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
Actually, you can hear the series. It’s available, for free, on iTunes. And totally worth the listen.
You can hear it on the BBC radio site, too. Free.