Scholar

Carol Atack

Videos
H-index: 6
Philosophy 57%
History 16%
more

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Also, excellent programme notes from @alexandrahardwick.bsky.social and @lucycmmjackson.bsky.social as well as a fascinating foyer display about past NT productions of Greek plays.
3

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Mixed verdict on the @nationaltheatre.org.uk Bacchae - amazing staging and design, loved the chorus, some great performances. Deeply unconvinced though by the back-story given to Pentheus, and some of Dionysus' story - and the omission of Cadmus. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/...
Bacchae | National Theatre
Indhu Rubasingham (The Father and the Assassin) directs Nima Taleghani's (Heartstopper) version of the classic tragedy to the stage.
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
1 1 6

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Unmissable new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge - Made in Ancient Egypt explores this ancient culture through the makers of objects, their skills & the materials they used. Some exquisite objects - I liked this statuette. On show until April 2026.
Small statuette of a man holding a container. He is wearing a wrapped garment inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphics, which reveal that he was part of the court of the pharaoh Psammtek (Psammetichus, to readers of Herodotus)
6

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
I've been podcasting again! This time I spoke about how 'Plato: a civic life' provides the historical background to Plato's thought and helps to explain how his ideas developed - with Morteza Hajizadeh from New Books Network: newbooksnetwork.com/plato
Carol Atack, "Plato: A Civic Life" (Reaktion, 2025) - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
7 14

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Coming late to this but we're spoilt for choice! The Old Oligarch's pamphlet would be my suggestion; explicitly ideological.
1 2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
My little Plato: a civic life, as reviewed in the New York Sun earlier this year - paywall but you can read one article for free.
reaktionbooks.bsky.social
Reaktion Books @reaktionbooks.bsky.social · 18d
Plato, the Philosopher Poised Between Oligarchy and Philosophy

📌 buff.ly/PSJcnsR [£]
📚 buff.ly/UnQMhFK
Plato, the Philosopher Poised Between Oligarchy and Philosophy
Plato's well known skepticism of democracy seems the result of his fear of what happens when you put things to a vote. That's how Socrates died — voted…
buff.ly
3 4

Reposted by: Carol Atack

reaktionbooks.bsky.social
Plato, the Philosopher Poised Between Oligarchy and Philosophy

📌 buff.ly/PSJcnsR [£]
📚 buff.ly/UnQMhFK
Plato, the Philosopher Poised Between Oligarchy and Philosophy
Plato's well known skepticism of democracy seems the result of his fear of what happens when you put things to a vote. That's how Socrates died — voted…
buff.ly
2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Yes, let's! And there is more on pineapples - and the Decker family – in the catalogue for our 'Black Atlantic' exhibition, more recently.
1 2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Come see our pineapples when you're in Cambridge! data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/1712
Pineapple grown in Sir Matthew Decker's garden at Richmond, Surrey: 357
A record for a Fitzwilliam Museum object: Painting 357
data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk
1 2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
From a fabulous Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition back in 2019 (or thereabouts)!
1 2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
I know! The show has seven galleries full of equally powerful paintings; it’s an astonishing body of work, much borrowed for this show from US public & university art museums.
1

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
'Histories' by Kerry James Marshall at London's Royal Academy - a powerful survey of the American artist's work, his long practice of exploring Black experience and challenging simple stories. Full of humour and moments of delight as well as profound commentary, as in 1994's 'Great America'.
Kerry James Marshall, Great America, 1994. In the top right of a square paining, four black people sit in an amusement park boat ride, approaching a tunnel full of white ghosts over turquoise water with stylised waves. A translucent ghost hovers over water in the left side of the image. The lower right contains a scroll with the words 'Great America', but it looks as though other text has been erased, including the word FUN. At the top centre the word WOW appears on a bright red starburst splodge. There's an air of menace - has someone fallen overboard? Knowing American politics and the history of the Middle Passage, can we avoid seeing horror and menace lurking in the painting despite its beautiful touches?
2 2 9

