Pod Insights Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! | Greek Mythology & the Ancient Mediterranean Hermes Homerica: They're Making an Odyssey Movie & We Have Thoughts About this episode In a special New Years Eve episode, Michaela and Liv discuss the news that Christopher Nolan is making an adaptation of the Odyssey... For the first time, this was recorded in person so the audio isn't ideal but there will be video available on the podcast's YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/mythsbabypodcast in the next couple of days.
CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.
Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions http://mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions.
Learn more about Liv's next group trips https://travelbugxlivalbert.my.canva.site/ to GREECE! Application deadline is November 30 (Subject to change due to demand).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Liv Albert? Hey nerds, really quick note from me. I want to tell you that we now have the applications open for the next set of listener group trips. This is us going back to the original, the trips that we have held in the past that have been so much fun, so successful and pretty affordable in terms of wandering around Greece with a bunch of nerds. So check out the details and get your applications in at mythsbaby.com grouptrip.
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2:11 Liv Albert? Well.
2:12 Speaker 03 Hi.
2:13 Liv Albert? Hello.
2:14 Speaker 03 Hope you're uncomfortable.
2:16 Liv Albert? Thank you, that's helpful. Well, listeners, this is a New Year's Eve special episode. That will almost certainly be on video, if I can stand it. Um, and also is recorded on my phone's microphone, so bear with us. Because Michaela's in town, and...
2:37 Liv Albert? So we decided to try video. But we're here for a really specific reason.
2:45 Liv Albert? And that is...
2:49 Speaker 03 Moment of silence?
2:53 Liv Albert? To talk about the Christopher Nolan Odyssey announcement.
3:00 Liv Albert? Today's episode is an experiment. It is on video, and we're gonna record it, or release it as just audio.
3:06 Speaker 03 Yeah.
3:07 Liv Albert? Uh, the video will not go up at the same time as the audio, so if you're listening to it and you wanna watch video, wait like, two days, because we got stuff to do. And we're recording this like, ten hours before it has to come out on the podcast feed. So the video will be a minute. Um, but, Michaela just happened to be in town, and then they announced Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, and I am trying to be kind.
3:34 Liv Albert? In general, I would say, okay. I don't know quite how to begin this, because I just...
3:37 Speaker 03 That's fair, I understand.
3:39 Liv Albert? So many opinions. I will, let's begin with...
3:42 Speaker 03 Yeah.
3:43 Liv Albert? It's exciting
3:44 Speaker 03 Yeah.
3:44 Liv Albert? that the Odyssey is being remade in a big-budget movie.
3:50 Speaker 03 That is, that is specifically the Odyssey.
3:54 Liv Albert? The book itself, and it's not sort of like a... Or like a little subsection, like it seems to, it seems like it's, they're gonna try to do the whole thing.
4:00 Speaker 03 Yeah.
4:01 Liv Albert? To an extent, in, in whatever way that Troy, I have a feeling it's gonna be like Troy.
4:04 Speaker 03 Yes.
4:04 Liv Albert? That Troy was the Elliot.
4:06 Speaker 03 But it's not sort of like a inspired by the Odyssey or like it is, it is.
4:10 Liv Albert? They're calling it an Odyssey adaptation.
4:12 Speaker 03 Yes.
4:13 Liv Albert? Which is exciting. And Christopher Nolan, I would say broadly, is exciting. I saw somebody comment on some article I was reading. And they commented that like, also we're drinking.
4:27 Liv Albert? Thanks. Um, they commented that like, the Odyssey generally is a really perfect Christopher Nolan movie because it plays around with time and unreliable narration and all of this stuff, which I think is so true and like. I think they're more, it has the potential to be really interesting. Like I do think generally other than my own, now I have so much trouble with all western Hollywood, like I just feel like it's so whitewashed and this is not making that opinion any less. Um, and so just generally like, just having this movie attached to like, just deeply western. He's British, I think, Christopher Nolan?
5:02 Speaker 03 I, I, you know what?
5:03 Liv Albert? He's British or American, either way.
5:05 Speaker 03 Ask me to name a Christopher Nolan film, I couldn't.
5:07 Liv Albert? Really?
5:08 Speaker 03 I don't, I don't, I don't watch movies, so I don't.
5:12 Liv Albert? Like I know the names, but like.
5:13 Speaker 03 Yeah. I prob- I probably have seen a Christopher Nolan.
5:17 Liv Albert? The, his Batmans, those are good.
5:18 Speaker 03 No, I haven't.
5:19 Liv Albert? Oh, those are actually good. The Christopher, the, I was gonna say the Christopher Nolan one, the, uh, Christian Bale ones.
5:26 Speaker 03 I've seen the one with Keith Ledger, I've seen that.
5:28 Liv Albert? That's a Christopher Nolan.
5:29 Speaker 03 I haven't seen any other ones.
5:30 Liv Albert? Okay, well, all of the Christian Bale Batmans are good, I will say.
5:34 Speaker 03 Okay.
5:35 Liv Albert? However, um.
5:37 Speaker 03 But it would be, it would be nice to see, would, did he do Inception?
5:40 Liv Albert? Yeah, that, which is very, like, I think Inception is the one where people are connecting it most to the Odyssey, because it's like, yeah, playing with time. And unreliable narrators and all of that, like Batman is a bad example of a Christopher Nolan movie because it was Batman, but like Inception, Interstellar, like those ones. I feel like Oppenheimer was also him, right?
5:57 Speaker 03 Maybe.
5:58 Liv Albert? I don't know. Frankly, I don't care.
6:00 Speaker 03 Um, but it'll be really interesting because I, that's the thing I like about The Odyssey is that it's set up as.
6:06 Liv Albert? Yeah.
6:07 Speaker 03 You know, you get the beginning where you see Talmak is dealing with all his business, his drama, his, his, um, his woes. And then you get, you meet Odysseus and it is, you have given the story of what happened through his lens.
6:21 Liv Albert? Yeah.
6:21 Speaker 03 And that's what I really enjoy about The Odyssey.
6:24 Liv Albert? Well, and it is a reliable narrator, which I really, I think, I, I think overall, it would be really, really interesting to see a Christopher Nolan adaptation of The Odyssey. And you can hear the butt coming because I, I think overall, that's a really, really interesting concept and I, generally, if you were, if, if the announcement was just Christopher Nolan is adapting The Odyssey, I'd be like, oh, actually, I'm interested in that. Actually, I think that could be really good. Actually, I'm really interested.
6:55 Speaker 03 Is it?
6:56 Liv Albert? But then they cast Matt Damon.
6:59 Speaker 03 They might not have.
7:00 Liv Albert? They might not.
7:01 Speaker 03 It may have been a lot.
7:02 Liv Albert? Might not be Od- Odysseus.
7:05 Speaker 03 Maybe he'll be Athena.
7:08 Liv Albert? Why would you make it worse? Maybe he's not.
7:13 Liv Albert? So the speculation to any, anyone who hasn't already read this news, um, the speculation, so the, the cast as announced, it seems like the, the ca- the cast is official. What they haven't announced officially is like who's playing who. So we just have like these number, these actors. And so there's been a lot of speculation about who's gonna play who, but like the number, the number one male actor who's been cast is Matt Damon.
