
Episode #1
What's the point of going to a museum? with Susan Crane
<p>Did you know the Mona Lisa only got world-famous after it was stolen from the Louvre? In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was just another portrait in the Salon Carré, shoved between a bunch of other Renaissance paintings. But when a former museum worker stole it, the public flocked to the museum to stare at "nothing," the blank space on the wall.</p><p>This phenomenon fascinated Susan Crane, a history professor at the University of Arizona and author of "Nothing Happened: A History." </p><p>In 2026, the Mona Lisa's status could not be more different: It has a wall e...


