10 episodesDynamite Doug
How one man pulled off the greatest art heist in history – the looting of an entire nation.
About the show
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For 50 years, Douglas Latchford was the world’s premier expert on Cambodian art, supplying priceless statues to Western museums and rich collectors. But his fame masked a dirty secret. Douglas had colluded with the Khmer Rouge, a genocidal regime, to loot Cambodia’s entire cultural heritage. As the country descended into bloodshed, Douglas stole almost everything. A network of art world cronies were on hand to help him sell these blood statues, including a senior curator at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. When a band of art sleuths get on their case, Douglas and his co-conspirators mount a rearguard action to save themselves. This is a story the art world doesn’t want told. Unlike the Elgin Marbles, and other brewing controversies over stolen art, our story isn’t ancient history. This tale is happening now.
Episodes
Introducing The Illuminator: Art, Conspiracy and Madness12 Dec 2024 3 minThe Illuminator is OUT NOW. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts to listen ad-free. Mark Lombardi, a conceptual artist on the cusp of international success, had everything to live for. So why was the 48-year-old found hanged and deemed suicidal? Was his death the ultimate conceptual art, an afterlife laugh at those…
Live Bonus: A Discussion on Cambodia’s Stolen Statues4 May 2023 35 minIn this bonus episode, we bring you an expert panel on Cambodian art restitution, live from New York. Back in February, Dynamite Doug marked its launch with a symposium tackling Cambodia’s stolen heritage and the Met’s problem with trafficked art head on. The panel included Sopheap Meas, a Cambodian archaeologist work…
Bonus: Kenya Wants Its Missing Artifacts Back19 Apr 2023 25 minIf you’ve been listening to Dynamite Doug, you know it focuses on the looting of Cambodia’s art, and how so many priceless statues wound up in Western museums or with rich collectors. In this bonus episode of Dynamite Doug, Project Brazen reporter Neha Wadekar travels to Kenya to see how it is responding to the loss o…
Episode 6: “Curiosity Killed the Cat”5 Apr 2023 30 minEmma faces up to what she’s done as Douglas is finally brought low, and Cambodia begins the gargantuan task of bringing its art back home. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Museum fights a rearguard action to cling on to its collection…a struggle that’s still raging. Dynamite Doug is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe t…
Episode 5: The Lion29 Mar 2023 34 minA former Khmer Rouge child soldier, Toek Tik, codenamed “The Lion,” helps the Cambodian government identify looted statues. Eventually Sotheby’s agrees to return its piece. Douglas keeps on looting but he’s on the radar of investigators at the Department of Homeland Security. When a New York dealer is arrested, Dougla…
Episode 4: Art Sleuths22 Mar 2023 29 minA British conservator comes across a pair of stone feet in a Cambodian jungle temple. His sleuthing leads him to deduce the feet belong to a statue in a U.S. museum and the trail leads to Douglas, the most serious scrutiny yet. Emma Bunker helps Douglas create fake documents to cover up his looting. But when a Cambodi…
Episode 3: Unrequited Love15 Mar 2023 33 minAs Cambodia opens to the world, the looting enters a new phase as a hoard of Western collectors descend on the nation. Douglas becomes rich, with a chauffeured Rolls Royce in London, and he grows close to the Denver-based academic, Emma Bunker. He’s soon using Emma’s scholarship as cover for his looting. Amid question…
Episode 2: Blood Statues8 Mar 2023 36 minWhen the genocidal Khmer Rouge takes over Cambodia, killing 2 million people, Douglas senses an opportunity. Amid the bloodshed, murderous generals rob the nation blind – hacking statues out of jungle temples – and Douglas is a willing buyer. A senior curator at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and a Denver-based a…
Episode 1: Greatest Art Heist28 Feb 2023 28 minHow Douglas Latchford, a nobody from colonial India, makes a name for himself dealing in Cambodian art. It’s the 1960s, and no one cares about Westerners stealing ancient statues from poor countries to sell in London and New York. But, as attitudes start to change, gossip mounts about Douglas. Dynamite Doug is a Proje…
Introducing Dynamite Doug27 Feb 2023 4 minHow one man carried out the greatest art heist in history – the looting of Cambodia’s entire cultural heritage – with the aid of Western academics, dealers and curators. This is the story the art world doesn’t want told. Dynamite Doug is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts and get exclu…