#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use feature qw/ say /;
use Data::Dumper;
use JSON;

my $data =  qq# 
{
    "items" : [
        {   "name" : "Theodor Nelson",
            "id": "_333301"
        },
        {   "name": "Morton Heilig",
            "id": "_13204"
         }
        ]
}
#;

my $obj = from_json( $data );
my %names;

$names{ $_->{'id'} } = $_->{'name'} for @{ $obj->{'items'} };

while ( my( $id, $name ) = each %names ) { 
  say "$id: $name";
}

__END__