Fac et Spera

Like any society, when you join the Classical Association you get a lot of other material than the receipt. Amongst the book offers etc were two thin black booklets I overlooked. I’ve only recently returned to them after hearing Brian Sparkes’s presidential address at the CA conference. The booklets weren’t opportunities to send more money to the CA, but the past two published presidential addresses. I thought Brian Sparkes made a good address. I’ve just finished Fac et Spera by Peter Jones from two years ago and that’s thought provoking too. Fac et Spera (Work and Hope) is not a defence of Classics. Rather it’s an argument to Classicists to advocate a stronger defence of Classics. I think that in the light of the current Latin teaching fiasco (see Friends of Classics or ARLT’s earlier and later posts on the topic) it’s as timely as ever. Thankfully it’s not a ranting diatribe where the speaker simply rants “Someone ought to do something about this!” without ever volunteering himself. Peter Jones talks about his own experiences in swaying public opinion and gives helpful advice on how to approach the media. I’m not in Oxbridge so inviting journalists to the High Table isn’t practical. I don’t even have a highchair. But the advice to prepare for interviews is.

“Preparing for an interview” might seem like a no-brainer. It’s not just knowing the facts though. You have to have them in tight formation capable of hitting the microphone in formation to cope with the confines of a short space of time:

When I, for example, wangle a slot on the Today programme, I speak from a carefully prepared outburst: I work up an opening statement of sixty seconds maximum, and then a number of fifteen-to-thirty second observations, trying to anticipate where the discussion may go or I wish to lead it. Each observation makes one point as strongly as possible. If you waffle on a programme like Today you’re lost. You can talk rubbish; that’s fine. But it has to be pithy, pointed, persuasive rubbish.

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Whenever I’ve been interviewed in the past I’ve tried to answer questions helpfully* by knowing my subject. Being more proactive might seem like obvious advice, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.

*Except for an interview for RTL Luxembourg. I was supposed to talk about a Gallo-Roman villa, but I was coached by some local archaeologists in the Luxembourgish phrases for “My name is Manuel”, “I come from Barcelona” and “I speak Luxembourgish very good. I learn it from a book.” There would appear to be lots of Luxembourgers who are Fawlty Towers fans. But not working for RTL. We ended up doing the interview in English. —–