The Endless Knot

Latest Episodes:

Episode 102: Baking Greek Bread, with Josh Nudell Feb 22, 2022

Show notes

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 aspects of bread production. Josh shares his practical experiences of baking along with his research into the classical Greek world.

Josh Nudell’s website

Josh on Twitter: @jpnudell

Tavola Mediterranea

Our previous episode on bread, “Loaf”

Thank you to Emma Pauly for editing and transcribing this episode.

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Episode 101: Not Your Average Podcast Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

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 that has come to English from Arabic, along with important mathematical concepts.

Podcast recommendation: Khameleon Classics

Cocktail: The Revolver

Ep 39 From Fossil Hunters to Mammoth Cheese

Ep 32 Ariadne’s Clue

video “How Do We Perceive a Poem?”

Ripat, Pauline. “Expelling Misconceptions: Astrologers At Rome.” Classical Philology, vol. 106, no. 2, The University of Chicago Press, 2011, pp. 115–54, https://doi.org/10.1086/659835

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Episode 100: Celebrating Connections Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

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 amazing creators who make the independent podcasting world so wonderful, and we’re very happy to be connected to them all. Please check out their shows at the links below. We also give you a brief “State of the Pod” update. Thank you to everyone who’s been with us so far, and here’s to the next century (of episodes)!

Thank you to Christine Couisineau for help editing and transcribing this episode.

The Kir Royale cocktail

Sandman Stories Presents

The Partial Historians

Accentricity Podcast

Lexitecture Podcast

The History of English

The Spouter Inn Podcast

Grammar Girl Podcast

Wonders of the World Podcast

Let’s Talk about Myths, Baby Podcast

Lingthusiasm Podcast

Footnoting History

The Vocal Fries Podcast

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Episode 99: Heavy Metal Music and Antiquity, with Jeremy Swist Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

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 imagery, and the many fantastic songs and albums that have been produced from this mix. We also talked about the problems with racism and white nationalism that can plague the intersection of the ancient world and metal music.

Playlist of the songs Jeremy mentioned

Pour Forth Surquidous track

@MetalClassicist

Heavy Metal and the Ancient World on Facebook

Jeremy’s blog

Metal-archives.com

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Episode 98: The Monster Episode of Monsters Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

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 of a range of Classical and classic movie monsters, look at how they connect to the history of currency and money, and explore the intersections of monsters and the New Woman. We also sample a beautiful cocktail from the upcoming cocktail book Nectar of the Godsby Liv Albert from “Let’s Talk about Myths, Baby”. Thank you, Liv!

The Monster video

Monster Theoryby J.J. Cohen

Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture by Liz Gloyn

Our podcast episode interviewing Dr. Gloyn

Horace Odes 1.37

Hesiod passage about Medusa is Theogony 270ff; more info about Medusa here

Ovid passage about Medusa is Metamorphoses 4.753ff

General sources for this episode

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Episode 97: Aegyptiaca Romana, with Bet Hucks Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

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.

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Episode 96: What's the Earliest English Word? Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

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 who’s interested. Registration is now open at Speakeasy.com for the session running on Sunday afternoons (Eastern time) from September 12th October 3rd.

Recipe for Old English cocktail

Earliest English Word video

Jabzy’s Anglo-Saxon Invasion video

The Early Greek Alphabets: Origin, Diffusion, chpt 4 by Rosalind Thomas

C. Krebs, A MOST DANGEROUS BOOK: TACITUS’ GERMANIA FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE TO THE THIRD REICH. London: W.W.Norton & Co., 2011.

Other sources

Why do Poles call Italy WŁOCHY? (video)

Bonus episode about the term “Anglo-Saxon” from December 2019

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Episode 95: Reckonings, with Stephen Chrisomalis Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

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 running another session of his Speakeasy seminar course, The Origins of English: Learning to Think Like an Etymologist, which is open to anyone who’s interested. Registration is now open at Speakeasy.com for the session running on Sunday afternoons (Eastern time) from September 12th October 3rd.

Glossographia (blog)

Twitter: @schrisomalis

Wayne State University faculty page

Reckonings webpage

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Episode 94: Catullus & Shibari, with Isobel Williams Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

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, discussion of enslavement and use of slavery as metaphor

Blog about drawing shibari (Japanese rope bondage): Boulevardisme

Straight blog about drawing: Drawing from an uncomfortable position

Website: Isobel Williams

Twitter: @otium_Catulle

Instagram: @isobelwilliams2525

From Isobel: “For the online book launch, I compiled a video (>20 minutes) of self and others reading in Latin and English from the book. It starts with Sappho in ancient Greek and ends with Shakespeare, to show the continuity Sappho -> Catullus -> Ovid -> Shakespeare (it contains no Ovid). The video is here 'Catullus: Shibari Carmina' - readings and performances - YouTube”

Page about the book

Link to the book for Canada and US: Catullus: Shibari Carmina | Independent Publishers Group

James Methven’s Precious Asses– highly recommended

Irish poet and mediaevalist Bernard O’Donoghue – Poet, Academic, Medievalist and Literary Critic

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Episode 93: The Americano, the Negroni, America, and Rome Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

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 or Political Football?" Frank Argote-Freyre and Christopher M. Bellitto. The Historian Vol. 74, No. 4 (WINTER 2012), pp. 789-811

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