Theseus, Ariadne and a minotaur join the Mount Olympus podcast party
If you've ever wished your
Greek myths
came with a touch of Tony-winning sparkle, you're in luck. The Onassis Foundation's smash-hit podcast Live from Mount Olympus is back for its sixth season on 22 April 2025 — and this time, it's diving into the epic tale of Theseus and Ariadne.
The award-winning audio drama, which just bagged a Gold Signal Award for Best Road Trip Podcast, continues to spin ancient stories into binge-worthy gold. With narrator André De Shields – yes, that André De Shields from
Hadestown
– back as the slick, silver-tongued Hermes, this new season promises all the drama, heartbreak, monsters and mystery of Greek myth.
The sixth season recounts the the epic tale of Theseus and Ariadne.
Illustration: Jason Adam Katzenstein / Courtesy of the Onassis Foundation
"Theseus and Ariadne is a powerful myth reflecting the challenges teenagers face as they transition into adulthood. It explores how life's journey, filled with encounters of good and evil, shapes one's identity,' says executive producer Karen Brooks Hopkins. 'It's a story full of drama, mystery, and intrigue — a highly theatrical tale.'
Live from Mount Olympus has also made the leap into classrooms. Through a partnership with education platform inquirED, the show now has its own curriculum, reaching more than 1,600 schools across the US since last autumn.
'We view [Greek myths] as evergreen – living, relevant, urgent stories that ask more questions than they answer and are new every time they are told,' says
Onassis Foundation
artistic director Afroditi Panagiotakou. 'Our Live from Mount Olympus podcast tells them for today, in a contemporary idiom, exploring issues that matter to audiences of all ages.'
From the table reading of Season Six.
Photo: Zachary Schulman
The production is a who's who of theatre royalty. Alongside De Shields, the series boasts a dream team that includes Rachel Chavkin (also of Hadestown fame) and director-producers Zhailon Levingston and Keenan Tyler Oliphant. Julie Burstein (creator of the Peabody Award-winning Studio 360) is the showrunner, with playwright Nathan Yungerberg bringing the scripts to life.
The podcast is also known for its top-tier cameos: we're talking Anna Kendrick, John Turturro,
Isabella Rossellini
in previous series.
With over 1.6 million downloads, fans across 170 countries, Live from Mount Olympus is proving that myths never go out of style — absolutely epic, you could say.
Season Six of
Live From Mount Olympus
launches 22 April 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
15-07-2025
- Euronews
Superman kissing scenes cut by India's censor board sparks backlash
Indian audiences watching the latest Superman film were left confused when the action abruptly skipped ahead - not once, but twice - just as the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) leaned in to kiss Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). India's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had cut the kissing scenes, including a cinematic mid-air floating kiss in the film's final moments, branding them 'overly sensual' and unfit for Indian cinemas. The decision has reignited debate around censorship, hypocrisy, and outdated moral codes in the country. Critics have slammed the CBFC for routinely allowing films filled with graphic violence, sexual assault, and misogyny - often in movies granted a "U" (universal) rating - while censoring something as tame as a consensual kiss in a PG-13 Hollywood comic book movie. "CBFC would allow horrific scenes of violence and sexual assault in a U certified film that kids are freely allowed to watch, but won't allow consensual kissing in a U/A comic book movie that kids should watch under adult supervision" wrote one user on X. Another said: 'The "morality" of censorship aside, the way they've managed to mangle the flow is atrocious. Awful editing job all around by the CBFC.' The CBFC has increasingly come under fire for what critics describe as politically motivated and inconsistent decisions. Last year, it blocked The Apprentice - a biopic of Donald Trump - after its director, Ali Abbasi, refused to comply with demanded cuts. 'I ran away from Iranian censorship only to meet corporate censorship of the US. Now India. Really?' Abbasi said. 'Censorship seems to be an epidemic at the moment.' The board has also made headlines for forcing other bizarre and overly cautious edits, such as digitally replacing a middle-finger emoji with a clenched fist in the Brad Pitt-led F1 movie, and cutting several nude scenes from Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning Oppenheimer. Meanwhile, viewers have called out the board's glaring double standards. While a kiss between Superman and Lois Lane is deemed too provocative, Bollywood films like Animal - which was widely criticised for glorifying misogyny and toxic masculinity - are released with ease. Similarly, controversial films such as The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story, both accused of promoting Islamophobic narratives and distorting history, were greenlit with little resistance and even received support from political figures. xxx In our review of Superman, we said: "By ditching not only the doom and gloom of the Snyderverse but also the tiresome need for an umpteenth backstory, Gunn starts in medias res to better embrace the spirit of the seemingly bygone era of campy comic books. And it works. This fast-paced adventure looks and feels like a comic book transposed onto the big screen, with all the unapologetic strangeness, colourful palette and intentional corniness that befits a 'naive but well-intentioned" boyscout who will take the time to save a squirrel in peril." Read our full review here.
