September 2, 2025 • 24 mins
Bob Eckstein, the brilliant, funny award-winning illustrator and New Yorker cartoonist, shares how his career evolved from writing to cartooning and his passion for uncovering extraordinary stories in ordinary subjects throughout the world.
His latest book, "Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums," showcases North America's most captivating museums and the transformative experiences they offer visitors of all interests. The interview focuses on how he:
• Spent seven years traveling globally to solve the mystery of who made the first snowman
• Became a cartoonist accidentally while researching his first book on snowmen history, and wrote a book about bookstores around the world.
• Transitioned from museum-hater as a child to passionate advocate after visiting Natural History Museum
• Selected museums for his book based on beauty, compelling stories, and community impact
• Created museum categories for everyone, including those who think they hate museums
• Aims to create books appealing to men, who he believes aren't reading enough
• Highlights unique museums like the Mob Museum, the Spam Museum, and the Museum of Jurassic Technology
• Spent a week sketching on the oldest working ship in the world, later recreating its captain's quarters in his home
• Has exciting upcoming projects including museum postcards, a book about writers and their cats, and a movie
• Recommends visiting Bruges early morning or late evening to experience its true beauty
**
Guest Bob Eckstein is an award-winning illustrator and New Yorker cartoonist. Check out his website! Also, see his books and new sets of gorgeous postcards here.
**
Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, and has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and 'one of the top 100 Indie books of the year'). She has contributed to many guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles.
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Our award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane, has dropped over 120 travel episodes! New episodes drop on the first Tuesday of the month, on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lea Lane (00:00):
Bob Eckstein is an award-winning illustrator,
writer and cartoonist for theNew Yorker, the New York Times
and many other places.
He's also author illustrator ofthe New York Times bestseller
Footnotes from the World'sGreatest Bookstores, but we'll
be focusing on his recent bookFootnotes from the Most
Fascinating Museums Stories andMemorable Moments from People
(00:20):
who Love Museums.
Welcome, Bob to Places IRemember.
Bob Eckstein (00:25):
Hello, I love this podcast and it's so great to
see you.
I love your work.
Lea Lane (00:31):
Let's talk a bit about your career as a cartoonist.
What's your background and whendid you think you'd become a
cartoonist?
Bob Eckstein (00:38):
Well, it was quite by accident.
I began as a writer.
I was writing very young, Iliked writing humor, I liked
doing illustration.
But gag cartoons that you seein the New Yorker, that was not
on my radar at all.
That was something thathappened much later, when I was
doing my first book, the Historyof the Snowman, and it was
(01:02):
becoming a very academic bookand I decided that this was very
like fact heavy, it was foradults and I at some point
decided I needed an intermissionand so I decided to approach
the New Yorker to get cartoonsas a commercial break in the
middle of the book.
They invited me on my birthdayto that famous New Year cartoon
(01:24):
lunch and I hung out with themat this French restaurant and I
said I had a really good time,the food was good and I said can
I come back?
One of the guys who I becamefriends with, the great Sam
Gross, said sure, you'll comeback, but I dare you to come
back with cartoons.
So I went home and I did somecartoons and then I went back to
(01:44):
the New Yorker to the lunch andI was introduced to Bob Mankoff
, the cartoon editor, and heactually purchased the first
cartoon that I drew and thatopened up the whole career of
cartoons.
I quickly became a cartoonistfor many different places, like
Playboy and Mad Magazine, and Iwas nominated Cartoonist of the
(02:06):
Year.
I was trying to solve themystery of who made the first
Snowman.
I had a dream team of expertshelping me.
I had the leading archaeologistin the world, Nigel Spivey.
That's a name that some peoplewould remember from PBS.
I had the leading professors ofcultural history.
(02:27):
I had art historians who weretracking down any evidence of
any depictions of snowmen in anytype of art.
This led me down to theprehistoric times and cave
paintings and, talking to peoplewho are the leading experts to
tell me that in fact, man didmake depictions of himself in
(02:51):
all forms, in not only caves andout of stick and out of mud,
but no doubt out of snow.
No one else has investigatedthis subject.
Lea Lane (03:02):
I think it's a great excuse to travel, especially in
the winter, to try to find thesewonderful snowmen all over.
I love the way you'reinterested in things.
Bob Eckstein (03:11):
I'm a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and I wanted to
solve my own mystery, but Ididn't want it to be about crime
.
I wanted to do something likewho told the first joke?
Or who made the first joke.
Well, who made the firstsandwich?
And I traveled around the worldfor seven years at the Royal
Library at the Hague and it wasthe most exciting period.
(03:32):
It was so much fun.
I would run off to a ferry thatwas just catching up with a
private airplane that would sendme on a bicycle to Amsterdam.
And then I would be meetingwith some professor at the
University of Amsterdam whowanted to show me that, in the
margins of an illuminatedmanuscript from 1380, there was
(03:55):
an illustration in the Book ofHours of a snowman being melted
next to a solemn passage of thecrucifixion of Christ, and this
illustration actually insultedspectacularly two religions at
the same time, beinganti-Semitic as well as an
insult, and it's an example ofthe grotesque humor that did
(04:19):
exist when people were confusedabout what was happening in the
world around them and sex --graphically offensive.
