Columbia Museum of Art launches Binder podcast

First season features Hindsight 20/20 photographers and poets

Columbia, S.C. – The Columbia Museum of Art announces the launch of Binder podcast, an original podcast produced in house and hosted by CMA writer-in-residence Ray McManus, who talks with writers, artists, photographers, and curators about what they create, why they make it, and what it means. The pilot episode premiered August 10, with new episodes available each Tuesday.

“I think doing the podcast, it embodies the mission of the Columbia Museum of Art,” says McManus. “Taking what is going on with the programming inside the walls and getting it out into the community. And I can’t think of a better way to do that than using a medium that people can access while they are driving to work or sitting in their backyard. It’s informative, it’s entertaining, and it really provides a whole other layer to the museum that they might not otherwise see.”

Season one consists of six episodes and focuses on current exhibition Hindsight 20/20, which features photography taken in Columbia documenting the extraordinary events of the past year, particularly historically poignant moments of the Black Lives Matter protests and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first episode, McManus talks with CMA staffers Joelle Ryan-Cook (deputy director), Catherine Walworth (curator), and Jackie Adams (director of art and learning) about ekphrastic poetry, current exhibitions, and the impetus behind the podcast.

Each of the following episodes offers interviews with a photographer in the exhibition, original poetry responding to that work, and interviews with the poet. Photographers featured in Hindsight 20/20 and Binder podcast include Héctor Vaca Cruz, Thomas Hammond, Catherine Hunsinger, Sean Rayford, and Crush Rush. Writers featured in Binder podcast include Al Black, Sunshine Dempsey, Len Lawson, Loli Molina Muñoz, Jesus Redondo, and Michelle Reese.

Binder podcast is singlehandedly produced by CMA Senior Multimedia Producer Drew Baron.

“Museums are about sparking conversation, and podcasts are about having conversation, so it’s a natural fit,” says Baron. “This is an opportunity to deepen the storytelling of Hindsight 20/20 beyond what the images can show us by providing insight into the ideas and processes of the photographers. By pairing this with ekphrastic poetry, we get to see that more than one reading is possible. My hope is that by giving the listener these tools, they’ll be inspired to interpret these works based on their own experiences, much like the photographers and poets have.”