The Endless Knot

Episode 40: The Cottage, Language, & Poetry

Episode 39: From Fossil Hunters to Mammoth Cheese

Episode 38: Wonder Woman & the Amazons

Episode 37: What is a Recipe? with Laura Carlson

We talk to Laura Carlson from The Feast Podcast about recreating historical recipes, the many meanings of food, and what exactly defines a 'recipe'. This is part of The Recipe Project's Virtual Conversation: What is a Recipe? and you can join in the conversation by leaving a comment here or by checking out the hashtag #recipesconf on Twitter and Instagram.

Episode 36: Looking for the Legend in Guy Ritchie's King Arthur

We discuss how the recent Guy Ritchie movie King Arthur: Legend of the Sword fits into the history of adaptations of the Arthur legend. What kind of Arthur does it present, how does it interact with the Arthurian tradition, and what themes does it explore? And who has the biggest...er...elephants?

Episode 35: Season to Taste

We're getting saucy with a discussion about the etymology and history of condiments -- from Roman garum to Worcestershire sauce, through Escoffier and seasonings, to the global implications of ketchup.

Episode 34: The Gimlet & the Diseases of Colonialism

We discuss the origins of the Gimlet cocktail, the stories about its name, and its connection to the treatment of scurvy; then we talk about some of the other diseases tied to the early era of European expansion and colonialism, including the classical history of malaria in Greece and Rome. Also featuring conversation about gin, the pronunciation of quinine, and a cameo appearance by Alexander the Great! Gin, Glorious Gin: How Mother's Ruin Became the Spirit of London by Olivia Williams "The Dea...

Episode 33: Purple, Pink, & Brown

We finish up our colour series (for now!) with a discussion of Purple, Pink, & Brown. From Phoenician shellfish, Virgil's Aeneas,& Propertius's Cynthia, to flowers, beavers, & bears, this episode covers a lot of ground. Let us know what fun colour facts we've missed, and what colourful topics you might like us to cover in the future!

Episode 32: Ariadne's Clue

We've joined forces with the MythTake podcast for a pair of episodes about the myth of Theseus, the Minotaur, and Ariadne. In our episode we talk about the story of Theseus & Ariadne, and the development of the word 'Clue' from Chaucer's version of the tale, as well as Catullus and Ovid's depictions of Ariadne's abandonment, and the connections to fingerprints, detective fiction, and Agatha Christie's life. Meanwhile, Alison & Darrin in their episode talk about two poems by Bacchylides, and the ...

Episode 31: #CreateICG

It's #CreateICG Week! A bunch of internet creators are putting out videos, podcasts, blogs, & more, all on the theme of CREATE – with all sorts of different approaches and interpretations. The event is centred around the Internet Creators Guild, a non-profit organization with a mission to support, represent, and connect creators whose primary platform is online. If you’d like to find out more about them, you can go to internetcreatorsguild.com – and to find more amazing creations by ICG members,...

Episode 30: Baba Brinkman & Peer-Reviewed Rap

We have the immense pleasure of interviewing Baba Brinkman, a Canadian rap artist & award-winning playwright best known for his “Rap Guide” series of plays and albums, with which he has toured the world; these cover topics like evolution, religion, medicine, and most recently climate change. He’s also pioneered the genre of ‘lit-hop’ with his adaptations of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Gilgamesh, Beowulf & more. At the end of the interview we play a couple of tracks by Baba: his newest single "Er...

Episode 29: Evolution, with Ray Belli

How do words change their meanings? What are the mechanisms behind semantic change? And how do technological advances -- like the development of e-books -- affect language? We discuss these topics and more with Ray Belli, host of the Words for Granted podcast.

Episode 28: Coach, or The History (& Future?) of Education

We trace the history of 'coach' back to its Hungarian roots, and explore its connections to the development of higher education in Europe. Then we run through a capsule history of the goals (stated and unstated!) of education from classical Athens to today, and discuss how the new world of online learning, including YouTube and pocasts, fits into the ideals and best practices of the future of education. Please let us know about all the things we over-simplified, left out, or got wrong in the pro...