7:36 Speaker 03 Yeah.
7:39 Liv Albert? And like honestly, I just think it sounds like a joke. Like I just think it sounds like someone was like, what if you decided to make like a joke, like satirical cast of The Odyssey? Like, who would be, like, who's the big Hollywood actor who's like the least appropriate to play Odysseus? Like if you're, he has like the least appropriate.
8:02 Liv Albert? Spirit.
8:02 Speaker 03 I think it's.
8:04 Liv Albert? Okay, they're not gonna say Spirit.
8:05 Speaker 03 Spirit the horse is gonna be Odysseus.
8:08 Liv Albert? Mikaela's only frame of reference apparently from Matt Damon is Good Will Hunting and Spirit the Horse, which I think says a lot about her like connection with movies over the last twenty years.
8:16 Speaker 03 I just learned today he plays Spirit.
8:18 Liv Albert? Yeah, I've never seen Spirit. I don't know anything about it except that it's about a horse.
8:21 Speaker 03 A hot horse?
8:21 Liv Albert? It's a hot one.
8:23 Speaker 03 It's complicated.
8:24 Liv Albert? Well, I mean, I've seen Robin Hood. It's fine.
8:26 Speaker 03 Yeah.
8:26 Liv Albert? But like, no. But Matt Damon as Odysseus truly like, I really, if you are working with this movie and you're listening, I promise I'm actually really excited. Like, I will take your money. I will. Like, we, I will promote it. That would be great. It's the premiere. That would be fine.
8:44 Speaker 03 Extremely excited for it, though, I will say. But like, in the way that I was also so extremely excited for Gladiator Two, knowing that my degree or like my, what I study is not actually gonna help me as much as I'd like to think, but like.
8:57 Liv Albert? Do you mean that they did not historically put great white sharks in the Colosseum?
9:01 Speaker 03 They absolutely did. Are you kidding? No, they did not. They didn't.
9:06 Liv Albert? In our modern world, I know this is, this is not about Gladiator Two, but it could be.
9:11 Speaker 03 The highness was emperor for ten minutes.
9:16 Liv Albert? Official sponsor of the show Gladiator Two. No, but for real, Gladiator Two was actually pretty enjoyable. It's just that there were great white sharks in the Colosseum. And it's what's funny to me about this particular fact about Gladiator Two, and then we will go back to talking about the Odyssey, is that my knowledge that makes me so furious about that scene is actually completely unrelated to the ancient world and entirely related to sharks. Which is that to this day, in the year twenty twenty four.
9:44 Speaker 03 God bless his soul.
9:46 Liv Albert? Never have humans been able to successfully keep a great white in captivity.
9:52 Speaker 03 No, they have not.
9:53 Liv Albert? So you're trying to tell me that they did it in the Colosseum? Like, I mean, look, we didn't know how to make Roman concrete for a very long time, so it's very, very possible that they know about the secrets.
10:04 Speaker 03 It is absolutely not. I'm just saying, what do you mean?
10:07 Liv Albert? I'm offended only half of.
10:09 Speaker 03 Reign with white sharks. I'm offended.
10:13 Liv Albert? Anyways, this is not about
10:14 Speaker 03 What I'm saying
10:15 Liv Albert? Which was, again, a pretty good movie. Oscar Isaac, he's not in Gladiator 2. Pedro Pascal was incredibly cast. Be Still My Beating Heart, him as Odysseus?
10:26 Speaker 03 Oh my god, yes. That would be delightful. Oh my god, it was good. But like, the thing that I like about these movies is how fun they are.
10:38 Liv Albert? I mean, the thing is, I find it with Troy because Troy is so old that it can be like that. But that, when it's coming out now, it's like this fresh whitewashing of the ancient world in a way that's like, okay, so we haven't even gotten into it because I'm so worked up about it. So the official cast, as announced from my memory, because I read like one article and then honestly, like my friend, somehow, the first person I heard this from was actually a good friend of mine and not a listener, but then of course I opened up my Instagram and people were like, "Liaf."
11:05 Speaker 03 "Habbius, man."
11:06 Liv Albert? Okay, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. And I'm saying stuff anyway. Um, but like, this was the official announcement, and again, they haven't assigned like who's playing who, they've just announced these actors. So we have Matt Damon.
11:19 Liv Albert? Tom Holland.
11:20 Speaker 03 No, I like that one though.
11:22 Liv Albert? Yeah, well, we'll get into that. We'll get into why that could be okay if it wasn't for Matt Damon. Zendaya. She's great, cool, they're in it together, that's nice, except for when we get to speculation and then you go, "Oh god, weird."
11:35 Liv Albert? No, Anne Hathaway I think is gonna be Penelope, Anne Hathaway's the other one.
11:38 Speaker 03 But what if?
11:39 Liv Albert? No, people are speculating that she's gonna be like Calypso, which is so weird, and then like Tom Holland's partner is like sexting with his dad?
11:46 Speaker 03 But that, wouldn't it be worse if she was Penelope and that was his mom?
11:50 Liv Albert? Well, but age appropriate, and she literally couldn't be.
11:53 Speaker 03 Yeah, but it's Hollywood. It's Hollywood.
11:58 Liv Albert? Like, okay, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, who's amazing, great, and, and anyone else? That's who I can remember right now. That's who matters, quite frankly. Because the speculation is that like magic when there's Odysseus, which again, like, shoot me off into the moon.
12:17 Speaker 03 I'm sorry, Matt Damon, if you see this.
12:19 Liv Albert? I'm not sorry, Matt Damon.
12:23 Liv Albert? You can handle it, you're fine, you're fine.
12:25 Speaker 03 I loved you in spirit.
12:30 Speaker 03 I loved you and absolutely nothing.
12:35 Speaker 03 We got this.
12:36 Liv Albert? Like I just, I'm excited this is video honestly, but they were the first video podcast of this. The first Let's Talk a Midbaby episode that's on video ever is just me going.
12:48 Liv Albert? But I'm just yes.
12:49 Speaker 03 No, it's so fair.
12:51 Liv Albert? But like, it's funny, cause like this, this is a cast that if my life were different, I would just be like, okay. But the thing for me, the reason why, and I, when my friend texted me this, like I, it, when I say that it ruined my night, like I'm only being like this dramatic, like most of that is true. It honestly, like it brought me down. In this, to this degree where I was just like.
13:18 Speaker 03 It made me laugh.
13:19 Liv Albert? What? Yeah, I texted Michaela and she was just like cackling at my discomfort.
13:23 Speaker 03 It made my, cause you sent me a whole voice message. I sat on the seat for like three and a half minutes and I was just crying.
13:30 Liv Albert? I, yeah, I recorded a three minute voice note to Michaela because I didn't know how to, to tell her this news in any other way.
13:38 Speaker 03 Yeah. I loved it. It was great.
13:41 Liv Albert? Maybe we could include it at the end.
13:44 Speaker 03 It might be, we'll have to.
13:45 Liv Albert? If WhatsApp saved it, maybe you'll hear it tech up at the end.
13:48 Speaker 03 It's definitely saved. I definitely have it. But I don't, I, no, yeah, the Matt Damon of all is questionable.
