Professor Dame Mary Beard

Sep 5, 2025

Professor Dame Mary Beard, a renowned classicist and public intellectual, shares insights from her vibrant life, from a Shropshire childhood filled with adventure to her academic journey at Cambridge. She discusses early influences, including her parents’ intriguing backgrounds and her love for literature. The conversation touches on the complexities of gender dynamics, her personal challenges, including a traumatic experience in Italy, and the importance of taking intellectual risks. Mary emphasizes the value of laughter and learning from history, all while offering a glimpse into her new podcast.

01:13:19

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ADVICE

Take Risks To Learn To Think

Take intellectual risks when learning to think and accept failure as part of the process. Write rubbish, follow leads, and allow bad ideas to produce good ones.

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INSIGHT

Tough Supervision Builds Thought

Prolonged, rigorous supervision forces you to confront and stretch intellectual limits beyond comfort. Mary credits demanding tutors for teaching her to persist until understanding arrived.

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ANECDOTE

Complicated Early Relationships

Mary had relationships with older men as a teenager and student and sees mixed meanings in them. She acknowledges exploitation is a valid reading but insists her experience felt mutually beneficial and formative.

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Early country childhood and the outside loo

04:51 • 2min

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Village school life and building dens

07:10 • 27sec

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Mother Sarah: the schoolmistress

07:36 • 4min

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Father Roy: the raffish architect

11:53 • 3min

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Belfries, ladders and church visits with dad

14:56 • 3min

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First friend and railway freedom

17:37 • 2min

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Changing risk culture and parenting

19:16 • 2min

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House in Much Wenlock and class complexity

Childhood reading: fact books and Beatrix Potter

24:00 • 1min

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First schools and moving to Shrewsbury

25:20 • 1min

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Awareness of class and mixed upbringing

26:49 • 2min

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Mother's politics and local power

29:03 • 1min

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Church, christening and family names

30:30 • 2min

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School persona and Jane Eyre ambition

32:10 • 4min

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Health scare: hospital stays as a child

35:54 • 2min

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Teenage crushes and influential teachers

37:29 • 2min

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Early political reading and activism

39:12 • 3min

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Classics, archaeology and the spark for Rome

42:07 • 53sec

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Applying to Cambridge and college choice

How to think and intellectual rigor

48:29 • 4min

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Risk-taking in thinking and learning

52:39 • 45sec

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Early relationships and older partners

53:24 • 5min

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Being raped in Italy as a student

58:35 • 3min

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Are men better than in ancient times?

01:01:08 • 19sec

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Meeting her husband and long partnership

01:01:27 • 1min

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Family life: children and grandchildren

01:02:31 • 33sec

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Perspective from history and modest optimism

01:03:04 • 56sec

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Downsides of being a public intellectual

01:04:00 • 2min

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Favourite food and lighter moments

01:05:42 • 35sec

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Moments of joy: engaging public audiences

01:06:17 • 2min

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Moment of sadness: parents' marriage breakdown

01:08:21 • 3min

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Instant Classics podcast and The Odyssey book club

01:11:09 • 1min

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Life lessons: choose battles and laugh

• Mentioned in 10 episodes

The Guinness Book of Records

• Mentioned in 36 episodes

The Feminine Mystique

Betty Friedan

Published in 1963, 'The Feminine Mystique' by Betty Friedan critiques the societal expectations that confined women to roles as housewives and mothers, arguing that these roles denied women their basic human need to grow and achieve personal fulfillment. Friedan coined the term 'feminine mystique' to describe the belief that women could find complete fulfillment in domestic duties alone. Through extensive research, including interviews with housewives, college students, and experts in psychology and education, Friedan exposed the widespread unhappiness among women and the detrimental effects of these societal norms on their mental and physical health. The book played a pivotal role in sparking the second-wave feminist movement, encouraging women to seek careers and personal achievements outside the home.

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• Mentioned in 239 episodes

The Odyssey

Homer

The Odyssey, attributed to Homer, is an ancient Greek epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. The poem explores Odysseus's encounters with various mythical creatures, divine interventions, and natural challenges. Upon his return to Ithaca, he must confront the suitors who have been vying for his wife Penelope's hand in marriage. With the help of his son Telemachus and the goddess Athena, Odysseus devises a plan to defeat the suitors and reclaim his throne. The poem is a reflection on human nature, loyalty, and the consequences of one's actions, and it remains a crucial component of ancient Greek literature and Western cultural heritage.

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• Mentioned in 94 episodes

Jane Eyre

Edmund Morrison Wimperis

Edmund H. Garrett

Jant van der Weg-Laverman

Charlotte Brontë

The novel follows Jane Eyre from her childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is mistreated by her aunt and cousins, to her education at Lowood School, and later her employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she falls in love with her enigmatic employer, Edward Fairfax Rochester, but discovers a dark secret about his past that forces her to make a difficult choice. The novel explores themes of love, independence, and social justice, and is known for its realistic portrayal of the inner life of a woman during the Victorian era.

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• Mentioned in 6 episodes

Soul on ice

E. Cleaver

Eldridge Cleaver

Written during his time in prison, 'Soul on Ice' is a groundbreaking memoir that candidly portrays Eldridge Cleaver's life, from incarceration to revolution. The book challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about American society, discussing topics such as race relations, black liberation ideology, and personal transformation. It remains a seminal work in African-American literature.

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• Mentioned in 8 episodes

The female eunuch

Germaine Greer

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• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Second Sex

Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex' is a foundational text of feminist literature that examines the historical and social treatment of women. It critiques patriarchal society, arguing that women are relegated to the status of 'other. ' Beauvoir explores how women's identities are constructed through cultural myths and social expectations, rather than being inherent. The book covers various aspects of women's lives, including their bodies, relationships, and economic status. It argues for the liberation of women from societal constraints and the achievement of genuine equality.

Our guest today is one of the UK's best known and best loved public intellectuals, the classicist and expert on Roman history Professor Dame Mary Beard. Mary tells Gyles about her country childhood in Shropshire, playing on a disused railway track and trying to memorise Jane Eyre by heart. She talks about her interesting parents - a headmistress and a "raffish" historical buildings architect, and about the alarming visits up ladders into church belfries she made with her dad. She talks about Cambridge, sexism, and discusses interesting questions such as 'how to think' with Gyles. She talks about her early relationships with men and she describes the chain of events which led to her being raped in Italy as a student. She talks about the challenges of being a public intellectual, and about her aversion to risk aversion!

As you can tell, this is a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion. Enjoy this.

NB this episode contains some discussion of a rape, which is not graphic, but you may want to be mindful of this if listening with children.

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