We speak to Bet Hucks about Roman importation and love of Egyptian art and other cultural material, the importance of thinking about material remains in assemblages and considering the contexts in which they were displayed, and some innovative ways of bringing the physical experiences of the past to modern audiences. Oh, and also, crocodiles! Bet’s Twitter: @RomanAegyptiaca Bet on academia.edu Thanks to Emma Pauly for editing and transcription of this episode. Transcript of this episode This epi...
Sep 28, 2021•56 min•Ep. 97
What do you think the earliest English word was? How could we possibly look for such a thing, and what do the possible options tell us about early English history and the movement of peoples in the early medieval period? We tackle these questions, in an episode about Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, Celts, Tacitus, Bede, and more. Reminder: Mark will be running another session of his Speakeasy seminar course, The Origins of English: Learning to Think Like an Etymologist , which is open to anyone...
Sep 06, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 96
It’s time for a reckoning! Or, to be more accurate, a number of reckonings. We talk to Dr. Stephen Chrisomalis, a linguistic anthropologist who specializes in the anthropology of mathematics and the interaction of language, cognition, and culture, about his new book Reckonings . It’s a fascinating discussion of how we write and represent numbers, and how that’s changed over the years. Why don’t we use Roman numerals any more? It’s more complicated than you might think… Announcement: Mark will be...
Aug 17, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 95
We talked to Isobel Williams about her fascinating and illuminating new translation of selected poems of Catullus, illustrated with her drawings of the Japanese art of rope binding, shibari. Our discussion ranges over the connections between the world of shibari and the emotional struggles depicted in Catullus’s poetry, the way translation and learning Latin can feel like being tied up in, and untangling, knots, and much more. Content Note: fetish, sex, brief mention of sexual violence, discussi...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 94
A day after Independence Day in the US, we investigate the history of the name “America” and two related cocktails, with some side trips into the sack of Rome in 410 CE and the use of the Fall of Rome as a historical parallel for the United States. This episode completes our mini series on country names, in the season of national holidays in north America. Cocktails: Americano & Negroni Rutilius Namatianus, De Reditu Suo "The Fall of Ancient Rome and Modern U.S. Immigration: Historical Model...
Jul 05, 2021•56 min•Ep. 93
This episode is being released for Canada Day, but it’s not a celebration. This year, even more than most, we feel that this day needs to be one of reckoning with our past and trying to make a better present and future. So we talk about the history of the word Canuck and the various stories that Canadians tell themselves about their county, and we also discuss the role of Classics in the early history of the colonial project in Canada, as well as how to think about Classics today in relation to ...
Jun 28, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 92
We talk to Dr. Victoria Austen about Roman gardens. What defines a garden? Where were the gardens at Rome, and what were they for? How did Romans think about gardens and gardening, and what roles did they play in literature, philosophy, and the public relations efforts of emperors? @Vicky_Austen Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Kn...
May 25, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 91
We talk about the history of the book, the reading habits of the ancient Romans, the pliability of sheep skins, and the mechanisms of semantic change that cause words to evolve over time. Oh, and we discuss Charles Darwin’s own language for his new theory. "Codex Cocktail" was created for us by Ed Bedford — recipe here Liber Adest newsletter McCutcheon, R. W. “Silent Reading in Antiquity and the Future History of the Book.” Book History , vol. 18, 2015, pp. 1–32., www.jstor.org/stable/43956366 “...
Apr 26, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 90
This year for April Fool's Day we're taking part in a podcast switcheroo where podcasters are trading episodes to introduce their audiences to other podcasts they think you might enjoy. So we're having the great folks from Bunny Trails , Shauna and Dan, showcase one of their episodes, about the phrase “Queen Bee”. Bunny Trails Podcast Shownotes for this episode (including transcript) Our Patreon page This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International...
Apr 01, 2021•38 min
We speak to Dr. Carolyn Willekes about horses in antiquity: their development and domestication, their use in warfare, their training and breeding, and her many adventures riding horses across Greece, Turkey, Mongolia, and Canada. The Horse in the Ancient World: From Bucephalus to the Hippodrome Greek Warriors: Hoplites and Heroes Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Li...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 89
Aven: Hi everyone. This isn't a regular episode of the Endless Knot podcast. Just a quick announcement. Mark: I wanted to let you all know about something new that I'm doing: an online seminar series. It's basically a short course open to anyone, on the Speakeasy platform. The title is: "The origins of English: learning to think like an etymologist" and it's going to be four one-hour classes on zoom, in which, through a series of linguistic puzzles, we will follow in the footsteps of etymo...
