BONUS Instant Classics live at the FT Weekend Festival

In September, Mary and Charlotte appeared at the FT Weekend Festival for a wide-ranging conversation covering Greek tragedy, Ukraine, the Bayeux Tapestry, tech bros and - inevitably - Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Here - as a bonus - is a recording of that event, with our thanks to the FT Weekend Festival. 

Further reading: 

We both draw on our recent books in this discussion: Charlotte’s Ukrainian Lessons: Art in a Time of War (Jonathan Cape, 2026), and Mary’s Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old (Profile Books, 2026)

For the gruesome bits of the Bayeux Tapestry, see the full online version: https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/discover-the-bayeux-tapestry/explore-online/ (we have now posted a podcast episode on the Bayeux Tapestry)

One of the most evocative translations of Sappho is by Anne Carson, If Not, Winter (Knopf, 2002). We discuss Carson, the newest classical Nobel laureate, in a recent episode of the podcast. There is a good new translation of Catullus (with facing Latin text) by Stephanie McCarter in the Penguin Classics series.

Those unfamiliar with the phrase “Caecilius est in horto”, can find it in Book 1 of the Cambridge Latin Course (revised version, Cambridge UP, 2022)

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Recorded at the FT Weekend Festival. © The Financial Times Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Used with permission

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