View source for Living with the Gods

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[[File:Loewenmensch1.jpg|thumb|upright|The "Lion-Man" artefact]]
'''''Living with the Gods''''' is a 30-part [[BBC Radio 4]] series presented by [[Neil MacGregor]], a former director of the [[British Museum]].<ref name="BBC Media Centre">{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/r4-british-museum-partnership|title= Living With The Gods - new BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum partnership unveiled for autumn 2017 |author= <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 15 May 2017 |website= www.bbc.co.uk |publisher= [[BBC]] | access-date= 25 October 2017 }}</ref> It explores human societies and what MacGregor describes as "the connections between structures of belief, and the structures of society".<ref name="British Museum blog">{{cite web |url= http://blog.britishmuseum.org/living-with-gods-a-new-partnership-project-with-bbc-radio-4/|title= Living with gods: a new partnership project with BBC Radio 4|author= <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 10 October 2017|website= blog.britishmuseum.org |publisher= [[British Museum]]| access-date= 24 October 2017 }}</ref>
The series examines artefacts from the 40,000 year-old [[Lion-man]] sculpture<ref name="Guardian 10 October 2017">{{cite news |last= Sherwood |first= Harriet |title= British Museum and BBC team up to explore belief through objects |url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/oct/10/british-museum-and-bbc-team-up-to-explore-belief-through-objects| date= 10 October 2017|newspaper= [[The Guardian]] |location=London| access-date= 24 October 2017 }}</ref> to the contemporary [[Jill Cook#The Lampedusa Cross|Lampedusa Cross]] created by Francisco Tuccio in response to the [[2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck#Shipwreck of 11 October|2013 drowning of refugees]] off the island of Lampedusa.<ref name="British Museum Lampedusa">{{cite web |url= http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3691920&partId=1&searchText=cross+lampedusa&page=1 |title= Collection online: The Lampedusa cross| author= <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website= britishmuseum.org |publisher= [[British Museum]] | access-date= 25 October 2017 }}</ref>
In the episode ''Living with Many Gods'', MacGregor explained:<blockquote> "Choosing a title for this series turned out to be extremely difficult, because although some societies have many gods there are others that acknowledge only one, and for whom even the idea of  'gods' in the plural is offensive. And then there are some communities that share the world around them with spirits, or shifting supernatural beings, which wouldn't match our understanding of a god. And a few societies like Soviet Russia have tried to live officially with no god at all. In every case the consequences for society are profound."<ref name="Living with Many Gods">{{cite episode| title= Living with Many Gods | series= Living With The Gods| credits= Writer and presenter: [[Neil MacGregor]]; Producer: Paul Kobrak| network= BBC| station= [[BBC Radio 4]]| url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09fxxks| airdate= 20 November 2017| minutes= 0:58| access-date= 20 November 2017 }}</ref></blockquote>
The series accompanied an exhibition at the [[British Museum]], running until 8 April 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/nov/06/living-with-gods-review-art-religion-british-museum|title = Living with Gods review – 40,000 years of religious art, and this is it?|date = 6 November 2017}}</ref>
==Reception==
Writing in the ''[[New Statesman]]'', [[Antonia Quirke]] asked, "What makes Neil MacGregor the best presenter on BBC radio? His new 30-part series ''Living With the Gods'', about objects connected to belief, ceremony and ritual, begins on 23 October (BBC Radio 4, 9.45am), and listening to the first few episodes it’s clear that it is every bit the equal of [[Kenneth Clark]]'s ''[[Civilisation (television series)|Civilisation]]'' or [[Jacob Bronowski]]'s ''[[The Ascent of Man]]''. None of them could hope to find a place on television now".<ref name="New Statesman 19 October 2017">{{cite news |last= Quirke |first= Antonia | author-link= Antonia Quirke |title= Living with the Gods is 15 minutes of belief, ceremony and ritual| url= https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv-radio/2017/10/living-gods-15-minutes-belief-ceremony-and-ritual| date= 19 October 2017|work= [[New Statesman]] |location=London| access-date=24 October 2017 }}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:British Museum in media]]
[[Category:BBC Radio 4 programmes]]
[[Category:Historical objects]]