Shows / The Endless Knot
The Endless Knot
Aven & Marcie discuss etymology, history, literature, language, and cocktails, and the sometimes surprising connections between them all.
Episodes
The Endless KnotEpisode 128: The White Pedestal, with Curtis Dozier
We talked to Dr. Curtis Dozier about his new book, The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate. Curtis has spent the…
The Endless KnotEpisode 127: The Odyssey, the movie -- and more!
We’re jumping into the Odyssey movie discourse, finally! We discuss our reactions to the Nolan movie and what we found interesting about it, and then chat with…
The Endless KnotEpisode 126: True Color, with Kory Stamper
We talked to Kory Stamper, lexicographer and author, about the unexpectedly gripping story of the struggle to define colours and wrestle the kaleidoscope of…
The Endless KnotEpisode 125: Accents, with Valerie Fridland
What does your accent say about you? (And yes, you DO have an accent!) Why do accents develop, and what is the history behind the wide range of modern American…
The Endless KnotEpisode 124: The Alphabet, with Danny Bate
We spoke with linguist, writer and podcaster Dr Danny Bate about his debut book, Why Q Needs U, a “linguistico-historical non-fiction book” that sets out to…
- The Endless Knot
Episode 124a: Season 10 Trailer
An apology for absence, some personal news, and the guests coming in the next few months. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page…
The Endless KnotEpisode 123: Words Christmas Gave Us, with Grace Tierney
Grace Tierney is back with another great book about the word origins, this time “Words Christmas Gave Us"! She regales us with festive stories and we talk…
The Endless KnotEpisode 122: Says Who, with Anne Curzan
We spoke with Dr. Anne Curzan about her new book, “Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares about Words”. We talk about language change…
The Endless KnotEpisode 121: The Vesuvius Challenge, with Stephen Parsons
Buried deep under volcanic ash lie hundreds of burnt scrolls containing texts from the first century. A new project is driving the work to try to read these…
The Endless KnotEpisode 120: Swimming in History, with Karen Carr
We talked to Dr. Karen Carr about the global history of swimming — in myth, folktale, and history. Who swam, who didn’t, and how do the stories different…
The Endless KnotEpisode 119: An Ecological Chain
We discuss the language and history of the ecological sciences, all the way back to the ancient Greeks, and the development of the food chain and food web…
The Endless KnotEpisode 118: A Crisis of Masculinity, with Melanie Racette-Campbell
We talk to Melanie Racette-Campbell about her new book, “The Crisis of Masculinity in the Age of Augustus”, and discuss why Roman elite men were particularly…
The Endless KnotEpisode 117: A Brief History of Misogyny
The word “chauvinism” is an unlikely eponym, but it turns out that the story behind it has all sorts of interesting connections. And our discussion of those…
The Endless KnotEpisode 116: A Quiverful of Time Arrows
We look at the history of English’s conceptualization of time, and update Mark’s research on spatiotemporal metaphor. Also, words for arrows, the surprising…
The Endless KnotEpisode 115: Like, Literally, Dude! with Valerie Fridland
We spoke to Dr. Valerie Fridland about her new book, “Like, Literally, Dude!” and talked about the fascinating role that many ‘errors’ in English speech…
The Endless KnotEpisode 114a: The XYZ’s of Spelling
It’s Part 2 of our mega-episode on spelling! This time, we get into some of the notorious mismatches between English spelling and modern English pronunciation…
- The Endless Knot
Episode 114: The ABC’s of Spelling
We’re wading into the messy world of English spelling in this episode — the first of two, since we couldn’t fit all of the ‘quirks’ of the language into one…
The Endless KnotBonus: Livestream Q&A from LingFest23
In this bonus episode, we answer questions from viewers and listeners during a livestream on our YouTube channel, as part of #LingFest23. Apologies for the…
The Endless KnotAnnouncement: LingFest23 Q&A Livestream
Just a reminder that we’ll be doing a Q&A livestream on our YouTube channel as part of LingFest in connection to the LingComm23 Conference on Sunday, February…
The Endless KnotEpisode 113: Ovid's Metamorphoses in the 21st Century
In this episode we talk to the authors of two new books on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the Latin epic poem he wrote in 8 CE. Stephanie McCarter has published a new…
The Endless KnotEpisode 112: The Bellini, Art, and Patronage
As we get ready to mark the new year, it seems a good time to talk about a classic cocktail made with sparkling wine: the Bellini. Our conversation takes us to…
The Endless KnotEpisode 111: Haggard Hawks, back again!
