marybeard
@wmarybeard.bsky.social
📤 36489
📥 110
📝 202
Classicist
reposted by
marybeard
Jamon Bull
1 day ago
Had a great night with
@brisdram.bsky.social
hearing
@wmarybeard.bsky.social
speak in Brisbane. She drove home for me how reflecting on the ancient world can help us make greater sense of the world we live in. She’s a treasure. Thank you, Mary. From an inspired Ancient History teacher right here.
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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
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https://amphilsoc.org/useful-knowled
2 days ago
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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.
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Roman Ghostbusters
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 30/10/2025 · 38m
https://tinyurl.com/7t2kpzuh
3 days ago
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What better for halloween than a good old Roman ghost story? Listen here!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
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Roman Ghostbusters
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 30/10/2025 · 38m
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/instant-classics/id1831429397?i=1000734169186
7 days ago
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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)
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Instant Classics | Instant Classics
https://instantclassics.supportingcast.fm
10 days ago
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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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Did Nero Really Fiddle While Rome Burned?
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 23/10/2025 · 44m
https://tinyurl.com/cv7e9m92
14 days ago
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reposted by
marybeard
Trisha Elliott
20 days ago
Thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s “Evening with Mary Beard”. It turns out that quite a lot of us in Edinburgh are fascinated by the Romans! Thank you,
@wmarybeard.bsky.social
for all the fun and wisdom!
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reposted by
marybeard
Dr Kate Cook
22 days ago
Delighted to have a short piece in this week's TLS on Hades 2, gender, and modern myth making.
www.the-tls.com/arts/hades-i...
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Hell with other people
Video games are often the first and most common way that many people now encounter the classical world. Hades, a critical hit following its release in
https://www.the-tls.com/arts/hades-ii-arts-review-kate-cook
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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.
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Talking Classics by Professor Mary Beard | Waterstones
Buy Talking Classics by Professor Mary Beard from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
https://tinyurl.com/mr452usz
22 days ago
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Day Three of Waterstones 25% off deal on my new book (out in spring). Just one more day at this price.
tinyurl.com/mr452usz
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Talking Classics by Professor Mary Beard | Waterstones
Buy Talking Classics by Professor Mary Beard from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
https://tinyurl.com/mr452usz
23 days ago
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I've got a new book out in spring
#TalkingClassics
: about why it's still worth bothering about ancient Greece and Rome. Now till Friday 17th Oct you can preorder through Waterstones. Enter OCTOBER25 at checkout & get 25% off RRP.
#WPreorder
tinyurl.com/TalkingClass...
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Talking Classics by Professor Mary Beard | Waterstones
Buy Talking Classics by Professor Mary Beard from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
https://tinyurl.com/TalkingClassics
25 days ago
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The boy talks about his Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age on RTE here
tinyurl.com/k3enkrv9
It's 25.29 minutes it. Give it a listen, why dont you! Why WAS the occult such a craze between WW1 and 2? And who were the occultists?
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The History Show Sunday 12 October 2025
This week: The Jews who tried to escape to Northern Ireland on the eve of World War Two; and a forgotten history of the occult. The Saved and the Spurned: Northern Ireland, Vienna and the Holocaust ...
https://tinyurl.com/k3enkrv9
26 days ago
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Jack Rear's article "Mary Beard: ‘We’re still making a desert & calling it peace, just like the Romans’" in:
telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…
. "The classicist on how a British Museum visit sparked her love of history & why we shouldn’t be too reverent about ancient civilisations". @jacksayspurple
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https://telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…
26 days ago
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Thanks for saying 👇👇
add a skeleton here at some point
28 days ago
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On Instant Classics now, a deep dive into Cassandra, the Trojan prophet doomed to tell the truth but never be believed. We reflect on the story from Aeschylus to Taylor Swift & find more than meets the eye.
tinyurl.com/mrymayzp
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Cassandra: Prophet Of The Modern World?
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 09/10/2025 · 49m
https://tinyurl.com/mrymayzp
29 days ago
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Tomorrow on Instant Classics (
tinyurl.com/4s6vr4vp
) we're looking at the long and complicated history of the toga. You'll never look on a toga party in thesame way again. That's FDR having a toga birthday party.
about 1 month ago
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A new episode of our Odyssey reading Book Club has dropped - discussing the rest of Book 1. From now on, I'm afraid you will actually have to JOIN the Club to listen. But there will be all sorts of other perks too. So go on!
instantclassics.supportingcast.fm
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Instant Classics | Instant Classics
https://instantclassics.supportingcast.fm/
about 1 month ago
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Talking in Oxford on 2 Oct. Just a few tickets left. I will be kicking off with a tiny Oxford classical treasure: some ancient Roman bullets with surprising messages imprinted on them!
www.fane.co.uk/mary-beard
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Mary Beard Tickets, Tour Dates & Concerts - Fane
Buy face value Mary Beard tickets from Fane, a primary ticket agent for Mary Beard. View tour dates, event details and more.
https://www.fane.co.uk/mary-beard
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
marybeard
Richard Ovenden
about 1 month ago
Really kind of Mary Beard to give me this generous shout-out in her
@thetls.bsky.social
blog this week …
www.the-tls.com/regular-feat...