Lea Lane (04:28):
Who knew all this?
My goodness, I just think of acarrot and some sticks.
This is fascinating.
You are also author,illustrator, I mentioned
Footnotes from the World'sGreatest Bookstores, so you
traveled around the world forthat.
Just give us one or two of yourfavorites.
Bob Eckstein (04:43):
Oh, I'm partial to some for personal reasons.
I was a teenager.
My first romantic moment, andthat happened in the back of
Strand Bookstore heated romance.
Lea Lane (04:57):
The Reminds Me of Notting Hill, by the way, the
great romance, yes exactly.
Bob Eckstein (05:03):
I know that you're partial to the bookstore in
Portugal.
Yes, a lot of people say itinspired the passage about the
crazy staircases in Harry Potter.
The author taught English downthe street from that bookstore
for a couple of years and itseems to match the movie
(05:26):
identically this amazing,elaborate network of staircases
that make that bookstore one ofthe most beautiful in the world.
Lea Lane (05:35):
It is.
You have to get tickets now toget in.
By the way, people don't needbooks anymore, they just go in
to take selfies, unfortunately,it's stunning.
In North America alone, thereare about 40,000 museums, and
you chose to feature about 70 ofthem as your favorites in your
book Footnotes for the MostFascinating Museums.
How did you choose them?
Bob Eckstein (05:56):
Oh, the factors that I chose.
The museums would be not justhistorical but beauty, and if
they had a great story to share,that made it more attractive.
The whole point of the book wasto raise awareness.
I wanted people to go out andenjoy these museums, but other
factors included how much theywere involved in helping their
(06:17):
community.
A lot of these museums do a lotfor the local area and they're
educational not just in the mostobvious ways, but they also
have programs that help children.
They encourage people to learn,they bring in kids and get them
interested in subjects thatcould change their whole life.
I mean, a lot of stories Iheard was how a child went to
(06:39):
someplace and then they decideto become a whatever a scientist
, or they want to be an artistor something, and it's maybe
taken for granted how muchimpact these museums could have,
and so I chose museums thatwould have that type of impact.
But at the same time, too, Iwanted to make sure that in my
book there was a museum foreverybody, even for people who
(07:02):
hate museums.
I hated museums when I firststarted.
When I first went to a museum,it was my mom packing us up all
in the station wagon from theBronx, New York, and we drove
down to Washington DC, my dadchain smoking in the front
windows closed, so we all hadsecondhand smoke and, not
(07:28):
knowing that we finally weregoing on a vacation, it would
not be going to HoJo's in aswimming pool, but instead
you're going to have to be stuckin Washington DC reading
plaques, with my mom using herJeopardy voice, thinking that
she was doing us some grandfavor.
It was insufferable.
The last thing I ever thoughtI'd be doing would be doing a
(07:51):
book on museums and having alove for museums.
What changed was the same thingthat happened to a lot of
children, was if you went to theMuseum of Natural History, that
was an eye-opener.
If I was to say like what's oneof my favorite museum moments,
it would be when I finally sawthe giant whale wrestling with
(08:15):
the squid in the deep ocean.
That diorama, well, in any ofthe dioramas, getting a chance
to see a grizzly bear close upand yet waving your arms in
front of it and not beingattacked, the fact that you
could see these big animals as alittle kid was mind-boggling
and that was such an excitingexperience.
Lea Lane (08:37):
I read in your book that those animals in the
dioramas were brought over.
They were shipped over.
People were allowed to get themfor public use.
There's a whole history thereon setting the whole thing up.
So many children and adultshave enjoyed them since that
time.
It's a wonderful thing to bringto city kids.
Bob Eckstein (08:59):
Yeah, I was there recently.
I just got the same amount oftingling in the back of my neck
going back in hopes that theywould stock the book.
And as I walked in the giftshop there's a large table of my
book and I sat there and signedlike a couple of hundred copies
of my book.
I have had a few circle ofmoments like this in my life
(09:23):
where, for instance, I got intohumor by Monty Python.
I was a fan of Monty Python andthat was one of the ways, as a
little kid thinking, oh, Ireally want to do this.
And I was telling you before wecame on the air that I am
probably your least worldlytraveler.
It's very exciting to be on theshow.
I'm a little intimidated that Idon't stack up to some of your
(09:47):
guests, but I have a friend whodoes.
I think that Michael Palin,Monty Python, may be the most
well-versed traveler, and Inever knew.
When I was a kid I could neverimagine that we would become
friends.
Lea Lane (10:05):
He blurbed your book.
He blurbed it.
I saw that.
Bob Eckstein (10:08):
Yeah, he's been very supportive.
He's a great friend.
Life is so unusual.
It's constantly throwingcurveballs and it happens in
every one of these books.
It happens every time I one ofthese books.
