Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt

35:38

Michele Y. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/10/01

How do you build a museum around a subject that's constantly evolving? As CEO of Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP), Michele Y. Smith is helping preserve what refuses to stand still. With exhibitions spanning music, film, fashion, gaming, and fandom, MOPOP examines pop culture not simply as entertainment, but as a reflection of the ideas, identities, and social changes shaping our lives in real time. In this episode, Michele explores what it means to preserve cultural history while remaining

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47:45

Joseph Fowler, Head of Arts & Culture at the World...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/09/24

What changes when artists aren't simply invited to perform, but are given a seat at the table where ideas, policies, and solutions take shape? Joseph Fowler has spent his career moving between artistic disciplines, institutions, and cultural ecosystems around the world. After training at The Royal Ballet School and performing professionally as a dancer, his curiosity took him behind the scenes as a director, producer, programmer, and cultural leader—from London and Paris to Dubai. Today, as Head of

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49:03

Baratunde Thurston, Writer, Comedian, and Earthling

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/09/17

The future isn't something that simply happens to us. It's something we help create through the stories we tell, the technologies we use, and the choices we make about how to live together. Baratunde Thurston has spent his career exploring what that responsibility looks like across comedy, media, civic life, and nature. Again and again, his work returns to a deeply human question: how do we embrace change without surrendering our agency? His latest award-winning project Life with Machines turns this

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46:55

Courtney Burke Summers, Chief Marketing Officer of...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/09/10

Rebranding a beloved institution requires not only defining what comes next, but building enough trust and shared ownership that both longtime supporters and new audiences see themselves in the future. Courtney Burke Summers recently helped lead the sweeping rebrand of Celebrity Series of Boston into Vivo Performing Arts, launching a new identity designed to better reflect the organization's role in its community. In this episode, Courtney shares what it took to bring people along through that

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45:32

Lisa Yun Lee, Executive Director at National Public...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/09/03

What if a museum's job isn't simply to preserve history, but to help us imagine a different future? Lisa Yun Lee has spent her career exploring what cultural institutions can make possible when they understand themselves as civic spaces. As Executive Director of the National Public Housing Museum in Chicago, she leads an institution created by public housing residents to preserve their own histories, challenge dominant narratives about public housing, and bring arts, culture, and public policy

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33:38

Kim Jakominich, Senior Director of Brand at Barnes...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/08/27

A great exhibition or performance can draw people in, but a strong institutional brand shapes how they understand the experience—and whether they feel invited to return. Kim Jakominich has spent more than 15 years working across publishing, public media, museums, and cultural destinations. Now Chief Brand Officer at the Barnes Foundation and Calder Gardens, she leads an integrated team spanning marketing, communications, publications, design, editorial, and visual resources, helping steward two

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40:34

Ann Morrow Johnson, Global Immersive Experience &...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/08/20

As our attention becomes increasingly fragmented, the value of being fully present together has never been greater. The most memorable experiences go beyond spectacle and create a clear sense of place, invite participation, and give people something meaningful to feel together. Ann Morrow Johnson has spent her career designing those kinds of experiences. After more than a decade at Walt Disney Imagineering, she now co-leads Gensler's Entertainment practice, applying lessons from theme parks and

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01:00:05

Live from TLCC: Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Spoken Word...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/08/13

Join Monica Holt for a live recording of Arts Unscripted with Marc Bamuthi Joseph, an internationally acclaimed cultural strategist, spoken word artist, and Chief of Impact at SOZO. Bamuthi has built a singular career at the intersection of creativity, leadership, and social impact—from performing on Broadway and co-founding Youth Speaks to shaping civic and cultural strategy at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Kennedy Center. Throughout it all, he has approached art not simply as expression,

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39:49

Clive Chang, President and CEO of YoungArts (Re-Release)

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/07/30

Producer's Note: While Arts Unscripted is on summer hiatus, we're re-sharing a few of our favorite episodes from past seasons. Clive was actually the first guest to sit down and chat with Monica. The YoungArts application is open now through October 6th, so it's the perfect time to revisit how Clive thinks about supporting young, multi-disciplinary artists. --- Can legacy arts institutions innovate like start-ups? Clive Chang thinks so. As President and CEO of YoungArts, he's reimagining how a

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37:24

Cody Renard Richard, Tony Award-Winning Producer and...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/07/23

Producer's Note: While Arts Unscripted is on summer hiatus, we're re-sharing a few of our favorite episodes from past seasons. Cody recently celebrated Tony Award-winning runs with two Broadway productions: Ragtime and CATS: The Jellicle Ball. With CATS set to close on August 8, it's an apt moment to revisit Cody's reflections on the production (and grab tickets while you still can). ----- Great theater starts by creating trusted conditions for talent and creativity to thrive. Cody Renard Richard is