13:53 Liv Albert? Truly, but cause also like, so the speculation, like I read this article Gizmo, on Gizmodo. And so there was some speculation on Gizmodo and I honestly think that the speculation is I can't, I can't actually think of, of an alternative. Connect, oh, Charlize Theron is the other one. Charlize Theron.
14:09 Speaker 03 Oh, is, yeah.
14:10 Liv Albert? Yeah, is the name I forgot. So the speculation of this, specifically this Gizmodo article was like Matt Damon. I can't say it without laughing. Tom Holland is Telemachus. Um, uh, where did they go? Oh, Roar Palace is also in cast. I honestly, yeah.
14:27 Speaker 03 As whom?
14:28 Liv Albert? Well, we don't know, but do you wanna know? Okay, so hold on, we're getting there.
14:30 Speaker 03 The guy who falls off the die.
14:34 Speaker 03 He would kill it.
14:36 Liv Albert? I would legit if that honestly, if Robert Pattinson was cast as the guy who falls off the roof and then comes to Odysseus in the underworld. He was like, dude, fuck off. Like, I would be thrilled, actually. That would be brilliant. He is great.
14:47 Speaker 03 He's so good.
14:47 Liv Albert? For sure. No, like, honestly, the thing about this cast is I'm not mad about it overall. I'm mad about Matt Damon. I will. I'll never come around. I'm.
14:56 Speaker 03 That's fine.
14:57 Liv Albert? I'm fucking furious.
14:59 Speaker 03 I'm letting you have it.
15:01 Liv Albert? I'm, I'm not even so much furious as I am like just so disappointed in Christopher Nolan for not having sense, for not having. For any, like, if I was to guess a satirical cast of the Odyssey featuring like Hollywood's top actors, like. Only then would I cast Matt Damon. I've been joking with my friends that the only person worse is Ben Affleck, but they are interchangeably. They are interchangeable people. But then yeah, Makayla made a really great point that like, what with the phoenix statue of it all.
15:28 Speaker 03 The phoenix statue on his back.
15:29 Liv Albert? He actually would be a better Odysseus. And so the idea of saying that Matt Da- or that Ben Affleck would be a better Odysseus than the man cast as Odysseus is like.
15:38 Speaker 03 I just think of those pictures of him where he just looks tired and he's smoking a cigarette like Odysseus.
15:42 Liv Albert? That's the thing. And I think that that is like, makes it all so much sadder. Because that's the movie we're gonna get. Like, again, Ben Affleck, apparently, I'm hoping, if Ben Affleck gets attached to this movie, I'm honestly going on strike. Like, I don't know, maybe the show ends. Maybe, babe. No, I'm saying if they add Ben Affleck. Because there's been a lot of, I, I was told Laura Jenkins Brown of Greek Myth Comics, who's also been on the show, and she's gonna come back to talk about the Odyssey. More than this, actually. We had a whole plan to talk about Stephen Fry's Odyssey. And then this happened and I was like, well, I guess we have to talk about this too, girl. Anyway, Laura and I were talking.
16:19 Liv Albert? And she kept mixing up Ben Affleck. And I jokingly told her that like, if the only thing wor- worse would be Ben Affleck. And then she kept mixing up like, who was actually cast. And we went like back and forth with like, because they're interchangeable white men. But like. To me, Ben Affleck being cast as Odysseus is, I mean, it's stupider even than Brad Pitt as Achilles. Which, because Brad Pitt like owned that at least.
16:42 Speaker 03 No, Brad Pitt was kind of the good at the time though in in Hollywood.
16:46 Liv Albert? Yeah.
16:47 Speaker 03 That's what I'm saying, because he was pretty bored.
16:49 Liv Albert? Well, that's true.
16:49 Speaker 03 He was top notch, he was that character even in Hollywood.
16:52 Liv Albert? He's not even at his height. Like, even if we're doing Christopher Nolan, like, it sounds like he's, you know, he's cast it with like his favorite people, right? Like, most of these people are repeats for him. And even still, like, I can think of Christopher Nolan related actors who would be better. Like, I could think of a bazillion of them. Like, there are just so many actors better for Odysseus than Matt Damon. Literally, all of them. No. But in seriousness, this cast is horribly depressing in terms of like broadly whitewashing. I realize I didn't actually get where this is so rambly because I don't know how to handle it, but this is a New Year's Eve episode and I'm thrilled we were able to provide it.
17:32 Liv Albert? Um, but, like, so, yeah, so the other casting that this speculated was Zendaya as Calypso, which again, unhinged. But who else would she play? Who else? There's no young woman.
17:44 Speaker 03 No.
17:44 Liv Albert? Uh, other than presumably Calypso who's, you know, in him.
17:47 Speaker 03 You could vaguely have like Athena played as a young woman, because she.
17:50 Liv Albert? But, yeah, but then the speculation definitely, like Charlize Theron as Athena, if we're doing, if we're putting gods in it, which Jenks Laura of Gridmend Comics, she speculates that it'll be like the Iliad or like Troy where they don't put the gods in, which is horribly depressing. The Skizmodo, getting back to the Skizmodo, so they speculated again that Charlize Theron would play Athena, that Anna Hapley would play Penelope.
18:13 Speaker 03 I actually could see that, but.
18:15 Liv Albert? But I could see it, so here's the thing about.
18:17 Speaker 03 I think Charlize Theron would do a better job as Penelope than Anna Hapley.
18:20 Liv Albert? Absolutely. I think Charlize Theron might be the best casting.
18:22 Speaker 03 Yeah.
18:22 Liv Albert? In this movie. And like, and again, Tom Holland as Telemachus without Matt Damon is great. I actually think he could play an amazing.
18:31 Speaker 03 Yeah.
18:32 Liv Albert? But with another, another actor as Odysseus.
18:36 Speaker 03 He's a better dad.
18:37 Liv Albert? Yes.
18:38 Speaker 03 Better daddy.
18:39 Liv Albert? But truly, like, this, this casting feels to me like we've gone back in time, like. Like, all of the growth we've had, maybe is that I've believed we've had as a society in terms of classical reception, like that all of that is gone. Like, this makes Gladiator two casting lily-white British guys as Syrian, Tunisian, no, Syrian Libyan emperors. Like, the whitest men you've ever seen in your life. It makes that look like not so bad, because these, the casting is like, I wanna say it's all American, I recognize that a lot of these people are not American, but it's so white colonial.
19:20 Speaker 03 Hmm, it's just also very, very, the who's who of Hollywood.
19:24 Liv Albert? Exactly.
19:25 Speaker 03 It, it feels more like, let's put these names into a movie versus let's find an actor who will play this character.
19:30 Liv Albert? It's like Mad Libs of, like, Hollywood actors. Like, it doesn't feel to me like serious casting based on the roles, it feels like casting based on fame.
19:39 Speaker 03 Yes, yeah.
19:41 Liv Albert? And like, I wish I was surprised, but.
19:43 Speaker 03 No, but we also need movies like this every once in a while, because they're ridiculous, it's just hat, I'm sorry, it's The Odyssey.
19:48 Liv Albert? That's the thing, that's my thing, is it could be literally any other Ancient Greek thing, probably, and I wouldn't be so upset. And like, I just, I honestly can't think of a match even as a series where they're laughing. And the thing that is affecting me so personally, and this is me very selfishly complaining about my life.
