We spoke to Carly Silver, an editor and a writer on ancient history and horse racing, about how she connects the past to contemporary issues, the intriguing stories in curse tablets in Roman Britain, murder mysteries set in the ancient world, romance novels, breeding programs for American Thoroughbreds, and more! Carly’s website Carly’s article about Hadrian’s Wall Carly’s article about the sexual assault charges against a workman in ancient Egypt Carly’s writing about horse racing Ancient murde...
May 17, 2019•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 70
Happy (?) April Fool’s Day! We talk about the origins of the holiday, its connections to the Tom Collins cocktail, and hoaxes throughout history, from Athenian tyrants to the ‘Scratching Fanny’ ghost to the Da Vinci Code. Tom Collins recipe Podcast episode on Cuckold Podcast episode 7 , with discussion about urban legends Podcast episode on Sublime Bunny Trails episode on ‘wild goose chase’ Herodotus passage Erasmus Darwin video Podcast episode about the 12 Days of Christmas Our Patreon page iTu...
Apr 01, 2019•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 69
We talk about names for countries — endonyms and exonyms — and the trade goods named after the places they come from, in a discussion that ranges from Japanese guns to the connection between Wales and roosters to the colour of the phoenix, and much more. If you can make it to the end of the podcast, you’ll never look at porcelain the same way again! Red Dragon Cocktail The Rising Sun Cocktail Jabzy’s Japan videos: Europeans in Japan and Guns in Japan Cynical Historian’s video on gun history Eido...
Mar 15, 2019•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 68
We talk to Edward Watts about his new book Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny , which covers the history of Rome from the 3rd century BCE to the rise of Octavian to princeps . Our conversation ranges across questions of Roman identity, our fascination with transitional periods, and the connections between Roman history and contemporary politics. Edward Watts Ancient Greece Declassified episode 19 “America's Greco-Roman Legacies w/ Caroline Winterer” Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher...
Feb 18, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 67
Amalia Dillin is an author of mythic fantasy and historical fiction set in the ancient and Viking worlds. Among other books, she’s written the Fate of the Gods trilogy, about Eve and Adam (and Thor and Athena and more!), and the Orc Saga , beginning with Honor among Orcs . She also writes, as Amalia Carosella, about Bronze Age Greece ( Helen of Sparta & sequels, about the love between Helen & Theseus) and the Viking Age ( Daughter of a Thousand Years , about Freydis, daughter of Erik the...
Jan 18, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 66
Time for a holiday episode! This time we’re talking about how Santa’s reindeer got their names, including some of their classical ties to Roman religion and Greek myth, the Reindeer Rule in US law, and NORAD’s Santa Tracker. And we have a quiz about the animals that bring the winter gift giver around the world! Our video “Who are Santa’s reindeer?” Mark’s Lexitecture episode Our Christmas videos playlist Episode 8: Yule Episode 25: The 12 Days of Christmas Episode 49: Stocking Stuffers The Rudol...
Dec 11, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 65
While at the Sound Education conference we had the chance to sit down with Kevin Stroud, host of the History of the English Language podcast . We talked about his passion for language, his experiences with enthusiastic but pedantic listeners, his project to gather a database of accent samples from around the world, and much more. Thank you Keven for chatting with us, it was great fun to meet you and hang out! Sound Education The History of the English Language podcast Our Patreon page iTunes lin...
Nov 16, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 64
From modern words for ghost, to Latin and Greek terms for spirits, to ghost words that haunt dictionaries, we explore some spooky etymologies and tell some ancient ghost stories. Sound Education Green Ghost Cocktail Liquified Ghost Cocktail Ghost video Eidolon online journal Pliny’s letter 7.27 in English VIdeo of a performance of the Latin version of Pliny’s ghost story List of ancient ghost stories sourced from Twitter Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link Google Play Music link This podc...