Euronews
15-07-2025
- Euronews
Beyoncé's unreleased music stolen during 'Cowboy Carter' tour
Hard drives containing unreleased music from Beyoncé have reportedly been stolen out of a rental car at the singer's Cowboy Carter tour in Atlanta. Local authorities received reports of theft from a vehicle on 8 July – two days before the first of her four concerts in the city. The vehicle in question was rented by Beyoncé's choreographer Christopher Grant, who had arrived in Atlanta early to prep for the singer's mini-residency. Along with the unreleased music on five thumb drives were footage, show plans and concert set lists. Two MacBook laptops, Apple headphones, as well as luxury clothing and accessories were also reported stolen. The Atlanta Police Department said in a news release on Monday it has secured an arrest warrant for a suspect whose identity was withheld. Beyoncé kicked off her tour in late April, taking her Grammy-winning album 'Cowboy Carter' to stadiums in the US and Europe. Her record-breaking album made our Best Albums of 2024 list, in which we said: "Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' lassos American country music's stale stereotypes in a powerful reclamation of the genre's Black roots. (...) It's a topic that's addressed from the outset: 'AMERIICAN REQUIEM' is a slow-burning choral rebellion against outdated, racist ideologies that seek to pigeonhole artists and erase those that contributed to a genre purely because they don't fit its heavily politicised image. The rest of the 27-track album is a tour de force of tearing it all apart, melding genres and utilising the familiar (on tracks like Beatles' cover 'BLACKBIIRD') to remind listeners of the ways in which Black peoples' stories have been claimed by white people." Beyoncé will end her tour with two Las Vegas nights on 25 and 26 July.
Euronews
14-07-2025
- Euronews
Exit light, enter gripe: Metallica forces US government to drop video
Heavy metal legends Metallica have forced the the US government to withdraw a social media video that used their song 'Enter Sandman' without authorisation. The Department of Defense sent out a post on X on Friday (11 July) that featured Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promoting the country's military drone capabilities. The original version of the video included the band's classic 1991 track 'Enter Sandman'. However, it did not remain online for long, as Metallica promptly issued a copyright notice. The Department of Defense subsequently withdrew the video, posting a version without 'Enter Sandman'. A Pentagon spokesperson said: 'Representatives from X reached out to DoD regarding a video posted to our social media page and asked that the video be removed due to a copyright issue with the song 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica. The video has been taken down, corrected, and re-uploaded to our page.' This is far from the first time that the Trump administration has used artists' work without authorisation. There is an extensive list of musicians who have objected to Trump's authorized use of their songs. These include ABBA, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Neil Young, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses, Woodkid and Beyoncé. Sinead O'Connor's estate previously issued Trump with cease-and-desist orders, while Isaac Hayes' estate sued him for 134 counts of copywright infringement. Céline Dion also condemned the use of her song from the Oscar-winning film Titanic, 'My Heart Will Go On', which was used at one of Trump's rallies. Dion's team questioned the song choice, writing: "And really, THAT song?' Une publication partagée par Jack White (@officialjackwhite) Another band which added their name to the ever-growing list of artists who have sued Trump over the illegal use of their songs in campaign videos was The White Stripes. Last year, the rock band highlighted the 'flagrant misappropriation' of their hit song 'Seven Nation Army'. Jack White captioned a copy of the legal complaint in an Instagram post with: 'This machine sues fascists.' The most recent example, prior to Metallica, was celebrated US rock band Semisonic, who pushed back at the White House in March for using their Grammy-nominated hit song 'Closing Time' over a social media post that shows a shackled deportee. The White House added the 1998 song in a post of a man with his wrists handcuffed to his waist as he is patted down at an airport. The video was captioned with the song's lyrics: 'You don't have to go home but you can't stay here.' US Customs and Border Protection retweeted the White House's post on X with the caption 'It's closing time. We are making America safe again.' The band responded by posting on X: 'We did not authorize or condone the White House's use of our song in any way. And no, they didn't ask. The song is about joy and possibilities and hope, and they have missed the point entirely.'
