Mary Beard - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

Kirsty Young's castaway is the classicist Mary Beard.

A professor at Cambridge, she's that rare thing: a university academic who writes for the masses. Her popular books, blog, articles and reviews have led to her being called 'Britain's best-known classicist'.

But while her research is steeped in the ancient world, her commentary is all about the here and now. The classical world speaks to us, she says, and makes us see our own world differently.

Record: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Bob Dylan
Book: Treasures of the British Museum - Marjorie Caygill
Luxury: The Elgin Marbles.

Further episodes of Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010

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