Oct 22, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 62
In this episode we talk about the history of education in Europe, from classical Greece to the 19th century, covering the origins of many education-related words. Then we turn to the history of second-language teaching of Latin, from Roman Egypt to today’s Living Latin movement. DSM (channel about language and etymology) Sound Education Classic Cocktail Education video Learning Latin and Greek from Antiquity to Present , chapters on teaching Latin to Greek speakers (Dickey) & Latin in Anglo-...
Sep 30, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 61
We report on our trips to EduCon, VidCon, Iceland, & England. Lots of museums and historical places, and check out the web page for pictures of some of our favourite artifacts and images. Sound Education podcasting conference We Create Edu community Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link Google Play Music link This podcast episode on YouTube This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS Travelling Etymologies: Name...
Aug 24, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 60
Jun 28, 2018•2 min
The etymology of 'sublime' takes us through a discussion of the Gothic, Neo-Classical, and Romantic periods, the origins of the Romance languages, the roots of romantic love, and more. The Sublime Moment Cocktail Mats Malm “On the Technique of the Sublime”, Comparative Literature , Vol. 52, No. 1 (Winter, 2000), pp. 1-10. Sarah Bond on Polychromy in Ancient Statues Alex Potts, Flesh and the Ideal: Winckelmann and the Origins of Art History Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link Google Play M...
Jun 08, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 59
This episode, we travel to Calgary, Alberta for a conference, and try some very questionable "ancient" potables! Aven takes a microphone on the road, and chats with a bunch of classicists about Roman beer, barley water, Homeric kykeon, conference papers, social media, and more! Matt Gibbs' article in The Conversation The slides & papers & resources from the Public-Facing Scholarship panel Our previous episode about ancient and medieval beer brewing Kevin Solez Matt Gibbs Amber Porter Mar...
May 18, 2018•54 min•Ep. 58
We sail the high seas and surf the interwebs for this episode all about the etymology of pirate-related words and the coinage of a new term for stealing videos. We also cover the development of copyright law, the reasons pirates say "Arrrr!", and what Julius Caesar did to his kidnappers. Show Notes Bumbo cocktail recipe "Freebooting" video The Maritime History podcast The Academic Podcast by Sam McLean "CAESAR AND THE PIRATES: OR HOW TO MAKE (AND BREAK) AN ANCIENT LIFE", JOSIAH OSGOOD, Greece &a...
Apr 26, 2018•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 57
We have the great pleasure to be joined by Megan & Carrie from the Vocal Fries podcast to talk about linguistic discrimination: what is it, why is it bad, what is its history, and how can we combat it? Show Notes The Vocal Fries Podcast Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link Google Play Music link This podcast episode on YouTube This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License...
Apr 11, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 56
In part two of our miniseries on pets, we cover cats, monkeys, birds, and more. Find out the surprising origins of the word for parrot, what medieval people named their cats, and what bird was symbolic of the Virgin Mary. Show Notes @AllEndlessKnot on Twitter Medieval Pets by Kathleen Walker-Meikle "Greek and Roman Household Pets", Francis D. Lazenby Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome , George Dennison Companion Animals and Us: Exploring the Relationships Between People and Pets...
Mar 21, 2018•45 min•Ep. 55
What makes an animal a pet? Who kept pets in the ancient and medieval worlds? What kinds of animals were they? And why are all the words for pets in English of (mostly) unknown origin?! We start a mini two-part series with a general discussion of ancient and medieval pets, and then some great stories about some Very Good Dogs. Show Notes @AllEndlessKnot on Twitter Medieval Pets by Kathleen Walker-Meikle "Greek and Roman Household Pets", Francis D. Lazenby Federico II Gonzaga by Titian Odyssey , ...
Feb 28, 2018•43 min•Ep. 54
We head back to the Endless Knot Cocktail Bar to talk about the history of the Mai Tai, the Tiki craze, Polynesian mythology, cultural appropriation, and World's Fairs. And then we turn to Rome's relationship to Greece, and discuss whether Horace wrote the Exotica music of the ancient world! Show Notes Mai Tai Video @AllEndlessKnot on Twitter Mai Tai Recipe Polynesian Lexicon Project Online Wallace-Hadrill, A. “To Be Roman, Go Greek Thoughts on Hellenization at Rome.” Bulletin of the Insti...
