Classically Trained

We're back! In this episode, we discuss the novel The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner. For once coming in at a reasonable length, we talk fantasy genre convention, Hesiod, and getting jumpscared by guns.   Content warnings: Profanity -- Music by Dark Fantasy Studios. -- Support us by subscribing to our patreon!

In this exceptionally lengthy episode, we break down a single episode of Ancient Apocalypse, the Netflix docuseries hosted by Graham Hancock. Suffice to say we did not enjoy it. Featuring carbon dating, the myth of the flood, Star Guy, and a whole lot of made up bullshit.   Content warnings: Profanity Discussion of racism and white supremacy -- Music by Dark Fantasy Studios. -- Support us by subsc...

In this episode, we tackle three episodes of the new series of Doctor Who: Fires of Pompeii, The God Complex, and The Eaters of Light. Featuring Sibyls, the etymology of 'volcano',  Roman sexuality, and, of course, some complaining about Steven Moffat, join us on this romp through a show that's beloved by both of us! (And, for funzies, a few comments about aliens and Atlantis that proved to be for...

In this episode, we discuss The Wicked and the Divine vols. 1-4, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. We talk Dionysus, the Satanic Panic (and also Satan, a bit), child sacrifice, and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, plus a few takes that make it clear that at time of recording, neither of us had read the entire run. In summary: art good.   Content warnings: Profanity Discussion of child/infant death,...

On this episode, we're joined by special guest Dr. Victoria Austen to discuss 1997 film Hercules. We talk trends in feminism, the Christianization of myth, and the cult of Elon Musk. Find Victoria on Twitter, @Vicky_Austen , and give her a follow! And click here for Dr. Polt's threads on Hercules , as mentioned by Victoria. -- Music by Dark Fantasy Studios. -- Support us by subscribing to our patr...

In this episode on the FINAL (AT LAST) Percy Jackson book, we talk about the Iliad (some more), Nico DiAngelo ex machina, and why Hestia is the most underrated Greek deity.    Content Warnings: Mentions of canon-typical violence and death -- Music by Dark Fantasy Studios. -- Support us by subscribing to our patreon! And follow us on Twitter!

In this episode, we dive into one of Julia's favourite movies, 1999's The Mummy. Turns out one of Julia's favourite movies is pretty racist. Featuring (a significant lack of) archaeological ethics, the magical ability to read ancient Egyptian, and yet another shoutout to our friend and yours Edward Said.   Content Warnings: Extensive discussion of racism and racist (particularly orientalist) trope...

This episode, we have a special guest: friend of the podcast Madi, who is a dedicated fan of Percy Jackson and joined us to share her perspective on this book! Digressions include environmentalism, how to pronounce 'Daedalus', and the Teletubby vaccination forgery scandal.   Content warnings: Profanity Discussion of violence and death; mentions of body horror (possession) Discussion of sexual assa...

In this special episode, Julia strikes out on her own to conduct a semi-scholarly takedown of C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces. Spoilers: she hated it. Featuring unfortunate fantasy naming, the Christianization of Cupid and Psyche, and a weak attempt to explain Apuleius.   Content warnings: Profanity Discussion of racism and misogyny   Support us by buying us a coffee! And follow us on Twitter!

In this episode we discuss Percy Jackson book 3: The Titan's Curse. Featuring: both-sides-ism, a small amount of complaining about philosophy professors, and a pitch for casting Aphrodite. Also, we call Rick Riordan out for fridging. We continue to have mad nostalgic fun with these episodes.   Content warnings: Mild profanity Discussion of violence and death Mentions of sexuality and sexual assaul...

This episode, we have a special treat: an interview with author Nicholas Nicastro on his recently-published novel, The River Through Rome. Featuring engineering logistics, a shoutout to flat-earthers, and the refrigerator door theory of writing inspiration, we hope you enjoy this conversation--we sure did! Apologies for some inconsistency in audio quality--this was our first recording after Julia...

