{"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":"Classic Chats: Tom Hiddleston on Pompeii","slug":"classic-chats-tom-hiddleston-on-pompeii","published_at":"2026-07-30T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-classics-7455513/classic-chats-tom-hiddleston-on-pompeii","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/instant-classics-7455513","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR3707760790.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR3707760790.mp3","summary":"Last week, actor Tom Hiddleston launched his new series - not the further adventures of Loki (at least, not yet), but Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston. Mary and Charlotte talk to Tom who reveals his life-long fascination with the ancient world, including a degree in Classics at Cambridge where he attended the lectures of one Professor Mary Beard.  Tom talks about the impact Mary’s teaching had on him and how that fascination for the Classics has never gone away. His new series, available to watch on Disney+ and National Geographic, focuses on several real people and the decisions they made in the hours before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. It draws on new research and technology to uncover the hidden lives of some of those who survived - and some who didn’t.  Further reading  Mary Beard’s book Pompeii is strongly recommended by Charlotte! And there is a recent book by Jess Venner, The Lost Voices of Pompeii (Harper Collins, 2026), which picks up and develops some of the same themes. In one of his first roles, Tom appeared in the Cambridge Greek play. You can find out more about this marvellous institution here: https://www.classics.cam.ac.uk/prospective/undergraduate/greek-play and here: https://www.cambridgegreekplay.classics.cam.ac.uk/  @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":"Last week, actor Tom Hiddleston launched his new series - not the further adventures of Loki (at least, not yet), but Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddle…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3291,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/instant-classics-7455513/episodes/classic-chats-tom-hiddleston-on-pompeii/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/classic-chats-tom-hiddleston-on-pompeii.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}