20:09 Speaker 03 Being a little dramatic.
20:09 Liv Albert? Is that I am going to have to spend the next, I think it's coming out, oh, also it's coming out literally on, it's coming out like almost my birthday to the day. It's coming out like two days before my birthday, which is also like the eight-year anniversary of this podcast, I think so, yeah.
20:24 Speaker 03 That's so soon.
20:25 Liv Albert? I know, it might, maybe it's twenty twenty-six.
20:26 Speaker 03 Okay.
20:27 Liv Albert? Either way, it's set for July seventeenth.
20:31 Liv Albert? Happy birthday to me. Literally, my friend who was with me when I got the news, she literally just turned to me and said, happy birthday. Like, thanks. Um, no, but like, it's, I don't even know where I was going with that, because I'm just so horrified, oh no, my, my personal complaint. Is that I'm going to have to spend the next however many months. Fielding, like, I love listeners interacting with me about this stuff, but it tends to be that I get asked like thirty times every couple of months, like, when this stuff is coming out.
20:59 Speaker 03 Have you heard about this?
21:00 Liv Albert? Yeah, and like, and that's fine, and normally I'm like, yeah, I have, like, that's fine, thank you for telling me again. But like, this one is just gonna be a constant reminder of how sad I am that that Matt Damon is playing Odysseus. I hon- I truly, truly don't think, like, I think I'm I'm so lost in how poorly cast Matt Damon is that I can't imagine a worse actor to play Odysseus. Matt Damon as Odysseus.
21:26 Speaker 03 I just love how intense you are.
21:28 Liv Albert? I know.
21:28 Speaker 03 Like, it's like truly upsetting to you.
21:30 Liv Albert? Oh, yeah, I know.
21:30 Speaker 03 I think it is so funny.
21:33 Liv Albert? I'm legitimately upset, like, I'm laughing about it because I, I.
21:41 Liv Albert? I've wanted an Odyssey adaptation forever. I have spent eight years of this podcast, like, joking about a Sean Bean Odyssey, about how, like, the Odyssey we never got after Troy, about how, like, the Odyssey would make, like, an incredible epic. And then we get it and it's Matt Damon? I take back everything I ever said about wanting an Odyssey adaptation because that is a joke. And if we really do have Zendaya cast as Calypso, like, that's unhinged.
22:10 Speaker 03 It's, yeah, it's a little, it's a little too.
22:11 Liv Albert? Like, those two should stop and be like, let's, let's look at the work.
22:15 Speaker 03 Let's think about these characters that fit beyond, um, especially because if they're, if they're gonna play up the fucking, uh, um, unreliable narrative about it all, like.
22:27 Liv Albert? Matt Damon is like too reliable.
22:30 Speaker 03 Kirke get so, like.
22:34 Liv Albert? Oh, that was something, yeah, Lupita Nyong'o is the one they're speculating as being Cersei, which also having the two women of color play these, like, seductress divinities on these islands, like, that's gross. And then, and then the white American of Anne Hathaway and Matt Damon is like. They're the least Greek looking people ever. And I know that Hollywood has this like complete inability to wrap their heads around the fact that if they look in Greek mythology, they should probably look at Greek people or at least Mediterranean people and not like Lily white Americans. But even if they have to go for Lily white Americans. Not David and Anne Hathaway. I know complaints against Anne Hathaway broadly, I have to say. She's a good actress. She's not Penelope though.
23:19 Speaker 03 No, she's a little too, the thing, all the women in in The Odyssey are some of the, I mean, like generally, women we get in Homer are very intelligent, well-rounded, um, complex women. But we are seeing them through this male perspective. And especially when we look at The Odyssey, like Calypso and Cersei, you thought is so, I mean, Calypso is a bit, I don't, you know, goddess of it all, but Cersei is, she's so complex. And she's so much more than just this.
23:53 Liv Albert? Well, Lupita Nyong'o as Cersei would be incredible if they weren't only making the women of color. These characters, like, like if there were a, but if it was an actually diverse cast as an ancient Mediterranean should always fucking be. Like if it was actually diverse and, you know, Lupita Nyong'o is like one woman of color amongst many playing Cersei, she'd be incredible. Yeah, like, I, actually in terms of casting, amazing. But when you look at the casting of women of color, maybe as only these like divine seductresses, that's when it gets ick.
24:25 Speaker 03 This is, but I think she would actually make an amazing Penelope.
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27:43 Speaker 03 Because Penelope is
27:44 Liv Albert? Oh, she would make a great Penelope, absolutely.
27:46 Speaker 03 Smart, intelligent, um, but also
27:48 Liv Albert? She could be Penelope?
27:50 Speaker 03 No, she could. I would love to see her as Penelope.
27:52 Liv Albert? That's so sweet, though.
27:54 Speaker 03 I love Anne Hathaway. But she, maybe she could do it. She could, because she could have, it'd be outside of what she, we normally see her doing, and that would be good.
28:01 Liv Albert? Yeah, that's good. I think Penelope is, as Anne Hathaway's Penelope is like predictable in a not interesting way.
28:06 Speaker 03 But that could, you could play on our expectations.
28:08 Liv Albert? Yeah.
28:09 Speaker 03 Yeah. Really well, but Lupita, like, because Penelope is such an amazing character, where she is this woman that is just handling her shit.
28:17 Liv Albert? Yeah.
28:17 Speaker 03 So well, and having to deal with all these decisions by these men around her, and she has to live in this world, and she plays it so well.
28:26 Liv Albert? Yeah.
28:26 Speaker 03 And that she is really running the show in a way.
28:28 Liv Albert? Always.
28:30 Speaker 03 And it's amazing, and I would love to see that Penelope.
28:34 Liv Albert? Yeah. Lupita as Penelope would be incredible.
28:36 Speaker 03 Oh, no.
28:36 Liv Albert? But the thing is that they think we can be fairly certain that's not happening, given they've cast Tom Holland, as we can only assume Tolemica's, because who else would he be? Oh, that reminds me of the fucking ADHD of it all. Um, the, the Gizmodo suggested, because they seemed to believe that the gods would be involved, which would be really cool, but also this person for Gizmodo, I'm not certain as read the Odyssey, just like maybe Google, who was in it? Or like broadly, because they suggested that Robert Pattinson could play. Are you ready? Take a guess, actually.
29:05 Speaker 03 I'm guessing it's a god based, what are you saying? So, if I have to guess what god Robert Pattinson would be, I would want it to be
29:13 Liv Albert? But also think about how many gods are in the Odyssey.
29:15 Speaker 03 Oh.
29:16 Liv Albert? Cause the answer is zero.
29:17 Speaker 03 Yeah, I know, that's.
29:20 Liv Albert? That's the issue.
29:21 Speaker 03 That's it. And we have, we're just in the beginning, being, being Telemachus's dad.
29:25 Liv Albert? Yeah.
29:25 Speaker 03 Um, but if I, if I'm just thinking of good gods and what god I want to see Robert Pattinson as, and this is not me being biased, but I'd love to see him as Hermes.
29:33 Liv Albert? Interesting. I could see that. I could see him being a really good Apollo.
