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 76: Do You Believe in Magic?
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 75: Tracking Monsters, with Liz Gloyn
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 Endless KnotEpisode 74: Medieval Fact & Fiction, with Winston Black
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 73: Things Get Weird
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 72: Dispatches from VidCon 2019
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 71: Enlisting Imagination under the Banner of Science
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 70: Carly Silver
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 69: The Spirit of the Age
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 68: Glossed in Translation
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 67: Mortal Republic, by Edward Watts
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 66: Writing Myth with Amalia Dillin
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 65: Reindeer Games
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 64: The History of the English Language with Kevin Stroud
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 62: Etymological Ghosts
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 61: Classing up our Languages?
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 60: What We Did on Our Summer Vacation
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 59: From the Sublime to the Romantic
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…
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Episode 58: Symposium!
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 57: Freebooting, Piracy, & Copyright
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 56: Linguistic Discrimination, with The Vocal Fries
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 55: Our Pet Topic (part two, with cats)
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…
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Episode 54: Our Pet Topic (part one)
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…
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Episode 53: Tiki or Not Tiki?
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…
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Episode 52: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part Two: Responses
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…
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Episode 51: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part One: the Problem
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…
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Episode 50: Translating the Odyssey, with Emily Wilson
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…
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Episode 49: Stocking Stuffers & Christmas Treats
Reindeer video Merchandise (CafePress Site) Stocking video Gerry Bowler, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas Bruce David Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History…
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Episode 48: Talking Teaching with Mythtake!
Mythtake Podcast Bakkhai at Stratford Introduction to Mythology from Oxford UP Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton Our Patreon page iTunes link Stitcher…
The Endless KnotEpisode 47: Why Bob Dylan Matters, with Richard Thomas
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 46: Mike Duncan & The Storm before the Storm
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…
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Episode 45: Costumes & the Language of Fashion
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…
The Endless KnotEpisode 44: "Us" & "Them" in the Ancient & Early English Worlds
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 --…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Episode 17: Loaf
Exploring bread-related etymologies, sourdough and Roman loaves, and the link between brewing beer and baking bread.