S4 Ep3: Fighting the Robber of Youth with Dr. Animesh Sinha
In this episode, Jerry Brotton meets Dr. Animesh Sinha from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders). Animesh is an infectious diseases specialist who has spent his career caring for people in remote regions with HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and hepatitis.
Animesh is the principal investigator in a project named Zero TB where his team are using GIS data and maps to treat, and hopefully eradicate, TB in a city called Kulob which is located in Southern Tajikistan.
MSF is a humanitarian organisation providing critical medical care in more than 70 countries around the world. We hear about Animesh’s career as a medic in the Indian Army and his more recent experiences as an MSF doctor in South Sudan and Chechnya. We find out the essential role that mapping has in monitoring live cases and drug resistance, as well as how the MSF’s open-source ‘mapathons’ assist medical professionals and emergency services in healthcare delivery and disaster response.
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.
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S4 Ep2: Encountering the Big River with Hannah Claus
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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.
Netherlands