AI Summary
5 min readWhen the Dioramas Go Dark
Earlier this week, the oldest natural history museum in the United States—the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia—closed its doors to the public. Attendance never recovered after COVID, and museum leaders said keeping the doors open for visitors had become too expensive. Around the same time, local news reported that the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas, might be mothballed soon. These closures raise a difficult question: Are natural history museums themselves becoming endangered?
The Pressure on Old Institutions
Dr. Jason Cryan, executive director of the Natural History Museum of Utah, said the news sends "a shiver down your spine." Natural history museums and science museums face challenges "that really have not been before seen or felt." The competition for discretionary dollars is fierce. Traveling exhibitions built around AI and augmented reality experiences draw crowds, while the economy makes it harder for families to afford outings. Meanwhile, the traditional natural history museum experience—static dioramas showing taxidermy animals in habitat scenes—feels increasingly anachronistic to modern audiences.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Science Friday
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (01:05) **Episode Introduction & The Problem** - Host Flora Lixman introduces the topic: the oldest US natural history museum closed its doors, and another may be mothballed. She frames the central question: how can these museums stay relevant, and what happens to their collections when they shut down?
- 2 (01:52) **Guests Introduce the Core Crisis** - Dr. Jason Cryan (Natural History Museum of Utah) and Dr. Barbara Tears (former director, NYBG Herbarium) join the conversation.
- 3 (02:20) **The Need for Social Relevance** - Jason argues that museums must refocus on being community service organizations to survive.
- 4 (03:57) **The Funding Catch-22** - Barbara explains that adding engaging programs strains already tight budgets without immediate payoff.
- 5 (04:48) **Where Does the Money Come From?** - The guests break down the complex and changing landscape of museum funding.
- 6 (06:59) **The Role of Politics** - Both guests describe how apolitical museum missions have become politically charged.
- 7 (09:24) **What Happens When a Museum Closes?** - After a break, the conversation shifts to the fate of collections.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Leaders of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University say they can’t afford to keep the museum open to visitors. And there are rumors that another natural history museum, in Hays, Kansas, may be closing its doors. What happens to the collections, and are museums going the way of the dinosaurs?
Jason Cryan, from the Natural History Museum of Utah, and Barbara Thiers, formerly of the New York Botanical Garden, join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss the challenges of running a natural history museum.
Guests:
Dr. Jason Cryan is The Sarah B. George Executive Director of the Natural History Museum of Utah, the largest natural history museum in America’s intermountain west.
Barbara Thiers is Director Emerita and Curator at New York Botanical Garden, and Research Associate at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
More from this podcast
Science Friday →