53,000 canceled escrows nationwide and then a Santa Cruz multiple-offer sale that blows past list price, that’s the whiplash we’re all living in right now. We start with what we’re seeing on the ground, from interest rates and appraisals to the very real “tension in the air” buyers and sellers bring into every conversation, and then we pivot to a different kind of local indicator: who’s still showing up for the place we live.

Felicia Van Stolk, executive director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History (the Whale Museum to locals), joins us to explain how a natural history museum becomes a community engine, not a dusty memory from third grade. We talk Santa Cruz roots, her path from marine biology to environmental education, and why the museum is leaning hard into programs that bring people together around shared curiosity, from bird walks and native plants to art and scientific illustration. She also breaks down what national museum accreditation means behind the scenes and why it’s a big deal for trust, funding, and long-term impact.

We get practical about the future too: the Bright Future Project expansion, an interim downtown location, and how “mobile museums” bring specimens into schools and community events so the mission doesn’t pause. We also dig into museum funding, including philanthropy, memberships, volunteering, and planned giving, especially as federal support shrinks and local support matters more than ever. Subscribe, share this with a Santa Cruz local, and leave a review, then tell us what would make you walk through the museum doors this month.