In it to bin it: Nigel Farage v Count Binface

Summary

Economist Podcasts: "In it to bin it: Nigel Farage v Count Binface"

Date: July 16, 2026
Host: Jason Palmer
Main Guests: Hugo Jai (British Political Correspondent), Ore Ogunbi (Africa Correspondent), Catherine Nixie (Culture Correspondent)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the unique and often farcical nature of British by-elections, spotlighting the contest between Nigel Farage and political prankster Count Binface. The show explores the underlying seriousness behind this quirky political theatre, examines the growing use of Starlink internet in Africa, and reviews the controversies stirred by Christopher Nolan's adaptation of "The Odyssey". Each segment unpacks deeper societal, political, and cultural currents beneath the headlines.

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1. The Clacton By-Election: Nigel Farage vs. Count Binface

(Start: 01:06)

Main Theme

At the heart of this segment is a showdown in a surprise British by-election between populist right-wing leader Nigel Farage and absurdist candidate Count Binface. The discussion reveals how the openness of British democracy produces such eccentric political contests, and what this says about the state of UK politics.

Key Discussion Points

• British Elections and Fringe Candidates

  • It’s remarkably easy to stand as a candidate in Britain. This allows satirical parties and fringe figures to get on the ballot. ("You sometimes get fringe parties and fringe individuals campaigning. The official Monster raving Loony party, the Church of the Militant Elvis Party..." – Jason Palmer, 01:13)
  • Count Binface is this contest’s most colorful character, running on a mixture of cheek and policy satire.

• Nigel Farage’s Latest Campaign

  • Farage is running to regain a seat in Clacton-on-Sea amid a scandal over undeclared donations from both a crypto entrepreneur and a convicted fraudster.
  • Farage triggered the by-election to, in his words, “clear his name” after coming under scrutiny for failing to report £5 million in gifts, which he claims were personal and not political. (Hugo Jai, 04:27)

• Count Binface: Character & Politics

  • Real identity: John Harvey, a 46-year-old comedian, scriptwriter, and author (Hugo Jai, 05:41).
  • A recurring candidate, previously stood against Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and Andy Burnham.
  • Manifesto features include: “building at least one affordable house, nationalizing Adele, bring back Ceefax.” (Count Binface/Harvey on BBC Breakfast, as quoted 03:14)
  • His main campaign pitch: “I’m not Nigel Farage.” (03:34)

• Chances and Significance

  • Despite a poll showing more Brits would rather Binface won (33%) than Farage (21%), local demographics in Clacton (a Reform UK stronghold) will likely hand Farage an easy victory. Still, Binface could achieve 5–15% of votes—impressive for a “joke” candidate. (Hugo Jai, 06:39)

• The Value of Satire in Politics

  • Satire and absurdity are, in this case, necessary reflections on political farce. “It’s good and humbling in a very useful way to have Count Binface there... really highlighting what a joke it is.” (Hugo Jai, 07:50)
  • There’s a concern that British politics has leaned too much on light-hearted mocking and not enough on serious governance, especially amid economic and societal stagnation.

• Farage’s Future

  • Ongoing investigations could see Farage forced into yet another by-election.
  • Despite controversy, Farage remains a resilient figure in British politics and isn’t to be written off lightly.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment.” – Nigel Farage (Hugo Jai reading, 02:34)
• "I'm not Nigel Farage." – Count Binface (John Harvey), (03:34)
• “This by-election is a farce, but that's not because of Count Binface, it's because of Nigel Farage.” – Hugo Jai (07:50)
• “I have to say... my view is that in our political culture as a whole, in Britain, we've maybe erred too much on the light-hearted, too much on the jokes.” – Hugo Jai (08:26)
• “I would never write off his chances of making it back to the top again.” – Hugo Jai on Farage (10:22)

Key Timestamps:

• 01:06 – Introduction to the by-election and Farage
• 02:34 – Farage’s ‘people vs. establishment’ framing
• 03:02 – Who is Count Binface?
• 04:00 – How ballot access works
• 04:27 – Farage donation scandal background
• 06:39 – Binface’s chances and polling
• 07:50 – The role and risk of satire in politics

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2. Africans Turning to Starlink for Reliable Internet

(Start: 12:04)

Main Theme

As African internet usage surges, unreliable and limited infrastructure has led many to adopt Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service. The episode investigates whether Starlink is the answer or a temporary stopgap.

