Neither of them really need any introduction....
March 17, 2024 6:26 PM Subscribe
Classicist Mary Beard [Wikipedia] is apparently well known for studying Ancient Rome. Comedian David Mitchell has read a lot about the British monarchy. Between them they can cover Julius Caesar to Elizabeth I, and they sat down together for a conversation for How To Academy in Rulers and Power | Mary Beard and David Mitchell [1h13m].
Yes, this great
posted by Windopaene at 7:25 PM on March 17
posted by Windopaene at 7:25 PM on March 17
Didn’t know about the How to Academy podcast, thanks for that! This was the first episode I downloaded and it won’t be the last.
posted by AdamCSnider at 7:56 PM on March 17
posted by AdamCSnider at 7:56 PM on March 17
Sometimes I think David Mitchell is living Mark Corrigan's best life. Mark would kill for an evening like this, making witty remarks about history for a sell-out crowd and then going home to his famous, beautiful wife.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 8:09 PM on March 17 [6 favorites]
posted by Ursula Hitler at 8:09 PM on March 17 [6 favorites]
Famous, beautiful, incredibly witty and intelligent wife.
Like honest to god, is their household a ton of fun all the time or is it a cutthroat daily contest of who can be the most sardonic and biting? Because I could see it going either way.
If there is a straight couple who I think would be most likely to interact as bitter old queens, it would be David and Victoria. But I'm pretty sure I'm wrong.
posted by hippybear at 8:13 PM on March 17 [9 favorites]
Like honest to god, is their household a ton of fun all the time or is it a cutthroat daily contest of who can be the most sardonic and biting? Because I could see it going either way.
If there is a straight couple who I think would be most likely to interact as bitter old queens, it would be David and Victoria. But I'm pretty sure I'm wrong.
posted by hippybear at 8:13 PM on March 17 [9 favorites]
...it would be David and Victoria.
I had to remind myself who Victoria was. Wikipedia says she was seeing a therapist to help with her fear of flying. But the therapist was killed in a plane crash.
That is a) horrible, and b) quite David Mitchell's sense of humour, no?
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 8:40 PM on March 17 [8 favorites]
I had to remind myself who Victoria was. Wikipedia says she was seeing a therapist to help with her fear of flying. But the therapist was killed in a plane crash.
That is a) horrible, and b) quite David Mitchell's sense of humour, no?
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 8:40 PM on March 17 [8 favorites]
David Mitchell is a bit of an idol of mine, and also a fan of Mary Beard, so I'll definitely be checking out the podcast despite not being much of podcast listener, cheers!
WRT David and Victoria's relationship - which appears geekily adorable - I can heartily recommend the Would I Lie to You series 17 xmas special (2023) where she joins his team for the episode. BBC iplayer for UK mefites, supposedly this for others.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 2:55 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]
WRT David and Victoria's relationship - which appears geekily adorable - I can heartily recommend the Would I Lie to You series 17 xmas special (2023) where she joins his team for the episode. BBC iplayer for UK mefites, supposedly this for others.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 2:55 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]
Classicist Mary Beard [Wikipedia] is apparently well known for studying Ancient Rome. Comedian David Mitchell has read a lot about the British monarchy.
Please ditch the "apparently" next time you're posting about someone you don't know much about. The framing of this post is fundamentally demeaning and inherently misogynistic, given you don't question David Mitchell's expertise. I have no reason to think that was intentional, but--since you don't know--Mary Beard is one of the most notable classicists in the world, with only a handful of people at her level of prominence (Hanson, Nagy, Nussbaum, etc.).
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:36 AM on March 18 [9 favorites]
Please ditch the "apparently" next time you're posting about someone you don't know much about. The framing of this post is fundamentally demeaning and inherently misogynistic, given you don't question David Mitchell's expertise. I have no reason to think that was intentional, but--since you don't know--Mary Beard is one of the most notable classicists in the world, with only a handful of people at her level of prominence (Hanson, Nagy, Nussbaum, etc.).
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:36 AM on March 18 [9 favorites]
^ you might have missed the title of the post, which, at least for me, throws the use of "apparently" into a deliberately ironic light (at least when lent British-origin ears). I fully understand the urge to come out fighting in Mary's corner; a swath of what's been written about her online and elsewhere is execrable. But my guess is that here she'd probably ask for a closer reading of the source before jumping to conclusions about authors or unsheathing virtual gladii.
posted by protorp at 6:58 AM on March 18 [6 favorites]
posted by protorp at 6:58 AM on March 18 [6 favorites]
Fair enough, protorp! I wondered about that. My fluency with humor has never been very strong, even though I occasionally have taken a "stab" at it myself.
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:04 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:04 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]
This 6 years back on the Blue and this profile 16 years back on the Guardian are great refreshers on Mary Beard's background, career and what she's not held back from saying about various things at various times. And (@cupcakeninja) in the second one she does give herself the quoteline "Isn't intellectual life about having an argument?"
In any case, anything new written by or involving her goes straight to the top of my media backlog... I can't wait to listen to this fully later, thanks for the share.
posted by protorp at 7:44 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]
In any case, anything new written by or involving her goes straight to the top of my media backlog... I can't wait to listen to this fully later, thanks for the share.
posted by protorp at 7:44 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]
Regarding the framing of this post, always a fraught practice here on MetaFilter:
Mary Beard was not known to me before I watched this video. That's why I included a link to her Wikipedia profile, because she's a giant in her field and I was ignorant of her and didn't want anyone else approaching this post to also be ignorant about her. I tried [and failed] to make a joke about how Mitchell isn't a scholar but instead read a few things and wrote his book. I was striving to make clear that Beard was the scholar and Mitchell isn't a scholar. Framing is difficult and I failed in communicating this.
I apologize for my failure in clear communication of the ideas in my head. I do strive to always improve and I will take this feedback to heart.
posted by hippybear at 6:31 PM on March 20 [3 favorites]
Mary Beard was not known to me before I watched this video. That's why I included a link to her Wikipedia profile, because she's a giant in her field and I was ignorant of her and didn't want anyone else approaching this post to also be ignorant about her. I tried [and failed] to make a joke about how Mitchell isn't a scholar but instead read a few things and wrote his book. I was striving to make clear that Beard was the scholar and Mitchell isn't a scholar. Framing is difficult and I failed in communicating this.
I apologize for my failure in clear communication of the ideas in my head. I do strive to always improve and I will take this feedback to heart.
posted by hippybear at 6:31 PM on March 20 [3 favorites]
hippybear, that makes sense, and I'm sorry if I came on too hard. You contribute a lot to MetaFilter and make it a better place. I'll try to read and respond a little more generously myself.
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:41 AM on March 21 [2 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:41 AM on March 21 [2 favorites]
« Older Sunday Scaries | Baleen whale fossil dated to 19 million years Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by MonsieurPEB at 6:42 PM on March 17 [1 favorite]