How To Academy Podcast
Episodes
Bestselling Novelist China Mieville – On Grief, Ghosts, and Empire
China Miéville discusses his new novel, *The Rows*, a sprawling epic spanning the decline of the British Empire and the rise of the American one.
Bestselling Mythologist Amy Jeffs – The Life of King Arthur
Amy Jeffs discusses her new biography of King Arthur, which blends academic scholarship with storytelling to depict him as a violent warlord rather than a chivalrous knight.
Time Woman of the Year Zahra Joya — The Vanishing Girl of Kabul
Zahra Joya, founder of Rokshana Media, shares her journey from disguising herself as a boy to attend school under the Taliban to becoming an exiled journalist in London.
Kimon de Greef — A Trip into the Psychedelic Underworld
Kimon Gardeis discusses his book "The Ego Trip," exploring the dangerous and controversial practice of smoking 5-MeO-DMT from desert toads.
Jo Marchant – The Science and Mystery of the Present Moment
Host Vas Cristadulu interviews author Joe Marchant about her book "In Search of Now," which explores the nature of time through neuroscience, psychology, and physics.
Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon – The Future is Peace
Aziz Abu Sarea and Mao Inon, co-authors of *The Future Is Peace*, discuss their unlikely brotherhood forged after both lost family members to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Naomi Klein - The Mirror World of Conspiracists and the Far-Right (Summer Repeat)
Naomi Klein discusses her book *Doppelganger*, exploring how conspiracy theories and the "mirror world" exploit a vacuum left by the left’s failure to address systemic inequality.
Yuval Noah Harari – Making Sense of a World in Crisis (Summer Repeat)
Yuval Noah Harari discusses how AI and algorithms are accelerating history and undermining democracy by exploiting human emotional weaknesses to drive engagement.
Mary Beard and David Mitchell – On Rulers and Power (Summer Repeat)
In the final 2023 episode of the How To Academy podcast, host Vas Christodoulou joins classicist Mary Beard and comedian David Mitchell to discuss…
Oscar-nominated Filmmaker Maite Alberdi – A Child of My Own
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Maite Alberti discusses her documentary *A Child of My Own*, which explores the scandal of a Mexican woman who faked a pregnancy.
Carissa Véliz– AI, Prediction, and the Fight for the Future
Carissa Véliz discusses her book *Prophecy*, arguing that statistical predictions are not facts but power plays that often create self-fulfilling prophecies.
Cathy Haynes – How To Live By Nature's Rhythms
Kathy Haynes discusses her book *The Fullness of Time*, exploring pre-clock methods of tracking time through nature’s rhythms like shadows, birdsong, and flower cycles.
Joe Hill Meets Frank Miller – A Life in Comics
Legendary comic artist Frank Miller joins Joe Hill to discuss his graphic memoir, Push the Wall, and his revolutionary impact on the medium.
Catharine Edwards - The Life of Cicero and the Fall of the Roman Republic
Host Vas Christodoulou interviews Catherine Edwards and Robert Harris on the life of Cicero, exploring his rise as a self-made orator in the Roman Republic.
Suzy Hansen – Turkey in the Age of Erdoğan
Host Vas Christodoulou interviews author Susie Hansen about her book on Turkey’s transformation under Erdogan.
Daniel Mendelsohn – Translating Homer's Odyssey
Host Vas Christodoulou interviews classicist Daniel Mendelsohn about his new translation of Homer’s Odyssey.