The Endless Knot

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Hesiod’s Works and Days

Episode 117: A Brief History of Misogyny Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

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 connections also leads us into the long history of misogyny in the western world, from Eve and Pandora to the Virgin Mary, courtly love, and Victorian womanhood.

Cocktail: Pandora’s Jar, from Nectar of the Gods

“By Jingo” song

Hesiod’s Theogony

Semonides 7

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Episode 116: A Quiverful of Time Arrows May 30, 2023

Show notes

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 origin of ‘toxic’, and a bit of Latin poetry!

Blue Arrow cocktail

Bow and Arrow cocktail

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Dr. Valerie Fridland’s website

Episode 115: Like, Literally, Dude! with Valerie Fridland Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

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 actually play in communication. We discuss the never-ending changes that English has gone through, the surprisingly sophisticated rules behind our use of ‘um’ and ‘uh’, and much more.

Like, Literally, Dude!

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Christopher Upward & George Davidson, The History of English Spelling (2001)

Episode 114a: The XYZ’s of Spelling Apr 04, 2023

Show notes

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. Explaining them takes us all the way back to Phoenician — several times — but maybe, just maybe, some bits of this odd language will make more sense to you when we’re done!

The XYZ Cocktail

Our video on “Spelling”

David Sacks, Letter Perfect (2003)

Kevin Stroud, The History of the Alphabet (audiobook)

NativLang “Thoth’s Pill - an Animated History of Writing”

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Christopher Upward & George Davidson, The History of English Spelling (2001)

Episode 114: The ABC’s of Spelling Mar 28, 2023

Show notes

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 episode. The history of orthography in English is all tangled up with the history of the alphabet, so in this part we trace some of the twists and turns that resulted in our modern script.

The ABC Cocktail

Our video on “Spelling”

David Sacks, Letter Perfect (2003)

Kevin Stroud, The History of the Alphabet (audiobook)

NativLang “Thoth’s Pill - an Animated History of Writing”

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@AllEndlessKnot@toot.community

Bonus: Livestream Q&A from LingFest23 Feb 28, 2023

Show notes

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 sound quality, which isn’t great.

Also, sorry that we didn’t manage a regular episode in February, but we’ll definitely have one in March.

LingComm23

LingFest

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@AllEndlessKnot@toot.community

Announcement: LingFest23 Q&A Livestream Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

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 12, 2023 at 1:00pm Eastern.

Please leave us your questions on this website, email us, or post on social media, or just show up on the day at the livestream.

The livestream will be here, just click on Sunday afternoon to join in!

Episode 113: Ovid's Metamorphoses in the 21st Century Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

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 translation of the poem, and Gareth Williams has written a short interpretive introductory work on the epic to go with the Columbia Core Curriculum. We talked with both of them about the way Ovid fits into contemporary society, what considerations there are when teaching this epic, and the joys and difficulties of engaging with Ovid’s poetic brilliance.

Content note for sexual violence and brief description of trauma.

LingComm23

LingFest

Stephanie McCarter’s website

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Gareth Williams faculty page

On Ovid’s Metamorphoses

“Landscape Near Rome during Storm” by Simon Denis

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“Rewriting the history of art patronage”, by Jaynie Anderson. Renaissance Studies. Vol. 10, No. 2, Women Patrons of Renaissance Art, 1300–1600 (JUNE 1996), pp. 129-138.

Episode 112: The Bellini, Art, and Patronage Dec 29, 2022

Show notes

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 Italy, in the 20th century, the 15th century, and the 1st century BCE, to Renaissance art and the Roman practice of patronage, and more. Happy New Year!

“Isabella d'Este and Giovanni Bellini's 'Presepio'“, by J. M. Fletcher. The Burlington Magazine. Vol. 113, No. 825, Venetian Painting (Dec., 1971), pp. 703-713.

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