In this interview, Kalle Pihlainen discusses the challenges which academic historical writing meets from other ways of using history. The proliferation of these contexts seems to offer numerous new opportunities, but they need to be responded to with advance theoretical reflec-tion. It is important to not fall under the illusion of direct access to reality (historical reality included). Hence, mastery of the constructivist perspective is still needed for doing reliable historical research and theoretical reflection on history. Representation still proves to be one of the most important questions. Pihlainen stands firmly for the narrativist philosophy of history, although one of his main concerns are materiality and embodiment.

In this interview, Professor Edoardo Tortarolo discusses his intellectual trajectory and reflections on historiographical practice. Influenced by historians Franco Venturi and Reinhart Koselleck, Tortarolo shares his fascination with the philosophical approach to history. He explores the shifting paradigms in historiography, from nation‑state‑centred perspectives to embracing global history and the evolving relationship between history and other sciences. Looking ahead, Tor-tarolo envisions a changing landscape for historical studies, influenced by gamification, evol-ving mass media, and the merging of factual and fictional historical accounts. Despite the emergence of diverse narratives, he stresses the significance of traditional, veracious historical accounts. Expressing optimism, he believes the past holds a future with new possibilities.

The interview provides a record of a conversation held during the XXIII International Congress of Historical Sciences in Poznan, with late antiquity scholar and epigraphic specialist Ignazio Tantillo (professor at the Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”). The conversation revolves around the matter of understanding the peculiarities of Late Antiquity in terms of an autonomous period in history, the temporal and spatial framework of which remains the subject of deliberations to this day. In the article, Ignazio Tantillo discusses the role of new challenges and hopes for scholars of Late Antiquity in the coming decades. The conversation also includes a reflection upon the nature of the historian's involvement in the public sphere, the (paradigm of public history), especially in the context of the “cancel culture” phenomenon.