Episode 27: Yellow & Orange

We return to our series on colour words with a discussion of Yellow and Orange in Greek, Latin, & English. The Roman and medieval associations of the colours take us from a wedding hymn by Catullus to Mary Magdalene & pawnbrokers -- and finally to modern connections to cowboys and Cheetos.

Episode 26: Rogue One

We're joined by Sam McLean to discuss Rogue One's connections to Germanic heroism, Norse thautr, Roman epic, Terry Pratchett, heist films, & The Dirty Dozen. Following up last year's conversation about The Force Awakens, we're interested in seeing how the newest Star Wars film changes genres and develops new themes.

Episode 25: Twelve Days

We delve into the origins of the gifts in "The 12 Days of Christmas" carol, talk about Christmas as the season for games, read a little Latin poetry, and discuss the parallels between feisty women and old farts. And there's a bonus song!

Episode 24: Talking Turkey

The origin of the turkey's name leads to discussion of the origin of Thanksgiving, the role of myths in constructing ideology, and some Horace, Homer, & Ovid. Also featuring some spicy cocktails.

Episode 23: Dirk Gently

We discuss Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently novels, the 2010 BBC miniseries, and the new BBC America adaptation, with Samuel Barnett & Elijah Wood, written by Max Landis We talk about "the fundamental interconnectedness of all things" as inspiration for Mark's work, the process of adaptation, and 1980's Englishness..

Episode 22: Jack o'Lantern

In our Halloween episode we discuss the origins of the holiday, the etymology of Jack o'Lantern, the Canadian connections to trick-or-treating, and the great pumpkin scandal of 2016, and we read a Roman poem about witches scared off by a wooden fertility god!

Episode 21: Haggard Hawks

We talk to Paul Anthony Jones about where his love of etymology and obscure words came from, how he researches his books, the unexpected popularity of his Haggard Hawks twitter account, and more.

Episode 20: Blue & Green

We explore the terms for blue & green in Greek, Latin, and English, and discuss their symbolism and meaning in the various cultures. Is it true the ancient Greeks couldn't see blue? Why do we go 'green with envy'? And what did chariot racing, colours, and religious riots in Constantinople have to do with the Italian national football team?

Episode 19: Beef

We chat about the Norman French influence on Anglo-Saxon words for animals and meat, the powerful emotional and political aspects of the words we use for food, and then delve into Latin technical terms for farmyard animals, ending off with Virgil's pastoral poems, the Eclogues.

Episode 18: Beer

All about beer! From experiments in baking bread with the leftovers from brewing beer to the etymology of beery words, and the complicated question of how fizzy beer has been through the ages. We follow up on questions raised in our "Loaf" podcast, and get some tips from other foodie podcasters.

Episode 17: Loaf

Exploring bread-related etymologies, sourdough and Roman loaves, and the link between brewing beer and baking bread.

Episode 16: Red

We talk about Old English, Greek, and Latin words for red, the cultural importance of dyes, basic colour terms, blushes, blood, and gods.

Episode 15: Stephen Le

We talk to Stephen Le about his book 100 Million Years of Food, and his efforts to use an understanding of evolution to help us decide what to eat. We chat about what it means to "eat what your ancestors ate", the cultural history of food, and his wide-ranging travels in search of traditional foods to try.

Episode 14: Cocktail

We chat about possible origins for the cocktail, and the crazy stories about the word's origin. We also tell the tale of our first cocktail party, that sparked our interest in them and led to the cocktail video series.

Bonus: #WhanThatAprilleDay

We read passages from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales & Ovid's Fasti, to celebrate #WhanThatAprilleDay, a day for enjoying old languages.

Episode 13: Album

We have an in-depth conversation about the Latin words for "white", the many terms for "shining" in proto-Indo-European, and the connection between the Beatles and medieval German students, while drinking White Ladies.

Episode 12: David Hein & Irene Sankoff

We discuss the origins of "Come From Away" in the unexpected connections caused by 9/11, and the ways David & Irene's backgrounds and interests have intersected to produce this show.