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36:59

Carlos Simon, GRAMMY-Nominated Composer, Curator and...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/07/16

Producer's Note: While Arts Unscripted is on summer hiatus, we're re-sharing a few of our favorite episodes from past seasons. Carlos Simon is the the inaugural Composer Chair of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Composer-in-Residence since 2021 at the Kennedy Center. Since we recorded earlier this year, his Good News Mass keeps finding new orchestras and new audiences. With its Midwest premiere on July 31st at Ravinia Music Festival, what better moment to go back and hear how Carlos has built his

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47:40

Shanta Thake, Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/07/09

Producer's Note: While Arts Unscripted is on summer hiatus, we're re-sharing a few of our favorite episodes from past seasons. Shanta Thake is the vision behind Lincoln Center's free Summer for the City festival happening right now through August 8 in New York. It's a good moment to go back and hear how she thinks about building a season for an entire city, not just a subscriber base. ----- Shanta Thake sees artistic curation as a practice rooted in curiosity and community connection. As the

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36:53

Jeffrey Haydon, President and CEO of Ravinia Festival

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/06/11

A festival lasts only a few weeks or months each year, but the work of leading one never stops. Jeffrey Haydon has spent his career at the helm of some of the country's most respected music festivals, including Ojai, Caramoor, and now Ravinia Festival, where he serves as President and CEO. Drawing on a background that bridges music and business, he has led major capital projects, expanded educational and community programs, and navigated moments of organizational transformation. In this episode,

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29:20

TONYS WEEK: Beth Callen, Musician, The Lost Boys

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/06/05

The Tony Awards often celebrate the names on a show poster, but every Broadway production is carried by countless artists whose work rarely fits neatly into a category. So in anticipation of this year's awards ceremony, we're spotlighting a few of the performers, collaborators, and creative forces behind nominated productions. Beth Callen follows her curiosity wherever the music leads. A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and educator, she has traveled from indie folk stages and an all-female Guns

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38:46

TONYS WEEK: Victor Vazquez, Casting Director, CATS:...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/06/03

The Tony Awards often celebrate the names on a show poster, but every Broadway production is carried by countless artists whose work rarely fits neatly into a category. So in anticipation of this year's awards ceremony, we're spotlighting a few of the performers, collaborators, and creative forces behind nominated productions. Victor Vazquez has spent his career expanding the possibilities of who gets seen onstage and whose stories Broadway embraces. As the founder of X Casting and casting director

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29:45

TONYS WEEK: Allison Blackwell, Broadway Performer,...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/06/01

The Tony Awards often celebrate the names on a show poster, but every Broadway production is carried by countless artists whose work rarely fits neatly into a category. So in anticipation of this year's awards ceremony, we're spotlighting a few of the performers, collaborators, and creative forces behind nominated productions. Allison Blackwell knows the power of ensemble storytelling firsthand. Currently appearing in Ragtime at Lincoln Center Theater as Sarah's Friend, Allison is part of the

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35:03

Oliver Richman, Singer-Songwriter and Actor

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/05/28

Creative work is often romanticized as spontaneous: a flash of inspiration, a breakthrough moment, a burst of talent. In reality, many artists discover that creativity is less about sudden genius and more about the systems, rituals, and relationships that help ideas grow over time. For Oliver Richman, creativity has been both an early spark and an evolving practice. As a child, his performances found an audience far beyond his years, from a widely shared rendition of "Defying Gravity" to performing

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50:33

Sydney Symphony Orchestra on Creating a Culture of...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/05/21

Arts organizations thrive when teams stop operating in parallel and begin building together. Take it from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, which is wrapping its biggest season in over a decade. By creating shared goals across teams and building systems that encourage communication instead of competition, the Symphony has seen unprecedented audience growth in just a few short years. In this episode, Monica sits down with three leaders from across the organization—Director of Marketing Charles Buchanan,

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42:50

Susan Magsamen, Co-Author of "Your Brain on Art"

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/05/14

Susan Magsamen has spent her career arguing that creativity and aesthetic experiences are not luxuries, but biological necessities woven into how we heal, learn, and connect. A researcher, educator, and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Your Brain on Art, Susan has become one of the leading voices in the growing field of neuroaesthetics: the science of how the arts and sensory experiences shape the brain and body. Through her work with the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins and

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30:31

Jacob Jonas, Dancer, Choreographer, and Founder of...

Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt ·

2026/05/07

Jacob Jonas consistently questions who dance is for, where it belongs, and how it can be sustained. From his early days as a street performer on Venice Beach to founding his own company at just 21, his work reflects a conviction that art must evolve alongside audiences. That perspective has shaped his drive to build new models for the field just as much as it has informed his creative practice. In this episode, Jacob discusses expanding access to dance beyond traditional ticketed spaces, and

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