Classical Wisdom Speaks

What Did Roman Houses Reveal About the People Who Lived Inside Them? | Ancient Architecture & Morality Roman houses were more than places to live—they were reflections of identity, values, status, and ideas about how to live a good life. In this fascinating conversation, Marden Nicholls explores what ancient Roman homes can teach us about architecture, morality, social values, and the relation...

Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World | The Ancient Civilization That Still Shapes Your Life Mesopotamia changed the world. Many of the systems you use every day began thousands of years ago between the Tigris and Euphrates. Assyriologist Selina Winsome explains why Mesopotamia was far more than the "cradle of civilization." Discover how cuneiform writing, libraries, mathematics...

Do we truly have free will, or are our choices shaped by biology, habits, and unconscious forces?  This fascinating panel explores one of humanity's oldest and most important questions. Join philosopher Tamar Gendler, psychologist Jeffrey Schaler, and classicist Michael Fontaine as they debate free will, consciousness, Aristotle, and what ancient wisdom can teach us about making better decisi...

The Amarna Letters: Love, War & Diplomacy in the Bronze Age World | Eric Cline What can 3,400-year-old diplomatic letters teach us about international politics, trade, misinformation, and human nature? Archaeologist and historian Eric Cline reveals the extraordinary story of the Amarna Letters: hundreds of clay tablets that uncovered a thriving, interconnected Bronze Age world. From royal marr...

What can Homer's Odyssey teach us about resilience, trauma, grief, purpose, and living a meaningful life in the modern world? Clinical psychologist Dr. Sam Akbar joins Classical Wisdom Speaks to explore why The Odyssey remains one of the most powerful guides to human psychology ever written. Drawing on her work with trauma survivors and refugees, she reveals how Odysseus, Penelope, and Telema...

Intellectual Slaves in Ancient Rome: The Hidden Minds Behind Roman Literature & Power What is an intellectual slave, and why did some of the most educated people in ancient Rome live in bondage? In this fascinating conversation, Princeton classics professor Harriet Flower reveals the overlooked world of learned slaves and educated freedmen in Republican Rome. Discover how enslaved scholars, po...

Why Did Ancient Civilizations Worship Bulls? From the Minotaur to Taurus, explore how bull symbolism shaped mythology, religion, power, and identity across the ancient world. This episode is for anyone fascinated by ancient mythology, symbolism, religion, and the hidden meanings behind ancient cultures. Author and researcher Stephen Palmer explores the history of bull worship in the ancient world,...

Should philosophy start in childhood? Discover how philosophy for children can improve critical thinking, empathy, communication, and emotional resilience in the modern world. This episode is for parents, teachers, students, and anyone interested in philosophy, education, psychology, and child development. Dr. Maria Kasmirli explores why philosophy should be introduced to children from an early ag...

What Is the Future of Ancient History?  In this deep, thought-provoking discussion, leading historians and philosophers explore what “ancient history” really means, how it’s taught today, and why it matters more than ever.  If you’re interested in history, philosophy, education, or the future of the humanities, this episode will challenge how you think about the ancient world—and your place in it....

What Did Ancient People Believe About Death and the Afterlife? Robert Garland explores how Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and other ancient cultures understood death, grief, burial, and the afterlife.  This episode is for anyone fascinated by ancient history, mythology, religion, and the human experience of death.  Classicist Robert Garland discusses how ancient civilizations approached mortality: fro...

This episode is for anyone interested in ancient Greece, democracy, political history, and rhetoric, especially if you want to understand how the past connects to modern political challenges.  You’ll learn who Demosthenes was, how he rose to power through oratory and persuasion, and why he became known as democracy’s defender during the rise of Macedon under Philip II. This conversation explores t...

What does the story of Demeter really tell us about loss, power, and the human experience?  In this episode, renowned translator and classicist Diane Rayor unpacks the Homeric Hymn to Demeter: one of the most powerful and enduring myths from ancient Greece.  Far more than just a story about gods, this hymn explores grief, motherhood, identity, and the fragile balance between life and death. Diane...

