The Case of the $4 Million Gold Coffin (Update)
About this episode
The episode explores the journey of a looted Egyptian artifact to a major museum and the implications of art theft.
How did a freshly looted Egyptian antiquity end up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Why did it take Kim Kardashian to crack the case? And how much of what you see in any museum is stolen? (Part 1 of “Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard,” first published in 2023.)
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Books & works: The Case of the $4 Million Gold Coffin
Places: Egypt
More episodes of Freakonomics Radio
- Amazon Was Supposed to Kill the Bookstore. James Daunt Had Other Plans | Better in Person
- 685. How to Survive the A.I. Shock
- How to Run an Institution in an Anti-Institution Era | Better in Person
- How to Return Stolen Art (Update)
- “I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself” | Better in Person
- Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case? (Update)
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