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
More about the exhibition and a booking link here: www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/plan-your-vi...
Made in Ancient Egypt
Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Made in Ancient Egypt - Laura Cummings in the Observer on the artists and makers of ancient Egyptian art & the research that underpins the forthcoming Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition: observer.co.uk/culture/art/...
Face to face with the pharaohs’ tomb artists | The Observer
The painters and stonemasons of ancient Egypt have been erased from history, but a groundbreaking new exhibition brings them fully to life
observer.co.uk
1 2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Important story about systemic failures - from the tragic state of Scarborough’s once magnificent Grand Hotel to the policy failures which have been exploited by private providers, at huge cost to the good of both communities and those in need.
jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 25d
FT mag piece from me: Spent a long time looking into the Britannia hotel chain, beneficiaries of a vast amount of taxpayer money via the asylum system

on.ft.com/47HEE46
The crumbling seaside palaces at the centre of Britain’s asylum crisis
[FREE TO READ] How one hotelier built an empire from beloved community assets — and a government struggling to cope with a surge in migration
on.ft.com
1 1

Reposted by: Carol Atack, Diane Coyle, Jonathan Portes , and 6 more

jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
FT mag piece from me: Spent a long time looking into the Britannia hotel chain, beneficiaries of a vast amount of taxpayer money via the asylum system

on.ft.com/47HEE46
The crumbling seaside palaces at the centre of Britain’s asylum crisis
[FREE TO READ] How one hotelier built an empire from beloved community assets — and a government struggling to cope with a surge in migration
on.ft.com
58 160 390

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
It entirely passed me by that this @wsj.com article from February is in part a review of my Plato book!
rogueclassicist.bsky.social
rogueclassicist ~ david meadows @rogueclassicist.bsky.social · Jan 31
‘Plato’ and ‘Phocion’: Athens Beyond Democracy - WSJ
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘Plato’ and ‘Phocion’: Athens Beyond Democracy
In the complex and often violent political arena of ancient Greece, ideals of civic engagement and self-determination mingled uneasily with the realities of power.
www.wsj.com
1 9

Reposted by: Carol Atack, James Connelly

keenerclassics.bsky.social
Given the news about Melvyn Bragg stepping down from In Our Time, now might be a good time to share this list (thanks to Paul Cartledge for the reminder!) keenerclassics.wordpress.com/classics-in-...
Classics In Our Time Podcasts
This is a list of podcasts from BBC In Our Time. I originally posted this as a Blog Post in 2017, but now updating it to a Page to make it easier to edit. Latest update: 4 September 2025 Greek…
keenerclassics.wordpress.com
1 11 25

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
I'm guessing that there may be some source imagery being copied - that's certainly the case for lots of the biblical imagery in the same room, which is much better researched than these little figures are.
1

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
From Burton Agnes Hall, a glorious late Elizabethan (1590s-1600s) country house near Bridlington, a riot of religious and moralising imagery with some classical moments, including a door jamb decorated with Saturn and Jupiter, in which Saturn is devouring a child...
An ornate door frame carved from wood features two figures as caryatids, taking the place of columns. On the left, the god Saturn is clutching and eating a child; on the right, a bearded Jupiter is accompanied by an eagle, standing at his feet and spreading its wings. They stand on column bases containing their names, and above their heads are vases containing fruit and flowers, as would be typical for a caryatid.
1 3 8

Reposted by: Carol Atack

polphilpod.bsky.social
youtube version of plato's tyrant with @carolatack.bsky.social

youtu.be/GZnaz3nu_wQ
Plato's Tyrant with Carol Atack
YouTube video by Political Philosophy Podcast
youtu.be
2 2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
I've closed replies to my previous post, not because I don't care about the unhappy situation UK law on single-sex employment recruitment is in (I do), or about trans rights (am not going to list my bona fides here). If you need more information, contact the college directly.
7

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Yes, it does. And just to be clear, trans women can still apply to study at Newnham.

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Thanks for writing.

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
That's a question best addressed to the college rather than to me as an individual fellow. Not saying this to be difficult.
1 2

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
I have read this and do appreciate it. Sorry not to have made the situation explicit in my original post.
1 10

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
If you are a potential applicant who has been excluded by this change in our long established inclusive policy, I would suggest writing to the principal and to the chair of the fellowship committee to say so.
1 6

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
Could not agree more.
4

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
I'd write to the principal, and copy the development director.
1 12

by Carol Atack

carolatack.bsky.social
As you all surmise, Newnham is strongly constrained by the recent judgement and this is a change in long-established practice.
2 2

References

Fields & subjects

Updated 1m