It happens every time travel tothese places.
It's never what you expect inyour mind the place to be like.
(10:29):
It's amazing, and I do feellike a novice after listening to
your podcast, as I have for awhile.
Lea Lane (10:37):
You're terrific yeah.
Bob Eckstein (10:39):
I made it.
Lea Lane (10:41):
I'm here.
Come on, I think you made itpretty well.
Let's just go through some ofthe categories.
You have nine categories inyour museum book and I'll
mention them, and if there's anymuseum that pops up in your
mind that you want to talk aboutunder the category, do so.
I just want to stress howbeautiful the book is.
The illustrations are in colorand they're so quirky and
(11:02):
wonderful and charming, andwriting is from you and from
other museum goers.
Okay, so the first category isacademia and science.
I've been to the Explorers Clubmyself that's under there,
that's in New York City, andthey have all kinds of
interesting things, especiallyfrom people who've been to the
North Pole and the South Poleand that kind of thing.
(11:22):
Yeah, I mean.
Bob Eckstein (11:24):
I went to the Explorers Club before the book,
interested in that.
Of course Michael Palin had aconnection to that, so I went
there.
I want d to get married on theNorth Pole, but my wife knew
that I was fascinated with snow.
Even as a little kid.
I was collecting huge amountsof books about Shackleton and
(11:47):
Scott and all that stuff and Irecommend listeners to go back
to one of your early episodesabout Antarctica.
That was really a fascinatingepisode.
But we learned that youcouldn't legally get the
documentation to be married inthe North Pole, so the next best
thing was to elope it toIceland.
Lea Lane (12:07):
That sounds better.
Even it's ice, right, it'sbeautiful there.
Bob Eckstein (12:11):
It was a little scary at the time because when
you travel in Iceland and at atime there was no cell phones
when you're going around thecircumference and you're
crossing the Arctic Circle,where that island is on the very
north end, you're in veryremote areas.
If the car breaks down, youhave nowhere near food,
(12:31):
telephones, nothing.
Very remote areas.
Lea Lane (12:35):
But it's gotten very popular.
So I drove it a couple of yearsago and it was crowded.
Actually, try to get there nowoff season a little bit 71, I
think and there were no touristsin Iceland at all at that point
.
It's a beautiful place to getmarried, I'm sure.
Bob Eckstein (12:52):
The same day we went to the Penis Museum.
Lea Lane (12:55):
Well, if that's not in your book, how come?
Bob Eckstein (12:57):
Well, the book could not have all the museums
in the world, so I had to narrowit down to North America.
It would have been toocumbersome and too much for the
reader to have worldwide museums.
I decided that this book wasgoing to help Americans plan
their summerfication.
I wanted to have like aFather's Day present, because
(13:19):
everything with books today isfor women.
There's a lot of books forwomen and men are not reading
enough, and I want to changethat.
I want to make more books thatbring men into reading again.
It's a shame men don't readenough, and so this book was to
appeal to them, and that's why alot of the museums in the book
(13:41):
include subjects that men mightlike.
There's the Steamtown NationalHistoric Site for Trains.
There's a car museum that I hadmen in mind for that (Peterson
in LA), that's right.
Oh, that's a great place.
It's a lot of fun.
I mean, museums don't alwayshave to be academic.
(14:02):
They could be just for visualcandy and going out and enjoying
things and dreaming.
You know I'm not going to getsome of these cars that I dream
about.
You know I'm not going to getsome of these cars that I dream
about, but to go up close tothese cars that I can dream
about is really well, that'ssomething.
Lea Lane (14:21):
I think people think of museums as paintings and
sculpture --under culture.
You have the Mob Museum.
I happen to have been to theMob Museum in Las Vegas and you
kind of take your mugshot andthen you go through and it's
fascinating about the history ofyou know, the mob in America
and the FBI, but it's also somuch fun and if you're talking
about things that men would likethere, you go right, yeah, yeah
(14:44):
.
Bob Eckstein (14:44):
And it comes back to a point that I mentioned
earlier, which is trying to takesomething that we take for
granted to make it interesting.
That is the premise for everybook I've done, since I've done
over a dozen books.
How can I make them feel likethey're going someplace?
The bookstore book and themuseum book I want you to turn
the page and be surprised that Ibrought you to a place that you
(15:07):
didn't think of.
That's my motivation.
Lea Lane (15:10):
That's one of the charms of the book; you never
know what to expect.
I'll just mention some of theother categories.
We don't have to mention themuseums because I hope people
get the book.
But you have academia, culture,encyclopedic museums meaning
they cover huge, huge numbers ofthings, like the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
You have museums concentratingin fine arts.
You have historic homes likeGraceland, and the Tenement
(15:34):
Museum is under there in NewYork City, which I think is a
great place to visit.
You cover natural history andthe great outdoors.
You have a chapter Planes,Trains, Automobiles and Ships,
which of course again goes topeople who are interested in not
just art and sculptures and soforth, interested in not just
art and sculptures and so forth.
