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The Endless Knot

Marcie Sundaram & Aven McMaster

Aven & Marcie discuss etymology, history, literature, language, and cocktails, and the sometimes surprising connections between them all.

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  • 20 episodes
  • monthly
  • Avg 1 hr 9 min
  • English

Episodes 20

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  • S10 · E126
    July 30 · 1 hr 10 min

    Episode 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 our social, scientific, artistic, sartorial, and commercial understanding of hues into some sort of order. This is truly one of our favourite books we’ve ever read for this podcast! Kory’s book True Color Kory Stamper’s website Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • S10 · E125
    June 16 · 1 hr 6 min

    Episode 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 accents? We talked to Valerie Fridland about all of these questions and more, covered in her delightful new book “Why We Talk Funny”. Valerie’s book “Why We Talk Funny” Like, Literally, Dude! and our interview with her about it Dr. Valerie Fridland’s website Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • S10 · E124
    May 19 · 1 hr 23 min

    Episode 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 answer two big questions: Where did we get the letters of the alphabet from? And why does English use them so strangely? We had a delightful conversation about the book, his podcast, Indo-European, and cats! Danny’s book “Why Q Needs U” Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • S10 · E124
    March 31 · 6 min

    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 Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #123
    Dec 17, 2024 · 1 hr 17 min

    Episode 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 about some of the fun traditions and treats of the winter holidays. It’s been a long, unintended break since our last episode, but we’re happy to be back at it, in time to wish everyone very happy holidays! Wordfoolery website Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #122
    May 1, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min

    Episode 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, inner grammandos, the benefits of learning the rules of texting from one’s students, and of course, surprising connections! Also, please check out the Defeat Depression fundraising event, and the Sudbury Walk/Run on May 25. Anne Curzan’s website Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #121
    Mar 31, 2024 · 1 hr 11 min

    Episode 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 chunks of carbon, to uncover new works and open new doors into the past. We spoke to one of the leaders of this project, Dr. Stephen Parsons, about the Vesuvius Challenge, the technical aspects of ‘virtual unrolling’, the possibilities of new classical texts, the development of new ways of doing scholarship, and more. Also, please check out the Defeat Depression fundraising event, and the Sudbury Walk/Run on May 25. The Vesuvius Challenge Kaitlyn Hill’s books Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #120
    Feb 29, 2024 · 59 min

    Episode 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 cultures told reflect these patterns? We also talked a bit about Dr. Carr’s next book, all about silver, women, and textiles. Dr. Carr’s academic website Dr. Carr’s history website and blog, Quatr.us Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #119
    Jan 31, 2024 · 1 hr 34 min

    Episode 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 models of ecological systems. And apologies for the unscheduled hiatus! Golden Chain Cocktail Food Web video Cuckold video and podcast Frank N. Egerton. “A History of the Ecological Sciences: Early Greek Origins”, Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 82.1 (2001): 93-97 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 2: Aristotle and Theophrastos”, BESA 82.2 (2001): 149-152 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 3: Hellenistic Natural History”, BESA 82.3 (2001): 201-205 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 4: Roman Natural History”, BESA 82.4 (2001): 243-246 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 5: Byzantine Natural History”, BESA 83.1 (2002): 89-94 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 6: Arabic Language Science—Origins and Zoological Writings”, BESA 83.2 (2002): 142-146 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 7: Arabic Language Science—Botany, Geography, and Decline”, BESA 83.4 (2002): 261-266 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 8: Frederick II of Hohenstaufen: Amateur Avian Ecologist and Behaviorist”, BESA 84.1 (2003): 40-44 ———, “A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 9: Albertus Magnus: a Scholastic Naturalist”, BESA 84.2 (2003): 87-91 Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #118
    Aug 31, 2023 · 1 hr 21 min

    Episode 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 vulnerable to a societal transformation that changed their role in the state. What did it mean to be a good man in ancient Rome, and how and why did that change? Melanie’s book is available here Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #117
    Jul 4, 2023 · 1 hr 21 min

    Episode 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 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 Works and Days Hesiod’s Theogony Semonides 7 Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #116
    May 30, 2023 · 1 hr 25 min

    Episode 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 origin of ‘toxic’, and a bit of Latin poetry! Blue Arrow cocktail Bow and Arrow cocktail Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #115
    Apr 25, 2023 · 1 hr 25 min

    Episode 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 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. Dr. Valerie Fridland’s website Like, Literally, Dude! Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • Apr 4, 2023 · 1 hr 12 min

    Episode 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. 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” Christopher Upward & George Davidson, The History of English Spelling (2001) David Sacks, Letter Perfect (2003) Kevin Stroud, The History of the Alphabet (audiobook) NativLang “Thoth’s Pill - an Animated History of Writing” Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #114
    Mar 28, 2023 · 1 hr 12 min

    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 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” Christopher Upward & George Davidson, The History of English Spelling (2001) David Sacks, Letter Perfect (2003) Kevin Stroud, The History of the Alphabet (audiobook) NativLang “Thoth’s Pill - an Animated History of Writing” Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • Feb 28, 2023 · 1 hr 14 min

    Bonus: 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 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 @AllEndlessKnot@toot.community Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • Feb 9, 2023 · 56 sec

    Announcement: 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 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!

  • #113
    Jan 31, 2023 · 1 hr 21 min

    Episode 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 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 @AllEndlessKnot@toot.community Stephanie McCarter’s website Ovid’s Metamorphoses Gareth Williams faculty page On Ovid’s Metamorphoses “Landscape Near Rome during Storm” by Simon Denis Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #112
    Dec 29, 2022 · 1 hr 26 min

    Episode 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 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! “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. “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. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

  • #111
    Nov 29, 2022 · 1 hr 10 min

    Episode 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 media has changed since we last interviewed him in 2016, what it was like researching a book covering such wide-ranging topics, the state of the publishing industry, and more. Haggard Hawks Our previous interview with Paul (episode 21) Citogenesis (the Wikipedia citation problem) coined in xkcd comic Ridley, R. T. “To Be Taken with a Pinch of Salt: The Destruction of Carthage.” Classical Philology, vol. 81, no. 2, 1986, pp. 140–46. Transcript of this episode This episode on YouTube Our Patreon page Redbubble store This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License The Endless Knot RSS

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