The Civilisations Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 10: David Olusoga May 03, 2018

Show notes

David Olusoga talks to Viv Jones about the making of Civilisations. They discuss his two episodes, First Contact and The Cult of Progress. David says that the great arts and history documentaries he watched growing up inspired him to become a historian and filmmaker, and he talks about the power of television to change lives.

Episode 9: Simon Schama Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

Simon Schama talks to Viv Jones about the making of Civilisations. They discuss the highs and lows of filming such an ambitious global series, from being granted rare access to breathtaking cave paintings, to coming face-to-face with a bolting horse in the ancient city of Petra.

Episode 8: Matika Wilbur, Chip Colwell and Ernest House Jr. Apr 19, 2018

Show notes

In the 8th programme in the Civilisations TV series, David Olusoga looks at how artists reacted to the colonialism of the 19th century. He travels to America to see art by both white and Native American artists who were documenting the displacement and suffering of Native peoples. A common view at the time was that indigenous Americans would disappear completely.

For the podcast, Viv Jones speaks to three people who are working to remind the world that Native Americans are not a people of the past. In spite of all that their communities have had to overcome their beliefs, religions and arts are still very much alive today.

Matika Wilbur is photographing every tribe in the United States to ensure that stereotypes of Native Americans are replaced with images that represent their true diversity today. Her project, which has taken her to every state, is called Project 562.

Chip Colwell is Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. He describes himself as a ‘living paradox’ because his role sometimes requires him to give the items in his museum’s collection away. America’s museums are expected to return Native American cultural items - including stolen art, sacred objects and human remains - to groups that have an appropriate claim to them. Chip is working with Ernest House Jr., Executive Director of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, on a project that will help tribes find out whether their cultural items are now in European museums.

Episode 7: Colourful Stories Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

Unusual stories of the bizarre and gruesome things that have been used as paint pigments from Kassia St Clair, author of The Secret Lives of Colour. Plus, why did Van Gogh create portraits of the man who sold him his paints? Nienke Bakker, Curator of Paintings at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, brings us the story of Père Tanguy whose arts supply shop was at the heart of the Paris art scene. Produced and presented by Viv Jones.

Episode 6: How Civilisations Collapse and Understanding the Aztecs Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

Contrary to myth and misconception, the Aztecs were not a bloodthirsty, inhumane, deeply patriarchal and authoritarian society. Viv Jones is disabused of everything she thought she knew about this sophisticated civilisation by Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock.

Dr Guy Middleton calls himself a 'collapsologist'. He attempts to solve the mystery of why and how past civilisations collapsed. Guy says that often popular explanations say more about the fears we have in our own time than about the archaeological evidence past peoples left behind.

Episode 5: Caravaggio Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

Viv Jones delves into the BBC archives to find out how Caravaggio’s tempestuous life - of brawls, duels, and prison escapes - is reflected in his provocative paintings. Featuring archive interviews with his biographers Helen Langdon and Andrew Graham-Dixon, curator Letizia Treves, historian Jerry Brotton and the director Martin Scorsese.

Episode 4: Mary Beard, and Brian Dillon on Ruin Lust Mar 22, 2018

Show notes

Mary Beard reveals the thinking behind The Eye of Faith, the fourth programme in the Civilisations series. Depicting the divine in art has been a fascination for Mary since she studied for her PhD on Roman religion. Plus, she reveals the ancient civilisation she’d most like to invite round for dinner.

The Civilisations series is packed with stunning shots of picturesque ruined places. Writer and art critic, Brian Dillon traces the long history of our fascination with ruins. He introduces us to the aristocrats of the 18th century who built imitation ruins in their gardens, and explains why the Nazis imagined how their architecture would look like after a thousand years of dilapidation.

Produced and presented by Viv Jones.

Episode 3: Ansel Adams and Escapist Prison Landscapes Mar 15, 2018

Show notes

Stories of two American photographers. A few years ago, Alyse Emdur found a Polaroid of her family posed in front of a painted beach scene in the visiting room of the prison where her brother was an inmate. 'I was startled by something about it. This painting behind us represented freedom, the exact opposite of what my brother was living.' Alyse is the author of Prison Landscapes, a book about landscape art in America's prison waiting rooms. Plus, the environmental writer Kenneth Brower shares his memories of the celebrated American photographer Ansel Adams. Produced and presented by Viv Jones.

Episode 2: Mary Beard, David Attenborough and Janina Ramirez Mar 08, 2018

Show notes

Mary Beard talks to Viv Jones about the making of Civilisations. Plus, David Attenborough's speech from the Civilisations launch event, and art historian Dr Janina Ramirez tells you why the original Civilisation series is still well worth watching 50 years on.

Episode 1: Saving Mummies Under Sniper Fire and Ice Age Art Mar 01, 2018

Show notes

Viv Jones hears how archaeologist Monica Hanna rescued mummies under sniper fire in Egypt, and visits the British Museum to speak with Jill Cook about the earliest human art.

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