635. Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nati...

Economists don’t usually talk about “culture.” But Joel Mokyr argues that it’s the engine of innovation — and the Nobel Prize committee agreed. Stephen Dubner sits down for a thousand-year conversation (including advice!) with the new Nobel laureate. SOURCES: Joel Mokyr, economic ...  Show more

Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. In this updated episode from 2025, journalists Javier Blas and Jack Farchy help us shine a light on the shadowy realm of c ...  Show more

Sir Hans Sloane’s legacy is a bit mixed. He is the reason there’s a British Museum, but there are a lot of problematic aspects to the way he gathered his collection.

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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

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

Mes chers camarades, bien le bonjour !Visiter le Quai Branly pour découvrir les nombreuses œuvres d’art de nombreuses cultures, aller au Louvre pour voir des statues gréco-romaines et des sarcophages égyptiens, on ne dit jamais non ! Et pourtant, c’est souvent le résultat d’une h ...  Show more