “Drag has been around for a very long time. Something that has been around for so long is living proof that it informs the culture and that it is completely valid.” Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/917

For many, a trip to MoMA means confronting questions of access: Does this space welcome people like me? Will I be given what I need in order to feel safe and included? At the core of this month’s Ten Minutes podcast is the question, What does access look like? According to Laura Aguilar’s work Access + Opportunity = Success, access includes, among other things, “the right to enter or use.” But Dr. Therí Pickens argues that access goes deeper than that. Using Aguilar’s work as a point of departure, the writer and disability studies scholar explores how our lives are shaped by our identities and the privileges granted to certain bodies and experiences. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/894

What do video games reveal about our reality? In this Ten Minutes podcast, hear from gamer and content creator Amira Virgil, developer of the Melanin Pack for The Sims 4, about her vision to create a more accurate and inclusive version of the game. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/778

In Bangladesh, a garment worker barely makes enough money to cover the cost of rent. Discover the truth about the unfair labor practices behind many of the clothes we wear. In this Ten Minutes podcast episode, Kalpona Akter, founder of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS), describes the lives of garment workers in Bangladesh and some of the ways we can advocate for fair labor practices when making purchases. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/816

What is the relationship between literature and modern art? Join Adam F. Bradley, English professor and co-editor of Ralph Ellison's unfinished second novel, for a discussion about race and invisibility on the written page and beyond. Discover Ellison's iconic book Invisible Man and the ways it continues to resonate with readers (and artists) 70 years after its original publication. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/751

Hear how a publisher decided to “create the world that we want to see” by founding the first natural-hair magazine. In this Ten Minutes podcast episode, we talk to Lindsey Farrar, who cofounded CRWNMAG in 2016 with Nkrumah Farrar. The print and digital publication is dedicated to celebrating the diversity of Black women and the beauty of their natural hair textures. Hear Farrar talk about about CRWNMAG, the natural hair movement, and the possibilities of changing society through media. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/852

Listen to the acclaimed writer talk about Elizabeth Catlett’s sculpture Mother and Child, and its connections to rest, intimacy, and reproductive justice. In this Ten Minutes podcast episode, Hall reflects on a childhood wrapped in the embrace of Black community and an adulthood of “relearning how to hold” three generations of women in her family. Through tender descriptions of this sculpture and lyrical insights that weave together the personal and political, Hall conjures the spirit of Catlett and the many Black mothers who came before and after. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/732

A tech ethnographer explains some key terms and ideas behind the future of the Internet. In Unsupervised, Refik Anadol’s new installation at MoMA, the artist makes use of a core part of the Web3 technology: blockchain. What is blockchain technology and how does it relate to Web3? More importantly, why should we care about any of this? In this Ten Minutes podcast, we explore these questions with Tricia Wang, a tech ethnographer who studies the ways technology shapes our humanity. For Wang, Web3 offers enormous creative potential. In this new vision for the Web, we can tell new stories, explore our identities, and build more equitable communities.

Discover how architecture can unite communities divided by an international border. Political theorist Fonna Forman and architect and visual artist Teddy Cruz talk about Manufactured Sites, an architectural project based on the flow of material waste between border cities in the United States and Mexico. Tires, garage doors, and even entire homes make their way from San Diego to Tijuana, where migrants seeking entry into the US reconfigure the parts into emergency housing. But the project doesn’t stop there—it also presents new possibilities for safer emergency housing. In this Ten-Minutes podcast, we hear about the ways communities can collaborate across international borders and the possibility of creating a safe home for everyone.

Can junk be transformed into art? Discover the life and work of John Outterbridge, an artist who combined discarded objects and found materials into complex works of art. Hear from architect Mabel O. Wilson about her uncle's salvaging practice and the ways it brought him closer to his family, community, and visions for a better future.

The artist and writer David Wojnarowicz, who died in 1992 at age of 37 from complications of AIDS, is best remembered for his political activism and his vibrant, confrontational paintings. Yet in her 2016 book The Lonely City, author Olivia Laing writes movingly about Wojnarowicz as a figure haunted by loneliness, a condition that inspired to him to fashion his work into a vehicle for visibility and connection. As part of our celebration of Pride month, writer Alex Halberstadt recently spoke with Laing—whose latest is Everybody: A Book About Freedom—about David Wojnarowicz’s life, legacy, and the desire for connection that animated his incandescent writing and art.

What does it mean for bodies of water, animals, and all of nature to be granted legal rights? In this episode of the Broken Nature series, host Paola Antonelli explores how the law can help us conceive of nature differently, and maybe even curb our destructive instincts. Author Nathaniel Rich tells the story "Dark Waters" about how environmental regulations in the United States have fallen short, activist Vimlandu Jha describes how he fights the pollution of India's Yamuna river, and Belkis Izquierdo describes her role as a magistrate in Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a judicial body created to investigate and judge the crimes committed during the country’s decades-long civil war. For more on this episode, visit moma.org/magazine.