Medical Museums and Colonial Hauntings: a conversation with Órla O'Donovan

Send us Fan MailWe talk with Órla O'Donovan about how medical museums and university heritage spaces can hide violence in the display cabinets while still shaping what we treat as knowledge, normality, and progress. We discuss with the limits of consent, erasing records, and why real repair demands ongoing reckoning with the past. References to topics discussed:Órla O'Donovan, University ‘dude walls’ must fall, Community Development Journal, Volume 60, Issue 1, January 2025, Pages 13–17, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsae050 O’Donovan, Órla. "“The Irish giant” and the questions haunting medical museums." bmj 381 (2023). Tasmania government apologises for display of autopsy body parts in museum without consentVial episode over after precious blood comes home to Elcho IslandUndisciplinary - a podcast that talks across the boundaries of history, ethics, and the politics of health. Follow us on Twitter @undisciplinary_ or email questions for "mailbag episodes" [email protected]