Getty Has a Podcast for That

Getty launched its first podcast, Art + Ideas hosted by former Getty President Jim Cuno, more than 10 years ago, in June 2016.

Since then, we’ve produced hundreds of episodes across five different series: highlighting artist archives with Recording Artists; meditating with art on OMMM: Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation; telling artworks' own stories with the family series If Objects Could Talk; exploring cultural heritage in unexpected places with ReCurrent; and sharing insights from wide range of art experts through interviews on Art + Ideas. So if you’re a podcast aficionado or just someone looking to add a little more art to your life, we’ve probably got an episode (or many episodes) you’ll love.

In celebration of World Podcast Day, I’ve selected a few episodes to keep you company as you go about some daily tasks.

Best for doing chores

Doing chores can be, well, a chore. See if you can turn those dirty dishes or laundry into an opportunity for mindfulness with OMMM: Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation. Inspired by The Laundress, host Lilit Sadoyan finds appreciation and presence in daily chores.

Bonus: If you’re still not done, hear how a Buddhist monk approaches chores in this related interview.

Best for the school carpool

If Objects Could Talk is Getty’s family podcast and an entertaining choice for drives with kids. On your way to school, hear about how Roman children studied (and other things they may have done in a day) in the episode “Lar, Help Us!”

Best for an endless commute

When you’re stuck in traffic, take your mind off wondering if you’ll ever make it home and wonder about the secret past lives of the buildings around you instead! Hear how the “Motown of the West” was built in an unassuming house in South LA, then imagine what other secret histories might surround you.

Or if you’d rather settle in for some low-stakes laughs, try our family-friendly podcast If Objects Could Talk, even if it’s just adults in the car! “Dude, Where’s My Sheep?” is an epic buddy travel story—set in Etruria.

Best for cleaning out your studio

Recording Artists takes archival audio and letters and lets you hear artists, literally, in their own words. Any episode would be great while you go about preparing to make your own art or clean up your personal archive, but the interview with sculptor Eva Hesse feels particularly special because it seems to be the only extant recording of her voice.

Bonus: If you want to hear about the lives of artists like Artemesia Gentileschi, Edgar Degas, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, and more, take a look through the Art + Ideas backlist.

Best for making dinner

Think about how the recipes you love and pass on are more than just food—they’re also heritage—with an episode of ReCurrent. Hear host Jaime Roque recount his own family’s treasured recipes and how food can connect us to our past.

Best for when you need your kids to chill out for a minute

Prepping something while your kids are running wild? Trying to find a minute to finish an email and need a distraction? Try this episode of If Objects Could Talk on our extremely tense sculpture The Vexed Man, which ends with a relaxing breathing exercise to help bring the energy levels back down to earth.

Best for walking the dog

As you get outside, you can hear how the outdoors inspired Vincent van Gogh and appreciate the way being in nature engages all of your senses with this Irises-inspired episode of OMMM: Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation.

Best for keeping your sanity with a new baby in the house

Artists can be parents, too. And hearing how they navigated and responded to that period can help put your own sleep deprivation into perspective—or at least help you feel a sense of solidarity with artists across time. As you’re bogged down in the mundane daily care of an infant, hear how Fluxus artist Benjamin Patterson announced the birth of his son in a heartfelt note, and then rearranged his life, in this episode of Recording Artists.

Best for fleeing from a volcano

OK, this probably (hopefully!) doesn’t come up often, but if you do find yourself near a volcano about to erupt, you might choose this Art + Ideas episode on Daisy Dunn’s book The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny. Pliny the Elder set out to investigate Vesuvius in 79 CE as it was erupting. Though he perished, his nephew Pliny the Younger recorded the details of his final hours, an important record of this influential volcanic eruption.

Bonus: Learn about the way people have tried to read texts carbonized by that Vesuvius eruption in 79 CE in this interview with scientist Brent Seales.

And that's our list! How did we do? Did you discover something new? See an old fave? If we missed your favorites or you're dying for us to cover something new, leave us a comment on your go-to podcast app and let us know!