Dr. Jana Matuszak, a professor of Sumerology at the University of Chicago, joins Lexie to discuss the need to advocate for and provide accessible translations of ancient works, diving into Sumerian royal epics beyond Gilgamesh, examining Enheduanna as the oldest named poet, and talks about love songs, hymns, erotic poetry, and humorous “contest” texts.

Dr. Ben Angell, a video game writer and current narrative lead at Capture Age, joins Lexie to discuss how he shifted focus from “face of battle” analysis to morale, psychology, and the Roman army’s social networks, formative teaching at the Ashmolean Museum through object handling and the Krasis program, collaborative imagination-sparking pedagogy, and argues games best inspire interest rather than directly educate.

Dr. Constantine Karathanasis, a professor of classics at Texas A&M, joins Lexie to discuss the role of national mythologies about antiquity, EU debates that separate “ancient” from “modern” Greece, developing an interdisciplinary project linking comedy’s frequent money references to Athenian democratic incentives and behavioral economics, “accuracy” debates in reception, and pop-culture portrayals of ancient economy.