"I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little stitious.” As the New Year approaches, this iconic line from The Office feels more relatable than ever. From gulping grapes in Spain to donning yellow underwear in South America and practicing Scotland’s ancient “first-footing” tradition, people around the world embrace odd – and oddly meaningful - rituals to ensure g ... Show More
Jun 2025
Alan Michelson Talks Dinosaurs, Murderous US Presidents, and Platinum-Gilded Native “Knowledge Keepers”
As a child, Alan Michelson often rode the T past sculptor Cyrus Edward Dallin’s “Appeal to the Great Spirit” (1908) outside the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). He was riveted by the statue’s grand horse and the powerful yet melancholy figure wearing a striking Plains Indian wa ... Show More
52m 19s
Oct 2024
Bonus episode: on culture
<p>What does culture mean to you? Is it the art we create, the traditions we carry, or the values we hold dear? In this mini episode of <em>Our World, Connected</em>, Christine Wilson, Director of Research and Insight at the British Council, delves deeper into the multifaceted na ... Show More
17m 25s
Jun 2025
635. Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation?
<p>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.</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCES:</strong>< ... Show More
50m 55s
Nov 2024
American sculpture—race and racism, Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art, Jusepe de Ribera in Paris
<p>Shortly after the US election on 5 November, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington opens The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture, a radical new perspective on the history of the discipline from 1792 to now. Ahead of its opening, Ben Luke speaks t ... Show More
1h 5m
Feb 2024
William L. Bird, "In the Arms of Saguaros: Iconography of the Giant Cactus" (U Arizona Press, 2023)
An essential—and monumental—member of the Sonoran Desert ecosystem, the saguaro cactus has become the quintessential icon of the American West.
In the Arms of Saguaros: Iconography of the Giant Cactus (U Arizona Press, 2023) shows how, from the botanical explorers of the nineteen ... Show More
48m 7s
May 2025
Go To the Artists Among Us
Kelly shares the remarkable story of Armia Khalil, a Metropolitan Museum of Art security guard with a secret talent. As a child, Armia played in the mud and created little sculptures by the Nile River. Years later, the artistic young man immigrated to the US with just $375 and a ... Show More
7m 30s
May 2022
201b Beer In Europe, Irreverent Curiosity
<p>Get in a festive mood as Rick invites a few of his friends to compare the beer styles of Europe, and the cultures that go with them. Also, writer David Farley tells us about an eccentric hill town not far from Rome. It's home to a generation of bohemian residents, and one of t ... Show More
52 m
Sep 2024
Ancient India and China: from golden to silk roads
The best-selling historian William Dalrymple presents India as the great superpower of ancient times in The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World. He argues that for more than a millennium India art, religions, technology, astronomy, music and mathematics spread fa ... Show More
42m 10s