In the Vox podcast In a Nutshell, hosts Jara Majerus and Antonia Leise take a deep dive into the university's most interesting, strange, and exciting research. Every two weeks, they invite Radboud researchers to talk about their favourite topics – explained in bite-sized episodes. In today's episode, Antonia talks with László Munteán about the material memory of 9/11.

What are the things we don’t remember when we remember 9/11? Why is commemorating 9/11 still a heatedly discussed topic, even more than 20 years later? And where did the ruins of the Twin Towers actually go?

“Where were you when the planes hit the towers?” Is probably one of the most asked questions of the 21^st century. In this week’s episode, Antonia takes a closer look at the aftermath of the terrorist attack. Together with guest László Munteán, she discusses mourning the dead after the attacks, how a significant amount of the towers’ steel ended up in China – and what three ships have to do with all of that.

László Munteán is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts. His research focusses on the memorialization – and especially materiality – of 9/11. He is the coordinator of the RICH research group Memory, Materiality and Affect.

Would you like to start learning more about the material culture surrounding the terrorist attacks? Then follow László’s suggestion and read Jay D. Aronson’s book Who Owns the Dead? The Science and Politics of Death at Ground Zero.