We welcome back Paul Anthony Jones, of Haggard Hawks fame, to ell us about his new book “Why Is This a Question?”. We talk about how his experience of social…
The Endless KnotEpisode 110: Music and Language
We talk about the origins of music, its connection (both etymological and scientific) with the mind, how language is used to describe and teach music, the…
The Endless KnotEpisode 109: Endangered Alphabets, with Tim Brookes
We spoke with Tim Brooks of the Endangered Alphabets project about the cultural importance of scripts, the pressures on marginalized and isolated scripts, his…
The Endless KnotEpisode 108: Widows, Indian Independence, and Partition
Commemorating the 6th anniversary of the death of Mark’s father, and the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, this episode connects widows and partition…
The Endless KnotEpisode 107: Polar Regions, Comics, and Classics, with Natalie Swain
We have a very fun conversation with Dr. Natalie Swain about her work on classical reception and the polar regions — the Arctic and Antarctic — science…
The Endless KnotEpisode 106: Future in the Past?
We’re talking all about the future in this episode — and if we even have one (in English). This is a topic near and dear to Mark’s heart, and in part the…
The Endless KnotEpisode 105: Dionysus, Translation, & Queering Greek Drama with Emma Pauly
This episode we have a fascinating conversation with classicist, dramatug, and translator Emma Pauly about all things Dionysian, Greek tragedy, and their…
The Endless KnotEpisode 104: Words the Vikings Gave Us, with Grace Tierney
It’s time for some Old Norse, sagas, and daring Viking explorers! In this episode we talk to author Grace Tierney about her newest book, Words the Vikings Gave…
The Endless KnotBonus: Karaoke April Fools!
It’s April Fool’s Day, and time for the annual Podcast Switcheroo, where podcasters trade episodes to give their audience something a little different and…
The Endless KnotEpisode 103: Potatoes for Saint Patrick
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! In this episode we talk about the saint’s history, then dig into the potato — its etymology, its history, and how it’s changed the…
The Endless KnotEpisode 102: Baking Greek Bread, with Josh Nudell
We’re talking about bread again! This time, about ancient Greek bread — its vocabulary, the many types of bread and how they were made, and the economic…
The Endless KnotEpisode 101: Not Your Average Podcast
We start off the new year with a three-part discussion of statistics, insurance, stocks, astrologers, coffee, and more. We also trace some of the vocabulary…
The Endless KnotEpisode 100: Celebrating Connections
Our hundredth episode! We’re celebrating reaching three digits — and more than 6 years — with a whole bunch of our podcasting friends! These are just some of…
The Endless KnotEpisode 99: Heavy Metal Music and Antiquity, with Jeremy Swist
We talked to Jeremy Swist about his work on the reception of antiquity in heavy metal music. He discussed the ways the genre looks to the past for stories and…
The Endless KnotEpisode 98: The Monster Episode of Monsters
It’s Halloween, and the monsters are out! In this episode we tackle Monster Theory (as formulated by J.J. Cohen) , examine the linguistic and cultural origins…
The Endless KnotEpisode 97: Aegyptiaca Romana, with Bet Hucks
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 96: What's the Earliest English Word?
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 95: Reckonings, with Stephen Chrisomalis
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 Endless KnotEpisode 94: Catullus & Shibari, with Isobel Williams
We talked to Isobel Williams about her fascinating and illuminating new translation of selected poems of Catullus, illustrated with her drawings of the…
The Endless KnotEpisode 93: The Americano, the Negroni, America, and Rome
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 92: Canuck, and Re-Thinking Canada's Story
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 91: Roman Gardens, with Victoria Austen
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 90: Unrolling Books and Evolving Words
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…
The Endless KnotSwitcheroo 2021!
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 89: Horses in Antiquity, with Carolyn Willekes
We speak to Dr. Carolyn Willekes about horses in antiquity: their development and domestication, their use in warfare, their training and breeding, and her…
The Endless KnotAnnouncement: Online Course
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 88: Meta-Etymology
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 87: Alexander the Great, with Meg Finlayson
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 Endless KnotEpisode 86: Who's on Your Calendar?
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 85: Election Talk to Take Your Mind off the Election
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 84: Linoleum: It's Not As Boring As You Think!
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 Endless KnotEpisode 83: Recipes and Authority, from Intelligent Speech
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 82: Plagues, with Moxie from Your Brain on Facts
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 81: The Rise (and Fall) of Skywalker
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 80: Runes and Early Writing Systems
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 79: Sex & Gender
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 78: An Etymological Holiday Feast
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…
The Endless KnotBonus Episode: Thorneloe Race Forum
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 77: SoundEdu19, with Scott Lepisto
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…