{"podcast":{"title":"Instant Classics","slug":"instant-classics-7455513","podcast_index_feed_id":7455513,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/IMP2568764140","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/83e996b4-727e-11f0-8ba1-9fb63af495b7/image/eb7021cccbb20b933b6663c884166ea5.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Vespucci","episode_count":61,"summary":"Join world-renowned classicist Mary Beard and Guardian chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins for Instant Classics — the weekly podcast that proves ancient history is still relevant. Ancient stories, modern twists… and no degree in Classics required. Discover The Odyssey and join the book club at: https://www.exploringtheodyssey.com","last_synced_at":"2026-09-03T14:19:42.446862+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-classics-7455513"},"episode":{"title":"Christopher Nolan's Odyssey 2: Instant Verdict","slug":"christopher-nolan-s-odyssey-2-instant-verdict","published_at":"2026-07-15T16:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-classics-7455513/christopher-nolan-s-odyssey-2-instant-verdict","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-classics-7455513","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR7052113184.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR7052113184.mp3","summary":"Mary and Charlotte emerge from the premiere of The Odyssey, pausing only for a night’s rest, before regathering in the morning with strong coffees to give their instant verdict on Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster.  Headlines Winners: Complicated, twisty-turny timelines; multiculturalism; Samantha Morton; Charlotte Higgins Losers: Feminism; humour; The Gods; Mary Beard To find out what all this means, listen to the episode!  Further reading (and watching): The basic message here is “go watch the movie”. Mary is perhaps less keen overall, but still urges you to go see. It is also worth having a look at (and comparing) Ubert Pasolni’s The Return which is focussed on the second half of the poem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_(2024_film)  Charlotte mentioned Colm Tóibín’s novel House of Names.  @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube @insta_classics for X email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer: Jonty Claypole  Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices","meta_description":"Mary and Charlotte emerge from the premiere of The Odyssey, pausing only for a night’s rest, before regathering in the morning with strong coffees to give…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3086,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/instant-classics-7455513/episodes/christopher-nolan-s-odyssey-2-instant-verdict/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-classics-7455513/christopher-nolan-s-odyssey-2-instant-verdict.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}