About this episode

The episode discusses the investigation into the art trafficking of Cambodian statues and efforts to recover them.

When a 1,000-year-old Cambodian statue came up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York, it sparked off an investigation that uncovered one of the world’s most extensive art trafficking networks. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Matthew Campbell and American lawyer Bradley Gordon on how Cambodia’s looted treasures ended up scattered around the world and what it takes to bring them home. Read more: Chasing the Man Who Stole the Gods Watch, from Originals: Cambodia to Museums: We Want Our Statues Back We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at  Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Matthew Campbell; Edited by Aaron Edwards. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey and Yang Yang; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa and Emma Munger. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer. Photo by Agnes Dherbeys/The New York Times/Redux See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: K. Oanh Ha

Guests: Matthew Campbell, Bradley Gordon

Topics covered

• art trafficking
• Cambodian statues
• cultural heritage
• investigation
• looted treasures

Keywords

• Cambodia
• art trafficking
• statues
• Sotheby’s
• cultural heritage
• investigation
• looted treasures

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sotheby’s, Bloomberg

Books & works: Chasing the Man Who Stole the Gods, Cambodia to Museums: We Want Our Statues Back

Places: Cambodia, New York

More episodes of Big Take Asia

• How India Is Training the Robots of the Future · September 8, 2026 · 18 min
• Deadly Flooding in Nepal Highlights Asia’s Climate Vulnerability · September 2, 2026 · 17 min
• How Two-Minute Microdramas Became a Billion-Dollar Industry · August 25, 2026 · 20 min
• The Unexpected Rise of North Korea’s Economy · August 18, 2026 · 20 min
• The Chinese AI Model Rattling Silicon Valley and Washington · August 11, 2026 · 18 min
• Introducing: Our Town · August 9, 2026 · 2 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Big Take Asia podcast page.