In this episode we discuss Natalie Haynes's 2019 novel A Thousand Ships. Digressions include identity theft, ancient clothing, and ecofascism. We also spend a while simping for basically every ancient woman mentioned.   Content warnings: Profanity Discussion of violence and death Discussion of rape and sexual assault Mentions of slavery Mentions of sex and sexuality   Notes: The French story about...

In this episode we discuss the television series Supernatural. We take a long trip down memory lane--way down. Right to hell, in fact. Featuring: fanfiction, the University of Washington-Seattle, and some good ol' fashioned misogyny. Actually, a lot of good ol' fashioned misogyny.    Content warnings: Mild profanity Discussion of violence and death Mentions of sex and sexuality Mentions of police...

In this episode, we discuss the 2004 film Troy, starring Brad Pitt. Unsurprisingly, we had a lot to say. Featuring: American imperialism, and Homeric combat, and just a little bit more complaining about the costuming in Troy: Fall of a City.   Support us by buying us a coffee! And follow us on Twitter!

We return to the world of Percy Jackson for book two, and immediate get mired deep in academic theory. Because of course we do. Featuring a critique of diet culture, Frantz Fanon, and a little bit of hubris.   Mentioned in the episode: ORBIS , an ancient travel calculator from Stanford   Support us by buying us a coffee! And follow us on Twitter!

In this episode, we discuss Hadestown, particularly the Broadway Cast Recording version of the musical. Featuring: metrical formulae, Tumblr Feminism, and fanfiction about beekeeping.   Support us by buying us a coffee! And follow us on Twitter!

In this episode, we discuss Gladiator (2000), featuring orientalism, unfortunate Freudian weirdness, bad takes on imperialism, and... queer giraffes?   Minor correction: at about 31:30, Julia says "Commodus" where she should say "Maximus".   Mentioned: The costuming in Troy: Fall of a City, unfortunately.   Support us by buying us a coffee! And follow us on Twitter!

This episode, we discuss a playlist of Mountain Goats songs that contain classical reference, and are generally enthusiastic about the whole thing. This is a somewhat different episode than our previous ones, because we're discussing a mixed bag of media, but we had a lot of fun! Find the playlist here.     Mentioned: This statue. This Mountain Goats tweet.   Support us by buying us a coffee! And...

Finally we're back with NEW MATERIAL! This episode is our (brisk but fruitful) discussion of the first Percy Jackson Book, The Lightning Thief. It also contains our entry into the #discourse about Medusa.   As mentioned in the intro, you may notice that we had some audio issues with this episode! We did our best to correct it but we think there was some sort of mic malfunction, and unfortunately w...

The fourth and final episode in our series on Troy: Fall of a City, discussing episodes seven and eight. Thank god. We repeated a number of things we've been saying all the way along in our final notes in this last episode about Fall of a City, but we hopefully have managed to do so in a clear and synthesized way. Thanks for coming on this four-episode journey with us, and we'll be back in two wee...

In this episode, we discuss Troy: Fall of a City episodes 4, 5, and 6, and how they handled THE ENTIRE PLOT OF THE ILIAD. Yes, in only three episodes of television. Spoilers: it was pretty bad.   Feat. translation theory, Julia's continued strong opinions about Achilles, and Allison's favourite piece of pottery!

The second part of our four-part series on Troy: Fall of a City, covering episodes two and three of that show.    It's still bad! But at least we don't have any corrections this week.

The first of a four part series on the Netflix original series Troy: Fall of a City, covering episode one of that show.   Two small corrections to things we said in this episode: first, women did sometimes give birth lying down. Second, there is some evidence to suggest that the Greeks did know about India as early as the Classical period (roughly the 500s BCE), but Alexander was the first substan...

An optional listening experience for those who are interested in learning a bit more about the hosts. We discuss our academic and personal backgrounds and some info about what sort of things we're thinking about when we talk about media. Also, there's some waffle about theory.