Feb 27, 2021•1 min
We talk about the etymology of “Etymology” itself, and then discuss the basics of historical linguistics, including Grimm’s Law, Verner’s Law, and more. We also talk about Isidore of Seville, the etymological puns of Latin poets, and the way Mark does his research for his videos. The Simple Truth cocktail Our “Etymology” video Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae Keith, A. M. “Etymological Wordplay in Ovid's 'Pyramus and Thisbe' (Met. 4.55-166).” The Classical Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 1, 2001, pp. 30...
Feb 15, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 88
This episode is all about Alexander the Great, and especially about his reception by later Greeks & Romans, the middle ages, and modern popular culture. We had the pleasure of interviewing Meg Finlayson who studies Alexander and his reception and shared her knowledge, enthusiasm, and dreams of a new Alexander movie with Colin Farrell playing Philip! Meg’s twitter @agameganon Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page This podcast is licensed under a Creative Co...
Jan 25, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 87
Happy holidays! In this seasonal episode we discuss the origins of the modern Western calendar, the names of the months and days of the week, and the sources we have for Roman calendars and Germanic gods. Happy new year, and may it be better than the last! Our poster store Crosscut Distillery Sabbath Millennial Ovid's Fasti Herbert-Brown, Geraldine. “ Fasti : the Poet, the Prince, and the Plebs” in A Companion to Ovid , ed. Peter E. Knox, Wiley-Blackwell. 2013. Transcript of this episode This ep...
Dec 26, 2020•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 86
It’s election night 2020 in the US, and our video from 4 years ago about the language of politics is relevant once again. We discuss the changing vocabulary of democracy and what it can tell us about shifting attitudes towards popular rule and politicians. It may not be a complete break from political coverage, but at least it’s mostly about the distant past, not the uncertain future! Ballot Box Cocktail Mashed Radish blog post on Candidate Mashed Radish blog post on Poll Anatoly Liberman on Boo...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 85
n this episode we go from the origin of the world to the many uses of olive oil, with discussions of Roman mosaics, and trademark law along the way. This is the third of our episodes on Intellectual Property, following Episode 42: Bugging Out! on patents and Episode 57: Freebooting, Piracy, & Copyright on copyright. Also, it’s the start of Season 6, and we want to thank everyone who’s joined us over the last 5 years. It’s been a blast, and here’s to another half decade! “The asàrotos òikos m...
Oct 11, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 84
Back in June we had the pleasure of being part of the Intelligent Speech Conference 2020 — this year, held entirely online. It was a day filled with amazing podcasters and great conversations, and in this short episode we’re sharing the talk that we gave at the event. It’s about the word Recipe and early cookbooks, medicine, and women’s magazines. If you’d like to see the images that accompanied the presentation, you can watch the talk on YouTube , where the questions and post-talk discussion ar...
Aug 06, 2020•25 min•Ep. 83
It’s time for us to talk about plagues — ancient, medieval, literary, etymological, and psychological! We’re joined by Moxie from Your Brain on Facts for a very fun — if slightly disturbing — discussion of many aspects of historical plagues. Transcript of this episode Your Brain on Facts Gardner, H.H. Pestilence and the Body Politic in Latin Literature . 2019. Episode 44: "Us" & "Them" in the Ancient & Anglo-Saxon Worlds Episode 51: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Pa...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 82
In an episode that was recorded in late May before the protests started, we took a break from COVID talk to give our thoughts on the final movie in the Star Wars saga. We discussed how it was similar to or different from ancient epic, medieval romance, and Icelandic sagas, but mostly we talked about the ways it failed to bring together the many threads of the Star Wars story. Given current events, and the protests against police brutality and systemic anti-Black racism, we urge our white and non...