And then you have Miscellany,and under Miscellany could be so
many things (15:55):
A salt and pepper museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee,
which I still remember to thisday.
It was very good, but I thoughtI have to see this.
It was beautiful but it wasMiscellany.
Then you have a Spam museumunder Miscellany, and it's not
spam like an internet spam.
Tell us what that is.
Bob Eckstein (16:12):
The spam museum is a little on the commercial side
.
So when I was dealing with themthey kept on asking me that
everything was to frame it inthe form of a commercial,
because some people may not know.
Well, spam is something thatmaybe the less you know the
better.
Yes, yeah, it's one of thosethings.
It's sort of a substitute meatand it's made most famous by a
(16:35):
famous Monty Python skit sayingspam, spam, spam, spam, spam,
spam, spam spam They recreatedthe set from Monty Python for
(17:03):
you to see the spam skit.
And I told Michael this and hegoes "h, I didn't see it, it
went straight to my spam folder.
But that museum is nice.
But in that category I want tomention something that is a
must-go to for anyone who isgoing to the West Coast and that
(17:26):
is the Museum of JurassicTechnology.
This is the Andy Kaufman ofmuseums and I'm not going to say
a whole lot because I don'twant to spoil it, but it is the
most bizarre experience foranyone going to a tourist
attraction and I highlyrecommend that as one of the
museums.
An a nA museum I want to mentiontha.
(17:47):
You mentioned a category lanes,rains, utomobiles and hips.
The Marine Time Museum of Sango had such an impact on me and
I had such a wonderful time onthe story of india ship that
they have on exhibit, which isactually the star of the movie
master and commander, starringrussell crowe that I wouldn't
(18:10):
leave the ship.
I spent a a week on it,sketching and stuff.
The ship did not move, itstayed in dock, but it is the
oldest working ship now in theworld.
I went back to Pennsylvania andI recreated the captain's
quarters in my house.
In the attic.
I reconfigured my whole officeto be a captain's quarters, with
(18:33):
a porthole porthole porthole.
porthole.
.
t's.
Although Although it's theoldest working ship in the world
, it stays in dock for people toenjoy and to visit.
And so I stayed there for dayssketching and getting a feel for
what it would be like to liveon this ship.
And also, of course, I watchedMaster and Commander over and
over.
It's a movie I really enjoyed,even the equipment reconfigured
(18:58):
into old crates, into a style Ilike to call low tide.
And now this office is where Iwrote a book called the Sea
Below Us, which is an 1850 diarygraphic novel that will be
coming out later.
But it was all about life onthe boat and the story takes
(19:19):
place in the North Pole.
It's about an explorer andtrying to find the missing Sir
John Franklin, which issomething I've wanted to do, but
I've been very busy.
Lea Lane (19:29):
Is there anything else coming out?
You mentioned some postcards.
Bob Eckstein (19:32):
Yes, the publisher , Chronicle Books, was so happy
with the museum book that theydecided to come out with a
postcard set of my paintings andinclude paintings that were cut
from the book.
So we have some new paintingsthat didn't make the cut that
I'm very excited about including, because there were some
museums that were upset thatthey were cut and I felt bad
(19:54):
about that--a A choice of space,there's nothing I could do but
now I feel better that they'reincluded in this beautiful set
and Chronicle Books made thisamazing set.
There's groups out there oftravelers and postcard
collectors.
Almost a million people wholike to travel to places and
send postcards from thoselocations and they've been
(20:15):
waiting for me to come out withmy next postcard set.
, My my first postcard set ofbookstores around the world is
very popular, with people buyingthe sets and not necessarily
using them as postcards, butwallpapering their dorms with
them.
So that's a lot of fun.
I have a book coming out inSeptember called Inspired by
(20:37):
Cats, which are the greatestwriters in the world inspired by
their pet cat.
I'm also coming out with a cardgame to help writers, called
Writer's Block, and it's a funnygame.
There's a movie being worked onbased on my book the
Illustrated History of theSnowman.
Lea Lane (20:56):
Wonderful.
It's so great that there's moreto come.
What you've done is so charmingand wonderful.
(I'll have to come back.
Absolutely.
We can do much more about thebookstores and we can certainly
talk more about your stories.
I think you've told many.
Is there any one?
We end usually with a specialstory.
This is Places I Remember, sowe try to remember something
(21:18):
about traveling.
Do you have one story to end?
Bob Eckstein (21:21):
I think the best story to help listeners choose a
vacation location.
Go to Bruges, would you agree,it's one of the most beautiful
places.
Lea Lane (21:32):
It is.
I wrote a chapter for onBruges, but I will give people
one tip (21:35):
go early, early or late, late in the day.
In the middle of the day it'svery crowded.
If you could get up early, it'sspectacular and the night is
the golden hour.
Spectacular, I love it.
Tell us more.
Bob Eckstein (21:49):
Yeah, I mean I would recommend getting there by
train.
I think it's really romantic togo to those train stations in
Belgium.
I love Brussels.