Key Discussion Points

• Internet Woes in Nigeria

  • Persistent outages and unreliable service are daily problems: "Most times... no service, no service, no service." (Listener in Abuja, 12:49)
  • Most access is via mobile broadband, which struggles to meet data demand.

• Why Starlink Is Filling the Gap

  • Starlink is faster and more reliable in regions underserved by fiber and landline networks, though it also has performance issues (e.g., "When it rains, I think it drops." – Tech shop customer, 13:55).
  • Still more affordable than many local unlimited mobile data options, but remains expensive for the average customer.

• Challenges and Future Outlook

  • Most of Africa skipped landline infrastructure—fiber optic needed for high-quality internet is sparse ("Nigeria needs 90,000km more fiber; less than 1% uses it," Ore Ogunbi, 15:15).
  • Starlink is a costly but necessary stopgap—its presence is driving mobile operators to improve.

• Predicted Future: Mixed Ecosystem

  • Most likely scenario is a hybrid connectivity system: satellites working alongside mobile operators and other technologies.
  • Example: Eutelsat partnerships to connect remote businesses, not just urban centers.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The Internet has become part of us and you hardly do without it.” – Tech shop proprietor (12:49)
• “It's good for now. It's working.” – Starlink user (14:01)
• “If you are doing free promo, get in touch. I'm interested ‘cause it’s expensive...” – Shop customer joking with Ore Ogunbi (14:22)
• “I think more likely... lots of operators are going to be working together to make sure that young, digitally native Africans all have a way of getting a reliable connection.” – Ore Ogunbi (17:56)

Key Timestamps

• 12:04 – Ore Ogunbi’s reporting from Abuja’s tech mall
• 13:24 – Africa’s internet infrastructure problem explained
• 16:07 – Starlink as a bridge for ‘last mile' connectivity
• 17:13 – Can satellite close the digital divide?
• 17:56 – The reality of Africa’s internet future

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3. Culture Editors Review: Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey"

(Start: 18:26)

Main Theme

Culture correspondent Catherine Nixie reviews the controversy and adaptation choices behind Christopher Nolan’s new film version of "The Odyssey," tracing how each era reinvents the epic for its own needs.

Key Discussion Points

• Trailer Reception and Controversy

  • Criticism over casting, costume color (“too Batman-like”), and modern American dialogue.
  • Memorable online complaint: “If they saw this on a plane, they would still walk out.” (Catherine Nixie, 19:06)

• Nolan’s Approach: Modernizing Homer

  • The adaptation transforms Odysseus into a “simple modern goody” by removing complexity from his character, and blames his flaws on proto-PTSD or substance abuse.
  • Visuals are deemed “too pretty,” ill-suited for a gritty epic—“soldiers... look less like ancient warriors than like Warhammer toys” and “palaces... boutique hotels.” (Catherine Nixie, 20:10)

• The Odyssey’s Adaptational Flexibility

  • Every adaptation mirrors its own time rather than ancient Greece.
  • Examples include Enlightenment, Modernist, and now digital-era responses to Homer’s work.
  • The essence: "Each generation remakes the Odyssey in its own image. You get the version you deserve." (Catherine Nixie, 23:24)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The overdiagnosis epidemic apparently having reached the ancient shores of Ithaca.” – Catherine Nixie on how the film blames Odysseus’s flaws on proto-PTSD (19:45)
• “Every adaptation... is as much about its own era as about the original work. Less a lens than a mirror.” – Catherine Nixie (21:10)
• “The simplistic, visual modern world has now taken Homer and turned him into online spats about race and a very silly Cyclops. And thus it has turned Homer into a tragedy that is all our own.” – Catherine Nixie (24:32)

