Yanis Varoufakis on Hypatia
Great Lives
BBC
4.2 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Greek politician and economist takes us back to ancient Alexandria and the life of the first woman to make her name as a mathematician. But Hypatia is best known now for being brutally murdered. Yanis Varoufakis makes the case for her as a philosopher and mathematician, and explores how her story has been interpreted and misinterpreted in the centuries after her death. He's joined by the writer and broadcaster, Professor Edith Hall.
Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Chris Ledgard
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to tell you why I love podcasting. |
| 0:04.5 | I'm Sasha Johansson, I'm an Assistant Commissioner for the BBC and I work on making podcasts. |
| 0:11.1 | My real passion is discovering unbelievable unheard stories and working with the biggest |
| 0:16.9 | stars who can really bring those stories to life. |
| 0:20.1 | I love the whole process of making podcasts from the spark of an idea to hearing the final |
| 0:26.0 | edit. |
| 0:27.0 | There's nothing like it. |
| 0:28.0 | What makes BBC podcast special is that we're working for you, so whatever we commission |
| 0:32.6 | has to reflect the things that you care about and love, wherever you are in the UK. |
| 0:37.0 | So if you like this BBC podcast, there's so much more to discover. |
| 0:40.6 | Have a listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:42.1 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:47.9 | The biographical facts we know for certain about today's great life would struggle to |
| 0:53.0 | fill one side of a full paper. |
| 0:55.7 | And yet we have works about plays, novels, including a Victorian bestseller by Charles |
| 1:01.4 | Kingsley and a 2009 film in which our great life is played by the Hollywood star Rachel |
| 1:07.9 | Weiss. |
| 1:09.4 | She's known by a single name, Hypatia. |
| 1:12.9 | And she's the nomination of my guest today, Janis Varoufakis, the economist, politician |
| 1:18.6 | and former Greek finance minister, Janis joins us from Greece. |
| 1:23.2 | Janis, who was Hypatia and when did you first hear about her? |
| 1:28.8 | I must have been around 10, 11 years old. |
... |
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