Stories behind the scenes

University of Cambridge

In this second episode, Lainy Malkani and Jack Ashby head to the storerooms of the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge to take a closer look at one of the world’s finest collections of thylacine skins. They explore how what was done to thylacines and what was done to Tasmanian Aboriginal people was part of the same historical process. As populations of both were diminished, demand for their remains in western museums rocketed. The man who sent the skins to Cambridge was Morton Allport. Recent research has revealed an uncomfortable truth about how Allport built his reputation as a leading “man of science”, by both stoking that demand, and working to fulfil it. Listeners should be aware that we will be discussing events that involved racial violence in Tasmania.