Episode description

Museums and the 'nation': What can we learn about nationalism by looking at a country's cultural institutions? Laurie Taylor talks to Peggy Levitt, Professor of Sociology at Wellesley College, and author of a study which explores how museums today represent diversity and make sense of immigration and globalisation. She interviewed a range of museum directors, curators, and policymakers and heard the inside stories of the famous paintings and objects which define collections across the globe; from Europe to the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. They're joined by Julian Spalding, the art critic and writer.

Also, imagining utopias. Professor Craig Calhoun, director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, considers the role of impossible dreams in shaping our reality.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.