Unauthorized Podcasts- The Dirt

Dear Readers,

I know I left you high and dry after my last entry. So dry, that according to some of my readers, it made it hard to breathe. Moving on, the topic for today is unofficial or unauthorized podcasts for museums.

These unauthorized podcasts are very useful for the lay museum goer. They provide a basic, honest, and often humorous interpretation of the art being viewed. It is not unusual to hear a reviewer say something like, “I didn’t like the modernist art section because I felt that the whole dot-on-the-canvas thing was stupid.” For those just looking for a nice day at the museum, these podcats are quite helpful. This is not to say that the authors of such podcasts are uninformed. To say this would be an unfair statement.

The online magazine Slate has started its own unauthorized podcasts. “If you happen to be in New York (or plan to be soon), you can start right now with Slate art critic Lee Siegel's tour of what he considers the most overrated and underrated paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Modern Art Gallery.”

Click here to listen to one of Slate's unauthorized podcasts.

What makes podcats like Slate so useful, is that they have the ability to provide information that museums wouldn’t be caught dead sharing with you. Things like unflattering critiques on the “overratedness” of certain artists and their “incredible” works. Because these podcasts are not part of an official museum, they are able to act almost as a gossip column would. The readers are given the true, unadulterated info about each of the artists and/or their art.