Feb 15, 2018•59 min•Ep. 53
In part two of our discussion about racism, we talk about ways to respond to the problems in the field, in teaching, scholarship, and more. Thank you to Katherine Blouin, Damian Fleming, Usama Ali Gad, Rebecca Futo Kennedy, Asa Mittman, Dimitri Nakassis, Helen Young, and Donna Zuckerberg for their generous contributions of time and thoughtful discussion of these difficult subjects. Please join in the conversation with your thoughts and ideas about how to move the fields forward. Show Notes @AllE...
Jan 31, 2018•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 52
What are the problems surrounding race and racism in the fields of Classics and Medieval Studies today? Where did these fields come from, and how does that affect the way we think about the past, and how we construct the present? For this episode (and the next) we interviewed eight scholars and put it together into an exploration of these unfortunately timely topics. Thank you to Katherine Blouin, Damian Fleming, Usama Ali Gad, Rebecca Futo Kennedy, Asa Mittman, Dimitri Nakassis, Helen Young, an...
Jan 17, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 51
We interview Emily Wilson, whose new translation of the Odyssey for Norton was published in November to great acclaim and critical praise. She tells us about some of her choices in the areas of metre, vocabulary, register, and more, and we discuss the very concept of 'choice' in translation, the notion of a 'faithful' translation, the complicated question of heroic women, and 70's blaxpoitation films! Show Notes The Odyssey , translated by Emily Wilson Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link ...
Jan 03, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 50
Reindeer video Merchandise (CafePress Site) Stocking video Gerry Bowler, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas Bruce David Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History Desmond Morris, Christmas Watching Andrea Broomfield, Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History Kaufman, Cathy. “ The Ideal Christmas Dinner .” Gastronomica , vol. 4, no. 4, 2004, pp. 17–24. Leach, Helen. “Translating the 18th Century Pudding.” Islands of Inquiry: Colonisation, Seafaring and the Archaeology of...
Dec 20, 2017•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 49
Mythtake Podcast Bakkhai at Stratford Introduction to Mythology from Oxford UP Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link Google Play Music link This podcast episode on YouTube...
Dec 06, 2017•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 48
Why Bob Dylan Matters Monday, Dec. 4, 2017 at Newtonville Books in Boston, MA Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017 at the University of Tulsa, in Tulsa, OK Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link Google Play Music link...
Nov 22, 2017•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 47
We talk to podcaster and author Mike Duncan about his book, podcasting, Roman history, and more. Thanks to Mike for joining us -- and everyone, go get his book, it's great! Show Notes The History of Rome Podcast Revolutions Podcast The Storm before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher link Google Play Music link This podcast episode on YouTube...
Nov 08, 2017•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 46
Our Hallowe'en themed episode this year is about costumes -- and etymologies and origin stories of a whole bunch of iconic items of clothing. We talk about the semiotics of fashion, the many varieties of the toga, and hats that caused fainting fits, and finish off with a couple of spooky Roman stories! Also, check out this year's Hallowe'en video, on words for Ghost . Show Notes #2PodsADay Werewolf Cocktail recipe " Costume " video " Jack o'Lantern " video Ep 22: Jack o'Lantern podcast The "gens...
Oct 27, 2017•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 45
What words did the Greeks, Romans, and Anglo-Saxons use to talk about different groups of people? What differences did they think were important? How do those compare to modern conceptions of ethnicity, national identity, or race? We try to give some basic background on this complicated question, starting with the etymology of the vocabulary and addressing some of the ways differences were conceptualized. Show Notes Full transcript of this episode #2PodsADay Video on the Anglo-Saxon Invasion , c...
Oct 13, 2017•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 44
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