This week in Dispatches from the Future of Museums: the latest data on museums & public trust; what non-visitors are willing to pay to keep museums open; how federal cuts to university programs are crushing museums' public programs www.aam-us.org/programs/dis...
This week in Dispatches from the Future of Museums: 6 facts about national pride, @sandiegozoo.bsky.social “frozen zoo,” and a landmark recognition of non-human rights www.aam-us.org/programs/dis...
Dispatches from the Future of Museums has migrated to the web. Readers of the discontinued weekly e-newsletter from the Center for the Future of Museums can now find news summaries, links, commentary and resources on this page of the AAM website www.aam-us.org/programs/dis...
My thoughts on 5 trends museum directors identify as "business disruptions" in 2026: inflation, the market, travel and tourism, philanthropy, travel & tourism, and two red flags of my own: potential chaos around the midterm elections, and collapse of the AI bubble. www.aam-us.org/2026/01/05/p...
Adding this to my mental dictionary: "Haphazardism is authoritarianism without vision, a governing style defined by a series of individual attacks on democracy without any kind of overarching logic, strategic structure, or clear end state in mind." From @vox.com
www.vox.com/politics/472...
An inventory of the weapons authoritarian regimes deploy against cultural institutions, with some advice on how museums can prepare a defense. Guest post by the co-founders of Stroika on the CFM blog www.aam-us.org/2025/12/02/w...
Great leadership from @montereybayaquarium.org
"Vast Majority of Americans Oppose National Park Cuts" www.npca.org/articles/112...
Something I didn't know: "Nearly 10 percent of companies on the S&P 500 pay no federal taxes and actually received rebates in 2023." In an interesting article on how the new tax bill may impact corporate philanthropy.
www.philanthropy.com/opinion/the-...
Highly recommend Vu Le's new book "Reimagining Nonprofits and Philanthropy." Here's a nice review
nonprofitquarterly.org/reinvigorati...
“I don’t want the asshole tech-bros' sad dystopian visions to be the dominant ones. I want the visions I’ve read about on countless nonprofits’ websites.”
The redoubtable W. Richard West, founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian, interviewed on @theradicalcentrist.bsky.social podcast "The Smithsonian's Independence Matters: Why We Must Resist" centristchange.blogspot.com/2025/09/w-ri...
Best commentary I've read on the economic train wreck resulting from the business model of AI giants.
Had a lovely conversation with Cody Liska and Sandro Debono on the Anchorage Museum's Chatter Marks podcast on how museums can help people think about the past, the future, and what they want to world to be like. www.podbean.com/ew/pb-xgfe5-...
“When looked through the lens of harm to nonprofits and the community, “when you’ve seen one foundation, you’ve seen one foundation” stops being a charming joke and starts being enraging.”
"A recent survey of U.S. college faculty by the journal Nature found that 75% were looking for work outside the country. Some are doing so to protect their research, while others are trying to safeguard their individual freedoms." www.csmonitor.com/USA/Educatio...
It feels kinda weird to share a piece that I’m also quoted in, but this from Beth English is great: “What we’re really seeing in those exhibits is a museum system growing in honesty and complexity, as historians explore new sources and approaches that expand and enrich our understanding of history”
Signal boost: advice on how to respond to public comment periods in the wake of the GSA disabling the API that supported e-submission of comments.
www.mrss.com/lab/the-trum...
Signal boost for the new "Nonprofits Get it Done" campaign from the National Council of Nonprofits, shining a spotlight on the essential role our sector plays in American society. nonprofitsgetitdone.org
It's paperback launch day for HISTORY FOR TOMORROW!
'Enlightening and thrilling' - @georgemonbiot.bsky.social
'Brimming with ideas' - @peterfrankopan.bsky.social
Find out more: www.romankrznaric.com/history-for-...
Pre-Order NAVIGATING THE AGE OF CHAOS today.
Barnes & Noble is offering 25% off (35% for premium members) on all preorders from July 8th - July 11th. Use the code PREORDER25 at checkout. You have to be a (free) B&N member.
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/navigating...
#BNPreorder #AgeofChaos
Sharing the sad news that @bandoblue.bsky.social passed away last week.
I've reprinted a prescient essay he wrote in 2011, as a tribute and remembrance. www.aam-us.org/2025/07/08/m...
Join me tomorrow at the fabulous @chalkefestival.bsky.social, where I'll be discussing HISTORY FOR TOMORROW (out now in paperback!) with Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History (rather topical right now...)
We'll be on the Moot Stage at 5.30pm.
www.chalkefestival.com
Do the policies of the current administration pose an "existential threat" to the nonprofit sector? My take on a scenario that seems increasingly likely.
www.aam-us.org/2025/06/26/e...
My recommended futurist watch for the day: a Ken Burns-like tour of Louis-Sébastien Mercier's vision of the The Year 2440, published in 1771
youtu.be/pKdGJELk3wY?...
As more and more states pass bills to limit the discussion of history and race in classrooms, we spoke to Black educators about what they are seeing, feeling, and fearing in schools and colleges when it comes to teaching Black history. Read more: pen.org/fear-uncerta... #Juneteenth #Juneteenth2025
10% of collections on display is a pretty high metric--for many museums that figure is more like 2-3%.
Yet another flavor of AI evil: data-scraping bot swarms knocking collections databases offline.
From @nyuengelberg.org
www.glamelab.org/files/Are_AI...
In the nonprofit sector, hit by downstream effects of federal funding reductions, layoffs are up "a shattering 504% year-over-year." qz.com/layoffs-us-j...
