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 theology was used to justify slavery. 

Discover how philosophy has been abused by history, and why Augustine still isn't through with us today... 

Tony Alimi is assistant professor in the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University and author of Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics. You can buy it HERE: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691244235/slaves-of-god?srsltid=AfmBOoqe902LK8mqeBd3lUa4L8I9roc6Ouy7KmiNS3xrG-xnotPz5BRw 

Hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom, and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/ 

An extended version of this podcast is available to Members of Classical Wisdom. Become a Member HERE: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/subscribe 

And access the extended version HERE: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/slave-of-god-rethinking-augustine 

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 author of Plato and the Hero, Plato’s Republic: A Ladybird Expert Book, and most recently, Why Plato Matters Now.

You can buy a copy HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Plato-Matters-Now-Interfaces/dp/1399403370

Hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom, and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to https://classicalwisdom.substack.com

An extended version of this podcast is available to Members of Classical Wisdom. Become a Member HERE: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/subscribe

And access the extended version HERE: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/why-plato-matters-now-more-than-ever

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 the dark age was MUCH shorter than commonly thought. 

Murray Dahm is the author of several books, including Finis Britanniae: A Military History of Late Roman Britain and the Saxon Conquest. You can buy it HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Finis-Britanniae-Military-History-Conquest/dp/1398118273 

Hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom, and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/ 

An extended version of this podcast is available to Members of Classical Wisdom. This can be found here: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/roman-britain-origin-or-decline 

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 Professor of Sanskrit and Head of the Department of Classical Philology at the University of Costa Rica, and author of The Embassy, the Ambush, and the Ogre, which they discuss. You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Embassy-Ambush-Ogre-Greco-Roman-Influence/dp/1805113615

Hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom, and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

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 Fairly, which is drawn from the writings of Seneca. 

You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Do-Right-Thing-Treating/dp/0691238642 

Hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom, and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/ 

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 celebrated books, including the bestselling The Archimedes Codex: Revealing the Secret of the World's Greatest Palimpsest, The Shaping of Deduction in Greek Mathematics, as well as his most recent,Why the Ancient Greeks Matter: The Problematic Miracle that was Greece. 

You can buy it here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/why-the-ancient-greeks-matter/6C08DD345E62246E02BC0AAD89C3D37C

Hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom, and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

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, Hankins weaves the story of how our ideas of law, liberty, and virtue emerged...and why they still matter in the modern world.

In this conversation, James Hankins of Harvard and Michael Fontaine of Cornell delve into the urgent question of understanding our history and inheritance, to determine what traditions of the West should be kept... or discarded.

We ask: Was Alexander Great because he attempted to bridge the West and the East? Should armies have foreign soldiers? What happens when there is a breakdown in trust in the judicial system? How has the Islamic world shaped the western tradition?

And is religion and spirituality necessary to revive Classics? 

You can find James Hankins' book, The Golden Thread, Here.

Michael Fontaine's latest book, How to Have Willpower, can be found here.

This discussion was hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

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 Harvard, Yale and Cambridge, where she won the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal for Classical Proficiency.

She is the author of acclaimed novels rewriting Greek mythical women, including For the Most Beautiful, as well as her most recent book, Mythica: A New History of Homer’s World, Through the Women Written Out of It, of which we speak about today.

You can buy Mythica: A New History of Homer’s World, Through the Women Written Out of It, HERE:  https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457730/mythica-by-hauser-emily/978152993248

Mythica was published under the title Penelope's Bones in the US, and is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Penelopes-Bones-History-through-Written/dp/0226839680

Hosted by Anya Leonard. This discussion is brought to you by Classical Wisdom, a site dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds. 

To learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter, go to : https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

Bridging the ancient and the urgent, historian James Romm and acclaimed author and translator Daniel Mendelsohn dive into the dramatic story behind Plato and the Tyrant. 

This is not the Plato of abstract thought, but a man deeply entangled in the brutal politics of his time...a philosopher who sought to reshape power itself. Romm and Mendelsohn explore how Plato’s real-world entanglements with tyrants and revolutionaries in Syracuse directly influenced his philosophical masterpiece, Republic, and how the ideal of the philosopher-king emerged from a world teetering on the edge of chaos.

With Mendelsohn’s signature insight and Romm’s vivid storytelling, this event is a dynamic exploration of one of history’s greatest minds, revealing a Plato who was ambitious, politically engaged, and profoundly shaped by personal and political crisis. 

You can find James’ recently released book,Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece's Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece, here. https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Tyrant-G... 

Also make sure to check out Daniel’s acclaimed new translation of the Odyssey here. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/... 

Hosted by Anya Leonard. This discussion is brought to you by Classical Wisdom, a site dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds. To learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter, go to : https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

Sometimes stories have a life of their own... literally.

Today Anya is joined by Joel Christensen to discuss how mythology acts as a living being in itself. 

Discover how stories shape the world around us... and why the movie versions never feel the same as the books.

Joel Christensen is Professor in the Department of Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of many books, including Storylife: On Epic, Narrative, and Living Things.

You can buy Storylife here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300269234

This discussion is brought to you by Classical Wisdom, a site dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds. To learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter, go to: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/