I was researching the snowmanbecause there's a pivotal part
of the snowman's history thattakes place in that region, so
that's how I got a chance todiscover Bruges for myself.
(22:11):
To discover to go back toNormandy, where there is an
old-fashioned miniature golfcourse that is, instead of
artificial turf, the course ismade up of red clay, like the
French Open, and it's such aspecial miniature golf course
and that's a little gem torecommend.
Lea Lane (22:31):
Absolutely.
I've never heard of that one.
You find the most interestingthings.
You say you don't travel much,but what you've given us today
is fascinating.
So thank you so much.
Bob Eckstein, cartoonist andauthor, illustrator of
absolutely charming bestsellingbooks and so much more.
We love and we need yourdelightful take on the world.
(22:52):
Thank you so, so much.
Bob Eckstein (22:55):
Thank you so much.
Lea.
Bob Eckstein is an award-winning illustrator,
writer and cartoonist for theNew Yorker, the New York Times
and many other places.
He's also author illustrator ofthe New York Times bestseller
Footnotes from the World'sGreatest Bookstores, but we'll
be focusing on his recent bookFootnotes from the Most
Fascinating Museums Stories andMemorable Moments from People
(00:20):
who Love Museums.
Welcome, Bob to Places IRemember.
Bob Eckstein (00:25):
Hello, I love this podcast and it's so great to
see you.
I love your work.
Lea Lane (00:31):
Let's talk a bit about your career as a cartoonist.
What's your background and whendid you think you'd become a
cartoonist?
Bob Eckstein (00:38):
Well, it was quite by accident.
I began as a writer.
I was writing very young, Iliked writing humor, I liked
doing illustration.
But gag cartoons that you seein the New Yorker, that was not
on my radar at all.
That was something thathappened much later, when I was
doing my first book, the Historyof the Snowman, and it was
(01:02):
becoming a very academic bookand I decided that this was very
like fact heavy, it was foradults and I at some point
decided I needed an intermissionand so I decided to approach
the New Yorker to get cartoonsas a commercial break in the
middle of the book.
They invited me on my birthdayto that famous New Year cartoon
(01:24):
lunch and I hung out with themat this French restaurant and I
said I had a really good time,the food was good and I said can
I come back?
One of the guys who I becamefriends with, the great Sam
Gross, said sure, you'll comeback, but I dare you to come
back with cartoons.
So I went home and I did somecartoons and then I went back to
(01:44):
the New Yorker to the lunch andI was introduced to Bob Mankoff
, the cartoon editor, and heactually purchased the first
cartoon that I drew and thatopened up the whole career of
cartoons.
I quickly became a cartoonistfor many different places, like
Playboy and Mad Magazine, and Iwas nominated Cartoonist of the
(02:06):
Year.
I was trying to solve themystery of who made the first
Snowman.
I had a dream team of expertshelping me.
I had the leading archaeologistin the world, Nigel Spivey.
That's a name that some peoplewould remember from PBS.
I had the leading professors ofcultural history.
(02:27):
I had art historians who weretracking down any evidence of
any depictions of snowmen in anytype of art.
This led me down to theprehistoric times and cave
paintings and, talking to peoplewho are the leading experts to
tell me that in fact, man didmake depictions of himself in
(02:51):
all forms, in not only caves andout of stick and out of mud,
but no doubt out of snow.
No one else has investigatedthis subject.
Lea Lane (03:02):
I think it's a great excuse to travel, especially in
the winter, to try to find thesewonderful snowmen all over.
I love the way you'reinterested in things.
Bob Eckstein (03:11):
I'm a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and I wanted to
solve my own mystery, but Ididn't want it to be about crime
.
I wanted to do something likewho told the first joke?
Or who made the first joke.
Well, who made the firstsandwich?
And I traveled around the worldfor seven years at the Royal
Library at the Hague and it wasthe most exciting period.
(03:32):
It was so much fun.
I would run off to a ferry thatwas just catching up with a
private airplane that would sendme on a bicycle to Amsterdam.
And then I would be meetingwith some professor at the
University of Amsterdam whowanted to show me that, in the
margins of an illuminatedmanuscript from 1380, there was
(03:55):
an illustration in the Book ofHours of a snowman being melted
next to a solemn passage of thecrucifixion of Christ, and this
illustration actually insultedspectacularly two religions at
the same time, beinganti-Semitic as well as an
insult, and it's an example ofthe grotesque humor that did
(04:19):
exist when people were confusedabout what was happening in the
world around them and sex --graphically offensive.
Lea Lane (04:28):
Who knew all this?
My goodness, I just think of acarrot and some sticks.
This is fascinating.
You are also author,illustrator, I mentioned
Footnotes from the World'sGreatest Bookstores, so you
traveled around the world forthat.
Just give us one or two of yourfavorites.
Bob Eckstein (04:43):
Oh, I'm partial to some for personal reasons.
I was a teenager.
My first romantic moment, andthat happened in the back of
Strand Bookstore heated romance.
Lea Lane (04:57):
The Reminds Me of Notting Hill, by the way, the
great romance, yes exactly.