Key Timestamps

• 18:26 – Introduction to Odyssey adaptation controversy
• 20:03 – Film’s approach to psychology and visuals
• 21:10 – Adaptations as mirrors of their eras
• 22:44 – Reactions from fans at the film premiere
• 23:24 – The Odyssey as a shape-shifting cultural artifact

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Summary Table: Key Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Start | Key Theme | |------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | Farage vs. Binface By-Election | 01:06 | Satire, political scandal, British electoral openness | | Starlink & African Internet | 12:04 | Connectivity challenges, tech leapfrogging, hybrid futures | | Nolan’s "Odyssey" Adaptation Review | 18:26 | Adaptation controversies, cultural mirroring, generational takes |

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Final Thoughts

This episode deftly moves from the comedic and serious elements intertwining in UK politics, to significant technological trends reshaping African lives, to the perennial reimagining of an ancient classic for our times. Each story is a window onto larger contemporary debates—about democracy, progress, and how the stories we tell reflect and shape the world we live in.

Transcript

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[Jason Palmer]

The economist. Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm Jason Palmer. Today on the show Fed Up, Africans turn to Starlink for their Internet and our culture editors take on the new odyssey adaptation. First up, though, Listeners outside Britain probably don't know about one quirky facet of the country's political system. It's really easy, practically speaking, to run for office. What that means is you sometimes get fringe parties and fringe individuals campaigning. The official Monster raving Loony party, the Church of the Militant Elvis Party. The list is long and the media love this stuff. Now when one of those fringe candidates goes head to head against the country's poll frontrunner in a surprise by election.

[Listener/Caller]

Oof.

[Jason Palmer]

Media gold dust. We don't need to review the rise and rise of Nigel Farage, leader of the populist Right Reform Party. He has stepped down and is running again to be a member of Parliament in Clacton on Sea.

[Hugo Jai]

The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions. This will be a people versus the establishment by election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment and evidently

[Jason Palmer]

the representative of the establishment in the

[Hugo Jai]

contest, Cat Binface here, intergalactic space warrior and I'm speaking to you from my starship, the Albarettor, which is now parked nicely in orbit.

[Jason Palmer]

Count Binface. He claims to be thousands of years old. He wears a cape and a helmet shaped like a dustbin, a garbage can, and he's taken to the likes of BBC Breakfast to lay out his policies.

[Hugo Jai]

I will tailor my manifesto to the local area. As always but most of my national policies will remain building at least one affordable house. Nationalizing. Adele, bring back Ceefax.

[Jason Palmer]

And of course, on the country's flagship morning news program today, he showed disarming honesty. What is your appeal going to be

[Hugo Jai]

to the people of Clacton? I'm not Nigel Farage.

[Jason Palmer]

It would be laughable or more laughable if not for the serious reasons behind the by election.

[Hugo Jai]

Technically, there is no reason that Count Binface could not be the next MP for Clacton.

[Jason Palmer]

Hugo Jai is our British political correspondent.

[Hugo Jai]

All he has to do is pay a £500 deposit, get the signatures of 10 voters and he's there. He's on the ballot paper, taking on Nigel Farage directly. If Count Binface can persuade the voters of Clacton to give him more votes than Farage, he will become their mp.

[Jason Palmer]

So, before we get on to Count Benface, tell me how we ended up in this situation in the first place.