29:37 Speaker 03 Oh, yeah, but like Hermes is such a silly goofy guy.
29:39 Liv Albert? Well, and I think he could be a really good shitty Apollo.
29:41 Speaker 03 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:42 Liv Albert? You know, I think he could, but this person is.
29:44 Speaker 03 That Zeus's son.
29:45 Liv Albert? Exactly.
29:46 Speaker 03 Yes, yes.
29:47 Liv Albert? The speculation wasn't even play Poseidon, which is hilarious, man, because Poseidon is not in the Odyssey. Poseidon is referenced in the Odyssey.
29:53 Speaker 03 He just kind of like makes some waves.
29:55 Liv Albert? He's a concept.
29:56 Speaker 03 Yes.
29:57 Liv Albert? Poseidon is almost never personified in anything.
29:58 Speaker 03 Okay, but what if Robert Pattinson plays on the cycle?
30:01 Liv Albert? I don't, that would be great. That would be absolutely down. That would be absolutely down. If they like CGI Robert Pattinson with one eye and enormous and just make some polyphemus. And make him like really sympathetic because polyphemus is legit sympathetic, like that would be great. The thing is, is that like, based on this casting, I don't think they're gonna do anything creative. I think it's going to be exactly as you expect. I think it's gonna be the most predictable. Western whitewashed. Version of the Odyssey. I would love to be wrong, to be clear, and like.
30:29 Speaker 03 Yes.
30:30 Liv Albert? I, this is funny that we're even recording this because like there are so many pieces of reception that people ask me to talk about all the time. And I, as a rule, don't like to shit on reception because I think all of it. All of it is worthwhile and it's interesting and I don't like to insult other people's work or just like, I don't wanna ever like. Complain about another person's art because I think that that's just like wrong or, but like.
30:55 Speaker 03 And I think there's a lot about art that is personal. So what touches you is, is, is. Something that's inside of you.
31:03 Liv Albert? Exactly. That's why I don't comment on books, cause I don't wanna ruin it for anyone who likes it. If I don't like, that doesn't matter.
31:07 Speaker 03 I don't like this, you know, another person who hears it is like, oh, they don't like something that.
31:13 Liv Albert? Yeah, and I don't, I don't like to do that.
31:15 Speaker 03 Yeah.
31:15 Liv Albert? But I'll tell you where I say like now, I think Matt Damon as Odysseus is unhinged.
31:20 Speaker 03 You know, if you identify as Matt Damon as, as Odysseus, maybe you should talk to some people. I don't know.
31:25 Liv Albert? Absolutely. I think you should read the Odyssey. I think, I think that if you think that Matt Damon could play a good Odysseus, you need to read the Odyssey.
31:32 Speaker 03 Now, if you think it's funny.
31:34 Liv Albert? Yeah.
31:34 Speaker 03 I'm all for it.
31:35 Liv Albert? Absolutely. If they were playing this for comedy and he was gonna be like a doofy like Odysseus like, who is like a messy loser who lets all of his men die, then like maybe Matt Damon could be good, but I am willing to bet a comfortable hundred dollars that that is not how they will play this because it's Christopher Nolan, because it's Matt Damon, because it's, they wanna turn it into this big epic and oh, they wanna play up the CGI and the time jumps and the.
32:03 Liv Albert? And the idea of Matt Damon playing that Odysseus?
32:08 Liv Albert? Yeah, no, it, that's really the only reaction. The man was in We Bought a Zoo. Do we all, well, with Scarlett Johansson, he bought a zoo. It's a terrible movie.
32:19 Speaker 03 That is, that's, okay, you know, it's fine.
32:21 Liv Albert? It was based on a book, it's fine, it's not a good movie. I just think Matt Damon is the most basic white man. I just think he is, he's a blank slate of a white man.
32:30 Speaker 03 Yeah, he has a place in society.
32:32 Liv Albert? The least Mediterranean looking.
32:34 Speaker 03 Yeah, that's like, that's, yeah.
32:36 Liv Albert? He's so not Mediterranean.
32:38 Speaker 03 Odysseus is, I don't like Odysseus. I think you know this, you know how I feel about Odysseus. Odysseus is a bad dad. He's really bad at it.
32:46 Liv Albert? He's a piece of shit, but that doesn't mean we get Matt Damon to play him.
32:49 Speaker 03 Anyone who says that, oh, circumstances, no, who needed those circumstances? It's his fault.
32:54 Liv Albert? Yeah.
32:55 Speaker 03 And then he comes back home and then he immediately leaves. He's a bad dad, okay?
32:59 Liv Albert? Michaela only cares about him as a father. I just think generally.
33:02 Speaker 03 He's a shitty dad.
33:02 Liv Albert? He's interesting, absolutely, he's a shitty dad, but also his son was shitty, so here we are.
33:06 Speaker 03 But that's his fault. His son is shitty.
33:07 Liv Albert? I disagree.
33:08 Speaker 03 I, well, that's fine, but I'll prove you wrong.
33:13 Liv Albert? That's provided I read your dissertation.
33:15 Speaker 03 You won't beat it. Um, anyway, no, you don't.
33:17 Liv Albert? I literally won't. But I will also joke about not doing it.
33:20 Speaker 03 But what makes him interesting, and like generally, this is the lovely thing about Homer, is we're given heroes that are not shown to be morally good.
33:29 Liv Albert? Yeah.
33:29 Speaker 03 And the Odysseus is. I I generally just not a good person, but he does interesting things.
33:35 Liv Albert? That's the thing, that's why he's my problematic faith. Cause I think he's ar- inarguably a piece of shit.
33:43 Liv Albert? Exactly.
33:43 Speaker 03 I don't think they're trying to say, wow, look at this guy to all these amazing things. They're like.
33:47 Liv Albert? It's like how the Iliad is not about the glory of war.
33:52 Liv Albert? But it but people read it as about the glory of war and like. I feel like people, even though the Odyssey is not about Odysseus being a good guy, people read it as if he's a hero.
34:00 Speaker 03 Well, and then you, you know, it it's all in the first line of each of the things, you know, like the thing that's about uh. About the Iliad is the main and it's the rage, it's the anger, it's the wrath, it's you know, it's this word that encompasses all that. And then the thing with the Odyssey is the, you know.
34:14 Liv Albert? The man of many turns.
34:16 Speaker 03 The man of many turns, the complicated, the twisted, the sick. It's like, that is not being shown as like, wow, look at him, he's self. It's like, no, this is somebody you can't trust.
34:25 Liv Albert? Yeah.
34:25 Speaker 03 And so now we're given this narrative by him, you can't trust.
34:28 Liv Albert? But you want to trust, I think that's where the complicated comes into.
34:32 Speaker 03 Driving, there's, there's something about it where.
34:34 Liv Albert? There is real depth and like.
34:36 Speaker 03 You cannot put your finger on it, your your gut feels.
34:40 Liv Albert? Just feel like Matt Damon is a person you can put your finger right on and he'll never move. That's how I feel about Matt Damon.
34:45 Speaker 03 Which you know that power to him, that's.
34:48 Liv Albert? Do you, he's doing okay, he doesn't need our support. He should not be Odysseus.
34:52 Speaker 03 But what if he hears this and suddenly T G, he's like.
