University of Cambridge Museums

Sedgwick Museum Director Liz Hide explores how Darwin's specimens don't just tell us about the development of his geological theories, but also give us a glimpse into nineteenth-century resource extraction and global economic networks.

Hear about the geology of the summit of Everest

Here how the first ever rock specimen collected from the summit of Mount Everest ended up at the Sedgwick Museum

‘This Globe is Broken’. A poem about how the globe as an object is not neutral. A response to the colonial 1875 Jigsaw Globe on display in the Museum’s Globe Gallery. Creator: Annie Tomkins. This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums’ programme of Power and Memory.

The Museum as an institution is not neutral. A response to the colonial 1875 Jigsaw Globe on display in the Museum’s Globe Gallery. Creators: Fu Ge Yang, Sally Yan and Annie Tomkins. This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums’ programme of Power and Memory.

Credits: Written by Annabel Worth, Kirsten Huffer and Emma Pratt Read by Kirsten and Annabel Audio editing and soundscape by Emma This piece concerns Mary Anning's Icthyosaur in the Sedgwick museum. Once upon a time, 200 million years ago, dolphin-like marine reptiles, or ichthyosaurs, like this one roamed the Jurassic Sea. About 200 years ago, Mary Anning, mother of paleontology, found this ichth...

Credits: Written by Annabel Worth and Kirsten Huffer Read by Annabel Audio editing by Emma Pratt This piece concerns the Iguanodon fossil cast in the Sedgwick museum. "For us this was a really important story to tell, as it highlights how the university has benefited, and continues to benefit, from slavery and colonialism, in a way that is usually hidden. One can appreciate the object itself, marv...

This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums’ programme of Power and Memory. It was put together by Kiki Bordean, Heidi McEvoy-Swift and Katrina Dring with the help of the Museum Remix and wider UCM teams. The Museum of Classical Archaeology is filled with sculptural expressions of the human form, including many heads. In a small case nea...

This audio was created as part of Museum Remix 2023, coinciding with the University of Cambridge Museums’ programme of Power and Memory. It was put together by Kiki Bordean, Heidi McEvoy-Swift and Katrina Dring with the help of the Museum Remix and wider UCM teams. The Museum of Classical Archaeology is filled with sculptural expressions of the human form, including many heads. In one corner of th...

Barra Journal: Audio by University of Cambridge Museums

Surtsey Journal: Audio by University of Cambridge Museums

In the Museum of Classical Archaeology's Cast Gallery two wrestlers are locked together in eternal combat... and an eternal embrace. Colin Clews untangles the queer resonances of one of classical antiquity's most famous sculptures in this extract from his Bridging Binaries tour. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Klara Widrig explores how received wisdom about gender even impacts on how scientists interpret Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils. Sit back and enjoy this extract from Klara's Bridging Binaries tour of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Scientists but... beware the jaws of Big Mamma! Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

A penguin egg in the Polar Museum is more than it seems... Join Julia Peck for a tale of sexual speculation in this Bridging Binaries tour extract. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Ellen Purdy tells a story of monks, matrimony and martial arts, inspired by a Noh mask in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Behind the doors of a medicine cabinet in the Whipple Museum of the History of Science is a story of romance between two pioneering female doctors... Join Meg Roberts for this extract from her Bridging Binaries tour, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' LGBTQ+ tour programme.

The Greek hero Hercules was famous for his many labours, and his many lovers... Luis Jimenez ushers us into the presence of a legend in this extract from his Bridging Binaries tour of the Museum of Classical Archaeology. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Glimpse the interior life of artist Gwen John in this extract from Oliver Warren's Bridging Binaries tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum. Part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Join the revels of the ancient god Dionysus... Lucian Stephenson shares a story from the Museum of Classical Archaeology, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' LGBTQ+ tour programme.

In the Whipple Museum of the History of Science is a very special microscope... Meg Roberts explores what Charles Darwin did and didn't see in this story from the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

Where to start with the story of the Roman Emperor Caracalla - with his murdered brother, or his many lovers? Travel to ancient Rome with Luis Jimenez and a story from the Museum of Classical Archaeology, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries LGBTQ+ tour programme.

Lucian Stephenson unravels a tale of transformation from the Museum of Classical Archaeology, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

A barrel organ in the Polar Museum's collection opens up a world of polar pantomime fun... Julia Peck tells an LGBTQ+ story from Polar Museum, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

Discover the life and loves of Alexander the Great... Anthony Bridgen shares a story from his LGBTQ+ history tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.

Meet Antinous, the boy who became a god... Anthony Bridgen shares a story from his LGBTQ+ history tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum, part of the University of Cambridge Museums' Bridging Binaries tour programme.