Episode 80: Runes and Early Writing Systems

Episode 80: Runes and Early Writing Systems
Mark Sundaram & Aven McMaster

We take a look at the history of runes and their connection to early alphabets and Germanic culture. Then we take a trip back to the Phoenician and Egyptian origins of the modern English alphabet, and talk about some of the earliest examples of Greek writing, in inscriptions, epic poetry, and myth. Also, introducing Lyceum, a new platform for educational podcasting!

Transcript of this episode

The “Screaming Viking” cocktail

Lyceum

NativLang’s video Muslim Vikings & Magic Letters: The Odd History of Runes pt 1

Our Rune video

Images of English Runes

The story of Hyacinth (see under “Larkspur”) and images of possible “Ai Ai” flowers

“THE TEXT: Signs of Writing in Homer.” Homer: The Poetry of the Past, by ANDREW FORD, Cornell University Press, Ithaca; London, 1992, pp. 131–171. JSTOR.

The Runecast podcast

This episode on YouTube

Our Patreon page

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

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Episode 58: Symposium!

Columella's Mead

Columella's Mead

Paul

Paul

Matt, Vicky, Conor, & Kevin

Matt, Vicky, Conor, & Kevin

Alison, Melanie, & Melissa

Alison, Melanie, & Melissa

Mary, Peter, & Amber

Mary, Peter, & Amber

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

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

Episode 058: Symposium
Mark Sundaram & Aven McMaster

Episode 50: Translating the Odyssey, with Emily Wilson

Episode 050: Translating the Odyssey, with Emily Wilson
Mark Sundaram & Aven McMaster

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

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Episode 30: Baba Brinkman & Peer-Reviewed Rap

Episode 030: Baba Brinkman & Peer-Reviewed Rap
Mark Sundaram & Aven McMaster

We have the immense pleasure of interviewing Baba Brinkman, a Canadian rap artist & award-winning playwright best known for his “Rap Guide” series of plays and albums, with which he has toured the world; these cover topics like evolution, religion, medicine, and most recently climate change. He’s also pioneered the genre of ‘lit-hop’ with his adaptations of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Gilgamesh, Beowulf & more. Our conversation ranges through tree-planting; the connections between Homer, Chaucer, & rap; Horace, Lucretius, & Erasmus Darwin as science communicators; the comedy of neuroscience; Trump; language & dictionaries; and more.

At the end of the interview we play a couple of tracks by Baba: his newest single "Erosion", and the first two tracks from his Rap Canterbury Tales album, "General Prologue" & "The Knight's Tale (scene 1)".

Show Notes

Baba Brinkman's website

A brief history of rhyme | Baba Brinkman | TEDxNavesink

Professor Elemental

Baba Brinkman & Professor Elemental - What's Your English?

 

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Episode 24: Talking Turkey

Episode 024: Talking Turkey
Mark Sundaram & Aven McMaster