Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche Nation) is an author, essayist, and curator, and until recently a longtime curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. He is returning to arts writing and working on an anthology of essays. He is a winner of a 2025 Rabkin Prize. You can read his full bio at our website.
We invited Paul to have a conversation about his work. The interview is accompanied by a newly commissioned portrait of Paul in his home office, where the family cat, Ms. Tina Turner, lounges at his feet.
The interview has been gently edited for length and clarity.
Mentioned in this episode:
Americans exhibit, Smithsonian Institute, (2017)
Writer Christopher Hitchens
Officially Indian: Symbols that Define the United States by Cécile R. Ganteaume (National Museum of the American Indian, 2017)
“Amy Sherald Cancels Smithsonian Show Over Censorship” by Robin Pogrebin (The New York Times, July 2025 )
The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture exhibit, Smithsonian American Art Museum (2025)
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson (Straight Arrow Books, 1973)
This episode of the Rabkin Interviews was produced by the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation, an artist-endowed foundation based in Portland, Maine. The interview was conducted by Mary Louise Schumacher, a journalist and the executive director of the Rabkin Foundation. The portraits were made by artist-photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki. The production team for the Rabkin Interviews also includes Cindy Eggert Johnson, producer; Johnathon Olsen, editor; with research and copyediting by Katie Avila Loughmiller and Karen Samelson. Music is by Flint, HaHaHa and Aves. The Rabkin Prize is awarded through a nomination process, and an independent jury selects the winners.
