A US Marine searches for the ancient relics discovered by Agatha Christie during excavations in Mesopotamia. Henry Kissinger tries to prevent the publication of a book on the history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a detective walks around the Manhattan subway with a frieze of an ancient Pompeian temple. Journalist Aris Chatzistefanou traveled to New York City on a special journalistic assignment for iMEdD, exposing the connections of major museums to antiquities collectors, auction houses and illegal antiquities networks that span the globe.
1. The mystery Hercule Poirot didn't solve, the book Henry Kissinger didn't want to publish and the "Indiana Jones of Manhattan"
Aris Chatzistefanou meets him in the introductory episode of the series, trying to find out all the things those so high-profile people didn't want us to know. The further his investigation goes, the more he comes across the name of Matthew Bogdanos. He is the former colonel of Greek descent who served in Iraq and Korea, and for some years now has been working for the New York City District Attorney's office. Everybody calls him the "Indiana Jones of Manhattan."
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2. The Stern Succession: From 2100 canaries to 161 Cycladic figurines to return to Greece
In this episode, Aris Chatzistefanou on one of the most important links in the chain of the modern antiquities trade: collectors. Guest stars, Pablo Picasso and Donald Trump.
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3. "My Ancient Laundry": how to launder an item from ancient Greece in the New York market
In this episode, Aris Chatzistefanou meets him in New York, and he relates how he once bought a ticket on the Manhattan subway carrying in his bag a stolen frieze that was to be auctioned at a famous house. Thus, Professor Erin Thompson helps him to understand the techniques of antiquity "laundering" in the modern art trade.
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4. Kim Kardashian takes the stage next to a stolen sarcophagus
In this episode, Aris Chatzistefanou explores the perspective of the museum and auction house lobby. How do they justify their controversial practices? Does "the one who wants the baby most" finally get it, as Solomon's Law, invoked by famous collectors, used to say?
