New executive director Adam Smith talks about a center for popular culture

Episode 139: Comic-Con Museum And More Comic-Con International is opening a museum and I sat down with the new executive director Adam Smith at WonderCon to discuss what it might be and if museum is event the right word to describe it. Plus highlights from the WonderCon Cartoon Voices panel and in honor of the Easter holiday, a little Easter egg for you. Subscribe to the Cinema Junkie podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher. Support the podcast at kpbs.org/feedthejunkie.

Transcript for audioclip 39246

If you are a geek like I am, then the news that Comic-Con is going to open a museum was something to be excited about. The pop culture convention run by geeks for geeks has grown so popular that tickets sell out in hours and many people can no longer attend.

Perhaps to address this increased popularity, Comic-Con has decided to open a museum in the old Hall of Champions building in Balboa Park in San Diego. The nonprofit organization has been a bit tight lipped about when it will open and exactly what it will be, but at WonderCon this past weekend, the person who will be in charge of the museum, Adam Smith, was available to finally talk about what the museum might be and whether museum is even the right word to describe what he plans to deliver. Smith does currently sign off on his emails as executive director of the Comic-Con Center for Popular Culture.

For this podcast, I speak with Smith about the center and what he geeks out about. I’ll also include a little treat from WonderCon, Comic-Con’s sister convention. It is a cold reading of a script by voice actors at the Cartoon Voices panel hosted by Mark Evanier.

This year the panel featured five masters of voice acting: Neil Ross ("Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness," "The Transformers"), Eliza Jane Schneider ("Final Fantasy," "Skylanders"), Wally Wingert ("Batman: Arkham Asylum," "The Garfield Show"), Julie Nathanson ("Marvel's Avengers," "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay," "Far Cry 5") and Townsend Coleman ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "The Tick"). I highlight the part of the panel where Evanier gives the actors a script they have never seen before and asks them to do a cold reading with hilarious results.

And if you listen to the entire podcast, I left an Easter egg for you since this Sunday is actually Easter.

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Beth Accomando

Arts & Culture Reporter

I cover arts and culture, from Comic-Con to opera, from pop entertainment to fine art, from zombies to Shakespeare. I am interested in going behind the scenes to explore the creative process; seeing how pop culture reflects social issues; and providing a context for art and entertainment.

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