Today we unveiled details of the most ambitious and exciting factual project since I became Controller of Radio 4. It's A History of The World in 100 Objects, presented and written by Neil MacGregor - the Director of the British Museum.

In 100 separate 15-minute programmes Neil talks about a single object in the British Museum collection that can tell us about a host of different things. There will, of course, be a description of the object, but most of each programme will focus on areas where radio excels as a medium - on how the object was made, its political, economic and cultural significance, how the object came to be in the collection, and so on. There are a hatful of stories and ideas in every programme. I have heard those that have been made so far and they are wonderful.

Please note: this is an extract. Read the rest of Mark Damazer's blog post and leave comments on the Radio 4 blog.