Just for Friday fun: you’ve read about the brilliant BBC radio series and book, A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum (here’s a link to a recent New York Times article). In it, MacGregor explains how these items, from a two-million-year-old African stone chopping tool to a credit card, reveal social and political history. That Aztec serpent at right is one of them.
We won’t hear the series here — sorry to say — but the book was published in the U.S. this week.
Which brought MacGregor to The Colbert Report on Monday night. It’s a short segment, and well worth the 4 or 5 minutes it takes. MacGregor, ever earnest, nonetheless fares well with the ever kidding Colbert, who starts out with a probing questions about museums in general. MacGregor’s answer was beautiful.
Here’s the link.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the British Museum