[Hugo Jai]

Nigel Farage has been under growing and increasingly intense scrutiny over his finances, particularly over a number of donations that he has received and not reported. 5 million pounds from a crypto entrepreneur called Christopher Harborne and a series of donations from a close friend and convicted fraudster called George Cottrell, known as Posh George. He says he didn't have to register these gifts because they were just personal gifts rather than political donations. But there are investigations underway by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to work out whether he has actually followed the rules. As I repeat, I've done nothing wrong. He triggered this by election to try and, in his words, clear his name. The problem he has, though, is that the rest of the main parties, the Conservatives, Labour, et cetera, want nothing to do with it. They've said they're not even gonna stand a candidate, leaving essentially just Farage himself versus Binface.

[Jason Palmer]

Well then, let's get into the political meat of Count Binface. Who is he?

[Hugo Jai]

So he's not actually a 6,000-year-old space warrior, you'll be surprised to hear.

[Jason Palmer]

Don't tell me he's not a count either.

[Hugo Jai]

His aristocratic claims are exaggerated, I'm afraid. He is a 46 year old comedian, scriptwriter, author called John Harvey. He's stood in multiple elections before. Actually, he first came to fame in 2017 when he stood against then Prime Minister Theresa May. He repeated the trick against Boris Johnson in 2019, Rishi Sunak 2024, and against Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by election, which brought Burnham back to the Commons just a few weeks ago. He's never won more than a Couple of hundred votes in those sorts of contests. Although when he stood for Mayor of London twice, he managed to reach the giddy heights of 1%, picked up 24,000 votes, which is quite a lot for a joke candidate. But he's never been in the spotlight in the same way as he is going to be now.

[Jason Palmer]

And so what chances do you give him in what might be a farcical contest on both sides?

[Hugo Jai]

It's really pretty unlikely that Count Binface is going to win. Nigel Farage is very divisive in Britain as a whole. And actually there was a poll recently of the country at large which found that 33% of voters would like Binface to win this by election and only 21% would back Farage. But luckily for Farage, it's only the voters, specifically of Clacton, who get a say. This town in Essex is possibly the most pro reform part of the whole of the uk. Nigel Farage would probably win pretty easily, even if all the other serious opposition parties were standing against him. But Bim Face could put up a decent fight and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get 5, 10, maybe 15% of the vote, which would be pretty impressive given the limitations of being quite fundamentally a joke character.

[Jason Palmer]

Well, I mean, that is the point. I think looking at this from the outside, you wonder about the utility of the farcical nature, I guess, this part of British politics. Do you think it's good for the political system that people can, in this very tongue in cheek way, hold people to account?

[Hugo Jai]

So I would make two points in this specific instance. This by election is a farce, but that's not because of Count Binface, it's because of Nigel Farage. Nigel Farage was under no compulsion to resign. There was no reason for him to trigger this by election and he have any serious opponents. He's created that situation. It is ridiculous and I think it probably is good and humbling in a very useful way to have Count Bimface there in this case, really highlighting what a joke it is. But I have to say, without wanting to be too curmudgeonly, my view is that in our political culture as a whole, in Britain, we've maybe erred too much on the light hearted, too much on the jokes. There's a long tradition of rather really taking the mickey relentlessly out of British politics and it does have its time in place and as I say, in this by election that's fine. But I think British politics is in a bad way. Britain's society, economy, stagnating and I think it's good to be able to laugh at ourselves. But actually this is a time when maybe we should be taking the duties of British politics a bit more seriously

[Jason Palmer]

and coming back to Mr. Farage himself. In all cases, even if he wins, he is tarnished by all of this. Right?

[Hugo Jai]

Yeah. It's potentially pretty damaging for him. There have long been questions about the propriety of his personal financial dealings. To be clear, Nigel Farage thoroughly denies any wrongdoing. He still stands a realistic chance of being the next Prime Minister. Reform UK did very well in the local elections in May and Reform is still the most popular party in the country. That said, of course, Labour is about to have a change of leadership. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham replacing Keir Starmer. Labour hoping for a popularity bounce from that. The Conservatives undergoing a modest revival at the moment under Kemi Badenoch, their leader, who seems to be more popular than she was. Reform is at the moment past its peak. Whether that continues to happen is another case. But another problem is bizarre as it sounds, this might not even be the last Clacton by election because if he is found guilty of wrongdoing over his finances, that could trigger another by election. And let me tell you, in that one, the other parties would be running against Farage and they would be running pretty hard. The thing about Nigel Farage, he's been around a long time. He's been through a lot of adversity, he's had lots of downs and every time he's found a way to make a comeback. So it does look like he's at a relatively low air. But I would never write off his chances of making it back to the top again.

