logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2022
1h 4m

Episode #156- What Became of the Benin B...

PodcastOne
About this episode
In the last year the global conversation around the fate of the Benin Bronzes has shifted dramatically. In April of 2021 the German government announced that the vast majority of Benin Bronzes kept in German museums will be returned to Nigeria. This announcement was followed by a rash of other institutions making pledges to return objects that had been plund ... Show More
Up next
Mar 17
Bonus Episode - Disappearing Doppelgängers, Viking Thralls, and the Comedy of the Sagas
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent series on the Viking voyages to North America. In it he reckons with the history of slavery in the Norse world, guesses at why the southern Vinland of settlement of Hóp remains undiscovered, and muses about doppelgä ... Show More
40m 57s
Mar 11
Episode #246 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part III)
For centuries the western Norse colony of Vinland was known only to scholars of the Icelandic Sagas. But in the 19th century the work of a few Scandinavian historians helped revive interest in these previously obscure tales. When the Danish historian Carl Christian Rafn published ... Show More
1h 27m
Feb 24
Episode #245 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part II)
The only literary sources we have about the Viking settlements west of Greenland come from the Icelandic Sagas. The only problem is that the Sagas can be totally off-the-wall. Corpses reanimate and speak prophecies, giant-eyed doppelgängers vanish into thin air, and one-legged cr ... Show More
1h 20m
Recommended Episodes
May 2022
Episode #155- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part II)
In 1897 Queen Victoria marked her diamond jubilee and Britain was in a celebratory mood. The British Empire had never been stronger. Few could imagine that this world-spanning empire might very well be peaking. But in 1897 Britain was in no mood for painful self-reflection. Inste ... Show More
1 h
May 2022
Episode #154- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part I)
Looting has been a part of warfare since the earliest times. Despite the fact that looting was common for much of history, it was always recognized as an especially harmful and humiliating by-product of armed conflict. By the late 19th century, the looting of sacred objects and c ... Show More
1h 11m
Aug 2023
Returning Benin Bronzes
In 2004, a chance encounter in Nigeria led to the return of two of the country’s ancient artworks, the looted Benin Bronzes.The treasures were among thousands stolen from Benin City by the British Army in 1897, and acquired by museums around the world.More than a century later, T ... Show More
10m 8s
Nov 2022
The end of civilisation: Bronze Age collapse
More than 3,000 years ago a group of powerful and intricately connected Mediterranean kingdoms collapsed over the course of just a few decades. The palaces of Mycenaean Greece were destroyed, entire cities in Hittite Turkey were abandoned, and whole empires disintegrated. Some ci ... Show More
41m 48s
Jun 2016
The Bronze Age Collapse
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Bronze Age Collapse, the name given by many historians to what appears to have been a sudden, uncontrolled destruction of dominant civilizations around 1200 BC in the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia. Among other areas, there were gre ... Show More
47m 12s
Feb 2024
414. The Peasants’ Revolt: London’s Burning (Part 2)
On the 13th of June 1381, the rebel army of English peasants, led by Wat Tyler, entered London and brought chaos, death and destruction upon some of the city’s most important buildings and figures, among them the Archbishop of Canterbury and his home at Lambeth Palace. Within the ... Show More
50m 42s
Jul 2023
182b: Destruction in Amurru
Amurru (Part 4): Reconquista. The land of Amurru, and its leaders, have been a noteworthy part of the story in recent decades. Since the reigns of Amunhotep III and Akhenaten, the lords of Amurru have caused great trouble in Egypt’s northern empire. They have raided, plundered, a ... Show More
3h 47m
Jan 2024
413. The Peasants' Revolt: England Erupts (Part 1)
By the late 14th century, England was in decline. Already weakened by the Hundred Years’ War, both Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, had died, leaving the country in a perilous state. Richard II, the new king, was only a child. With the poor facing increasingly harsh poll ... Show More
52m 26s
Aug 2023
Judy Garland's legacy and the Benin Bronzes
<p>A compilation of this week's Witness History episodes. Gerald Clarke, the author of Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, speaks to Max Pearson about the legacy of the stage and screen actress who died in 1969.</p><p>We also look at how a chance encounter led to the return of t ... Show More
52m 25s
Nov 2022
How can countries ensure cultural repatriation?
Museums around the world are returning artefacts to their countries of origin. One in London has sent back its entire collection of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria's government. So,  how can other countries ensure their cultural treasures are given back, and be displayed for generations ... Show More
21m 17s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami