New Netcast: A History of the World in 100 Objects

New Netcast: A History of the World in 100 Objects

I’ve been listening to this netcast for the past two days on the way to work, a major savior for me since the weather has made for epic commutes.  It comes from the folks at the BBC and the British Museum and it’s called “A History of the World in 100 Objects.”

From their “about” page:

At the heart of the project is the BBC Radio 4 series A History of the World in 100 objects. 100 programmes, written and narrated by Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, and focusing on 100 objects from the British Museum’s collection.

The programmes will travel through two million years from the earliest object in the collection to retell the history of humanity through the objects we have made. Each week will be tied to a particular theme, such as ‘after the ice age’ or ‘the beginning of science and literature’, and the programmes will broadcast in three blocks, in January, May and September.

Yup, I can hear my daughters sighing from here…it’s history.  The thing is, this is really different.  It’s not the story of how one group enslaved another, but more it’s a history of how we developed across the globe as people.  It’s told through the artifacts we left behind, and in those objects, they find the way to show us our own evolution.  A truly different look at the world, and all in installments of about 15 minutes each.

Whereas I’d usually throw a “if you like history…” disclaimer on a post like this, it’s really not necessary.  If you’re interested in people, or what’s made us who we are, this netcast is a winner for you.  It has excellent audio production quality, gets right to the point, and generally is something everyone should take the time to listen to.

You can download the netcast direct from iTunes or get it right off their site here.

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