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A close-up of vivid bird feathers in shades of orange, teal, yellow, and brown, with overlaid text that reads 'Immaterial,' with the letters staggered vertically.
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Immaterial

A podcast spanning 5,000 years of art, one material at a time.

About

Stories of the materials used in making art are often as thought-provoking and illuminating as the objects themselves. From The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Immaterial is a podcast that examines the materials of art and what they can reveal about history and humanity. Each episode looks at a single material, exploring the qualities and meanings that are often overlooked.

View previous seasons

Episodes

The inside of a conch shell with the text "Immaterial"
Audio
Introducing: Immaterial
Get up close and personal with artists’ materials to see what they can tell us about art, history, and humanity.
May 18, 2022
Detail of an ink and watercolor painting on paper with plants, leaves, and other organic elements
Audio
Immaterial: Paper
Get a handle on palm-sized ephemera in The Met collection.
May 25, 2022
Detail of a concrete object with a crack running up the left side
Audio
Immaterial: Concrete
What makes concrete so controversial? Well, it’s complicated.
June 8, 2022
Detail of the curves of a clay vessel with stripes of dark and light red clay
Audio
Immaterial: Clay
Touch it, smell it... eat it?
June 22, 2022
Detail view of the inside of a conch shell
Audio
Immaterial: Shells
It all began with the call of the conch.
July 6, 2022
Extreme close-up of a carved piece of green jade
Audio
Immaterial: Jade
How did a Māori hei tiki find its way halfway across the world to The Met?
July 20, 2022
Close-up detail of a sheet of tan linen cloth
Audio
Immaterial: Linen
Suit up as we undress the complex legacy of linen.
August 3, 2022
Detail of the interior of a 5th-century BC bronze Chinese zhong or bell with a green patina
Audio
Immaterial: Metals, Part One
Dive into the magic of iron, bronze, lead, and copper.
August 17, 2022
A metallic black and gold texture
Audio
Immaterial: Metals, Part Two
Let’s talk about the metals that break the rules.
August 31, 2022
17th century etching of two peasant card players and a skeleton representing death
Audio
Immaterial: Bonus Episode, Tarot
Grab a cup of tea and join us for a bonus episode on tarot.
September 14, 2022

Bonus Content

A digital collage of Omene cigarette cards
Immaterial: Bonus Feature, The Mystery and Legacy of Omene
How one woman uncovered the lost identity of her great-grandmother through cigarette cards.
Benjamin Korman
June 6, 2022
Interior view of a concrete structure at the Vulcania Museum in Auvergne
Immaterial: Bonus Feature, Max Hollein Reflects on Concrete, the Podcast’s Most Controversial Material
The Met’s director talks Brutalism, the “white cube” gallery, and growing up on construction sites.
The Digital Editors
June 27, 2022
Maori hei tiki, or greenstone pendant, carved with large eyes and abstracted human facial features, embryonic quality
Immaterial: Bonus Feature, Sharing Taonga at The Pacific Virtual Museum
Making the cultural heritage of the Pacific visible and accessible to all.
Tim Kong
July 28, 2022
Poet Camille Dungy, a Black woman with long dreadlocks wearing a black turtleneck, laughing and standing among trees
Immaterial: Bonus Feature, Camille T. Dungy on Poetry, Podcasting, and the Ecstasy of Nuance
Get to know the host of Immaterial.
Benjamin Korman
August 15, 2022

Credits


Immaterial is produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Magnificent Noise.

Host: Camille Dungy

Production staff includes Jesse Baker, Elyse Blennerhassett, Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong, Eleanor Kagan, Benjamin Korman, Eric Nuzum, and Sarah Wambold. Additional staff includes Rachel Smith.

Executive Advisors: Max Hollein, Inka Drögemüller, Douglas Hegley, Kenneth Weine, Andrea Bayer, Tricia Robson

Sound design by Ariana Martinez. Engineering by Kristin Mueller and Paul Schneider

Original music by Austin Fisher

Fact-checking by Christine Baird

Graphic Design: Christopher DiPietro, Mortimer Lebigre

Marketing, Communications, and Social Media: Ann Bailis, Meryl Cates, Claire Lanier, Jonathan Lee, Gretchen Scott

Special Thanks: Sofie Andersen, Suhaly Bautista-Carolina, Kim Benzel, Yaëlle Biro, Skyla Choi, Vonetta DeVonish, Nina Diamond, Adam Eaker, Anne Grady, Lela Jenkins, Meghan Kase, Brinda Kumar, Claire Lanier, Marco Leona, Neyda Martinez, Nadine Orenstein, Lisa Pilosi, Isabel Rivera, Marianna Siciliano, Madhav Tankha

Supported by

Bloomberg Philanthropies

and Dasha Zhukova Niarchos.

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