Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche Nation) is an author, essayist, 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 here. 

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:

• American Indian Movement

• National Museum of the American Indian

• Americans exhibit, Smithsonian Institute, (2017)

• National Gallery of Art

• Hirshhorn Museum

• 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 )

• Total Eclipse, Dallas, Texas, 2024

• Total Eclipse in Paducah, Ky,, 2017

• The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture exhibit, Smithsonian American Art Museum (2025) 

• Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72by 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.