a history of the world in 100 objects

A few weeks ago, I started listening to one episode a day of A History of the World in 100 Objects.  It's a series broadcast on Radio 4 in England.  The show is written and narrated by Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, who spends about 15 minutes each episode discussing one piece from the museum's vast collection of eight million objects.  

There is a list of the 100 objects here (except for the one hundredth object, which is a surprise).  To be honest, when I first looked at this list, almost none of the objects looked interesting to me.  At all.  

The only few things I thought I might be curious about were number 15 (an early writing tablet), number 33 (the Rosetta Stone), number 75 (Durer's "Rhinoceros"), number 80 (some pieces of eight), and object number 99 (a credit card).

But so far, even the boring stuff has not been boring. At all. :)

Each week focuses on a different theme.  This week's theme was "Tolerance and Intolerance" between 1550 and 1700 AD.  

Today's object was a Reformation Centenary Broadsheet made in Germany in AD 1617. It depicts Martin Luther writing his thesis on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517.  (No nailing!) Here's a link to this object at the interactive website.  I don't find the website as enjoyable as the actual broadcasts themselves, but sometimes you want to see what you're hearing about!  And there is a lot of information there.

 

Other objects this week included The Shi'a Religious Parade Standard, a miniature of a Mughal prince, a Shadow Puppet of Bima, and a Mexican Codex map.  

Since I decided to start back at the beginning rather than join the show in progress, I haven't listened to any of those yet. :) I just finished learning about object number 27: a Parthenon sculpture of Centaur and Laptith.  (It's a half-man, half-horse rearing up over a dead person.)  The ancient Greeks really liked battle imagery.  This one was especially interesting because this sculpture hasn't been returned to Greece even though the Greeks want it back, so it's controversial.

The first block of the series began last January, but I didn't know about it then, and the second block began in May, but I didn't know about it then, and the final block began in September, when I finally stumbled upon it and got all excited, right before it's about to end. That is just like me, to do that. :)

I am keeping it to one object a day because then it's a small something to look forward to each day, like a piece of candy.  With less calories.  And, free.  Plus, no cavities.

I will not catch up before it concludes with its one-hundredth object on October 22, but who cares?  Most of the objects have been around a very long time, and they will wait for me to learn about them, even if I'm late with my listening.

You can download any of the 85 episodes broadcast so far, or subscribe to the podcast, here.  The website and available podcasts are updated daily.

I don't always agree with Mr. MacGregor's politics or philosophy of life, but I find his commentary and his museum to be extremely interesting. :)