If Objects Could Talk

Season 2 – If Objects Could Talk

Trailer

Cartoon illustration of an owl and teal cat peering through a doorway beside text reading "If Objects Could Talk".

Coming Soon: Bastille Day (and Season 2)

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[Door opens and chair is dragged across floor]

Purrquoise: It’s an honor to be here talking to all of you today. Truly, honored. Thank you for thinking of me.

I mean... I would not say I was surprised when you asked me. [laughs] I don’t mean to brag, but I imagine you’ve seen my face plastered all over this museum. Purquoise scarves, Purquoise Christmas ornaments [bells ring], Purquoise stickers, even a teeny tiny replica of me, Purrquoise, to bring home with you. [chimes twinkle] So if you said I was an inspiration to museum lovers everywhere, well, I wouldn’t correct you.

Still, I am honored, really, that you big Hollywood producers took this meeting with me.

Ok, let’s get down to it. Part thrilling adventure movie, part period drama—and I lived it!

[Low, dramatic violin music begins]

Picture it: Paris at dawn. The city is quiet, eerie even. Smoke still rises.

The date? July 15, 1789. That’s right! The day after the most important day in French history: the day Parisians stormed the Bastille! [cheering and sounds of revolution] The day ordinary people threw off the yoke of tyrannical monarchs and began the glorious French revolution! [triumphant music plays]

Well, at least, that’s how the movie version would go.

Zoe Goldman: Uh Purrquoise... I think you mixed up your meetings. We’re podcast producers. We didn’t ask you here to talk about your screenplay.

Purrquoise: What? But this is an incredible story! [sighs] It could be a podcast too, I suppose. An adventure tale for the ages! [triumphant music plays]

Maybe you just don’t understand the drama of the storming of the Bastille. The anniversary is this week, you know. They call it le quatorze Juillet—the 14th of July—but I think you here call it Bastille Day? It’s sort of like your Independence Day, the 4th of July. [people chatter] They have fireworks and parades and parties and celebrate their country! Come to think of it, a lot of countries have national holidays like that.

Goldman: [clears throat] Uh, Purrquoise…

Purrquoise: [crowd yelling] Anyway, I was there, in 1789, the event that started it all! I had already seen so much.

[Water spashing]

I’d traveled by ship from China 50 or so years prior. My beloved owner, Madame de Pompadour, had been dead 35 years already, but I was made to roam. [adventurous music] Around this time, I was bouncing from mansion to mansion. Traveling across the city, I was learning so much about France, my adopted home. Such diversity! Such energy!

Then BAM! The city in turmoil.

Well, in truth, the city was already in turmoil. [crowds angrily shout] The price of bread had been rising for months, anger at the king and monarchy had been growing. And the Bastille was a symbol of the terror of the regime.

Imagine a medieval fortress in the center of Paris: drawbridges and iron grates and massive stone walls. Frightful! Looming! It had been turned into a prison under King Louis the 14th but… [gets cut off]

Goldman: Purqouise, that is very exciting, really, but we thought you’d be talking about our podcast, If Objects Could Talk, not pitching your own. Remember? Season 2 is coming…? You’re one of the stars...?

Purrquoise: Ah, of course! Season 2! Sorry, yes, yes, yes. How’s this:

[Theme music begins]

The year? 2026. The place? Well, anywhere you are!

In Season 2 of If Objects Could Talk, you’ll hear stories from ten amazing, brave, and charming objects from the Getty Museum—including yours truly. Ten of our most daring adventures, our most shocking twists, and maybe even a few bloopers! Subscribe to If Objects Could Talk now to be the first to hear new episodes. Coming to a podcast app near you soon!

[Music cuts off]

Goldman: Oh wow. That was great, actually. No notes. You really pulled that off! Thanks, Purrquoise!

[Theme music continues]

Listen to the cat and subscribe to If Objects Could Talk today! And for more information and activities about Bastille Day, visit our website at Getty dot edu slash podcasts.

[theme fades out]

Purrquoise: Yeah of course, and if this podcast thing doesn’t work out, maybe we could do that movie. I mean I know we’re close to Hollywood…do you know anyone?

Announcing Season 2, this mini-episode features Purrquoise, a bright turquoise porcelain cat that was made in China in the 1700s and has traveled the world ever since.

Now that he’s made himself at home in Los Angeles, he’s ready to pitch his script all about the storming of the Bastille and the French Revolution.

Of course, if he can’t get that movie made, he’s still excited to announce that If Objects Can Talk returns this fall with ten more stories from adventurous, luxurious—and sometimes very silly—objects, including Purrquoise himself!

Season 1 – Really, Really, Really Old Things

Trailer

If Objects Could Talk Trailer

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Announcer: This is a Getty Podcast.

Zoe Goldman: Have you ever wondered how a snake bracelet celebrates her favorite holiday?

[Celebration sounds]

Snake: Everything is DIVINE at a party. The gods walked among us on those nights, I’m sure of it!

Goldman: Or what Athena’s owl thinks about the Greek marketplace?

[Mediterranean music begins]

Owl: It was at the agora where a vendor cut into me just to make sure I was really made out of silver.

[Metal slicing then owl squawk]

Well he could’ve just asked!

Goldman: This fall, we’re launching a new family podcast called If Objects Could Talk, where artifacts come alive to share their side of the story.

[Music ends]

Cat statuette: I also heard that I am some sort of diva.

[Disco music begins]

A cat wears a little jewelry and suddenly you’re typecast? Fine. Guilty as charged!

Goldman: Each episode, you’ll hear from different objects about everything, from how they were made:

[Energetic music begins]

Feet lamp: Ok, picture it: I was nothin’! Just a ball of damp clay.

Goldman: To their role in daily rituals and routines:

Lar: Most nights I would even join the family for dinner; I’d sit right on the table!

[thump]

Goldman: To how they played with children just like you.

[music ends, pounding beat begins]

Astragalos: He took a deep breath. He tossed me into the air...I twisted and turned under the open sky and...I stuck the landing like a pro! The crowd went wild!

[cheering and celebratory music]

[theme music begins]

Goldman: If Objects Could Talk is coming this fall wherever you listen to podcasts and on getty dot edu slash podcasts.

[theme music ends]

What is Athena’s owl doing in the Greek marketplace? How does a snake bracelet celebrate her favorite holiday?

This season on If Objects Could Talk, the newest series from Getty Podcasts, artifacts leave the museum vault and come alive to share their side of the story. Featuring objects from Getty’s antiquities collection, each episode introduces listeners to the history, creation, and everyday use of incredible items like an Egyptian cat statue, an ancient kind of dice, and a glass flask shaped like a fish. Voice actors and immersive sound design bring these historical fiction tales to life.

Listen to the series then take the self-guided tour.