A History of the World in 100 Objects

100-part series retelling human history through museum objects AI summary

BBC Radio 4 Visit website › History · EN · 102 episodes · latest 2026-07-13

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What it is about

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
(C) BBC 2026

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Latest episodes

From The World to America: Neil MacGregor meets Roman Mars

2026-07-13 · 35 min

In 2010, A History of the World in 100 Objects, hosted by Neil MacGregor, premiered on BBC Radio 4 to great acclaim. It was a groundbreaking series that told a complex and interconnected history of the world through 100…
Object 101

2020-12-25 · 38 min

Ten years on from the ground-breaking Radio 4 series, "A History of The World in 100 Objects", former director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor looks back at the impact of the series, on how storytelling in museums…
Solar-powered lamp and charger

2010-10-22 · 14 min

The very last episode in Neil MacGregor's history of humanity as told through the things that time has left behind. The director of the British Museum in London has spent the past year choosing objects from the museum's…
Credit card

2010-10-21 · 14 min

Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things. Throughout this week he is examining objects that speak of the great shifts in human organisation and thinking in the modern world - objects that raise…
Throne of Weapons

2010-10-20 · 14 min

The history of humanity, as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London, is drawing to an end. Throughout this week, Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum in London, has been with…
Hockney's In the Dull Village

2010-10-19 · 13 min

This week Neil MacGregor's history of the world is examining the forces that helped shape our way of life and ways of thinking today. He began with the political revolution that exploded In Russia in the 1920s and today…
Russian revolutionary plate

2010-10-18 · 14 min

Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things that time has left behind. Throughout this closing week he is examining some of the major social and political movements that have helped shape our…
Suffragette-defaced penny

2010-10-15 · 14 min

Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects from the British Museum in London. The objects he has chosen this week have reflected on mass production and mass consumption in the 19th century. Today' he is with…
Sudanese slit drum

2010-10-14 · 14 min

Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things. Throughout this week he is examining the great shifts in the global economy and in imperial power in the 19th century. Today he is with a large wooden drum…
Hokusai's The Great Wave

2010-10-13 · 14 min

The history of humanity - as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London - is once again in Japan. This week Neil MacGregor, the museum's director, is looking at the global economy in the 19th…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Owner: BBC
Oldest episode in feed: 01/2010 · over 16 years
Typical length: 14 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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