logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
51m 38s

543. How to Return Stolen Art

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode
Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st century? (Part 3 of “Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard.”) 
Up next
Sep 4
685. How to Survive the A.I. Shock
Gina Raimondo, a former commerce secretary and governor, thinks A.I. will create plenty of jobs in the long run. She also thinks a poorly managed transition could tear the country apart. So she came up with a plan. SOURCES:Gina Raimondo, co-chair and C.E.O. of RAISE US. RESOURCES ... Show More
57m 37s
Sep 2
How to Run an Institution in an Anti-Institution Era | Better in Person
Anne Pasternak (Brooklyn Museum) and Michael Roth (Wesleyan University) tell Stephen Dubner how they keep the peace in the middle of a culture war. If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an ... Show More
37m 35s
Aug 28
How to Return Stolen Art (Update)
Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st century? (Part 3 of an updated series originally published in 2023.) SOURCES: Patricia Allan, museum consultant, former curator of wo ... Show More
50m 48s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2021
Should Europe return looted African artefacts?
A British university college and a French museum are returning looted artefacts from Africa during the colonial era. Campaigners say other institutions should do the same, but not everyone agrees. So, should Europe return its stolen artefacts?  Join host Mohammed Jamjoom. With gu ... Show More
20m 20s
Mar 2023
The business of returning treasures
David Reid delves into the debate around the repatriation of problematic art and treasures. He visits one museum in the north-west of England attempting to decolonise its collection by returning thousands of items to the countries and communities they were taken from. In this epi ... Show More
17m 55s
Aug 2021
Why are stolen African artifacts still in Western museums? | Jim Chuchu
African artifacts shown in museums worldwide are often not borrowed, but stolen -- and TED Fellow Jim Chuchu is on a mission to get them back. Learn the sordid history behind how many of the collections in the West came to be, Chuchu’s extensive work tracking and restoring Kenya’ ... Show More
5m 15s
Jun 2024
The Stuff of Museums
Mary Beard argues that 21st Century disputes about what museums should own - or give back - are far from being a modern phenomenon. 'Almost as far back as you can go, there have been contests about what museums should display, and where objects of heritage properly belonged,' wri ... Show More
10m 38s
Dec 2021
Africa wants its stuff back
The world’s most illustrious museums are finally having to reckon with the stolen art in their collections. Today’s show was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Transcript at v ... Show More
22m 49s
Oct 2024
Who Owns History?
In 2023, Anderson Cooper reported that a large number of antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection had come to the world-class museum by way of theft. Ancient art had been looted from Cambodian temples fifty years ago and the Cambodian Government wanted them back ... Show More
38m 40s
Mar 2022
Could many of Africa’s artefacts soon be returning home?
During colonialism artworks that had been protected in Africa for centuries were looted. To this day, many of them are held by museums and universities in western countries. But in recent months, institutions in the US, UK and France have said that they will return them. However, ... Show More
18m 17s