Episode 65: Reindeer Games

Mark Sundaram December 11, 2018

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

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Endless Knot RSS

Episode 62: Etymological Ghosts

Mark Sundaram October 22, 2018

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

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Endless Knot RSS

Episode 61: Classing up our Languages?

Mark Sundaram September 30, 2018

f2e8d71ad8f03c781121c4499e5e716a+education thumb.jpg

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

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Endless Knot RSS

Episode 60: What We Did on Our Summer Vacation

Mark Sundaram August 24, 2018

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

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

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Endless Knot RSS

Quick Announcement

Mark Sundaram June 28, 2018

The view from our hotel room at VidCon in Anaheim, CA

Just a note to explain our plans for the summer.

Episode 59: From the Sublime to the Romantic

Mark Sundaram June 7, 2018

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

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Endless Knot RSS

Episode 58: Symposium!

Mark Sundaram May 17, 2018

Rachel Mazzara, Chiara Graf, Drew Davis, Matthew Watton, & Jesse Hill

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

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Endless Knot RSS

Episode 57: Freebooting, Piracy, & Copyright

Mark Sundaram April 26, 2018

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

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

The Endless Knot RSS

Episode 56: Linguistic Discrimination, with The Vocal Fries

Mark Sundaram April 11, 2018

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?

Show Notes

The Vocal Fries Podcast

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Episode 55: Our Pet Topic (part two, with cats)

Mark Sundaram March 21, 2018

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 named their cats, and what bird was symbolic of the Virgin Mary.

Show Notes

@AllEndlessKnot on Twitter

Medieval Pets by Kathleen Walker-Meikle

"Greek and Roman Household Pets", Francis D. Lazenby

Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome, George Dennison

Companion Animals and Us: Exploring the Relationships Between People and Pets Anthony L. Podberscek, Elizabeth S. Paul, James A. Serpell, eds.

Our episode on farm animals

Paw prints on a manuscript

Mosaic from Istanbul (from Caitlin Green's blog)

Dr. Caitlin Green's blog

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Episode 54: Our Pet Topic (part one)

Mark Sundaram February 27, 2018

The Lady and the Unicorn, Desire (Musée de Cluny

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 (mostly) unknown origin?! We start a mini two-part series with a general discussion of ancient and medieval pets, and then some great stories about some Very Good Dogs.

Show Notes

@AllEndlessKnot on Twitter

Medieval Pets by Kathleen Walker-Meikle

"Greek and Roman Household Pets", Francis D. Lazenby

Federico II Gonzaga by Titian

Odyssey, 17. 309-10

Martial, 1.109

Petronius, Satyricon, 71

The Lady and the Unicorn, Desire

Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome, George Dennison

Companion Animals and Us: Exploring the Relationships Between People and Pets Anthony L. Podberscek, Elizabeth S. Paul, James A. Serpell, eds.

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Episode 53: Tiki or Not Tiki?

Mark Sundaram February 14, 2018

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 World's Fairs. And then we turn to Rome's relationship to Greece, and discuss whether Horace wrote the Exotica music of the ancient world!

Show Notes

Mai Tai Video

@AllEndlessKnot on Twitter

Mai Tai Recipe

Polynesian Lexicon Project Online

Wallace-Hadrill, A. “To Be Roman, Go Greek Thoughts on Hellenization at Rome.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, no. 71, 1998, pp. 79–91.

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Episode 52: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part Two: Responses

Mark Sundaram January 31, 2018

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 Katherine Blouin, Damian Fleming, Usama Ali Gad, Rebecca Futo Kennedy, Asa Mittman, Dimitri Nakassis, Helen Young, and Donna Zuckerberg for their generous contributions of time and thoughtful discussion of these difficult subjects. Please join in the conversation with your thoughts and ideas about how to move the fields forward.

Show Notes

Transcript

@AllEndlessKnot on Twitter

The Optimist Cocktail

Episode 44: "Us" & "Them" in the Ancient & Anglo-Saxon Worlds

Episode 51: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part One: The Problem

Dr. Katherine Blouin
Everyday Orientalism blog
@isisnaucratis

Dr. Damian Fleming
@FW_Medieval

Dr. Usama Ali Gad
Classics in Arabic blog
@Usamaligad78

Dr. Rebecca Futo Kennedy
Classics at the Intersections blog
Sourcebook on Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World
@kataplexis

Dr. Asa Mittman
Inconceivable Beasts: The Wonders of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript

Dr. Dimitri Nakassis
Aegean Prehistory blog
@DimitriNakassis

Dr. Helen Young
Race & Popular Fantasy: Habits of Whiteness
@heyouonline

Dr. Donna Zuckerberg
Eidolon
@donnazuck

The Public Medievalist's series on Race, Racism, & the Middle Ages

In the Middle blog (frequently has useful posts on these subjects)

Hold My Mead: A Bibliography For Historians Hitting Back At White Supremacy by Sarah Bond

Medieval People of Color Tumblr

Pharos -- documenting misuse of the Classics

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Episode 51: Race & Racism in Ancient & Medieval Studies, Part One: the Problem

Mark Sundaram January 17, 2018

The Beowulf Manuscript; Marvels of the East; Beowulf; Judith (Cotton MC Vitellius)

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 affect the way we think about the past, and how we construct the present? For this episode (and the next) we interviewed eight scholars and put it together into an exploration of these unfortunately timely topics. Thank you to Katherine Blouin, Damian Fleming, Usama Ali Gad, Rebecca Futo Kennedy, Asa Mittman, Dimitri Nakassis, Helen Young, and Donna Zuckerberg for their generous contributions of time and thoughtful discussion of these difficult subjects. In our next episode, we will hear about possible responses to these problems -- in teaching, scholarship, and more.

