Ebgesprek: Zijderoutes op zee

Under the moderation of Kees Foekema, artist Marjolijn Boterenbrood engages in conversation with historian Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World. Pye shows how the North Sea in the Middle Ages – much like the Silk Routes – was a hub of exchange. It was not just people and goods that traveled across the sea, but also plants, animals, and microorganisms moving from continent to continent. How does this history of exchange connect the island of Terschelling to the rest of the world? And how has the sea shaped us?

Michael Pye is a British novelist, journalist, historian, and broadcaster. For twenty years, he commuted between New York and Europe as a political and cultural columnist for various British newspapers. Pye has published both non-fiction books and historical novels, including Stolen Lives (1999) and Antwerp (2021). In 2015, The Edge of the World, about life on the North Sea in the Middle Ages, was published and became a worldwide bestseller.

Program maker and moderator: Kees Foekema

This Ebgesprek (Tidal Conversation) is linked to the work Marine Migrants by Marjolijn Boterenboord.