Bob Eckstein (05:03):
I know that you're partial to the bookstore in
Portugal.
Yes, a lot of people say itinspired the passage about the
crazy staircases in Harry Potter.
The author taught English downthe street from that bookstore
for a couple of years and itseems to match the movie
(05:26):
identically this amazing,elaborate network of staircases
that make that bookstore one ofthe most beautiful in the world.
Lea Lane (05:35):
It is.
You have to get tickets now toget in.
By the way, people don't needbooks anymore, they just go in
to take selfies, unfortunately,it's stunning.
In North America alone, thereare about 40,000 museums, and
you chose to feature about 70 ofthem as your favorites in your
book Footnotes for the MostFascinating Museums.
How did you choose them?
Bob Eckstein (05:56):
Oh, the factors that I chose.
The museums would be not justhistorical but beauty, and if
they had a great story to share,that made it more attractive.
The whole point of the book wasto raise awareness.
I wanted people to go out andenjoy these museums, but other
factors included how much theywere involved in helping their
(06:17):
community.
A lot of these museums do a lotfor the local area and they're
educational not just in the mostobvious ways, but they also
have programs that help children.
They encourage people to learn,they bring in kids and get them
interested in subjects thatcould change their whole life.
I mean, a lot of stories Iheard was how a child went to
(06:39):
someplace and then they decideto become a whatever a scientist
, or they want to be an artistor something, and it's maybe
taken for granted how muchimpact these museums could have,
and so I chose museums thatwould have that type of impact.
But at the same time, too, Iwanted to make sure that in my
book there was a museum foreverybody, even for people who
(07:02):
hate museums.
I hated museums when I firststarted.
When I first went to a museum,it was my mom packing us up all
in the station wagon from theBronx, New York, and we drove
down to Washington DC, my dadchain smoking in the front
windows closed, so we all hadsecondhand smoke and, not
(07:28):
knowing that we finally weregoing on a vacation, it would
not be going to HoJo's in aswimming pool, but instead
you're going to have to be stuckin Washington DC reading
plaques, with my mom using herJeopardy voice, thinking that
she was doing us some grandfavor.
It was insufferable.
The last thing I ever thoughtI'd be doing would be doing a
(07:51):
book on museums and having alove for museums.
What changed was the same thingthat happened to a lot of
children, was if you went to theMuseum of Natural History, that
was an eye-opener.
If I was to say like what's oneof my favorite museum moments,
it would be when I finally sawthe giant whale wrestling with
(08:15):
the squid in the deep ocean.
That diorama, well, in any ofthe dioramas, getting a chance
to see a grizzly bear close upand yet waving your arms in
front of it and not beingattacked, the fact that you
could see these big animals as alittle kid was mind-boggling
and that was such an excitingexperience.
Lea Lane (08:37):
I read in your book that those animals in the
dioramas were brought over.
They were shipped over.
People were allowed to get themfor public use.
There's a whole history thereon setting the whole thing up.
So many children and adultshave enjoyed them since that
time.
It's a wonderful thing to bringto city kids.
Bob Eckstein (08:59):
Yeah, I was there recently.
I just got the same amount oftingling in the back of my neck
going back in hopes that theywould stock the book.
And as I walked in the giftshop there's a large table of my
book and I sat there and signedlike a couple of hundred copies
of my book.
I have had a few circle ofmoments like this in my life
(09:23):
where, for instance, I got intohumor by Monty Python.
I was a fan of Monty Python andthat was one of the ways, as a
little kid thinking, oh, Ireally want to do this.
And I was telling you before wecame on the air that I am
probably your least worldlytraveler.
It's very exciting to be on theshow.
I'm a little intimidated that Idon't stack up to some of your
(09:47):
guests, but I have a friend whodoes.
I think that Michael Palin,Monty Python, may be the most
well-versed traveler, and Inever knew.
When I was a kid I could neverimagine that we would become
friends.
Lea Lane (10:05):
He blurbed your book.
He blurbed it.
I saw that.
Bob Eckstein (10:08):
Yeah, he's been very supportive.
He's a great friend.
Life is so unusual.
It's constantly throwingcurveballs and it happens in
every one of these books.
It happens every time I one ofthese books.
It happens every time travel tothese places.
It's never what you expect inyour mind the place to be like.
(10:29):
It's amazing, and I do feellike a novice after listening to
your podcast, as I have for awhile.
Lea Lane (10:37):
You're terrific yeah.
Bob Eckstein (10:39):
I made it.
Lea Lane (10:41):
I'm here.
Come on, I think you made itpretty well.
Let's just go through some ofthe categories.
You have nine categories inyour museum book and I'll
mention them, and if there's anymuseum that pops up in your
mind that you want to talk aboutunder the category, do so.
I just want to stress howbeautiful the book is.
The illustrations are in colorand they're so quirky and
(11:02):
wonderful and charming, andwriting is from you and from
other museum goers.
Okay, so the first category isacademia and science.
