The Endless Knot

Latest Episodes:

Episode 65: Reindeer Games Dec 11, 2018

Show notes

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 Greek myth, the Reindeer Rule in US law, and NORAD’s Santa Tracker. And we have a quiz about the animals that bring the winter gift giver around the world!

Our video “Who are Santa’s reindeer?”

Mark’s Lexitecture episode

Our Christmas videos playlist

Episode 8: Yule

Episode 25: The 12 Days of Christmas

Episode 49: Stocking Stuffers

The Rudolph Cocktail

Catullus 14

The two versions of Eros: Protogenos & Ouranios

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Episode 64: The History of the English Language with Kevin Stroud Nov 16, 2018

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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 his passion for language, his experiences with enthusiastic but pedantic listeners, his project to gather a database of accent samples from around the world, and much more. Thank you Keven for chatting with us, it was great fun to meet you and hang out!

Sound Education

The History of the English Language podcast

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Episode 62: Etymological Ghosts Oct 22, 2018

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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 ancient ghost stories.

Sound Education

Green Ghost Cocktail

Liquified Ghost Cocktail

Ghost video

Eidolon online journal

Pliny’s letter 7.27 in English

VIdeo of a performance of the Latin version of Pliny’s ghost story

List of ancient ghost stories sourced from Twitter

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Episode 61: Classing up our Languages? Sep 30, 2018

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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 words. Then we turn to the history of second-language teaching of Latin, from Roman Egypt to today’s Living Latin movement.

DSM (channel about language and etymology)

Sound Education

Classic Cocktail

Education video

Learning Latin and Greek from Antiquity to Present, chapters on teaching Latin to Greek speakers (Dickey) & Latin in Anglo-Saxon England (Fisher)

“Medieval and Modern Views of Universal Grammar and the Nature of Second Language Learning” by Margaret Thomas

“Inside the Anglo-Saxon Classroom“ by Kate Wiles

“Grasping Sentences by Wholes: Henry Sweet’s Idea of Language Study in the Early Middle Ages” by Mark Atherton

Learn Latin from the Romans: A Complete Introductory Course Using Textbooks from the Roman Empire by Eleanor Dickey

Learning Latin the Ancient Way by Eleanor Dickey

“The MovieTalk: A Practical Application of Comprehensible Input Theory” by Rachel Ash

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Episode 60: What We Did on Our Summer Vacation Aug 24, 2018

Show notes

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 favourite artifacts and images.

Sound Education podcasting conference

We Create Edu community

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Travelling Etymologies: Names in Iceland and England

Golden Circle Tour
Volcano House

Westman Island Eruption

Penis Museum

Vagina Museum

Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece
Earliest English Word video
Episode with James Andean
Sator square
Our friend Michael (Wombat)’s blog post about the Battle of Towton

Quick Announcement Jun 28, 2018

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Episode 59: From the Sublime to the Romantic Jun 08, 2018

Show notes

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 romantic love, and more.

The Sublime Moment Cocktail

Mats Malm “On the Technique of the Sublime”, Comparative Literature, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Winter, 2000), pp. 1-10.

Sarah Bond on Polychromy in Ancient Statues

Alex Potts, Flesh and the Ideal: Winckelmann and the Origins of Art History

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Episode 58: Symposium! May 18, 2018

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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 with a bunch of classicists about Roman beer, barley water, Homeric kykeon, conference papers, social media, and more!

Matt Gibbs' article in The Conversation

The slides & papers & resources from the Public-Facing Scholarship panel

Our previous episode about ancient and medieval beer brewing

Melanie Racette-Campbell

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Show notes

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 videos. We also cover the development of copyright law, the reasons pirates say "Arrrr!", and what Julius Caesar did to his kidnappers.

Show Notes

Bumbo cocktail recipe

"Freebooting" video

The Maritime History podcast

The Academic Podcast by Sam McLean

"CAESAR AND THE PIRATES: OR HOW TO MAKE (AND BREAK) AN ANCIENT LIFE", JOSIAH OSGOOD, Greece & Rome, Vol. 57, No. 2 (OCTOBER 2010), pp. 319-336

de Souza, Philip. "Rome's Contribution to the Development of Piracy". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Vol. 6, The Maritime World of Ancient Rome (2008), pp. 71-96

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Episode 56: Linguistic Discrimination, with The Vocal Fries Apr 11, 2018

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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 is its history, and how can we combat it?