Episode 3

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Published on:

25th Jun 2025

New perspectives: Whose stories are museums telling?

In this final episode, the spotlight falls on the Museum itself as Jack Ashby and Lainy Malkani ask what is to be gained from uncovering the hidden human stories behind natural history collections. A far greater diversity of people were involved in building these scientifically invaluable collections than has traditionally been told. By telling these histories more completely, museums can only increase their relevance. Can these new ways of seeing collections in museums can help to bring about a shift in colonial thinking in the museum sector, one that ensures that the human story behind the collections continues to be told?

Takeaways

  • The human story behind natural history collections is crucial.
  • Honesty about collection histories makes museums more relevant.
  • Alfred Russell Wallace's contributions are often overshadowed.
  • Local collectors like Ali played significant roles in scientific discoveries.
  • Museums can tell richer stories by acknowledging diverse contributors.
  • Specimens in museums connect us to stories of extinction.
  • Research into collections can unlock new scientific insights.
  • Indigenous knowledge is vital in understanding biodiversity.
  • Museums need to address their historical narratives.
  • The relevance of museums can be enhanced through storytelling.

Chapters

00:00 Exploring the Human Stories Behind Natural History

02:07 The Legacy of Alfred Russell Wallace

05:57 Unlocking Hidden Histories in Museum Collections

08:48 The Importance of Relevance and Honesty in Museums

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About the Podcast

Echoes from the Museum
Today, natural history museums are starting to research the deeper histories of how their collections were built, and this is revealing some surprising and troubling stories.
Thylacines, or Tasmanian tigers, are icons of extinction, and some of the world’s best-preserved specimens are in University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. This series explores new research there, uncovering an uncomfortable truth about how the history of the extinction of the thylacine had strong parallels with the violent events that took place in Tasmania in the nineteenth century.
Join zoologist and author Jack Ashby (University of Cambridge), journalist and academic Lainy Malkani (University of the Arts London), and Elder uncle Hank Horton, a Pakana man from Trooloolway mob, lutruwita, Tasmania, for a conversation about thylacines, museum collecting, and why it’s important to tell these difficult stories.
The series is part of a unique art/science collaboration between the Sonic Screen Lab, UAL (Lainy Malkani, Professor Shreepali Patel & Julia Schauerman), Hank Horton, and the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge (Jack Ashby).
Listeners should be aware that we will be discussing events that involved racial violence in Tasmania.

About your host

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Nick Saffell