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 81
We take a look at the history of runes and their connection to early alphabets and Germanic culture. Then we take a trip back to the Phoenician and Egyptian origins of the modern English alphabet, and talk about some of the earliest examples of Greek writing, in inscriptions, epic poetry, and myth. Also, introducing Lyceum , a new platform for educational podcasting! Transcript of this episode The “Screaming Viking” cocktail Lyceum NativLang’s video Muslim Vikings & Magic Letters: The Odd Hi...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 80
We trace the etymologies and development of the words “sex” and “gender”, as well as words for women and men in Greek, Latin, and English, touching on Roman, Greek, and medieval English ideas about gender. Then we discuss the grammatical term “gender” and how it differs across languages around the world. Transcript of this episode The History of Sex Podcast The “Pink Lady” cocktail This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4...
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 79
This year’s holiday episode is all about festivals and feasts — and in particular, midwinter celebrations, the solstice, and the seasons. And we read a couple of Latin poems about drinking — and explore the odd connection between them and a tire company! The Christmas Cake cocktail Hesiod’s Works and Days in English Horace’s Odes in Latin Horace Odes 1.37 in English Feast video This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 I...
Dec 17, 2019•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 78
This bonus episode contains two talks we gave at our university in November. Mark spoke about “The ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Problem: Language and Racism in Medieval Studies” and Aven spoke about “Defining ‘Race’ in the Ancient Mediterranean and Today”. Google ngrams for collocations of “Anglo-Saxon”: All English Texts American English British English Our Patreon page This episode on YouTube This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License...
Dec 10, 2019•38 min•Ep. 77
Crossover time! We’re joined by Scott Lepisto, of the Itinera Podcast , in a conversation at the SoundEducation podcasting conference in Boston. We talked about the conference itself, the use of podcasting in classrooms, and the importance of public-facing scholarship in Classics and Medieval Studies. And please check out Scott’s podcast, in which he interviews classicists about their work and their journey to and through the field! Scott on Twitter Itinera Podcast Our Patreon page This episode ...
Nov 19, 2019•51 min•Ep. 77
Happy Halloween! This year we’re talking about the origins of “Magic”, the differences between religion and magic, Greek and Roman spells and curses, and some rather bizarre tales about Virgil & Aristotle. Our “Magic” video Cocktail: Black Magic Religion in the Roman Empire , James B Rives, 2007 Arcana Mundi ,Georg Luck, 2006 Our Patreon page This episode on YouTube This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS...
Oct 31, 2019•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 76
We speak with Dr. Liz Gloyn about her new book, Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture . We talk about Hercules: the Legendary Journeys , the Odyssey , the problems with Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey pattern, and more! Liz Gloyn Classically Inclined blog Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture Facebook Page for Tracking Classical Monsters Our Patreon page This episode on YouTube This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License T...
Oct 08, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 75
We talked to Winston Black about his new book, The Middle Ages: Fact & Fiction , which addresses the most common myths and misconceptions about the Middle Ages. And we touch on video games, D&D, and Game of Thrones in the process! The SoundEducation Conference page The Middle Ages: Fact & Fiction Winston on Twitter Our Patreon page This episode on YouTube This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS...
Sep 10, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 74
The Fates have decreed that it’s time for us to talk about the word “Weird”! We discuss its etymology, the concept of fate in the ancient and medieval world, whether mythical women really do usually appear in threes, and Shakespeare. Twist of Fate cocktail Weird Sisters Blood & Hand Punch Shakespeare Not Stirred book “Weird” video “Does English have a future tense?” video “Arrow” video “As We Like It Podcast” – Macbeth episode Chart of ‘strange’ vs ‘weird’ usage Chart of ‘weird’, ‘uncanny’, ...
Aug 13, 2019•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 73
While at VidCon this year, we sat down and chatted with a few of our fellow educational YouTubers: The Cynical Historian , Knowing Better , 12tone , and Step Back History . This is a compilation of our discussions about their channels, their reasons for making videos, and their experience of VidCon and its educational companion event, EduCon. If you don’t already watch their videos, we strongly recommend you check them out. Thank you to them all for taking part! Our Patreon page iTunes link Stit...
Jul 16, 2019•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 72
We discuss a person who had an important impact on both science and language: Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles. In particular, we talk about the use of poetry to explain science, from Hesiod to Lucretius to Darwin to Baba Brinkman, and the new wave of science communicators on and off line. Erasmus Darwin cocktail menu, based on The Loves of the Plants D.G. King-Hele. “Erasmus Darwin, Man of Ideas and Inventor of Words.” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 42.2 (1988): 149–180 ...
Jun 18, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 71
