Why Stuff Matters: Objects, Power and the Past
From Start the Week by BBC Radio 4
April 20, 2026 · 42 min
About this episode
The episode explores the significance of objects in understanding our identity and history, featuring discussions on ancient artifacts and Shakespeare's legacy.
What can the things we create, keep and bury tell us about who we are? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Adam Rutherford explores material culture – the power of objects you can touch – and how they connect us to the past. Classicist Mary Beard discusses her book Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old, arguing that everyday remnants of antiquity, from bread to paint pots abandoned at Pompeii, still matter. And that Ancient Greece and Rome continue to shape how we see our own world. Theatre director Greg Doran set himself the task of tracking down the surviving copies of Shakespeare’s First folio, after the death of his husband the actor Antony Sher. He recounts his worldwide quest in Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare, which also reveals the importance of the enduring physical presence of Shakespeare’s work. Dr Sophia Adams, curator at the British Museum, discusses the extraordinary Melsonby Hoard, the largest collection of Iron Age metalwork ever found in Britain, and what its burnt and buried objects reveal about power, ritual and life before the Roman conquest. The exhibition, Chariots, Treasure and Power: Secrets of the Melsonby Hoard, will go on display at…
People in this episode
Host: Adam Rutherford
Guests: Mary Beard, Greg Doran, Dr Sophia Adams
Topics covered
- material culture
- power of objects
- ancient history
- Shakespeare
- Iron Age
- archaeology
Keywords
- material culture
- ancient Greece
- Shakespeare
- Iron Age
- archaeology
- Mary Beard
- Greg Doran
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old, Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare, Chariots, Treasure and Power: Secrets of the Melsonby Hoard
Places: Yorkshire Museum
More episodes of Start the Week
- Scientific discovery and misunderstanding · June 8, 2026 · 42 min
- Searching for economic solutions · June 1, 2026 · 42 min
- Mythmaking at Hay: from Medea to Rasputin · May 25, 2026 · 42 min
- Farming, food production and rural life · May 18, 2026 · 43 min
- German history · May 11, 2026 · 41 min
- Laurie Anderson: Strange and Disorientating Landscapes · May 4, 2026 · 42 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Start the Week podcast page.