635. Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation?

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.

• SOURCES:
  • NicholasCullinan, director of the British Museum.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Insidethe British Museum: stolen treasures and a £1bn revamp," by Alice Thomson (The Times, 2025).
  • "British Museum gems for sale on eBay - how a theft was exposed," by Katie Razzall, Larissa Kennelly, and Darin Graham (BBC, 2024).
  • "BritishMuseum chief Nicholas Cullinan: ‘I start with the idea that everything is possible,'" by Jan Dalley (Financial Times, 2024).
  • "WhoBenefits When Western Museums Return Looted Art?" by David Frum (The Atlantic, 2022).
  • TheWill of Sir Hans Sloane, by Sir Hans Sloane (1753).
  • ThePortland Vase (The British Museum).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard." by Freakonomics Radio (2023).