This week, No 10 confirmed it wouldn’t stand in the way of a deal to return the Elgin Marbles to their original home in Athens. The comments came after a meeting between Keir Starmer and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Our former host David Aaronovitch spoke to classicist and British Museum trustee Dame Mary Beard about how the Parthenon sculptures ended up in the UK 200 years ago.

This episode was first broadcast on 5 December 2022.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. 

Guests:

- Dame Mary Beard, classicist.

- David Sanderson, Arts Correspondent, The Times.

With thanks to The British Museum.

Host: David Aaronovitch.

Producer: Samantha Chantarasak.

Clips: Channel 4 News, Times Radio, Reuters, CBC News, BBC World Service, Al Jazeera, ITV Good Morning Britain, LBC, UK Parliament, LSE.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.

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