34:55 Liv Albert? Matty, boy, drop out, you are not Odysseus.
35:02 Liv Albert? I need you to be a good white man and I need you to drop out and recommend that they cast a Mediterranean man.
35:08 Speaker 03 If your dad's still alive, I can convince him to um go down to the corner store to buy a pack smokes and just never come back. That might get him some edge. He needs a little trauma. We can traumatize Matt Damon.
35:21 Liv Albert? Michaela said it, not me.
35:23 Speaker 03 And we can traumatize Matt. But maybe we'll make him a little more twisty and complicated and interesting.
35:32 Speaker 03 I saw.
35:33 Liv Albert? So uninteresting.
35:34 Speaker 03 I know.
35:35 Liv Albert? Like with Matt Damon, you know exactly what you're going to get.
35:39 Speaker 03 And that's not a bad thing, actually.
35:40 Liv Albert? It's not, but it's a bad thing for Odysseus.
35:42 Speaker 03 Yes, yes, yes.
35:43 Liv Albert? But it's the opposite of Odysseus.
35:44 Speaker 03 Why did they play with that and then he actually, they actually managed to?
35:48 Liv Albert? If I'm wrong, I would love to be wrong, to be clear. Like, I am open to being wrong. If Christopher Nolan proves me wrong, I will be fucking thrilled. If this ends up good and interesting, like, I will eat my words. I will come right on here and I will talk about how wrong I am because I, I, I so want an Odys- an Odyssey adaptation to be good. Like, I want that more than anything. I want a true adaptation that features all of Odysseus letting everyone die and fucking shit up over and over and over again.
36:24 Speaker 03 For his own gain.
36:25 Liv Albert? Yes.
36:26 Speaker 03 Like unabashedly too. Like, that's the thing that makes Odysseus so conniving, is he does it on a, he does not care.
36:32 Liv Albert? No, he thinks about himself.
36:34 Speaker 03 Yes, and it is, that is, um, what is it, conniving and maniacal and like, that's scary. That is scary.
36:41 Liv Albert? And I do, I actually think you're right. I think that if they were to actually play it that way, Matt Damon could be interesting.
36:47 Speaker 03 Yep.
36:48 Liv Albert? But it has to be done in a very specific way for him to be interesting and I-
36:51 Speaker 03 Actually, you might eat your words and if you, if you did, that'd be cool.
36:54 Liv Albert? I would be so thrilled to be wrong, honestly.
36:57 Speaker 03 Single tear will stand your eye at the end of the film.
36:59 Liv Albert? And I feel like-
37:00 Speaker 03 They, they proved me wrong. Like, Matt, take, I take it back, Matt Damon.
37:04 Liv Albert? Like, I truly, I really would love this to be good. Like,
37:08 Speaker 03 Yeah.
37:08 Liv Albert? If we had a good Odyssey adaptation, I, I would be so fucking happy.
37:13 Speaker 03 But also if it is campy and horrible, I will also love, I am so excited for it.
37:18 Liv Albert? I, like, the thing, the thing is that I, I think in today's world and today's technology, in today's filmmaking, they will, it's, they will not make it campy and stupid. In ta- like, or like, if they do, it'll be because it's clear they have absolute zero grasp on the original text, which is fucking bonkers.
37:35 Speaker 03 Which is great, too.
37:37 Liv Albert? No, and again, like, if this wasn't my career and if I hadn't built my, myself around loving the Odyssey and if I didn't love the Odyssey as much as I do, like, I would not be so horrified.
37:53 Speaker 03 Yeah, but.
37:54 Liv Albert? Like if they did this with like the Argonautica, Matt Damon could play Jason.
37:58 Speaker 03 Oh my god!
37:59 Liv Albert? Is Matt Damon the perfect Jason?
38:01 Speaker 03 He's gonna be great!
38:02 Liv Albert? Oh my god, he would be a great. If they did the Argonautica and Anne Hathaway's playing Medea, I mean, there would be major whitewashing, obviously, but like, I would actually be down for that. I'd be down for that. Lupita as Medea?
38:16 Liv Albert? That'd be fine.
38:16 Speaker 03 I'm so happy you thought.
38:18 Liv Albert? Honestly, Matt Damon might be the perfect Jason.
38:20 Speaker 03 I'll send Christopher Nolan.
38:21 Liv Albert? Yeah, well, let's just send him a note. Chris, if you're watching, Chrissy boy. Honestly, I love your idea. I love your enthusiasm.
38:29 Speaker 03 I love some enthusiasm.
38:31 Liv Albert? Love it. I want that enthusiasm for the ancient world. I need you to make Matt Damon Jason.
38:35 Speaker 03 Yes.
38:36 Liv Albert? He's a better Jason.
38:37 Speaker 03 Mm-hmm. And make sure to keep Heraclius, Heraclius, excuse me. Heraclius' boyfriend in it.
38:43 Liv Albert? Oh. Heck, yeah.
38:45 Speaker 03 Yep, yep, yep.
38:45 Liv Albert? Okay, just take that note. I can tell you right now, and I say this with confidence, Christopher Nolan, I am more of an expert in the Odyssey than you. And I'm just gonna need you to go ahead and just take it all back. Just tell the studio, actually, based on the casting, if you can't take Matt Damon back, if you can't take Matt Damon back, then you need to take the Odyssey back and you need to replace it with the Argonautica.
39:08 Speaker 03 Unless you can force Matt, unless you can traumatize Matt Damon.
39:11 Liv Albert? True.
39:11 Speaker 03 Can you traumatize Matt Damon? Now, just a light trauma. It can't be something too serious, because you know, you still gotta be a person who is functional and doesn't like, you know, get like a drinking problem, a serious drinking problem, or you know, a drug habit. The one probably already does Hollywood, but you know, like, nothing that will ruin his life. But just enough, just enough to make some, you know.
39:31 Liv Albert? Just enough to make him interesting.
39:32 Speaker 03 To give it, there are a little bit of darkness behind the eyes.
39:35 Liv Albert? He's the least interesting man.
39:37 Speaker 03 I know.
39:38 Liv Albert? I'm sorry, Matt. I'm not really. You're so rich. I don't care what you think, but like.
39:42 Speaker 03 But also. It could be good. It could be hilarious. So that's the thing. It could be so funny.
39:48 Liv Albert? The problem, the problem is, and I wanna, I wanna go that way. I do. But for me, I think I couldn't, even if it's funny bad, I will be so caught up in the fact that like they ruined another opportunity to do a legit adaptation of A Great Myth. And on top of that, the, that, the, it's just the whitewashing of it. Like, I am so tired of like, British, American, whatever, deeply, deeply colonial actors playing these characters, like, I don't want Matt Damon to put on a shitty British accent. I don't want him to still be weirdly American like Brad Pitt was, like, just cast a fucking Greek guy.
40:32 Liv Albert? Turkish if you got it. I mean, we're going to Troy, that's fine. That's fucking Turkey. Like, give me Mediterranean actors. It is a bizarre thing to, to.
40:45 Speaker 03 But it's Hollywood, man. Look, at this point, I just kind of, I just, I mean, the biggest thing, I've been disappointed by Hollywood my entire life.
