Rather than a relic of the past, Mary Beard sees the classical world as a powerful tool for understanding the present.

It's an idea she has explored in over twenty books on ancient history and numerous documentaries on the BBC and elsewhere, all of which have made her Britain’s best known classicist.

She joins culture editor Tanjil Rashid in the studio.

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Mary Beard's new book Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old is available now.

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In 2011, Ben Lerner stormed onto the scene with his debut novel, Leaving the Atocha Station, a winning blend of low comedy and high art. He has since firmly established himself as one of America’s most acclaimed novelists and is a leading voice in so-called autofiction. Now he returns with his fourth novel, and it may be his most profound yet. 

In Transcription, Lerner turns his mind to the nature of art, and of ageing. It’s a novel about generations, of growing children, and dying forebears, and the way the secrets and gifts of life and art move from one era to the next. 

It’s also a novel about technology, and our increasing reliance on it, the way it shapes our speech, our thoughts, our memories and even our conceptions of ourselves.

In this episode, Tanjil Rashid sits down with Ben Lerner to talk about how we record our conversations, why novels may matter even more in the age of AI, and - in his words - the bankruptcy of political speech.

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Anthony Seldon, historian, educator and one of Britain's leading political biographers, has been for a long walk.

His new book, The Path of Light, recounts his extraordinary 1300 kilometre passage to Auschwitz.

Tracing stories of courage, resistance and moral clarity across a continent once consumed by darkness - it's a journey that speaks not only to the past, but powerfully to the world we're living in today. 

Anthony joins Tom McTague to discuss his journey, as well as his biographer's perspective on Britain's recent Prime Ministers.

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Fatima Bhutto was born into exile - and into one of the most powerful political dynasties in South Asia.

Her life has been shaped by both privilege and profound personal tragedy.

Born in Afghanistan, she spent her early years displaced, after her grandfather, former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was executed under General Zia-ul-Haq’s military regime.

Her childhood was marked by instability and violence. Her father, Murtaza Bhutto, became involved in militant activism linked to acts including a political assassination and a plane hijacking.

When the family returned to Pakistan, tensions deepened. Though it was his own sister Benazir Bhutto in power, Murtaza was killed in a police encounter - a death that Fatima has long held her aunt responsible for.

In 2007, Benazir Bhutto herself was assassinated.

Today, the Bhutto name still carries political weight in Pakistan. Her uncle is currently the president. But Fatima Bhutto has chosen a different path, as a writer - exploring her family’s turbulent history as well as the emerging popular culture of the global south, and moving between memoir, fiction, and reportage. Now, she returns with her most personal story yet...

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For decades, George Saunders was known for his short stories. In 2013, in a Time Magazine 100 most influential people listing, he was described as “the best short-story writer in English".

In 2017, he released his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, a reimagining of President Abraham Lincoln’s grief in the aftermath of his son Willie’s death. It’s a genre-defying piece of literature, narrated by no less than 166 ghosts. 

The bardo is a concept borrowed from Saunders ’ adopted faith, Buddhism—an "intermediate state" between death and reincarnation.

In his latest novel, Vigil, Saunders returns to the in-between - this time through a dying oil barron, grappling with his morality at the 11th hour in a burning world.

Tanjil Rashid sat down with George Saunders to discuss faith: in his writing, as a means of optimism, and as a political weapon in today’s world.

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Last week Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister and darling of the European left, turned 65.

He celebrated his birthday on stage in London, gathering figures from across the left together. Zack Polanski was there, so was Jeremy Corbyn.

Varoufakis' mission? To explore what resistance means today across the left.

In this episode of The Exchange Oli Dugmore sits down with Varoufakis to speak about resistance, his childhood in a fascist dictatorship, how this shaped him, whether he uses that word to describe the climate today, and the strategic importance of Cyprus for the war in the Middle East - for Britian, the US, Israel, Iran, Greece and Turkey.

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Since leaving politics, Rory Stewart has become one of the most influential voices on the matter in Britain.

In this episode, the former diplomat and cabinet minister reflects on his upbringing and his unconventional path into politics. He also discusses the Middle East, arguing that Western countries continue to misunderstand the region’s history and dynamics.

The conversation then turns to Britain, including the growing intolerance towards Muslims and how that shapes political debate. Finally, Stewart shares his view on why Westminster often feels disconnected from the public and what needs to change.

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When Amia Srinivasan published The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century in 2021, it sparked widespread debate about the politics of desire, consent, and sexual justice.

In this episode of The Exchange, the Oxford academic joins Tanjil Rashid to discuss how philosophy can illuminate some of the most contentious questions in contemporary culture: from incels and pornography to whether our desires are shaped by society.

Find more from Amia Srinivasan here

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Were the strikes on Iran illegal? What's next for the controversial courts bill? Are Labour leaders aware of the existential crisis within their party?

On this week's episode of The Exchange, we speak with Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy.

To watch more episodes of The Exchange find us on YouTube.

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Pussy Riot's 2012 "Punk Prayer" was a global flashpoint - a defining test of free expression in Putin’s Russia.

When co-founding member Masha Alyokhina was arrested, she told her son she would be back the next day. She was gone for two years.

In 2022, she fled the motherland, but continues to fight Putin from afar.

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