Episode 7: The Great Hypatia - a podcast by Luke Cuddy

In this episode I speak with Byzantine historian Dr. Edward J. Watts from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Watts has written an excellent new book on Hypatia, arguably the greatest ancient female philosopher. Most discussions of Hypatia focus on her death at the hands of a Christian mob, whereas Edward's book tries to refocus our attention on the heroism of her life. As we discuss, Hypatia's greatness comes not just from the fact that she was a female philosopher who undoubtedly endured sexism but from the fact that, despite the sexism, she was a great philosopher, earning the respect of male and female intellectuals alike. Throughout our discussion we touch on the state of ancient Alexandria during Hypatia's time, the famous menstrual rag incident, the relationship between mathematics and philosophy, and more.

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