Show Notes

Transcript

Conversation Starter cocktail

Episode 44: "Us" & "Them" in the Ancient & Anglo-Saxon Worlds

Part Two: Responses

Dr. Katherine Blouin
Everyday Orientalism blog
@isisnaucratis

Dr. Damian Fleming
@FW_Medieval

Dr. Usama Ali Gad
Classics in Arabic blog
@Usamaligad78

Dr. Rebecca Futo Kennedy
Classics at the Intersections blog
Sourcebook on Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World
@kataplexis

Dr. Asa Mittman
Inconceivable Beasts: The Wonders of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript

Dr. Dimitri Nakassis
Aegean Prehistory blog
@DimitriNakassis

Dr. Helen Young
Race & Popular Fantasy: Habits of Whiteness
@heyouonline

Dr. Donna Zuckerberg
Eidolon
@donnazuck

The Public Medievalist's series on Race, Racism, & the Middle Ages

In the Middle blog (frequently has useful posts on these subjects)

Hold My Mead: A Bibliography For Historians Hitting Back At White Supremacy by Sarah Bond

Medieval People of Color Tumblr

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Episode 50: Translating the Odyssey, with Emily Wilson

Mark Sundaram January 3, 2018

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 some of her choices in the areas of metre, vocabulary, register, and more, and we discuss the very concept of 'choice' in translation, the notion of a 'faithful' translation, the complicated question of heroic women, and 70's blaxpoitation films!

Show Notes

The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

Episode 47: Why Bob Dylan Matters, with Richard Thomas

Mark Sundaram November 22, 2017

We talk to Prof. Richard Thomas about his new book about Bob Dylan and the Classics, discussing Latin poetry, intertextuality in music and literature, Dylan's similarities to Catullus and use of Virgil and Ovid, and the unexpected connections between Classical scholarship and research into folk music archives.

Show Notes

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

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

Episode 44: "Us" & "Them" in the Ancient & Early English Worlds

Mark Sundaram October 13, 2017

What words did the Greeks, Romans, and early medieval English use to talk about different groups of people? What differences did they think were important? How do those compare to modern conceptions of ethnicity, national identity, or race? We try to give some basic background on this complicated question, starting with the etymology of the vocabulary and addressing some of the ways differences were conceptualized.

Show Notes

Full transcript of this episode

#2PodsADay

Video on the Anglo-Saxon Invasion, collaboration with Jabzy

Ethnicity in Herodotus--The Honest Entry

How is the Ancient Mediterranean Diverse If Everyone There Is "White"?

“Black Odysseus, White Caesar: When Did "White People" Become "White"?” James H. Dee. The Classical Journal. Vol. 99, No. 2 (Dec., 2003 - Jan., 2004), pp. 157-167

“Did ancient identity depend on ethnicity? A preliminary probe” Erich Gruen. Phoenix. Vol. 67, No. 1/2 (2013), pp. 1-22.

Were Medieval People Racist?

“Medieval and Modern Concepts of Race and Ethnicity” Robert Bartlett.

Caitlin Green’s blog, for general evidence of diversity in Britain

Race and Ethnicity in Anglo-Saxon Literature. Stephen Harris, Taylor & Francis, 2003.

Where the the term "White People" come from?

Colorlines in Classical North Africa

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

Episode 43: Hercules the Much-Filmed

Mark Sundaram September 27, 2017

Time to talk about the greatest hero of them all! Why are there so many movies about Hercules? Why do they all have lions and snakes in them, but no journeys to the underworld, and only a sprinkling of family murder? Who's the most Herculean Hercules, and how did Mr. Universe do in the role? And, most importantly, how much virtue is in every part of the mighty Hercules???

Show Notes

The Atlas Cocktail

Movies discussed:
Hercules, 1957, Steve Reeves
Hercules in New York, 1969, Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Adventures of Hercules, 1985, Lou Ferrigno
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, 1995-1999, Kevin Sorbo
Hercules, 1997, Disney, Animated
Hercules, 2005, Paul Telfer
Hercules, 2014, Dwayne Johnson
The Legend of Hercules, 2014, Kellan Lutz

Wyke, Maria. “Herculean Muscle!: The Classicizing Rhetoric of Bodybuilding.” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics, vol. 4, no. 3, 1997, pp. 51–79. JSTOR

Our Patreon page

iTunes link

Stitcher link

Google Play Music link

This podcast episode on YouTube

Episode 40: The Cottage, Language, & Poetry

Mark Sundaram August 17, 2017

We're back at the cottage, and this time we're talking to Ian and Susan McMaster about language, computer programming, poetry, music, theatre, and more, as we chat about the serendipitous connections that led to careers, performances, and relationships. Along the way we play a few tracks of Susan McMaster's poetry, more of which (both texts and recordings) can be found at her website. Susan's recent publications include Crossing Arcs: Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me and Lizard Love: Artists Scan Poems.

The three works included in the podcast are "Shadowless" from Pass This Way Again (Underwhich Editions), the beginning of "The Pleasure of Lusting" from Geode Music & Poetry, and "Science Song #1" from Dark Galaxies.