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🏛️ The Cost of Glory
Add some Plutarch to your Podcast routine
Zak Graves
October 05, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
Plutarch via Podcast
Coming off the heels of our entry on reading, you might have been eager to read the great works of the past, but with such a wide catalogue and perhaps some feelings of inadequacy, you might be hesitant.
Although it is good strengthening for your mind to dive into the classics yourself, there is great aid in having resources that not only represent the material, but effectively walk alongside you, helping you grasp the historical and idealogical context.
The Cost of Glory is a podcast that covers Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, but I think it’s better to hear the mission statement…
To retell the lives of great Greek and Roman leaders, in order to sharpen ourselves for the present.
For those who don’t know, Plutarch’s biographies are parallel accounts of Greeks and Romans that Plutarch arranges to compare and contrast. The biographies weave in and out with one another, establishing a network of persons, events, and collective history.
Why Listen to Cost of Glory
Being such a significant account of history and such a great aid for development, Plutarch’s Lives was considered primary reading by many great men: Shakespeare, Napoleon, Beethoven, the Founding Fathers… in fact it was me learning that Alexander Hamilton was reading Plutarch during winter at Valley Forge that made me say “What am I even doing with my personal education!?”
Cost of Glory is an effective way to survey the material because of the format:
Historian/Classicist Alex Petkas is so steeped in the material and history that he can effectively guide you through the biographies and provide essential context.
Each life story is a 3 Act Sequence followed by takeaways and a final comparison episode.
Greek Figure (3 Part Overview)
Takeaway Episode
Roman Figure (3 Part Overview)
Takeaway Episode
Comparison Episode
There are intermission episodes between the life accounts that are simple 5-10min overviews of various learnings from the Greco-Roman world.
An effective summary of Plutarch’s Lives would have been enough to consider The Cost of Glory a high recommendation, but the fact that it’s your 1-stop-shop for classical history, philosophy, and leadership development, makes it easily the GOAT 🐐
Find The Cost of Glory on your podcast platform of choice 📱
Shoutout to Michael Pagan for telling me about this podcast!
