Down in the Vomitorium it’s back to Marrou and his section on Primary School and Education in antiquity. Jeff starts the episode a little skeptical thinking this might be a bit of a snoozer, but he quickly comes around, especially once Dave starts dropping ancient vowel exercises like an old school hip-hop beat. Tune in as we sift through ancient debates which read very modernly—when should kids start school? How much should teachers get paid? How many vacation days can we squeeze into the calendar? How much does elementary school truly matter? And, what core subjects should be taught?

This week the guys resume a conversation begun in Episode 13! What's it like to be a book club of one, and what are the social dynamics when two book clubs of one meet temporarily to discuss, uh, books? Well, it's time to gorge and gourmandize on the written page, and it's not just Classics this time around. Jeff starts us off with some selections from Erik Larson, Jeffrey Toobin, Paul Jeffers, and Noel Monk, before finishing off with a bit of David Grant (Alexander's tomb) and Greg King (Leopold and Loeb). It's a main course of true crime, freemasonry, Alexander the Great, and EVH, as the book club dances the night away. Then it's Dave's turn, with volumes from Ed Feser (Five Proofs of the Existence of God), William Kauffman (American Brutus), Gaven Kerr (more Aquinas), and Richard Newman (Alma Rose). The tastes may not be similar, and dentistry gets more than a little airtime, but what's not to love about a garden, a library, a good cup of brew, and a wide-ranging discussion? Join our book club for an hour or so, or start one of your own.

It’s back to Ovid this week in the bunker for two more ingenious tales of transformation. We start in Book I by chewing our cud and patting our 8 tummies. It's the tragic bovine metamorphosis of Io, and the mournful response of her father, Inachus. Here we see the first internal writer and reader within the poem, as daughter reveals herself to dad by hoof-scratching her name in the dirt. Is this also the origin of Roman mourning rites? Then it’s a sylvan sashay back to the woods, where Jupiter (once again) is up to no good and Juno is (once again) directing her vengeance elsewhere, turning Callisto, her husband’s unwilling (once again) paramour, into a bear. What kind of gods are these? What place for mortals in all this? Is the transformation into a part of nature a blessing or a curse? And finally, has anyone located the edible, pulverized, skeletal muscle portion of the bullock?