The world’s great museums are full of art and artifacts that were plundered during an era when plunder was the norm. Now there’s a push to return these works to their rightful owners. Sounds simple, right? It's not. (Part 2 of an updated <a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/stealing-art-is-easy-giving-it-back-is-hard/" rel="noopener noreferrer">series</a> originally published in 2023.)
  
<ul>
 <li>SOURCES:
 <ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals/matthew-bogdanos" rel="noopener noreferrer">Matthew Bogdanos</a>, assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit.</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/Dr_Nicholas_Cullinan_appointed_as_new_Director_of_the_British_Museum.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nicholas Cullinan</a>, director of the British Museum.</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.victorehi.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Victor Ehikhamenor</a>, Nigerian writer and artist.</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Frum</a>, staff writer at The Atlantic.</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-dan-hicks" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dan Hicks</a>, professor of contemporary archaeology at the University of Oxford and curator of world archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum.</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.tu.berlin/kuk/ueber-uns/team/leitung/prof-dr-benedicte-savoy" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bénédicte Savoy</a>, professor of art history at the Technical University in Berlin.</li>
 </ul></li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
 <li>RESOURCES:
 <ul>
 <li>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/arts/design/benin-bronzes-returned-nigeria.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">These Looted Treasures Are Home. What Now?</a>," by Alex Marshall (New York Times, 2025).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/04/26/france-long-awaited-restitution-policy-is-finally-here" rel="noopener noreferrer">France's Long-Awaited Restitution Policy Is Finally Here</a>," by Vincent Noce (The Art Newspaper, 2023).</li>
 <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3pvG5OY" rel="noopener noreferrer">Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat</a>, by Bénédicte Savoy (2022).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/benin-bronzes-nigeria-return-stolen-art/671245/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Who Benefits When Western Museums Return Looted Art?</a>" by David Frum (The Atlantic, 2022).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/sep/25/museums-england-wales-powers-to-dispose-objects-moral-grounds" rel="noopener noreferrer">Museums in England and Wales to Gain Powers to Dispose of Objects on Moral Grounds</a>," by Dalya Alberge (The Guardian, 2022).</li>
 <li><a href="https://amzn.to/42HCdbW" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution</a>, by Dan Hicks (2020).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://www.about-africa.de/images/sonstiges/2018/sarr_savoy_en.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics</a>," by Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr (2018).</li>
 </ul></li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
 <li>EXTRAS:
 <ul>
 <li>"<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast/can-a-museum-be-the-conscience-of-a-nation/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation?</a>," by Freakonomics Radio (2025).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-hidden-side-of-the-art-market/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Hidden Side of the Art Market</a>," by Freakonomics Radio (2021).</li>
 </ul></li>
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