[Jason Palmer]

Hugo, thanks very much for your time.

[Hugo Jai]

Thank you, Jason.

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[Ore Ogunbi]

In Abuja, which is the capital of Nigeria. People complain almost every day about the lack of reliable Internet. Glitches and outages that last sometimes 15 minutes or as long as an hour have become part of daily life. And so I went to a tech mall to hear a little bit about what people are struggling with.

[Jason Palmer]

Ore Ogunbi is an Africa correspondent for the Economist.

[Ore Ogunbi]

When you walk into Banex, everyone's trying to sell you something. They're trying to sell you a phone. They're asking you if you need your laptop fixed, if you need a screen fixed, if you need a ring light or a tripod. This is the center of Abuja's tech scene. So it seems like a logical place to come and ask people what they think about their Internet connections.

[Listener/Caller]

The Internet has become part of us and you hardly do without it. I use it often, use it to browse, use it to advertise my business. I'm a businessman. The Internet is not yet where it's supposed to be. The speed is not what it's supposed to be, you understand? Sometimes when I want to download something, it takes longer time. I'm watching something on YouTube, it blobs at times. Most times. Most times. Most times. But every time, no service, no service, no service.

[Ore Ogunbi]

There are many reasons why Africa's Internet infrastructure still continues to fall short. And one of them is that it relies very heavily on cheaper mobile broadband instead of fixed line Internet. You have over 400 million Africans accessing the Internet via their mobiles. But this technology isn't robust enough to meet the growing demand for data. Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite option is increasingly filling the void, but not without its own issues.

[Listener/Caller]

The efficiency is high compared to other networks.

[Hugo Jai]

But my little experience with it that when it rains, I think it drops.

[Ore Ogunbi]

It's far cheaper than mobile routers.

[Hugo Jai]

Mobile routers will give you data for a particular period. Starlink will give you access, unlimited access for a particular period of time. It's good for now. It's working.

[Listener/Caller]

Yeah, no stink is good. It's from Elon Max, right? Are you doing any free promo?

[Ore Ogunbi]

It's not me, I'm a journalist.

[Listener/Caller]

Please. If you are doing free promo, get in touch. I'm interested cuz it's expensive, you understand? If they can do something about it, it will get a long way.

[Jason Palmer]

So Orey, this is not Just a big problem. It is a problem that is getting bigger.

[Ore Ogunbi]

Well, exactly. More people are streaming videos and they're taking longer to buffer. People do video calls on WhatsApp now and they're glitchy or they drop out without warning. And as more people use AI powered applications, they're going to need even more data than they're using at the moment. So things are going to keep getting worse. More people want more data. Traffic is expected to at least triple by 2030, and the current infrastructure just isn't good enough.

[Jason Palmer]

But why, though? Why hasn't the infrastructure kept up with usage?

[Ore Ogunbi]

When the Internet age kicked off a few decades ago, the continent did a lot of leapfrogging. They basically skipped over building costly landline infrastructure like much of the rich world did, and jumped straight to using mobile phones. But the thing is, the old school landline infrastructure that they jumped over, the stuff that can actually be repurposed to deliver fiber Internet, which is much more powerful, which can handle streaming, which can handle the big fancy AI powered applications. They skipped over that too. And now most of Africa's still playing catch up. To take Nigeria, where I live, for example. The country needs 90,000 kilometers more of fiber optic networks. It's used by less than 1% of the population because the existing networks are being expanded way too slowly to keep up with the pace.

