marybeard
Classicist
- You dont win 'em all! Reform's Matt Goodwin in Sunday Times: 'Most .. people criticising me are nerds.The last thing I want is to be at some dinner party table with Nick Robinson & Mary Beard. I'd rather shoot myself in the head'. Hang on, I'm not THAT bad!Nerds sometimes have a (thoughtful!) point.
- The sevond episode of our 4 part mini series on Helen of Troy What did she do at Troy during the war over her? A double agent?? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- Noone could claim I'm not invested in fiction (chairing Booker this year). But non-fiction is getting a bit short-changed, I think, in this UK "year of reading". For some, it's always been non fiction (glimpses of other worlds, other ways of thinking) that started the reading vibe.
- could someone briefly explain what accounts for the US volte face on the Chagos settlement since May!?
- Born of the coupling of Leda and the Swan, then hatched from an egg There’s more to Helen of Troy than the most beautiful woman in the world - as Charlotte and I discuss in our 4 part Instant Classics mini series podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- What IS it with people who want to add territory to their country? (Eventually) the imperial Romans had a fair degree of ambivalence about this. In my blog tinyurl.com/p7635jc6 @thetls.bsky.social
- And to add to the Classics in this week's @thetls.bsky.social , there's also Ollie Randall on Radical Antiquity! Go read
- In @TheTLS this week, there's some meaty classics: Nigel Spivey (on T Holscher's Diver of Paestum); Simon Goldhill (on the long history of "Greek" theatre); Tim Whitmarsh (on Padilla Peralta's Classicism).
- Haha Mini series!!!
- On instant classics we’re starting a four part moni series on Helen of Troy”villain, victim and double agent” (yes double agent) podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- On instant classics we’re starting a four part moni series on Helen of Troy”villain, victim and double agent” (yes double agent) podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- Do join us on 19 April in London (other locations follow) to discuss why we should be interested in deep history: tinyurl.com/yc6tnvup
- Today, the United States welcomed the historic agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Mauritius on the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory—specifically, the Chagos Archipelago. m Rubio may 2025
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- If you are into classical architecture, it looks like the basilica designed by Vitruvius has been discovered in Fano in Italy. Not sure it is quite as it's been hyped (as amazing as Tutankhamun), but important none the less. tinyurl.com/4chwjseu @thetls.bsky.social
- The new Instant Classics on ancient undercover operations but we also explore why writing itself could seem so dangerous! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- I went recently to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, and wondered if the politics had changed since my last visit. tinyurl.com/4xmdd9yk
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- Imperialism then and now. Some Roman parallels for military and non-military interventions. tinyurl.com/yv7awyjj
- The most recent episode of Instant Classics hosts our first special guest. That's Naomi Alderman, who just finished her Masters dissertation on Roman women wearing togas (she nails it). We talk about lots more besides (what's the point of classics?). Here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/u...
- Fancy meeting up on a free trip to Pompeii (UK folks only)? If you pre-order my new "Talking Classics" book (in which Pompeii features) from @Waterstones, you get to enter a prize draw for exactly that. Details, T&Cs here: www.waterstones.com/win/talking-...
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- My 8th decade starts today. Grateful to have made it. I'm going loads of places in UK this year, to talk about the ancient world - from Exeter to Belfast, Penarth to Glasgow. Some dates here: tinyurl.com/5n6tcn6m and fane.co.uk/talking-clas... + more here (check with bookstores)
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- Here is an Xmas day episode of Instant Classics. We take a long hard look at Roman gifts and question tne direct link between Saturnalia & Xmas podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- In the Instant Classics Book Club we have reached Book 5 of the Odyssey and have met Odysseus face to face for the first time. Join the club and get access to all eps here: www.instantclassicspod.com We have exchanged the zoon format for a cosy fireside. Hope you enjoy!
- Classical Athenian theatre isn’t all you wd think! Go behind the scenes here on Instant Classics podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
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- What made the Romans crack up??? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- I'm both over the moon and a bit nervous to be chairing the Booker judges for 2026. These are the people I'm going to be getting to know rather well #BookerPrize2026 @thebookerprizes.com
- Here's the promised link for joinging the Instant Classics bookclub! instantclassics.supportingcast.fm We're reading the Odyssey at the moment (and you get the full back catalogue!), plus extras.
- Come with us (Instant Classics Live) to the Roman amphitheatre in London and find out about life in London then (the slaves, the rich, the whistleblowers, the rebels) tinyurl.com/yc86565f
- Glad you enjoyed Hetan!
- what is a god? On Instant Classics we have a go at trying to understand Athena, much more than a 'goddess of wisdom' podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
- The new BBC Civilisations? A great view of some objects from the British Museum. But (some of the modern political refs aside), it is a strangely conservative historical approach. Great men. See here: tinyurl.com/yxmp2ybm
- Fancy a free trip to Pompeii and a walk around the site with me? Waterstones have a prize draw for exactly that. Just pre-order my new book (UK only I think). Details here www.waterstones.com/win/talking-...
- A new episode of Instant Classics Bookclub has dropped. We're reading the Odyssey & have reached Book 4. Helen 'of Troy' is back in Sparta with Menelaus whom she abandoned so causing the Trojan War. Domestic bliss? Join the Bookclub with access to back episodes too: instantclassics.supportingcast.fm
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- At Instant Classics we've got a cracking two-part mini series on Boudica, rebel queen....in the first episode, how did the rebellion start? how far had Britain been 'conquered' anyway? can we only see her through Roman eyes? tinyurl.com/mrtfbfn7
- 25 November in the Roman amphitheatre at the London Guildhall, it's Instant Classics's first live event. We'll be talking about what life was like in Roman London. And a drink and mingle at the end. Had been sold out, but more tickets now released www.instantclassicspod.com/events
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- Hadestown? Trips to the Underworld in Greece and Rome. Have a listen! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
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- Thanks to the American Philosophical Society for hosting this discussion about the ancient world (features me I am afraid) amphilsoc.org/useful-knowled
- Catch our real life Roman ghost story on Instant Classics tinyurl.com/7t2kpzuh On Thursday we are dropping the follow up episode on the underworld in epic. Come and meet the ghosts of the Odyssey and the Aeneid.
- What better for halloween than a good old Roman ghost story? Listen here! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
- This week in Instant Classics Bookclub, we take a step back & think about the repeated adjectives used to describe characters in the Odyssey. What is their point? Join the Bookclub here instantclassics.supportingcast.fm (& you can get an earlybird offer to our first live event on 25 Nov)
- The question for today. Did Nero Really Fiddle While Rome Burned? And what tune did he play. On Instant Classics now tinyurl.com/cv7e9m92
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- Last day of sale. You have till midnight tonight to get 25% off my new book (out in the Spring). tinyurl.com/mr452usz A great "deal" from Waterstones.
- Day Three of Waterstones 25% off deal on my new book (out in spring). Just one more day at this price. tinyurl.com/mr452usz
