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Short & Curly

Were the Ancient Romans bad people?

Short & Curly

abcpodcasts@abc.net.au

Kids & Family, Society & Culture, Philosophy

4.62.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2017

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Ancient Romans were a bloodthirsty lot. As entertainment, they headed down to the local arena, to watch people and animals fight to the death. Today this would be illegal in many parts of the world. But the Roman Empire was a long time ago, and maybe they didn't know any better. So were the Romans wrong in how they lived their lives and can we judge them for it?

This season is a special collaboration between the ABC Audio Studios and WNYC Studios in New York City.

Hosts: Carl Smith and Shumita Basu

Series Producer: Kyla Slaven

Executive Producers: Emily Botein and Ian Walker

Producer: Amy Pearl

Sound Engineers: Isaac Jones, Hamish Camilleri, Jolen Camilleri

Production Support: Sarah Sandbach and Brigit Berger

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey guys, Carl here, and I am incredibly excited for two reasons. First, I'm in New York City.

0:08.5

That's right, Short and Curly has gone on a special adventure to America this season. We've got

0:14.2

American kids, an ethicist here in the US, and I even have a special co-host here in the States

0:20.5

named Shumita.

0:22.2

And second, I'm excited because today I'm at the world-famous Metropolitan Museum of Art,

0:30.1

and I think there's something magical here.

0:34.8

The Met has heaps of ancient artifacts and trinkets, but I've read one of them might be

0:41.3

a time-traveling device. So I've asked Shumida to come find me here in the ancient Rome

0:47.2

part of the museum so I can show her. Except, I haven't actually told her what we're doing

0:52.6

here yet. Carl, there you are.

0:55.8

Hey, Shavita, how's it going?

0:58.1

What do you mean, how's it going?

0:59.7

Why have you even dragged me out here?

1:01.9

I mean, I love the Met and especially the ancient Rome section, but you said it was an emergency.

1:07.2

Shemita, calm down.

1:08.8

It's kind of an emergency.

1:13.4

It's a magical emergency.

1:14.9

Oh, what?

1:22.9

Hear me out. It's all to do with this. Right here, an ancient Roman spork.

1:28.6

You brought me all the way down here to look at this, an old bit of cutlery?

1:32.3

I mean, okay, I see the spoon end, I see the fork end.

1:33.8

What's the big deal?

...

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