[Jason Palmer]

And so the question here is whether satellite providers, Starlink in particular, can bridge that gap or not.

[Ore Ogunbi]

Well, exactly, and in some places it looks like they can. So take a state like Ekiti, for example, which is in the southwest of Nigeria. It's very rocky terrain. It's about 250km away from Lagos, which is where the subsea Internet cables land. They've got a young and super literate population that their government's trying to turn into an economic powerhouse. But because of how far away it is from Lagos, it's really expensive to get these guys good Internet. But now the government's trying Starlink. It's still pricey, but at least it works.

[Jason Palmer]

There's some irony here that your, your connection is kind of coming and going. Are you hearing us?

[Hugo Jai]

Okay.

[Ore Ogunbi]

Oh, for God's sake. And I'm using Starlink.

[Catherine Nixie]

Okay.

[Jason Palmer]

In which case the question then is, is the economics of it? Clearly using Starlink, at least for some time, is cheaper than trying to put in tens of thousands of kilometers of fiber.

[Ore Ogunbi]

Well, this is the thing. It's a pretty expensive stopgap. It's not going to be an option for everyone. But their entrance into the market is a good thing because it's forcing mobile operators to get their act together. These guys don't want to lose their top customers to Starlink, but it seems

[Jason Palmer]

clear one way or the other that satellite Internet is the answer for the continent.

[Ore Ogunbi]

Well, it's definitely one part of it, but I think that a more plausible future is one where all these different bits work together to create a nice mixed connectivity ecosystem. You're going to have the mobile operators working with satellite companies, so take Utilsat for example, which is a French firm that works directly with businesses, helping them get mobile Internet to more remote areas. That's a way in which I see satellite operators and existing mobile operators working together to make sure that both people in urban areas as well as people in the more remote areas or just get a better connection. So I think more likely it's not that satellite alone is the future, but that lots of operators are going to be working together to make sure that young digitally native Africans all have a way of getting a reliable connection all

[Jason Palmer]

right, thanks very much as ever, for your time.

[Ore Ogunbi]

Thanks so much for having me, Jason.

[Catherine Nixie]

Christopher Nolan's adaptation of the Odyssey was causing conniptions long before anyone had even seen the thing.

[Jason Palmer]

Catherine Nixie is a culture correspondent at the Economist.

[Catherine Nixie]

Ahead of its release on July 17, there was harrumphing over everything from the actress playing Helen too black, the color of the plume on Odysseus helmet, the style of the soldier's armor, also too black and too Batman like, and the vocabulary of Odysseus son, too American. At one point he says, dad, my

[Ore Ogunbi]

dad is coming home. You're pining for a daddy he didn't even know?

[Catherine Nixie]

On YouTube, the film's trailer was met with criticism. One disgruntled commenter wrote that if they saw this on a plane, they would still walk out. The film itself is unlikely to allay any anxieties about anachronisms. Everything from its scenery to its psychology says far more about the modern west than it does about ancient Greece. Startling liberties are taken with the plot to turn Odysseus, the archetypally flawed ancient hero, into a simple modern goody by flattening those flaws no one could stand

[Jason Palmer]

between my men and home.

[Catherine Nixie]

Any bad behavior is explained away, either by drug use or it's hinted to be due to some kind of proto ptsd, the over diagnosis epidemic apparently having reached the ancient shores of Ithaca.

[Jason Palmer]

Remember a wife,

[Listener/Caller]

a son,

[Made in Cookware Advertiser]

home.

