Tracing the earliest known traces of commercial sex in ancient Mesopotamia and beyond, examining the hotly contested theory of sacred prostitution, the economic realities of the ancient world, and what the archaeological record actually tells us.
Where the word “con” really comes from, why first impressions are decided in milliseconds, and how to build instant rapport and read a room — the first job in your apprenticeship.
In our final episode, we look at the state of literature in our interconnected world. We explore how themes of migration, diaspora, and hybrid identities have come to the forefront. Featuring authors from Oceania, the Caribbean, and the global diaspora, we discuss how technology and globalization are shaping the future of storytelling and creating a truly “world” literature.
Contemporary means sharing the same time. But it carries something more interesting than a date stamp. In this episode, we explore what it means to be a person of your moment — and what you owe to the time you’re living in.
We carry things we don’t always name. Worry, responsibility, guilt, unresolved situations — they accumulate on the shoulders the way nothing visible accumulates anywhere. The moment that weight lifts is one of the most visceral experiences in human life. This episode explores the beautiful, embodied truth of one of English’s most honest expressions.
Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but emulation is something deeper — it’s not just copying, it’s aspiring. In this episode, we explore the difference and ask: who are you emulating, and what does that say about who you want to become?
No one asks for a wake-up call. They come uninvited — a crisis, a diagnosis, a loss, a failure — and they deliver a message you weren’t ready to receive. But ‘a wake-up call’ is, in the end, an act of grace. This episode explores one of the most significant expressions in English, and why being woken up — however harshly — is almost always better than staying asleep.
Audacity is the word for the move that shouldn’t work but might — for the pitch that’s too big, the ask that’s too much, the step that everyone around you says is a step too far. In this episode, we celebrate the beautiful nerve of the audacious.
You’ve probably been in one. The problem creates the condition that reinforces the problem. Round and round, each turn tightening the spiral. ‘A vicious cycle’ is one of the most precise expressions in English for a particular kind of trap — and this episode explores both what makes cycles vicious and what it takes to break them.
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