I've been to the Explorers Clubmyself that's under there,
that's in New York City, andthey have all kinds of
interesting things, especiallyfrom people who've been to the
North Pole and the South Poleand that kind of thing.
(11:22):
Yeah, I mean.
Bob Eckstein (11:24):
I went to the Explorers Club before the book,
interested in that.
Of course Michael Palin had aconnection to that, so I went
there.
I want d to get married on theNorth Pole, but my wife knew
that I was fascinated with snow.
Even as a little kid.
I was collecting huge amountsof books about Shackleton and
(11:47):
Scott and all that stuff and Irecommend listeners to go back
to one of your early episodesabout Antarctica.
That was really a fascinatingepisode.
But we learned that youcouldn't legally get the
documentation to be married inthe North Pole, so the next best
thing was to elope it toIceland.
Lea Lane (12:07):
That sounds better.
Even it's ice, right, it'sbeautiful there.
Bob Eckstein (12:11):
It was a little scary at the time because when
you travel in Iceland and at atime there was no cell phones
when you're going around thecircumference and you're
crossing the Arctic Circle,where that island is on the very
north end, you're in veryremote areas.
If the car breaks down, youhave nowhere near food,
(12:31):
telephones, nothing.
Very remote areas.
Lea Lane (12:35):
But it's gotten very popular.
So I drove it a couple of yearsago and it was crowded.
Actually, try to get there nowoff season a little bit 71, I
think and there were no touristsin Iceland at all at that point
.
It's a beautiful place to getmarried, I'm sure.
Bob Eckstein (12:52):
The same day we went to the Penis Museum.
Lea Lane (12:55):
Well, if that's not in your book, how come?
Bob Eckstein (12:57):
Well, the book could not have all the museums
in the world, so I had to narrowit down to North America.
It would have been toocumbersome and too much for the
reader to have worldwide museums.
I decided that this book wasgoing to help Americans plan
their summerfication.
I wanted to have like aFather's Day present, because
(13:19):
everything with books today isfor women.
There's a lot of books forwomen and men are not reading
enough, and I want to changethat.
I want to make more books thatbring men into reading again.
It's a shame men don't readenough, and so this book was to
appeal to them, and that's why alot of the museums in the book
(13:41):
include subjects that men mightlike.
There's the Steamtown NationalHistoric Site for Trains.
There's a car museum that I hadmen in mind for that (Peterson
in LA), that's right.
Oh, that's a great place.
It's a lot of fun.
I mean, museums don't alwayshave to be academic.
(14:02):
They could be just for visualcandy and going out and enjoying
things and dreaming.
You know I'm not going to getsome of these cars that I dream
about.
You know I'm not going to getsome of these cars that I dream
about, but to go up close tothese cars that I can dream
about is really well, that'ssomething.
Lea Lane (14:21):
I think people think of museums as paintings and
sculpture --under culture.
You have the Mob Museum.
I happen to have been to theMob Museum in Las Vegas and you
kind of take your mugshot andthen you go through and it's
fascinating about the history ofyou know, the mob in America
and the FBI, but it's also somuch fun and if you're talking
about things that men would likethere, you go right, yeah, yeah
(14:44):
.
Bob Eckstein (14:44):
And it comes back to a point that I mentioned
earlier, which is trying to takesomething that we take for
granted to make it interesting.
That is the premise for everybook I've done, since I've done
over a dozen books.
How can I make them feel likethey're going someplace?
The bookstore book and themuseum book I want you to turn
the page and be surprised that Ibrought you to a place that you
(15:07):
didn't think of.
That's my motivation.
Lea Lane (15:10):
That's one of the charms of the book; you never
know what to expect.
I'll just mention some of theother categories.
We don't have to mention themuseums because I hope people
get the book.
But you have academia, culture,encyclopedic museums meaning
they cover huge, huge numbers ofthings, like the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
You have museums concentratingin fine arts.
You have historic homes likeGraceland, and the Tenement
(15:34):
Museum is under there in NewYork City, which I think is a
great place to visit.
You cover natural history andthe great outdoors.
You have a chapter Planes,Trains, Automobiles and Ships,
which of course again goes topeople who are interested in not
just art and sculptures and soforth, interested in not just
art and sculptures and so forth.
And then you have Miscellany,and under Miscellany could be so
many things (15:55):
A salt and pepper museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee,
which I still remember to thisday.
It was very good, but I thoughtI have to see this.
It was beautiful but it wasMiscellany.
Then you have a Spam museumunder Miscellany, and it's not
spam like an internet spam.
Tell us what that is.
Bob Eckstein (16:12):
The spam museum is a little on the commercial side
.
So when I was dealing with themthey kept on asking me that
everything was to frame it inthe form of a commercial,
because some people may not know.
Well, spam is something thatmaybe the less you know the
better.
Yes, yeah, it's one of thosethings.
It's sort of a substitute meatand it's made most famous by a
(16:35):
famous Monty Python skit sayingspam, spam, spam, spam, spam,
spam, spam spam They recreatedthe set from Monty Python for
(17:03):
you to see the spam skit.
