635. Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation?
Nicholas Cullinan, the new director of the British Museum, seems to think so. “I'm not afraid of the past,” he says — which means talking about looted objects, the basement storerooms, and the leaking roof. We take the guided tour.
- SOURCES:
- Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum.
- RESOURCES:
- "Inside the British Museum: stolen treasures and a £1bn revamp," by Alice Thomson (The Times, 2025).
- "British Museum gems for sale on eBay - how a theft was exposed," by Katie Razzall, Larissa Kennelly, and Darin Graham (BBC, 2024).
- "British Museum chief Nicholas Cullinan: ‘I start with the idea that everything is possible,'" by Jan Dalley (Financial Times, 2024).
- "Who Benefits When Western Museums Return Looted Art?" by David Frum (The Atlantic, 2022).
- The Will of Sir Hans Sloane, by Sir Hans Sloane (1753).
- The Portland Vase (The British Museum).
- EXTRAS:
- "Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard." by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
- Datum:
- Duur:
Meer afleveringen van Freakonomics Radio
-
636. Why Aren’t We Having More Babies?
For decades, the great fear was overpopulation. Now it’s the opposite. How did this happen — and what’s being done about it? (Part one of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”) SOURCES:Matthias Doepke , professor of economics at... -
An Economics Lesson from a Talking Pencil (Update)
A famous essay argues that “not a single person on the face of this earth” knows how to make a pencil. How true is that? In this 2016 episode, we looked at what pencil-making can teach us about global manufacturing — and the proper... -
635. Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation?
Nicholas Cullinan, the new director of the British Museum, seems to think so. “I'm not afraid of the past,” he says — which means talking about looted objects, the basement storerooms, and the leaking roof. We take the guided...