Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics – The Oracle at Delphi
13th August 2026
Natalie, with Michael Scott and Alicia Stallings, offers a helpful guide to using the Oracle to get answers to your life’s big questions. You’ll need cash and a sign from a goat.
The Ancients – Delphi: Centre of the Ancient World
28th June 2026
For more than a thousand years, Delphi was considered a cultural centre of the ancient world. Every year a throng of pilgrims climbed the slopes of Mount Parnassus to seek the words of Apollo through the famous Oracle of Delphi.
Today Tristan Hughes is joined by Michael Scott to uncover Delphi’s story, the sanctuary that shaped the ancient Mediterranean. How did the Pythia become the most famous oracle of antiquity? Why did rulers travel from across the Greek world to seek its guidance? And what can Delphi’s temples, monuments and Olympic-like festivals reveal about the power and influence of this extraordinary sacred site?
New Books Network: Understanding Themistocles – A Discussion with Author Michael Scott
9th June 2026
Themistocles is one of the great personages of ancient Athens, known for his heroics in warfare as well as for his overweening and ultimately tragic ambitions. In Themistocles: The Rise and Fall of Athen’s Naval Mastermind (Yale UP, 2026), Michael Scott takes a distinctly human measure of this complex figure. As he tells me in our conversation, it would be wrong to see Themistocles, as some ancient scribes were disposed to, as the product of a fixed nature. Born and raised as an outsider in the status-obsessed world of Athens, he shaped his destiny through his own choices, some of them flawed. Scott is professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Warwick, UK.
Ancient History 101 – Themistocles
20th May 2026
This week we have battles, oracles, and a towering pile of ostraka – it can only be a life of Themistocles – the man who owed democracy his career, but was convicted of treason and condemned to die by the very democrats he’d saved in battle.
Michael Scott, author of the sterling new biography of Themistocles, steps aboard to tell us about the man credited with making Athens the greatest Greek naval power.
The Ancients – Athens vs Persia: The Legend of Themistocles
19th April 2026
A legend of the great Greek city of Athens, Themistocles rose from obscurity to save ancient Greece and helped shape one of the greatest naval powers in history. Yet his story ends in exile, condemned as a traitor and serving the very empire he once defeated: Persia.
History with Jackson podcast: Themistocles with Michael Scott
22nd March 2026
Themistocles is often painted as a pivotal figure in Athenian history, yet his life was full of uncertainties and ups and downs. His rise to power wasn’t a straight path; it was a rollercoaster of triumphs and setbacks. We often think of great leaders as always knowing their destiny, but Themistocles shows us that greatness can come from chaos and confusion.
Aspects of History podcast – Themistocles
7th March 2026
Themistocles is a name that conjures up many epithets – visionary, outsider, architect of Athens’s naval success, and, ultimately, exile. Michael Scott discusses his new biography with the Editor.
Hack Your Happiness podcast- Were People ACTUALLY Happier Back Then?!
12th February 2026
Mercedes and Anastasia join Michael for a journey back in time to ancient Greece and Rome, uncovering the hidden layers beneath modern cities and the timeless questions that have shaped humanity for thousands of years. Along the way, Michael shares the ancient wisdom and practices that can boost our happiness – and modern habits that are preventing us from living our best lives.
This episode isn’t just about history- it’s about perspective. It’s time travel without a machine; learning from lives lived long before ours and realizing that feeling unsure about your next step is part of the human experience.
Moments Podcast – Education Beyond Borders
20th January 2026
Michael Scott is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for International affairs and a Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick.
Over the past years, he has actively pursued partnerships with Chinese universities, launching multiple international initiatives and establishing a series of scholarship programmes to strengthen UK‑China higher education exchange.
Campus Talks: The Value of Arts and Humanities in Higher Education
30th December 2025
The arts and humanities bring multiple benefits to students, and society as a whole, but policymakers often dismiss them as lacking value when pitted against STEM subjects. In this episode of Campus talks, a vice-chancellor-artist and a classicist explain why the arts and humanities are so vital to a healthy, well-informed society, the specific lessons and skills these subjects engender in those who study them, and how university educators can foreground these.