And I told Michael this and hegoes "h, I didn't see it, it
went straight to my spam folder.
But that museum is nice.
But in that category I want tomention something that is a
must-go to for anyone who isgoing to the West Coast and that
(17:26):
is the Museum of JurassicTechnology.
This is the Andy Kaufman ofmuseums and I'm not going to say
a whole lot because I don'twant to spoil it, but it is the
most bizarre experience foranyone going to a tourist
attraction and I highlyrecommend that as one of the
museums.
An a nA museum I want to mentiontha.
(17:47):
You mentioned a category lanes,rains, utomobiles and hips.
The Marine Time Museum of Sango had such an impact on me and
I had such a wonderful time onthe story of india ship that
they have on exhibit, which isactually the star of the movie
master and commander, starringrussell crowe that I wouldn't
(18:10):
leave the ship.
I spent a a week on it,sketching and stuff.
The ship did not move, itstayed in dock, but it is the
oldest working ship now in theworld.
I went back to Pennsylvania andI recreated the captain's
quarters in my house.
In the attic.
I reconfigured my whole officeto be a captain's quarters, with
(18:33):
a porthole porthole porthole.
porthole.
.
t's.
Although Although it's theoldest working ship in the world
, it stays in dock for people toenjoy and to visit.
And so I stayed there for dayssketching and getting a feel for
what it would be like to liveon this ship.
And also, of course, I watchedMaster and Commander over and
over.
It's a movie I really enjoyed,even the equipment reconfigured
(18:58):
into old crates, into a style Ilike to call low tide.
And now this office is where Iwrote a book called the Sea
Below Us, which is an 1850 diarygraphic novel that will be
coming out later.
But it was all about life onthe boat and the story takes
(19:19):
place in the North Pole.
It's about an explorer andtrying to find the missing Sir
John Franklin, which issomething I've wanted to do, but
I've been very busy.
Lea Lane (19:29):
Is there anything else coming out?
You mentioned some postcards.
Bob Eckstein (19:32):
Yes, the publisher , Chronicle Books, was so happy
with the museum book that theydecided to come out with a
postcard set of my paintings andinclude paintings that were cut
from the book.
So we have some new paintingsthat didn't make the cut that
I'm very excited about including, because there were some
museums that were upset thatthey were cut and I felt bad
(19:54):
about that--a A choice of space,there's nothing I could do but
now I feel better that they'reincluded in this beautiful set
and Chronicle Books made thisamazing set.
There's groups out there oftravelers and postcard
collectors.
Almost a million people wholike to travel to places and
send postcards from thoselocations and they've been
(20:15):
waiting for me to come out withmy next postcard set.
, My my first postcard set ofbookstores around the world is
very popular, with people buyingthe sets and not necessarily
using them as postcards, butwallpapering their dorms with
them.
So that's a lot of fun.
I have a book coming out inSeptember called Inspired by
(20:37):
Cats, which are the greatestwriters in the world inspired by
their pet cat.
I'm also coming out with a cardgame to help writers, called
Writer's Block, and it's a funnygame.
There's a movie being worked onbased on my book the
Illustrated History of theSnowman.
Lea Lane (20:56):
Wonderful.
It's so great that there's moreto come.
What you've done is so charmingand wonderful.
(I'll have to come back.
Absolutely.
We can do much more about thebookstores and we can certainly
talk more about your stories.
I think you've told many.
Is there any one?
We end usually with a specialstory.
This is Places I Remember, sowe try to remember something
(21:18):
about traveling.
Do you have one story to end?
Bob Eckstein (21:21):
I think the best story to help listeners choose a
vacation location.
Go to Bruges, would you agree,it's one of the most beautiful
places.
Lea Lane (21:32):
It is.
I wrote a chapter for onBruges, but I will give people
one tip (21:35):
go early, early or late, late in the day.
In the middle of the day it'svery crowded.
If you could get up early, it'sspectacular and the night is
the golden hour.
Spectacular, I love it.
Tell us more.
Bob Eckstein (21:49):
Yeah, I mean I would recommend getting there by
train.
I think it's really romantic togo to those train stations in
Belgium.
I love Brussels.
I was researching the snowmanbecause there's a pivotal part
of the snowman's history thattakes place in that region, so
that's how I got a chance todiscover Bruges for myself.
(22:11):
To discover to go back toNormandy, where there is an
old-fashioned miniature golfcourse that is, instead of
artificial turf, the course ismade up of red clay, like the
French Open, and it's such aspecial miniature golf course
and that's a little gem torecommend.
Lea Lane (22:31):
Absolutely.
I've never heard of that one.
You find the most interestingthings.
You say you don't travel much,but what you've given us today
is fascinating.
So thank you so much.
Bob Eckstein, cartoonist andauthor, illustrator of
absolutely charming bestsellingbooks and so much more.
We love and we need yourdelightful take on the world.
(22:52):
Thank you so, so much.
Bob Eckstein (22:55):
Thank you so much.
Lea.
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