What is the point of studying Classics today?  Mary Beard explains why the ancient world still shocks, challenges, and reshapes how we think. Discover how Greek and Roman history can change your perspective, without offering easy answers.  In this conversation, renowned classicist Mary Beard explores how ancient Greece and Rome remain deeply relevant today, not as a guidebook for life, but as a wa...

An age of apocalyptic thinking, a clash of empires, and a legacy that still shapes the world today...  Today Anya is joined by Professor Barry Strauss to discuss the Jewish Revolts against the Roman Empire. Discover what fueled these uprisings, and how their dramatic outcome has shaped centuries.  Barry Strauss is the Corliss Page Dean Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University...

Barbarian, witch, murderer… and mother. Today Anya is joined by author and broadcaster Natalie Haynes to discuss one of Greek mythology’s most famous and dramatic characters, Medea.  Discover the complex legends and legacy of Medea, from her daring love story with Jason to its dark aftermath… and how the Greek tragedian Euripides transformed her how her story is told, forever. Natalie Haynes is th...

What were the secrets of Roman warfare? What is the best way to defeat an enemy… and what does all this have to do with aqueducts? Today Anya is joined by George Thomas to discuss the life of Frontinus, an ancient Roman general and governor of Roman Britain. In particular, they’re looking at Stratagems , his manual for war, which looked to ancient history to distil key lessons in military strategy...

Long before crowds stormed Bastille or Winter Palace, Greek thinkers treated revolution as the ultimate civic nightmare. So how did an existential danger morph into a promise of liberation—and what happens when that promise curdles into violence?  In this dynamic online forum, Dan Edelstein, Professor of French at Stanford University, is joined by classical-political heavyweights Josiah Ober, Prof...

Existing at the very edge of the Classical world, in both time and geography, Saint Augustine has proven to be immensely influential on the modern world… but not always in a good way. Today Anya is joined by Tony Alimi to discuss the life and philosophy of Saint Augustine, how he was influenced by Roman philosophers, and the ‘entanglements’ that complicate his legacy. In particular, how his theolo...

What can Plato tell us about life TODAY? Quite a lot, it turns out… Today Anya is joined by Professor Angie Hobbs to discuss the essential and enduringly relevant nature of Plato’s ideas. Discover how they are infused in our modern world, in everything from politics to our personal lives. Angie Hobbs is Professor Emerita of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield and...

Was King Arthur real? What can his story tells us about British history and identity? And what exactly happened to Britain after the Romans left?  Today Anya is joined by Murray Dahm, an independent academic researcher and freelance historian based in Sydney, Australia.  Discover how the era of post-Roman Britain is both a beginning and an ending, the thin line between history and myth, and how th...

How is Odysseus like the heroes of Indian literature? And how did two cultures, separated by vast time and distances, come to have such remarkably similar stories? Today Anya is joined by Roberto Morales to discuss the parallels between ancient Greek, Roman, and Indian literature. They discuss what caused these parallels, and what we can learn from them today... Roberto Morales is Associate Profes...

What can Seneca, the Roman statesman and Stoic, teach us about life today?  And how can we teach ourselves to do the right thing?  Today Anya is joined by Robert Kaster, Emeritus Professor of Classics at Princeton to discuss the complex and rewarding legacy of Seneca’s Stoicism. He is the author of many books including his most recent, How to Do the Right Thing: An Ancient Guide to Treating People...

How did ancient Greek culture accomplish so much?  Especially across so many different fields, and in such a comparatively short period of time? It turns out, having a good debate every now and then is VERY important. Today Anya is joined by Reviel Netz, the Patrick Suppes Professor of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy in the Department of Classics at Stanford University. He is the author of many ce...

The West’s greatest peril is forgetfulness, its loss of cultural memory. Without knowing where we came from, how can we know what to defend, or even what to value? In an age when history itself is contested...when the past is either dismissed or distorted...The Golden Thread reminds us why the study of civilization matters. Drawing on nearly three millennia of art, philosophy, politics, and faith,...

Who were the women of the Odyssey? How have they been understood (and misunderstood) by history? And what is the secret of Calypso’s sail? Today Anya is joined by Emily Hauser, to discuss both the famous and the overlooked women of Homer's epics. Emily Hauser, an award-winning ancient historian and author, and world-leading voice in rediscovering the women of Greek myth. She studied at Harvar...