40:52 Liv Albert? No, I know. The problem is, these days, I just have so much trouble looking past it and all I see now is the propaganda of Hollywood and the Odyssey as Western propaganda. Like, that's what he's making. Based on this cast, sorry. He's making The Odyssey as Western propaganda.
41:06 Speaker 03 To go back to disappointment in Hollywood. Like, you know, a couple of years ago, Taylor Lautner was like, turns out guys are not First Nations. And I sat here and I went, I know.
41:14 Liv Albert? He never said he was.
41:16 Speaker 03 Oh, they, they cast, they were like, really portraying, because they, every other indigenous character within that whole.
41:22 Speaker 03 I know, they, I was asked, because I, they filmed where I went to school. So they were like, any, any, you know, oh my, can't, it's the internet, I can't say what I want to say. Any First Nations?
41:33 Liv Albert? Kayla was ready to use a slur against her own people.
41:35 Speaker 03 It's fine when I say it.
41:36 Liv Albert? Yep, yep. And also in America, it's not even a slur, so.
41:43 Speaker 03 I just think it's funny. That's my problem, but everybody else feels differently and, uh, so. You you feel differently, I I understand and feel your pain and I'll watch my mouth. Um anyways, um but I just love that everybody else was, they made that effort. And not one, man, get a guy who was first nation.
42:05 Speaker 03 Like so Italian.
42:08 Speaker 03 Oh, it was like, and all of us were like, yeah, no, that, okay, just put some like, long hair on it.
42:14 Liv Albert? I like that we went to Twilight.
42:15 Speaker 03 Yeah, what was it?
42:18 Speaker 03 Get me out of here. I hated that. Well anyways.
42:23 Speaker 03 A little bit more interesting.
42:26 Liv Albert? I just keep wanting things to be better, like I keep, but I should have, I mean.
42:30 Speaker 03 I don't have expectations for Hollywood.
42:32 Liv Albert? Yeah.
42:33 Speaker 03 I learned long ago not to.
42:35 Liv Albert? Maybe Gladiator two was actually pretty fun.
42:37 Speaker 03 Gladiator two had me laughing the whole time.
42:39 Liv Albert? It was pretty fun.
42:40 Speaker 03 I went to a VIP seating. So I could like wait up because I could go watch movies. So you know, if I go once a year, I'll spend the extra money to go sit there and drink. Um and I was, the whole time I was just like, what is happening?
42:53 Liv Albert? I smoked a bunch, a bunch of weed. Before it, which was pretty great.
42:57 Speaker 03 Yes. But I loved it.
42:58 Liv Albert? Yeah, no, honestly Gladiator two was great. I mean Pedro is like, we still have beating heart.
43:03 Speaker 03 Nobody else in the theater was laughing and I was just cackling.
43:06 Liv Albert? There was like three people in the theater with us and I just kept turning to Dina being like, did, did you see? Did you see that? And then Denzel Washington's American accent. Anyway, sorry.
43:17 Speaker 03 The one part, he goes, he goes.
43:21 Speaker 03 I don't know why, I don't know why that sticks in my brain. It's just like.
43:24 Liv Albert? Do you like how many times they said Prince of Rome?
43:29 Liv Albert? That's not a thing that, like, they, I mean, the emperors were kings, but they would never have said that. They had convinced themselves that they were not a monarchy.
43:40 Speaker 03 Kings were just emperors.
43:42 Liv Albert? Yeah.
43:43 Speaker 03 Difference.
43:43 Liv Albert? And also like, it was often not about familial lines. So the idea of calling him like the rightful, that's major spoilers for Gladiator. I apologize.
43:51 Speaker 03 Yeah, sorry. Well, it's been.
43:53 Liv Albert? This is about.
43:55 Speaker 03 They've already seen it all hopefully. If not.
44:00 Liv Albert? That's fine. I didn't give away what it actually means, but I'll, like, it, the.
44:03 Speaker 03 That's great.
44:04 Liv Albert? Anyway, I am.
44:07 Liv Albert? I really just like, I think that my biggest issue with with the Odyssey casting is I'm I'm in awe of it. I'm I was actually shocked.
44:16 Speaker 03 Yeah.
44:17 Liv Albert? Like, I really did expect that we'd come like even this much farther since Troy. But to me, it feels like it's it's like equivalent to Troy's casting from literally twenty years ago, like. It is not even a lick more progressive than Troy's casting, and that's fascinating.
44:35 Speaker 03 That doesn't surprise me.
44:37 Liv Albert? I mean, I it doesn't surprise me, but I just I think I want to be surprised because like it's been, for one. It's been twenty years since Troy, which makes me very uncomfortable.
44:47 Speaker 03 Don't say that.
44:47 Liv Albert? No, I know, but it's fact. Um. But we really, it has been twenty twenty years since they cast a bunch of British guys. As Greeks and Turkish people. And we have, we've come nowhere. Like, I actually think there might, there is there more Americans in the main cast of this. There are definitely more Americans than even in Troy. That's why.
45:12 Speaker 03 Americans or British, like.
45:14 Liv Albert? Well, no, but the thing is Troy at least had all the British people, so it's not more British, but like I I do believe there are more Americans.
45:19 Speaker 03 I'd have to look. I don't know. It's just, I mean, like, it's Hollywood. I I, you know, like, I understand, like, the wanting it to be more, but like, I always kind of like to, maybe maybe this is why.
45:29 Liv Albert? I just feel like they could put like one Greek person in there.
45:32 Speaker 03 No, that's asking too much. What are you thinking?
45:34 Liv Albert? Yeah.
45:35 Speaker 03 Get it together.
45:36 Liv Albert? It's like how, um, and this is, maybe we're just gonna, I don't know, we'll go deep. Um, did you hear that they cast a Palestinian woman in a major role of Gladiator two and then cut her out completely?
45:48 Speaker 03 Are you serious?
45:50 Liv Albert? Yeah.
45:51 Speaker 03 Oh.
45:52 Liv Albert? Yeah, they announced her in the casting before the genocide, well, the current active genocide. Uh, they cast her and they hyped her up as a major role. And then when the movie came out, a lot of pro Palestinian activists were like, where is she? Because you hyped her up as having gotten a major role?
46:11 Speaker 03 Yeah. That's really upsetting.
46:13 Liv Albert? Mm hmm.
46:14 Speaker 03 That is.
46:15 Liv Albert? I won't, I'm not gonna go too deep into the other side of it, but they did, they did seem to advance a role of a woman who was from.
46:25 Speaker 03 Israel?
46:27 Liv Albert? Yeah.
46:29 Speaker 03 Anyway, so um, once again, Hollywood does not surprise me and continues to disappoint me. And maybe that's just what we should, that's what we should expect.
46:39 Liv Albert? Yeah.
46:39 Speaker 03 Uh, oh fuck, man, Jesus.
46:44 Liv Albert? Matt Damon as Odysseus.
46:46 Speaker 03 Oh, I could be a better Odysseus.
46:48 Liv Albert? I could be a better Odysseus.
46:50 Speaker 03 What if I wanna be Odysseus?
46:51 Liv Albert? What if you were Telemachus? And I was Odysseus?
