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Hello, I'm Charlotte Higgins, and I'm the author of the long read you're about to hear.

As the Guardian's chief culture writer, I've been thinking about the British Museum on and off

for 25 years, and through 2024, in the wake of a series of crises at the institution,

I spent months interviewing dozens of present and former staff members and trustees

and exploring the museum itself from its labyrinthine basements to its roof.

I wanted to try to get a better grasp of a very strange and fascinating institution

that despite being incredibly famous is not well understood.

This kind of deep, detailed reporting takes an immense amount of time and it's expensive.

If you would like and are able to support us to do this kind of reporting,

you can support the Guardian through the link in the show notes.

We're not owned by a billionaire and we rely on the support of our readers and listeners like you.

Thanks so much and I hope you enjoy the piece. Welcome to The Guardian Long Read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking.

For the text version of this and all our long reads, go to the Guardian.com forward slash long read.

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