Louis R.C. Brickell
I'm an 18-year-old Classics student interviewing world-leading experts about the things they love most—figuring out what makes us human in the age of AI.
Get the next interview by email.
Interviews
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What the Victorians Edited Out
Professor Stephen Harrison
Mainly by ignoring it and by editing it out.
Ancient stories, strange fairy tales, and what every age reveals when it tries to tidy up the past.
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The Secret Lives of Words
Professor Robin Meyer
Languages, old and modern, have played a major role in my life ever since I can remember.
Why English is odd, how words change, and what ancient languages still have to offer.
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Mapping a World Lost to Time
Professor Richard Talbert
Passion, if that’s the appropriate term here, took time to develop and maintain.
How maps, roads, and tiny objects help us picture the ancient world as the Greeks and Romans saw it.
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Inside the Locked Room
Patrick Radden Keefe
I try to read as widely as possible, and often find ideas in the margins of other things.
What it takes to uncover hidden stories, ask difficult questions, and turn patient reporting into gripping narrative.
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The Joy of Writing Every Day
Sir Alexander McCall Smith
There’s a great deal of luck, to put it bluntly, involved in life as an author.
A warm conversation about the importance of poetry and the writer's joy of making language sing.
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Why the Hardest Books Still Matter
Professor Stephanie Nelson
Comedy is not profound despite the fact that it’s funny; it’s profound because it’s funny.
Why the most demanding reading can also be funny, human, and deeply alive.
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The Hidden Music of Latin Poetry
Professor Llewelyn Morgan
Something is always lost in translation, and something always gained by reading literature in its original language.
How Latin poetry works when you hear its rhythm.
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What Ancient Medicine Can Still Teach Us
Professor Jane Lightfoot
You absolutely can’t get away with fluff.
Ancient doctors, modern medicine, and what it means to be a classical scholar.