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Don’t mess with a librarian
I have been off to Oxford to celebrate the skills, inspiration, charisma and resilience of librarians. First was the presentation of the Royal Society of
https://www.the-tls.com/regular-features/mary-beard-a-dons-life/dont-mess-with-a-librarian-blog-post
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Where should you go to see the best version of the lost statue of Athena from the Parthenon? Athens? London? No: Nashville! Listen here.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...
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Decoding The Parthenon
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 25/09/2025 · 53m
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/decoding-the-parthenon/id1831429397?i=1000728406724
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
marybeard
Lenart J. Kucic
about 2 months ago
This is becoming one of my favourite podcasts: Instant Classics by Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins. Check the latest episode on free speech in Ancient Greece and Rome
www.radio.net/podcast/inst...
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Instant Classics podcast | Listen online for free
Join world-renowned classicist Mary Beard and Guardian chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins for Instant Classics — the weekly podcast that proves ancient history is still relevant. Ancient stories, ...
https://www.radio.net/podcast/instant-classics2
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reposted by
marybeard
The TLS
about 1 month ago
'The Odyssey, with its stinks and stenches, its pigsties and drugged dinner parties, its beggars and bards, is not so high-flown as the Iliad.' A. E. Stallings (@ae_stallings): The epic of homecoming in a new translation
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A mentor’s odyssey
https://www.the-tls.com/classics/greek/the-odyssey-homer-book-review-a-e-stallings?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1758275158
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Our new Instant Classics podcast is on the Parthenon. Not its modern controversies, but its ancient ones! Was it OTT?
tinyurl.com/y9rcp6zj
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Decoding The Parthenon
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 25/09/2025 · 51m
https://tinyurl.com/y9rcp6zj
about 1 month ago
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We'll be dropping an Instant Classics episode about the Parthenon on Thursday...https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/instant-classics/id1831429397
about 1 month ago
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Not exactly a fashionista! But v chuffed about this 👇👇
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
marybeard
Plashing Vole
about 2 months ago
Very much enjoying the culture of trust and respect implicit in the installation of room usage monitoring devices on academics' office doors today. Imagine my shock on discovering that managers' doors remain unsullied…
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It a bumper Classics issue of the
@thetls.bsky.social
this week. Long reviews by AE Stallings on Mendelsohn's Odyssey
tinyurl.com/k7uzw9cy
and by Peter Thonemann on 403 BCE
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A mentor’s odyssey
It was perhaps inevitable that the critic, editor, classicist and translator Daniel Mendelsohn would take on a translation of the Odyssey. After all, he
https://tinyurl.com/k7uzw9cy
about 2 months ago
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Democracy is something you have to work hard at, not just sit back and enjoy. One thing we discuss here on Free Speech - An Ancient History.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...
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Free Speech - An Ancient History
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 18/09/2025 · 48m
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/free-speech-an-ancient-history/id1831429397?i=1000727318122
about 2 months ago
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Is now a good time to think harder about the death of Socrates? We wonder on Instant Classics:
tinyurl.com/43b2pvvs
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Free Speech - An Ancient History
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 18/09/2025 · 48m
https://tinyurl.com/43b2pvvs
about 2 months ago
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What you have been waiting for! Our Odyssey bookclub dives into the first 10 lines of Odyssey Book 1.. how a careful read of them helps unlock the whole poem. All in English but we do pick out & explain one Greek word.
tinyurl.com/4ycrzxw9
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The Odyssey#2:
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 16/09/2025 · 25m
https://tinyurl.com/4ycrzxw9
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
marybeard
On Tuesday our Instant Classics Odyssey Readalong really gets down to it -- with the start of Book 1 (and what some of the words really mean). We'll be reading the Odyssey together over several months (not sure how long). For an intro before that, try here:
tinyurl.com/p2cr66xu
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The Odyssey#1: Journey Begins
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 02/09/2025 · 17m
https://tinyurl.com/p2cr66xu
about 2 months ago
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On Tuesday our Instant Classics Odyssey Readalong really gets down to it -- with the start of Book 1 (and what some of the words really mean). We'll be reading the Odyssey together over several months (not sure how long). For an intro before that, try here:
tinyurl.com/p2cr66xu
loading . . .