46:54 Speaker 03 He's a little bitch. I wanna show up in my first moment of parenting is ripping off all my clothes and killing people in front of my son. That's how I wanna be a good dad, okay? I'm looking dead in the eye and be like, call me daddy, boom.
47:10 Liv Albert? Honey, amaze.
47:11 Speaker 03 And then whoever's Penelope will be in the back, I'll just shake her and I'll be like, oh my god, married to this fucking guy?
47:18 Liv Albert? Why isn't there ancient divorce?
47:21 Speaker 03 Just slip a little bit of something in my drink, I won't notice.
47:27 Speaker 03 Oh, someone put me down.
47:28 Liv Albert? Happy New Year.
47:29 Speaker 03 Happy New Year, oh my god.
47:33 Speaker 03 Let's leave Matt Damon in twenty twenty four.
47:37 Liv Albert? I thought we left him in two thousand four, honestly.
47:39 Speaker 03 Matt Damon?
47:40 Liv Albert? When's the last time he was even in anything?
47:42 Speaker 03 We just learned this today, Oppenheimer, I don't remember what he was doing in it though.
47:46 Liv Albert? I don't either.
47:47 Speaker 03 I watched it.
47:48 Liv Albert? I didn't see it.
47:48 Speaker 03 Well, I did Barbenheimer, and I don't remember, it was very fun. I actually liked Oppenheimer more than I thought I would. But I don't remember Matt Damon in it, I'm trying really hard.
47:56 Liv Albert? Yeah.
47:57 Speaker 03 I can, I can see him in a little military suit, maybe, I don't know.
48:03 Speaker 03 I'm trying.
48:05 Speaker 03 Seeing the muse of a complicated man.
48:14 Speaker 03 Oh, here we go.
48:15 Liv Albert? This is how we're gonna finish up.
48:17 Speaker 03 Are you gonna read it?
48:18 Liv Albert? Yeah.
48:18 Speaker 03 No, I don't wanna read it.
48:20 Liv Albert? She's studying great, but I can-
48:21 Speaker 03 You're almost fifteen. Step on one.
48:25 Speaker 03 Don't hurt me.
48:27 Liv Albert? Shut up.
48:29 Speaker 03 I'm not trying to shut up.
48:34 Liv Albert? To those not watching on video, which is probably most of you.
48:37 Speaker 03 She's flipping pages.
48:38 Liv Albert? I'm getting there. We're not editing this, so I hope it's gonna be fine.
48:42 Speaker 03 I'm narrating, actually. It's cutting closer, closer.
48:45 Liv Albert? Oh, line forty-five!
48:46 Speaker 03 Closer, there we are. Maenin.
48:49 Liv Albert? No, that's the wrong book!
48:53 Liv Albert? The first word is "man".
48:56 Speaker 03 What was that?
48:59 Liv Albert? Andra moy en enfamosa politropon os malapola. Sing, no wait, no, that's wrong. Man? Well, I'm good, that's a terrible. I forgot what Michaela translated. I know all the words individually, but could I do a competent translation of them in order?
49:16 Speaker 03 It's like, like, Tommy Muse about...
49:18 Liv Albert? The man of many terms.
49:20 Speaker 03 Yeah, whom, um, mal, oh my god.
49:23 Liv Albert? Bad.
49:24 Speaker 03 So, no, no, no, no, no, no. No!
49:26 Liv Albert? Hmm.
49:26 Speaker 03 No, malapola is not.
49:28 Liv Albert? That's my French coming, oh, okay.
49:30 Speaker 03 Yeah, I've done this, I've done this. Malapola is like, like, many.
49:33 Liv Albert? Well, it's a mal, yeah.
49:34 Speaker 03 Oh, many, oh. Very terms or something.
49:35 Liv Albert? Well, pula is the term, is the many.
49:37 Speaker 03 Yeah.
49:38 Liv Albert? Oh, very, very, very many? No, I feel like it's...
49:42 Speaker 03 No, I promise you malapola is not bad.
49:43 Liv Albert? No, I know, well.
49:44 Speaker 03 Just trust me.
49:45 Liv Albert? This is how we end things.
49:46 Speaker 03 Well, that's the thing, because when we do, say, Andra moy enfamosa politropon os malapola, plus ten, ep toys hieron. Poli.
49:58 Liv Albert? That was hieron. Well, that's not true, actually.
50:00 Speaker 03 Troy's hieron?
50:01 Liv Albert? No. Hieron is, um...
50:03 Speaker 03 It's a priest.
50:04 Liv Albert? Yeah, I know, I said, yeah, I said, um...
50:07 Speaker 03 Potoli.
50:08 Liv Albert? I said hero, to be fair about Troy, and I was still wrong.
50:10 Speaker 03 Yeah, that's...
50:11 Liv Albert? I'm gonna redo this.
50:12 Speaker 03 Polon da andropon edan asta kainon. Edno, polon, happy new year, hope you're good.
50:22 Liv Albert? Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy.
50:32 Speaker 03 Yeah.
50:34 Speaker 03 We love Sacking of Sacred Citadel, I can say that.
50:41 Liv Albert? That was Emily Wilson's translation, obviously.
50:46 Liv Albert? Let's talk about Miss Baby is written and produced by... Nah, I'm not even gonna bother with the credits. We didn't even do the opening. Thank you all for listening, because...
50:54 Speaker 03 Thanks!
50:55 Liv Albert? I just had to do it, and I don't... I really like...
51:01 Speaker 03 I'd give you a cheers if I finished my drink, so, you know.
51:04 Liv Albert? Cheers to the worst casting I've ever heard of.
51:09 Speaker 03 Cheers to Matt Damon as a Disney.
51:15 Speaker 03 May it bring, oh me and only me, many joys.
51:21 Speaker 03 Thanks for watching, that's all, so...
52:18 Speaker 04 This December, the magic of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol returns to Virginia Repertory Theater in downtown Richmond. Experience the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge as he's visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, and rediscover the joy and true meaning of the holiday season. Performances run November 18th through December 27th. Tickets on sale now at virginiarep.org or by calling 804-282-2620.
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53:21 Liv Albert? "Enemy of My Dreams" by Jenny Williamson is a historical romance novel set in the time of the late Roman Empire, where Alaric, a brutal Gothic warlord, and Julia, a Roman princess, with a love of good wine, team up to take down Rome.
53:38 Speaker 06 The much awaited sequel, Game of Thieves, comes out December 8th. In this sequel, Julia and Alaric must overcome centuries of conflict to work together or the turbulent rip tides of rebellion and the demons of their past will tear them apart.
53:52 Liv Albert? And now, for a limited time, when you preorder Game of Thieves through Burning Pages Bookstore, you'll get a signed book plate and a free art print of one of Jenny's favorite spicy scenes from across the series.
54:05 Speaker 06 Get this amazing artwork only from Burning Pages at burningpagesnc.com/game-of-thieves. Don't wait. Order your copy from Burning Pages today at burningpagesnc.com/game-of-thieves.
Previous RE-AIR: Conversations: A Most Sophoclean Prophecy, Women & Wordplay in Sophocles’ Trachiniae w/ Amy Pistone Next RE-AIR: Conversations: Beware of the Splash Zone! Gladiators in the Greek World w/ Alexandra Sills Page updated November 5, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated