European inventory of
societal values of culture

Yodovich & Ben David – The Museums That make us: A case study

Yodovich, N. & Ben David, G. (2023).The Museums That make us: A case study

In 2022, the BBC’s Radio 4 launched the podcast, The Museums That Make Us. The podcast explores local, regional, and city museums across Britain in order to answer the question “What are museums for in 2022?” In the current case study, we perceive the podcast The Museums That Make Us as a social agent and analyse the ways in which it constructs a narrative on British culture through the exploration of museums and engagement with the public (thus aligning with INVENT’s bottom-up approach). We argue that The Museums that Make Us underscored three main goals achieved by the museums featured in the podcast: addressing past and current social rifts, constructing a local identity, and inspiring young and future generations. In the backdrop of a tumultuous time in the UK (Brexit, COVID-19, austerity), the podcast aimed to emphasise the importance of museums and the cultural sector in the hopes to inspire current and future British audiences.