Hall Pass: The Hall of Fame Podcast

Today’s Hall Pass grants us access to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. This shrine to horse racing has honored 478 inductees, including thoroughbreds, jockeys, trainers and owners. In this episode, I interview Director of Communications Brien Bouyea and Collections Manager Stephanie Luce. We’ll talk about the art and artifacts inside the museum, why the Hall of Fame ended up in New York and not Kentucky, and who’s behind all those colorful lawn jockeys guarding the museum entrance. Plus, I’ll ride a horse racing simulator used by actual professional jockeys and get graded on my riding technique.

This episode of Hall Pass grants us access to the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Based inside the Carnegie Science Center, the hall features 34 inducted robots – both fictional and real-life ones. Today I’ll be interviewing Marcus Harshaw, senior director of museum experiences. He'll talk about his all-time favorite movie bot, who built the robot replicas that reside inside the museum, and which inductee would win in a robot fight.

Today's Hall Pass grants us access to the World Video Game Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y. In this episode – Part 2 of my visit to the Strong National Museum of Play – I set up a two-player campaign with Jon-Paul Dyson, director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and VP for exhibits at The Strong. We talk about our favorite childhood video games and consoles, which game we’d choose to play if our lives depended on winning, and which games that so far have been snubbed are likely to be honored next.

Today's Hall Pass grants us access to the National Toy Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1998 and later acquired by the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y. The Hall has enshrined 81 toys (77 at the time of the interview) – a whimsical mix of dolls, board and card games, electronics, and more. In this episode we’ll have a playdate with Christopher Bensch, vice president for Collections at The Strong. We’ll talk about our favorite childhood toys, which toys would make the best and worst movie plots, and how a Transformer helped one museum patron propose to his girlfriend.

This episode of Hall Pass grants us access to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. We'll be huddling up with Jason Aikens, curator of collections. He'll talk about some of his favorite encounters with inductees, how Super Bowl rings have taken "bling" to the next level, and which player's hair actually made it into the museum. Plus, we'll learn which famous Super Bowl moment Jason got to experience in person, and which inductee he would want to see play if he could go back in time.

Today's episode of Hall Pass grants us access to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. We'll be riding shotgun with Kevin Schlesier, senior director of museum & industry affairs, as he discusses his favorite cars and artifacts. We'll also talk about how the museum gives a special nod to NASCAR's illegal moonshine origins, and the evolution of cars, safety gear and trophies over the years. Plus, Kevin will act as backseat driver as he critiques my racing skills.