MINNEAPOLIS—(Mar. 7, 2024) —The award-winning podcast The Object, produced by the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), begins its sixth season on Monday, March 11, digging into mysteries large and small: a curator who supposedly goes missing; a forgotten genius whose work falls into the lap of a curator; our obsession with shiny new things.

Through five seasons and sixty episodes, The Object has explored the true stories behind objects at Mia. Written and hosted by Tim Gihring, a veteran journalist in Minneapolis, the show ranks among the top fifteen percent of podcasts in listenership. It has been described by listeners as relating “the secret life of art” and “surprising stories…told with plenty of suspense, wit, and style,” and by the New York Times as “carving out a place in national conversations” around art and culture. In 2023, it was highlighted by Apple Podcasts as a featured show of the week.

“Behind every object is a story, and that story is always ultimately about us,” says Gihring. “This season, more than ever, we’ll be exploring the motivations behind these incredible objects. Whether they were made three thousand years ago or just this year, they all tell us something about who we are, why we are the way we are, and where we might be headed.”

Season six opens with Wait for It: The Art of Surprise, about a phone call that leads to the rediscovery of a forgotten artist from Minnesota—and more surprises. A mystery and a meditation on why wonderful things are so much better when they’re unexpected.

Future episodes will examine our once-widespread belief in dragons, the “yard show” of an Alabama artist who never expected to be famous, and the journals of Mia’s first director in the midst of World War I.

The Object is made possible by generous support from Ameriprise Financial.