Faculti – X Marks the Spot: The Story of Archaeology in Eight Extraordinary Discoveries
Watch Michael talk to Faculti about his book X Marks the Spot: The Story of Archaeology in Eight Extraordinary Discoveries
Faculti is a DOI-supported streaming platform delivering expert insights from the world’s leading universities and institutions. Each video is professionally produced and enriched with summaries, citations, and metadata, providing users with accessible, verifiable academic content. Faculti bridges media and education to make complex ideas discoverable, contextual, and engaging—without paywalls or personal data harvesting
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History Extra Podcast – Archimedes: life of the week
9th June 2025
He’s best known for his Eureka moment, but Archimedes was far more than a naked man in a bathtub. Speaking to Kev Lochun, Professor Michael Scott takes us through the wild imagination of this Ancient Greek polymath, who dreamt up war machines, water screws and a giant claw – but not, as legend has it, a death ray.
Time Team Official Podcast – X Marks the Spot – Book of the Week
December 2024
In this episode, Michael discusses his book ‘X Marks the Spot’ – Time Team Podcast’s Book of the Week.
Demythifying podcast – X Marks the Spot and Delphi
27th June 2024
Episode Description: Lauren and Charlotte live their childhood Indiana Jones dreams talking to Professor Michael Scott in today’s episode. Discussing his latest publication ‘X Marks the Spot’ as well as the payment systems in place for the Oracle at Delphi. Listen here.
Sistory History podcast – X Marks the Spot with Professor Michael Scott
14th June 2024
In this podcast Michael discusses ‘X Marks the Spot’.
About Sistory History:
The Mariner’s Mirror Podcast – A Bronze Age Maritime Treasure: The Uluburun Ship
10th July 2023
The Uluburun ship sank somewhere around 3,400 years ago near what is now Kas in Turkey and was discovered in 1982. The subsequent excavation was carried out at a time when underwater excavation was a new discipline and it had a profound change on the way both that we investigate underwater heritage and understand the ancient world. It still remains one of the oldest shipwrecks ever discovered and the wealth of knowledge provided by the wreck remains astonishing even to modern standards. To put its age into context, the period which it illuminates is 1000 years before Alexander the Great was born and it remains one of the best preserved Bronze Age sites of any description ever discovered. To find out more, in this episode Dr Sam Willis spoke with Professor Michael Scott, author of X Marks the Spot: The Story of Archaeology in Eight Extraordinary Discoveries.
Late Night Live – ABC Radio National – Why Indiana Jones is a bad role model for archaeologists
14th June 2023
The history of archaeology over the past two hundred years is full of dramatic excavations, explorations and the bold exploits of intrepid men and women traversing distant lands. In this episode Professor Michael Scott shares stories of eight groundbreaking archaeological finds and explains why he has a love-hate relationship with Indiana Jones.
Guest: Michael Scott, Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick, broadcaster and author
His new book is ‘X Marks The Spot: The Story of Archaeology in Eight Extraordinary Discoveries’ (Hodder & Stoughton)
History Extra Podcast – Amazing archaeological discoveries that trounce Indiana Jones
30th May 2023
You may think that Indiana Jones created a swashbuckling vision of archaeology that only exists on the silver screen – but, in fact, real archaeological history is also packed full of exciting and awe-inspiring tales of discovery. In this episode, Professor Michael Scott digs into some of these sensational stories with David Musgrove, considering how far fictional images of intrepid treasure hunters are an accurate reflection of archaeological reality.
History Hack podcast: Archaeological discoveries
26th May 2023
In this episode Michael Scott joins us to talk about his new book “X Marks the Spot” all about the top archaeological discoveries.
Zeus: King of the Gods
12th August 2022
For this episode of The Ancients, Prof Michael Scott joins Tristan Hughes to talk about Zeus. Zeus, the chief deity in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of sky and thunder and is king of all other gods and men.
