What's Your Map?

What's Your Map? returns on March 25 with Season 5!

The British Podcast Awards GOLD winning podcast returns on March 25th! 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?Join us for the new season starting Wednesday March 25th, released every fortnight. Upcoming guests include: Jonathan Wright, master globemaker and conservator, Ross Perlin, a preserver of endangered languages from New York City, Marcello Canuto, an archaeologist using cutting edge laser mapping to uncover ancient Mayan ruins, and Singaporean artist Debbie Ding who maps her dreams, Bill Rankin is a cartographer and historian at Yale University, Climber Cecilie Skog, and sociologist Rohini Rai who traces the history of her ancestors. 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. 

S4 Ep6: From Meadow to Metropolis: Mapping a World of Sound with Michaela Vieser

In this episode, Jerry meets with acclaimed nature and travel writer Michaela Vieser. The focus of their conversation is an interactive map that charts 98 distinct sounds and silences from around the globe. The creation of this geographical sound archive is connected to her new book co-written with Isaac Yuen, The Sound Atlas: A Guide to Strange Sounds Across Landscapes and Imagination. From the swaying, lush meadows of the Altai Mountains, to the unique jingles at Tokyo’s train stations, Michaela guides Jerry through a selection of her favourites on this auditory adventure. Together, they discuss the temporal nature of sound, the vulnerability of the changing landscapes in which they were recorded, and the emotional and physical experience of listening. 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 detail: Map data.Google © 2025 / Co-authored by Michaela Vieser and Isaac Yuen.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 Ep5: Out of the Cave: Encounters and Anima with Jago Cooper

In this episode, Jerry meets with Dr. Jago Cooper to examine a map of an ancient cave network on Isla de Mona in the Caribbean Sea. The map pinpoints the locations of markings that depict Indigenous beliefs and also trace 500 years of cross-cultural encounters. Jago is the Director of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a world class art museum based in Norwich with a unique perspective on how art can foster cultural dialogue and exchange. It is the first of its kind in formally recognising art as a living lifeforce and acts as a conduit between the art and people.In his discussion with Jerry, Jago reflects on how his archaeology career has influenced his views and deepened his knowledge of diverse world cultures. He and Jerry explore how mapping can help us understand relationships between people and place, rather than just routes and borders.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 detail: ©Antiquity Publications Ltd and Cambridge University Press (2016).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 Ep4: Smuggling Silk: WWII Escape Maps with Dr. Barbara A. Bond

In this episode, Jerry speaks with the illustrious Barbara A. Bond, the former cartographic researcher in the UK’s Ministry of Defence. Together, they pour over an important but unassuming silk escape map of Danzig (Gdansk) port from World War II. What information is presented on the map, and what has been intentionally excluded? More importantly, how did this map end up in the hands of a Prisoner of War hoping to escape the enemy in Europe?We gain access all areas to Barbara’s astounding career in mapping: Jerry hears highlights from her first exposure to maps as a child, to her tenure as President of the British Cartographic Society and Director of the Hydrographic Office in the UK. Along the way, we gain insight to her PhD research on MI9's escape and evasion mapping programme in WWII, resulting in her brilliant book Great Escapes. 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 detail: Silk escape map of Danzig Port (1942) ©Courtesy of the Military Intelligence MuseumAll 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. 

What's Your Map? Live at the British Library: Lessons in Scouting with Dwayne Fields

In this second live episode from the British Library, Jerry speaks to explorer and Chief Scout Dwayne Fields, who is accompanied by Head of the Scout Heritage Collection, Caroline Pantling.They shine a spotlight on the innovative, hand-drawn maps of the Scout movement founder Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941), and talk about the importance of imagination and adventure.The maps they discuss in the episode are illustrations from Baden-Powell's 1915 book "My Adventures as a Spy". The book recounts Baden-Powell's own experiences in the military and his career in espionage, and features his charming hand-drawn maps hidden in natural history sketches.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 detail: Public Domain via Project Gutenberg. (Vectorised,  October 2025). 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.