The Epic of Gilgamesh with Robert Macfarlane
The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest surviving works of literature - an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, stitched together from fragments going back as far as 2100BCE. It tells the story of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, his friendship with the wild man Enkidu, and his attempts to come to terms with his own mortality. Although incomplete, the essence of the story - and many passages - are preserved thanks to the work of dedicated Assyriologists past and present.
To discuss this extraordinary work, Sophie and Jonty are joined by Robert Macfarlane, author of The Wild Places (2007), The Old Ways (2012), Underland (2019) and now Is A River Alive? (2025). Rob has been obsessed with Gilgamesh for many years - what it has to tell us about humanity and the environment.
BOOKS REFERRED TO:
The Epic of Gilgamesh (1999) translated by Andrew George
Gilgamesh: A New English Version (2004) by Stephen Mitchell
Gilgamesh: A New Translation of the Ancient Epic (2021) by Sophus Helle
We Have Never Been Modern (1991) by Bruno Latour
Camera Lucida (1981) by Roland Barthes
Civilization and its Discontents (1930) by Sigmund Freud
The Country and the City (1973) by Raymond Williams
People of the River (2021) by Grace Karskens
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Secret Life of Books
Every book has two stories: the one it tells, and the one it hides.
The Secret Life of Books is a fascinating, addictive, often shocking, occasionally hilarious weekly podcast starring Sophie Gee, an English professor at Princeton University, and Jonty Claypole, formerly director of arts at the BBC.
Every week these virtuoso critics and close friends take an iconic book and reveal the hidden story behind the story: who made it, their clandestine motives, the undeclared stakes, the scandalous backstory and above all the secret, mysterious meanings of books we thought we knew.
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