[Catherine Nixie]

The scenery is similarly unsuitable and often far too pretty. Soldiers in elegant gunmetal grey look less like ancient warriors than like Warhammer toys. The ochre and candlelit palaces do not resemble warlords lairs, but boutique hotels. During the beach scenes with the nymph Calypso, Odysseus seems to be less in agonizing exile than on a Caribbean mini break. They are wearing lots of linen. Every adaptation of an ancient text is as much about its own era as about the original work. Less a lens than a mirror. Ancient Athenians transformed Homeric epic into psychologically acute tragedy. In the 18th century, Alexander Pope's translation managed to make Odysseus sound like an effete enlightenment poet rather than an ancient warlord. In 1922, James Joyce's version offered sex stream of consciousness and that modernist literary staple, boredom. So Christopher Nolan's retelling is part of a time honoured tradition. It is manifestly a product of the present day. Female characters offer frequent apologias for feminism. The casus belli of the Trojan War is given as a desire to improve trade routes. But then, the Odyssey contains multitudes. In the three millennia since it was composed, it has been on an odyssey all of its own. The poem has become a play, a TV series and a porn film. The ultimate trip. It is therefore not surprising that Odysseus had been transformed by Christopher Nolan, though in other ways it is surprising, as the Odyssey has been a filmic wrecker of reputations. A 2024 film starring Ralph Fiennes was dismissed as dull. A movie of 1954 starring Kirk Douglas was described as weird and vapid. Though Christopher Nolan has form on tricky topics, his previous film, Oppenheimer, about nuclear weapons, graced almost $1 billion at the box office. Still, even he has probably learned that the Odyssey is not an easy book to film. It's structure is tricky. It is about Odysseus, but readers do not meet him for four books. But then it's also very famous. The first Penguin classic ever printed was the Odyssey. Look up Odyssey in the British Library catalogue and you are offered 34,000 titles, almost three for every line of the poem. A couple of weeks ago we went to meet fans standing in a penned in area near Leicester Square, waiting to be let into the red carpet area for the premiere.

[Hugo Jai]

Although I have the book in my hand, I've only read about half of it. So I did stop halfway through until I realized, you know, the Odyssey is coming out.

[Catherine Nixie]

The debate around the film and the excitable interest in it is in many ways further proof of the Odyssey's permanence.

[Hugo Jai]

I'm like all aboard the hype train. Now, I didn't know too much about the Odyssey before the trailer came out, but yeah, I'm really invested now. Honestly, a lot of people are overheating on a lot of the comments, castings and how like Christopher Nolan is going to depict the movie. But honestly, I have faith in him.

[Catherine Nixie]

There are two ways to see the squabbles that have erupted over the Odyssey. One is to engage with them on their own terms. The gripes that people have about the trailer seem to have some validity in Homer. Helen is clearly described as white armed. Odysseus probably didn't wear a red plumed helmet as red was a Spartan habit, and Odysseus's son definitely didn't say dad because he was talking in ancient Greek. But the other way to see these arguments is as proof of the Odyssey's malleability. It can fit almost any age. In an era anxious about the excessively manly manosphere, it allows people to fret over excessively manly armor. In an era driven by debates over race, it allows people to engage in a bad tempered argument over casting. Each generation remakes the Odyssey in its own image. You get the version you deserve. So the clever, quarrelsome ancient Athenians took Homer and transformed him into clever, quarrelsome tragedies. In the 20th century, the modernists took Homer and turned him into brilliant modernist prose and poetry. The simplistic, visual modern world has now taken Homer and turned him into online spats about race and a very silly Cyclops. And thus it has turned Homer into a tragedy that is all our own.

[Jason Palmer]

That's all for this episode of the Intelligence. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

[Capital One Advertiser]

With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends it's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. What's in your wallet terms apply. See capitalone.combankCapital1NA Member FDIC

[Made in Cookware Advertiser]

this podcast is sponsored by Made in Cookware, Made in partners with multi generational artisans and some of the world's best chefs to create professional quality cookware, knives and kitchen tools. Their products are trusted in Michelin starred restaurants worldwide and designed to perform just as well in your kitchen. From five ply stainless clad to carbon steel, every piece is built to last and made to actually make you a better cook. Discover award winning [e-mail].