Reading from the research of John Yates, Yale 2010, ARCA Director Noah Charney discusses the mysteries behind Yale's acquisition of the Vinland Map. Additionally, he explains the multi-faceted controversy surrounding the authenticity of this mappa mundi, which some scholars believe is evidence supporting the theory that the Vikings were the first Europeans to land in North America. On Friday, 17 July 2009, at an international cartographers' conference in Copenhagen, Rene Larsen, rector of the School of Conservation under the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, told Reuters, "All the tests that we have done over the past five years -- on the materials and other aspects - do not show any signs of forgery." Accordingly, the map continues to make headlines. The podcast can be found here or by clicking the title of this post.

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Three stolen works of art were recovered, along with nearly 40 other stolen paintings, firearms, heroin, marijuana, and cash, in a New Haven home. The three artworks, two paintings and a drawing, had recently been stolen from Yale University's Slifka Center, taken on two different days from an exhibition inside. The recovery is important both to highlight the nature of most art crimes worldwide (which involve lesser-known works of art than the headline-grabbing heists most people expect), and the link between art crime and the drug and arms trades. Even with a relatively small-time crook, such as the local New Haven heroin dealer who had stolen art, guns, and drugs in his home, the connection between art theft and "more serious" crimes is evident.