Stuff the British Stole
4.8/5
Critic Rating
5.0/5
Listener Rating
Throughout its reign, the British Empire stole a lot of stuff. Today the Empire's loot sits in museums, galleries, private collections and burial sites with polite plaques. But its history is often messier than the plaques suggest. In each episode of this global smash hit podcast, Walkley award-winning journalist, author and genetic potluck, Marc Fennell, takes you on the wild, evocative, sometimes funny, often tragic adventure of how these stolen treasures got to where they live today. These objects will ultimately help us see the modern world — and ourselves — in a different light. This is a co-production between the ABC and...
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Lucy White • Irish Independent • Apr 16, 2023
"...the backstories of objects looted during the British Empire, and whose polite presentation in museums often belie their bloody journey....all fascinating and timely, as colonial statues are torn down and the British monarchy is further scrutinised."
Score: 5
Claire Booth • Do Some Damage • Nov 7, 2021
"Stuff the British Stole isn’t so much a cataloging of what British Imperialists took from Indigenous Peoples around the world as it is a contextualization of the consequence. a great example of the wonderful global-ness of the podcasting universe. It’s also an example of a creative work that gets its tone exactly right. Fennell is a light touch, using humor and cheekiness when appropriate, but also making sure to respectfully show the painful emotions still felt by the Empire’s victims."
Score: 5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • Dec 12, 2020
"Marc Fennell, fab Aussie podcaster of It Burns and Nut Jobs, investigates a single cultural artefact in each episode of his new podcast, thus exposing what he calls the “not-so-polite history” of the British empire. Fennell is immensely entertaining, his podcasts are always gripping and this is an excellent series that uses history, colonialism and art to examine where we are today. Recommended."
Score: 4
Anna Leszkiewicz • New Statesman • Dec 2, 2020
"The show’s title may make it seem like an explicitly political project aiming to remind listeners of the often violent path that brings historical artefacts to sit behind a shiny glass panel. Not so. "
Listener Reviews
Score: 5
Mim • Nov 14, 2021
"As a woman of colour, I was deeply, deeply moved by the episode on Sarah Baartman. If the White Suffragettes thought they had it hard (and still do) spare a thought for coloured women who often are faceless, nameless and underrepresented in positions of influence and power. Apart from the inhumane treatment of Sarah, the fact that these archaic colonial views still persist today albeit in more subtle forms is more than disappointing. You can pat yourself on the back for the abolition of slavery but the abolition of certain attitudes towards race and specifically coloured women still has a long way to go."
