Radio and PodcastLive Radio & Podcasts

Search Radio and Podcast

Podcasts›Always Take Notes›Mary Beard on "The Odyssey", "Gladiator 2" and why popular culture is always in dialogue with the ancient world

Arts

Mary Beard on "The Odyssey", "Gladiator 2" and why popular culture is always in dialogue with the ancient world

Always Take Notes by Always Take Notes

Mar 3, 202672:13Arts

Rachel and Simon speak with the author and academic Mary Beard. Mary is a professor emerita of classics at Cambridge University and the Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement. She has written more than 20 books...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from Always Take Notes.

Matt Haig on his early struggles as a literary novelist and the unexpected success of his memoir "Reasons to Stay Alive"

Sep 1, 2026 - 69:29

Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist and non-fiction writer Matt Haig. Matt's work includes the novels...

Amanda Harris on the economics of publishing, setting up her own literary agency and what makes a worthwhile celebrity book

Aug 18, 2026 - 60:16

Rachel and Simon speak to the literary agent Amanda Harris. Amanda started her publishing career in publi...

Jeff Maysh on optioning dozens of his magazine stories to film and TV production companies and the roots of his interest in crime

Aug 4, 2026 - 66:23

Simon and Rachel speak with the journalist Jeff Maysh. Jeff's work, specialising in narrative non-fiction...

Vicki Willden-Lebrecht on screens, the reading crisis and building a business around illustrated children's books

Jul 21, 2026 - 53:22

Rachel and Simon speak with the literary agent Vicki Willden-Lebrecht. Vicki set up The Bright Agency in...

Tom Rob Smith on his bestselling debut "Child 44", screenwriting for the BBC and FX, and taking a different approach in his new novel "Twenty Years Together"

Jul 7, 2026 - 69:51

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and screenwriter Tom Rob Smith. Tom wrote his first novel, "Chil...

Siri Hustvedt talks about her marriage to the novelist Paul Auster - and writing about him after his death in “Ghost Stories”

Jun 23, 2026 - 58:59

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and essayist Siri Hustvedt. Born in Minnesota in 1955 to a Norwe...

John Lanchester on his novelistic portrayal of London on the brink of a financial crisis in "Capital" and intergenerational strife in his new book "Look What You Made Me Do"

Jun 9, 2026 - 66:52

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and journalist John Lanchester. John has written six works of fi...

Kathryn Stockett on the success (and controversy) of "The Help" and taking 17 years to publish a follow-up novel, "The Calamity Club"

May 26, 2026 - 61:33

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Kathryn Stockett. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Kathr...