AHFG Book Club: Cleopatra: The Last Pharaoh (With Saara El-Arifi)

Ancient History Fangirl

History, Society & Culture

4.5 • 518 Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

⁠⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Join us as we return to Cleopatra’s Alexandria—the glamor, the political intrigue, the history—and take a second in-depth look at Egypt's last Pharaoh. Our guide for this episode is none other than Saara El-Arifi, bestselling author of The Ending Fire and Faebound trilogies and the exciting new release, Cleopatra: A Novel. In this episode we’ll discuss Cleopatra’s life and loves, the challenges of breathing new life into a very examined historical figure, and exactly what we do and don’t know about the real Cleopatra. Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:04.9	The Civil War and Reconstruction was a pivotal era in American history.
0:10.0	When a war was fought to save the Union and to free the slaves.
0:13.9	And when the work to rebuild the nation after that war was over turned into a struggle to
0:19.7	guarantee liberty and justice for all Americans.
0:23.3	I'm Tracy. And I'm Rich. And we want to invite you to join us as we take an in-depth look
0:29.5	at this pivotal era in American history. Look for the Civil War and Reconstruction, wherever you
0:36.1	find your podcasts.
0:44.0	This episode is brought to you by our Patreon members. Thank you so much. Join our Patreon for extra episodes, interviews, extra content, and to help support the podcast and help us continue
0:49.4	to do the work we do. Go to patreon.com slash ancient history fangirl to learn more.
0:55.9	Empires must fall. Remember that. I'm Jenny Williamson.
1:16.2	And I'm Jen McManamy.
1:18.0	And this is Ancient History Fan Girl.
1:20.4	We are thrilled to welcome Sarah El Arifi to the podcast to discuss her brand new novel, Cleopatra.
1:26.4	Sarah is an internationally best-selling author
1:28.6	of the Ending Fire trilogy and the Fayebound trilogy, inspired by her Ghanian and Sudanese heritage.
1:34.6	She has lived in many countries, had many jobs, and owned many more cats. Same. Mostly with the cats.
1:42.6	After a decade of working in marketing and communications, she returned to academia to
1:46.7	complete a master's degree in African studies alongside her writing career.
1:50.8	We are so excited to discuss Cleopatra with Sara.
1:54.9	Welcome.
1:56.1	Thank you so much for having me.
	...

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