The Odyssey#1: Journey Begins
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 02/09/2025 · 17m
https://tinyurl.com/p2cr66xu
about 2 months ago
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Todays new podcast . On sappho the first western poet of desire . Charlotte & I enjoy an occasional bit of disagreement !
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
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https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/instant-classics/id1831429397?i=1000726003584
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
marybeard
Fishbourne Roman Palace
2 months ago
This year we're going to do
#WorldBeardDay
the way it should be done. 🤩
@wmarybeard.bsky.social
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reposted by
marybeard
Dr Andrew Higgins
2 months ago
Just signed up for the
#instantClassics
Podcast book club exploring some great Greek and Roman texts with the dream classics team of Dame
@wmarybeard.bsky.social
and
@charlottehiggo.bsky.social
instantclassics.supportingcast.fm/listen
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Instant Classics | Podcast
https://instantclassics.supportingcast.fm/listen
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here, for those who asked, is the Apple link to Instant Classics. we do answer the Trump/emperor question but in the way you might expect !
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
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Which Roman Emperor is Donald Trump?
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 28/08/2025 · 43m
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/instant-classics/id1831429397?i=1000723824396
2 months ago
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Here is the first episode of Instant Classics Give us a listen and leave a comment !
open.spotify.com/episode/5s3Q...
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Which Roman Emperor is Donald Trump?
Spotify video
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5s3QyJxmZeE522kjM29AMf?si=o8WBWUQxTCayq0NKKmZSzg
2 months ago
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The first episode of the pod "Instant Classics" with me and Charlotte Higgins will be available from Thursday. Meanwhile here's a trailer:
tinyurl.com/2fsffrnu
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Spotify – Web Player
https://tinyurl.com/2fsffrnu
2 months ago
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Here I take a dive into one of the most famous paintings in the National Gallery in Washington DC: El Greco's Laocoon. Is there a modern moral? I guess, sometimes telling the truth carries a high price.
tinyurl.com/3sp2r8rj
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iconik
https://tinyurl.com/3sp2r8rj
2 months ago
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This was quite fun!! Thank you gentlemen. See you at Cambridge united! (If you’re interested, my podcast with Charlotte Higgins (instant classics..about more than you think!) starts at end of august
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Daily Telegraph today refers to A Rayner’s property “empire”. Whatever you think of her housing arrangements, I don’t think constituency house (bought for 375k in 2016), house in Hove, plus use of ministerial flat in London is an “empire”. Duke of Westminster wont fear a rival!
3 months ago
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Starting a podcast ("Instant Classics") with Charlotte Higgins at the end of August. One thing we'll be doing (there are plenty others) is reading & discussing the Odyssey over several months. Here's why we chose that
tinyurl.com/kfds9tkr
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Reading the Odyssey
I have bitten the bullet and am about to launch a classical podcast (with Charlotte Higgins) about classics, ancient and modern. It will not just be about
https://tinyurl.com/kfds9tkr
3 months ago
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New podcast from two women with a shared intellectual project: classics from the ancient world to now…theatre, architecture, history, film, you name it
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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reposted by
marybeard
Dr Cora Beth Fraser
3 months ago
'not just two blokes' 👏👏👏
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I am starting a new podcast called Instant Classics with Charlotte Higgins. About guess what?
open.spotify.com/episode/0tyH...
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Instant Classics - Trailer
Instant Classics · Episode
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tyHBTKsSumPZbZFxLo6KX?si=Xse2CaxiR-6XTJ4b9OKUPw
3 months ago
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Champion charioteers. Behind the scenes at the Circus Maximus
@thetls.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/3hzwrh34
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Champion charioteers
I have become increasingly interested in Roman chariot racing, from the charioteers’ point of view. I explored the spectators in the Circus Maximus when I
https://tinyurl.com/3hzwrh34
3 months ago
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I am over 70 (just), and I dont see that asking us to take a vision test when we renew our driving licences is a terrible infringement of our liberty, If we can't see, we shouldn't be driving. That's not the same as "banning".
tinyurl.com/56mc4vky
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The right to drive?
What shocked me more than almost anything else over the eight months I recently spent in Washington DC was the uncomfortable coarsening of political
https://tinyurl.com/56mc4vky
3 months ago
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reposted by
marybeard
Richard Ovenden
4 months ago
Stunned and delighted in equal measure to have been awarded the 2025 Benson Medal by the
@rsliterature.bsky.social
and made an Honorary Fellow. A profound thank you to those who nominated me for this amazing honour!
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Important article by
@richove.bsky.social
in the Observer on the War on Libraries in USA
tinyurl.com/58kb7hzt
More serious than my reflections on Bodies in the Bodleian, but there is some conceptual overlap!
tinyurl.com/mjfsxk67
4 months ago
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