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What's Your Map?

Oculi Mundi

From historians, scientists and writers to creatives and cultural custodians, people have used maps as a source of knowledge, guidance, and inspiration for centuries.

Winner of the Gold award at the British Podcast Awards 2025 in the Education category!

Join award-winning expert Professor Jerry Brotton, as in each episode he invites a guest to share a map close to their heart - and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it.

So if you’re fascinated by history, art, adventure and culture, why not become part of a global community of fellow explorers as we ask - What’s your map?

What’s Your Map? is brought to you by Oculi Mundi (‘eyes of the world’), the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases. For a fully immersive experience, visit Oculi-Mundi.com/podcast to explore each of the maps as you listen.

Follow the official Instagram @oculimundimaps to learn more about the collection.

For press enquiries, contact podcast@oculi-mundi.com

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  • 24 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 29 min
  • English

Episodes 24

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  • S4 · E2
    Nov 19, 2025 · 28 min

    S4 Ep2: Encountering the Big River with Hannah Claus

    In this episode, Jerry takes another excursion to meet with Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) and English visual artist, Hannah Claus. Hannah is in London exhibiting at the High Commission of Canada in the U.K. as part of their commitment to show work by Indigenous Canadian artists. Her body of work titled tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie - éntie nonkwá:ti [where the waters flow - south shore] tells the story of the Kahrhionhwa’kó:wa [the Great River, or Saint Lawrence River]. Her artwork éntie nokwá:ti ne Kaniatarowánen [water song - south shore] features as her chosen map for this episode: it is an installation that visualises a sound wave of a water song composed by Ionhiarò:roks McComber. During this intimate tour of Hannah’s artworks, she tells Jerry about First Nations cosmologies and the importance of having a relationship to the land and bodies of water upon which one resides. Together, they delve into the concept of what constitutes a map, and how artists convey the narratives and collective histories of specific places through their work. To explore Hannah's artwork as you listen, visit: https://oculi-mundi.com/hannah-claus From historians, scientists and writers to creatives and cultural custodians, people have used maps as a source of knowledge, guidance, and inspiration for centuries. Join us in this award winning podcast (Gold in Education at the British Podcast Awards 2025) as Jerry Brotton invites a guest to share a map close to their heart - and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. If you’re fascinated by history, art, adventure and culture, why not become part of a global community of fellow explorers as we ask - What’s your map? What’s Your Map? is brought to you by Oculi Mundi (‘eyes of the world’), the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases. For a fully immersive experience, visit Oculi-Mundi.com/podcast to explore each of the maps as you listen. Image © Hannah Claus/The Sunderland Collection All views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are entirely their own and do not represent those of The Sunderland Collection or Whistledown Productions.

  • S4 · E1
    Nov 5, 2025 · 30 min

    S4 Ep1: Silver Sails: Following the Galleon Route with Dr. Katie Parker

    In the first episode of Season 4, our host Jerry Brotton finds himself at one of the world's largest and most active exploration-focused institutions: the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in London. He meets with Cartographic Collections Manager Dr. Katie Parker to pore over a mid-sixteenth century treasure that both the RGS and The Sunderland Collection are privileged to own an example of. Produced in around 1550, this atlas by Battista Agnese is a luxurious curation of 13 hand-drawn portolan charts of the known world. Jerry and Katie explore what these exquisite maps show, and who would have owned them. They discuss the European desire for imperial expansion in pursuit of wealth, from silver and gold in the west to spices in the east. We also learn more from Katie’s expertise in 18th-century European maritime history and Pacific voyages of exploration. To explore the map as you listen, visit: https://oculi-mundi.com/katie-parker From historians, scientists and writers to creatives and cultural custodians, people have used maps as a source of knowledge, guidance, and inspiration for centuries. Join us in this award winning podcast (Gold in Education at the British Podcast Awards 2025) as Jerry Brotton invites a guest to share a map close to their heart - and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. If you’re fascinated by history, art, adventure and culture, why not become part of a global community of fellow explorers as we ask - What’s your map? What’s Your Map? is brought to you by Oculi Mundi (‘eyes of the world’), the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases. For a fully immersive experience, visit Oculi-Mundi.com/podcast to explore each of the maps as you listen. All views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are entirely their own and do not represent those of The Sunderland Collection or Whistledown Productions.

  • S3 · E7
    Oct 20, 2025 · 2 min

    S3 Ep7: Season 4 Launches November 5th!

    From historians, scientists and writers to creatives and cultural custodians, people have used maps as a source of knowledge, guidance, and inspiration for centuries. Join award-winning expert Professor Jerry Brotton, as in each episode he invites a guest to share a map close to their heart - and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. So if you’re fascinated by history, art, adventure and culture, why not become part of a global community of fellow explorers as we ask - What’s your map? And to find out more about the British Library talk with Jerry, Nicholas Crane and Dwayne Fields on October 25th, go to: https://events.bl.uk/events/online-secret-mapping-mapping-secrecy What’s Your Map? is brought to you by Oculi Mundi (‘eyes of the world’), the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases. For a fully immersive experience, visit Oculi-Mundi.com/podcast to explore each of the maps as you listen.

  • S3 · E6
    Aug 19, 2025 · 26 min

    S3 Ep6: Polar Bears and the Unknown with Djoeke van Netten

    Jerry journeys to the Arctic polar region with Dr Djoeke van Netten from the University of Amsterdam, following the attempts by Dutch navigator Willem Barentsz and his crew to reach China via the northeast passage. Djoeke explains the backstory of the Dutch trade missions that took place in 1594, 1595, and 1596 and how the 1596 mission was stranded in Novaya Zemlya [an island chain in present day Northern Russia] for almost a year. These European explorers kept fascinating records of landscapes and animals that they had never encountered before, in particular polar bears—an animal that sparked significant curiosity and concern among the Dutch crew. Djoeke reveals how these interactions not only informed the crew's survival strategies but also shaped their perceptions of the Arctic. Djoeke and Jerry discuss how maps not only record known geography but also convey what was unknown to European mapmakers - dotted lines and empty regions that reflect both an acknowledgment of limits and the ambition of further exploration. To explore the map as you listen, visit: https://oculi-mundi.com/djoeke-van-netten From historians, scientists and writers to creatives and cultural custodians, people have used maps as a source of knowledge, guidance, and inspiration for centuries. Join award-winning expert Professor Jerry Brotton as each episode he invites a guest to share a map close to their heart - and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. So if you’re fascinated by history, art, adventure and culture, why not become part of a global community of fellow explorers as we ask - What’s your map? What’s Your Map? is brought to you by Oculi Mundi (‘eyes of the world’), the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases. For a fully immersive experience, visit Oculi-Mundi.com/podcast to explore each of the maps as you listen. Image courtesy of Rare Maps. Public Domain via Wikipedia Commons All views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are entirely their own and do not represent those of The Sunderland Collection or Whistledown Productions.

Showing 21–24 of 24 episodes