His tale is one of overthrowing fathers, eating babies and seducing women, both mortal and divine, by changing his own form. He’s one of the most complex figures in history, and his story is one that’s been retold throughout millennia. To try and make sense of it all, we’re going back to the very beginning, to the origins of Zeus, starting with his grandfather and grandmother, Uranus and Gaia. We learn about the prophecy that ultimately overthrows Uranus, the same one that is also fated for Zeus’s father, Cronus, and start to understand the family tree that becomes the Olympians – from Athena to Dionysus.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy The Symposium: How To Party Like An Ancient Greek, also with Michael.
You’re Dead To Me: Athenian Democracy
01 July 2022
Prof Michael Scott and comedian Alice Fraser join Greg Jenner in Ancient Greece as they examine the start of democracy with the Athenians. Aside from it obviously being a system that only benefitted men, they find out why you’d want to avoid red ropes and broken pots and why the Romans disliked the very idea of it. And they take a look at some of the fundamental issues with democracy that still exist today.
Ancients: Ancient Greek Symposium
May 2022
In Ancient Greece, the symposium was no ordinary after-dinner drinking party, but one in which the Hellenic men of society got together to wine, recline and philosophise. They took various forms depending on the whim of the leader of the symposium – the symposiarch – but were exclusively male affairs (aside from the occasional courtesan or two).
In this episode Michael chats about the soirée of booze, babes and slaves that was the Ancient Greek symposium.
Against the Lore (Buildings)
February 6, 2022
In this episode, Michael discusses why the Parthenon is his favourite building from the ancient world.
Ithaca Bound (Delphi)
In the ancient period, Delphi offered highly sought-after oracular services, hosted quadrennial sporting games, and was a nexus for culture and information sharing. Professor Michael Scott, Warwick University, joins the show to discuss Delphi in the ancient period.
History Hack Podcast: Disney’s Hercules, Fact or Fiction?
June 1st 2021
Well they got his name wrong for a start. The fantastic Michael Scott rejoins us to talk all about the legend of Heracles and how it spread throughout the globe.
Podcast – A somewhat complete history of sitting down
The Battle of Salamis – You’re Dead To Me
31st July 2020
Host Greg Jenner is joined by historian Professor Michael Scott and comedian Shappi Khorsandi to head back to 480BCE for one of history’s most notorious naval battles – The Battle of Salamis. On a journey through the events leading up to the battle and beyond we will uncover one of the most unique methods ever used to cross a body of water, one of the most spectacular deaths ever recorded and why sometimes it pays to give water a jolly good telling off.
Delphi – History Hack
14th July 2020
Michael joins the History Hack team to tell a comprehensive tale of Delphi, while Alina tries desperately not to fangirl… And fails!
Delphi – History Hit Network
Renowned as the home of the Pythia, the sanctuary at Delphi was the religious heart of the Hellenic World. In this episode of Historic Questions Professor Michael Scott explains the site’s history and why it was so significant in antiquity. (Subscription required to access content)
Agamemnon from Agamemnon by Aeschylus
11th June 2020
One of four LIVE YouTube readings of chosen sections from Ancient Greek drama
The Messenger from Euripides’ The Bacchae
10th June 2020
One of four LIVE YouTube readings of chosen sections from Ancient Greek drama
Electra from Euripides’ Electra
9th June 2020
One of four LIVE YouTube readings of chosen sections from Ancient Greek drama
Haemon from Sophocles’ Antigone
8th June 2020
One of four LIVE YouTube readings of chosen sections from Ancient Greek drama
Poseidon from Euripides’ Trojan Women
29th April 2020
Enjoy my guest appearance as the Actor of Dionysus’ 39th daily dose of ancient poetry and drama during lock-down.
The Ancient Olympics
Radio 4: 6th March 2020
Michael joins host Greg Jenner and comedian Shappi Khorsandi for a trip to The Ancient Olympics.
The Spartans
Radio 4: 30th September 2019
Michael joins host Greg Jenner and comedian Joel Dommett to charge into the history of the mighty Spartans!
Introducing Classics
In 2017 Honorary Graduate Professor Cartledge spoke to Dr Michael Scott of the University of Warwick and Sidney Stringer Academy students Kim Ann Nguyen, Yaqoub Imran and Hita Patel to pay tribute to discuss classics the school’s Head of Classics Nicola Felton, previously Nicola Neto who passed away in April of that year.
